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Celebrities aren’t usually great at playing the part of Renaissance man. In my opinion, singers generally try to dabble in acting a bit more than they should. Among the many who have tried, few (such as Will Smith or Jamie Fox) actually make it big and do a great job with it. Tyrese Gibson is speedily making a name for himself among those few who can successfully transfer themselves into the acting game, but now he is taking things one step further and adding his name to the writing credits of a monthly comic title.

To be fair, I have no idea whether he actually wrote any of Mayhem, or if his name is just a sales tactic for Image. From what I can gather, it seems like he did. When Quentin Tarantino stamped his name on a movie like Jet Li’s Hero, one could easily tell it was just marketing because: 1- The movie had already been released overseas and 2- Mr. Tarantino never lifted a finger to promote the movie other than to sign the release to put his name on posters and trailers. Gibson, on the other hand, has been promoting like crazy for this book ever since its conception.

The protagonist of Mayhem, whose likeness seems to be based on Tyrese, is a man named Dante who is out for revenge on criminal kingpin who goes by Big X. From there, you can pretty much imagine what type of story this is and where it is going right? Well, not exactly. The story does seem pretty cliché. Two action scenes are broken up by a quick visit to a local church to atone for the preceding and ensuing violence. Concepts like this added to other formula ingredients like endless streams of black-suited bad guys, a sexy accomplice, and a rich old white villain might lead you to believe that this story is pretty run-of-the-mill; but appearances can be deceiving.

The first clue that Mayhem is more than meets the eye is that it is contained in the comic book medium. While the plot may seem familiar, try to imagine the last time you saw action like this on a page rather than a screen. Also consider the more original bits of plot and character. Because this is a monthly title, fun mysteries and surprises are added to the story to keep us interested enough to buy the next issue. I won’t ruin them for you, but I will tell you that they are original and genuinely engrossing. I am honestly looking forward to the developments in the characters of Dante, Felicia, and Big X as the story continues.

I won’t lie to you and tell you that Mayhem is innovative or thought-provoking. More than anything, it seems to be an exercise in adrenaline-fueled entertainment, but it doesn’t claim to be anything else. And that’s refreshing! It’s still too early to tell whether or not Dante’s character will endure and become one of the more notable and recognizable characters in this industry that eats new heroes for breakfast, but I do believe that it is worthy of its status as the newest addition to my pull-list at the comic shop.

(4/5)