Writer/Creator: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Rafael De LaTorre
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: John J. Hill
Published by Aftershock Comics
Who didn’t want to be a superhero? All the cool kids did. Maybe when you were younger, you’d parade around with a bedsheet tied around your neck and your underwear on the outside of your pants, jumping off the couch and into action to save your block city from the evils of Dr. McStuffins the fluffy stuffed bunny. Some of us haven’t grown out of it, take Drusilla Dragowski for example. For our young heroine it has never been “just a phase” (Mom! Gawd!), in fact it seems she’s dedicated her entire life to achieving her dreams. Nothing wrong with that, right? Well, everything in moderation.
Super Zero is the new original series by super star team Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti whose work you may recognize from every comic book in recent memory with Harley Quinn in it, as well as the new Starfire solo comic. Conner and Palmiotti have always had a talent for writing humorous characters and Dru is no different, with a quick wit needed by any superhero in the making, it’s all too easy for her to be the dominant voice in the conversation, even if she ends up losing the argument. We join Dru, our Super Zero (At least for now! Muahahahaha!), still in high school at 19 having repeated 2 years already and on track to repeat a third. Dru is smart enough, but her overactive imagination, poor time management skills, and daily scheduled class dream session hasn’t allowed her to put forth the effort necessary to complete school. Not like she cares, it just gets in the way of her “projects”. The problem, she figures, is her life is too good and peaceful. She has good friends, she gets along with her parents (that are still alive) and there no chemical spills, government experiments, radioactivity, or Joe Chills to be found… Until she schemes a way to change all that.
De Latorre’s art fits into the book perfectly, it’s a good modern cartoon style — if a bit common — that is cute and expressive while holding the ability to change its tone at any moment. This is only amplified by Maiolo’s pallette which is bright and colorful and equally capable of giving a panel the extra urgency it may need to enforce Dru’s fiery passion towards her mission. To be honest there’s not much to say other than the art is just a great pairing for Dru’s (mis)adventures.
Verdict:
Buy. I love these kinds of cute, funny books so I’m always going to check them out. This is a feel good comic that I can see brightening anyone’s day when they see it in their pull every month. In this drab world of no superheroes it’s hard not to see the benefit of a few extra laughs. And who knows, maybe this book will give some aspiring people out there some ideas, and we won’t be stuck in a drab world with no superheroes anymore *winky face* (but seriously, don’t try any of the plans depicted in this book at home, especially if you’re allergic to any bugs, ionizing radiation, or bullets).
