Burnouts #1 Review

by Nathan Koffler on September 19, 2018

Writer: Dennis Culver
Artist: Geoffo
Letterer: Dave Dwonch
Colorist: Lauren Perry
Publisher: Image Comics


I will admit that even before I read this debut issue of Burnouts, I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it based on the description. But I thought that it had potential to be really interesting and funny so I wanted to give it a chance. Now that I have read it, I think that it is pretty good but not great and kind of funny but not original.

The first half of the issue introduces us to stereotypical stoners and two stereotypical nerds. Of those two nerds, one wants nothing to do with the stoners and wants to focus on his future while the other, our main characters Andy, wants to see what all the fun is about. It is a very generic setup that feels a bit like an 80’s comedy. I have no problem with this introduction because I really love tropes so I wasn’t turned off by that yet.

The party and reveal of who the Burnouts really are and what they do was pretty interesting and was a fun little twist on the whole story. I thought that it was an enjoyable alien-bashing scene but even still, through all of it, nothing really blew me away. I spent the entire issue thinking to myself, “Eh, I’m not sure that I’ll keep reading this series.” But I thought that the ending, while also pretty generic, was exciting and immediately made me decide that I will at least pick up the next issue to see how this pans out.

Overall, Burnouts #1 is pretty mediocre and doesn’t break any new ground. Though unoriginality doesn’t necessarily make or break an issue for me, the writing just isn’t amazing enough to make the story as interesting as it has potential to be. The issue as a whole had some great qualities but also fell flat in a lot of areas. These faults were enough to make the issue kind of bland and unexciting. A pretty unoriginal idea like this can absolutely work with the right writing, but as of now, I’m not sure that this team is going to be able to pull it off.

Our Score:

6/10

A Look Inside