ARC FESTIVAL 2026! Finding a new angle on such a played-out genre as super-heroes is not an impossible one but it’s not an easy one either. While the Big Two are comfortable endlessly recycling the same storylines from decades before that they were already rehashing twenty years ago there are still sources out there in the small press and indie worlds trying to approach the cowl and capes world from a different direction. Those are generally the only times we’ll dip our toes in those super-powered waters here at Broken Frontier and, ahead of this weekend’s ARC Festival, Ben Wheatley and Joe Currie’s Utility #1 offers up one such example of super-heroes with a spin.
Cabbie Jimmy finds his livelihood in ruins when his taxi is destroyed in a battle between the heroic Captain Radio and the villainous Dark Justice. With both combatants dying in their battle Jimmy decides to steal their utility belts as compensation. With his insurance not covering superhuman activity our unlikely hero finds himself exploring the possibilities of the purloined belts. A decision which will lead him to encountering a pocket daemon, clockwork knights, and the unlikely ghostly presence of Captain Radio himself…
Wheatley’s story is darkly comedic, repositioning our point-of-view from the legendary figures of justice to a very flawed everyman character. The pacing is relentless with Jimmy being thrust from one weird scenario to another even weirder one with some great lines along the way – “With great power comes great inconvenience” and “Don’t mortality shame me” being particularly memorable.
Currie’s art feels like a mix of underground-style illustration and a certain period of early-ish 2000 AD. And, while there are points where the reader may wish he could break out of the six-panel grid structure on occasion, his action sequences are still full of well choreographed energy while his visual characterisation and design perfectly capture the bleak humour of Wheatley’s script. With a knowing nod in the audience’s direction in its final panel, Utility #1 is a super-hero comic for both people who love and people who loathe super-hero comics.
Ben Wheatley (W), Joe Currie (A) • Invada, £7.99
Review by Andy Oliver
Ben Wheatley will be at the ARC Festival comics fair on July 11th-12th. For the full details on everything ARC has to offer check out their website here.
Poster by Lando
