Minor Threats has slowly become one of the most interesting superhero comics on the stands. Half of its success is due to the creative team of Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, and Scott Hepburn – this is a comic that’s made by guys who love comics, and know how to surprise both longtime readers and newcomers to the genre. The other half is in the approach it takes to supervillainy, exploring the circumstances that causes its cast of characters to break bad. Both of these elements are in full display in Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive #1.
Taking place three years after the events of Minor Threats: The Fastest Way Down, The Last Devil Left Alive #1 finds former criminal kingpin Playtime having gone missing after her murder of the vigilante known as the Insomniac, and her deal with the superhero team the Continuum to cover it up, has been revealed. Playtime’s ex-lover and right-hand woman Scalpel has taken over as the newest crime lord, but an attempted hit brings Playtime back into her life and reveals a sinister scheme involving one of her “business partners”.
The Last Devil Left Alive #1 also continues a Minor Threats tradition, taking place entirely from one character’s perspective. This time, Scalpel is the focus, and Oswalt and Blum don’t waste any time showcasing how her rise to the top has affected her in more ways than one. Though Scalpel has all the money and influence she’d dreamed of, she’s still harboring some unresolved feelings, and Playtime’s return only stirs things up. The duo also tackles a recent trope that has been popping up in superhero media, putting a unique spin on it that shows the lengths some people will go to for wealth.
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Hepburn’s art has never looked better, with The Last Devil Left Alive #1 featuring some fairly inventive images. A fight between Scalpel and a surprising foe shows an outline of Scalpel’s body, featuring every wound she’s ever suffered; what makes it worse is the narration, as Nate Piekos underlines each of those wounds in great detail. Another page features the rather gruesome sight of a pile of entrails, forming different letters, and a miniature Scalpel standing at the base of that pile, representing a sort of macabre mountain climb.
The final pages of The Last Devil Left Alive #1 feature a pair of surprises that will no doubt fuel the rest of the series, but the true draw is in seeing different characters from all of the spinoff series return. Brain Tease comes back from the first Minor Threats. Shiteater from Barfly returns. The villain of The Last Devil Left Alive featured heavily in The Fastest Way Down. It’s a great reminder of how this world has grown, and how it has as much to offer as Marvel or DC’s universes.
Minor Threats: The Last Devil Left Alive #1 is a grand return to one of the most unique comic book projects of the last few years, and continues to show that supervillains are just as human as the rest of us. I hope that Oswalt, Blum, Hepburn and other creators continue to bring us new Minor Threats tales; these comics are up there with Invincible and Radiant Black when it comes to fresh takes on capes and cowls.
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