The Creators – Ryan Browne – Writer, Pete Woods – Artist, Crank! – Letters

The Players – Black Terror, Kid Terror (Tim), Captain Battle, Captain Battle Jr., Sparky, Dr. Baron Von Physics, a whole lot of heroes

The Story – Libertyville used to have a crime problem, until that is they decided to hire every available superhero possible, putting them on the payroll with benefits, housing and bonuses. Now there is not enough crime for the lot of them and that means competition and even worse, boredom.

The Take – Ryan Browne gives readers a new and fresh look at Project Superpowers and it is a far lighter exploration of the heroes that have more often than not, been presented in a far more serious manner over the past number of years. It is a very interesting premise, all of the world’s heroes essentially congregating in one small town, getting on the payroll and then starting to rely on it, especially when work starts to dry up. It is highly comedic too as Browne fills it with humour, a lot of it coming from the heroes who start fighting with each other over who gets to stop which crime or criminal because with each successful takedown, they get a bonus and those are now few and far between. Also nice to see is that the book focuses on the sidekicks instead of the main heroes, though they do make an appearance. Funnier than anything else was seeing Black Terror’s fall from grace, not so much a terror as he is terrible and a drunk to boot. Pete Woods delivers some of the best work of his career, packing the issue full of sight gags, hilarious facial expressions and some slam-bang fisticuffs. The exploration of the sidekicks, namely Kid Terror, Captain Battle Jr. and Sparky is handled expertly as they go from stand-up heroes who are just a little timid, to kids who are extremely confident in their abilities after a very surprising cliff-hanger. While the book immediately draws the reader in and continues to hold their interest with the action that takes place and the very smart use of comedy, those final few pages will ensure that readers come back for more. The biggest question that arises out of all this is just where does Browne and Woods take the story from here? It does get a person thinking and even better, makes the reader excited for whatever it might be.

Worth It? – Yes