Finally Read Rick Vietch's "The One"

Not Spoiler Free Short Review

Despite it being an absolute landmark in comics, I actually did not like it that much. Solid 4/10 on my first read.

I do have to give it props, though. This comic predates Watchmen in terms of like, the deconstruction of the superhero genre and it greatly inspired the likes of Alan Moore and Frank Miller during that era of comic books. It helped give birth to some of the greatest comic books of all time, but I just CANNOT vibe with it. 

For starters, the book, despite its core messaging, is massively cynical and the author did not look far outside his own Christian upbringing when coming up with the philosophy behind the book. It's hard to believe a book when it preaches worldly enlightenment and peace and love, and then turns right back around and tells you that the "Rapture" is the only way to save humankind; that humans are obsolete and so is the Earth, and we HAVE to leave it and "ascend" in order to save ourselves ; that humans are inherently evil and so are our "base desires" (read: sins). 

That is a juvenile, cynical, black-and-white philosophy and one I don't agree with. Not to mention the ending where they all watched a Beatles concert in paradise. It was a very " ...and we all held hands and sang Kumbaya!" type of ending and it just fell VERY flat.

The book also spends a majority of its time critiquing capitalism, communism (though it uses socialism and communism interchangeably which is already a political blunder), patriotism, and so on, yet ends with its two brainwashed, pseudo-incestuous American Ubermensches who have been fed absolutely nothing but patriotism, lies, and brainwashing for their entire lives in an isolated lab as the Adam and Eve of the "new world", but I'm supposed to believe that they've been completely deprogrammed because of the disillusionment they experience with the government.

I know it's one of his earlier works, but I was very disappointed with the fact that I didn't like this book that much considering I'm a fan of his other works, namely Brat Pack.

This book suffers from the same issues that I have with Garth Ennis' writing: while I don't disagree with it's core messaging, it's philosophy is rough around the edges and blundering. (I have OTHER issues with Garth Ennis' writing, but that's for a totally different day...)

I suppose I'd recommend it if you're a hardcore comic book fan interested in the history of comics, but if you're a casual reader this is a skip.