The Adventures of Adrienne James #0 is published by Heavy Metal Entertainment under the Elements label, written by Mathew Medney and Bruce Edwards, with art by Geraldo Burges, colors by Felipe Sobreiro, and letters by Saida Temofonte. In a galaxy obsessed with rarity and the worth of an item, there is an individual who is more concerned with the place of an item—with seeing the thing returned to where it belongs and not to who’ll pay the most for it. Her name is Adrienne James; she’s a treasure hunter who’s looking to make sure the artifacts of the past get to the people who need them.
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From the moment its protagonist makes her debut in the pages of The Adventures of Adrienne James #0, the inspiration for this character is instantly recognizable. The Indiana Jones energy of adventure and the search for antiquities from the past is unmistakable. The similarities become even more pronounced once James’ “make it up as you go along” style of heroics is displayed. While these traits leave the character feeling less than original, writers Medney and Edwards manage to deliver them with enough skill to allow James to be just as fun and entertaining as previous characters.
When it comes to the particulars of The Adventures of Adrienne James #0‘s story, that’s a bit more difficult to explain. The story drops the reader into the middle of a scene with many elements woven into it, even though it’s the reader’s first moment with this new world. Places, individuals, old rivalries, and intergalactic priorities are all presented to the reader at a dizzying rate. This issue’s “Prologue Zero” title may fit the story that’s being told, but it doesn’t ring true for the character and their world. It feels more like an issue 50 than a zero in most respects.
The substantial amount of concepts dropped into this story extends to the chases and fights that feel like they are supposed to break up the information dumps with some fun adventure. But, unfortunately, there are so many unknown technologies and terms thrown out during these moments that it is hard to know just how much danger or tension is present, especially since the reactions to the developing situation are highly different from character to character.
The one place where the story unabashedly shines is when James and her comrades interact. The playful team banter flows smoothly between the personalities. This is also the only area where The Adventures of Adrienne James #0‘s decision to drop the reader so far into the title character’s story really works. Since these characters have clearly been working together for some time, they provide an entertaining dynamic in the story.
The art does a good job of bringing this new world to the reader. Burges brings a design to the world that feels right for the pulp adventure energy that the story delivers. This visual energy is further improved upon thanks to Sobreiro’s colors. These colors lift the art by using some strong contrasts to make the various energy effects, shields, and holograms stand out in panels.
Wrapping up our look at this book is its lettering. Temofonte does a solid job of laying out the dialogue in an easy-to-follow manner, even during the story’s more exposition-heavy moments.
While The Adventures of Adrienne James #0 gets off to a bit of a rocky start in general, there is enough personality in the story to give a reader hope that, once the world is more familiar, the story could smooth out to provide some genuine fun.
The Adventures of Adrienne James #0 is available on December 29th through the Heavy Metal Website.
The Adventures of Adrienne James #0
TL;DR
While The Adventures of Adrienne James #0 gets off to a bit of a rocky start in general, there is enough personality in the story to give a reader hope that, once the world is more familiar, the story could smooth out to provide some genuine fun.
