Broken Frontier

The villain stands revealed, as does the true target of the attacks but will the Parr family live long enough to tell?

The BOOM! Kids’ line of comics from BOOM! Studios has gotten a lot of mileage recently from their deal with Disney-Pixar.  Considering, however, the popularity, critical acclaim, and awards won by Pixar’s movies this has meant BOOM! Studios has had to produce their “A Game” in order to live up to the standards set by Pixar.  Where the Incredibles are concerned they have definitely met the mark.

Bob Parr, A.K.A. Mr. Incredible, has realized the truth behind the attacks on his family and his own power loss.  Is he too late, though, to save them all?  Even more, can he get past his loss of power to prove that he is still a valuable member of the team? 

BOOM! Studios finishes up their first mini-series featuring Brad Bird’s creation, the Incredibles.  Characters that were distilled from multiple archetypes could not be in better hands than those of writer Mark Waid – an author who has a knack for getting to the core of any hero and who has also handled more big name superheroes than you can shake a stick at.  The result is a delightful story and an absolutely perfect way of introducing a child to the world of superheroes.  There are clichés here, yes, and telegraphed “plot twists” but there are also perfectly balanced messages about love, family, the danger of the double-edged sword of revenge, and knowing that sometimes the human mind is the greatest superpower of all. 

Marcio Takara continues in his bright, bouncy style that not only captures the wonderful expressiveness and sometimes even absurdity of the characters but also infuses the pages with energy.  He also perfectly frames the comic’s many emotional scenes with the characters' facial expressions and body language.  In particular he adds a sweetness to the sub-plot with Violet without making the whole thing heavy-handed or saccharine.

The Incredibles definitely belongs up on a pedestal with the top all-ages superhero books on the stands today.  BOOM! Kids is quickly showing that it can go toe-to-toe with any of the “big boys” publishers and match and even surpass them for writing, art and most of all heart.  If you have kids in your life (and even if you don’t) – yours, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, even the children of friends -- consider picking this title up and sharing the joy of comic books with them.  You’ll both be richer for it.