Tech Jacket, Vol. 1: The Boy from Earth

Tech Jacket #1

by Robert Kirkman, E.J. Su (Artist)

The Geldarians are a race of incredibly intelligent, yet physically weak and fragile beings. To compensate for their frailty they have invented the Tech Jacket, a vest that every Geldarian is equipped with upon birth. A fully developed Tech Jacket is considered to be one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. Zack Thompson, through an event of sheer chance, has come to possess a Tech Jacket of his own. Now it appears that the fate of the entire universe rests on his shoulders as he learns that with infinite power comes infinite responsibility.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.

Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.

In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered Tech Jacket from the pages of Invincible and thought he was a cool enough character to try to read some of his backstory. Good stuff just written for a younger audience. While I like the manga style of E.J. Su's art it can occasionally be difficult to tell what's what in each panel. Who's the good guy. Who's the bad guy. You get it. Also, much like Kirkman's The Walking Dead, I don't like not being able to tell how much time has elapsed in a story. Not until the end do we know for sure but, while reading, it just feels too quick and like Zach is far too accepting of his fate and quick on the training.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, I obviously read this on my quest to read all of the invincible spin-offs and always liked tech jacket when he appeared and liked him here too. It was a good origin story and I liked his relationship with his dad as well as getting to see geldaria. This was made before invincible so there wasn’t really any cross over to the invincible characters but I’m hoping later volumes will have that.

[Koen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ordinary Earth teen inherits alien tech suit, and has to save the race from their mortal enemies.. Nothing too fancy of a story, but it was definitely a lot of fun to read and I enjoyed it even more because of the steady artwork..

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boy finds alien power armor. Aliens want alien power armor back. Invasion/hijinks ensure.

Cute artwork. Writing by The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of ”Invincible Lite.” Not altogether bad, but nothing terribly memorable here either.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. I wasn’t totally sure how I’d feel about this book, since I’m not a huge fan of mech-type/mech suit books. For that reason alone, I’ll ding the rating on this book. But aside from that, and especially considering that this was Kirkman’s first creator owned book, I really enjoyed this! You could tell from this volume that Kirkman would eventually grow to know storytelling with characters better than most in the medium. There was a lot of action in this one and the art was pretty solid. Art style reminded me a bit of an older manga style which worked well with the story.

[ruta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not the best work of Kirkman but it was okay.

If was reading comic books for the first time and didn't watch superhero themed movies or tv series' before I would have liked this very much, but I did and this reminded me of Blue Beetle very much. Also I don't really like reading mangas anymore and artwork of this book was much like a colored manga, so it didn't really do much for me. Read it at your own peril.

[Alyssa Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yk it was decent, I liked tech jacket in invincible and yeah this story was pretty short and didn’t have a lot of depth but that’s okay it was still unique and cool

[Alex Memus · Rating 2 out of 5]

A teenage space anime Iron man. A generic book for kids. Kirkman, stop copying others stuff already.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and 1/2 stars. Fun origin story. Not too many real stakes.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints Tech Jacket (1) #1-6 (November 2002-April 2003). Zack Thompson is just a normal kid going to high school when destiny crashes right in front of him. Zack discovers a Geldarian named Kelda who in his dying action gives Zack his alien power-suit known as a Tech Jacket. Zack soon finds himself in space battling the Kresh, but returning home, Zack has a whole new set of worries.

Written by Robert Kirkman, Tech Jacket Volume 1: The Boy from Earth is an Image Comics science-fiction superhero comic series. With art by E.J. Su, Tech Jacket was later incorporated into the Invincible Universe.

I read Invincible and encountered Tech Jacket there first in a crossover. While Invincible exploded and became a franchise, Tech Jacket fizzled. I always figured that as Invincible went on longer and longer that Tech Jacket might come back to broaden the titles in the Invincible world, but he didn’t. The character was kind of bland and had a horrible name…tech jackets are dumb. Despite this, I thought I’d go back and read Tech Jacket and see the character’s origin…while the comic is a quick fun read, it also feels more derivative of other series and movies.

The comic is basically Green Lantern combined with The Last Starfighter. Like Green Lantern, Zack finds a dying alien who gives him a miraculous tool that he can use to fight injustice and it largely acts on instinct (plus, it talks to him…much like a Green Lantern ring). Zack is then recruited into the Geldarian space force in the battle against the Kresh…much like everyman Alex in The Last Starfighter who is recruited to battle Ko-Dan Armada. It is a classic style story, but instead of feeling original, it feels pieced together from other things.

The story then goes into more original territory with Zack returning home and trying to adjusting to being a “superhero” on Earth. Though it was part of the Invincible Universe later, there is no indication of other superheroes in this volume so Zack is an individual on the planet. Even though this more unique, it still feels like something like Marvel’s Nova with Zack replacing Richard Ryder.

With so much similarity to other series and characters, Tech Jacket starts out in a very tough situation. Invincible allowed Kirkman to explore and flip the common tropes of superhero comics, but here, he feels too scared to do that…the result is a basic and rather typical story. That being said, the comic is still fun and light. It is a quick and easy read, and fans of Invincible might want to check it out (despite the horrible name). Tech Jacket 1: The Boy from Earth is followed by Tech Jacket 2: Lift Off.

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard to imagine Kirkman wrote this, albeit 20 years ago. It starts off decent enough, manga tropes 101 and all, but the thing is, there is no real risk or challenge. Zack is invincible using the Geldarian Tech Jacket, he kills a gazillion aliens who are gas-based life forms, so he does not have to face the reality of war, and even when he gets back to Earth, when it would have been a great opportunity to use the relativity effect to turn everything upside down (which seems to be the case at first), turns out he has been gone a mere 6 months.

He bullies a criminal syndicate into leaving his family alone over the span of maybe 4 pages, then finds his family in a jiffy, and his dad even looks younger now, more like his older brother than anything.

There is absolutely zero drama or engagement for the reader, and it's kind of a pity, because the art is very serviceable, and the setup is ideal for telling a good story.

The later version of Tech Jacket (around 2013, I think?) is not much better, as it tries to get to the other end grit-wise, with no real plan, while ripping off Ben 10. All in all, this seems just one of many missed opportunities for the amerimanga genre.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tech Jacket Vol. 1 Lost and Found collects issues 1-6 by Robert Kirkman with art by E.J. Sue

Zach Thompson is an ordinary kid who stumbles upon a crashed alien ship. Before the ship blows up, the alien Geldarian pilot transfers his Tech Jacket to Zack to save him from the blast. The Tech Jacket acts an armored suit that can fly, fight, and provide information to the user. Thinking that Zach stole the Tech Jacket, Geldarians capture Zach to try him on their home planet. On the way back to Geldaria, Zach saves his captors from an alien threat proving his willingness help.

This book is geared towards a younger audience and feels like a mix of Green Lantern, Iron Man, and a bit of Spider-Man. The art has a bit of manga influence to it as well. Nothing spectacular here but could be a great book for younger comic readers to get into the medium. It feels like a Saturday morning cartoon adventure series. The character of Tech Jacket will be featured in some upcoming Invincible issues.

[Travis Webber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew Kirkman dropped this title in favor of Invincible back in the day, but claimed it was a hard decision between the two, so I was expecting a similar level of quality. It isn't even close, although it's not bad. If he hadn't done so many other amazing properties this would have already been entirely forgotten.

[Nikhil Math]

Just finished "Tech Jacket Vol. 1: The Boy From Earth,"
It's a solid read. The pace is incredibly fast, and the main character always seems to come out on top, creating a comforting vibe since there is an absence of high-stakes situations. Would definitely recommend, especially if you enjoyed the Invincible series.

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty basic story and art. Feel like they went to space a little too quickly - normally with these things you'd spend a few story arcs on earth first, fighting more thieves and other low-level thugs. Not to say it couldn't work as a more space-based thing from the start, but I don't know if this one did...

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clearly not Robert Kirkman's best work, or close, Tech Jacket is a pretty poor showing from one of comics best. The idea is pedestrian and the art is so basic. The story is so bland and has been done a million times (and even by Kirkman). Overall, not worth your time.

[Ewan Clements · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this didn't totally grip me and I found that Zack really lacked personality I did get a lot of joy from reading this and it was a good set up to the rest of the series which I can't wait to read.

[Raymond Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Kirkman and the artists here works with.

[alternBRUNO°° · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mindless and light reading. Alien race with powerful armours transfers the thing to a human and they become powerful above conceivable features.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

While never achieving the popularity of _Invincible_, the _Tech Jacket_ story is engaging.

[Filmkiller Zoli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty decent hidden gem.

[Lordlight · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full rehash of the original run. The Easter eggs at the back really make a person smile.

[Sa'id · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing wasn't that great. I like the story idea, but not that great overall.

[John Wiswell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Robert Kirkman, but this was a letdown. The first issues all seem to set up a premise that he’ll perhaps explore later, but that’s a heck of a long and painful exposition period, especially for a story with so many unoriginal elements. This volume has no emotional payoff of any of the possibly promising elements. Tech Jacket comes off as a Green Lantern/Last Starfighter/Guyver/Spider-Man/Ironman/Star Wars rip-off with little of the engaging characters and interesting dialogue found in Kirkman’s better works, like Invincible, Marvel Zombies and Walking Dead. We meet at least a dozen characters in these six issues and yet all of them are one-dimensional, and none of those dimensions are particularly interesting or fresh. I normally forgive that sort of thing, but ten pages couldn’t go by without something egregiously clichéd coming up. As far as action and plot, Kirkman introduces an amazing number of challenges only to have his character or happenstance resolve them on the same page. There is no sense of building drama. While the manga-influenced art style is cute and there are a couple of nice moments, this is by far the shallowest and least entertaining thing I’ve read from him.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zach Thompson becomes bonded to a suit of extra-terrestrial armor that gives him abilities beyond those of normal men or even the Geldarians who invented the device. While learning to use the suit, he gets into confrontations with local thugs and interstellar invasions.

The only reason I picked this up was because it was referred to quite often in the Invincible series by Robert Kirkman. This book is no where near as awesome as that one, but it has some fun moments. Clearly derived from the likes of Green Lantern and Iron Man, this series focuses more on a young hero and his exploits. Don't expect any deep characterization or storylines here, because this feels more like a young readers title. Kirkman stays with straight-forward storylines, but nothing very deep. In fact, some it seems kind of rushed.

The art by E. J. Su is solid and owes a lot to manga stylings. While not very detailed, the art is fun and gives us some nice perspectives of the action and cute renderings of the characters. Very solid, but nothing outstanding.

Overall, this is a cute book that would serve as a great platform for getting a kid into comics.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A boy becomes fused with an alien space suit.

The basic idea was good and the story / illustrations were reasonable.

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is absolutely a story you've seen before. Human gets Alien Tech and becomes a hero. That doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. I feel that it's a shame that it only lasts 6 issues but it also keeps it from becoming more cliched.

Zach is a put upon teen who gets super powers and becomes a hero of an Alien War. It's a simple story that has fun and entertains.

The art is clean and finished.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straight forward hero origin story that's basically the modern day Blue Beetle/Green Lantern/Iron Man mashup. A kid gets fused with an alien powersuit and fights some aliens. Like the first volume of "Invincible" it's fine but nothing special. The characters are likeable, but it's no surprise this series got overshadowed by "Invincible".