DCNU - Static Shock #1 from DC's New 52

Static Shock, was written by Scott McDaniel and John Rozum. McDaniel also did the pencils, with inks by Jonathan Glapion and LeBeau Underwood.

I don't have much of a history with this character, but I have loved Scott McDaniel's work on street-level heroes such as Daredevil, Batman, and particularly on Nightwing. I think the early issues of Nightwing remain some of my favorite comics ever, and McDaniel's art was a strong contributor to that. He's not a photo-realistic style of artist, but he clearly communicates what is going on in a panel, and gets a real sense of motion into action sequences.

John Rozum wrote for Milestone Comics back when it was an imprint of DC. He didn't work on Static back then, but he is definitely familiar with the character.

Unlike most of the New 52, this book starts off with our hero, rather than setting the scene. And he dives right into action. Static saves some people from an energy burst being released by a S.T.A.R. Labs experiment gone wrong. He happens to be on site because he is working at S.T.A.R. as an after-school job.

He then hunts down the experiment, and fixes it. Throughout, he cracks wise, and uses his scientific knowledge to handle the situation. There is a similar tone to Spider-Man when that book is being fun.

McDaniel's art compliments the action well, and I really enjoy the way he plays with the layouts of the pages.

Static puts a stop to the experiment gone wrong, only to have the pilot of the suit killed in his hands. He uses some cool scientific know-how to try to track the shooter, but loses him.

There is an interlude, where we see the group that Static is unknowingly up against here. It is a large, well organized group who have ins to the police and the DAs office at least. They are not happy to have fun afoul of a superhero like Static, so they sic a killer named Virule on him.

We then get to see Virgil interacting with his family, and there is real affection here. It's good to see a super-hero who comes from a supporting, normal family environment. And a little creepy to see the mysterious Lady in Red watching them through their window at the top of page 15.

After this, Virgil goes to his secrect headquarters and has a chat with Hardware, another character from the Dakota setting of Milestone Comics, and Hardware is clearly Static's patron in this book.

As he heads off on patrol, Static is ambushed by Virule, in a cliffhanger ending.

I am definitely picking up Statck Shock #2. The writing was fun, the dialogue good, I love the science bits that Virgil uses to supplement his powers. And, of course, I am a fan of the art.

It's also nice to know that S.T.A.R Labs is still a player in the DCnU.

Overall, if you like traditional super-hero books, I can definitely recommend this book to you.