Seeing Steve Lieber’s name on the cover of any book is usually a good sign as he’s drawn some of the best funny comics of recent years - The Fix, Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Jimmy Olsen - but seeing Mark Russell’s name is more of a red flag. He started out writing some decent comics but has only written forgettable dross since then - including this book, One-Star Squadron, which even Lieber’s excellent art can’t save.
The book is about D-list superheroes working at a tacky telemarketing place called Heroz4U where they sell online superhero courses over the phone, make appearances and provide security. And they are D-list: Red Tornado, Heckler, Flying Fox, Black Condor, GI Robot - most modern DC readers will draw a blank at these names because they just haven’t been in any comics for years.
Also in the mix are Power Girl and Plastic Man - and this is where the premise starts to fall apart for me. Both characters are famous. Unlike Heckler (whoever he is), Power Girl has featured in numerous comics in recent years, both as the main and supporting character, and Plastic Man was a staple of the Justice League in the ‘90s, and has also had his own standalone outings recently. Including them here just feels like a misstep. Especially the way Power Girl is written, whose explanation for doing this and sudden cynicism didn’t really convince and whose arc was obvious from the start.
The premise as a whole really bothers me. Batman’s a billionaire but what about the others in the Justice League - what do they do for money? I always thought the unstated (because it was unnecessary) reason for why all these heroes never really brought up money was because Batman was underwriting everyone with his Benjamins or Superman - with his genius-level IQ - had figured out a way to make sure everyone got paid somehow. And if he doesn’t, why doesn’t he? When Superman shows up to the Heroz4U board, all he can do is wag his finger and tut? That’s pathetic.
Because it’s not that interesting to hear about superheroes trying to pay the bills - that’s not why we read about them. All Russell does is prove that by writing a book about exactly this and it’s a yawner. It’s a mundane office drama featuring ostentatiously-clad characters. And would there really be a market for telemarketing online superhero courses - how many of these people are actually going to be superheroes?
The other thing I don’t like about Russell’s stories is how obvious and low-hanging the targets of his bland criticism tend to be. Here it’s one-dimensional heartless bosses/vulture capitalists, and a crappy job that demeans and dehumanises those who do it. Ooo, really sticking your neck out criticising those things! It’s like saying “I don’t like bad things” and expecting a standing O. And then he usually includes some sentimental pap about the little guy, which he does again here.
Minute Man’s story was actually engaging - that alone saved the book from being a total loss - and Steve Lieber’s art was great as usual. The Mark Russell cameo was cute. Not much to recommend the comic overall though.
I’ve always thought realism has a very limited place in superhero comics - they are pure fantasy after all - and there was just wayyyy too much of it here. So much so that it sucked out a lot of the joy that can be found in superhero comics when you embrace the genre rather than actively undermine it. A drab and pointless comic - this was a Two-Star (out of five) Squadron for me.
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