Renato Jones: The One% #1 is an angry comic book. Since it is the product of one creator entirely, it’s probably fair to say that the subject matter of this comic makes Kaare Andrews very mad. As you probably guessed, Andrews has no love for super rich, super elite folks referred to as “the 1%.”  Sure, these folks are not especially loved in very many circles these days, what with the whole recession, struggling economy, and dark money fueling the political system, but Andrews takes it to the realm of literal monsters and murders. If that seems a little heavy-handed, it’s because it is. But you have to give it up for Andrews; he’s putting it all out there. All his anger, frustration, and cynicism are right there on the page. He’s not pulling any punches.

The story is not a surprising one. Renato Jones: The One% is basically about a vigilante making these upper crusters pay for their crimes against the world with their blood. It does involve some supervillain-level science, though chiefly it’s a book about revenge and violence. We don’t get much in the way of character yet, but there are plenty of clues sprinkled throughout to help us piece together who Renato Jones is as a person. Time will tell whether or not he’s a character we want to care about in the long run.

No matter the story being told, a comic book by Kaare Andrews is always worth picking up because of the man’s supremely fantastic visuals. In Renato Jones: The One%, Andrews does everything—he writes, draws, and colors this comic, which makes for some stunning artwork. If you read his Marvel work (check out Iron Fist: The Living Weapon—it’s amazing) you know that Andrews can create some truly inspiring spreads. In Renato Jones: The One% #1 that is cranked to 11. He jumps from black and white, starkly structured pages to highly detailed, brightly colored and visually layered scenes. Even when the story falters, the gorgeous artwork carries the book. Visually, this issue is a 10 out of 10. It’s comic book perfection.

Renato Jones: The One% #1 is not going to be for everybody. The story has a little ways to go before it really grabs us, but boy oh boy is it pretty. If Kaare Andrews is drawing a comic book, we will be reading that comic book. We’re sticking with this series, because nobody in modern comics lays out a page like Andrews. Nobody else brings the energy and life he delivers on every page. Nobody else makes comic books quite like Kaare Andrews, and that’s the way we like it.

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IMAGE: Image Comics