A comic about a psychiatrist for superheroes? It’s not the worst idea for a comic but it’s also not the best. Plus the creator would need to have something interesting to say about superheroes’ psychology for it to be worthwhile – and unfortunately he doesn’t.
The Iron Man facsimile has a drinking problem and Dr. Ego’s advice is to only use his robot suit when sober. The son of the Superman and Wonder Woman facsimiles is a mess because his parents are always busy saving the world and weren’t cut out to be parents anyway. The Batman facsimile has rage issues.
Um… oh, that’s it? Well, that was boring and obvious!
Moving past the lack of insight into popular superheroes, what little story there is jack-knifes from one small thing to another haphazardly until it ends completely incongruously.
When the Iron Man facsimile fights a giant monster, I did like that he literally wears clothes rather than has colours sprayed onto his robot exterior. So he actually has to climb into his robot suit and THEN pull on his luchador outfit, zipping up the front - hilarious!
But we’re supposed to believe that the superheroes would trust their deepest secrets and fears to a “reformed” supervillain? I don’t buy that. No matter how much Lex Luthor changes, he’ll always be the bad guy and no hero in their right mind would trust him, reformed or not. So, because I don’t buy that weird setup, the ending falls flat.
Super Ego is a book that takes the psychological angle to superheroes and fails to deliver on it. The story fails to make much of an impression as it’s poorly constructed and executed, the art is unremarkable, and the characters are forgettable and one-dimensional. Super Ego? Super meh…
If you want to read an excellent dissection of superheroes from a subversive angle, the ‘80s staples Watchmen and Marshal Law spring to mind but I’d recommend Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s The Boys for a brilliant and funny savaging of Marvel and DC properties!
Super Ego
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