Supreme #64
Before Supreme #63 came out, I owned a total of five issues of the title: #0, #1, #2, and a couple I don't even think I read. I didn't even pick up Alan Moore's run on Supreme, until it was released into trade paperbacks by Checker Books. Those are, by the way, excellent, and you should hunt them down if you haven't done so already (along with Judgment Day, Moore's other Extreme work reprinted by Checker). That's not what this review is about though...
Supreme #64 is the first issue of Erik Larsen's run, and it has the daunting task of following Alan Moore. As if that weren't bad enough, they reminded everyone of Moore's run, by utilizing his previously unused script for #63. Larsen picks up on that story in this issue, charges ahead, deals with everything, and at the end, takes an abrupt right turn (and I mean RIGHT) that is pure, classic Erik Larsen. It's one of those trademark things he does, where you're reading along, and thinking, "How in the world is he going to handle all of this? What possible way can he get out of it?" And then, he tosses the turn at you, and you just throw your hands up, amazed by the simplicity of it, and say, "Of course. What else could he have done? It had to happen that way." I cannot stress enough how well this issue goes from Moore to Larsen, in one absolutely brilliant last page.
This issue is still pretty new. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, so in the most bare bones detail that I can bring you, the plot is this: thousands of Darius Daxes attack thousands of Supremes. Havoc is raised and real estate is razed. Nothing is retconned, yet everything changes. You're going to like this issue. I don't know how you couldn't.
As if the story - and especially that last page - weren't enough, there's a one page editorial from Larsen to the fans, that directly addresses the fact that he's following Alan Moore on Supreme. If it doesn't make you appreciate and enjoy the story even more, then you must just be determined to hate this book. Erik Larsen is going to rock this title, and I hope fans give it a chance, because a) Larsen taught Robert Kirkman all of his best tricks, and b) with that fact, how long is it before Larsen's version of Supreme meets Kirkman's Invincible, in some kind of wicked cool crossover? I mean, is Supreme like Omni-Man much (or vice versa, if you want to go by who appeared first)? Daddy issues for Invincible, anyone? That aside, Larsen has already written a vengeful, killer Superman-type in Solar Man, over in Savage Dragon. Now he gets to do that in an ongoing series. How fun is this going to be?
I'm giving this issue a full five stars. It's a great jumping on point, addressing the past stories without ignoring them, and prepares the reader for the future of the title. It's fun, the writing is superb, the art is great (and that's about all I'll ever say about it, because I don't feel qualified to review art) and for the first time in a long time, it left me excited to see the next issue. Everything a good comic should do.
Oh, and there's a six page preview of the new Youngblood in the back. It was just kind of meh, although the new Shaft shows a glimmer of promise. Not enough to make me want to check out the series, but a glimmer.