Resurrection Man Vol. 1

Resurrection Man (1997-1999) #1-14

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Jackson Guice (Illustrator)

Mitch Shelly can be killed, but every time he comes back, he has a different power -- a new ability that sometimes is a blessing,sometimes a deadly curse.His deaths and rebirths leave him disoriented at first, and With the help of a newfound friend, Mitch discovers bits of his past,although the origin of his powers remains a mystery -- but one that won't remain for long. Resurrection Man's creators have set Body Doubles on his tail -- a pair of ruthless female assassins named Bonny and Carmen. Also pursuing Mitch is a sociopathnamed Hooker, a test survivor like Mitch with one big difference -- Hooker's body is not repairing itself. Hooker wants thesecret to Mitch's rejuvenation, and he's willing to tear the Resurrection Man limb from limb to get it.

Collects Resurrection Man (1997) 1-14.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 2012

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time Mitch Shelly dies, he rises again two hours later with a different super power. He is the Resurrection Man...

In the mid to late 1990s, I was still following comics via Wizard but I'd largely given up buying single issues other than The Maxx and Preacher since I was a poor college student. I remember reading about this book but didn't have a change to read it before now.

Amnesia as a plot device is overused but it works very well here. When Resurrection Man begins, the reader is just as in the dark as Mitch. Over the course of the fourteen issues in this volume, Mitch learns just when and where he got his powers.

Mitch Shelly, the titular character, is a man on the road to redemption for his past misdeeds. Coupling that with his gimmick of repeatedly dying and being reborn with different powers makes a great hook. It also makes it a harder sell for the spandex crowd, which explains why the series didn't last all that long. It feels more like a Vertigo book than mainline DC.

Butch Guice supplies the art here and does it very well. He matured quite a bit since his debut at the helm of The Micronauts and was at the top of his form here, coming off a stint on one of the Superman books.

Abnet and Lanning did most of the heavy lifting, though. The tale was tightly plotted, the first twelve issues being one long arc. Actually, I'm puzzled why #13 and 14 were included. 13 is a standalone tale, possibly my favorite issue in the collection, and 14 is all setup for future tales. Anyway, the tale of Mitch Shelly unfolded one morsel at a time and was masterfully paced. Each issue was part of a greater whole but stood on its own as a satisfying installment. So where the hell is the rest of this run? It doesn't look like it ever got reprinted.

The comics industry almost died in the 1990s but some good works came out of that turbulent decade. Resurrection Man was one of those works. Four out of five stars.

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy 90s Batman! (he also makes an appearance here)

Mitch is a guy who lives rough on the streets, and the first exposure we have to him is his dying after saving some kids from a drive-by.
As things progress, we get moments where he has flashes of what appear to be his past, which we will soon catch up with as readers.
However, what's cool here, is that Mitch cannot stay dead. He is literally a Resurrection Man. On top of that, every time he dies he is resurrected with new powers (telekinesis, super strength, empathic powers, shapechanging).

This gives the series unlimited potential, and for the first run, where we see him coming in from homelessness through the help of others, to him recalling who he was before he lost his memory, and going to confront that past.

The concepts are strong, the ideas are great, and the wandering stranger, when done well, is superb.
However...by about the halfway point, it seems like Abnett got lazy, or got a different editor who wanted a changed focus for the series...at this point it sorta got silly.

Throw into the mix, crossovers with the JLA, Batman, and Garth Ennis' Hitman, and you've got prime 90s DC gold. When you add in the main villain who's the Yang to Mitch's Yin, things get weird.

I like this, and I wanted to like it even more, but the 90s art gets laughable at points, and it feels like phoned-in efforts for the 2nd half of this collection.

I give this collection a solid: 90s



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[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resurrection man is a book with limitless possibilities. Literally. Even so, it felt like Abnett and Lanning were phoning it in for half the series.

It starts off strong. Like any good ongoing it builds the characters and inserts ongoing threads that make their way through the background of Mitch Shelley's stories. Somewhere around issue 7, those threads disappear an the book loses its hook. That doesn't detract from the fact that the book is an absolute joy to read. That its low-key 'wander-the-earth-like-David-Carradine-in-Kung-Fu' vibe makes it entertaining as all hell. It just doesn't make reading every issue vital.
DC was doing some great new things at the time with this and 'Hitman'. Not the best artwork here, but still a supercool book.

Writing: B
Art: C

[Logan Polk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using this to log the entire run.

It’s a fun concept, and I’m generally a fan of Abnett & Lanning, but the book suffers from some tropes common at the time, including some rampantly oversexed characters.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hesitant to call this a "classic" trade since it's from the mid-90s, but we'll go with that. This trade collects issues 1-14 of Resurrection Man's original series, written by Abnett and Lanning, with art by Butch Guice. Having returned to the character with the New 52 Relaunch, it seems like a good idea for DC to be releasing DnA's first escapades with the character.

The material collected here is, strangely enough, better than the series DnA are writing now. I've recently dropped the ongoing Resurrection Man book, but if it was this series on the stands, I'd be following it avidly. The duo deal with Rez Man's memory problems within a few issues, with the rest of the plot driven by Mitch's desire to discover what changed him into the Resurrection Man in the first place - and he does! Within the first 14 issues, the character comes along leaps and bounds, whereas the current Resurrection Man is stuck in a reactionary rut, having to reaction to villains rather than searching for his own answers.

The art is enjoyable, especially for a 90s book in which most of them tended to look the same, and the story is both unpredictable and engrossing. The longer story arcs are split up by the occasional done-in-one issues that tell a decent story, and never interrupt the pace. I hope DC release volume 2 soon, since this volume ends on a cliffhanger and I'm dying to know what happens.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having established a certain appreciation for the Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning after having read their stellar run on Marvel's cosmic side a few years back – Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy plus a number of related event mini series and crossover material – I was curious about this title, and eventually succumbed to getting this and the new revamped New 52 version by the same writing team (accompanied by a new artist).

