Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 5 of 5
I recently reviewed the first three volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this fourth volume as well. It's an enjoyable comic, fun and positive; about superhero children who go to a school for superpowered beings. The concept has been done before, but unlike other comics that have approached this (most notably several "X-men" books,) this book embraces the old-school silliness of the Silver Age, without the poor writing quality that tended to come along with it. The stories are enchanting, entertaining and fun, and never depressing or angsty, like the aforementioned X-men books. Characters develop and change, and stories never become too dark to be enjoyable, even when bad things do sometimes happen. In short, it gets nearly everything right, avoids the major missteps that comic books have made over the course of comic book history, and produces quite possibly the finest series of superhero comics ever released in America. All that, plus you can read it with kids.
Again these comics are all in black and white, and they're supposed to be that way. Also, most of them can be found online as part of Aaron Williams' internet webcomic of the same name, though a few are only found in trade form.
Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 16, in which Tyler (the non-powered main character,) and the Revenant (sort of a Batman knockoff,) have to get the "rainmaker kids" (those with non-combat-related powers,) back to PS238 before the other superheroes cause a scene over their disappearance. This is the conclusion of the Rainmaker story arc that began in the last volume, and I think this one really shines in the humor department.
In issue 17, Guardian Angel seems to be dead, and is wandering around as a ghost. What will happen to her in this new, spectral form? Also, kids suddenly find themselves appearing over the local lake and plummeting into it, getting all wet and ending up late for class. Is there another metahuman in town? This is kind of a cool issue, though mainly as setup for later developments.
In issue 18, a girl has been discovered who can communicate with ghosts, and the teachers begin trying to assist her with her powers. Also, Tyler and some of his friends have discovered the identity of the kid who's been dumping other kids in the lake with his superpowers, and they form a super-team to go after him.
In issue 19, the big team confrontation with Charles the teleporter, and Tyler, in his super-identity as Moonshadow, begins to gain some popularity among the other students.
In issue 20, we have another issue about time travel; this one from Zodon's viewpoint, and as I mentioned in my review of volume 3, I don't know of -anybody- who writes time travel as well as Aaron Williams. Characters appear and disappear at different times relative to one another, with seemingly no explanation (unless you've read the previous issues, and plan on reading a few later ones.) It's all intensely confusing at first, but if you take some time to think it over, it all makes perfect sense; just not in the typical, linear way that we normally think about these things. I love it all.
Finally, in issue 21, Moonshadow has become very popular at the school, and Captain Clarinet is wrestling with self-doubt over his path in life and the impending divorce of his parents, and has called on Moonshadow for advice, still not realizing that Moonshadow is really his friend Tyler.
I have to admit that over time, issue 21 has endeared itself to me, largely because it pulls no punches with regard to just how damaging divorce can be for a child to have to suffer through. It's the sort of thing that can destroy a person's life, and if you know anyone who's gone through it, you know what I'm talking about. Williams gets big points from me for treating the subject with the gravity it deserves, to the extent that the divorce of CC's parents has had repercussions on his life, which he still hasn't fully recovered from, more than 5 volumes later. I congratulate him on his handling of this subject.
I found the introduction of Charles to be a bit less exciting than some of the other events in PS238 history, in spite of the clear threat he posed. Still, the ending of the Rainmaker and Time Travel sagas, the events surrounding Guardian Angel's death, and the beginning of Ron's psychological breakdown over the divorce of his parents were all high points of the book.
Trust me when I say, however, that this is only the case because of how Williams writes dark events as though they weren't dark. Other comic books have dealt with things like death and psychological deterioration (even divorce,) but in the end, those comics were generally bronze-age comics, which seemed to be trying to be "relevant," and often forgot to factor in what kinds of effects superpowers would have on these experiences. PS238 doesn't forget this, and remains very positive throughout, and because of this, these issues were, for me, more fun to read than any other comic that dealt with these subjects. I remain highly pleased with what PS238 has to offer, and I plan to continue reading it for quite a while.
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