Great Lakes Avengers #4

Writer: Zac Gorman
Artist: Jacob Chalot
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Marc Robson’s simple yet stellar artwork on Great Lakes Avengers may be more taxing that it appears. He had to take a month off, leaving Jacob Chabot to take over art duties for a month. Chabot does a commendable job maintaining a cartoony look and convincingly mimics late 80s/early 90s comic art for flashbacks. But still...I miss Robson surgical precision this issue.


A power struggle has emerged within the Great Lakes Avengers between its former leader, Mr. Immortal, and its current leader, Flatman. They’re probably both unfit to lead the team, but it’s more fun having the neurotic Flatman in command. Mr. Immortal’s arrival has also caused dramatic upheaval because of his former relationship with Big Bertha. Immortal’s carefree attitude is a welcome foil to Flatman’s obsessive nature.

Speaking of Flatman, let’s hope you weren’t a 90s Flatman fan. Writer Zac Gorman apparently decided that he didn’t like Val Ventura’s origin. That origin story no longer exists. In issue #3, we find out that Val Ventura is not a scientist who made millions off his inventions. He’s just some ex-barista named “Matt” who made up the whole scientist thing. Even for someone who wasn’t into Flatman (who was, really?), this is a shocking revelation. It reinforces the notion that these heroes are not in the same league as the Fantastic Four, the Avengers...or the Defenders, for that matter.

Just as Gorman adds drama and reveals new layers of incompetence, Big Bertha and Good Boy take a local villain called Nain Rouge prisoner. Unfortunately, this pushes the team onto a precarious ledge because Nain Rouge is also a powerful politician in the team’s HQ city of Detroit.

Kidnapping Nain Rouge will surely set up a never-ending comedy of errors that the team must hustle to overcome. This series continues to be a funny and appropriately unexciting. The stakes are low, which allows for more comedic scenes between the sparse action. Villains are secondary because the heroes are their own worst enemies. It's one of the best comedy series available.