Heart Attack, Vol. 1: Against the Wall

by Shawn Kittelsen, Eric Zawadzki (Artist), Michael Garland (Artist)

Superpowers and teenage romance collide in the newest SKYBOUND original by SHAWN KITTELSEN (Mortal Kombat 11) and ERIC ZAWADZKI (The Dregs, Eternal)!

Gene therapy has saved Americans from disease-only to give birth to Variants: people with powers so unique, the government denies their human rights. But a rebellion has begun...

Charlie North is on the run from police when he crosses paths with Jill Kearney. Instant attraction becomes mass destruction when they unlock powers neither knew they had. Now the question isn't about how to use these powers, but how far they're willing to go.

Collects HEART ATTACK #1-6

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Romance

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2020

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is very much X-Men like, and if you don't believe me, you'll have multiple characters say "We're like the fucking X-Men now!" over and over again.

But this isn't horrible at all. In fact it's pretty fun. We got these two semi-losers, Charlie and Jill, basically meeting up and their powers are pretty weak but together they've become SUPER strong. The background story is there's a group against people with power, and a group who's for their rights. So yes, very X-men. And of course each group uses people. Jill and Charlie meet and somehow fall in love within a day but it somehow works?

It's a cute romance story filled with some pretty fun dialogue and even a decent sex scene. Some dramatic violence happens near the end that amps up the volume for sure. The art is solid though the style won't be for everyone. And the actual story doesn't try anything too original, so it was predictable.

Saying that I had no expectations and it was fun enough. I'll check out volume 2. A 3 out of 5.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Big brother and xmen for thr current generation. Its ok if just a little too simple. Its eerily relevant to whats currently happening around the world

[Zedsdead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billed on the back cover as "Superpowers and teenage romance collide!" Thankfully (for me, at least) the romance amounts to one minor squishy night of non-romantic canoodling. And while at a glance this looks like Xmen without the Marvel baggage, the superpowers are deuce level and hardly enter the proceedings. In fact, Heart Attack is entirely a civil rights story. The barely-superpowered 'variants' are an oppressed, feared, hated second class and we view the proceedings through their eyes.

The story draws heavily on current burgeoning American-style fascism. We're given spookily familiar-sounding news articles in the style of Fox News and social media posts. The conservative media paint variants as dangerous criminals. They push the term 'PMDs'--Powers of Mass Destruction. They question whether variants are genetically human. They praise the wall built around the variant neighborhood in Austin. They extol the honor and courage of the gestapo agency that abuses polices the Austin variant community.

The story culminates in an obviously George Floyd-style protest, a carefully organized, explicitly non-violent sit-in at the wall. Until one protester throws a bottle of urine and the group is gassed and gunned to pieces. To be continued.

Kittelsen and Zawadzki do an uncannily (heh) authentic job mimicking modern social media and right wing disinformation channels, legal documents, political calculations and voter manipulations. And also the tension between honest activism and cynical exploitation on the variants-rights side.

I expected superhero pap and romantic twaddle, but Heart Attack delivers sophistication and awareness in its first volume. I look forward to the conclusion.

[Victoria Claringbold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a future where there is a war between the variants (those with powers) and those without. There is a wall that shields Texas from Mexico, sound familiar?

It is beautifully drawn with interesting characters and interspersed with news reports from what are obviously meant to be CNN and FOX news on what is happening.

This graphic novel has nods to the 90s with one character hoarding artifacts. There is a feeling of rebellion and power in the variant group but also a fear for the safety of variants in an increasingly right wing fascist state. Written in 2020, you can see the influence of 4 years of Republican rule in the USA and this cautionary tale is definitely thought provoking. I look forward to the next installment.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Charlie, we're fucking X-Men!" So says some girl in a see-through dress to a dweebish bloke, once she finds her mutant power is amplified no-end-of-fold by his mutant power. His response? "There's no such thing as X-Men", which is patently wrong, as these kids are to all intents and purposes mutants, and this is to all intents and purposes an X-Men book, with added social meedjia and influencers and all that crap. Just by calling a mutant by some other name, and by indulging in "freebies" versus, well, "them" I guess, you don't get anything at all different from what Stan Lee et al have churned out for the last fifty years. But that, my friend, is just a first impression. This actually has a twisty narrative to offer, some instantly likeable characters, some instantly dislikeable ones too, and just the fact two people gain ultimate power together in a way I can't remember from my days reading Marvel is quite fresh. Also, Antifa being mentioned in the in-U excerpts that accompany the close of every chapter, and even the very word "matter", make this rather more 2020. As a result it's got quite a good vision (pun intended), and works as a comic that is less a genre piece than the premise would have you believe. Sure, work through any of the allegories here for this year's politics and you'll find naivety (IRL and in this book both, it goes without saying), but this succeeds as a more woke, finding-love-amongst-the-rabble-rousers drama.

[Will Robinson Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. I never set out to pick something to read and hate it. It pains me to say that this book was a struggle to get through. It might be that I am a generation or two older than the demographic that might enjoy this or the execution of the story just wasn't well done. The sad truth is there was a unique story idea here but the pacing and the excessive amount of exposition dumps drown out what could have been a good story. The artwork just wasn't my cup of tea either. There is an excessive amount of world building with the fake newspaper pages and news clips, but unfortunately whats happening with the main characters is boring. There was more talk about the revolt and the oppressive government than actually seeing it. I also found the so-called love story between Charlie & Jill a bit surface level. There is a lot of talk about sex and will they or won't they at the expense of the stakes for the main characters, their friends, and the Variants. This book let me down and I am not really interested in reading the next volume. I just found the main characters unlikable. I hope everyone has better time with this one than I did.

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you love X-Men just as much as I do? People who have special powers each as unique as they are? What about a world where they're segregated from the people who don't have powers and the government demonizes them? Than this book will be perfect for you. Not only do they have their own powers, but occasionally, they can combo their powers together, creating even stronger ones. Don't expect this book to be completely straightforward though, because there are some crazy twists in the story even I didn't expect.

Check out my full review here!

https://radioactivebookreviews.wordpr...

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
This one hits a little close to home. Set in the future the world has had Climate Control
Protest, fake news issues continue, walls built to separate people, and a pandemic that was "cured." Turns out this "cure" had the side effect of women giving birth to "variants" with powers. Variants are fighting for rights. Interesting read.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting comic. I don't think the premise was well explained. Honestly, I didn't know what was going on until an excerpt at the end of the comic. In saying that, I thought it was an exciting concept.

I'm still a little confused by the title.

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Divided powers amongst divergent characters, set in a distinctive environment. Not a waste of time, perhaps better things to come.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a well done and easily digestible showcase of how fucked up our current state of society is. In my heart, this is a 5 star graphic novel, but since this is an unfinished series, unfortunately we will never come to a conclusion. Super powered beings are a dime a dozen in comics, but I think this book created a unique story that is applicable to our lives today.