[CRITICISM] Reborn by Mark Millar at Panini Comics

Already present in the September news with the release of the imperfect, but sympathetic Huck, star screenwriter Mark Millar returns to the front of the stage to make his mark on the month of October with Reborn, this time accompanied by cartoonist Greg Capullo. A reading to discover at Panini Comics! 

When you die, you don't go to Heaven or Hell but to a new universe where you have to fight to survive. We also find the people we loved… and those who hate us. (Contains US Reborn 1-6 episodes, previously unreleased)

Reborn: Mark Millar in small form

Mark Millar's strength lies in his ability to build his stories from a simple, but terribly effective idea. In the case of Reborn, it is with death that the screenwriter minaudes. The death that knocks on the doors around us, before finally crossing ours when the time comes. This is how the story of Bonnie Black begins, an old woman on the verge of death, she has seen her friends and her husband pass away in turn before her. This time, it is her turn and at the turn of a passage in the shower she will see the light of the other world. Will it end up in hell or heaven? Neither, because in the Reborn universe, the end of a life is only the beginning of a new one arriving in a fantasy world populated by other human souls, creatures and dragons. Disoriented by her passage in this new world with a few years less on the clock, she will quickly fall on her late father and the extraordinary destiny that awaits him. With this first chapter of Reborn, Mark Millar in line with his last stories, navigates between the intimate with philosophical touches and the beginning of an epic that promises to be highly epic.

Unfortunately, the rest of the reading will never be on the same level as this foolproof introduction… Immersed in this universe on the border of the fantastic, the screenwriter gradually gets lost in his own faults by offering us a wobbly story that bears the name of story only by its initial pitch. We often have the impression of being faced with a simple note of intention for a future film production, all badly roughed in its format of the 9th art. Because despite its six chapters, the story unfolds at a crazy speed without ever deepening its characters and basic themes. Even some twists are honestly bordering on the ridiculous. Too cramped in the mini series format? Perhaps, Mark Millar has the means to do much better. Then remains Greg Capullo, who for his part is doing rather well in drawing and allows to see the artist at work on something other than the very long Batman series with Scott Snyder. The universe allows him to have as much fun with dragons as more futuristic vehicles and all in a much less dark atmosphere than his old works. We only feel some fatigue of the cartoonist on some chapter endings, but overall, the work is done. 

In conclusion, Reborn is a beautiful disappointment as he never manages to transcend his initial idea. You can always console yourself with Huck, Mark Millar's previous production which is far superior !