Encounter #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Welcome to another edition of Family Comic Friday. Today we explore the first issue of a new series by the all-ages creative team of Art Baltazar and Franco. It's a new series I've been looking forward to for quite some time and it was my pick of the week this week over at outrightgeekery.com. The series is called Encounter.

Encounter #1 is about an alien superhero who patrols the earth named Encounter. This superhero is on hot pursuit of the villain Gadget Man who has stolen some mysterious polka dotted pods. This pods are yellow and green, just like Encounter is. Just what is the connection between these stolen objects and our new hero? All of your questions will be answered. But first, Encounter must defeat a new menace created by the Gadget Man- a giant robot made up of construction vehicles!

I am a huge fan of Art Baltazar and Franco! Sure they craft kids books but they're my guilty pleasure comics! Every book of Balthazar and Franco that I have ever read from Grimmiss Island to Tiny Titans to Action Cat and Adventure Bug in the Pages of Aw! Yeah Comics has been tons of fun! 

The duo love comic books and it shows all of their titles. Each one is filled with comic history Easter Eggs that older readers (I.E. mom and dad) can enjoy. Like those naughty jokes thrown into Disney movies only more high brow and less explicit. For example, in one issue of Tiny Titans, one of the characters has a Rorschach watch which is hysterical because Rorschach was a character in the Watchmen. 

Normally Art Baltazar and Franco are in charge of the art in many of their kids comics. But for Encounter, they've recruited another personal favorite of mine, G-Man's Chris Giarrusso. Most of you are probably familiar with his work on Mini Marvels. His artwork is extremely clean and very fluid. I can also say having meet him a time or two at some cons, he's one heck of a nice guy. He does not disappoint in the least on Encounter.

This new series by up-and-coming indy publisher Lion Forge Comics is great fun. It's recommended for ages 9 and up. But I think you could have readers aged 7 and 8 enjoy this book without a problem. There are some fairly big words that might be a little tougher for readers under the age of 7. But the violence level is pretty tame.

Encounter #1 was slated to debut in stores on March 14th. However, due to weather, some comic book stores (such as the two I went to) said that their shipments were temporarily delayed. Thankfully, you can find this book on digital platforms such as Comixology like I did. But if you want to wait for it to arrive in shops next week, I wouldn't fault you at all. Paper forever! Hopefully we'll be able to say the same about Encounter despite the publishing delays.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Review published concurrently at outrightgeekery.com.