The Mighty #3

Greetings! I guess to differentiate between us, I'm Patrick, I'm the other half of this collaboration going on right now with this.  While, I normally would have picked a Superman-family title to be reviewed first by me, since none came out this week of April 1st, I decided to pick another.  Here goes nothing...

'The Mighty' #3

Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Keith Champagne with Peter Snejbjerg doing the art.

I must say I decided to pick this title up when I saw that Peter J. Tomasi was the author.  He had me in his hip pocket with his writing on  Green Lantern Corps, which I began reading last year.  I really enjoyed everything he had done in that since I've been reading it and I was already on board with this.  I hope it's okay I assume anyone who reads this to have already read #1 & 2, if you have not, hopefully I could convince you to go back and buy all three of these.

This issue begins in the wake of the title's hero, Alpha One, diffusing a situation at the end of issue 2.  He and the title's other, more down-to-earth hero, Captain Gabriel Cole, are left consoling the son whose mother was inadvertently killed at the end of issue #2.  With Alpha One, the character is very Superman-esque.  He is almost as carbon copy, but he's not an alien (that we know of so far) and he's impervious and all that.  Some people find those types of heroes difficult to relate to, but this opening scene wiped any speculation I think a reader might have that Alpha One is a character one cannot relate to.  He is lamenting that the fact the woman is dead was his fault, a stray bullet ricocheted off Alpha One and hit her, he is shouldering the majority of the blame here.  Cole suggests Alpha One talk to the woman's son, and in doing so, Alpha One begins to cry and apologizes.  That's the beauty of what Tomasi does with this opening scene, sure you can have anyone cry and say it is giving them a human quality, but I felt he moved beyond that.  Alpha One sheds tears, an impervious being is on his knees and weak, face-to-face with a young boy, who wipes his tears and tells him not to cry.  The boy says "heroes shouldn't cry", but while this is a great line for a kid who is 6 to say, the thing that lingers here is that heroes should cry, heroes must cry.  It was a beautiful mix between Tomasi's writing and Snejbjerg's art that makes this such a powerful scene.  While I feel I've lingered quite a bit on this opening scene, I felt it was truly the highlight of the issue, with the rest sort of giving away to plot development.

Alpha One and Gabriel go out to a diner that Gabriel's wife operates and have a drink (non-alcoholic as Alpha One makes sure to say).  When I said Alpha One was almost a carbon copy of Superman, when he's disguising himself so he won't get mobbed (like a celebrity), he has on a leather jacket and Cole gives him a pair of glasses.  I mean, what more could they do?  It reminded me so much of the Clark Kent depicted in Geoff Johns' "Lost Hearts" story line.  I haven't decided if that is a bad thing, or an amazing thing.  Afterwards, Alpha One wants to take Gabriel Cole into his "secret base" or as I said in my mind his "fortress of solitude," I felt we were given the next best characterization of Alpha One in this issue.  I am enjoying this series so far because I feel like Tomasi develops Cole and Alpha One's characters side-by-side, giving them each equal weight and importance.  Alpha One tells Gabriel that he trusts him, and wants him to lead the Section Omega (the law enforcement, clean up crew or support group for Alpha One).  Gabriel is reluctant to take the position because of the huge amount of responsibility that is required for it.  Here's where I'll give my interpretation of these two characters so far.

In regards to the title, I feel like "The Mighty" is applying to both Cole and Alpha One.  On the one hand, you have the ultimate hero, the impervious unstoppable, unflappable being Alpha One.  He is every kid's hero and idol and every citizen's guardian angel.  Yet, he weeps, he gets down on one knee and apologizes to a kid whose mother was killed accidentally.  While he has all of his powers and strengths, he still breaks down like every person you've ever met.  He doubts himself, he worries, he cries and he tries to shoulder the safety of everyone he can physically help.  He is out to save anyone and everyone that he possibly can, a point driven home by an endless tower of television screens for him to monitor any potential problem on earth in his sanctuary.

On the other hand we have Gabriel Cole, an essential "every man".  He is in a decent job, a Captain in the Section Omega, somewhat like a good-standing FBI agent.  His wife works late, he works all the time, so much that their dates take place one night a week to catch a midnight movie.  He has worries about money, the stress of his job, all the while trying to do his duty and protect the people in danger when assisting Alpha One.  He is afraid to take on the responsibility of the leader of Section Omega, but in the end, he decides to take the job.  Both of these characters appear to be "mighty" in their own way. Cole is mighty because of his perseverance and his committment to his marriage, his duty, his humanity.  Alpha One is mighty for his powers, his ability and willingness to shoulder an unimaginable amount of responsibility and at the same time, be down to earth to weep and "hang out" with his only friend.

That's what this issue brought to the table, a furthering of development in the two powerful characters in the book so far mostly the only two characters being followed.  In terms of plot, after Cole is named the new head of Section Omega and gets a large "A" embedded into his palm, a distress signal mechanism to call Alpha One, he has trouble on his first day, being overwhelmed by everything involved in his new job.  In the end, Alpha One flies off to intervene in a fire at a chemical factory, which Section Omega and Gabriel rally to assist him with.  What occurs there is yet to be seen...

I'll give this issue an 8/10, and I promise to have this more concisely down to a science next week.