Accell Vol. 1

by Joe Casey

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Accel Vol. 1 from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Accell Volume one is one of the newest graphic novels out from the Catalyst Prime series from Lion Forge. There’s a lot of pressure being put on this franchise right now, as many fans are hoping it’ll establish a world capable of competing with industries with larger universes, like Marvel and DC.
I loved the cover right away; it’s different from the other covers one typically sees out there, making it stand out (as well as being more memorable, which is a bonus for establishing a new universe). I’ll admit I was surprised that the color palette seen on the cover is carried over into the comics – it’s all very bright with mostly prime colors and the like (intentional pun perhaps?).



So I’ll say this right away; I really wanted to like this series. I love what Lion Forge is doing with Catalyst Prime, and I’m without a doubt one of those fans hoping this new venture of theirs takes off big (I think the comic industry on the whole could use some more competition, as competition is great for the fans!). Unfortunately this particular series failed to hold my interest, and it was a struggle to actually read it through to the end (perhaps I let my hopes get too high, resulting in me liking the series less than I otherwise would have? I’d like to think that is the case).
The description on Goodreads will give any curious readers a good idea of what they’re in for; it’s a fairly accurate synopsis of the entire volume. Essentially what we’re dealing with here is (and I hate to say it like this) a Flash/Quicksilver copycat, which frankly is fine with me (I’m convinced there’s more ways to play out the speedster concept) when done in an interesting manner. Sadly this one was a bit of a miss; the character himself is uninteresting and underdeveloped. With time I think he would have some potential – for example I would love to see a character like this go through something that forced heavier character development. So while I didn’t like Daniel in this volume, I’ll acknowledge the possibility that I could grow to like him in later volumes.
As for Daniel’s abilities…I was really excited at first. In the first issue we see Daniel take some very serious damage in response to the actions he took. I love seeing consequences for super hero abilities, I can’t say that enough. So naturally I was pretty excited to see some legit real world consequences happening here. Unfortunately those consequences didn’t actually linger…it turns out that Daniel can also accelerate his healing; bringing him back to normal in rapid time (wouldn’t that theoretically age him or have some other consequence?). So that was a bit of a let down. Perhaps the writers will expand on that further later, one can hope!
I’m torn on how I feel about the artwork. On the one hand, I love how bright the comic is, as it stands out from all the others I’ve been reading lately. But then again, perhaps there’s a reason more serious comics tend to avoid that color palette? I’m ok with the deviation from the norm I think, I’m just finding myself wishing I had like the series better on the whole. Despite all of this, I still really do have high hopes for Catalyst Prime, and will continue looking forward to what is coming out next.


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