Mary the Multi-Monster! The Tripper! Crab Louie! Kid Curious! Persona! Formerly the offbeat b-list superheroes, The Alternates, who seemingly sacrificed themselves to stop an invasion from another dimension. Instead they were transported to a mirror reality where they lived complex lives in a more four-dimensional existence--expanding both their powers and consciousness. Five years later they've returned to Twilight City, struggling to reacclimate to their old lives in a traditional two-dimensional superhero world--in withdrawal from the vivid ones they left behind. When elements from this alternate reality turn up as a dangerous new street drug, some of the heroes band together to destroy it, while others succumb to its temptation.
Review
The first installment of the Minor Threats series focused specifically on the D list cape villain, their psychology, various defining traumas or events in their lives that lead them to who they are as individuals in the present while spinning out a story arc for readers to follow. And it did it brilliantly, so if you haven’t read the first volume. Stop reading this and go do that…but do come back, please!
Now if you have, let’s get down to brass tacks. Is the Alternates just more of the same? The answer is both yes and no. The creative writing team of Tim Seely, Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, choose to come at the concept of the B list weird ability hero and the psychological impact of having to adjust to being who they are in their world after being virtual gods in an alternative dimension for a period of time. It’s an interesting spin because it takes the idea of having special abilities and asks what would the psychological impact on these individuals be if they had their “weird” abilities turn them into something more and then have that more taken away. That’s the psychological focus of the book, the overreaching plot line is that bits of this alternative dimension are making their way into the Minor Threats world as drugs, causing mayhem in the process and the Alternates are asked to get involved to find out why.
Is it good? Absolutely! The writing team make the characters wildly strange but there’s something very relatable about their struggles to adjust to life back in their world. The idea of living in Six Dimensions is a clever vehicle to do this deconstruction. This is a comic about the strange heroes, those oddballs that don’t get the limelight and what happens when they save the world but are forever changed by the experience. I hate straight comparisons with other work because this issue stands on it’s own merits but just to frame what you are getting into here. If you enjoy comics like Doom Patrol or the Invisibles about deeply odd superpowered individuals and the idea of the bizarre ability hero then this is definitely worth checking out.
There are two line artists. The bulk of the story set in the now is drawn by Christopher Mitten, colored by Ian Herring and maintains a gritty psychedelic but colorful stylishness to the art style that feels very much like it belongs in the Minor Threats world. This is then contrasted by Tess Fowler’s contribution as she draws out a fantasy ” dream” sequence involving the character of Marie The Multi Monster in a beautiful, more solidly lined and colored style. Warning Werewolf/ Vampire hanky panky ahead. The difference in art style emphasizes the idea that these character were more in the alternative Sixth Dimension known as The Ledge than they are back in there own and that is very much the central point of this opening issue. Between both artists they insure that they deliver a colorful, trippy visual that combined with the scripts examination of it’s characters resonates emotionally and makes you sympathize and want to know more about them.
Nate Piekos toys with font style to and color of lettering to emphasize individual voice to excellent effect in the issue and the cover from Scott Hepburn ( the artist from Vol. 1 of the series) and Ian Herring is exactly the kind of weird we want for a series of this nature
Final Thoughts
Issue 1 is off to a superb start, in this second outing in the Minor Threats world, as the creative team riffs off the weird B-list here trope to superb effect with a script that presents gloriously three dimensional characters, relatable characters brought to life by wonderfully stylish art and an excellent script that maintains the standard set by the first volume of the series.
