PS238 Volume 9; Saving Alternate Omaha

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first eight volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this ninth 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 as of the time of this review, the contents of this trade aren't online yet.

Six issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 46, in which Victor Von Fogg is using uninhabited universes as power supplies, to give himself supernatural powers, and is about to absorb another universe, which seems to contain inhabitants.  Zodon, joining forces with Julie, USA Patriot and Guardian Angel, goes through a dimensional gateway (which closely resembles a stargate,) in pursuit of Von Fogg, in order to make him stop.

In issue 47, Tyler and Ron; still adrift in space, come under attack by some kind of tentacled, technological monstrosity, and Zodon's group is ambushed by some kind of interuniversal police patrol.  Victor, meanwhile, has entered the world that he'd been about to destroy, and discovered that in that world, no one has any superhuman powers or abilities.

In issue 48, the interuniversal police briefly recruit Guardian Angel to assist them in stopping Von Fogg after they realize who the good guys are.  Victor, meanwhile, has escaped and begun his campaign of conquest across the world without superpowers, while his sister is uncovering information about the origins of the Praetorian Academy; that an early prototype design method of PS238 was built by Hershell, then disappeared; most likely stolen.  This seems to indicate just how the Praetorians got set up so fast.  Finally, Tyler and Ron journey through their ship after the attack of the techno-tentacle beast, only to discover that vein-like technological doodads are spreading throughout their ship; contaminating it.

In issue 49, Tyler and Ron managed to get in contact with Cecil, who helps them coordinate their effort to stop the techno-veins and tentacles that seem to be devouring and assimilating their ship.  Victor has begun taking over Omaha, and using his powers to turn those who resist into various non-human things.  As Zodon and the others work on some means of stopping him, Zodon begins to reveal the truth behind his involvement with the non-powered universe, and the reason he was sent to PS238 to begin with.  Zodon's group gets in contact with Cecil, Tyler, Ron and Zodon's sentient satellite, and they all coordinate an effort against Victor, who attacks them with a giant robot.  Finally, Victor's sister confronts the headmaster of the Praetorian Academy, alleging that she can prove he's committed crimes, and wants answers from him.

In issue 50, the Headmaster begins explaining the reason and origins of the Praetorian Academy to Miss Von Fogg, and finally makes a deal with her, while Zodon's group continue battling Victor.  Ron and Tyler are able to return to Earth and bring their starship in for a rough landing, but ultimately, the two reconcile their differences.  Zodon's satellite reveals some key information to USA Patriot about his new powers, and he uses them to fight Victor and briefly imprison him.  In the end, everyone ends up back in their own home universe, and the alternate universe story arc basically comes to a close.

In issue 51, virtually every page pertains to a totally different plot point, making it almost impossible to summarize.  The only overarching plot threads are these; Julie is becoming popular on the internet among other superheroes with the powers of flight, invulnerability, strength and speed (FISS heroes,) Victor is still puzzling over how Zodon's group was able to defeat him, Cecil now has a cloaking device that can turn him invisible, and Ron still doesn't have any powers, but it's implied that he might one day develop some.  He's stopped blaming Tyler for everything, and the two seem to be on speaking terms again, though perhaps not entirely -friends.-

From the summaries alone, you may notice the same thing that I did.  This story moves things along -much- too fast, and tackles far too many plot threads at once.  It's not as uncomfortable to read as to summarize, but a slower pace might really benefit it from here on out.  In earlier issues, a lot of stuff tended to happen at once, but generally, focus was kept on a few characters at a time, many of whom were essentially side characters; there for support and jokes.  Unfortunately, when you've got 7-9 main characters, all undergoing change and development at the same time and in the same part of the story, things start to feel just a little crowded.  The story is still fun to read; it just takes more work.

Sure enough, the Praetorians are apparently responsible for at least some evildoing, though we still haven't been shown just what it is, and I still have a hard time finding them threatening.  I don't like the headmaster, but I just don't see him as a villain either; particularly since his act of alleged thievery really wasn't entirely his fault.  I guess you could write him a ticket for trespassing or something, but once again, the deeds of the Praetorians just don't seem to put them that firmly in the category of "villains."  Given a facelift and some elbow grease, they could be great heroes.

As with the last volumes, there are some print errors as well, though not, mainly, inside the comics themselves (though there is a typo or two in there as well.)  I'm talking about the front cover.  This volume is the 9th collection of PS238, gathering issues 46-51, and the front cover gets all three of those numbers wrong.  It's still way better than other American comics (especially modern ones,) but I just can't give it a perfect grade.

Once again, this volume isn't the best work of PS238, but I'm still reading it, and I'm still enjoying it.  The very fact that I have so few gripes here is a testament to the quality of this, at the time I'm writing, most recent volume.

PS238 Volume 8; When Worlds Go Splat!

By Aaron Williams

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.

PS238 Volume 7; Daughters, Sons, & Shrink-Ray Guns

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first six volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this seventh 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 34, in which Julie and Tyler's clone go to a cookout with Suzie's family; the nuclear family.  The cookout is disrupted by both a dimensional portal, releasing some form of invading, crystalline aliens, and by the fake angels and fake demons who've been showing up over the last few volumes intermittently.  However, the ones inside the head of Tyler's clone have made the decision to free him from Tyler's control, and to do this, they'll need to grant him superpowers...

In issue 35, Tyler's clone, who comes to be known as Toby, is still wrestling with the implications of his new powers, as well as the two pesky supernatural beings who've taken up residence in his head.  Meanwhile, a plan is underway to use Julie's blood in an attempt to cure Tyler of the alien virus that may otherwise destroy the human race.

In issue 36, Malphast, realizing the horrible danger posed by the invading "angels" and "demons," recruits Tyler and Cecil Holmes to try to put a stop to it, but when their enemies take control of the minds of some of Earth's most powerful adult heroes, in an attempt to hunt them down, it looks as though they might be too late.  Even if they can survive the attacks of the heroes, how can they possibly stop these tiny enemies that no one else can see.

