Broken Frontier

Superheroes, supervillains and pitched battles have become part of Milo’s life but relationships? That’s where things get weird.

Writers Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis will probably be forever associated with their run on various Justice League titles for DC Comics in the 1980’s. Their writing mixed humor with superheroics and laughter with action. Now embarking on their third Hero Squared mini-series for Boom! Studios, they continue that fine tradition and prove that punchlines go with pathos like gin goes with tonic.

Things keep going from bad to worse for Milo Stone. Having to deal with a superheroic version of himself (named Captain Valor) from an alternate universe (now destroyed) and said superhero’s archenemy (who destroyed the aforementioned alternate universe) was bad enough but now Captain Valor and Milo’s girlfriend Stephanie have fallen in love. Even worse, Milo had sympathy for (and may just be falling in love with) Captain Valor’s archnemesis, who happens to be the alternate universe version of Stephanie. And if you think all that sounds weird it’s nothing compared to what happens next!

Given free reign, Giffen and DeMatteis turn the superhero genre every-which-way-but-loose. There is some sophomoric humor, sight gags, satire, pointed social and comic book industry commentary, a little good advice and a lot of "love of the game" here. Giffen and DeMatteis are also masters of keeping readers off balance and on their toes. Just when you think you have a character pegged, they change on you; just when you think you have a situation figured out it zags to the left. The characters and plot are complex and endearingly messy and the whole comic hinges far more on the writers’ talent with dialogue than it does on action. The only problem with this issue is that it is the start of a mini-series which is the final part of a trilogy for Hero Squared. Despite a best effort by the writers at creating a recap page to bring readers up to speed, you’re really not going to get much out of this story if you haven’t read the first two story arcs (conveniently available in trade paperback!).

Artist Nathan Watson takes over for this series and while he does a good job at capturing the looks established in the previous mini-series, there are some signs that he is not quite comfortable with these characters yet. Some sequences look rough and in places the inking seems a bit too heavy. Watson does, however, do a very good job with the facial expressions, which is key to this series since dialogue and expression carry so much of the story.

For fans of the previous two Hero Squared mini-series, Love and Death seems destined to wrap things up with quirky style. For those who have not yet tried Giffen and DeMatteis’s ramped up poke at the superhero world and relationship soap operas then picking up the first two stories is a must before jumping in here.