Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5
Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5
I recently reviewed the first seven volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this eighth 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 this trade contains a few pieces on superhero science, which aren't found there.
Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 40, in which Guardian Angel, Emerald Gauntlet and USA Patriot Act are launched into space by accident, in a cosmic garbage disposal mechanism. In space, they discover that something else has been collecting the "garbage," however, and using it to build a technologically-advanced space station. Zodon and Von Fogg, usually bitter rivals, must team up to rescue the other kids.
In issue 41, after the space station briefly separates Emerald Gauntlet from his power gauntlet, the young superhero is detected by an interdimensional race of beings known as "the Emerald Ones," who seem to be responsible for creating the first Emerald Gauntlet. Together, Emerald Gauntlet and his father team up with Victor Von Fogg's older sister, in an attempt to discover what the Emerald Ones are planning.
In issue 42, a space cruiser, apparently from the planet Argos, has arrived on Earth and abducted Ron, and a number of the other kids move to assist. This is odd, because Atlas; Ron's father, is apparently from the planet Argos, and was fully convinced that it had been destroyed long ago.
In issue 43, it's revealed that Argos was not destroyed, but that Atlas had been sent off in order to save him from a war of succession; that he, in fact, is Argos' rightful ruler. Though Ron is trapped in stasis by this point, and can't be freed until they reach the planet Argos, Atlas agrees to go along, and Julie (code named "84,") and Moonshadow (secretly Tyler Marlocke,) decide to go with him. It's soon discovered that the ruling body of Argos is an absolute mess; with competing families of influential people, all ready to turn on each other. Worse yet, Lord Dax of the Argosians sends Julie alone to an alien world, claiming that she can help to end a war in which the Argosians are involved.
A lot happens very fast in issue 44. On Argos, Lord Dax reveals his plan to rob Ron of his powers, which he does, for the purpose of using him as a hostage in order to control Atlas and the throne from behind the scenes, and it's up to Moonshadow to try to save Ron and warn Atlas. Meanwhile, Emerald Gauntlet has been sent to the same alien world as Julie, except by the Emerald Ones, and it's soon discovered that they've been at war with the Argosians for a long time. More importantly, on that alien world, the two kids soon discover the strange thing that they've both been fighting over.
In issue 45, having been returned home, Julie is forced to take the argosian engineer from Lord Dax's ship on as an apprentice of sorts, to try to teach him the ropes of being a superhero. Atlas, meanwhile, confronts Lord Dax about his evil plans, as Ron and Moonshadow try to escape aboard Dax's starship. However, they soon find themselves adrift in space.
Not much is seen of the praetorians (the rival school of PS238) in this volume, and from the little we do see, some apparently seem to have misgivings about using their powers at all, while others, like most of us, are looking to make some cash off of them. Nothing terrible, but probably intended to sound unpleasant. I still don't find them the least bit threatening.
I think, to be honest, that this volume rushes things a bit too much. A lot of interesting stuff happens, but it just goes by so fast that there really isn't enough time to enjoy it for the most part. The story of the Argosians and the Emerald Ones could have persisted for much longer and been dealt with in far greater depth.
However, this is also the volume where printing errors begin to show up. Emerald Gauntlet's legs are inconsistently drawn throughout, including on the front cover. However, the most noticable print error is that one page is put in the wrong order in issue 40, which makes it seem as though Zodon is complaining about parenthood before anyone refers to him as father. For these reasons primarily, I can't give it a perfect grade.
I still enjoy PS238, and I still consider it far better than mainstream comics in America. I just don't think this volume represents its best effort.
No comments:
Post a Comment