E.X.O. The Legend of Wale Williams Part One

Categories: Off the Presses|Published On: April 22, 2020|Views: 6|

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Because COVID-19 has caused a major disruption in new comic books, for the next few weeks Scoop will reexamine issues, runs, trades, and titles that are already available. We’ll take a look at perennial classics, current titles we are enjoying, significant runs, and our overall favorite books to suggest some new reading material or inspire fellow comic fans to dust off the old favorites. And if you live near a comic shop that’s still open during this time, we hope our suggestions will prompt you to check out their back issue and collected edition inventory.

E.X.O. The Legend of Wale Williams Part One
Youneek Studios; $14.99

When tragedy strikes the Williams family, it drives an impenetrable wedge between father and son, causing the younger to flee his home. Five years later, Wale Williams returns to his home of Lagoon City in Lagos, Nigeria when his father has gone missing. Dealing with the flood of memories and regrets he feels upon exploring his childhood house, he makes an astonishing discovery – a high tech suit hidden in his father’s laboratory. When an organization known as the Creed uses similar tech to intimidate the city’s residence, the reluctant hero dons the suit to protect the city.

Set in the not too distant future of 2025, this story is an amalgamation of a classic tragedy told through advanced technology. What befalls the family is terrible, but it inevitably leads to the city gaining a champion. Creator-writer-art director Roye Okupe does a wonderful job of defining the characters, making them sympathetic and interesting through their virtues and flaws. Okupe is quite talented at writing smooth, practical dialogue, as well as subtle twists in the story that are not telegraphed or distracting (which can also be seen in his book Malika: Warrior Queen).

The art by Sunkanmi Akinboye and colors by Raphael Kazeem are dazzling and beautiful. The story flows smoothly from page to page and the details put into the E.X.O. suit make it crackle with energy.

Okupe has provided a new hero to root for in a fresh landscape that should be around for a long time.

Amanda Sheriff

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