Writer: Tom Waltz
Artist: Casey Maloney
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Editor’s Note: Gene Simmons' Zipper #1 will arrive in stores in November and is available for pre-order now. The Diamond Order code is SEP07 3766.
Average Rating: 
Bruce Logan: 
Martijn Form: 
Judson Miers: 
SPOILER WARNING: The following reviews discuss plot developments of the issue.
Bruce Logan:
EXCLAMATION: “Boring to Intriguing, in all of 22 pages!”
EXPLANATION: Earth gets a new alien visitor in the form of Xeng Ral, who thanks to his rather zipperific costume is quickly labeled… what else… Zipper. Yeah, the “Zipper” in Zipper isn’t Zipper because of his speed related powers but rather because of the dozens of zippers dotting his costume (more like holding it together).
Hailing originally from Etheria, which itself is located in the Nether Ether, Xeng is a fugitive from the authoritarian, uh, authorities who seem to have a teensy bit of a problem with his individuality. The costume, which he grabs during his escape, gives him, amongst other things, the ability to survive on our side of the universe and shape-shift to a human appearance. Other abilities become evident when a group of unfortunate drug dealing thug types get a little too much into Xeng’s face for the suit’s comfort.
There is also a side-plot (for now) about an Evangelical preacher who is a little too Sci-Fi in his preaching and beliefs.
EXAMINATION (Story): Three pages in and I was ready to zip-up this zipper, yet by the time I was done with the last page, I had not only pulled it (i.e. the imaginary zipper, for I was wearing sweatpants) down but settled into a nice n’ sweet comic reading position. My journey from the former to the latter kicked off with the rather lackluster start. Even though it turns to be quite different, the opening sequence of Zipper makes the series seem as if it’s a space-drama-thriller-something. However, once Xeng got his move on, things started to look up, picking up speed once he stumbled onto Earth.
In between Xeng’s arrival on Earth and his first major fight—which I should mention was a bloody one though not for Mr. Zipper who I am pretty sure doesn’t have blood in the hemoglobin “red” sense—Dr. Foster H. Deveroux and his Cosmic Defense Ministry is introduced. Sure to play an important part in the coming issues, Deveroux’s role here is limited to verbose blah-blah-ing (just like your usual Friendly Neighborhood Evangelical preacher). What is even more funny or creepy or depending on how you see it, a combination of both, is that Ol’ Foster actually seems to believe what he preaches.
EXAMINATION (Art): Acceptable enough but nothing memorably impressive. On the plus side, it isn’t memorably craptastic either. Still, seeing as this was just the first issue, I hope the quality and finish of the visuals improve as the art-team settles down and gets comfortable with the characters and locales.
PROCLAMATION: At the end of the day, Zipper #1 earns more positive marks than negative, enough to get me to mark it up for my usual “Trial of Three (Issues)”… but only just.
You can find more reviews by Bruce Logan at www.xcave.net
Martijn Form The first few captions didn’t give me high hopes for this comic book: “We are the center. We are the old ones. We are the caretakers of law. We are the holders of truth,” and this goes on and on. It felt extremely stock to me. When the dialogue sets in, I felt like I was watching some bad old Blake 7 or original Dr. Who episode, and not something that is fresh and new. Maybe this book isn’t supposed to be different, but that is what I expect from IDW.
IDW always has justified their price tag by saying that readers have to pay for quality. Well, I can accept that when it comes to Ashley Wood or Ben Templesmith books. But as far as Zipper is concerned, I’m sorry to say that I can’t find a $3.99 price tag appropriate for this book. It’s just too mediocre!
Consider the art, for instance. In a letter printed in the back of the issue, Gene Simmons states about Casey Maloney: “He’s considered by many to be a rising superstar in the industry…” Now is he really? I wish Mr. Maloney a grand career in comics, but Zipper isn’t very special. The art feels…stock. Sorry for using that word again. Let me rephrase that: his drawings in Zipper are very static, and the action scenes aren’t vibrant. Faces seemed like they have frozen up, and the lack of expressions bothered me. There are panels where the facial expressions are contradictory to the dialogue. My first reaction was that there probably is more to that scene than meets the eye. But after reading it twice, I can safely say that isn’t the case. There is no deeper meaning; the dialogue and the characters faces just don’t match all the time.
About the story I can be brief: an alien escapes from his planet and ends up…exactly, you already guessed it right, on good old earth.
*SIGH*
Today’s comic industry thinks that it needs to attract big established names to sell more books, and you will find no one bigger than Gene Simmons.
I think neither comic fans nor a new audience really wants to see a star on their comic book; they just want great entertainment. People who can dream comics, who live and breathe them. Not some bypasser who thinks he can make great comics.
I wish it weren’t, but IDW is star struck with Gene Simmons.
For more information about this reviewer, go to www.martijnform.com
Judson Miers: Summary: On a distant planet, there exists a single collective society called Etheria. When the entire purpose of your life involves being a member of a collective, it’s a bad day after one of the collective begins to think for himself as an individual. This is exactly what happens when first we meet Denizen Xeng Ral, who is being brought up on charges before the council. Not only that, it’s a real bummer when your convictions and courage are viewed as weaknesses.
Fleeing his captors, grabbing a battle suit, and jumping in a transporter, he makes his way to Earth (Terminator-style). Of course, the ensuing chase begins with the prerequisite overlord threats for the underlings to find this rebel. Unfortunately for Ral, every time he transforms into his battle suit, a signal is sent to the other Etherians so they can track him.
An interesting twist that WILL doubtless be exploited in subsequent issues is a visionary whose mission is to bring intergalactic peace between humans and species from other planets. Ironically enough, Dr. Deveroux is a cross between a televangelist and alien conspiracy theorist: one part preacher of salvation and one part Agent Bishop from TMNT. More on that to come in future issues...
Critique: As a part of having full disclosure, I was sent this issue as an advance preview. After agreeing to write a review, I learned that Gene Simmons was the creator of this new character. I’m no fan of Gene Simmons, but I’ll have to admit that I’m pleasantly surprised by Zipper. Simmons has been able to weave a complete universe with a believable character that bears further reading.
The artwork is not photo-realistic and not anime either but somewhere in between and entirely pleasant. The environments are well developed and approachable. It would have been very easy to not develop the backgrounds and just let them exist as blobs or shapes, but Maloney gave us more. It’s also a nice contrast of the Etherians of being amoeba-like amorphous forms to have the ability to assimilate into Earth as a shape-shifter, presumably due to the combat suit’s inherent abilities.
All in all, I think this issue is definitely worth looking at and probably worth putting on your pull list. The storyline and overall character universe that has been introduced has the potential to be as expansive as the MU. Let’s keep up the good work, Gene.
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