A superhero with a crown decides the most average of men is his successor. Is it good?
So often we read comics about people in the “real world” like our own, but then something magical or amazing happens and the average Joe is now experiencing what we can only dream about. Has this become a cliche at this point, or is it okay that Image is introducing another one of these?
Imperial #1 (Image Comics)
Writer Steven T. Seagle knows how to write the average dude. Good thing too, because if he didn’t this series would fall flat on its face. The funny thing is, who wants to read about the average dudes of the world? Well, they might if a bit of spice was added to their lives. Case in point, in this story a man named Mark is spreading the ashes of his father all alone in the desert. He thinks like a an average dude and talks like one. He’s also getting married in two weeks. Some big life moments in there, but really it’s how he talks that’s so average. The guy doesn’t use big words, and Seagle writes him so that he’s just an average Joe. Then a superhero, Imperial, shows up and changes everything.
This is a judge free zone!
Imperial is just there, for no good reason, and chats Mark up. Seagle does a good job conveying how flipping weird it is for Mark to be right there with the most powerful being on the planet. He consistently comments on the big words Imperial uses and he’s a bit of a klutz in more ways than one. If there were ever two complete opposite characters it’d be these guys. After a while the reader gets a bit confused; why would this superhero care about Mark? We quickly find out Mark has some big shoes to fill soon and it’s not just groomsman shoes either.
The humor is subtle in this series, mostly because it’s ludicrous to think Imperial has the right guy. It’s also due to Seagle’s command of Mark’s voice. The guy is so average and boring you can’t yet imagine why he’d be thrust into such a comic.
That’s unfortunate.
The art by Marc Dos Santos is very basic with thin lines and not very much detail. He’s clearly more of a soap opera, talking heads sort of artist. He captures the moments well and the content of the writing is on par with the quality of art. While it’s a bit cartoony, it’s so basic it lends itself to the feel of the story.
Why is he doing that?
Is It Good?
This is a good introduction issue to a premise that’s bound to make you chuckle. It’s also intriguing because the main character is so damn boring you can’t imagine him ever deserving a comic, which is the allure of this series.
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