Issue 37 is a charming little issue in which the various characters write papers, complete with child-scrawl-like illustrations, on recent events in their lives.  It's cute, and it helps us get a window into what the kids have been thinking, planning and worrying about recently in the comic.

In issue 38, a soccer game between PS238 and the Praetorians.  At first, it all seems to be going great, until the Flea discovers an invisible craft, flying above the field, and with some help from Cecil Holmes, and a recently-returned Moonshadow (secretly Tyler,) finally comes face to face with the man who the Praetorians have been referring to as "the Headmaster."

In issue 39, Moonshadow goes to investigate the brick wall that seems to have sealed up the office of Vashti Imperia since the invasion of the supernatural entities, a few issues back.  However, in doing so, he finds himself in a world of dragons and magic, and must find some way to both rescue her, and to return home himself.

I have the same issues with the supernatural beings in this volume that I did in the last couple; namely, they're drawn like angels and demons, yet they're clearly not angels or demons.  This, however, is a minor issue, and largely superficial.  I was a little more bothered by the fact that "not caring" was apparently the solution to the conflict.  In the great battle of order vs chaos, it's generally -not caring- that encourages chaos most.  Nobody walks out their door with the -plan- of encouraging chaos.  They support it as a -consequence- of some other thing they're pursuing; because they don't care about the consequences.

Well, whatever.  I had problems with the angel/demon saga, but it wasn't a weak story, at least.

The humor of Tyler's clone having superpowers, and Tyler not having any is not lost on me, and I think a lot can be done with a character like Toby, if he's used right.

I probably enjoyed the "drawings" issue most.  It seemed to draw attention to the fact, in sort of an offhand way, that most young kids aren't as imaginative as they'd like to think, while recapping recent events from their own perspectives in an amusing way.

Well, it had to happen eventually.  In the soccer game issue, one of the praetorians cheats, and the others don't punish her for doing so, implying corruption in the ranks of the praetorian academy, and it's about time.  I was starting to wonder whether they were even supposed to be bad guys at all.

If I'm going to be perfectly frank, though, I'm still kind of wondering.  I mean, cheating at a soccer game is bad and all, but it's not against the law.  The headmaster's been caught spying on PS238 as well, but frankly... so what?  Revenant does the same thing.

I guess I just find the praetorians rather charming, for some reason; probably to do with the way they stress discipline, and maintain order in the ranks.  It's sad to see corruption in those ranks, but apart from that, you could have fooled me into thinking they were good guys.  I still have a hard time feeling threatened by them.

Probably my biggest issue with this volume is in the last issue, however, because there's a scene in which Vashti Imperia admits to having kidnapped a young girl from her home, for the purpose of bringing about a future event in her life.  I don't know about her, but where I come from, you may not do evil, so that good might come of it, and kidnapping a poor, little girl is clearly an evil act, regardless of who she is, or what results from it.  I may have a hard time feeling threatened by the Praetorians or the Headmaster, but I'm going to be looking suspiciously at Vashti for a while.

I really enjoyed this volume, and I think it's considerably better than volumes 5 or 6.  It's not without its flaws, but it's still a far better comic than most.

PS238 Volume 6; Senseless Acts of Tourism!

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first five volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this sixth 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 28, in which Poly Mer and Julie, suspecting Miss Kyle of planning to leave the school for good, convince Zodon to help them follow her to her vacation destination; Las Vegas.  Also, the flea is still following the goons in gold armor.

In Issue 29 the Gold Armor goons ambush Miss Kyle and the kids again, and try to abduct Zodon.  Zodon is also caught by a casino owner called "the Crystal Skull," for cheating at cards.

In issue 30, the Crystal Skull hires Zodon to help him track down another, worse card cheat, and in the end, Tyler (the non-powered main character) is visited by Tom Davison again (the student who travels through time,) and told that he's going to be given the choice of whether human beings continue having superpowers.

In issue 31, Tyler begins listening to the testimonies of various people in preparation for the choice that he has to make, but for some reason, he also seems to have been released from stasis with a clean bill of health.  Could Angie and Von Fogg be responsible for this?  Did they cure the alien virus that had infected Tyler in volume 5?

In issue 32, the new Tyler, now revealed as a clone of the one who's still in stasis, is possessed by two entities closely resembling a small angel and a small demon.  Also, Ron is accepted into Praetorian Academy, by his old enemy; Charles.

In issue 33, the Revenant has taken Cecil Holmes on a mission to visit a series of suspected metas, and after some more testimonies, the time has come for Tyler to make his decision.  Will human beings continue to have powers, or will they not?

This is probably my least favorite volume of PS238.  I didn't think the Vegas issues worked all that well, although it was nice to see some development for Julie, and the Crystal Skull is an interesting character.  They're not -bad reading.-  PS238 never is.  I just felt that thusfar, they represent the weakest leg of the series.

Also, we begin to see the "angels" and "demons" start to have an effect in this issue.  I put those in scare quotes, because it's later revealed that they're nothing of the kind; just extradimensional entities that serve beings called "chaos" and "order," rather than real good and evil.  I wish they hadn't looked like angels and demons, since they're clearly not, but apart from that, I don't mind this too much.  It's an okay plot.

I still can't seem to find the Praetorians threatening.  So far, they seem a lot like PS238, except with a heavier emphasis on structure, discipline and earning the things you enjoy, which are all -good- life lessons.  They're very military as well, which has a special charm for me.  Of course, I'm sure it'll later be revealed that some supervillain is behind them, or that they're cheaters or something, but if done right, I really think the praetorians could be compelling heroes in their own way.

Fortunately, this volume also contains Tyler's extra-temporal decision about humans and superpowers, which, in my view, is the strongest story in the volume, and it's spread out over several issues.  I really enjoyed it, if only for the moral questions it discussed, regarding those with power.  However, I don't think the character of "paradox" needed to exist.

