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Captain Gravity #1
"The Power of the Vril" part 1
Writer: Joshua Dysart
Artist: Sal Velluto
Ink: Bob Almond
Colors: Mike Garcia
Publisher: Penny-Farthing Press
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by John L. Daniels Jr.
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Penny-Farthing Press has renewed the Captain Gravity series for a six-issue mini written by Joshua Dysart and pencils by Sal Velluto, along with Bob Almond (inks) and Mike Garcia (colors). The original series by Steven Vrattos, Keith Martin, Rober Quijano and Jamison Services, was a mini-series and a one-shot issue as well as a graphic novel published in 1998-99.
The story is set in 1935 in the land of Hollywood, with big budget movie studios and the popularity of Saturday matinee serials. The serials have elaborate story lines and beautiful damsels in distress and heroes who come out of the blue to save the day. The hero this time is called Captain Gravity, a hero who can defy gravity itself, he uses his powers for the good of mankind and also protects the world from the evils of the world war.
Joshua Jones is a stage assistant for a movie studio. While making a movie in Mexico, he came upon a Mayan temple ruin. He found an encased sphere which contained an element from aliens from outer space that was given to the Mayan people called element 115. This is what gave him the power of gravity.
The story continues as the starlet Chase Dubois invites Joshua to dinner at Mr. Gunther's Mansion. Later that evening Joshua notices swastikas on the wall and on various artifacts in the Gunther Mansion and questions him, what are his views or intentions about the war. The war has broken out and Germany has used this insignia on their weapons of war. Mr. Gunther assures that he is only interested in the history of the swastika and how other cultures use it for the sign of infinity.
Joshua is not convinced and leaves for the evening. He suits up as Captain Gravity and finds out what's really going on at the mansion. Captain Gravity follows Ms. Dubois home only to notice she is being followed. The people following her are British Intelligence (a very famous person who we are familiar with is introduced as an agent) and the CIA. We find out she is helping the agencies obtain more information on Mr. Gunther, but her feelings for him have made it difficult to help the agencies or maybe herself.
The scene shifts back to the Gunther Mansion. One night the ever-unsuspecting Ms. Dubois is curious about sounds she hears late at night. Ms. Dubois makes a startling discovery: Mr. Gunther is in a trance chanting to a mystical figure, and we see Ms Dubois is frightened for her life.
What will happen to Ms. Chase Dubois?
What are the motives of Mr. Gunther?
What will Captain Gravity do to help fight the war?
The reader is now involved in a classic comic book cliffhanger.
This book is excellent. The writer enthralls the reader into the depths of the era of the golden age of comics. This is a classic and should be a blockbuster for Penny-Farthing Press. I commend them for bringing a title to the new millennium of readers of today. Bravo to the artistic talents of Velluto, Almond, and Garcia the artwork is passionate and outstanding and the detail is exquisite. The panels bring the reader action, adventure, and romance. The spread pages (2 and 3) capture all the background of a movie set. The cover of this issue has the vintage style of the old pulp novels of the 1930's (The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spider).
I know the year is not over yet. But this is one of the best comic books that I have read and truly enjoyed reviewing this year. Captain Gravity and the Power of the Vril should not be missed.
—CCdC— Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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