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.

Where Should Catholics Look For Answers?

At times, it gets truly sad, what supposed Catholics will stoop to in their effort to pretend that we don't need to react to the problems in the world; especially those who have, or think they have, an audience.

I won't say the name of this particular Catholic, partly because I don't know it, but my father pays attention to what he says from time to time, and I can't say I'm pleased by that, since I've often found him to be unwilling to speak the hard truths.  Today, however, he crossed a couple of big lines.

The subject under discussion was whether or not government should have more surveillance authority over its citizens, or something along those lines.  I think the issue is an important one, but not the reason I'm making this post.

First, this Catholic seemed to be implying that the bible contains conflicting accounts of "government."  In other words, that there are passages that imply that government is our friend, and is appointed by God, and passages that see the government as an evil, consuming beast.

Putting aside the fact that this is an independent interpretation of these passages, and therefore carries no weight -in the Catholic Church,- such a statement gives the impression that the bible is filled with irreconcilable contradictions, and it's precisely this kind of careless language that once encouraged me to turn to agnosticism (the worst ten years of my life.)

In reality, of course, scripture passages that -seem- to contradict, actually don't, and instead, are used to draw attention to subtle distinctions in God's law, and in our world.  For example, there are passages of the bible that speak of -specific- governments doing -specific- evil things, and passages that speak of the loyalty that we owe to those appointed by God to serve in governing others, but no scripture passage says that "government," as such, is our friend, and no scripture passage says that -all- governments are good or evil.  These things depend on the circumstances, and a really good discussion could be had on this subject alone.  Just so long as we can avoid implying that the scriptures are full of contradictions.

But of course, that's not enough.  We also need to imply that the -doctors of the Church- are full of contradictions as well.  This individual claimed that Saint Augustine saw the government as evil, which Saint Thomas Aquinas saw it as chosen by God, and then said that obviously, one of them thought one thing, while the other thought something different.

This is, in fact, far from obvious.  After all, Lucifer was chosen by God for an -exceptionally- high position, and he turned out to be evil, didn't he?

I simply fail to see any contradiction between an authority figure being chosen by God, and the same authority figure being evil.  Look at King Saul; the first king of Israel.  It's -repeatedly- said that he "did evil in the sight of the Lord."  Yet, he was clearly God's appointed.  No contradiction is obvious, to me, between Augustine and Aquinas on this subject.  In fact, Saint Thomas Aquinas quoted Augustine incessantly in his masterwork; the Summa Theologica.  More than anyone else.

Worse yet, however, is the attempt to paint St. Thomas as the kind of man who rolled over when the government was doing evil.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  St. Thomas Aquinas was well aware of the existence of unjust laws.  In fact, on the subject, he said the following...

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"On the other hand laws may be unjust in two ways: first, by being contrary to human good,"

"Secondly, laws may be unjust through being opposed to the Divine good: such are the laws of tyrants inducing to idolatry, or to anything else contrary to the Divine law"

"The like are acts of violence rather than laws; because, as Augustine says (De Lib. Arb. i, 5), "a law that is not just, seems to be no law at all."

"Wherefore such laws do not bind in conscience, except perhaps in order to avoid scandal or disturbance"

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Now, here we see quite clearly that not only does Saint Thomas acknowledge that some laws are fundamentally unjust and are therefore not laws, and aren't binding on our consciences, but he quotes Saint Augustine in support of this claim.  Therefore, there is no contradiction here.

But perhaps the most damaging thing said by this Catholic, at least from the section that I heard, was that "Catholics are good at self-examination," implying that this is the method that we should use to find answers to these moral questions.

If any Catholic turns to self-examination to figure out whether something is moral or immoral, he's missed the point of being a Catholic.  We -have- people to determine whether things are moral or immoral.  They're called the Pope and the Magisterium.  We -have- a reference document for what things are moral or immoral.  It's called the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Telling people that they should look within themselves for the answers instead is not only wrong; it's dangerous.  People are not as isolated from the secular world as they like to think, and without a firm connection the the rue-bricks of our Catholic faith, we will all be lost.

