Broken Frontier

The family that beats villains together stays together but what will happen to the family/team dynamic if Mr. Incredible loses his powers?

How do you argue with perfection? You don’t. Pixar animation’s 2004 animated film The Incredibles put on screen everything that was right about superheroes from the last several decades. As an added bonus, they even threw in a lot of stuff that should be right about superheroes. The movie distilled down a lot of the tropes of the capes and spandex set and spun them into gold. If any Disney/Pixar characters were ever made for the comic book page it was this set and the biggest question is… what the heck took so long?!

A day at the zoo for the Incredibles of course turns into a big fight with supervillain Futurion. None of the family notice, however, that something seems to be wrong with Mr. Incredible. Meanwhile, there are some new neighbors and that secret identity thing to juggle – all just a day in the life for your average superhero family, right? So what will happen if one member of that family is not-as-super as he once was?

Writer Mark Waid has been dealing with superheroes for most of his comic book career and he has gained a deserved reputation for being able to get to the heart of any hero – to know what makes them tick and to strip away all the unnecessary claptrap and get down to basics. In this way this title is a perfect fit for him. Since The Incredibles only have one movie under their belt there is no dross to refine out – they are still the core characters presented on the big screen and it doesn’t hurt that they were built from archetypes to begin with. Waid is able to slide readers back into the Incredibles’ world without a ripple; there is a feeling that very little time has passed since the end of the movie and the start of this story and that is a very good thing.

Waid also mixes the old and the new here – bringing back some of the old characters from the movie and mixing them in with new villains, new threats and new friends but he does it smoothly and effortlessly. The new additions feel like a natural outgrowth of the story and part of this is due to the fact that Waid understands that any Incredibles story has to balance the superheroics with the family dynamic – both are vitally important to the characters.

The art by Marcio Takara is also a perfect fit. Not wanting to try to recreate the 3-D, computer generated look of the original animation Takara has instead gone for a soft, gently rounded, cartoony style for the characters. He is nearly perfectly on-model with all of them except that a few scenes with Elastigirl’s powers which look a little off. Most importantly, though, Takara proves able to depict the superheroic action with aplomb while also perfectly carrying off the moments of ordinary family life.

True all-ages comics – comics which can be enjoyed by anyone from 5 to 65 (and beyond) are not as common as people might think. The new Boom! Kids line from publisher Boom! Studios definitely fits the bill. Waid’s writing and Takara’s art combine for a story that adults can share with the kids in their life or that adults can enjoy on their own. The Incredibles #1 is a perfect example of the best of the superhero genre – characters who are heroic but not without their hang-ups and a snapshot of modern family life trying to keep it all together but with a few twists thrown in for interest. If you want to read one of the best, most pure superhero books on the stands today then pick up a copy of The Incredibles.