Project Superpowers #5

One-sentence summary: Dynamite's public-domain superhero project is moving along, this issue bringing the elements together to close this chapter and set the stage for the various spin-offs.

For me, after having them built up my whole life, Golden Age comics were a bit of a disappointment. Sure, there were a handful of ones with some interesting gimmicks or art, but the Golden Age of comics was golden only in terms of sales; the stories were formulaic, the characters massively derivative from each other (with a few gems), and the art generally as quickly done as possible.

However, Ross and Krueger sat down with these raw materials and thought up an intriguing universe. They took each character and flushed out their personalities, their flaws, and what they should be like in a post-WWII environment. Taking these characters, drawing the lines on good and bad, and plotting things out, they've created a truly great universe. Taking forgotten characters and turning them into original masterpieces is a comic tradition, from Moore's Swamp Thing to Morrison's Doom Patrol, and that's exactly what they've done here.

This issue is much less plot-intensive than ones in the past, with many of the story developments taking place in the background, allowing us to see these fighters in what proves to be their element; brawling. Normally I get bored with issues like these, but given the number of characters in any number and style of fight, I really loved every panel of this.

Project Superpowers is one of the better titles of the year, and definitely among the top superhero comics out there. Given no hype at all, this Golden Age-themed comic has yet to disappoint me.