Saturday, February 23, 2019

REVIEW: The Weatherman Vol. 1


A new series from writer JODY LEHEUP (SHIRTLESS BEAR-FIGHTER!), artist NATHAN FOX (DMZ, HAUNT, Dark Reign: Zodiac), and colorist DAVE STEWART (Hellboy, RUMBLE), The Weatherman follows Nathan Bright, a meteorologist on Mars who is accused of wiping out nearly the entire population of Earth.

Disclaimer: I received advance copies of the individual issues collected in The Weatherman Vol.1 courtesy of Image Comics.
Opinions are my own.


Nathan Bright had it all: an awesome girlfriend, a kickass dog, and a job as the number one weatherman on terraformed Mars. But when he’s accused of carrying out the worst terrorist attack in human history—an event that wiped out nearly the entire population of Earth—Nathan becomes the most wanted man alive and a target of a manhunt that spans the galaxy. But is Nathan truly responsible for such a horrific crime?

Nathan is my kind of character! He sleeps in and gets to work late, but still manages to pull a successful show together and keep his job. He's happy-go-lucky and everything always works out for him. That's why the prospect of him being accused of committing the biggest crime in the history of the universe is so intriguing. From the start I was already 100% convinced he's innocent, so I wanted to see how he gets out of this one!

Nathan Bright was just a TV meteorologist living it up on Mars. Or is he? One of the major plot points in The Weatherman involves memory/identity replacements. Maybe it’s the Mars setting, but I get massive Total Recall vibes.


Nathan Bright is allegedly an artificial persona created by Ian Black - the real perpetrator of the destruction of Earth - who replaced his memories so he could hide in plain sight. Agent Cross captures Nathan to find Black’s original memories to officially close the case.

Nathan knows what this really means. Once they replace his memory with Black’s, Nathan will die. The Total Recall comparisons are just begging to be made. Nathan’s a pretty good guy. He didn’t blow up the Earth, so why should he have to pay for it?

These kinds of questions are what made me love The Weatherman. It’s wild and weird and there are lightsabers and transforming cars and virtual reality torture devices, but it can still be thought-provoking. The writing really puts me in Nathan’s head and the artwork puts me in his world - every element of this is perfect!


Sometimes, it’s good to see the same old thing. Other times, what makes readers come back to a comic like The Weatherman is that the same thing never happens twice.

The Weatherman is wild and bloody fun that keeps getting better with each page. Leheup’s world is smart and engaging with backgrounds beautifully crafted by Fox and Stewart, no two panels are the same and each one is filled with so much creativity and heart.

When it comes to local news, everyone skips the weather. But trust me: you won't want to miss this! The characters are funny, the sci-fi world-building is phenomenal, the artwork is gorgeous, and the whole thing comes together to hook you right from the first pages!

The Weatherman has only just begun but it’s full of adrenaline and hilarity. It's the kind of space opera we need right now. This is an intense sci-fi adventure that you won’t want to miss. Click here to order Vol 1 and get caught up for the return of Nathan Bright in 2019.