
Writer: Alejandro Arbona Artist: Jim Towe Colorist: Diego Rodriguez Letterer: Clayton Cowles Cover Artist: Kenneth Rocafort, Stacey Lee, Raúl Allén, Doug Braithwaite, Jim Towe Assistant Editor: Drew Baumgartner Senior Editorial Director: Robert Meyers

Doctor Tomorrow, a new series from Valiant Entertainment, starts off in the middle of an epic fight between a bunch of heroes and a creepy looking bad guy with interesting hair. I must admit that the Valiant universe is one I am mostly unfamiliar with, so I don’t know if these characters appear in other books (I did recognize Faith). Doctor Tomorrow arrives to hopefully save the day.
The fight scene is the ‘drop you in the middle teaser to get you interested’ and the book shifts to two high school friends friends playing baseball. Bart and Gretchen’s banter soon establishes them as both sporty and science whizzes. That’s an interesting combination, as most books choose the ‘dumb jock’ or ‘science nerd’ archetypes. Gretchen has potential to be a cool character, but she is kind of preachy.
While it has been a while since I’ve been in high school, their conversations didn’t seem as natural to me as some other books I’ve reviewed recently. Bart gives us a fairly standard monologue providing some a semi-tragic backstory. There’s also the obligatory high school bullying scene, which struck me as odd. I mean, the guy is on the baseball team and a girl is hugging him, and some bullies make fun of him for that?
Criticism aside, the middle section of the book does effectively introduce the characters and what drives them. The book improves when Doctor Tomorrow’s story intersects with Bart and Gretchen’s. The end has an interesting tease of things to come.
This book lacks the type of mature material that warrants parental discretion, but I think it is most likely to be enjoyed by children in middle school and up. While I feel it may be finding its way a bit, there is enough here to make it worth checking out. I’m sure people familiar with other Valiant characters will enjoy this as well, but I don’t think there is anything you need to know to read issue 1.