The Almighties #1
If the Avengers can’t assemble, then at least we have the Almighties to amass.
The tricky thing about parodies is that they often come along at the height of the subject’s popularity, and consequently when they will be least welcomed by the masses and the fans, who might otherwise enjoy them.
The Almighties, however, manages to parody The Avengers at the height of their popularity without over-stepping the line. Although not perfect, when taken as a whole The Almighties #1 marks the beginnings of a promising comic book series parodying everybody’s favourite superhero team of the moment. Written and created by Mike Gagnon and Sam Johnson, illustrated by Eleonara Kortsarz, Pablo Zambrano and D.C. White, and published by Actuality Press, The Almighties #1 is 32-pages of full-colour fun priced at $3.99.
The team are brought together by the offbeat White Out (Nick Fury with a twist), and lead by Maxi-Tron; an Iron-Man wannabe.
As expected, there’s a motley bunch of heroes assembled… er, I mean amassed, for The Almighties. The team are brought together by the offbeat White Out (Nick Fury with a twist), and lead by Maxi-Tron; an Iron-Man wannabe. Joining them are Nite Fang, a British punk who transforms into a hulking werewolf; Ms. F, who has serious anger issues and problems with men alongside her flight and super-strength powers (the Ms. Marvel of the group); Mason, a psychotic mercenary (who although not explicitly a super-soldier certainly looks like he’s packing the “guns” to give Captain America a run for his money); and finally Stefanos, a man with many jobs, who is billed as The Almighties’ Wolverine, but is armed not with claws but a rather pointy kebab skewer.
These main characters are well fleshed-out and instantly likeable, despite their many, many, intentional personality-flaws. All the more, it’s easy to see (for the most part) how they mimic their Avengers counter-parts, making the werewolf rage of Nite Fang’s Hulk and Maxi-Tron’s cocky, armour wearing Iron-Man fun to read about. Despite sharing similarities with their Avenger counter-parts the characters are developed so that they have their own merits without an over-reliance on the source material, and I was left with desire to know more about them; who they are, how they became the “heroes” we see here, and why they’re so messed up! Wanting to know more about these characters is a good indication that the writing in The Almighties #1 hits the spot most of the time. As the reader, you become instantly intrigued by the characters and want to know more about them, even though the characters are already familiar and recognisable due to their Avengers-inspired heritage.
As the reader, you become instantly intrigued by the characters and want to know more about them, even though the characters are already familiar and recognisable due to their Avengers-inspired heritage.
It’s the additional characters outside of the main team that lets The Almighties #1 down in places. It was a bit unclear why White Out’s butler is a dribbling fool, and the portrayal of the “Players”, Barack Obama, and the wannabe cool white-boy “Rep of Prez Obama” rely too heavily on stereotypes that might be better toned down or avoided altogether. It’s not that the aim or the execution is offensive, or intentionally highlighting stereotypes, but the writing of these characters seems to lack the subtlety and careful handling that is required, meaning that the humour of some of these supporting roles gets drowned out by the stereotypes.
There’s plenty of nods to classic Avengers outings here including the cheeky “Almighties Amass” battle-cry, a shape-shifting alien invasion ruse (Skrull anyone?), inner-team romance and inter-team conflict. The story builds nicely throughout and crescendos in a fight that wouldn’t look out of place in an official Marvel Avengers release. And that is a big achievement. By the end I was routing for The Almighties; I needed to know what was going to happen next.
The artwork is generally crisp and detailed with brilliant and vibrant colouring, whilst the text is well presented and easy to follow. The Almighties #1 is a great looking comic despite a few inconsistencies in its presentation. There are also a few serious messages dotted throughout the script dealing with bullying, racism, and even cancer. These are handled in a light-hearted manner meaning that the comic also manages to express a more serious message underneath the superhero fun. Some of these messages are, however, presented with the subtlety of a train-wreck making the humour a bit forced or uncomfortable. The flirting between two of the Almighties is also a bit cringe-worthy. But, it’s worth noting this is a parody book and so the heavy-handed deliverance of some of the messages is likely intentional; by making the messages, and the flirting, overly obvious the book cleverly parodies the more subtle, but equally transparent, moments like these that occur in mainstream books and films. Finally, there are quite a few successful little nods and gags to modern culture that are quite successful and genuinely made me laugh out loud (for example using Rebecca Black as a torture tactic; I’d cave in seconds).
Like all comic-book greats, The Almighties need a starting place. And this is it.
Like all comic-book greats, The Almighties need a starting place. And this is it. It’s not perfect but it is good and worthy of your attention; the positives far outweigh any negatives that can be levelled at this first issue. Some of the comedy is quite obvious (particularly around the more serious messages delivered) and some of the minor characters are written so that stereotypes take centre stage instead of the humour. This comic is a parody, however, so this may be intentional, but it doesn’t always work all of the time. However, when it works it truly shines. With future issues the Marvel parodies will hopefully come in thicker and faster and we’ll get to know the characters more and more helping us understand why they are and what similarities and differences they share with their Marvel counter-parts. It’s a testament to how well The Almighties #1 comes across as a whole that by the end of this first issue a seasoned comic book reader like me is so excited to learn about the characters origins and to see what the team gets up to next. Although this comic parodies The Avengers and clearly draws inspiration from them, The Almighties are unique enough to stand on their own two feet without a Marvel crutch.
I look forward to reading the next issue of the Almighties and seeing just what mayhem these oddball heroes get caught up in. Even better I look forward to spotting the similarities and differences these characters and adventures share with Marvel’s Avenger counter-parts.
You can follow Chris on his website www.dresslikethehulk.wordpress.com or on Twitter at @Orr_Man
Posted on July 18th, 2012
Category: PROJECT COMICS, REVIEWS
Tags: Actuality Press, Chris Orr, Comic Review, Mike Gagnon, Project Comics, Sam Johnson, The Almighties #1