For a while now I've been mostly reading comics from the big two: Marvel and DC. I have enjoyed the few things I've been reading, though often finding myself stuck when I'm waiting for new releases with nothing else to read. I would often browse through the other publishers from time to time to check out things that weren't really superhero or supervillain related, publications from the likes of Dark Horse and Image Comics. It has been a while since I last did this, though I think that came from the fact that the last few times I tried to find something new from the two, I just found nothing that really spoke to me. Their recent releases just seeming like I wasn't quite the target audience nor did I have much interest in their art styles -- the latter being something that I have mentioned I can be quite picky about throughout many of these little reviews I've done. But yesterday I found myself going through the previous and upcoming releases from the two publishers with the refusal to come out of it with nothing new to read. And I stumbled across one title that seemed somewhat interesting: Nullhunter. It's a bit of a cliche name for a comic that seems a bit cyberpunk and sci-fi, that's for sure. I almost overlooked it due to the name, but I figured I had nothing else to do and I'd jump into the first volume and give it a go.
What I didn't know at the time was that this comic is actually a cyberpunk retelling of the Labors of Hercules. I don't know a lot about that either, honestly. But I did find that realisation interesting and it did spark a bit more interest in the comic after I read this first volume. I find stories like this a bit hit-or-miss when it comes to retelling but with some strange twist. It doesn't always translate that well. And this first volume certainly managed to confuse me at first. Jumping directly into its narrative with little context that had me guessing and trying to figure things out and jump ahead. Though the more I read, the more I found myself getting immersed, especially with the really cool art style which reminded me a lot of the style in the Doom 2024 release that I recently wrote a first impressions post on but have not yet finished. Greek myths are fascinating though, and I guess one way to make them even cooler is to slap on some beautiful visuals with a comic book style alongside a futuristic metal-mashing-mayhem of panels. And it certainly goes all-out with those panels! Many of which don't even contain much dialogue, perhaps the odd speech bubble with one or two words, but the rest is pure art to appreciate.
The story starts off with some elements of Ghost in the Shell: the rebuilding of a body. A prisoner traumatised within his own world of war pulled out into reality and told he's needed, but that he was also betrayed to which his imprisonment was unjust. Told he can get revenge providing he accepts a series of upgrades to his body. Full-on cyberpunk aesthetics! The removal of his previous body parts and the upgrading into something much larger and machine-like. This is a revenge story at heart, and it really does jump into it. Clay is our protagonist, and we're not really sure to which degree he even remains human at this point, and that's before the upgrades that are done to his body. A lot of classic cyberpunk terminology to explain the nonexistent, the technologies that will push his capabilities into another level. Clay immediately accepts all of this. There's not a single second of consideration within the story, immediately throwing us into the action. This is a story that retells the one of the Nemean Lion, to which Clay gets absolutely torn up despite his upgrades, and during this we're being told the little snippets of world building that led to this situation. Elements of exposition that doesn't really take a break to inform us of anything, constantly in motion as the gore intensifies. And yes, its very gory! Mangled bits of body and wiring that leaves a lot of the action panels up for interpretation.
I haven't seen a comic quite like this one in terms of its pacing. It's constantly flowing, never giving the reader a moment to take a break, but that's how it feels for its protagonist as well. There's no room for error, no care for emotion in the world of cybernetics. Less human and more machine. And when revenge takes the stage, what other emotions are necessary aside from the relentless anger? I really liked this about the first volume, it really does not stop. And once it's over, all you want is to jump into the next volume and see what's in store next. Given I didn't notice the references to Labors of Hercules at first, it felt like a chaotic story and first volume that aimed to impress to the best of its abilities, to which the following volume might slow down and introduce a bit more of its regular pacing. I'm not sure whether that is the case or not, and I mentioned before I'm not all that aware of the Labors of Hercules to begin with. Though I do know there are many more stories to come; and I assume each of these volumes might be retelling them in its own way. If you're not aware of them like me, it might be best looking them up after reading, not before. Just so the comic's retelling version is your initial introduction and nothing feels like you already know it.
I'm really glad I jumped into this. I still have no idea what to expect from it, but I think that's the best way to continue from here on. The art style is awesome and really refreshing after reading so many Marvel and DC products as of late. This definitely sticks out a bit more. There are currently five total volumes released, so I don't think it'll take me long at all to get through them: one a day, I guess!