So I Read Echo

Or a 250 word (or less) review of Echo the complete series

By Terry Moore, IDW Publishing

Echo is an enjoyable and kind of kooky Superhero genre comic book series. The plot revolves around the Phi alloy: a Science Fantasy magguffin substance that is both a potently radioactive material and a liquid metal supersuit armour thing. In Echo nefarious government scientists kill a test pilot wearing said Phi armour which exposes a struggling young photographer named Julie to its fallout. Julie becomes bonded to the Phi alloy armour, gets superpowers from the metal, and has super-adventures fighting nefarious government agents, apocalyptic conspiracies and biblical villains. As a straightforward popcorn action comic there is a lot to like about Echo: the story is fun and full of zany characters and plot beats and the artwork is delightful and expressive. It's a well made comic. But, to be honest, it does have its problems too. The protagonist basically has magic breasts for a long while which was a bit gratuitous and one of the villains was VERY yellow peril-esque. Also the science (oh the science!) was just flagrantly wrong. Which would have been fine if the story didn't insist on laboriously describing the "logic" of the story with absolute nonsense for whole chapters, but as it stands was hugely distracting. Also I HATE the plot beat that scientists don't care about ethics or society… l find it lazy, stupid, and personally insulting. But if you’re willing to grit your way through horrible Quasi- science lectures, there is a really fun superhero comic to be enjoyed here.

Word count: 247