Threshold #1 Discussion/Spoilers

[nightrider]

I can't remember if we were told the identity of the girl in blue hair.
Is she an old or new character? As far as I recall, the original starfire would be appearing in the book.

[El Sombrero]

I really liked this. Giffen is incredible at world-building so he is an obvious call for a plotline like this. The new characters all seemed pretty interesting, especially Stealth, and while this issue wasn't "knock you on your ass awesome," it introduced things well and presented a lot of opportunities for future depth. I liked the mix of sci-fi, noir, action, comedy...it's a total Giffen book but works precisely to his strengths, so it's really working for me.

The art is interesting, as they could have gone a bunch of directions with this concept. They decided to go with a fairly standard sci-fi superhero look, which is not that exciting, but it works alright. The real flavor comes from Dalhouse's coloring. Everything is vibrant as all hell which really drenches the world in this neon glow. It works well since Tolerance is clearly so obsessed with media and advertising. You could see this book going in a noir direction with the art, going in a more weird sci-fi direction, but I'm cool with what we got. I do think Howard Porter's covers have been fantastic, and Giffen drawing this would probably be a blast, but Dalhouse elevated Raney's art to a level that I'm satisfied.

I thought the Larfleeze backup was bad. Larfleeze is such a one-note joke of a character, and that joke got old LONG ago. Larfleeze getting robbed is a great idea that I'm pretty shocked hasn't happened yet (since it's so obvious), so I hope that allows for something to be done with the character, cause yeah, I thought the backup was just lame. Kolins' art was kind of sloppy and ugly but that sort of worked considering how ridiculous of a character Larfleeze is.

When you think of how much Giffen loves world building, and how much he loves those interlude pages that add to world building, I think this book would be MUCH better served if you eliminated the backup and added in more pages that just served to flesh out Tolerance a bit more, but whatever. I'm assuming the backups will rotate (like Sword of Sorcery or All-Star Western), so hopefully I will like the future characters more than Larfleeze.

[ascended]

Like many here, I thought it was a solid, enjoyable first issue that did wonders for setting up the world and characters, yet didnt find it to be awe inspiring. It didnt hit me in the gut and wow me like other first issues have, even recently, but it was far, far, far better than the average comic out there these days too.

The world feels natural and familiar, thanks in large part to the mish-mash of sci-fi alien settings used to create Tolerance. The Star Wars vibe especially runs strong in this first issue and I will now always hear Han Solo's voice when I read Caul's dialogue. At the same time, Tolerance is a big new world to explore where we only know the broadest of strokes, so I look forward to digging deeper. The plot is of course, stolen from the likes of Running Man and Hunger Games, but hell, at least it isnt white hats vs. black hats, like most titles.

The content is fantastically dense, dialogue has good flow and doesnt feel forced. Banter is actually fairly witty. Just solid stuff all around.

Art was good. Raney's work on this was consistent and he made everything work really well, the whole thing looks close enough to the real world so my suspension of disbelief isnt strained at all, but everything is still alien enough to make it exotic. Again, very Star Wars. I wish he or his inker would add some more depth to the shadows though. I want deeper shadows and brighter lights, really drench the thing in harsh lighting Blade Runner style. That would do wonders for setting the tone.

Backup was great. But then, I like Larfleeze. One note joke, yes. But not every cosmic villain has to be all grimdark Doom and serious. I love that 'Fleeze is a major cosmic level power, and at times can be downright scary, but has this incredible inadvertent humorous streak in him too. So what if its one note? Its different, and simple and fun. Kolins art was loose here, but I find it works for the character. I would have spit nails if he had tried this crap with Wally West, but for 'Fleeze its fitting.

[NormanB]

The setting reminds me a bit The Incal. This feels a bit like a Heavy Metal story. Liked it, didn't love it, but intend to give it a chance. Adored the backup.

[Mac!]

I picked up this title on a whim. I'm not really huge on Giffen, but I love sci-fi, and this looked like it might have cool world building. However, I was left wary by the mediocre reviews and absolutely no promotion on DC's part.

Imagine my surprise, when I absolutely loved this issue. I'll definitely pick up the next few issues.

Apparently, it's not selling well. So, I'd like to take this moment to bitch and moan at the people who lament the 20+ Batman comics DC produces, yet don't pick this up.