Broken Frontier

Benjamin Carver’s Point Guardian instantly draws your attention with sharp site design as well as the declaration “one of the first and few non-parody super-hero webcomics on the net.” While I’ve never bothered to count how many “non-parody” super-hero webcomics there are out there (perhaps because some comics, like Local Heroes, blur the line between parody and actual superheroes), Carver’s Point Guardian is indeed one of the oldest super-hero webcomics I’ve reviewed, with archives stretching all the way back to March 2004. By comparison, the now-defunct Green Avenger began way back in September 2004 and Hero By Night – which itself just went on hiatus – started in October 2006.

While perhaps overshadowed by more colorful webcomics, Carver’s Point Guardian is actually extremely enjoyable. The first comic books waste no time in giving James Gardner lightning-spurned superpowers at age fifteen. The narrative picks up with James as the super-hero Ultra ten years later. Though Ultra’s initial exploits are somewhat simplistic, the plot quickly thickens with intrigue over the course of every issue, as both mysterious figures and Ultra’s own past begin to take shape. With issue 4 – and the appearance of Ultra’s similarly-lightning-powered arch-nemesis Ultima, the reading frequency becomes downright addicting.

Carver’s art is a bit inconsistent during the course of the first couple of issues. In the first pages, the art starts raw but sharp and engaging – it’s what we see of the action that needs work. A few issues later, the reverse has happened, and while the perspective is much improved, the art seems more rough and wavy. However, as current updates show, both Carver dramatically improves both of these problem areas over the course of four years, resulting in an intriguing streamlined project.

Best of all, Carver is candid about his learning curve over the course of several in-strip interviews in the archives. It’s easier to give an artist room to grow if he or she knows their work is rough than it is if the artist believes their work is perfect despite criticism. Over the past four years, Carver has tweaked Point Guardian into a fit and firm entry into the super-hero genre, perfect for anyone looking for another dash of old school to add to their bookmark list.