The first issue of Dynamite’s Ben 10 reboot managed to toe the line between staying faithful to the original cartoon and expanding in some surprising directions. With Ben 10 #2, the latter increases, especially as Ben struggles to understand the inner workings of the Omnitrix. As I previously mentioned, a kid having an alien device attached to his wrist that transforms him into a variety of lifeforms would just as easily be terrifying as much as it would be awesome. Reading through this issue, it seems like Joe Casey and Robert Carey elected to go for the “scary” route as much as they could.
Some of the most terrifying images happen when Ben starts transforming into different alien forms. In Ben 10 Classic, these transformations, while a bit on the disorienting side, were over fairly quickly. Here, Ben cycles through dozens of forms before he finally gets back to human form, and it’s utterly disturbing. His skin stretches and balloons to abnormal size. His face takes on a multitude of alien features: the veiny brain of Grey Matter, the circuitry of Upgrade, the insectoid features of Stinkfly. Carey doesn’t shy away from the horror elements, especially when Ben’s face pokes out — readers will immediately see the panic in his eyes.
That horror element extends to the arrival of alien bounty hunter Kraab, who’s taken on a more spiky and armored visage under Carey’s pencils. He’s also willing to kill, as an entire page sees him either disintegrating or ripping soldiers in half. This is probably the most realistic approach that Ben 10 #2 takes to the idea of alien contact, and it only gets worse when Ben enters the picture. Again, this is a ten year old boy in the middle of an active military conflict. That’s enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine.
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The horror elements aren’t the only updates that Ben 10 makes to the original series, as Casey starts folding in elements that started to appear later down the line. Chief among them is the fact that there’s more to Ben’s Grandpa Max that meets the eye; not only does Ben’s cousin Gwen discover some extremely advanced circuitry in Max’s RV, but Max is able to walk onto a military installation despite being a mere citizen. Fans of the original Ben 10 know that this is due to Max being part of the intergalactic peacekeeping operation known as the Plumbers, but Casey shrouds things in enough mystery to keep readers hooked. I’m curious to see what other elements might show up down the line.
Rounding out the artistic team are Ren Spiller on colors and Taylor Esposito on letters, and their work makes each alien actually feel unique. When Heatblast speaks, Spiller and Esposito design his word balloons to feel like actual flames. Ben briefly transforming into Upgrade results in dark green and black speech bubbles with a more hi tech feel. Finally, once Ben turns into Cannonbolt, his speech becomes blue and somewhat rocky. This attention to detail is welcome, as it makes it feel like Ben is actually ten different aliens.
Ben 10 #2 continues to take the classic cartoon in new directions, particularly leaning on the science fiction and horror elements within. Given that Dynamite’s been killing it with comics based on cartoons, I hope that Ben 10 runs long enough to cover all of the franchise’s installments.
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