Huck Vol. 1

I'm on my first day back to work after a nice long weekend with my family down to Paignton and the 'English Riviera' (It's a lot nicer than Fawlty Towers ever implied it to be). Back to the daily slog of entering numbers after the high of (occasional) sun, sea and sand. For someone who doesn't like holidays, I've gotta say it was pretty good.

What made it good (amongst other things) is the fact that, due to my son going to sleep early and thereby limiting my wife and I's evenings, I got to read two full trades (one a night). This is something that has long been a pipedream for me given my having to help look after a demanding one year old. However, this weekend gave me the chance to catch up and I'll be damned if I was going to lose it.

So, for the first night I got to read volume one of Huck, which I've had for a good few months and have been wanting to read since I reviewed the first issue way back when. This book told the story of the eponymous character, a gas attendant in a small rural town with a secret only the locals know. Huck is super strong, super resilient, hero with a heart of gold who spends each day trying to do at least one good deed for those around him. However, when one local spills the beans, Huck finds himself in the spotlight and one a path to find his family, while sinister forces mean to capture him for themselves.

Now this may sound a little too epic for what it is but, when looking back at it, I'm not sure I could describe it any other way. I've rarely been a fan of Mark Millar throughout his career; Civil War was good but Fantastic Four was not. Meanwhile, most of his creator owned works have been too crude, gruesome and bloody for my tastes. But with Huck, Millar has written such an earnest, lovable story that I can't help but to be engrossed in both the character and his adventure. In fact, Huck the character is the key to pulling me into this series as he is so Superman-esque, uncomplicated and easy-going that I can't help but envy him and root for him, even without his super powers.

And then there is Rafael Albuquerque's art which is just so incredibly fitting with Millar's story in my eyes. I loved this art just as much as I loved the story with every panel in the early issues just imbuing such a rural, rustic look that it just helped sell the slice of life nature, before the tone shifted in the later issues and Albuquerque seemed to effortlessly change the tone without changing the style and giving me the feeling of a book which was the same but different. I remember how much I enjoyed Rafael Albuquerque's work on Uncanny X-Force way back when but, with this, it felt just inch perfect.

I remember how much I enjoyed the first issue when it came out but, with the trade, it's fair to say that I really loved this story. While, given how it ends, it could be reasonable to assume it is a single story with no continuation, I really hope the 'Volume 1' on the cover implies otherwise. Huck is a terrific story (which I'm surprised to be saying about a Millar book) which is gorgeous and something I really want to see it continue.

Bring on Volume 2!!