Zenescope Entertainment 2016
Written by Joe Brusha
Illustrated by Eric J & Christhian Zamora
Coloured by Marco Lesko
Lettered by Matt Krotzer
With great power... comes great corruption. Superheroes are real. They walk the earth as gods among men. But the fairy tales of them protecting mankind and being heroes were all lies. Humans have become their slaves, fit only to serve their super-powered masters. But in man, the nature of the true hero still survives... and one group rises up to challenge their self-appointed masters. Can they hope to succeed or will their opposition only push mankind closer to extinction?
I came into this one with a little trepidation. Joe’s hit or miss or lately on his storytelling he really needs to concentrate on one at a time and really work on writing, he’s getting better but you can still see where he needs to work on it. The kind of rip-off of a certain group is clearly evident but then I guess that’s really the standard these days. However as the story goes on it’s clear something else is happening and these are visages that the public will recognize not necessarily what they really look like. I like that there is more to the facade than meets the eye and these superpowered beings have taken forms that the general populace is more apt to identity with.
I think one of the reasons this issue works so well is that there is very little dialogue and instead it’s a visual marvel at setting up the new status quo of the world. With Eric doing interiors again and superpowered beings to boot we knew this was going to rock but I actually love the way this whole issue is laid out. The flow of the book is great and the use of angles, perspective through the pages and panels really make this powerful. The attention to detail his absolutely wonderful and the backgrounds and two-page spreads are purely delightful. This is how we visually want to see our comics.
Then as we see these new superpowered beings wreaking havoc on the world there are those who have another role to play. They seem to disappear from panels as nicely as the New Gods do. Still that some think tank somewhere thought up a contingency plan for something like this is an awesome idea. I mean hell I wouldn’t be surprised if after the advent of comics is folks haven’t been trying to give people powers ever since. So this is a great counterbalance to the whole scenario.
I loved seeing the destruction these beings have wrought. From the leveling of Major cities to well cracking San Andreas Fault it’s really good stuff. Though the realization of their final appearance this issue that’s when you begin to see the bigger picture. Then with the others who we see well the mystery behind them is only beginning with what we see.
I’m thrilled by this issue it’s very well structured and presented. The whole thing has this great feel to it and is incredibly well rendered visually so that you get the premise, idea and truth behind what’s happening but we’re still waiting on the why and how. It’s a good way to draw in readers and keep them. This is definitely one you want to get in on!