Entropy #1 is written by Christopher Priest, illustrated by Montos, colored by Bryan Valenza, and lettered by Willie Schuber. It’s published by Heavy Metal Entertainment. Henry Hanks is fairly well off as he and his wife Mercedes, along with their daughter Nicolette, live in a standard suburban neighborhood. However, one day Henry is approached by the cosmic god known as Kako, who transforms him into his herald. Now possessing ultimate power but separated from his family, Henry travels the cosmos while struggling to come to terms with his newfound existence.
Heavy Metal’s dabbled in different genres over the years regarding its publishing arm. There’s the World War II zombie epic Cold Dead War and the Japanese-inspired fantasy The Boy Who Conquered A Mountain. Entropy is the publisher’s foray into the superhero genre — or rather the supervillain genre, as Kako is intended to be the arch-foe of Heavy Metal’s cosmic warrior Taarna.
Priest has quite the experience with supervillains, having written a critically acclaimed run for Deathstroke and tackling Black Adam for DC. But he also has a talent for making his characters layered and compelling, whether hero or villain, and that trend continues with Henry. After all, this is a man who seemingly had a normal life and was remade into the herald for a cosmic force of destruction. Priest doesn’t shy away from how this takes a toll on Henry’s mental state; he’s often shown floating through the void of space, curled in the fetal position. That’s saying nothing of the final page, which has a major plot twist that promises to fuel future issues.
Montos delivers some artwork that can be called “mind-melting” in every sense of the word. Through a series of pages, he dedicates whole panels to Henry’s entire world being disintegrated, and Henry slowly decomposes as he spirals into the black, empty void of space. Debates have raged in the geek world about whether space or the ocean is the better venue for horror, and Montos makes a strong case for the former with images of half-broken planets and derelict spaceships.
It’s beautiful but utterly haunting — especially when paired with Valenza’s colors. Jet black collides with bright green, providing a twisted take on the Green Lantern mythos. And in another homage to the DC Universe, Schuber inserts a panel that simply reads “Kako Is.” Not only is this a reference to Tom King and Mitch Gerards’ Mister Miracle maxiseries — particularly its description of the New God Darkseid — but it also shows the immense dread that Kako leaves in his wake. And that’s from one single sentence.
Entropy #1 serves as a supervillain origin story, as well as a well-crafted cosmic tragedy that builds out the universe of its flagship character Taarna. Heavy Metal is turning out some of the most interesting comics on the stands, and this series is proof of that. I highly recommend picking it up if you want a fresh take on the superhero genre or if shows like The Boys and Super Crooks spoke to you.
Entropy #1 will be available wherever comics are sold on July 6, 2022.
Entropy #1
TL;DR
Entropy #1 serves as a supervillain origin story, as well as a well-crafted cosmic tragedy that builds out the universe of its flagship character Taarna. Heavy Metal is turning out some of the most interesting comics on the stands, and this series is proof of that. I highly recommend picking it up if you want a fresh take on the superhero genre or if shows like The Boys and Super Crooks spoke to you.
