Reviewer: Ben Morse
Story Title: “Never Aloneâ€
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciled by: Gary Frank
Inked by: Jon Sibal
Colored by: Chris Sotomayor
Lettered by: Rus Wooton
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Wow…ok, Supreme Power is probably the most psychologically intricate and obviously most “mature†book I’ve had to review ever, so I apologize in advance for criticizing something when it was probably just a multi-layered analogy that went way over my head.
Also, I’ll probably point out like eighteen different ways in which Squadron Supreme was better, so sorry for that too.
Kidding, kidding, come back…I actually love this book just as much as the series that inspired it and am also incredibly smart, so there’s nothing to worry about.
Jeez, onto the review already…
From the first time JMS presented his concept for Supreme Power, the book has been about power and humanity, the different ways one can use the former and the things that separate people within the latter. Such heavy concepts required, understandably, a lot of exposition, for the first half dozen issues, the characters did a lot of talking and not much else; unlike it would be in most cases, this was not cause for complaint. JMS was doing brilliant work analyzing everything from how far governments will go to ensure control over a situation to how people with tremendous power keep from going insane; it was an incredibly enrapturing story about trust, alienation and morals that didn’t need a big fight every issue to keep things interesting.
So perhaps it should come as no surprise that once the big fight finally happened, things stopped being so interesting.
Ever since Hyperion and Dr. Spectrum went one on one in a spectacularly rendered battle sequence (thank you Mr. Gary Frank, more on you later), Supreme Power has failed to achieve the lofty standards it set for itself in its early issues. I’m reasonable enough to know that I (and others) would have eventually gotten tired of the cast sitting around just talking, but there’s no denying that much of this book’s charm came from the sheer density of the elucidation of the key issues being the focus over trying to advance the plot (which moved along organically just fine); since Hyperion destroyed the military base in what was, in my opinion, the last really good issue of the series (and one that, unfortunately cost us some great foils to our lead), the pace has jumped and this has become more of a traditional super-hero story with only trappings of the quest for identity that I loved about the book in the first place.
So yeah, I’m not a fan of the new style of pacing JMS seems to be adapting in an effort to make this into a more traditional super hero book. But beyond that, for better or worse, this issue gave us a pretty good look into three distinct sets of characters (or in one case a single character) with varying results; let’s go deeper into that.
Dr. Spectrum
Ok, I lied: here is one spot in which Squadron Supreme has it all over Supreme Power. SS (I find myself really wanting to say “Pre-Crisisâ€) Doc was a more complex version of Silver Age Hal Jordan: loving being a hero for all the right reasons, but also unable to get enough of the glitz and glamour. After his tragic fate in the Squadron maxi-series, Spectrum became an even more compelling character (in the Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe graphic novel), as he made no secret of the fact he bemoaned the loss of his physical beauty (read the series), but you could tell the sadness he felt over letting down friends and lovers (read the series) trumped that. He was very real: somebody with a strong compulsion to do the right thing, but who was open to and fell prey to flaws of vanity.
The SP Dr. Spectrum is very one-dimensional, if even that. We’ve been given very little background on the guy and he gets off just enough cool lines to make that fact really frustrate you. I just complained about the recent pacing of the series being too fast, but in Spectrum’s case, it’s exactly the opposite; the bit with him being partially controlled by the Power Prism (or whatever they’re calling it this go-around) was cool once or twice, but by the third time it’s played and needs to be explained already. The fact that Spectrum is getting a mini-series both confuses and delights me since there is seemingly nothing to him but potentially so much to explore; the fact that JMS is not writing it concerns me since it says to me he has no idea where to go with this character.
Nighthawk & The Blur
The whole “Nighthawk is a black man whose parents were murdered by racists†sounded like a really good idea on paper and is coming off really poorly and one-note in execution. The only real natural story arc I could have seen working with the character would be for him to start off as somebody who hates all whites and then learn by working with others of various skin colors that good and evil lies beneath the surface, blah blah blah…it’s hokey, but at the end of the day, you’ve still got a likeable character; Nighthawk is simply not a likeable character. I don’t mean he’s not likeable in a Guy Gardner sort of “love to hate†sort of way, I mean he’s one step away from being offensive in his unimaginative portrayal. It’s impossible to root for a character who is ascribing to the same doctrine as those he hates, just in reverse; hypocrisy is a great springboard for good villains, but not for a guy you’re supposed to be setting up as one of your “heroes.†I know the big argument against this would be that this is a dark book without any real heroes, but to make the non-powered character, the one who gets by just on his intelligence, so short-sighted just seems implausible to me and is also going to make it tough for me to find it believable the first time he needs to think his way out of a tougher situation than killing would be rapists.
Conversely, The Blur is a breath of fresh air, a great, relatable character that has the potential to transition nicely into the point of view focal point for the series now that Hyperion has drifted a little beyond the beaten path. Blur is actually a bit reminiscent of the SS Dr. Spectrum I spoke of earlier, a good kid who has gotten sidetracked by fame and fortune; his youth is an extra asset in making his persona believable and making him a character readers can empathize with.
I see this pairing as being a good thing for both parties and the reader if written correctly. Blur can serve as a lens for us to get a better view into Nighthawk’s world and perhaps with more fleshing out of his background and motives, I’ll be able to read the character without rolling my eyes at the complete lack of depth. Or maybe Blur can loosen the bastard up a bit. Or maybe Nighthawk will convert Blur to the way of the cookie cutter Black Panther and I’ll drop the book.
Hyperion & Zarda
Mark Milton of course remains the number one reason to follow this book. This is a character we as readers have truly gotten to watch make the journey from infant to the most powerful and confused man on the planet and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more empathy for a fictional creation. Not much out of him this month, but he shines in his brief moments as you can truly feel the anguish, frustration and desperation he feels as he just wants to know where he comes from and why he exists and nobody seems willing to tell him; poor guy.
Zarda is a kick and a half. Gary Frank’s rendition of a gorgeous naked woman aside, her crazed euphoria is probably the best I’ve ever read in a comic (she reminded me of Drusilla from Buffy/Angel). I’d say the greatest testament to JMS’s writing ability is that I fell hook line and sinker for every fake Hyperion origin scenario she presented up until like the very last one. Nice surreal segment and I’m curious to see where this relationship goes as it’s a very odd pairing between the All-American farmboy and (essentially) the whacked out hippie; I expect good things.
With the character stuff out of the way, allow me to take a moment to praise Gary Frank; the man is truly getting better each and every month and becoming one of the best artists in comics. His landscapes are breathtaking, his mastery of the human form is remarkable and he possesses that unique skill that even masters like Alan Davis and Jim Lee often come up short on: he makes the faces of each character distinct; can’t say enough good things about Gary Frank.
The ending of the issue in a nutshell pretty well encompassed my points earlier about the pacing of this book is careening out of control. They’ve got a very good main story going on with Hyperion, now with Zarda as a new element. Dr. Spectrum is already a tangent and Nighthawk and Blur could easily play a spoiler role much as the original Nighthawk did during Squadron Supreme. I’m intrigued by the mystery at the end, and do see some logic to keeping the more down to earth characters occupied with something that won’t see them getting torn apart by heat vision two seconds into a fight, but presumably we need to get the characters together eventually and throwing another unconnected plot in at this point seems counterproductive; I stand to be proven wrong.
