Red Wing

by Jonathan Hickman (scenario), Nick Pitarra (Graphics), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colors)

Afin de survivre dans le futur, les meilleurs pilotes du monde doivent non seulement maîtriser leurs vaisseaux, mais aussi apprendre à voyager... dans le temps.
Perdu dans les méandres du passé et de l'avenir, le Capitaine du First Wing tente de retrouver son chemin vers sa base, afin de sauver sa peau... et de mettre sur pied le programme de vol spatio-temporel qui l'empêchera de totalement disparaître.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Time Travel

128 pages, Hardcover

First published December 27, 2011

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to repeat too much of what all the other reviews on here said. With Hickman's earlier work you can tell he always had high concepts in his mind. Interesting ideas and theories are presented here but the full picture isn't all there. Mostly due to somewhat rushed pacing, little character development, and just okayish art. While loved the idea, the story itself could have been stronger without a doubt. A 2.5 out of 5.

[William O’Pomegranate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a short time travel story. It has a fun concept but the story isn't about what most readers think it is, including me, and as such the ending comes across as incredibly rushed.

I also didn't quite get the ending. So there's evil Dom and good Dom. Is Dom's dad another Dom? I mean surely he can't be or he would've known about the weirdness and he seems very out of the loop. The General is clearly Dom's son, but is he also Dom? In the photo at the end on the General's Desk, the kid looked more like Val than Dom. So, is the Captain another Val? I sort of assume the blond woman in the General's photo is Maye but again I'm not really sure. It's not like there is any chemistry between Dom and Maye. It's a significant problem that the ending relies on the art to speak for itself because it does a really bad job.

If you've read it and think you understood the ending I'd appreciate you posting about it in the comments.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest problem with this was it was only four issues. Another two could easily have filled in some of the background information that would have given this more depth. The concept here is humans fighting a war against some alien entity, but throughout time. We've developed technology that individual ships can jump to different periods instantly while battling another ship.

The main focus on the story seems twofold: Hickman's explanation of how reality is setup (in layers operating a different frequencies) and the idea that you could essentially be given a second, third or infinite chances to improve your life over time.

It really isn't a bad story, just underdeveloped. The art is mediocre and didn't have much imagination in the ship design. Seems ripe for a return with a more detailed story.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing story of warfare across the time stream, complete with a fun conception of what time travel really is. The problem is, there's not a lot of here here. The story is so intent on its high concepts that it just barely introduces its characters, so we barely care about what happens to them, then everything is over before it even got started.

This could have been a great long-running series. As a four-issue one-off it doesn't have enough depth.

[Nuno R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quite original take on time travel. It seems to draw some inspiration from Asimov's The End of Eternity, in which we also have time travel to correct history. The design of the ships is very interesting and the storytelling very good, as usual with Hickman.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is pants. After someone's done a wet fart in them.

[Imogene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I am just not smart enough for this one. A bit too heavy on the philosophy.
Plus, I have a horror of the non-ending ending. I blame Twin Peaks.
Still, it’s great artwork, terribly clever, and can Hickman always get away with anything.

[Ross Alon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Hickman's best work. Art was okay, hut I've seen better.
As a time trvel story, quite underwhelming.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

To stay alive in the future, the best fighter pilots in the world not only have to perfect their skills and master their aircraft, they also have to know how to travel through time. But when Dominic Dorne's father, legendary pilot Robert Dorne, is lost in the past, Dominic joins the ranks in an attempt to rescue him. But things don't exactly turn out as one might expect.

Collecting the acclaimed mini-series into a trade paperback graphic novel, The Red Wing is brought to you by award winning writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Pitarra. Jonathan Hickman is doubtless most known to comic book fans as one of the great Marvel masterminds and the personal singularly responsible for bringing the Fantastic Four back to respectability (along with Secret Warriors, S.H.I.E.L.D., and Ultimate Comics Ultimates ... none of which I've read, but they're all extremely well-received). The unfortunate downside to all this commercial success is how little press his more indie, creator-owned work gets. The Red Wing is just the latest in a long string of brilliant stuff he's doing with Image Comics (not the least of which was The Nightly News, one of the first books I ever reviewed for this blog (highly recommended).

The Red Wing isn't quite the achievement that The Nightly News is, but it's a solid book, nonetheless. Its intriguing premise (and first issue) is squandered by the fact that this book is only four issues long. This is a large, expansive concept, and telling it in a little over 100 pages isn't ambitious, it's a fools errand. Hickman does his best with the time he has, but it confuses me why anyone ever thought this story could, and should, be wrapped up in the time it takes me to make and eat a Philly cheese steak sandwich.

