[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writer: John Semper Jr.
Artist: Paul Pelletier
Summary
Cyborg is the man! Stopping an apparent police chase near S.T.A.R. Labs, Victor proves exactly why he’s on the Justice League and one of the world’s greatest super heroes! But what happens when Cyborg starts to question himself and his humanity? Is it really Victor Stone that’s the hero or is it the cybernetic implants that make him so? Victor better figure it out soon because an ancient machine built to destroy humanity is here — and it wants Cyborg!
Positives
Semper does a great job of giving us a story of a man who can do almost anything, but still can’t have a normal life. He also does well to show how amazing it is to be Cyborg, while showing us the difficulties as well. Constantly going through system checks, updates, and tests being run by his Dad, Victor is struggling with the idea that he’s really less than human. A good friend of his attempts to help him see past his difficulties and in doing so helps Victor realize that he can still enjoy life and be a hero as well. In the previous issue, Cyborg found a recording during battle in which his father expresses concern over merging his human organics with alien technology. Dr. Stone is unsure whether it’s actually his son or the technology itself that he’s actually dealing with. It’s this very doubt that hangs in Victor’s head this issue, and Semper does a great job of putting it on display with every page.
Negatives
My only complaint about this story is the lack of action but it’s completely forgivable. Our best action comes from the first few pages of the book and its end, however what we have in between is a good story of a man not sure of where he fits in at all. Due to Victor being out with his “friend” some pages come off like a date between the two and that’s fine because I think Victor should have a romantic interest. You can see it applied loosely in the book and I hope in the future Cyborg actually makes a play and asks his friend out on a real date. All heroes deserve a life outside of saving lives on a regular basis and Cyborg is no exception to that.
Verdict
“The Imitation of Life, Part 1” was an interesting read because it showed us a hero who’s unsure of himself. Victor is probably the only hero on the Justice League that’s not sure of himself because of who he is — half man and half machine. These pages show a man that’s at odds with himself constantly because he doesn’t know exactly what he is, and the big reveal about his Dad’s recording last issue doesn’t exactly make him feel better either. I hope that Semper keeps up this story of Cyborg trying to gain some identity of his human self while trying to still be a hero — and I’m also eager to see if he’ll eventually confront Dr. Stone about that recording he made as well! Definitely check out Cyborg! It’s worth the read!
