The duo of Art Baltazar and Franco are a dynamite comic-creating machine that DC Comics seems to keep in their back pocket at all times. They bring a look and a feel unlike anything else at the publisher, and are basically the only consistent creative outlet for all-ages comics that DC seems to utilize. With that in mind, you can’t help but appreciate what they do — it’s something that’s sorely needed at the Big 2 superhero publishers. Up to now, their books have held a consistent look, feel, and quality that has become a personal branding for them — a branding that they’ve taken to other publishers, in fact. So how does “Super Powers,” a book with a seemingly larger scope than their previous DC Comics work, fair? Check out our review, after the jump.
Written by Art Baltazar & Franco
Illustrated by Art BaltazarAw yeah, the World’s Greatest Heroes are back in a new, all-ages miniseries-except for Batman! Superman helps out by cleaning up in Gotham City, where he discovers a clue that sends Wonder Woman into space to find the Caped Crusader. Her journey brings her a step closer to Batman, but can she uncover the truth behind his disappearance? From the award-winning creative team that brought you TINY TITANS and SUPERMAN FAMILY ADVENTURES!
“Super Powers” #1 begins with a scene that’s so familiar to even the most cursory fan of recent events involving these properties might say “this again?” It’s Commissioner Gordon on the rooftop, Bat Signal lighting the sky, awaiting for his vigilante friend(?) to drop in. It’s practically Warner Bros’ edict that Batman be the center of everyone’s universe, so much so that he had more lines and screen time than Superman in a Superman movie, is a member of every Justice League team (even the ones that haven’t been formed yet), and may or may not have his own Suicide Squad…or is in Suicide Squad now…or, whatever, we just gotta get Batman and Suicide Squad together and watch the money roll in. But Art & Franco subvert this immediately by having the Big Blue Boyscout himself drop in on Gordon instead. Batman has been captured, you see. The midnight tryst will have to wait another night. This fun little twist sets in motion a series of events that brings Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman together in a way that is somehow much more logical than Batman v Superman was and that movie had 3 hours to do it while this comic gets 20 pages. It’s this rapid pacing and big stakes rooted in the ridiculousness of cape comics that make “Super Powers” such a delight.
Recently, we saw Art & Franco tackle the Superman corner of DC Comics with their “Superman Family Adventures” – a characteristically irreverent and colorful cartoon exploration of Superman and his extended cast that ran for 12 issues. As an aside: these sorts of off-the-beaten-path endeavors from DC and Marvel seem destined to 12 issue runs don’t they? Whether by the grace of the creative team, or by sales numbers, one hopes that “Super Powers” has a longer run in store, as its scope is potentially massive. It would seem that at its core “Super Powers” is meant to be an all-ages answer to DC Rebirth’s “Trinity”, immediately making use of DC’s 3 most traditionally popular characters, their extended casts, and their iconography – it remains to be seen whether this book with venture further with the inclusion of other Justice League members. But already, Art & Franco are using a dizzying number of references, quickly piling up familiar villains and situations on top of one another in the issue’s short 20 pages to eye-popping effect. They also employ a very blunt form of humor and tongue-in-cheekness to the proceedings, which gives the book a timeless quality, but also a wink of irony that expands the appropriate age range of the book. Kids will enjoy the very straightforward silliness of the subject matter, while adults will laugh at it on the second level – characters shouting comic booky things at one another should be inherently absurd to us. “Super Powers” embraces that absurdity.
Continued belowOne of the other clever things about Art & Franco comics is their ability to blend multiple versions and eras of these characters together into something essential, but decidedly designed for kids. In this way, there’s something for adults like to sift through and pick up on, while also creating something that immediately explains to fresh-faced young readers what these icons stand for. For me, Art & Franco’s Wonder Woman and Batman carry a bit of their ’60s and ’70s personas with them, both behaving as pop culture icons as much as they are crime fighters. Superman is a little more traditionally comic booky, but there’s a lot of room for personal interpretation because the creative team does such a good job of boiling these characters down to their essential elements. That’s not to say they don’t dig a little deeper – halfway through the issue they re-introduce an iconic event in Superman’s lore, but give it a little twist that makes me wish this comic were in DC Comics canon somehow – it’s actually kind of brilliant. It’s one of the few times this issue breaks the essential mold of the characters and events, and the comic is a little better for it.
Baltazar’s art, too, boils these characters down to their essential elements. While his style is nothing like that of Jack Kirby (who wrote and drew some of the original “Super Powers” comics back in the 1980’s, of which the title font and aesthetics of the issue are an homage to) or Alex Toth, he utilizes the same concepts that make those artists so great: from Kirby, an uncanny sense of scope regardless of the principle subject matter, and from Toth, an economy of linework. Just as the characters are written as iconic figures, the artwork also boils them down to their essential elements. Every line on Baltazar’s characters is necessary to steep them in their exact iconography – nothing is wasted. All that’s regrettably missing is a nice pair of red underwear for Superman. Alas, that must be one more place that DC Comics is “holding the line.” Where Baltazar’s art differs from the aforementioned superhero stalwarts is quite simply in its aesthetic identity – everything is meant to look like it comes from a coloring book, so to speak. A coloring book that tells a story in a very sophisticated and and clear fashion, but it’s cartoony look appeals very much to the bottom of the target range “Super Powers” could be meant for. Because of that, a matter of personal taste may prevent you from checking it out or, worse yet, taking it seriously at all. Personal tastes are what they are, but you could make a case for Baltazar being a magnificent storyteller in an art style that to the casual reader might seem “simple.” This is a mindset that should be abolished from the minds of people that truly appreciate the artform.
As an example: late in the story, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are all engaged in a battle with the primary foe of the issue. They weave in and out of the fight, taking turns being the aggressor, while the others are distracted by something else that’s going on or momentarily detained by the villain in some tangential fashion. In 2-3 short pages, Baltazar stages a rapid-fire battle involving all members of the Trinity in important ways, in a smooth and fluid fashion. Superman frees Batman, only to be trapped himself. Batman tosses a Batarang and blocks a blow just in time for Wonder Woman to come in and lend a hand. One can imagine the image on the page blending into an actual fight with flow to it – it’s not anything we haven’t seen before, but it’s as well executed as any Trinity fight scene has been.
“Super Powers” is everything we’ve come to expect from Art & Franco, with the potential for a scope that goes beyond what we’ve seen to date. But that scope isn’t a necessary step in the evolution of their comics. We don’t buy Art & Franco comics for their complicated stories and their winding plots (though there are threads dropped in this issue that could spin out entire arcs of normal comics). We read Art & Franco comics, because they’re made for every kind of person and they embrace the spirit of the essential nature of the characters they depict. These guys can keep doing what they’ve always been doing and they will always end up being great comics.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – “Super Powers” looks to be special in the same way that Art & Franco’s entire oeuvre is special, but doesn’t do anything beyond that. These guys comfortably know who they are, and we’re all luckier for it.