Both Dom and Robert are likeable, with Robert being a guy that I wanted to spend some more time getting to know. I feel like this book could have been a treatment for a much larger series rather than the whole kit and kaboodle.*

There was so much potential for something really great. As it stands, The Red Wing is just a good tale, easily digestible, but easily forgettable.

I will say, though, that it is the type of book that offers more with repeated readings (sadly, a trait uncommon to a lot of graphic novels). There's some subtlety going on here that I find refreshing, some nuance that's above and beyond for the genre. This is a characteristically complicated and imaginative script by Hickman, and there are a few twists and turns that are fun to see again from a new angle upon a second read. For that reason alone I would call this book a "buy" rather than a "borrow."

*Sorry for saying that just now.

[Wolgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had potential, but even by time travel standards, that end was a total cop out. It's like you can see the exact moment the writer realized he had no clue where he was going, and no idea how he got there. Bummer.

[Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book on a first read – though it has its flaws. A story of this nature has to be self contained but I thought it was maybe a little too short – which is a little surprising given that the plot reminded me a lot of a Future Shock type story from the old days of 2000AD. But I whizzed through this book very quickly and another issue or two might have been beneficial to help explain the set up better.

I have to say that the (pseudo-) scientific explanation behind the story didn't quite work for me. The main problem was that the threat was never adequately explained. The only glimpse that we see of the 23rd century, outside of the ring, looks very futuristic and peaceful. The story didn't really show us the effects that the Blue invaders were having on the Reds and why there was a full blown war.

Having said that I love stories that involve time travel and the best ones always leave me with a sore head as I try and figure out what is going on. And given the impossibility of the phenomenon, it seems a bit churlish not to enjoy the story on its own merits. The tropes used might have been well worn and the surprise ending not really much of a surprise but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

I liked the art in general but the design on the ships seemed a bit lazy being just blocky shapes. The art reminded me of Bryan Talbot in places and Geof Darrow in others and I would definitely be interested in seeing more of Pitarra’s work.

[Martin · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Jonathan Hickman" for me is [almost always] synonymous with "fun, clever stories that are usually packed to the gills with interesting concepts". Every writer, at one point or another, churns out a clunker, a dud, or whatever you call a misfire, and I'd already read Transhuman, so I thought he'd gotten his dud out of the way, and I was confident that this book would be at least as good as Red Mass for Mars (which I rated 3 stars).

"Red Wing" has its share of novel concepts that Hickman is reputed for, but in the end, that's all it is: a showcase for ideas, but one in which ultimately nothing significant happens, where the many plot points presented throughout the mini-series [mostly] go unresolved...

[Ben Shee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give more stars to Hickman for clever ideas (time travel through cyclical, non-linear time) - but I suspect I am merely attracted to the brevity in which those ideas are explored. The basic premise, that people are fighting wars with themselves throughout time - is interesting... there's moral exposition as Hickman is wont to do, which seems to be about the greed of humanity, the different paths one can take .... I read somewhere on Reddit that Hickman's stories tend to have excellent initial volumes, followed by strange conclusions, designed to be thought provoking. Maybe it's like a Michael Haneke movie - by the end of it, you're not really sure if you've reinforced or destroyed any of your ideas about how humans should behave - in fact, by the end of it, you just have that uncomfortable feeling in the pit of your stomach, which makes you tempted to say "Perhaps this was too smart for me" and then dive no further into that distinct uncertainty.

[Eric England · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I am a big fan of Jonathan Hickman's writing. I think he is brilliant. Also, Nick Pitarra is an amazing artist with a slightly dark and quirky imagination. However, I was not blown away by this series. The concept was certainly intriguing, a war being fought through different eras by armies with time travel technology. The philosophy of all time, past, present, and future, occurring simultaneously at different frequencies is a provocative one and the theme of sons paying for the sins of the fathers is well-executed. That said, despite the great ideas and twists, the narrative just did not live up to expectations. Hickman has mined similar concepts in books like The Fantastic Four to much better effect.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is secondary to the interesting view on the concept of time and how it functions. Time is not linear, but a plane, so there can be no paradoxes, so this allows travel to any point in time. Any change in history is permitted. Still, there are some rules and restrictions, but not the ones we are used with. Travel can be made in more directions, not just forward and back, and special equipment must be used to survive travel through time. There are several very detailed examples of what happens to a body when the equipment fails, so the artwork also excels here. All in all, it's a cool setting, so it's too bad a longer series didn't come out of it.

[BAYA Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An invading force has devastated the 21st century, and in the 23rd century time travel is being used to try to stop the force before it arrives, with predictable anachronistic problems- going back into time to change things, then coming forward to see what’s happened, is not an easy way to make things the way you want them. An interesting take on the time-travel genre, with a father and son pair as the main characters. This standalone graphic novel works well in the genre, and will be enjoyed by teens.

