Review: Public Enemy #0 Preview Edition

Public Enemy Limited Edition Issue #0 Preview
Written by Chuck D and Adam Wallenta
Art by Adam Wallenta
Published by American Mule Entertainment $2.99 USD

There has never been a comic about a hip-hop group or artist that has ever been any good, and the wait continues. Believe me, I applaud anyone who gives it a try, which is why I bought this, especially as it stars one of the most important hip-hop groups of all time, Public Enemy. But, you know, what's great about Public Enemy is 95% oral. It's the intensity of the music, the lyrics, and the vocal delivery of Chuck D, with Flavor Flav as comic relief. Making the group, now in their '40s, into some kind of superhero team or sect of martial artists failed in that Wu-Tang Clan comic years ago, and it fails here.

The intentions are okay: PE arrives in New Orleans to help get food to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, but some government workers get in their face and have to be dealt with. No, they're not killed, just knocked out. I have to assume Chuck D's cowriting credit is just for helping come up with the basic premise, because I can't imagine he would write dialogue so leaden, even if his Introduction is strident and artless. I understand that Flav and Chuck are supposed to be heroes here, but couldn't they rhyme a little? It's odd that Flav gets most of the lines, and they're so bland: "Thanks for the assist"; "Rock a bye baby" (as he releases knockout gas from his famous clock necklace) and this response to someone who's lost everything: "No you didn't. You still have the most important thing God has given you. Life." To quote the real Flav, "Yipes!". And does he really wear a Viking helmet these days?

Wallenta's art is as flat and amateurish as his script, just not ready for publishing. If he did the covers, he does have some talent, but the contents are just not up to scratch. It's true, I wasn't expecting that much from this comic, but with Chuck D's presence it should have been a lot better than this.