This is a story we can all relate to, what happens when you become
a super-hero just by punching a few buttons on a mysterious artefact?
Well you never know it could happen right? Ok maybe not but the
latest in DC’s new titles explores just this idea, as a kid
who lives in an all too real world finds out just what it takes
to be a hero.
The story follows the life of Feldon as he ekes out a miserable
existence in a city slum reminiscent of moder n
day Detroit. His parents split up when his father lost his job at
the local car manufacturing plant and then died a time later, his
mother then left to find work in another town. Feldon was left trying
to find work and ends up working as a soda jerk under some tyrant
who makes him wash dishes all day and work like a slave for minimum
wage.
It’s the reality of Feldons’ situation and this look
at the truth behind modern day society which sucks me into this
book. The way the story is handled it really does feel like it could
be me or you in the same position as we find Feldon in. The graffiti,
posters on the walls and the general environment of the city hit
by urban blight really help bring the stark reality home. There
is one particular series of panels which shows posters of happy
couples in perfume or CK ads on billboards smiling and loving life
in the same panel we find Feldon talking to a suicide counsellor
in a callbox. These stark contrasts and visual commentaries on the
parody of what modern life has become help to give this book a nice
depth. If this book is taken just as a commentary on the hardships
of growing up in modern day society it is something that a lot of
us can enjoy and relate too.
Pfeifer uses a ‘flashback’ technique to tell Feldons
story and it’s in these scenes that the artwork truly excels.
From the nice feathering/dissolve fading effect around the panel
edges to the classic throwback gritty artwork and exquisite colouring
it all just fits together really well. Kano really portrays the
helplessness of Feldons life brilliantly through the eyes. He has
truly perfected the blank, meaningless and glazed stare of despair.
I found the back story more interesting than when Feldon actually
gains his powers, the story tends to lose a bit of focus from that
point on.
There are parts of the story that take place in this ‘flashback’
time, and these are rendered in a clean style of inking and pencilling
and then there are the modern day parts which have a grittier more
sketchy style to them. The sketchy modern day parts of the story
seemed a bit distracting and I most definitely prefer the cleaner
line work in the ‘flashback’ scenes as well as the great
textured, paint-like colouring processes used in these parts of
the book.
The story touches on what it must be like to truly be a hero and
sidesteps the glitz and glamour parts we always read about. Feldon
saves a kid from being run over by a drunk driver and finds out
the truth of what it is to be a champion of all things right. Just
because you change for the better doesn’t mean the world around
you changes with you, take the kid Feldon saves, he’s just
pissed that his bike is smashed up, he doesn’t care that his
life was saved. It’s these kinds of situations that the book
takes a look at, I must say that it is refreshing to see a book
based on the other side of heroism, the truthful side of when things
go wrong for superhuman people.
Sometimes superpowers are not all we’ve hoped for and things
don’t turn out as planned. A nice modern tale with a lot of
real life grit and edge embedded into a superhero origin story which
many of us can relate to.
Score:8/10
Written By: Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
