Pretty damn good. The action is visceral and the story is well developed. The first two issues are excellent; the latter half feels a bit weak and rushed, though it turned out to be a very good package in the end. ( )

4.5/5

Pulpy, supervillian turned regular guy, (sort of) noir. 'Nuff said.

Thanks to Richard Vialet for recommending Ed Brubaker!

This is right up my alley. ( )

Eh. Silly, nonsensical story made this hard to follow. I don't like super-hero/villain stories though, so I probably should have steered clear. I added a star because it's my own fault for not reading the description properly before picking it up. I don't fault the author or artist. ( )

Took me a while to get into this, but the climax of the story pays off very well. I'll admit that my favorite part was the extra after the story's end--Jess Nevins' piece on zeppelin pulps. ( )

This has been an exceptional year for me in terms of the quality of material I've been reading. I think I've given out more 5 star reviews that anyone I know. Well, it's either this or I'm easily impressed.

WOW! A BLUE CAR.

Not only have I been recommended Ed Brubraker and sean Phillips' work by fellow Goodreader Stephen but when I saw that Bill Hader had written the forward to this graphic novel, I was genuinely intrigued. Hader, who is easily my favorite cast member working SNL today, is a crime fiction guy? Awesome! Makes me like him even more.

As Ed writes in his afterword, we often see fiction where we get a good guy going undercover as a bad guy OR the story of a good guy trying to maintain his alter-ego. How about a bad guy pretending to lead a normal life? In a sex driven and blood soaked story, we get Zack Overkill (awesome name, I know) trying to assimilate into everyday life. The government established S.O.S. program is in charge of detaining and rehabilitating former supervillians. Following the death of his twin brother Xander, Zack is placed in the custody of the S.O.S. team, stripped of his powers through powerful drugs and given a job as a file clerk in a 9-5 hell.

Brubaker and Phillips are a dynamite team here, this stuff is just drenched in awesome sauce. I was extremely happy to see that this is part of an ongoing series, not ending with one arc. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of this story as well as more of the Brubaker/Phillips tag team material. ( )