REVIEW: ‘Static: Season One,’ Issue #6

Static: Season One #6 is written by Vita Ayala, illustrated and colored by Nikolas Draper-Ivey, and lettered by Andworld Design. It is published by DC Comics. “Shock To The System” picks up right where Static: Season One #5 left off, as Virgil Hawkins and friends find themselves facing a legion of metahuman mercenaries. Virgil ends up fighting the metahumans, but soon manages to find another way to defuse the conflict and finally gets in tune with his new powers.

The beauty of this series is how Ayala and Draper-Ivey have managed to mix elements of the Static Shock animated series with plot points from the original Static comic series, while also putting a modern spin on things. Case in point: many of Static’s foes from the animated series, including the radioactive D-Struct and birdlike Talon, show up as antagonists in this issue. And so do other characters from the Milestone universe, most notably Hardware, who’s served as a mentor of sorts to Static. On the modern side of things, Virgil’s family being in on his secret is a nice twist. It takes a lot of unnecessary drama off the table and it also gives him a source of support that you rarely see in the superhero genre.

Ayala even presents a new angle to Virgil’s crimefighting adventures. Rather than pummel his enemies into submission, he offers them a helping hand. And rather than let the narrative frame him and his fellow metahumans as monsters, he hijacks the airwaves and urges others to speak truth to power. During this speech, Virgil says that anger is like energy—too much will burn you out, but if you focus it in the right direction, it can be great fuel. Not only is this the perfect speech from a superhero who can literally channel and redirect energy, but it also feels appropriate given everything that’s currently going on in the world. The beauty of Milestone is that it tackled a lot of issues you didn’t see in most comics, and I’m glad that tradition continues.

Draper-Ivey continues to illustrate the heck out of this book, including a sequence where Virgil summons a massive wave of energy. This sequence continues the series’ anime aesthetic, as it feels like a power-up sequence from Dragon Ball Z. There is also a great sequence where Virgil supercharges a baseball bat and uses it as a weapon pulls from one of my favorite video games of all time, inFamous (fitting, as its protagonist Cole MacGrath also has electromagnetic abilities). Draper-Ivey even draws Virgil in both civilian outfits he wore during the show. The colors are also eye-catching, including the majority of the issue being shrouded in bright red light and Virgil’s bluish-white lightning filling the page, even cutting through the dark. Andworld Design even brings back an element from the original Static series by having Virgil’s word balloons take a spiky shape, as if he’s speaking through a radio filled with, well, static.

Static: Season One #6 closes the book on Virgil Hawkins’ new origin story, featuring all the elements that made him a fan-favorite hero. With Static: Season Two planned for a summer release, I can’t wait to see what happens next, especially with the closing pages teasing a new take on one of Static’s deadliest enemies from the animated series.

Static: Season One #6 is available wherever comics are sold.