Soldier Zero Vol. 1

Stan Lee's Boom! Studios titles

by Paul Cornell, Paul Cornell, Javier Pina (Illustrator)

Legendary creator Stan Lee brings you a new kind of hero. Half Human. Half Alien. All Weapon.

Stan Lee, the great innovator of the entertainment industry, teams up with BOOM! Studios to deliver a brand new line of superhero comics. Stan is joined by critically acclaimed writer Paul Cornell (ACTION COMICS, DOCTOR WHO) and artist Javier Pina (SUPERMAN, BATMAN) for a modern take on classic superhero storytelling. When an alien parasite falls to Earth, wheelchair-bound war veteran Stewart Travers becomes infected, and goes through super-human changes that no mortal could imagine. Forced into a galactic war that’s chosen Earth as the battlefield, Stewart defends the front line as SOLIDER ZERO. Half Human. Half Alien. All Weapon.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy

128 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2011

About the author

Paul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.

via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...

Reviews

[Sean]

I wanted this to be sooooo much better given the talent involved but unfortunately it was a miss. The main character is too close to a combination between Green Lantern and Firestorm. The plot was unoriginal and sadly too heavy handed when dealing with the main characters ailment. Also, it drives me nuts when writers have aliens encounter humans in a serious way but have aliens speak "like" humans. Not the language but the context. Just a pet peeve. The art by Javier Pina is good and the character designs by Dave Johnson are very good. I wish Paul Cornell did a better job of establishing the characters beyond the surface and distinguish better between the dual character. I will read the next trade as its written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, who did a great job of the interior conversions in one mind with Nova from Marvel. Overall, this book misses the mark but has potential to be good.

[Zedsdead]

Just another stupid superhero book with an insipid backstory and gorgeous art. An Afghanistan war hero comes home paraplegic. While he's having an uncomfortable discussion with his girlfriend, an alien symbiosis suit falls out of the sky and lands on him. Bam, instant superhero.

There were a couple feeble attempts at depth of plot. The protagonist is paraplegic so that the author can briefly wave his social conscience flag--it's not his back that's broken, it's the world! And the suit contains the mind of an alien rebel who uses Talibanish tactics against an alien pursuer; I think the reader's mind is supposed to be blown at the moral relativism.

Stupid, predictable book. I want my half hour back.

[Christopher]

An alien mech-suit joins with a paralyzed Iraq war vet, giving him abilities which he must now use to battle other aliens.

Tries too hard to create an "iconic" character but the dynamic between the sentient mech-suit and the soldier (it's an odd host/parasite) relationship takes too long to really get going or make sense.

[Joey]

I don't think this is as bad as some of the other reviews make it out to be. Is it spectacular? No. But it's not awful.

[Alan]

I wanted to try this new "Stan Lee" book. Lee created three titles for Boom! Studios but arguably others are writing the books. In this instance it is Paul Cornell of Dr. Who television script writing fame. Going away from the fantasy element becoming all too prevalent in U.S. comics this gives us a standard sci-fi take. Alien warsuit has to bond to a living person, as its host has just died from battle injuries. The suit bonds with disabled Iraqi war veteran Stewart Trautman. We get more than aliens coming to Earth and Trautman ending up stopping crimes. Cornell takes a good shot at introducing the problems the wheelchair bound face in relationships and just getting around cities and stores.

[Artur Coelho]

O lendário Stan Lee deixou de parte a sua Marvel e está a escrever este alucinante comic para a Boom Studios. Cheio de acção, com cada edição a terminar num novo cliffhanger que vai expandindo este universo, mistura a visão contemporânea de um ex-soldado ferido no Afeganistão com uma entidade simbiótica alienígena, conspirações governamentais e corportativas, e uma boa dose de space opera ilustrada num estilo limpo com uma certa inspiração no manga. Stan Lee no seu melhor, envolvendo a criatividade desbragada dos tempos da golden age com as estruturas narrativas complexas que se exigem hoje na cultura popular.

[Daryl]

Standard superhero fare. The concept (and plot?) by Stan Lee is typical, nothing groundbreaking or earth-shattering here. Paul Cornell's script is weak, full of cliches and bad dialogue. Javier Pina's art is adequate but not outstanding. Maybe 2 1/2 stars.

[Jacob]

Public library copy.

[Mo]

The art was great but the storyline pretty weak.

[Samm]

I didn't hate this. It was very visually appealing and semi interesting but there was a lot lacking from the back story.

[Caro]

i really liked it. has good story line, humor, action, and good art.

[Juan Mora]

It's fun to read, a bunch of clichés but still potential to br awesome, must read the rest to have a better idea xD