20th Century Men: Image Comic Review

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Interests

20th Century Men is Image Comics newest miniseries. At it’s core, it is an alternate history of the happenings of Cold War. Super Soldiers and international politics take center stage in this opening, and there is a lot to unpack in the first edition.


Written by: Deniz Camp
Art by: s. Morian
Letters by: ADITYA BIDIKAR

The war

20th Century Men opens in a battle in the middle of the Vietnam War. The soldiers come across an unimaginable amount of horrific carnage inside a village. You can really feel the emotion of the soldiers in this scene. It is a dark scene, and sets the stage for the entire story.

The Politics

From there, a time jump of about 20 years occurs, taking us to 1987. It is here that we are introduced to the 2 factions of our story: the USSR and the United States. We begin by meeting one of the Super Soldiers of the Soviets. We get to see Petar in action, as well as explore his inner dialogue. It is well written, and begins to develop what the Soviet side of this alternative universe looks like. It is clear that this Super Soldier doesn’t operate within the normal confines of government, and I suspect we will explore this further down the line.

We get to see the American side of the 20th Century Men as well. The story mostly follows the American President, who has a special interest in his own super soldier program. The a story reason behind this is compelling, but I won’t spoil it here. Furthermore, the plot takes a pretty big twist in this section, and it really does a fantastic job of setting up the next edition.

AN Exciting Series

20th Century Men leaves us with a lot of questions and very few answers. The universe seems very compelling, but the direction isn’t exactly clear yet. This feels intentional however, and not at all like a writing oversight. This series is headed down a dark path, and it’s one I cannot wait to follow closely behind.

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20th Century Men
Overall
8.4/10
8.4/10
  • Overall Score - 8.4/10
    8.4/10

Summary

At the end of the 20th century, superheroes, geniuses, madmen, and activists rush towards WWIII! A Soviet “iron” hero, a superpowered American president, an insane cyborg soldier, an Afghan woman hellbent on building a better life for her people—these strange yet familiar beings collide in a story that mixes history, politics, and comic book mythology into something totally new. Welcome to 20TH CENTURY MEN, where the edges of our reality and fiction touch, overlap…and then explode!

Pros

  • Good but dark art style
  • Great character development
  • Alternative universe is compelling

Cons

  • Very long for an introduction
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