The first issue of Minor Threats: The Brood didn’t shy away from the challenge that supervillain Napoleon Archimedes had to face: not only was he dying, but he has to decide how to break it to his children – and to decide which one of them eventually gains control of his supervillain empire. Minor Threats: The Brood #2 swings its focus to his eldest daughter, Agatha, and her determination to save him.
As the eldest of three kids myself, I deeply relate to what Athena is going through. Her father kept her at arm’s length, her mother unknowingly (or worse, knowingly) cuts her down with words, and her brothers look at her with suspicion. And she’s just trying to do her best! Heath Corson (alongside Minor Threats masterminds Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum) has a knack for drilling deep into his protagonists’ head and making their struggles feel relatable, to the point where you almost forget they’re supervillains.
Corson also underlines how Athena could be a worthy successor to her father via an interesting avenue: pro wrestling. Plenty of other writers have delved into the connection between pro wrestling and superheroics, but under Corson’s pen, and Athena’s mind, it becomes a puzzle. Put the right pieces in the right place and your problem is solved. It’s how she figured out her father’s identity, and how she plans to save him.
Dark Horse
The artwork by I.N.J. Culbard also leans into the puzzle aspect, fitting different pieces together with interesting results. Two pages stuck out to me: one with a young Athena intently watching a battle between her father, and when Archimedes tells his wife about his diagonsis. Both feature separate pieces that tell a whole – in the case of the former it’s a series of screens that unveils Archimedes’ identity to Athena, and the latter finds a man surrounded by the literal pieces of his villainous life.
Color once again plays a part in the art as well, as Culbard shifts from the cold blue of night to the breaking of day within a single page. He also gives Nate Piekos’ letters a golden touch to hint at Athena speaking, which also happens to be the color of her supervillain costume.
Minor Threats: The Brood #2 continues its deep dive into the Archimedes family’s life, with rumination on puzzles, pro wrestling, and the expectations placed upon the oldest child. In short: it’s the kind of eclectic mix that makes Minor Threats so great.
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