Supreme Power 1-12

[DJ Kenobi]

Supreme Power 1-12 (hardcover collection)
Marvel Comics
Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Penciled by Gary Frank
Page count: 352
NOTE: it’s a MAX book and therefore not for the youngsters

Alan Moore’s Watchmen was a re-imagining of old Charleton characters living in the modern world. This was preceded by a few years by Mark Gruenwald’s re-imaging of DC characters in the modern world for Marvel’s Squadron Supreme. Now Supreme Power is JMS’s re-imagining of the re-imagining of classic DC archetypes for this century. I know that’s a whole lot of “re-imaging” but it really is the best description for the book. JMS takes the creation myths for many of DC’s classic characters and re-creates everything with a more modern logic past step one. Case in point, the main character, Hyperion. An alien baby crashes to Earth and is found by a childless couple in the heartland of America. Sound familiar? But then the American military shows up, takes the child, raises him in a controlled environment brainwashing him into the perfect American weapon. The archetypes of Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Aquaman are also present, each with its own post-modern twist and all running toward the same question that JMS seems to be exploring in this book. Does absolute power really corrupt absolutely?

Beyond that over-riding theme of the book, JMS does many of the things that he has proven to have a knack for in the past. He has a brilliant capability for writing character based storylines without sacrificing the action that can so easily be lost when the focus turns from plot to character. Also, his ability to write an ensemble cast is just outstanding. Personally, my favorite storytelling choice he has made in Supreme Power is his decision to not use internal dialogue. When used properly internal dialogue is a powerful tool, but often it seems to be used as a crutch or a shortcut in comic books. Whether this is due to laziness, the time constraints of a monthly schedule, or because much of the comic book tradition comes from pulp magazines where internal dialogue was a staple, is incredibly arguable and not really my point. JMS makes the decision to forgo internal dialogue to create a moral ambiguity in his characters, he says as much in his forward to the hardcover edition. I just really enjoyed how time and time again he was able to play off the reader’s usual expectations involving internal dialogue. Instead, he used precisely written dialogue with internal cues to relate what the character is intending, or even better, using the ambiguity in the wording to drive the suspense. When Hyperion tells is fake father, “I love you… just as much as you love me,” the underlying threat is obvious. It’s a thinly veiled warning from a being of unimaginable power who knows he’s being lied to aimed at the human who is the liar. That sense of Hyperion’s bottling up of knowledge and emotion is one of the driving plot threads in the book. Which is JMS at his best in my opinion. Being able to rely nearly solely on character development to drive a story is just plain old wonderful.

[Crimson Spider]

Great review, Deej.

I don't own the books, but I've read up to issue 10 or 11, and I loved it. I'm definitely getting the hardcover.

Edit: Also, Gary Frank does an outstanding job with the art. His work fits in perfectly with the story. I wouldn't have anyone else doing drawing the book.

[Popninja]

Good review. I have the first two TPBs, which also constitute 1-12. I can almost forgive JMS for Sins of the Past as long as he continues to deliver the goods on Supreme Power.

I said almost.

[lukepickett]

It was an awesome twelve issues, find the trade of the last six issues, I found it to be a incredible satisfyingly conclusion. I must dig it out again soon.