Normally, I'd take a moment to question the loyalty of this person to the actual teachings of the Church.  After all, if we're not going to refer to the Church's teachings on difficult, moral questions, then what, precisely, is the point of having a Catechism in the first place?

I can understand that everyone makes mistakes, however, and I'll be charitable and suppose that's all it was. That said, if you're Catholic, and you've got a public voice, beware of this kind of thing.  Your slightest misstep can speak volumes to those hovering on the edge.

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.

The Adventures of Tintin, Volume 5

By Georges Prosper Remi (Hergé)

Catholic-ometer: 3.5 of 5

Enjoyability: 5 of 5

Tintin is one of the finest comic series that I ever had the pleasure of reading as a boy, and not long ago, a seven-volume set was published, collecting the best and most memorable works about Tintin, though a few were left out (either because of overall poor quality art and controversy, such as the first two Tintin books,) or the last books, due to not being published in the lifetime of their author, and most likely not being entirely written by him either.  If you've got the books in this collection, you've got the cream of the crop, and the best that Tintin has to offer.

The collection is hardcover, and faithfully reprints the various Tintin works in their original, full-color form, although the book itself is smaller that the original printings, meaning that at times, the text is a bit difficult to read, due to the reduction in size that everything took in the transition.  It would, I think, be very hard for children to enjoy this collection, but as a budget choice for adults who want to re-experience their favorite childhood stories, it's good option overall.

Volume 5 contains three stories, and they're among the most memorable Tintin stories, though not, perhaps, as exciting as some of Herge's earlier work.  I've said before that Herge seemed to have a great appreciation for cultural distinctiveness, and this shows through strongly in the first story "Land of Black Gold," where Tintin travels to the middle east, trying to figure out what's causing the gasoline supply to explode from -inside- the gas tanks of various cars.  There's a familiar villain, a silly chemical with bizarre effects, and a young, bratty prince to rescue.  The prince, oddly, may be my favorite part of the story, because he's a very good demonstration of what happens when you never tell a child "no."

The second story is "Destination Moon," in which Tintin's friend, Professor Calculus, has made some new technological advances, which, he believes, will give him the power to launch a rocket all the way to the moon.  There are, of course, complications involved in getting the rocket set up and launched, and an unnamed foreign power keeps trying to seize control of it.  Plus, they don't actually get to the moon in this book.  That honor is reserved for story three.

"Explorers on the Moon" is a moon rocket adventure, in which Tintin and his friends are on the way to the moon, but quickly discover stowaways, meaning that their air supply is more restrictive than they'd planned for.  Furthermore, someone onboard the ship is out for revenge against Tintin.

On the whole, I'd say that the second and third books might as well be grouped together, since they're two halves of the same story (preparing a rocket/using the rocket.)  By necessity, of course, Tintin doesn't need to face nearly as many human opponents in these issues, and the ones he does face often don't make much sense, in terms of their motives.  One wonders, for example, why a revenge-obsessed thug would follow Tintin to the moon, as opposed to just trying to bludgeon him while he was on Earth.  Still, they're enjoyable stories, in spite of the questions they raise.

I really enjoyed the moon stories when I was younger, and I still do, but having read them over again, I have to say that I think "black gold" is my favorite of the three, if only because it stuck closest to the classic Tintin formula, and let's be honest here; it's a formula that worked.

Still, all three stories were very enjoyable.  I never felt the characters were used badly, and I never felt uncomfortable reading them, which is more than can be said for most American comics these days.

TTSNBSIM 10: "We Know Our Relatives Are Looking Down at us From Heaven Right Now"

TTSNBSIM (Things That Should Never Be Said In Mass)

#10: "We Know Our Relatives Are Looking Down at us From Heaven Right Now"

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This series is on the subject of things that I've heard said at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, which should, in reality, never be said there.  Often, it's because these things are incorrect, but occasionally, it's simply because the remark, as stated, is not explained well enough, and will inevitably be misinterpreted.  In the latter case, the post will also contain an explanation of why this is, as well as proposed -alternatives,- which make the intended statement a bit more clear.