Paradox shows up to get self-causing temporal events started to begin with, and I really don't think this is necessary.  Just because an instance of causation may not be temporally-linear, it doesn't follow that it's a paradox, or that it needs an origin point, apart from the atemporal one it already has, and Williams used this principle to great effect in all of his other time travel stories, where events cause one another in a -very- non-linear way.  I just don't see the need to bring "paradox" into it, is what I'm saying.

I'm still enjoying PS238, but as I said, this is not my favorite volume of the series.  It's still a lot better than most other, American comics, it's just not quite up to the level of the others.

PS238 Volume 5; Extraterrestrial Credit

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first four volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this fifth 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 22, in which a whole lot of things happen, relevant to a large number of plots.  Cecil Holmes has a new weapon and a new boss, Tyler has given Captain Clarinet some advice about the divorce of his parents, but if anything, CC seems to feel even worse (again, a realistic portrayal of what divorce does to children,) some of Charles' old henchmen are rescued, hints are dropped that there will be a superhero career day coming up, and on top of all of that, a strange, new type of alien appears on Earth.  A lot happens in this issue, so you really have to be paying attention.

Issue 23 is the "career day" issue, in which the students go to meet various types of superpowered people, and see what they do for a living.  Also, Charles resurfaces in this issue briefly, and finding out where he's been and what he's been up to opens the door for another long-lasting storyline in the PS238 universe; the Praetorian Academy.

In issue 24, Tyler is trapped in another place, which looks a lot like a rock in space, and Malphast and Cecil Holmes team up to try to rescue him.  However, Cecil suffers repeated mutations while he's off-world, until finally, they need to seek help from Malphast's parents, in exchange for a favor...

In issue 25, the battle with the aliens finally begins.  The aliens approach Earth and attack PS238, provoking a battle in which both the students and teachers quickly become involved.  However, in the process, the real plan of the aliens is revealed; infecting Tyler Marlocke (the only non-powered student at PS238,) with a virus that with turn all future human babies into aliens.

In issue 26, the battle continues to rage, as the students Whiz and Poly rush to get Tyler into quarantine.  Zodon, however, has a plan that may succeed in defeating the aliens for good, if it doesn't vaporize the rest of them in the process.

In issue 27, Tyler is in stasis; a sort of dream state not unlike a coma, but meanwhile, Principal Cranston's headband has started to come undone, allowing some of his psychic powers (and thoughts, and memories) to seep out.  Tyler soon finds himself living out the principal's memories, and realizing just why Cranston has always worn the headband, and who his teachers really are.

I'm just going to come right out and say it.  On the one hand, no issue of PS238 is substandard or boring.  They're all good comics.  On the other hand, this is not my favorite volume.  Part of me wants to say that my favorite issues were 25&26, but really, the combat is somewhat frenetic and hard to keep track of, in comparison to the battle against Charles in the last volume.  Likewise, the first few issues, while certainly fun and entertaining in their own right, don't have the same oomph as Guardian Angel's death, or the announcement of the divorce of Captain Clarinet's parents (again, in volume 4,) especially not the career day issue, which mainly serves to set up plot points for future issues.

Also, speaking personally, I've yet to find the praetorian academy all that threatening.  The aliens that take center stage in this issue are far more threatening and seem more dangerous, and they're about as basic and evil as bad guys come.

Still, I feel that the last issue makes up for these minor shortcomings, since, again, like issue 6 of the series, it deals with topics that have the potential to be heavily-political, and yet, ultimately deals with them in a way that's entertaining, rather than disturbing or controversial.  It's this light touch in dealing with political topics that continues to earn Williams my respect, every time he steps into this particular arena.  This is not, after all, a political propaganda book.  It's a comic book.

On the whole, I don't consider this volume to be quite as good as volume 4, but the difference in quality is so small, that I don't feel justified in giving it a lower grade.  It was and is fun to read, and it gives a few new characters the chance to show what they can do.  I'm still reading PS238, and I'm still impressed.

PS238 Volume 4; Not Another Learning Experience!

By Aaron Williams

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.

Wonder Woman (2009)

Rate PG-13

Catholic-ometer: 1 of 5

Enjoyability: 1.5 of 5

I admit that I haven't read many Wonder Woman comics (and especially not recent ones,) but I'm familiar with the character and her core supporting cast, and what made the concept work during its initial run.  It's for these reasons that I have to point out just what a miserable failure this movie was, in virtually every respect.  "Wonder Woman" is a load of pushy, overly-violent, trash-talking, modern American feminism, and nothing else.  However, I feel it deserves a more thorough review than just that, so for the rest of the review, I'll be addressing the specific characters and other elements in the movie, to explain just why the film gets them wrong.

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Etta Candy

Etta Candy is a minor character in the film.  So minor, in fact, that she gets, I think, less than a minute of screen-time.  In fact, it makes me wonder why they even bothered to put her in, if they couldn't do a better job on her than this.

In this film, Etta is a tall, blond, skinny, seductive woman, who's briefly scolded by Wonder Woman for asking a man to move a desk for her.

In the comics, Etta Candy was a short, plump, brunette, who was the leader of a college sorority.  Wonder Woman discovered her when she was sickly and weak while visiting a local hospital.  In other words, Etta was unearthed on an errand of mercy; not a manhunt for an enemy, as in this film.

I'm just going to be up-front about this.  Making Etta skinny is something which, by itself, would put this film on my butt-kick list, but the fact that they only used her to demonstrate one of Wonder Woman's character flaws puts it way over the top.

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Hades

In a way, my problem with the film's depiction of Hades is almost the precise reverse of my problem with Etta Candy in one sense, and precisely the same in another sense.

In this film, Hades is a black-haired, lazy, obese man who reclines on a couch and orders people around in the underworld.  I have -never- seen him depicted this way before; not in the comics, and certainly not in any of the ancient Greek artwork that depicted him.  This is the problem which, as I said, is like the opposite of my problem with Etta.

