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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