Written by Joshua Oysart

Art by Cafu and Mico Suayan

Colors by Andrew Dalhouse

Letters by Dave Sharpe

Edited by David Menchel and Karl Bollers

Published by Valiant

Can Man achieve world peace without first going through violent conflict? That is the central question of Joshua Oysart’s ambitious SciFi/Superhero tale, The Life and Death of Toyo Harada.

Oyasart’s tight story begins with the Big Bang and transports us 14 Billion years to the birth of the titular character, Toyo Harada, and his life in pre-World War Two Hiroshima, Japan. Miraculously, the child survives the devastation of the nuclear explosion by apparently using PSIonics. This event drives him to strive for a world without war. Flash forward 70 years and a now aged commanding Harada has assembled a team of super powered beings, some seem to be alien in nature, to assist him in fulfilling his dreams of a war free world. Unfortunately, the rest of the world doesn’t share his utopian vision and is at war with Harada and his allied nations.

The taut script is smart and thoughtful in all the right ways, bringing the reader into a fully visualized alternate reality and introducing the cast and tale organically. The story is greatly supported by the hyper-realistic art of Cafu and Mico Suayan, and the understated colors of Andrew Dalhouse capture both the past and present wonderfully. Overall, this is a terrific beginning of what is shaping up to be an intelligent and dynamic story. It will thrill both superhero and SciFi fans. Highly recommended.

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Andre Owens is the creator of the comics Force Galaxia and The Bovine Leauge, as well as the screenwriter of the forthcoming Screen Gems, feature film, Reparations. He is a former Director of Photography who has been hiding out in Los Angeles for the past 22 years. His company website is at www.hirounlimited.com.