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A review by phoenicality
The Complete Concrete by Paul Chadwick
2.0
I actually read Concrete in its 7 volumes, but I won't star each one because they ran together.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed. The concept for the character - basically taking a superhero origin story where the character was not a superhero but trying to live a normal life - was interesting, and I liked the idea of the first bits, where Concrete takes advantage of his new abilities to do the kinds of exploration and adventure that he'd always wanted. But it started spiralling downward when Chadwick politicized the story. I have nothing against politics or messages in a story, but they seemed egregiously out of place in Concrete, as though Chadwick had said "Well I have this comic book and I'm really liberal, let's rock this!" Concrete's adventures with Earth First! or with the Overpopulation crusade just felt kind of cheesy and out of place, and made me miss the wasted potential of what started out as an adventure series.
Top this off with "comic-book dialogue" which can only be considered stereotypical at best, and you've got a package with promise which sadly wastes it.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed. The concept for the character - basically taking a superhero origin story where the character was not a superhero but trying to live a normal life - was interesting, and I liked the idea of the first bits, where Concrete takes advantage of his new abilities to do the kinds of exploration and adventure that he'd always wanted. But it started spiralling downward when Chadwick politicized the story. I have nothing against politics or messages in a story, but they seemed egregiously out of place in Concrete, as though Chadwick had said "Well I have this comic book and I'm really liberal, let's rock this!" Concrete's adventures with Earth First! or with the Overpopulation crusade just felt kind of cheesy and out of place, and made me miss the wasted potential of what started out as an adventure series.
Top this off with "comic-book dialogue" which can only be considered stereotypical at best, and you've got a package with promise which sadly wastes it.