One-Star Squadron #1

One-Star Squadron #1

DC Comics 2021

Written by Mark Russell

Illustrated by Steve Lieber

Coloured by Dave Stewart

Lettered by Dave Sharpe

Who you gonna call? One-Star Squadron! Meet DC’s superhero team where heroism meets capitalism. This ragtag group of heroes led by Red Tornado is here to provide service with a smile. All you must do is send a request via their on-demand hero app and they’ll answer any call. Whether it’s a children’s birthday party or an alien invasion, no job is too small or too big!

While the concept isn’t necessarily new the lineup of heroes that we see certainly aren’t exactly expected. It also engages the reader because personally I want to know how Flying Fox went from the Young All-Stars to being seemingly the same age in the present, same could be said for the Minute Man. if this is just a fun story without any kind of real cannon then i’m all in. Poor Red Tornado, he shows up in the Justice League from time to time after being a stalwart member for so many years. He’s a complex and interesting character and you can see he isn’t happy with where he is in life but I think after reading this issue it’s a huge part of the appeal for me. Knowing Mark and his work this is as satirical as it gets and that’s another huge draw for me.

I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the narration, the dialogue, the character development as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does a magnificent job in fleshing out their personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing the characters, the story and their reality, or the world they live in, is incredibly well done.

I have to say that I am enjoying the way that this is being structured as well as how we see the layers within the story begin to emerge and grow. I’m also a fan of the way that the layers within the story open up new avenues to be explored. Power Girl’s machinations as well as how we see the characters here add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how we see it move the story forward are impeccably handled.

Steve’s interiors here are absolutely spectacular. The linework is sensational and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail we see within the work is extraordinary. How we see backgrounds enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story are rendered pretty marvellously. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows such a masterful eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a stellar eye for how colour works.

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There are some silly things happening here like Red Tornado eating, he’s a robot he doesn’t need to eat. The premise of the book is kind of silly as well, not nearly as funny as Formerly Known as The Justice League but it has some great moments and a very unique and distinctive point of view. Mark’s a brilliant satirist and this book is a great example of this and if you want quirky, fun and different then this is perfect for you. The writing is intelligent and the characterisation is quite quirky while the interiors here exceptional and all in all this is a great little book.