Two new titles came out this week, both taking off-kilter looks at the super-hero genre. One charmed me right off the bat. The other managed to work my last nerve. (Guess which one has been covered in microscopic detail by on-line comics news outlets?)
The Intimates (by Joe Casey, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Sandra Hope and Jim Lee for Wildstorm) sure seems pleased with itself. That’s fine, as it saves me the trouble. It’s a comic take on the super-hero training academy, and it seems content to smirk at its own set-up. The students are generally disaffected and obnoxious, and the teachers are largely dysfunctional and ineffective. The best bits are generally the small ones, one-liners buried in the crawl that runs through the issue on the bottom of every page (which is, at times, almost impossible to read). There’s some innovation and ambition in evidence here, but the sulky, self-mocking cast leaves me cold.
From Image, there’s Firebirds by Jay Faerber and Andres Ponce. It’s been described as “Gilmore Girls with super-heroes,” and it lives up to the promise of that pitch. Shortly before she turns sixteen, Emily Reed discovers her mother, Rebecca, is the super-heroine called Firebird. Circumstances demand they spend more time together than ever before as Emily’s own powers start to emerge. There’s a great mother-daughter dynamic forming, and both characters get a solid introduction with the promise of interesting developments down the line. Art by Ponce is a treat, reminiscent of the elegant, realistic work of Stuart Immonen.
Firebirds hasn’t gotten near the push that The Intimates enjoyed, which is too bad. Firebirds has a simpler, more heartfelt premise and a more immediately appealing cast. I hope more buzz builds up around it, as it really deserves the attention. (Full review to come over the weekend.)