The problem which is the same for both characters is that in neither case do the characters have motives which are even remotely similar to their original counterparts.  Hades was sentenced to rule the underworld by Zeus, to keep him busy, and it apparently worked, as Hades is generally depicted as fearsome, but always a very busy guy.  Yet, in this film, he's apparently not busy, not working, not really fearsome at all, and not the least bit worried about all the extra work he'll have to do when Ares starts killing people.  In fact, he seems to -want- more people to die.

This depiction just made no sense to me.  My conclusion here is that it was just done to avoid having to go too deep into the character, and to prey on the already-miserable fat-person stereotypes, just as a faithful rendering of Etta would have threatened them.

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Steve Trevor

Up to now, we've been dealing mainly with bit players, but I don't think any character does quite as much damage to this movie as Steve Trevor.  In the comics, he was a brave, WWII fighter pilot, who was rescued by Wonder Woman and returned home.  She stayed on as a goodwill ambassador to "man's world," and the two eventually fell in love.  Steve was a little awkward at times, in the comics, but he was a decent man nonetheless.

In the movie, Steve is -not- a decent man.  He's a filthy, womanizing, lecherous, drunken buffoon.  Yes, he can fight pretty well in his own way, but that's just about all he brings to the film, and given that he's playing alongside a superheroine, that means he's basically a worthless character, serving only to give Wonder Woman a reason to visit man's world, and get her into trouble.

But I think I know why they did him this way.  You see, midway through the film, Steve delivers a long and perfectly-accurate speech about how Wonder Woman needs to back off suspecting men of being patronizing every time they do something nice for a woman (she has a nasty habit, in this movie, of taking it as an insult whenever this happens.)  It's a good speech, and coming from, for example, a Sir Galahad or a Superman, it would have been one of the high points of the film, because it would have refuted, once and for all, the prejudices of the Wonder Woman character, and pointed out just what a jerk she was, and had always been, since the film began.

However, the speech loses all of its steam, because, of course, we know that it's coming from a filthy, womanizing, lecherous, drunken buffoon, and in the eyes of modern men, if you're "that kind of person," then any point you make must be a bad one.  This, I think, is why they went to such lengths to keep Steve Trevor from being a decent human being, or a good representative of the male gender, as he was in the comics.  It's because they want that message crushed.

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Ares

The villain of the piece is Ares; the Greek god of war, who's been imprisoned on Wonder Woman's home island of Themyscira for ages, and is seeking a way to restore his powers, so that he can challenge the powers that be.  Ares comes across as being very much like Imhotep from the 1999 version of "the Mummy;" an immensely-powerful and threatening villain, who's seeking forbidden means to make himself even stronger through murder and general evil.

Sadly, of all the characters in this film, he's probably the closest to his depiction in the comics and legends, with one exception.  Even once he "gets his powers back," he still seems to be mortal.  The one constant thing about the legends of the Greek gods was that whether or not they could fight, they were immune to all forms of conventional attack.  This is a -big- flaw in the film.  However, I'll cover this more in a couple sections, when I get to Wonder Woman herself.

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The Amazons

In the past, I've seen two basic depictions of the amazons; Wonder Woman's people.  First, there's the type that remains separate from "man's world" as a sort of religious devotion.  Second, there's the type that genuinely thinks of humans as inferior, and men especially so.  Needless to say, I favor the former over the latter, since an island full of intensely self-righteous and condescending jerks is hardly a proud heritage for a great superheroine.

However, the amazons in this movie take things even further than the worst comic writing I've seen about them.  Not only are they totally convinced of their own superiority, but they practice active prejudice against men, and teach hatred of all men as though it were a religious doctrine.  This is bad enough, but it's not the only problem the amazons have.

You see, it's revealed that this isolation from human beings is not by choice; that the amazons have adopted a life without families or children, with the exception of Diana, who was made from clay, and that they really have only two things in exchange; well-honed warrior disciplines, and the wisdom of ancient books.

I say that these are the only things they have because these amazons are war-hounds and little else.  One of them is shown enjoying books, but even she turns into a battle-thrall near the end of the film, and at no point in the film are the amazons shown to be honest, good-hearted, or moral.  In fact, as far as I can tell, these amazons have no form of moral teaching, though they're perfectly eager to criticize things that offend their emotional sensibilities.  Needless to say, I was singularly unimpressed with the amazons in this movie, and everything about them, and it seems that...

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Wonder Woman Herself

...has learned from them well.  Like them, she's a rabid man-hater and mindless battle-hound, and like them, she's constantly looking down her nose at things she finds emotionally-offensive, while demonstrating no clear, moral understanding at all.

In the original comics, Wonder Woman was a brave, strong woman who fought crime and evil with her special powers, but she was also a caring, gentle soul, more akin to Mother Theresa than Xena; Warrior Princess.  She loved helping people out when they were in danger, or needed assistance, whether it involved fighting someone or not.  It was by no means rare to see her carrying someone to a hospital, or transporting medicine to victims of a plague; all the time with a smile on her face, because she knew she was helping someone.  No other reason was needed.

On top of all that, Wonder Woman was genuinely virtuous; -in the Christian sense- of virtues.  She was humble, honest, charitable, joyful, loved peace, justice and righteousness, and she was as pure-hearted as a newborn.

Sadly, many writers simply don't or didn't understand this about her, and it's become something of a trend in comics to depict her as a sort of "perfect" character who's become imperfect because she -thinks of herself as- perfect, and superior to everyone else.

Still, as bad as this has gotten in the comics, it's even worse in this movie, which paints Wonder Woman as a genuine jerk with nothing even resembling gold in her heart.  Worst of all, this Wonder Woman is capable of murder.

Yes, I realize that she killed someone in the comics as well, under pressure and during what essentially amounted to a hostage situation.  I raise issue with that as well, but not nearly as much as with this film, because at least -that murder- was treated as a genuine, moral problem.  In this film, Wonder Woman has no qualms whatsoever with slicing apart bad guys like cucumbers, -with the intent of ending their lives.-  There is nothing in any way moral or purehearted about this character, and therefore, nothing heroic.

