SECRET IDENTITIES review

(Review by Melody Werner)
Secret Identities is a 2015 series published by Image Comics and is seven issues long. Written by Brian Joines, illustrated by Ilias Kyriazas, and edited by Jay Faerber. I originally was interested in Secret Identities because of the involvement of Faerber, a creator who I've been reading a decent amount of recently because he's fantastic at what he does. The premise behind Secret Identities is that the newest addition to the superhero team known as Front Line is in fact a Trojan horse out to divulge all of their secrets to the masses. As trite as it may be to say, Secret Identities reads like a lighter Watchmen, due to many excellent elements.

The art of Secret Identities is great. Suitably cartoony mixed with a traditional comic look. Everything's slick, easy to follow along with visually, something vital to attaining a readable comic book. While something that shouldn't be commendable and ought to be commonplace, I've read too many comics which are just too visually busy. The colorwork by Charlie Kirchoff is vibrant and helps to elevate the comic. The character designs of Secret Identities are excellent, with standouts being Vesuvius, Crosswind, and Recluse. These are designs I could see being iconic if Secret Identities were to have blown up, like I believe it really should've. But alas, we don't live in a meritocracy so tis but pie in the sky. The cover work for Secret Identities are also slick, very nice stuff. My favorite's #1, which I believe is all a cover really should do--get the reader interested and give a more or less drive-by pitch, giving them an idea of what to expect. The action in SI is cool, not spectacular, but this is not an action comic. It's fun enough and well executed enough to be quite nice in that aspect. The lettering by Ed Dukeshire is tight--no complaints there.

The premise for Secret Identities is incredible, but that would all be for naught if it weren't well executed--thankfully Secret Identities not only does the concept justice, it also goes further in developing it throughout the series. In just seven issues, Secret Identities is extremely fulfilling with few times where it loses steam, it's just that well paced. The narrative of the series is brilliant, with some excellent twists, turns, general plot points, and memorable moments. It's a roller coaster of mystique, heartwarming, shock, and all that good stuff.

The characters of the title are quite interesting, with my personal favorite easily being Recluse, who's a total badass with an intriguing secret. I found myself, at first, disappointed, thinking a lot of the team would be filler characters and token ones. I've never been a huge fan of affirmative action in team series unless the diversity either builds itself into the story or if the characters are well fleshed out--this series does the latter. I thought Punchline didn't exactly hit the mark, but nevertheless they were all likeable or otherwise engaging. The dialogue in the series is well done, although I wouldn't say it's stellar or that a lot of the lines are memorable. The attempted comedy in the series really doesn't work most of the time. Most are just limp pop cultural references (thankfully not too common in the series) and cheesy one-liners. I chuckled maybe twice or thrice, so the humor really isn't the strong point of this title.

Overall, I found Secret Identities to be an enthralling read and well worth trying. It's one of the series I could see myself rereading sometime, because it's just so good. If you want a complete experience with a Watchmen-esque feel and don't mind it being a bit more "friendly", then SI will definitely hit the spot I feel. If you think comics aren't original anymore or that nothing can be done with a superhero theme and setting, then this one would prove you wrong. And if you just want something new and compelling and gripping, maybe with a dose of enigma to it, then this series is right for you. Secret Identities gets a 9.5/10 from me.

Must-read

Summary:
Secret Identities is an exceptional title, which uses its initial concept to its fullest. An amazing story, fascinating characters, strong art, great dialogue, outstanding character designs, deft pacing, hellacious cover art, and slick fights. The comedy can be a bit daft, but that's no huge caveat.