Nowhere Man #1 Review

Nowhere Man is a newly released title published by Dynamite Entertainment. Marc Guggenheim created and is writing the series while Jeevan Kang is drawing the story. This is the last of the four titles I pre-ordered several months ago. I was worried it may have been cancelled when it was not released in December 2011 as solicited.

Taking place in the 26th century, all of the people on the planet have a nano-tech virus that allows their thoughts to be monitored by the Omnimind. As a result of this, there has not been a murder in quite some time. In an effort to combat this monitoring system, rebel scientists have genetically engineered a child, Mason, who could not be tracked by the Omnimind.

This debut issue contains the present events as well as several earlier moments in the child’s life. We see conversations with his dad as a youngster as well as discussions his dad has with other scientists. He also undergoes fight training to help him in his mission. The skills developed here come into play on his way to committing that first murder in years.

Readers can expect a few things from this debut issue. The story contains some action as it opens with our protagonist in a fight and jumps back to that confrontation near the end of the book. Several emotional elements may strike a chord with fans. As this issue has been available for some time, there is no need to avoid spoilers. Both of these moments involve his parents. Mason’s mother died while giving birth to him. Near the end of the book, readers will see the flashback moments where Mason’s father directed his son to kill him.

I have not come across Kang’s work before, but I like it. There are a range of emotions throughout the book, and his pencils convey those quite well. Kang’s coloring differentiates a bit between the time periods. The events taking place in the past appear brighter while current events are depicted in darker tones.

I do like the potential of this series. However, I don’t think this first issue is as strong as some of the other indie books I’ve pre-ordered from Previews. But it is still a good setup for viewing a world that hasn’t seen a murder in years. How will the Agents protecting the city react to this? What is Mason’s next move? We’ll find out together as I have already pre-ordered the next issues. I do believe that subsequent issues will be better than this one but I’m hesitant to fully recommend this issue. If you are interested in a futuristic sci-fi book, by all means pick this up if you come across it. Otherwise, I would suggest waiting for the trade or passing on the series altogether.


I purchased this book with my own funds.