Answer #1

Devin Mackenzie is an average 30 year old librarian with a unique talent. She can solve any problem or equations. On her birthday she receives a gift from her mother in the form of a misshapen sphere. It’s a Rubik’s cube like puzzle with numbers, letters & logos. After solving the puzzle, it leads to a website called www.enterapeiron.net , which has a series of more challenging puzzles. Eventually, Devin solves the final test, but within a few minutes, a masked individual with an exclamation point on his face warns her that several gunmen will show up at her doorstep with the intent to kill her. What will she do? Who can she trust? With so many questions, the answer is simply… The Answer!

The Team

Written by Dennis Hopeless (Cable & X-Force Vol. 1 : Wanted, Lovestruck GN, X-Men Season 1) & Mike Norton (Mike Norton’s Battlepug, Fear Itself : Youth In Revolt). Illustrated by Mike Norton. Published by Dark Horse Comics.

The Pros & Cons

Who doesn’t love a good mystery wrapped in an enigma, that’s the feeling I got reading The Answer #1. The Answer himself is a new roof jumping, crime fighting masked do-gooder\vigilante who’s motivations are not yet explained and neither is his true identity, which adds a little mystery to an already mysterious story. Devin is a cute & nerdy woman who loves a good mystery, but is in way over her head when a complex puzzle leads to a website connected to a self help seminar on the practice of chaos. Next thing you know and with the help of a masked vigilante, she’s dodging bullets & jumping from rooftops to escape a group of armed thugs.

As a super hero, The Answer is not the coolest, most original character I’ve ever read (he’s the opposite of DC’s The Question), but curiosity got the better of me, as I’m anticipating the next issue. The illustrations are what I’ve come to expect from a Dark Horse mini series, not great, but not bad either.

The Outcome

With Dark Horse & Image producing so many mini series out there, it’s hard to decide what to get and what not to get. For what its worth, I recommend this comic, but don’t expect the second coming of The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen.