Protocol : Orphans

by Michael Alan Nelson

Adopted by the government. Trained as deadly spies. Abandoned by everybody but each other.Grabbed up by the United States government and thrown into training camps, orphans around the country have been raised to become America’s next generation of superspies. Now, as adults, they live amongst us, ready for ‘the family’ to call them back into action. And being a member of this family means a lifetime of death, danger, changed identities and buried memories. After the mysterious murder of a fellow orphan, our agents are thrust head first into another mission. Created by Peter Facinelli (Twilight, Nurse Jackie) and Rob DeFranco, written by Michael Alan Nelson (SUPERGIRL, HEXED), and drawn by newcomer Mariano Navarro, PROTOCOL is an action-packed espionage series with a compelling cast of young characters struggling with their transition into adulthood.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

Paperback

First published November 11, 2014

About the author

Michael Alan Nelson grew up in a small Indiana farming community before moving to Los Angeles in 2002. He is the winner of the 2004 New Times 55 Fiction contest for his short-short "The Conspirators" and was awarded the 2011 Glyph Comics Award for Best Female Character for the character Selena from his series "28 Days Later." Michael is the author of the critically acclaimed comic series "Hexed," "Dingo," and "Fall of Cthulhu." His current ongoing titles include "Day Men" and the relaunch of the fan-favorite series "Hexed." His first prose novel, "Hexed: the Sisters of Witchdown" arrives May 5th, 2015. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This got better the further into it I got. It starts off like another generic team action story, with lots of 'mystery' references. But thankfully, most of the mystery is resolved within the collection; orphans collected and tested to work as black ops teams across the country for the mysterious 'Grandparents.' Things go wrong, doublecrosses occur, all the tropes are here. The characters aren't developed significantly, but there is enough to get them at least marginally sympathetic. And the action scenes actually work pretty well for a comic. It's nothing particularly novel or new, but what it does, it does well.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the last two offerings of BOOM that I read, ("2 Guns" & "Damned") this was almost pure gold by those standards. As I have said, spy/crime graphics aren't my favorite, but for a dollar or two a pop, I'll buy and read just about anything. I think I actually paid a $1 for this collection and it was a better dollar spent than those on Grant's two works.
A basic story that ended abruptly. It seemed like it was building towards something more but then it was over. I feel like this was going to be a series, but they got enough of a heads-up to end it half-assed, and labeled it a mini series. The overall outline wasn't original, but it seemed like a good concept that could have been fleshed out after a few more issues.
The art was pretty good. Sharp details, nice colors. I like it more than the last few artists' doodles I've seen. A bit cartoon-ish, but still nicely done. Had this turned into a longer series, I would have been down to read a bit more. Not a bad way to kill a few minutes before bed, reading this.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof, this was not good. A generic group of secret government agents stop random things from happening. There's zero characterization. There's no story. There's field agents, then "dads" and "grandparents". Again nothing is explained so you get no feel if there's any significance. The artwork isn't great. Everyone looks the same and slightly cartoony. The panels don't flow into a story. Women are just there to show their bewbs which bounce in odd off-kilter directions. Just an all around failure. I've read far comics from Michael Alan Nelson than this turkey.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fast paced, slightly dark portrayal of a covert ops "family". There's nothing particularly original or shocking about this story but it is a lot of fun and worth reading for fans of the action adventure and suspense genres.

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good action comic

[Pat]

Good but not great. It seems like it was originally planned to be a series but then told to be a mini series. This meant that the last bit felt far too rushed.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this would have worked better as the third or fourth installment of a series. It needed some world building and character development for the story to have the impact that it seemed like this was meant to have. Knowing little about the characters and having no real investment made this just not that great.

[Ryan Viergutz]

Great illustrations, okay story. A bunch of teenager spies who learned their roles the brutally hard, death threat, way, botch a job and dive in over their heads. In the end it's kinda predictable but it was a good popcorn book.

[JacLyn]

Issues #1-4

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book way more than I probably should.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent, readeable, slightly over the top (in a good way) "Teen 007" Comic book. I liked that it broke some usual tropes, but all in all, kinda forgettable.