Mark Millar

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!

Simon Pooni was just your average boy. Smart, outgoing, captain of the basketball team, but one day his whole world changed when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. A ravaged body left him in a wheelchair, broken but not beaten. His world had been changed once already — soon it would change again!

Mark Millar gives us his all in the long awaited finale of Superior! Intense action sequences, that will rock the senses, hit you from page one. It is the undaunting barrage of earth shattering battles that will pique your interest, but it is the heart of the Simon Pooni character that will hold sway over you. A boy that has endured so much, must now make the ultimate decision — sell his immortal soul to a demon, in order to become Superior again, or watch as the world is torn asunder!

It is moving how Millar has created a character that — in every essence of his being — is a hero. He was given an average life, then it was taken away. He was given a boon to become something truly amazing, then it was taken away. Now, he has been asked to give even more of himself, so much more than even he can comprehend! The character of Simon is built from the essence of everything that is great in the world of comics. He is a nostalgic look at what came before and a glimpse of what could come again. Millar creates a pure homage to the iconic vision of Superman, while modernizing it without tarnishing it’s integrity.

It took FOREVER for this book to come out, but the wait is now over! It is a blockbuster of a finale, one that will make you think you’re watching a summer action film instead of reading a comic book! But that’s exactly what Mark Millar does on each issue he writes! He creates something that makes you ponder just how good the industry could be if half the talent — had half his talent!

As the cover says, “The gloves are finally off!” Truer words were never spoken!

“Superior” #7 provided by friend of Cosmic Book News.