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The Whole World View of the Film

I've said my piece on feminism elsewhere (google "the problem of feminism" in quotes.  It's the first one that pops up,) and I feel no need to repeat it.  However, this movie has, I think, two specific problems with feminism.

1. First, Wonder Woman views the normal attitudes of a normal woman asking for help from a man as -entirely cultural.-  She insists that women can do anything which men can do, and here's the problem with that view.  It's -false.-  It's -false- that women can do whatever men can do.

Women are built differently than men.  Their upper bodies aren't designed for the same kind of strenuous, heavy lifting, their torsos aren't meant for dodging blows in combat, and they wear out faster under prolonged physical activity.  Now, granted, a certain amount of training and practice can limit these disadvantages to a certain degree, but regardless, against a male opponent of comparable skill and practice, a woman would simply find herself outclassed in many areas; usually involving physical activity.

The only reason why anyone would deny this is because Wonder Woman has superpowers, so she -is- built for heavy lifting, swift dodging, etc...  However, Wonder Woman is a fictional character, who is clearly the exception to the rule.  This is why the ancient Greeks found the amazons so humorous to tell stories about.  There was simply no way for women to overpower men in combat en masse in the real world.

This is one of the reasons why the film irks me so.  It attempts to derive its philosophy from the abilities of fictional characters, who only represent a tiny minority, even in their own home universe.

2. There have always been feminist or pseudo-feminist undertones to Woman Woman, but believe it or not, there was a time when feminism was a -good- thing; just the desire to see woman get a just wage for doing the same jobs as men.

By contrast, much of modern feminism (at least in major, feminist organizations) has become just what Wonder Woman herself demonstrates in this movie, a disorganized, disagreeable group of angry, violent individuals, united by radical sexism.

As sad as it's been to see feminism, as a cause, gradually turn into something horrible, it's been even worse seeing Wonder Woman trying to turn into something just as bad.  I guess that's all I really have to say.

PS238 Volume 3; No Child Left Behind!

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first two volumes of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this third 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 (such as explanation of Dr. Positron being more than one android,) are only found in trade form.

Five issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 10, in which Tyler (the non-powered main character) is given the task of teaching a fellow student named Malphast how to be human.  Malphast is the "son" of an angel and a demon, and comes off as a little like the comic book character Spawn in terms of his appearance and abilities, and in issue 6, he challenges a school bully to an extradimensional game of Four Square.

As a Christian, I take some offense at the depiction of angels and demons as being "part of the same whole" and "not really two opposing forces."  Nevertheless, you could defend these theological claims on the grounds that angels and demons are essentially the same (it's just that one fell from Grace and the other didn't.)  You could also point out, correctly, that it's impossible for any demon to oppose God directly.  Still, the scenes with the demons and angels tend to sound a bit more new-agey than is good for them.

In issue 7, Tyler is accidentally brought to "the Castle Beyond Time and Space," where there are mirrors that show you alternate versions of yourself; other possible worlds, and books that contain the knowledge of the universe.  Tyler is eventually sent back into the flow of time, to stop Zodon from building a working time machine.  This leads to the next issue.

Issue 8 is a time travel story.  Tyler is yanked back and forth through time in a seemingly chaotic way, and it's implied that there will be more time-traveling later.  However, this story, I think, really shines.  Williams writes time travel better than anyone else I've ever seen in my life.  Characters show up suddenly out of a time vortex, refer to things we haven't seen yet, then disappear just as quickly.  Then, later on, we see some of the things they were referring to, and we start to understand the sort of nonlinear cause-and-effect that brought this chain of events about.  It's magnificent.  Probably the best issue in the collection, which is saying a lot.

Issues 9 and 10 revolve around a metahuman called "the Rainmaker," who has the power to eliminate the powers of other metahumans, amplify them, or cause them to rage out of control.  He assumes that the "Rainmaker Program" at PS238 is still the same government program that imprisoned him as a child, and that he has to "rescue" the Rainmaker kids (the kids with non-combat-oriented superpowers.)  He storms through PS238, and takes the kids with him.  Then it's up to Tyler, with some help from the Revenant, to rescue them.

This volume contains some of the best PS238 stories of all.  As I said, I've never entirely approved of how Williams writes angels and demons, but the rest of the stories are that much better, and on the whole, I found it a very enjoyable read, and a fitting continuation of one of the best comic series of all time.

Superman Vs the Elite

Rate PG-13

Catholic-ometer: 4 of 5

Enjoyability: 4.5 of 5

First, a word of warning.  This film is rated PG-13 for a reason.  Do -not- show it to young children.  Apart from the violence and sexual innuendos in the film, most children just wouldn't understand the message, and would probably find it too terrifying as well; especially near the end.

The history of the development of this story doesn't really take long to explain.  Back at the end of the 90s, and the start of the new millennium, a comic book was published (oddly by DC, under the Wildstorm imprint,) called "the Authority."  The series was essentially about a group of self-centered, gang-like, deeply amoral jerks with superpowers, who nonetheless fight crime and protect the Earth, but also take it upon themselves to act as judge, jury and executioner, even over whole governments.

The series became rather popular when it was first published, and in response, in March 2001, a comic book was published (Action Comics 775,) called "What's so Funny About Truth, Justice and the American Way?"  In this comic, Superman does battle with a group called "The Elite;" who are very much like the Authority in most respects.  The comic's premise refuted (I think, quite successfully,) the ethical standpoint of the "Authority" books, and reaffirmed the reasons that Superman has always had for his devotion to truth and justice.  The book sold wonderfully, though it wasn't -universally- liked, largely because there are people out there who just don't like Superman, and never will, regardless of how well he's written.

I hate to say it, but I think a fair number of people will claim to dislike the movie for this reason alone.  Some people just don't like Superman, and they want him to lose, and suffer along the way.  Needless to say, I'm not convinced by this viewpoint, and I don't think I ever will be, though I admit, some of the Superman films have made it awfully hard to like him at times.

