Sundowners #1
The sun is down and the heroes are up...or are they?
Writing: Tim Seeley
Art: Jim Terry
Publisher: Dark Horse
Sundowners #1. Dark Horse's take on the Kick-Ass idea that supers are probably just as crazy as the villians they fight shouldn't be as good as it is considering how often the idea is done but still, this book succeeds more than it fails.
The idea is simple: a group of heroes, still real people with very real problems and mental disorders, are all in a kind of support group where they talk about their nightly and knightly escapades and, if their therapist is lucky, the underlying issues that cause them to dress up and fight the good fight.
The book isn't really interested in exploring superhereos it seems, their names backstories and etc are hardly mentioned here. This book is all about people: the people under the mask, the people getting punched by the masked people, and, the people who hear all about it and think "Maybe this guy needs help". It's a good idea to escew the often treaded superhero tropes and just dig straight into charaterizing the bodies in the suits, this first issue is more than enough to decide if this book is for you or not because of it really.
The story is interesting if a little unfocused as we get short insights into each hero and their possible delusions. (It's up to the reader to decide if everything they see is reality or not). You can tell that both writer and artist here have conspired to make these people believable and relatable even if they're a little off center. The last few pages contain enough of a suckerpunch, literally and storywise to keep you interested enough to check out issue 2 and that's really all an issue 1 can strive for in today's comic world.
The art is both hit and miss, sometimes the characters faces (looking at you page 17 last panel) are unbearable, however, the villains and monsters as well as The Citizen are interestingly designed and carry a great deal of good charaterization and world building in their looks. If Terry can hone in on the dark and ditch the generic hero and world looks, this book could end up producing some really great and terrifying images in the vein of Mignola and Lovecraft while staying within the confines of a superhero world.
Will this book eventually tread down the age old "batman is just as crazy as the joker" path or will it continue to distinguish itself as more of a focus on personhood and not herodom? This issue 1 isn't enough to decide but, if you're into the whole grim dark, gritty reality of what being a broken person who does good things could be, this book is worth your time at least.
Writing: Tim Seeley
Art: Jim Terry
Publisher: Dark Horse
Sundowners #1. Dark Horse's take on the Kick-Ass idea that supers are probably just as crazy as the villians they fight shouldn't be as good as it is considering how often the idea is done but still, this book succeeds more than it fails.
The idea is simple: a group of heroes, still real people with very real problems and mental disorders, are all in a kind of support group where they talk about their nightly and knightly escapades and, if their therapist is lucky, the underlying issues that cause them to dress up and fight the good fight.
The book isn't really interested in exploring superhereos it seems, their names backstories and etc are hardly mentioned here. This book is all about people: the people under the mask, the people getting punched by the masked people, and, the people who hear all about it and think "Maybe this guy needs help". It's a good idea to escew the often treaded superhero tropes and just dig straight into charaterizing the bodies in the suits, this first issue is more than enough to decide if this book is for you or not because of it really.
The story is interesting if a little unfocused as we get short insights into each hero and their possible delusions. (It's up to the reader to decide if everything they see is reality or not). You can tell that both writer and artist here have conspired to make these people believable and relatable even if they're a little off center. The last few pages contain enough of a suckerpunch, literally and storywise to keep you interested enough to check out issue 2 and that's really all an issue 1 can strive for in today's comic world.
The art is both hit and miss, sometimes the characters faces (looking at you page 17 last panel) are unbearable, however, the villains and monsters as well as The Citizen are interestingly designed and carry a great deal of good charaterization and world building in their looks. If Terry can hone in on the dark and ditch the generic hero and world looks, this book could end up producing some really great and terrifying images in the vein of Mignola and Lovecraft while staying within the confines of a superhero world.
Will this book eventually tread down the age old "batman is just as crazy as the joker" path or will it continue to distinguish itself as more of a focus on personhood and not herodom? This issue 1 isn't enough to decide but, if you're into the whole grim dark, gritty reality of what being a broken person who does good things could be, this book is worth your time at least.
A Look Inside
