Divinity #1
Writer – Matt Kindt
Artist – Trevor Hairsine
Inker – Ryan Winn
Colourist – David Baron
Publisher – Valiant Comics
A baby is left on the doorsteps of the Russian Foreign Minister in 1945. His name is Abram Adams. The baby’s hand reaches towards the purple hued sky, foreshadowing his destiny. As the frames zoom out, a man in a space suit stands idly in the distance. Who is this man?
Time skips forward as Abram is taken in by the state after the death of his adopted parents. His appreciation and absorption for difficult scientific subjects along with his detachment from any familial ties makes him the perfect candidate for a proposed new project. The Cold War hovers in the air. As the United States progresses to land on the moon, Russia is gearing to explore the edge of the galaxy and the borders of our reality. The 30 year mission will supposedly allow Russia to be put into a position that will win them the war. Abram’s accepts the mission and so begins Divinity.
Matt Kindt has been no stranger to the Valiant universe, writing some absolute brilliant work on Unity, Rai, and the mini-series The Valiant. He continues to make his mark on the publisher with a strong start to the first of a four part mini-series in Divinity. Kindt is planting some clues in this first issue that are very mysterious and are surely things that will connect as the issues come out towards the conclusion. He provides a tight cinematic touch with the pacing of his script, even if the constant narration is a bit too much at times. Overall, it definitely feels like Kindt has a lot more in store for the readers that stick around.
The art team of Trevor Hairsine with Ryan Winn’s inks and David Baron on colours is definitely a highlight for this book. Abram is drawn as rather composed throughout most of the issue, but can only withhold his emotions for so long as the mission creeps towards its intense reality. The colours really stand out, particularly purple, yellow and red. Purple appears to represent the passion that drives Abram, as mentioned earlier with the star lit sky and later as the colour of the sweater that his lover wears. Yellow drains the drive of another character introduced, named David Camp, as he fights through the strong sun in the Australian desert.
The cinematic feel of the script carries over with the way certain frames are played with. As Abram is given some vitamin/drug combination to increase his immune system and slow down his aging, a sequence of frames slows down the actions between the frames. Abram stares at the space suit he will don from afar and is suddenly inside it, looking at the doctor he was sitting beside, and then switches back to reality to the present time. The jump cut frames appear to travel to the future, only to suddenly come back shortly after the brief stay. The experiment constantly occurs throughout the issue. Even though the jumps in time are made, the present time between them slows down, allowing these frames to feel like flashes of memories that have yet to happen. Graphic matches are also played with. The purple flower that David sees as he collapses in the desert jumps to the falling petals that once belonged to the vase of flowers in Abram’s apartment. Time and place become distorted; a subject matter that is surely meant as a tease for what is to come.
Matt Kindt poetically discusses in the narration the importance of turning the page. Anticipating the next part in one’s life tends to be like making your way through the pages of a book, or a comic. One tends to not know what is around the corner. Abram cannot wait to turn the page in his book, knowing that his life is on the cusp of greatness. This statement breathes true for the first issue of Divinity, and is something that will draw readers to run to their local comic shop as the second issue drops next month.