[Angela Blount · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept of time-travel being utilized for warfare purposes--executed with a pleasing art style. I don't know that it pulled me in quite enough to want to read more, but if I found anymore freebies in this series, I'd certainly give it a go to see if I'll want to keep following.

Two important takeaways I think are helpful -before- you start off trying to figure out what's going on with this particular choice in world-building...

-TIME IS NOT LINEAR.

-THERE IS NO PARADOX.

[Rhino's Den · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I absolutely adore high-concept stories; Time travel, alternate dimensions and parallel worlds, dream-like worlds, anything where imagination can run rampant and wild, I love it. With that said, there are exceptions to this rule, such as this book, the Red Wing. This book is a perfect example of a story with fantastic ideas that aren’t fleshed out well enough and don’t pay off, but it’s not without its boons, either. Before we go any further, please know that there are going to be some spoilers for this book in the following paragraphs.

I would say that the biggest problem with this book is that it ends much, much too soon. Right off the bat, we are introduced to worlds at war, using all of time as a battlefield for their TAC (Temporal Attack Craft) fighters; picture aerial dogfights like in Top Gun or Independence Day with dinosaurs in the background one minute and the Egyptian pyramids under construction the next. We also get some creative imagery such as when a ship’s temporal shielding fails and a pilot is aged so rapidly that he decays into dust in four panels, and another when a life raft pod tumbles through time, presented as a miniscule image falling across pitch-black pages. Sounds like a fantastic premise for the book, yes? Well, unfortunately there’s no real payoff for this fantastic premise, and the imagery I mentioned is basically the high point of the book. The story shifts gears very abruptly from one of a war fought through time to a generational one focused on the disappointment of children regarding their parents. It’s an old topic that comes up quite a bit: “What kind of world are we leaving for our children,” though told through the perspective said children.

Plot-wise, this story is pretty weak, with the big twist being that our protagonists have been fighting their future selves the whole time, but not really. This leads to the second biggest problem with this book: the structure of time. It is described throughout the book in bits and pieces, almost as if it’s trying to justify the choices made for the plot after the fact that time is more like a ring than a straight line, allowing anyone the opportunity to jump to any point with no paradoxes to be had. Then we find out that it’s actually a stack of rings with little staircase-like extensions connecting them all together, playing on the “stacked universes” theory with an alternate timeline twist. If that wasn’t bad enough, the dialogue between every character, save for one I’ll talk about later, is stilted by nothing but exposition, turning this story into a “tell, don’t show” kind of story. It was very hard to connect with any of these characters as a result.

This book is also very middle-of-the-road in the artistic department, as Patara’s and Rosenberg’s work is just serviceable; nothing about it really pops outside of a few segments. All of the characters do remain on-model, but there’s very little that differentiates them aside from a change in hair color, and the uniforms are exceptionally basic and unappealing. Even the “antagonists” designs are very bland, despite the attempt to make them look “evil” with a mute-black color palate and spikes everywhere.

With all that said, there were some highlights of the book, too, particularly in the artistic department, despite previous comments. The designs for the ships are very sleek and futuristic, yet grounded in modern design sensibilities enough to be believable, and I appreciated the inclusion of the design work at the end of the book (I always like seeing the design pages and sketches that go into creating comics). The aforementioned rapid aging and decay scenes as well as the life raft tumbling through time were also very artistic and creative pieces. My favorite, though, was the four page segment between chrononaut Robert Dorne and Aztec shaman Itzama in chapter two. This was a very creative take on the illustrated novel concept, displaying only a single image at the top of each page depicting the two characters sitting and talking to each other, with their dialogue being displayed as text below. I found this segment really creative and engaging, as it felt very much like two people connecting with and learning from each other.

