The ’90s were a time of anti-heroes and grimdark shenanigans. Witness: The Butcher! Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of The Butcher #1 awaits!

THE BUTCHER #1

Writer: Mike Baron
Penciler: Shea Anton Pensa
Inker: Shea Anton Pensa
Colorist: Julia Lacquement
Letterer: Steve Haynie 
Editor: Mike Gold
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $1.50
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $2.00
Release Date: March 15, 1990

Previously in The Butcher: Beginning with independent comic Nexus, Mike Baron quickly made a name for himself as a writer, eventually being picked for the high-profile relaunch of The Flash after Crisis on Infinite Earths and the death of Barry Allen. That 1987 series led to writing Batman’s adventures, reviving Deadman in the pages of Action Comics Weekly, and the prestigious assignment to wrap up Atari Force. Still, as the mind behind Badger, Baron’s loyalties lie with the non-powered vigilante archetype.

We begin with a passenger train, traveling through snow-capped mountains.
As the train travels on, two flunkies of mysterious billionaire Jim Loftus approach a young woman named Karen, offering to bring her back to the swanky private car for dinner. She agrees, even as the candy vendor questions her on the decision. As Karen remarks that nothing bad could happen to her on a Canadian train, the vendor retreats to a secret room to ruminate about what brought HIM to the Rockies.
In order to steal his family’s land (a little bit on the nose), Loftus blew up their business, killed his parents, and left Butcher’s sister in a coma with life-threatening burns. He vowed revenge, and as he puts on his costume, Butcher is ready to get deadly revenge. Back in the dining car, Karen and Loftus finish their dinner, and while his massive bodyguard takes her daughter for a nap, Karen realizes that things aren’t quite what they seemed, and Mr. Loftus has things other than salmon mousse on his mind.
Fortunately for Karen, John Butcher is on the move, recalling more of his origins (training in martial arts and philosophy in Okinawa, as well as his grandfather’s imparting of the ways of their people) as he moves across the top of the train. He makes short work of the bodyguards, though not without heroic injuries and the necessary flesh wounds, only to find that Loftus was only the middleman in the murder of his parents. After possibly killing Loftus, he finds that the train car has been uncoupled and that they’re rocketing toward their doom.
Pensa’s art is really good at setting the scene and providing interesting backgrounds, but I find his facial expressions to be underwhelming throughout the issue. There’s a sameness to the faces, no matter the character, which combines with strange head shapes to make most of the close-ups a little terrifying. Still, once Butcher, mother, and daughter leap from the train into a snowbank, Pensa gives us a charming little domestic scene as they begin trekking through the Canadian wilderness.
Baron’s grasp of storytelling is excellent, especially in the skillful way the origin story is threaded into the ongoing events, but that story ends up feeling like half a dozen ’80s movies in the Death Wish vein. The Butcher #1 came out at a time when I was heavily into everything DC was publishing, but it never really caught my attention, nor did it catch on with the readers, with a mundane story and pretty okay art combining for 3 out of 5 stars overall. As a first issue, it’s a little disappointing, but when you add in that it’s the character’s first appearance, it’s an entirely puzzling comic reading experience.

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THE BUTCHER #1

57%

57%

Gone And Forgotten

Though Butcher was part of the New 52, I don't think anybody will remember him from this humdrum issue, though Pensa's art is interesting.

• Wrlting

  6
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  4
• User Ratings (0 Votes)
  0