The Almighties Number 1

Plot by Sam Johnson

Script by Sam Johnson and Mike Gagnon

Art by Eleonora Kortsarz, Paplo Zambrano and D.C. White

Published by Actuality Press

I got this e-mail today from Sam Johnson asking if I would look at a British comic book that they are pushing out from Actuality Press. Since I am generally interested in what is happening in the British comic book market, I decided to take a look. In so many ways, I was not disappointed by this comic book because it is a total send up of American Superheroes. It is more American Anti-heroes that get to squish bunny rabbits that are being set free from a research lab. There are some truly unique British idioms through the book that will piss off people in the colonies, or they simply will not get it. The joke about sitting around a table and doing the old “avengers assemble” routine over Pimms is downright funny, but only if you have ever had Pimms, know what it is, and bought it thinking that you could drink it straight out of the bottle like many American tourists do much to the humor of the natives.

The Mysterious White Out, with a white bag on his head, white suit, and obviously white assembles a team of seriously dysfunctional superheroes to help right wrongs, or in some cases, try to keep the damage that the team does to a minimum. The superheroes are Maxi-Tron, who is an Iron Man styled hero whose claim to fame is his armor, Ms. F. Mason who is recently divorced and discovering her super heroine lifestyle and belief systems. Night Fang who is a werewolf, and Stepanos, who does his absolute best to be an enigma and is very successful at it, and finally Steve Segal, who is all muscles and is basically the body guard you want when things are going weird. With this really dysfunctional team of people, it is up to them to help stop crime, punish wrong doers, and otherwise try to keep from killing each other. Moreover, it is funny in a truly British way of looking at the world, regardless of your thoughts on Pimms.

This is a very bold attempt at sending up our American fascination with super heroes. While there are many comics on super hero teams that should never have met up, this one takes a uniquely British spin on the story line that overall is downright funny. There is always something awesome going on in the comic book in text, or some of the background imagery that the drawers have put together. I am going to rate this one four of five stars, a lot of the jokes are awesome for a British audience, but some colonials over here won’t get it and will have to Google the answers to what is vexing them about the comic book. But if you dig British humor, if you got Red Dwarf, love Catherine Tate, and watched the Black Adder until your ears bled then you will totally love this comic book.

This one is well worth getting and reading. Our copy was a free preview edition, so hopefully they will get this into comixology as soon as possible.