[Abyss]

NO SPOILERS in the intial review post. Block or clearly mark in any discussion below.

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Tom King has massive balls. For his first book he takes everything anyone knows about Marvel and DC comics... all the conventions, and the trops, all the history... incorporates it into his own world that features comic-type heroes who are often based largely on the heroes we know and often love, and then turns everything sideways, deconstructs the fuck out if it, and somehow makes it all work, in a generally gripping, well paced story that caught my attention, held it right to the end, and delivered a totally satisfying read. It's a gutsy move for a new author and to his credit it works and works well.

Any flaws i could mention or critiques i could raise are minor... this isn't MEMORIES OF ICE, but it's engrossing and enjoyable and leaps and bounds better than any 'comic book in text form' book i have ever read.

King's 'universe' opens with a major game changer... to save the world, every single hero gave up their powers. All of them. Some gadgets are still around, but fundamentally everything that put the 'super' in the superheroes is gone. Except for one guy... PenUltimate, the cyborg-sidekick to the major Superman-level heor Ultimate... because he stayed home when everyone else showed up to save the universe. Needless to say this raised some issues, but it also makes him the only person able to stand against a new threat that starts striking at the heroes and their world.

King has a lot of fun coming up with his heroes... his Captain America analog The Soldier has two guns called Carolina and California and a fascinating history. His Batman analog Star-Knight is a black man who was driven to overcome racial prejudice. His Wonder Woman - Strength - took the loss of her powers really, really badly. The others all have various degrees of derivative and original origins, but are nicely done. He intros each one, gives some more back story, some less, but each gets a nice element of personality and originality even when you can clearly see what Big 2 hero they're derived from, and most get at least one moment to shine. He also has some original characters... his Devil Girl is a hell (pun intended) of a lot of fun.

The story moves along nicely, in generally short chapters. If i were going to critique it would be that at times tangential backstory is slotted in almost randomly and breaks up other events - think of a comic story where the hero takes a hard blow to the head at the end of an issue, spends the next issue in a concussion-driven flashback, then resumes the fight in the following floppy - but the tangents are generally interesting enuf that the break isn't bothersome.

He does a really nice action scene too. Sometimes a shift in pov may have been unclear or abrupt, but the moves and threats are described visually enough that the reader should enjoy.

There are also really nicely done panels of actual comics used at various points in the book to make a point, drop a hint or just give the reader a visual treat.

There are some meta-elements to the 'rules' of the universe... the characters at times discuss things that suggest the fourth wall is flexing if not breaking. I thought it worked nicely, but i could see some readers being thrown out of the story because of it. Best to make up your own mind on that, since the rest of the story stands nicely around it.

Overall, i recommend this book to anyone who knows that a heroes origin story requires tragedy, that the heroes always have to fight before the team-up happens, that no bad-guy.. or good-guy... is ever really dead unless you see the body, incinerate it and send the ashes into the sun... if you've spent a year or more of your life reading floppies and know the tropes, this book is a treat and worth your time and money.

- Abyss, satisfied customer.