The premise of this movie is that the Elite; (a lizard-like woman named Menagerie who can produce powerful, destructive slugs/snakes/bugs from her body, an electric-powered tough guy named Coldcast, a drunken magician named Hat, and their leader; a powerful psychic called Manchester Black,) appear and assist Superman in stopping a rampaging monster.  However, Superman doesn't trust them, because they seem to enjoy hurting people, and soon, the elite set themselves up as judge, jury and executioner, claiming to act outside of, and above, any legal body.  This, of course, leads to a conflict between them and Superman, when they begin to murder people for their crimes.  However, he has a hard time fighting them, not just because of their power, but because the world at large seems to prefer the Elite, and enjoy watching them work.

Spoilers for the next paragraph.

Superman's solution is ultimately to pretend to adopt the philosophy of the Elite, and he defeats them, one by one, in a way that looks as if he were killing them ruthlessly.  When people react to this in horror, he reminds them that they're reacting that way because murder shouldn't be used as a weapon of justice; that a better way needs to be found, and that, after all, the old Superman's philosophy was the correct one.  He then reveals that it was all a trick, and that he didn't really kill anyone.

I certainly agree with Superman that murder is not a viable moral option in solving our problems.  Even if we're under attack, if we have the chance to disable our enemies without killing them, we should take it.  Killing is moral, only in instances where you are legitimately defending someone's life, and killing is the only way to do so.  Murder, however, is never justified; even in legitimate defense.

Superman gets some good lines in this movie, about how we can't just toss morality in the garbage because it's inconvenient, and how we need to all be working, not just for the crushing of evil, but for good.  These are all important moral lessons.

Sadly, such lessons often lose much of their force in the modern world, which has rejected all of the tried and true moral lists (such as the Ten Commandments,) and if you don't have a -list- of what's moral and what isn't, how can you tell when a person is being immoral?

It could also be said that there's something not quite kosher about Superman deceiving the people of the Earth about what he was really up to.  I wouldn't go so far as to say it was -immoral,- but it's a little awkward, for someone who claims to represent truth first.

On the whole, though, I enjoyed this movie, and I thought it was much needed, in this age of amoral selfishness and moral relativism.  It's just sad to see so many people treating it as just another chess piece in the hand of their opponent, rather than actually listening to what it says.

PS238 Volume 2; To the Cafeteria... For Justice!

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

I recently reviewed the first volume of PS238, and all of the general points that I made there apply to this second 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 (such as the introductions of Malphast, Angie and the Flea,) are only found in trade form.

Five issues of PS238 are collected in this volume, beginning with issue 6, which was the one that convinced me that I was in good hands reading this comic.  In issue 6, two new characters are introduced; "American Eagle" and "USA Patriot Act."  Each has basically the same kind of MO.  They walk around in bright, flag-themed outfits, spout over-the-top, patriotic rhetoric at every chance they get, and constantly fight with one another.  They're apparently being groomed by our nation's political parties, to replace another patriotic-themed superhero when he dies/retires.

This kind of premise sounds like a recipe for disaster, or might even threaten to turn PS238 into a politically-charged book, but to my amazement, Williams avoided doing this, showing both clever writing skills and greater maturity than most modern "entertainers."  Politics shouldn't be about who's on whose side.  It should be about the issues, and all of this so-called "comedy" that you see about politics in recent years has really done nothing but decrease the human ability to reason, while increasing faction-based devotion (which has no intellectual basis at all.)  I don't know if this was Williams' reason for framing the book as he did, but even after reading it several times, I'm still not entirely sure which party was supporting which Jr. Patriotic hero.  At one point, they say their favorite colors; blue and red, which might be a clue, but it's not overt enough to mean anything, and maybe it's better that way.  The political reality that this comic points to is simply that America is incredibly divided right now, while still doing its best to keep up appearances.  Any person of either party can look at this, and get some laughs, and by shifting the focus onto truly nonpartisan political humor, Williams showed that his interest was -entertainment,- not some ulterior motive of his own.  I think that's the reason why I loved issue 6 so much, and why I felt so safe in the hands of PS238 after reading it.

Issue 7 tells the story of Mister Extraordinary; the world's first superhero in the PS238 universe, and the problems that he and his family faced as a result of his powers.  In some ways, it's a tragic story, but Williams makes it work magnificently by focusing, not on the tragedy, but on the good that comes about in spite of the tragedy, and on the foiling of the plans of evildoers, which, in my view, is the best he could have done with a story like this one.  You don't feel depressed when you put it down, and really, that already makes it superior to the tragic tales told by other comic companies.

Issue 8 talks about the history of Project Rainmaker; the branch of the school that teaches those with non-combat-oriented powers, though many of them, I'm convinced, could be truly devastating if they put their minds to it.  Apparently, it was once a controversial government program, to try to learn the secrets of superpowers.  This is another tragic tale, after a fashion, but again, it's exciting, and a lot of fun to read.  I was very pleased with how it was handled.

In issue 9, "The Revenant" (a sort of Batman parody,) takes Tyler under his wing, and tries to teach him a little about how to fight crime without any special powers.  This one is just pure fun, though we see that Tyler is looking for more information on his teachers.

Finally, issue 10, in which Tyler, Angie and the alien Prospero are given a science project involving silly putty; a project that takes them back into outer space, and into deadly peril.  This issue is high-flying adventure at its finest.

Although no major story arcs are ended in Volume 2, a couple are started, and several new characters introduced.  The overall result is a volume that, by itself, is part-introduction, part-setup, part self-contained storylines, and just good, clean fun all along the way.  As fun, entertaining, secular comic books go, this is the measuring stick.  I loved it, and I hope you will too.

PS238 Volume 1; With Liberty and Recess For All

By Aaron Williams

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

The history of comic books can be traced in terms of "ages."  In the Golden Age, we saw the debuts of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice Society, as well as a number of others.

