Review - The Almighties #1

You might have heard that the Avengers have assembled on screen. The film is pretty much owning the box office, with Joss Whedon successfully bringing the superhero team to film with lots of action. The film's release is a capital moment for the parodies to start coming out and Actuality Press is on it with The Almighties #1.

The title is written by Sam Johnson and Mike Gagnon, illustrated by Eleonora Kortsarz, Pablo Zambrano and D.C. White and colored by Gagnon, Gulliver Vianei and Jennifer Scott, with letters by Kris Johnson.

The Almighties consist of five, um, superheroes. There's Maxi-Tron (super-tech armor), Nite Fang (werewolf), Ms. F (flight and strength), Mason (psychopathic mercenary) and Stefanos (french fry attendee). The team is assembled by White Out to combat threats in America.

Those threats include Free Unwillingly Captured Animal Species (F.U.C.A.S.) who operate under the organization known as the Animal Network Unsyndicated Network (A.N.U.S.). If those two acronyms don't reveal to you what kind of book The Almighties #1 is then you should probably read some less serious stuff.

Anyway, the team is tasked with stopping groups that are--according to White Out--setting back society. It isn't until the end of the issue that the Almighties realize what White Out's true motive is and they're none too pleased with it.

Johnson and Gagnon have taken a very crude humor approach to the title. The first page features a freed rabbit being smashed under a heavy iron boot, so the book opens in rather gruesome fashion. The "threats" as described by White Out are extreme caricatures of the groups they're supposed to represent.

The comic is meant to be read as satire, but there are some parts of it that are a little uncomfortable to read. That's not to say it's bad, but Johnson and Gagnon definitely push the limits of the satire. Superheroes are perfect targets for being made fun of and the duo really go to town here. Stefanos' involvement is one of the recurring gags in the issue and the two really make that a focal point for humor reasons.

The art is sort of all over the place. There are multiple artists and colorists on the issue, which hurts the overall consistency a little bit. Considering the subject matter, the choice of character models is appropriate for the work, as none of them are illustrated with overt realism in mind.

One of the many spoofs of the Avengers is a very off-kilter read. It's not something you should read when you're looking for a serious comic. It's something you should read if you need to get a Kevin Smith fix sated. It's just that type of story and art.

The Almighties #1 is available now.