The Unknown #1 (Boom! – Waid / Oosterveer)
She has solved every mystery known to man. But there is one mystery that remains… UNKNOWN! Revered as the smartest person alive, Catherine Allingham is the world’s most famous private investigator. Follow her adventures as she sets out to solve the one mystery she’s never been able to crack! A new original mini-series from Mark (KINGDOM COME) Waid in the vein of RUSE with international superstar Minck Oosterveer.
What starts off feeling like a Fringe rip-off is anything but. Catherine Allingham, the world smartest person and greatest detective (and all around hottie) is trying to keep herself busy so as not to fixate on the fact she only has six months to live due to a brain tumor. She has figured out Stonehenge, found D.B. Cooper, solved the Black Dahlia case and is now on the case of the world’s first quantum crime.
The Unknown reads slick and smooth. Mark Waid has put this issue together very well. The banter between Allingham and her good-hearted, above-average-intelligent yet hulking body guard makes for some good times. Waid also doesn’t allow our main character to become uber-powerful, defeating everything in her way with ease (the old James Bond issues), due to her brain tumor she continually has the delusion of this ghoulish Solomon Grundy-type appearing out of nowhere, which gives her second doubts all the time – plays out for the reader that we know she is human.
Minck Oosterveer’s work is no less than brilliant. The perfect balance of lines versus ink, gorgeous and scary, realistic and fanciful. He’s out of Holland and he’s the best artist that you probably aren’t familiar with. Check out his site here.
The Unknown #1 – Rock Solid A!