Eventually, the comic ends on a high note, leaving the reader with hope for this timeline, but still leaves the reader feeling like their missing something. It almost feels like there were a good two issues/chapters worth of material that were left on the cutting room floor in an effort to streamline the book and make it easily readable in an afternoon. I personally though that there was a volume two that was going to come out and finish the story, but after doing some research, found that was not the case at all. I feel that best describes this book, though, as it has some really cool imagery at times and a fantastic premise that ultimately goes nowhere and leaves the reader feeling disappointed. If you come across this in the library, go ahead and read it for free, but don’t feel obligated to pick it up.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept wanting this to make more sense than it did, but the pacing, combined with the weird "war through time" story, made that difficult. For instance, I know that the idea of seemingly impossible escapes by central characters is just a given, in some kinds of stories, but this didn't seem like that sort of a tale, so when it happened, it was both jarring and a little annoying.
The idea of a war back and forth in time was interesting, and the idea of fighter planes that travel in four dimensions was interesting, but...the point of the war and who the opponents were just didn't feel right, like pages had been left on the cutting room floor. For instance, in this story as it's written, whichever side in such a time war is from the later period would have a huge advantage in technology, unless the writer has set things up in a way where that isn't the case, for some reason. There is no such reason shown here. That makes the winner of the war kind of pre-determined.
In addition, if you're stealing raw materials of a renewable nature from the past, okay, all you're ruining is the lives of the folks you're taking things from, but it's not clear that this is what they were doing. So, the question of paradoxes, and of effectively stealing from yourselves [or your own ancestors] isn't resolved very well.
The artwork was good enough that I was enjoying the story, but perhaps needed to be different if the readers were supposed to figure out who was really who, in terms of the time war. Still, it wasn't horrible, and parts of it were very enjoyable. I'm just not sure who I'd recommend it to. I don't think that this was one of Jonathan Hickman's better stories.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Time travel is always an intriguing concept to explore, and Jonathan Hickman has a fresh spin on it. The problem with this series is that Nick Pitarra's artwork employs a 'cinematic scope' which basically means that they rely heavily on pictures and less on words. Cinematic styling does not work in comic books for a number of reasons. First, comic books have no sound. You, the reader, supply the sound of voices and objects in your mind. A movies does that for you, and it is part of the sensory experience. There is no musical score or soundtrack in a comic book to heighten suspenseful parts of the story. Using comic books as a storyboard flipbook is not only lazy, it is lame.

Some stupid dot on a two page, all black spread. That's supposed to be a shuttle launching from a crashing ship. They show this same scene four times, with each double page spread showing the shuttle moving a few inches with no words on any of the pages. What a waste of time, and what padding! Eight pages of a comic book were dedicated to this. Horrible, horrible, lazy decompressed writing. That might have been effective for a half page layout, showing the shuttle touching down across 4 or 5 narrow panels, but eight pages? This outcraps the worse Bendis writing. Congratulations, Hickman! You've raised the bar on the suck-scale.

All in all, this is a mediocre read, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The characters are flat and lifeless, and the time shifts feel vanilla. I honestly didn't care if any of these characters lived or died. I am sure that this will sell boatloads because Jonathan Hickman's name is on the cover.

[Aidan]

While I liked it more than Secret, Transhuman, and Red Mass, this still suffers from more ideas than time, and more plot than character. The sci fi fun that Hickman and Pitarra get up to here is essentially perfected on Manhattan Projects, and the thematic interest in father-son relationships and evil counterparts is explored much further in Hickman’s Fantastic Four work. At this point Pitarra has a tough time distinguishing who’s who when they’re in the flight gear, something he has no problem doing later in his career. While the basic idea of a cross between Top Gun and time travel is exciting, much of this book depends on genre cliches without a fresh spin. Regardless, I read it in a day and got it for free from my library, so it was a fun look back at the earlier days of two artists I greatly admire.

[JCRD]

De 'Los mundos posibles de Jonathan Hickman' este me parece el más pobre y peor desarrollado con diferencia. Apuntaba maneras, pero no sé si es que no pudieron seguir o si el final es así de atropellado adrede, pero me ha dejado un sabor de boca más bien regulero.

Nick Pitarra me gusta cómo dibuja (y me recuerda un poco al estilo de Frank Quitely), así que a ver si me animo a darle en algún momento a 'Los proyectos Manhattan'.

[Jennifer Juffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting read. I was a bit late to catch what was going on and had to re-read, but that’s okay.
The book wasn’t dull.

It’s not a book for those who wish for an easy weekend read without thought.
Although, it wasn’t reading Foucault, either.

The synopsis of the book should tell the potential reader if this is a book for you.

[Ricardo Valenzuela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very unsatisfying. The ending reveals that the whole story relies too much on the high concept, but in return in makes almost no sense. What's the point of even trying to develop characters, if the logic of the story is left underdeveloped.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish there had been a bit more meat to this one. Maybe another 2-3 issues to round everything out could have helped all the time jumps. Hickmans explanations with regards to the scifi elements were really cool. Ive seen better artwork in Hickmans other novels.

[Anwar Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

La travesía es interesante una vez empiezas a despojarte de los conceptos del tiempo lineal. La narrativa invita a releerlo al menos dos veces para comprender lo que proponen pero creo que al final queda corta su resolución y nos deja esperando algo más.

[Brian Partridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s some interesting ideas here that I would love to see expanded in, but overall the story is incomprehensible. Too much time jumping, confusing characters that all wear the same helmet, and the art isn’t really to my taste.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this more, but it seemed unnecessarily confusing. Maybe I'm just not very smart. I thought this was the beginning of a longer series, and that I'd eventually get a more satisfying story, but it seems this is it?

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright, just some time travelling complexity story line that has no surprises.
The thing I liked the most were the time slide drawings, really cool, wish there were more!

[Tyler Lutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much too short but great nonetheless