REVIEW: Michael Turner's Fathom vol 1 #1

Story: Bill O’Neal
Pencils: Michael Turner
Inks: Joe Weems V & Victor Llamas
Colors: Jonathan D. Smith
Letters: Dennis Heisler
Review: Art Bee

It’s time for another sanctioned dive into the ol’ dusty boxes. Usually this involves some thumbing and some serious thinking; this time around was an exception. Toward the front of one of my boxes I found the 1998 issues of Michael Turner’s Fathom, vol.1. Michael Turner is one of my favorite artists of all time. His work across Marvel and DC are great, but my favorite exists within the covers of Witchblade and Fathom comics.

This first issue of Fathom is one of Turner’s greatest. He created the story’s framework and, much like Todd McFarlane, contracts out the writing. Artists draw; authors write. I feel like I am working with watercolors here.

The first issue is about as well-sculpted as comics come. It provided just the right amount of background to put the reader in the know while setting several plot hooks ensuring your return. What kept me buying at the time was the artwork. I bought several of the first issues just to flip the pages and stare at the pictures…and those didn’t even include any nudity. Even the lettering seems to be something special. Honestly I think the inkers had the easiest job of all but the most stress. Don’t muck up the lines!        

My favorite image in the entire issue is at the bottom of page three. The panel features the USS George Washington, a Nimitz-class carrier, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Aircraft carriers have always enthralled me and one day I will get to see one in real life. The panel’s detail is very amazing and feels like it will sail right out of the comic book. Even though this is my favorite, there is no possible way to open this book to a random page and dislike anything.

The central character is Aspen, a young lady who is a marine biologist and drawn to the sea. The comic introduces her as a young girl as she is disembarking The Paradise, a cruise ship which returns to port ten years after its disappearance as if no time had passed. Aspen is a very easy character to like, which is why I didn’t care for the book when it first came out. I have always liked characters that were flawed to the point of fracture, and Aspen feels like she is served to us on a silver platter with all of the trimmings. I have to admit that her statement about her credentials is really clever:

“I studied the water at U.C. San Diego. Finally, one day at the end of forever, they put some alphabet soup after my name and called me a marine biologist.”

This issue does just what every first issue of any series should do…it sets up the dominoes. The only reason to set up dominoes is to knock them down and watch the pattern they make.

This comic has been in a box collecting dust for a long time, and the thought of it had long since fallen from memory. Now I can appreciate the story more than I could back then. Maybe I will start looking for more orphans to complete the entire series. Back issue boxes are full of orphans looking for a good home.