The Red Circle: Inferno #1

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Inferno

A man with no memory finds himself charged with power.

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Art: Greg Scott
Art (Final Page): Roger Robinson, Hilary Barta & Guy Major
Colors: Art Lyon
Letters: Steve Wands
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Cover Art: Jesus Saiz
Publisher: DC Comics

Following the destruction of a cruise liner in San Francisco bay, Dr. Robert Dickering (a.k.a. the Hangman) finds himself caring for one survivor – a man with no memory, but who has provided the only clue to the investigation in the form of a name he whispered while still dazed. When someone tries to kill the patient, he undergoes a transformation into another man entirely – a man with a much more fiery personality.

Like he did with Hangman, J. Michael Straczynski has really taken the old Inferno character and done something very different, amplifying his powers and keeping little except the color scheme and the torch symbol, which in this case is reduced to an icon on a chain. It’s possible that when this character’s mysterious past is delved into more we’ll see parallels to the original character (a would-be villain turned to the path of good by an encounter with Steel Sterling), but even if it’s something totally different, I don’t anticipate it being a problem. So far, Straczynski has done a good job of crafting tales for these heroes that introduces them as though they were brand-new. He hasn’t gotten too heavily into the DC Universe, but I imagine that’s something that’s being saved for the two ongoing series that will spin out of these one-shots.

Greg Scott’s art seems like a good fit for this rather rough character. He has a gritty style that harkens back to the work Michael Lark did on Gotham Central, and while this book is far from a procedural, the style seems appropriate.

I like the feel that we’re building towards something, that it’s not just a coincidence these four heroes are rising to prominence at the same time, but that there’s a logic to it. It’s something I dare say is necessary for a project of this nature. For what we’ve gotten so far, I like it.

Rating: 7/10