Midnight Suns #1 Review

Written by: Ethan Sacks
Art by: Luigi Zagaria
Colors by: Antonio Fabela
Letters by: VC’s Joe Sabino
Cover art by: David Nakayama
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: September 14, 2022

Midnight Suns #1 takes readers to an average school day at Strange Academy when an apocalyptic vision overwhelms teachers, students, and guest speakers. At the heart of the coming doom is student Zoe Laveau.

Is It Good?

This comic is titled Midnight Suns #1, but it would be more accurate to call it a Strange Academy tie-in as everything in this first issue revolves around the students and faculty of Strange Academy. That’s not a criticism, but if you expected a traditional Midnight Suns comic, adjust your expectations.

Overall, this is a solid first issue. Sacks lays out the setup (a vision of world-ending proportions approaching in four days), the characters (mostly students and staff at Strange Academy), and a tease about the source of the trouble flawlessly. If you’ve never read Strange Academy, you’ll pick up who’s who and what’s what easily, thanks to Sacks’s clear, concise introduction.

When the vision is over, traditional members of the Midnight Suns (Blade, Wolverine, etc.) are either present or brought in to find out why the world is ending and why Zoe Laveau is at the heart of the trouble. The down point in the setup is the bizarrely odd way Zoe Laveau is treated by her fellow students for her “zombie ” appearance and her apparent involvement in the vision. Several students act as if a girl who looks like a zombie is somehow a cause for concern in a school populated with demons and demigods. Why would Zoe’s appearance frighten anyone in a magic school? Why would a shared vision be considered unusual or a reason for panic in a magic school dedicated to training the next magical defenders of our dimension? The students’ reactions don’t make sense in context.

Zagaria’s art is excellent in this issue. The line work is clean, the panel compositions are energetic, and Fabela’s coloring is outstanding.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Bits and Pieces

Midnight Suns #1 starts a new the-world-is-ending adventure that crosses over the classic Midnight Suns team with Strange Academy for a clear, concise, solid start. The new character introductions are executed with respectable efficiency, the apocalyptic event immediately elevates the stakes, and the rationale for gathering the team together makes sense.