Mark Millar's Supercrooks

[atom_punk]

OK, shoulder angel and devil are in full effect here.

Shoulder angel: This is the Mark Millar that wrote Superman: Red Son, Superman: Adventures, Superior, The Authority, and the Ultimates, be optimistic :)

Shoulder devil: This is the Mark Millar that wrote Nemesis, Kick-Ass, Wanted, and...the Ultimate Avengers, be cynical :(

For the moment, my shoulder angel is winning and I am tentatively interested in Mark Millar's series Supercrooks and wanted to ask if any on scans_daily have picked up the first issue (which I believe is out now) and would care to weigh in.

For anyone who hasn't heard about this book, the premise is that in the United States, superheroes are so ubiquitous and effective at combating crime that supercriminals have a hard time making a profit. So a group of these criminals decide to relocate to Europe where strict laws against ANY superhuman using their powers mean that no law-abiding superheroes are present to oppose them.

Preview pages below, courtesy of Comic Book Resources:



See, this is getting my optimism all worked up. We have an interesting premise (described often as Ocean's 11 meets superhero/villains), a story that is not set in the US (or nonexistent countries thereof), a world where superheroes are not only present but also competent and not complete jerks (thus far), and I also like the aesthetics of each supercharacter's unique costume and design. Plus that "electric powers" line made me laugh. The violence also seems pretty toned down for Millar's standards.

Also like the hero character Gladiator seen here. He is unlikely to appear again IMO but his character is pretty well-established in just a few panels. And he's clearly good at his job. He works with police to get a quick briefing, uses cameras to get a picture of who he's up against, he gets onto the subway train where the villains are, tells hostages to clear out as best as possible, takes the baddies down without killing them, and delivers them to the police.

And he's got a cool costume too! Like the patriotic suit mixed with the helmet and gauntlets of his namesake. (See Jim Lee, sometimes just smooth clean spandex is fine, no excessive cross-hatching or inexplicable seams required) One nitpick is that his holster/harness thing seems like it would be quite uncomfortable in the groin region, but I'm not familiar with holsters so maybe that's how they really are? :P

Thoughts friends? Anyone read this first issue yet? Any feedback or opinions?

First post under new rules so please let me know if there are any problems. Thanks

Oh and also, a teaser for the movie that is apparently being made about this comic. Say what you will about Mark Millar, he's certainly staying on the go with his properties.


 

Comments

[darkknightjrk]

I read it--not a bad set-up issue, even if it's almost a complete plot taking of Oceans 12. Two things do bother me.

1. Millar's apparently said a lot of discouraging things about Spain and how it's a truly horrific place that makes me think we're going to get a really watered-down, stereotypical "seedy corrupt town" instead of an actual, interesting locale.

2. They're so certain about there not being any superheroes in Europe that I can see the twist that they're actually working in secret and will fuck them over coming from a mile away.

Shoulder Devil is winning...

[freezer]

The previews and description says "Ocean's 11", Millar's track record says "Bomb Queen."

[salinea]

First post under new rules so please let me know if there are any problems. Thanks
Looks fine to me! Main topic is the scan; vid is there as support for the main topic. A-OK :)

[cainofdreaming]

Hm, is it just me or does anyone else get the pictures in small frames with scrollbars? Is that a firefox thing, or CBR thing?

Also, did I just see a man wearing Captain Marvel's original helmet stomping on a Noh-Varr lookalike?

[eyz]

Me too...strange...is that an updated from dreamwidth or CBR?

[eyz]

So...this is what Millar's een up to lately?
Looks like a mix between Wanted, Nemesis and a hint of Ocean's 11.

[icon_uk]

And HTML code thing I think, the frame is set to be smaller than the image, so it open a "window" on it.

[wizardru]

Yeah, I'm gonna take a pass, here. I realize Millar CAN write stuff I don't dislike, I just recognize that he almost never actually DOES. A big problem I have with Millar's scripting is that he desperately wants to make 'real' superheroes, but without any of the consequences or logic that needs to accompany that conceit.

Why are guys with superpowers robbing banks here, especially in a world with lots of heroes and technology. If this dude really does have electric powers, why isn't he making a decent living using those powers in lots of specialized situations where they could do things that would otherwise be ridiculously expensive? Hell, some companies would pay him a salary just to stand around for an emergency power back-up. 80% of all bank robbers are eventually caught, iirc. In a world with superheroes, I'd wager that's even higher....and few bank robberies net any really large wins. So he's trying to eat his cake and have it, too: using a tired old cliche and mixing with semi-reality.

