Even though Dynamite Comics’ The Boys has officially concluded its narrative, Mutiny Magazine has just brought Homelander back with some new cover art for its first issue. The Boys co-creator Darick Robertson returns along with colorist Tony Aviña as he brings his classic style to the world’s most famous Supe. Of course, anyone who’s read the comics or watched even a little of Amazon’s hit adaptation knows that Homelander is really the worst of them all. But he’s also incredibly popular, which mighty partially expalin why the new magazine’s first issue sold out on its first day of release.
Although Darick Robertson is primarily known for his art in The Boys and Transmetropolitan, he has also drawn several DC and Marvel Comics, including several issues of Wolverine. In the Wolverine series from 2003, Robertson illustrates an underrated storyline called “The Brotherhood,“ where Logan tracks down the killers of an innocent girl named Lucy Braddock. It’s evident that Robertson knows how to draw smug and vengeful antiheroes, whether it’s Wolverine from Marvel Comics or Billy Butcher from The Boys.
FairSquare’s Mutiny Magazine focuses on both mainstream and indie comics with a variety of features, interviews and original comic stories. The first issue appropriately includes an interview with Garth Ennis, who co-created The Boys and Homelander with Robertson. Big fans of The Boys know that Ennis got into superhero comics pretty late in life. Unlike Robert Kirkman’s Invincible, another satirical critique on the superhero comic genre, Ennis has stated he hates superheroes. The character of Homelander displays all of this resentment perfectly. Although the overly dark tone of The Boys and Homelander’s crimes are probably too dark to be “realistic,” they highlight the abuse of power that happens in the real world. Fans can read more of Ennis’ thoughts and learn about his newest comic series in Mutiny Magazine.
Most fans may not remember the names of comic book colorists, but Tony Aviña should change that. His work for DC’s Batman ’66 and Wonder Woman ’77 looks incredible and accurately captures the color of the television adaptations. He also worked with Darick Robertson on the very first issue of The Boys, which makes him just as much of a long-time collaborator as Robertson when it comes to Homelander.
Especially after The Boys‘ television adaptation, the world craves more mature, satirical, and critical tales of superheroes. Some might say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe drained long-time fans from the excitement of superheroes. Perhaps others just never got aboard the superhero hype train. Nevertheless, Homelander will be back again in season 3 of Amazon Prime’s The Boys.
