Readers should be well acquainted with the main characters of Ahoy’s Important New Superhero Universe by now. This month’s issue of My Bad features the next part in Chandelier’s adventure with the salad shooter, a proper introduction to Rush Hour as a hero rather than his predicament inside Emperor King’s trap. This month’s extras also push the boundaries of what can be included in a comic book.
The Good
Mark Russell’s Chandelier story this month broadens the scope for the book. While remaining a superhero satire, it’s here that Russell shows the readers there’s more to make fun of than heroes. With the title “Social Tedia” it’s not hard to imagine what the main target of this satire is. Russell remains in top form with his character names, as this story gives us the new villain ‘Insta-Graham.’ The book embraces its genre and delivers on the laughs.
Bryce Ingman’s ‘Buckle Up’ gives Rush Hour the sort of story he maybe needed an issue ago. For readers until this point, he was simply the traffic hero accidentally caught by Emperor King. The situation was funny enough, but there wasn’t much beyond the humor. Now the past couple stories seem even more tragic given how pathetic Rush Hour is. And yet he’s a standout of the issue and probably the most heroic character of the Important New Superhero Universe so far.
Jumping from a pre-trapped story back into ‘Worst Dressed’ sees Rush Hour still caught in the many stages of Emperor King’s trap. It’s funny, but it builds on both characters in ways you wouldn’t quite expect.
The two extras this month, again by Ingman and Russell, play with form and what can be done with these Ahoy supplementaries. Winthropedia is particularly good. Written in the style of a Wikipedia entry, Russell blends together world-building, humor and form to create something until now unseen in Ahoy Comics. It will be interesting going forward to see what else the extras can do.
The ‘Bad’
As always, there’s really nothing bad here. There’s a looming question with the series, though, and that is how long can this stay funny? With Russell and Ingman, the answer is probably a good while. But we’re three issues in now and each issue has had a chapter of Chandelier’s story as well as Rush Hour and Emperor King’s. In a sense they feel like filler but due to the humor, they’re not really since it’s likely not going anywhere and the jokes are the point.
But it makes you wonder how many times Chandelier can clumsily fall through a situation while avoiding the salad shooter, or how long Emperor King can apologize to Rush Hour after mistakenly capturing him. With a short season the series probably won’t outstay its welcome, but the thought is starting to linger.
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