The Leaders of the Free World #1 Review

Writer: Corey Pruitt

Artist: Elijah Isaiah Johnson

Rating: 5 of 8

The Leaders of the Free World #1

Sometimes the different pieces of something good fail to come together to make a greater whole. Unfortunately, that's the case with The Leaders of the Free World's debut issue. There're different elements that, if better realized, could make for a more satisfying issue, but they aren't.

I will praise how Pruitt tells us the world's history. Instead of one character explaining it to another, we find it out from Cong Li reading out his history book in class, which is a unique way to fill us in on the world's history. 

So far, Li isn't a really likable or compelling protagonist. He has such an attitude that it feels like he's rebelling against something, but what? It could be what they're being taught. Not understanding it, or agreeing with it. Or that he's not allowed to use his powers in other parts of the world, so needs to let that anger out somewhere. 

Even though it's only brief, I liked the conversation between Brotha Nature and his mother Gaea. It teased an interesting internal conflict that could be interesting to see explored in future issues. I didn't understand why it ended all of a sudden, with the next scene being between them, Cong and his friend.

The issue also didn't explain what Cong and Cage were doing there and only alluded to why Nature was chastising them, instead of showing what angered him. I feel the issue ended abruptly and that it was odd it ended where it did, having only switched scenes. It might've been better if the issue had the Moonshine scenes toward the end, instead of having the Cong scenes interrupt the flow.

Overall, a disappointing 1st issue. Shows some promise, particularly with Brotha Nature's internal conflict, but not much else. Art's mostly a bit messy, though there is some excitement from a scene where superhero Technokinetic faces off against a giant octopus. Most of the Godsend are very well drawn, with Johnson here evoking a style reminiscent of classic superhero comics. Hopefully future issues are an improvement.