Masterpiece Collected Edition is written by Brian Michael Bendis and published by Dark Horse Comics. Artwork is by Alex Maleev, letters by Joshua Reed and colours by Ian Herring and Moo Meng.
Masterpiece Collected Edition is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Emma is a brilliant and driven 16-year-old. She has paid for school with her next level inventions and is well-known for her funny and honest webcomics. Then, one day, one of the most famous billionaires on the planet, Zero Preston, confronts her with the truth about her world. Emma discovers she is the only daughter of two of the greatest, most charismatic master criminals of all time. The suavest, most liked criminals ever. The criminal’s criminal. The ones that wrote the rulebook.
Review
Over the past 30 years, Brian Michael Bendis has written some of the biggest and most influential comic books ever made. From injecting new life into Marvel with Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil and Jessica Jones to his original creations such as A.K.A. Goldfish and Powers, the guy’s talent honestly shows no bounds. With his most recent release Masterpiece, Bendis returns to the crime thriller genre that he started his career in, all 16 issues of which can be read as one in this new collected edition trade paperback.
The first thing that immediately strikes the reader from the opening pages is Alex Maleev’s gorgeous artwork. The art style used throughout the comic is evocative of 60s spy thriller posters, mixing singular, bold colours with very detailed illustrations that make for a stylish yet gritty approach that fits the story perfectly. Occasionally, the book will be broken up for a page or two with Emma’s own Unicorn Pow webcomics, adding a much needed break to the serious spy drama and allowing a little bit of humour to be inserted into the proceedings even if it is incredibly brief.
Masterpiece does a lot to play around with the expectations one would expect from spy espionage conventions. Having Emma as the protagonist allows the comic itself to set up and then subvert these preconceived tropes we expect from this genre. As she tries to gradually piece this whole thing together at the same pace as the audience, it enables the characters to both acknowledge and make fun of certain tropes that they establish for themselves as the only knowledge they have of this world they’re uncovering is from the same forms of media us as readers have been subjected to our whole lives. This also perfectly sets up many instances of false assumptions and hurdles Emma and her makeshift crew have to overcome.
The other characters here are also very well written and work great as a group in their own unique way. The team steadily grows throughout the story until most of the relevant archetypes are accounted for. From the muscle, known here as The Paragon, to Gleason who is in charge of the gadgets, all the appropriate character types are here and they all get their chance to shine at various points in the story.
Amongst all the spy antics, Bendis never forgets to have moments of downtime and genuine character interactions. Even a scene between Emma and Solomon, though story driven as she attempts to recruit him, still taps into the motivations and connections between the two individuals. These are scattered here and there across the comic but act as needed moments of calm before the more suspenseful and tense beats kick in.
As the narrative shifts and we see Emma evolve into the sophisticated leader role, the book itself also cleverly adapts with the story in some very creative ways. In the latter pages, Maleev’s artwork becomes a lot more psychedelic and playful leading to a truly haunting double page spread of Zero Preston being tricked into facing his demons. It’s truly glorious to watch unfold and this paired with the team dynamic at this point in the book leads to a very cathartic ending.
Verdict
Bendis once again creates a gripping and continuously investing story that gets more intricate over time. This collected edition is perfect for those wanting a complete narrative that delivers on mystery, thrills and subverting expectations, all of which is perfectly realised through Maleev’s fantastically stylised artwork. The aptly titled Masterpiece is a captivating read that should not be missed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
