Written by Mark Henely
KISS and comic books have a long history together. A history that has seen them print comics with real human blood mixed in with the ink and has seen them meet the likes of Howard the Duck and Archie Andrews. While it is strange that a Rock Band would have a history with comics (as sound does not play a roll in the medium of comic books), it does make some sense with KISS because they look like comic book characters. The cover of KISS #1 looks badass (it’s just a simple drawing of Gene Simmons in full make up) and one would think that it would be the harbinger of a cool comic.
However, it is not. This is not a cool comic. Although, it isn’t a total disaster. It is 20+ pages of sequential art that makes sense. But, I don’t know who would read this comic book and like it.
KISS #1 does not really feature the band KISS. Sure, their likenesses appear on a few pages, but they aren’t yet characters in this story. This story actually follows a pair of ginger twins through a post apocalyptic underground wasteland. Imagine the real world from the Matrix movies without the symbolism. These ginger twins follow signs that look like the make up that the band KISS wears as they try to get to the surface.
While I don’t know if it is possible to replicate the appeal of KISS music to the comic book page, this really misses the mark. Where is the fun? Where is the Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night? Where is the Love Gun? This is an empty headed sci-Fi story with a KISS logo. Maybe future issues will actually bring the boys into the comic, but this isn’t a promising start and I don’t know why readers who paid to read this would pay again to actually see the character they paid to see the first time.
Rating: 2.5/10