In the Silver Age, a lot of the old superheroes were revamped with sci-fi and fantasy origins and truly bizarre storylines, which would have been perfect fun, if not for the generally-poor writing quality of the time.  When Spider-man's girlfriend; Gwen Stacy died, so did the Silver Age, unfortunately.

The Silver Age was followed by the Bronze Age, in which superhero comics did everything they could to address the key issues of the time.  Darker and grimmer storylines also tended to pop up every now and then until "The Dark Knight Returns" and "Watchmen" were published, and became intensely popular.  Unfortunately, rather than learning the lesson that well-written stories sell, publishers made the mistake of thinking that "dark storylines are popular now."

Thus was born the Dark Age of comics, in which all stories were either dark, grim and depressing, or a prelude to something that was.  It could be argued that this age has never really ended, since even in the modern age of comic books, writers and editors aren't shy about killing off characters for no reason, and writing mega-crossover storylines in which tons of characters die.

Each age of comics really seemed to make some serious mistakes.  The golden age had licensing problems, the silver age was badly-written, the bronze age more concerned with "relevance" than enjoyable storytelling, the dark age was -way- too dark, and certainly not something you can share with kids, and in the modern age, comic books are a mish-mash of all of these mistakes, plus the added problem that many writers and editors try to use them as a vehicle for their incorrect views of moral and political issues.

The reason why I bring all of this up is that in my time reading comics from various companies and various nations, only a few comic books ever managed to avoid making -any- of these mistakes, and only one of them was written and published in America; PS238.

PS238 began as a webcomic, and it can still be found online, if you need a sample to get you interested.  Basically, a group of kids with superpowers go to a school for superpowered children, and have adventures.  However, this is only the very basic premise.  It excels in many other areas.

For one thing, the children in this book act like real children.  They're not miniature adults, like Harry Potter, or parodies of children, like Bart Simpson.  If real kids had superpowers, they'd act a lot like this.

Secondly, the comic is enjoyable and positive, not unlike the Silver Age comics published long ago, and contains many bizarre storylines as well.  However, unlike those comics, it's also exceptionally well-written, and humorous.

The characters develop, not unlike manga characters.  They don't always remain exactly the same.  Tyler and Ron, for example, have been developing continually over the course of the comic, and Guardian Angel has also undergone plenty of growth since the comic began, though you may not see much of this in the early issues, where everyone is still being introduced.

What amazes me is how, even when the comic gets serious, and addresses tragic situations, which happened in the past, or are happening in the present, it never does so in a negative manner, and the reader is always left feeling that, in the end, things really didn't turn out so bad, even when they did.  Williams never -dwells- on tragic occurrences, even when he does narrate them, and I think that may be what makes his work so much superior to the typical fare from Marvel, or even DC these days.

However, the thing that will, I think, draw readers to this comic most is the simple fact that it's something that kids can read.  For the longest time, comic books have been struggling so hard to subvert the silver age, that they've become antisocial, mean-spirited, grim, and even immoral.  They contain not-infrequent cursing, blood and over-the-top violence, and even overt sex!  PS238 is none of these things.  It revels in the crisp, clean world of those old, superhero comics, then just writes the stories better, and has fun with them.

That's the long and short of it, really.  PS238 isn't just family-friendly.  It's -fun.-  It won't make you angst, like the X-men.  It won't make you upset, like a big, company crossover.  It won't make you feel hopeless, like so many comics nowadays do.  It's fun, and after all, isn't that the reason why comics were created to begin with?

These comics are all in black and white.  That's how they were drawn, and it's how they're being represented.  Also, most of the comics in these collected volumes are also available online as part of the webcomic.  I say -most,- because there are some special segments in these volumes, such as Miss Kyle's preparations for super-powered teachers, which are only present in collected form.  You won't miss much by reading the webcomic, but if you want the whole thing, this is the way to get it.  Besides, it's not so easy to read to your nieces off the internet.

This volume covers 6 issues of PS238; Issue 0 (a montage of character introductions and other preparations for the world of PS238,) Issue 1 (in which Ron, also known as Captain Clarinet, must do battle with his fear of flying,) Issue 2 (in which an alien child lands at PS238, and must find a way to integrate with the rest of the class,) Issue 3 (introducing Tyler; the main character of the comic, and the only student at PS238 who lacks any kind of special powers or technology,) Issue 4 (in which the students are stranded on the moon,) and Issue 5 (in which Tyler and some of the others decide to investigate the secret depths of their school, and find themselves pursued by what seems to be a ghost!)  All of these stories are delightful and fun.

There are, of course, magical characters in this story, but that's to be expected from a comic about all kinds of superheroes.  Because of this, I'm giving the first volume of PS238 the best grade that I ever give to anything that isn't overtly religious, and I fully expect to give its many follow-up volumes the same grade.  It's been a long time since we got to see superheroes having fun and fighting evil at the same time, and believe me; it's refreshing to see it again.

The Green Lantern

Rated PG-13


Catholic-ometer: 3 of 5

Enjoyability: 3 of 5

I've read some other Catholic reviews of this film, but after having seen it myself, I have to say, I only half agree with what they had to say.

I've heard the claim that the lantern ring creates matter from nothing; a power that only God possesses.  No, it doesn't.  They make it quite clear in the film that the ring creates constructs out of energy, not nothing.

The movie claims that "will" is "the greatest force in the universe."  Not only do I believe this to be false, but the comics, to my knowledge, didn't make this claim.  They insisted that the Lantern Ring was "the most powerful weapon in the universe," but all that stuff about the green power being greater than anything else is clearly incorrect.  I can think of several characters in DC Comics who could make it tap-dance with a snap of their fingers.

Issue has been taken with the philandering behavior of the main character at the start of the film, and I'm very glad to hear that I'm not the only one who saw the problem with this.  The movie tries to imply that fearlessness is the only important thing about being a Green Lantern.  That's false.  You also need to be utterly honest, and of course, guess which of those qualifications the main character lacks in this film?

