I had never heard of this graphic novel before I agreed to read and review it.  I thought it would be just another post-apocalyptic hero mag.  Marvel has done this a few times with some pretty impressive results (Old Man Logan is the best, in my opinion.), and I figured this baby would be like some of the others. (Zombies was interesting – there have been a bunch.)

Holy crap I was wrong.

This graphic novel is one of the more impressive stories I have had the good fortune to read.  Turns out that back in 2012, the creators went on Kickstarter and raised over $100,000 – which was plenty of money to get this baby out.  They’re well-known folks, these creators of ours . . .

Gail Simone wrote this baby – she also writes Batgirl and has done stuff like Birds of Prey.  Our artist, Jim Calafiore, has done stuff Deadpool, Batgirl, Aquaman, and lots of other stuff.  I guess (totally making this up), they bonded over Batgirl and decided to make this thing.

And, it’s a thing.  Bottom line story?  The “safest city in the world” has an overabundance of superheroes and superhero teams – including 1 VERY powerful guy and lots of others.  Stuff happens and blah blah blah – every superhuman in town is now homicidal against us normals . . . and they’re still smart.  Imagine if every member of Avengers, Fantastic 4, and the X-Men all become 75% Joker. (I know I just mixed up DC and Marvel . . . sue me.)  That’s what we’re talking about.

The genius of the book is seen in a bunch of ways.  The storytelling is incredible – it’s truly a survivors’ storyline, with interesting “where were you when it started” tales from each of them.  The characters are unique and compelling as compelling can be . . . the supers are neat and incredibly twisted, and the normals are all over the place – but true to themselves.  Kind of like the survivors of The Walking Dead (the comic, not that TV show which I won’t talk about because I’ll get in trouble for being mean.)  And, the twists!  Oh, the twists!  Lovin’ the twists.  Finally, it’s deep.  This story is some 100 pages long . . . it took over an hour for me to read.  You’ll get into it.

So . . . buy this baby, because it’s awesome.  If you don’t read comics, this is the one to read.  As a comparison, this is right up there with Sandman and Watchtower as far as overall quality goes.  I’m off to find my hard copy right now.