So, what is the verdict then? Well, the premise is quite brilliant in my humble opinion: Mitch Shelley cannot be killed, or rather whenever he is killed he is resurrected and comes back with a brand new superpower. Add to this a classic case of amnesia and a search for his own identity, and you get the gist of it.

Butch Guice delivers art that is clearly set in the 90s' superhero landscape (remember the rise of Image), but without being marred by it badly in any way. As for the stories, the best ones are those who directly tie in with the Shelley's quest for the truth behind his powers and who he was. There are cameos and visits from various DC characters, Hitman possibly being the most interesting in story context.

All in all an enjoyable volume, which unfortunately ends a bit abruptly without any apparent plans from DC to deliver a follow-up volume.

[Arianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff. I remember reading the N52 version of this series and I thought it was okay, but it didn't make a big impression on me, save for the Body Doubles (I hope I can read more about them). On the other hand this was such a fun read, perfectly threading the balance between being whimsical and engaging. It contains A LOT of clichés, but the superpower elements are absurd enough that the story keeps working even as the writer throws in cheating wives, failed actresses and evil rich people.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Tomo que recopila los primeros 14 issues del vol. I de Resurrection Man. Si bien es el único recopilatorio exclusivo del personaje hasta la fecha, algunos capítulos también se recopilaron en tomos de la Supergirl contemporánea y del crossover One Million, donde el personaje tiene un papel muy relevante.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remembered liking this series, but was somewhat surprised to discover that it stands up quite well to modern standards. The overarching plots and mysteries are nicely laid out, but it’s the single issues which are the real standouts, with several unusual stories and unusual points of view.

[Cybernex007 · Rating 3 out of 5]

90s. Very very 90s. If you enjoy some late 90s edgy comics the this is the style. I absolutely love the concept of the mystery checked past that is suddenly awakened and the new death = new power that somehow always lends itself to the story of the comic perfectly. BUT, I would also recommend stopping before issue 18 and calling it a day. But if you just have to get to the end there are some parts that are worth it and some that just leave you in the pain of what could have been. This was my first introduction to the forgotten heroes, which lead me down a giant rabbit hole. Unfortunately for resurrection man, that rabbit hole hits a brick wall immediately, as the ending is not to be desired and leaves a lot more open questions then answers, and gets everything you thought you figured out into a jumbled mess of: “guess you will never know *shrug*.”

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ll give this a 3/5 It was kind of going somewhere with the plot and then it basically just started doing literally whatever it wanted to progress the plot no matter how ridiculous sometimes. Eventually it basically turned into how many times can Mitch die and what will his different powers be this time. The greatest example of this is in issue 10 when Hitman keeps killing Mitch until he finally gets a power that he deems useful which was actually pretty funny. Also, this ends on a very odd cliffhanger that is terrible so if you don’t like those I wouldn’t recommend you read this.

Hopefully the 2011 run is more consistent.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Origin of a great superhero with an unusual power.

Only real complaint is that the women are sometimes drawn unnecessarily sexily, while the Resurrection Man is haggard and ugly.

Ends on a cliffhanger, of course.

[Abu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it great and fresh ideas for a character, very enjoyable and entertaining. It's sad unfortunately that DC comics won't release volume 2 😪

[alejandro galvez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very fun read.

Good read. I can't believe I missed reading this. Fun character and cool story. Mitch Shelly is bad to the bone!

[Colton · Rating 4 out of 5]

After catching, and then dropping, some of the New 52 run of Resurrection Man I wanted to find out if the great things I'd heard about the first volume were true. I was not disappointed. I positively loved the writing and artwork. Abnett, Lanning, and Guice are able to perfectly capture the atmosphere necessary for Shelley's "Wandering Jew" character to work; sharp wit and spookiness abound. The only reason this doesn't get five stars is because of some issues with the trade itself. I can't tell if it was because of issues with the original documents or missed scanning problems, but a few pages appear out of focus, with one being almost completely indecipherable. That's my only caveat about this great collection.

[Ribrarian Not · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro de historietas con ISBN propio. Tomo 1 que no tuvo 2.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have generally mixed feelings about this work. On the one hand the story was interesting and developed at a perfect speed and the protagonist is an interesting and easily likable character. And I found Hooker to be an interesting, if somewhat whimsical villain. But the rest of the villains were annoying and overdone, and mostly I did not find the humour funny. I also did not like that the author tried to squeeze this into the DC universe but that's more a result of it being a 90s comic.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd go 3.5. Mostly solid, moody artwork by Guice, despite some dubious storytelling choices (although the guest artists don't come close to hitting his standard). The narrative has some pacing issues and inconsistencies in its voice in the early going, but Abnett and Lanning smooth those hiccups out and hit their stride in the book's second half. It's a good, moody, superhero-who's-not-a-superhero comic - it's not essential reading, but it's enjoyable enough.

[arjuna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Going to be lazy and go with Chris Lemmerman on this one - I came to this after reading the New 52 version, and I'll have to say this is a lot more satisfying. Stories vary in quality, but not widely so; the artwork varies but works well on the whole. Definitely looking forward to the next volume.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this concept; I think it's one of the most original concepts ever for a superhero. It's also nice that it was kept mostly separate from the rest of the DCU. Mostly great art as well.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandes historias que lamentablemente nunca tuvieron un tomo 2, aunque tengo algún otro issue mezclado con Supergil o One Million más el issue #20.