Review: Power of 6 #1

Power of 6: The Twisted Apples Part One
Written and Drawn by Jon Lewis
Published by Alternative Comics. $4.95 USD

It's been quite some time since I received anything to review from a publisher, so it was nice to get some things from Alternative, even though I think I'd already bought a couple volumes myself. I wasn't aware of this book, though. I only know Lewis from his writing on DC's Robin and wasn't impressed. While this is clearly a more individualistic work than that, I can't say I'm that impressed here. I do like Lewis' art, which is simple but strong, kind of a cross between Nick Bertozzi and Paul Grist, though a little more naive than either. The premise is the assemblage of a quirky team of superheroes, and I must confess that halfway through I got very bored. The execution falls into a trap I find a lot of altcomix creators fall into when approaching superheroes. That is, there's obviously some kind of influence and affection there, yet a reluctance to embrace the genre and risk turning off the cynical altcomix readers and deconstructualists keeps the story grounded in half-assed irony and knowingly low-key scenes, generally talky and avoiding any trappings of heroism or destiny or justice or a tight plot. Based on notes in the back, there's only one more issue to go here, which is suprising, since in this one $5 volume so very little happens. This isn't a book that makes me say I don't like Jon Lewis' work and there's no need to sample anything else, but it definitely doesn't get off the ground.