Potential

Potential: a latent excellence or ability that may or may not be developed. 

For college student Ian Westbrook, the brain has the potential to tap into hidden psychic abilities, if only we were able to access it subconsciously.  At least that’s what he’s hoping to prove.  If only Ian could break away from his research, he’d be aware of the trouble that’s to come.  Potential, a new series from the minds of Andrew Taylor and James Green with inker Ryan Bross that’s sure to capture your imagination.

A new independent series, Potential has just that, potential.  For a group of relatively unknowns, at least to me, they’ve created a rather interesting concept.  The main character, Ian, believes that the brain has hidden powers that can only be accessed in the subconscious.  Ian pushes himself every day to try and find that hidden factor that’ll open these powers up to him.  Even as the story opens we find him grinding away on his computer, completely oblivious to the rest of the world around him.  However, his dedication has gained him the attention of his professors.  It looks as though Ian is all set to finally start testing his theory when disaster strikes the campus.  I can honestly say that I’d be interested in seeing how this story plays out.  There were a few things that weren’t touched upon in this issue that will really propel the story further, down the line.

The thing that really got me while reading this was that the writing was pretty solid.  A lot of new books tend to have pretty fractured and forced dialogue, sometimes even inconsistencies, but this one flowed really well and everything just felt natural.  As is the way with a lot of first issues, however, a lot of setup occurs and not much else, at least until the end, which I can’t say much about without giving anything away.  The artwork, albeit a little on the sketchy side, seemed to be pretty consistent throughout.  Very strong and stylized, especially the designs for the heroes.  This is definitely the start of great things to come.

The one thing that I had a problem with, was that the name of Ian’s roommate was never mentioned once throughout the whole issue.  I actually had to go to the comic’s website and look him up, his name is Robert Walker by the way.  With a character that’s shown quite a bit throughout the first issue, you should mention his name at least once, it doesn’t even have to be his full name.  Other than that I really could not find anything that bothered me so much that I had to elaborate upon it.

Andrew, James and Ryan have started off strong with this first issue.  A few minor snags here and there, but it’s all shaping into a great new series.  It’s going to be very interesting to see if Ian is able to fully realize his theory, what with all of the trials and tribulations of college life getting in the way.  So, definitely go check out this issue because like its namesake, this book truly does have potential.  For more info on where to find this book, head on over to their website.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.