Supurbia #1
By Russell Dauterman, Gabriel Cassata & Grace Randolph
Published by Boom Comics
SUPURBIA: Yes. That's the words "Super" and "Suburbia" mixed together like Brangelina or....well that's the only one I can think of right now. I'm sure there's a million others.
Anyhow - the name says it all, in more ways then one. This is, at least for this issue, about some superheroes who are part of some team called the Meta Legion and who also live on the same street, in the same suburb.
Why wouldn't they, I suppose? It makes sense. Living amongst "like minded" or rather "like super-powered" people would make you feel comfortable, right?
Oy....I don't really know how to write about this comic. Seriously. I guess it's a cute idea? When I was explaining the premise to my friend he said, "so, it's like The Unit, but with superheroes?" And, the answer is yes. That's basically it.
In this issue, every couple of pages we're introduced to a different couple, their particular dynamic, who they are and what their powers are, and how they fit into the Meta Legion. I suppose I could type it all out, explaining to you who's who and what's what - but that's already been done. It's been done in the comic book. That's where you can find all of that info. And since I already spoiled the part about it being in a suburb, there's not much else in the comic to get into besides the specifics of the character relationships, so...there's that.
Here's something. The very first vignette shows this huge, powerful guy - he's got massive strength, can read minds, perhaps he's even faster than a speeding bullet - and he leaves his pretty blonde girlfriend at home as he goes off to work. And it made me think of some issue (or issues?) of some version of Superman a few years ago. Forgive me, as you know I don't really keep up. But I do remember someone showing this comic to me (and perhaps I even read it), and that it chose to explore the question "what would it really be like to be in a love relationship with Superman?" Can he hug you? Or do you put yourself at risk of death with every embrace? Does he ever have the time or space in his head to just focus on the woman in his life, or will she always be second, third, fourth, or fifth place? It's interesting to realistically explore unrealistic situations, and I find that sort of exploration to be the basis for some of the best comics that I've read. I'm not sure if it's good for the basis of a story, but it seems like it would be a good subplot, a good bit of flavor to go with all the regular stuff they do in these things. Again, not that I'm an expert, but at this point, I guess I've read a good amount of comic books.
Maybe this could be a fun, comic-book version of Desperate Housewives? I don't think so. This is the first issue and it was a whole bunch of set-up, and as it went on, it seems like it's mainly going to be about this Meta Legion and, for now, the cliff hanger is that the "First Lady" (the chick who's married to the guy who seems to be the leader of the Meta Legion, and who happens to be dying) is a double agent or shape shifter or alien or just not who she seems to be.
It's a cliff hanger, I don't know if it's a good one, but it is a cliff hanger. Some of the characters are interesting. But to me it just feels tiresome. It feels silly to have created a whole new set of super heroes and relationships to explore this particular storyline. Is that a weird thing to say? I don't know - do we need more super heroes? I have a hard time with these kinds of off brand super-heroes. They always feel like runner-up stories. I'm not sure why that is, but it just seems like a waste of time. This comic didn't make me angry, or sad. It just made me feel tired and sad. There's so much better places to be than this.
-Nina Stone, 2012
From the mention of Brangelina I was going to post them other celeb name mashups from I Hate Your Guts by Jim Norton but THEY'RE SO JUVENILE HUBLLBHU ;-;
Posted by: Blorg Fleebo | 2012.04.08 at 23:58