Review: Super Crooks #1

Mark Millar not only assaults us this week with the wrap up of Kick-Ass 2, he literally punches us in the face with his brand new villain-centric book — Supercrooks!

Supercrooks, is the tale of Johnny Bolt and his crew of unlucky criminals who are sick and tired of being taken down by heroes. While other cadres of villains seem to have set themselves up quite nicely over the years, forming a hierarchy, Johnny is constantly getting the shake down. When their mentor crosses the wrong people, Johnny and his ex-fiancee decide there is only one thing they can do to save him, hit the score of their lives where there are no super heroes to mess up their plans — in Spain! 

Mark Millar is constantly bringing something fresh to the genre while nodding to aspects that came before. Johnny and his crew are reminiscent of the Flash’s Rogues Gallery, and Gladiator is Captain America if he actually had balls! Not that these characters can be confined into such tight comparisons, they are quite unique unto themselves! I love how frail and pathetic Johnny and his cohorts seem to be compared to the other characters in the book. It makes them think harder, trying to out guile the hierarchy that seems to run all aspects of their world. It gives them an underdog feel that makes you root for them, and yet, you can’t help but want to see them fail miserably just so their faces get smashed yet again!

That’s exactly what you can expect from a Millar book, a cunning story with a razors edge that will draw you in and then kick you in the balls! It is pure cerebral viciousness at its finest! You won’t find another book on the racks today that will make you think, cringe, applaud and scream “Holy $#!%!” quite like Supercrooks will! Well, except for Kick-Ass that is!