|
|
|
Project Superpowers #0
Posted 13 Feb 2008
Writer: Alex Ross (plot), Jim Krueger (plot and script)
Artist: Doug Klauba, Stephen Sadowski (interior pencils/inks); Alex Ross (covers, interior paintings, art direction)
Letters: Simon Bowland
Colors: Captain Moreno
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
4.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam McGovern
|
|
There have been a lot of accomplished, inventive revisitations of
D-list superheroes lately, from Jim Starlin’s Captain Comet to J. Michael
Straczynski’s The
Twelve. These revitalize some of the most seemingly drab or
awkward creations from decades ago by knitting them into a canon of
timeless yet diverse pop-folklore situations and types. It’s
especially intrepid of some creators to uncover the treasures they do,
since many of these tasks are set simply to help corporate giants keep
hording their copyright gold.
“Masterminds Alex Ross & Jim Krueger
have smartly tapped the essence of these endearingly
cheesy old comics.”
|
But the cycle has to do with more than the turnover of
intellectual-property lifespans — which play no part in books
like Project Superpowers,
exclusively starring public-domain players. There’s a reclaiming
of characters who were once prominent and now obscure, and a
reconsideration of the values they represented and how those contrast
with or shape the way we see and act in the world now.
In this case, it’s the can-do, seemingly uncomplicated heroes
of all the “universes” DC and Marvel didn’t create
or buy up (some of whom, from the now-mythic Nedor imprint, have been
flying again, if still under the radar, in the AC Comics line and Alan
Moore’s Terra Obscura
for the last decade or two) — Black Terror, Green Lama, the
Flame, Woman in Red, et al. Something unspeakable took them out of
action, but now they may be revived to face a sinister
“utopia” one of their number naively brought about.
Masterminds Alex Ross & Jim Krueger (with nicely polished art
— figuratively and literally — by Doug Klauba, Stephen
Sadowski and Captain Moreno for this “pilot” issue of the
miniseries) have smartly tapped the essence of these endearingly
cheesy old comics, with a magical context for the menace the heroes
face which has a modern manifestation that should please current
action and horror fans. They’ve also put an inspired spin on
their point-of-view character, Fighting Yank, who was guided by the
ghost of his Revolutionary War ancestor in the 1940s and now hovers on
that savior/madman line that real-life listeners to voices, like Joan
of Arc, are understood to teeter on too.
There’s a strong suggestion of present-day fundamentalism and
sense of mission run amok, and the old superheroes will be doing
battle with some creepily-realized new characters symbolizing the
unholy trinity of corporate empire, excessive military might and
authoritarian law. Metaphorical maneuvers like these can lead to
standard superthugs pummeling each other in ersatz political drag,
well-meaning creators beating readers more directly over the head with
their message, or both characters and audience engaging in textured
conflicts over America’s soul and heroism’s definition.
The next six issues will tell, but from the Earth-X team the
moral shadings and questionings of the questioners are probably in
good hands.
For now, one image particularly sticks in the mind, and not just
for its obvious ain’t-it-coolness: a double-page splash panorama
of waves of spandex champions invading WWII Japan. Such characters
once also overran the newsstands, and our imagination, in numbers that
beggar even the universe-fulls of superheroes still with us. Then we
came home from the war, set about getting rich and ruling the world,
and most of these characters disappeared, as we became our
biggest heroes. Time has shown that may not have been what was best
for us. But so far, Project Superpowers is very good reading
for anyone.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
|
|
