Folksy, Familiar And Fun: Reviewing ‘Huck: Big Bad World’ #1

Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque’s Huck is a whimsical character whose rural roots purposefully evoke Clark Kent’s own small-town upbringing on the one hand, but it also speaks to a nostalgic depiction of an American golden age that never existed but is often presented in Hollywood films, nonetheless. It’s a comforting, cosy setting in which a character like Huck can live carefree knowing his community are there for him.

But this premise alone would not make for a good comic book story and so it’s not long until Huck is hit with heartache while his mother suffers from bad dreams of her homeland – Ukraine – and is visited by a man looking for Huck’s help.

Being a newbie to this Millarworld character I researched how he was originally received over a decade ago. While many saw Huck as Millar breaking with his usual sensationalist, expletive-riddled writing, I see this series – based on the evidence of the debut issue of Huck: Big Bad World – more as an example of Millar’s versatility as a writer. He demonstrates he is just at home writing a more home-spun story as he is writing about gritty bad-asses doing gritty bad-ass things. Even the art by Albuquerque and colours by David McCaig seems to harken back to a simpler, more rural life. The use of what seems to be watercolours by McCaig specially makes this comic feel much older, belonging to another age; or timeless even. Even the addition of folklore in the opening pages makes this whole first issue feel folksier, gentler, more Norman Rockwell. There is very little of the modern world encroaching on this small town community. And that makes for a pleasant change in pace too.

It’s a beautiful book to behold and an engaging read. Especially the central storyline set-up in this first issue involving the belief that other super powered people are walking this Earth but hiding their identities. Add into this mix the strange supernatural/folklore laden nightmares of Huck’s Ukrainian mother – which harkens back to her childhood and her own origins –  and we have not one but two mysteries to unravel. And that’s before we even consider how Huck is going to react to being ditched by his girlfriend. Not the most optimistic of starts, but then superheroes must always overcome adversity. Whether in matters of the heart or proving the existence of other super folk like Huck.

Huck: Big Bad World #1 is out now from Dark Horse Comics