Zack Kaplan has been crafting unique sci-fi concepts in comics for so long that Masterminds is a must-buy for anyone who has read his work. The series launches this week, opening up a world that’s not so different from our own, where video games are far more lucrative than comics or even movies. The series proposes there is a secret organization that values those who think outside the box, but to join them, they must prove themselves in a life-or-death game. Not a problem if you’re ambitious and young, right?
Masterminds #1 opens with three people wearing masks featuring a diamond swirl, a gun firing, and a person falling to their death. Like something out of Squid Game, we see the stakes are high, yet the captions detail how games are amazing and challenging, with no real risk. The visuals juxtapose well to show that’s likely not the case in the world of Masterminds.
From there, Zack Kaplan and the artist Stephen Thompson dive into the life of a boy who lost his mother and had lived a hard life. The only respite was video games, which led him to become a game developer and eventually pursue a career in game design, only to find himself as an underling doing minor game development. If you are an ambitious person, or know someone who is, you’ll likely relate to the situation he’s in.
The story opens up from there as our main character discovers a puzzle and an opportunity. If you can crack the puzzle, you could join in making incredible games. Given our main character’s dead-end job and ambition, his need to take on the Masterminds is justified, even though he has no idea what he’s really getting into.
The opening page.
Credit: Dark Horse
Thompson’s art is a detailed rendering of the world in a realistic way. Paired with Thiago Rocha’s colors, there’s a darker tone to the series at times, feeling a bit noir about itself. There’s a cinematic quality to much of the art, with a winder panel used throughout.
Overall, Kaplan and Thompson do a good job of establishing the allure of a secret organization in a possible future where gaming is the top of the heap of lucrative entertainment. Throw in the somewhat sketchiness of it, with onlookers far away and masked, there’s a definitive Eyes Wide Shut nature to things. The final few pages reveal just how terrible things can get once you begin the trail of getting into Masterminds. Think Saw, but more public and a lot more casualties.
As far as first issues go, it does take a while to get to the Masterminds and the central conflict. Strong character writing and the setup of gaming being a believable and huge goal takes up eight or so pages, with our main characters taking a chance and failing for a few more. It’s not until page thirteen that we get to the nefarious puzzle of Masterminds.
Masterminds #1 is a gripping start that combines Kaplan’s knack for timely sci-fi with a chilling premise about ambition, gaming, and survival. While it takes a few pages to fully get going, the payoff is a sinister, high-stakes twist that makes the wait worthwhile and sets the stage for a must-read series.
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