Hal Jordan himself (the title character) is easily the most irritating thing about the movie.  For some reason, they decided to make him not only energetic, wisecracking and extroverted (traits the character had in the comics as well,) but also dishonest, self-centered, childish and rock stupid (traits he did -not- have in the comics.)  Because of this, Hal, and every relationship scene containing him, got on my nerves severely.

The villain, sure enough, is a growing, planet-consuming lovecraftian abomination named Parallax, which mutates one Earthman into a psychic elephant-man-looking character who apparently runs on fear, and consumes several others like the blob before he's eventually defeated.  I didn't find anything terribly interesting or fun about this villain, and the "innocent people body count" he gets doesn't help matters any.

I do have to admit that the scenes on Oa were pretty good, and the film's rendition of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians was very good.  I also liked the visual effects used for the power ring, and wished we could have seen more of that, and less of Hal trying to get back together with his former girlfriend Carol.

On the whole, I wasn't pleased with this movie, although it did have some moments I found visually-impressive, which gave me a nice thrill in exchange for my time.  If I were to rate it, with movies like Superman, Spider-man 2 and The Avengers at the top of the scale, and movies like Daredevil, The Fantastic Four and Catwoman at the bottom, Green Lantern would be right in the center.  It's the closest thing to a "meh" superhero movie I've ever seen.

Final Notes: There's one last thing I forgot to mention; Amanda Waller.  This annoyed me severely.  The actress who they got to play Amanda Waller is a good 200 pounds too light to play her.  What really makes this bad, though, is that there's another woman in the film who would have been perfect for her, if only she hadn't been busy playing "woman in distress" during the Parallax attack on the city.

The Dark Knight Rises

Rated PG-13

Catholic-ometer: 2.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 3.5 of 5

I've seen good and bad reviews of this film, but now that I've seen the film itself, I feel I should give my two cents.

In this film, Bruce is badly injured from his days as Batman.  His bones, brain and body are basically turning to mush, and he hasn't put the mask on in seven years.  Suddenly, a bad guy named Bane shows up; a terrorist who threatens Gotham city with a nuclear bomb, and breaks Batman over his knee, trapping him in a deep, dark prison.  Batman must find a way to escape and stop Bane's plan before it's too late.  However, even if he succeeds, he'll need to face the fact that he just can't be Batman anymore.

There's also a subplot about Catwoman, and about the child of Ra's Al Ghoul, who returns to fulfill his original mission of annihilating Gotham City.  Catwoman is an infamous thief, who seems to be trying to get herself a clean legal record and go straight, although whether she's on Batman's side or not is a key question in this film.

The character of Bane is clever and determined, and he does basically all the things that real anarchist terrorist psychopaths do; like claiming to be a "liberator of the people," and marching on the stock exchange to try to steal money from rich employers, thus preventing them from employing anyone anymore.  I found this imagery to be a very true-to-life, and surprisingly-sensible one for a Hollywood film.

However, just because the film has some sense doesn't make it a great film for Christians.  The 2.5 on the Catholic-ometer is there partly because Bruce ultimately needs to find the strength to escape his prison by learning to fear death.  No.  Just no.  Death is our route home.  There's nothing to be afraid of there.

Catwoman is a bit of an odd character.  She's definitely a self-serving backstabber, and yet, Batman seems more concerned with what kind of person she could be; a hero of sorts.  Even when she joins his side, so to speak, I still don't think she ever becomes much of a hero herself, and I didn't find her as endearing as some people seem to have, but I didn't find her grating either.

Miranda Tate is one character I was absolutely disgusted with; primarily because there's an implied sex scene between her and Bruce about midway through the film, even though there's been no relationship to speak of between them up to that point, and she has no intention of there being one.  So why does she want to have sex with (and presumably, a child by, since that's what happens when you have sex,) this person who she barely knows and doesn't care about.  Worse yet, why does -Batman- agree to this most intimate of all relationships, given that he himself comes from a broken family, which, in fact, made him who he is?  Batman has never shown disdain for marraige or the family like this, nor for that matter, a desire for -friendship,- much less intimacy with any other human being.  It was a brief scene, but in my mind, it should have been cut.

From here, let me segue into the character of Batman, or rather, of Bruce Wayne, because I just don't think this character is Batman.

You see, the distinctive thing about the character of Batman is that while most other superheroes are ordinary people who put on disguises in order to fight crime, Batman puts on his disguise when the mask comes -off.-  In fact, they even say something like this in the early parts of the movie.  Yet, I'm supposed to believe that Batman not only -can- have a normal life, but actually -wants- it.  In other words, that he wants to spend the rest of his life wearing a mask; that he could enjoy it.

Frankly, I just can't picture that.  Wayne is not happy unless he's doing something to stop evil.  He could never be happy living a life in which he sees evil every day, and does nothing to prevent it, and every man, woman and child sees evil every day in this world of ours.

I was never terribly happy with this version of Batman.  I enjoyed the first film as much as anyone, but the second didn't do much with the character, in my eyes, and his dependance on the various female characters he meets seemed, to me, like an unnecessary weakness to introduce to the character.  He was too needy in human relationships, too vulnerable to base temptations, too angry when fighting evil, too worried when contemplating his life...  In short, he was just too emotional.  He was a human being, but he was not a batman.

Some will say "but that's the point of these movies; to do the character in a more realistic way."  I don't think, however, that the modern obsession with realism (which I have many reasons to detest in itself,) covers any of the complaints I've just made, for one simple reason.

You don't need to be weak and emotional in order to be a realistic person.

I will give these films the credit that is due to them.  They have good writing, and strongly-developed characters, but to alter characters as timeless as these in this kind of way is still like plopping Robin Hood down in the middle of modern New York City and having him say "please" and "thank you" all the time.  Just because it's more like what we're used to doesn't make it "realistic."  It makes it normal, and this is precisely the opposite of why I watch movies about superheroes.