In this case, the statement, as expressed, is clearly false.  We can't have any assurance that our relatives are in Heaven, but there's another reason why this should never be said in Mass; it does a disservice to our relatives.

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The teaching of the Catholic Church is that unless a person has been canonized, we can't have any assurance that they're in Heaven yet.  Some people, of course, will go to Hell, but for those who put genuine effort into their devotion to God, and try their best to follow his commandments, even when it's against their own desires, and seek forgiveness when they fall, Hell is not a likely destination.

However, that doesn't mean that these people will immediately ascend into Heaven.  We can -hope- that the faithful will go immediately to Heaven, but the fact remains that unless you've achieved a state of perfection in this life, that's simply not likely.  God must first put you through a process that will bring you to perfection, and this process is known as Purgatory.

Souls in Purgatory are, at the very least, fully assured of their salvation.  They -are saved,- and will one day be in Heaven with God.  However, the process, by all accounts, is not a pleasant one, and the sooner it's over with, the better.

Souls in Purgatory can't do anything to speed themselves towards Heaven any faster.  However, we on Earth -can.-  By offering our prayers for the souls in Purgatory, and by fasting and having masses said for them, we can greatly decrease the amount of time that souls need to spend in Purgatory before their release into Heaven.

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The first problem, therefore, with telling people that their relatives are in Heaven, is this; suppose they're actually in Purgatory, and their relatives are misled by the claim that they're in Heaven.  Will those relatives pray for their souls?  Will they fast for them?  Will they have masses said for them?

In most circumstances, the answer is no.  If a person is already in Heaven, they're saved.  They made it, and they don't need your prayers anymore.

We simply can't afford to be overly-optimistic about the fate of our relatives, or anyone else we know, because that's an injustice to those poor souls of the people -who were close to us in life,- and who, for all we know, are still desperate for our help.

Even if a particular soul does -not- need our help, however, prayers, fastings and masses said for them are not wasted.  If that soul happens to be in Heaven (or in Hell,) God will take the merit of our sacrifices and apply them to another soul in need; perhaps even someone else we know, and have forgotten about, or perhaps someone we've never met, but would like if we had.

However, there's another problem with claiming that our relatives are in Heaven; in some ways, an even bigger one.

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The fact of the matter is that many, many Christians today are guilty of the sin of presumption.  They presume that because of God's loving nature, he'll overlook a life of wretched, impenitent sin, and somehow get the person into Heaven, in spite of their utter indifference to God's will, over the entire course of their lives.  Even those who try to be holy are usually not as holy as they'd like to believe.

The first problem we discussed sort of assumed that the person being referred to generally tried to be holy and do right, but suppose that wasn't the case?  Suppose they made no effort to learn God's law, and just picked up their "morals" from television shows and popular opinions, and eventually, even started to complain about church teaching, or even actively oppose it.  Yet, they still claimed to be a good Christian.

If we try to claim that this kind of person (disguising themselves as a Christian, while all the while working to undermine Christ and his Church,) is in Heaven right now, we do worse than a disservice to him or her.  We sin against everyone who hears our words.  This sin is called "Scandal."

We're using our words, in this case, to mislead people into thinking that anyone can waltz through life, fight the Church's teaching at every turn, ignore the commandments, and live in opposition to -God himself,- and yet, because they enter a Church from time to time and desecrate the Eucharist by receiving in a state of impenitent, mortal sin, they somehow made it to Heaven.

-If- such people get to Heaven, it's -in spite of- these things, and -because of- sincere penance when nobody was looking.  To -tell the faithful- that they go straight to Heaven, however, is like telling them that -they- don't need to obey God, or respect him, or even love him.  It's hard to imagine a surer way to lead a soul to Hell.

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The fact of the matter is, no priest's job is to make people feel better.  Ever.  If you're ordained, it's your job to lead souls to Heaven, and that won't be done by telling them that their relatives were saints.  Avoid statements like this one as though they were made of cancer.

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.