The problem is that the more realistic you make superheroes, the more it highlights things that throw me, at least, out of the story.

[deleonjh]

"For anyone who hasn't heard about this book, the premise is that in the United States, superheroes are so ubiquitous and effective at combating crime that supercriminals have a hard time making a profit. So a group of these criminals decide to relocate to Europe where strict laws against ANY superhuman using their powers mean that no law-abiding superheroes are present to oppose them."

Ah, so it's that old "When guns are criminalized, only criminals will have guns" argument.

[glprime]

I'll echo the comments above on problems with Millar's split track record and the conceits of "realistic supers" settings, but also chime in with this: there aren't enough detailed supercriminal storylines in comics, with or without plot holes. Yeah it steals from "thief thriller" movies, and yeah, it drops the ball on a lot of logical points, but stories with villains as the protagonists always seem to have a charge of fun beyond the more oft repeated mainstream.

Also, anymore polished Leinil Yu art is okay by me.

I'll watch tepidly like others, waiting to see when Bad!Millar pops up, like Jekyll and Hyde.

[atom_punk]

When you say "seedy corrupt town" do you mean it in the sense that the destination will be run down (as in a slum) or corrupt in the sense that all the rich and powerful are abusing their influence and living the high life while the poor suffer?

I would imagine it's the latter since a slum isn't likely to be a good place to steal generous sums of money as opposed to say a wealthy business district with lots of banks.

I suppose either way it's not a good representation of the country of Spain, but then again neither is every Hollywood movie that condenses every foreign country into a single locale (i.e. Egypt consists entirely of the Sphinx and pyramids, France is only Paris, Britain is only London, etc)

As to your second point, I'm hoping that is not the real twist although this sneaking suspicion in my gut says it might be...

Either way thanks for your feedback.

[atom_punk]

Sweet! Thanks for double checking :)

[atom_punk]

Oh wow....That's annoying. Ummm. Anyone have advice on how to fix that? I like to think of myself as computer-saavy but HTML codes? My worst enemy.

[atom_punk]

Perhaps the reason why the supercriminals are criminals is because superhumans are so common.

As in, the electric man Johnny Volt cannot find a legitimate use for his abilities because there are so many other people with similar to identical powers (just spitballing since I haven't read this story and the nature of this world may be totally different) so the individual salary is not that great.

And to take your example of a living back-up power supply, do you think that any tech company would pay to have a human being just stand around waiting for a black-out? A human being who might fall asleep or go to the bathroom right when the black-out occurs? Or would they rather install a piece of machinery that will always be "on-duty", only needs to be bought and paid for once (maintenance aside), and will never ask for sick days?

They might ask electric-powers-man as a backup to the backup, but I don't imagine that is a steady kind of work.

So this could lead back to the old standby excuse used by why ridiculously skilled thieves in movies don't just make a living by working for a security company helping find weaknesses in security systems, etc.

"I could make a decent living off of my abilities, but I could become hugely-Donald-Trump-rich if I pull off one big heist"

That said, I would love more examples of mundane utility powers. I literally laughed when I first read a comic where Superman shaves by lasering his face with heat vision and a mirror. It's those little touches that make comics fun!

[atom_punk]

"Ah, so it's that old "When guns are criminalized, only criminals will have guns" argument."

Not entirely sure what you mean by this.

That's basically what the preview info says. I have no idea HOW European nations enforce a ban on superpowers if they have no superheroes to enforce it with.

It might even be that superheroes and villains just naturally pop up in America and the ban was more of a token gesture by politicians to say "Hey we're doing stuff to protect you! Now vote for us in the next election, etc."

[wizardru]

"And to take your example of a living back-up power supply, do you think that any tech company would pay to have a human being just stand around waiting for a black-out? A human being who might fall asleep or go to the bathroom right when the black-out occurs?"

Yes, I do. There's a whole multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to that very idea, known as disaster recovery. My company pays money...a LOT of money...to store computers at a remote site for this very reason. The same site that companies displaced by 9-11 relocated to and ran their businesses from after they had to evacuate Manhattan. He wouldn't be there to keep the systems continually running, but he would be invaluable in a power outage or at a disaster site.

I'm sure you could make a whole scenario where it all works...but I don't credit Millar with that much effort. And yeah, I remember loving that heat vision/mirror trick. Which I think they explained that it was a fragment of mirror from his spaceship, so it wouldn't warp or be destroyed from his vision powers. :)

[icon_uk]

I usually just use the

[img src="web address of the image"]

with [ and ] replaced < and >

[wizardru]

That's the problem with pretty much any Millar work now, though. Everyone waits for the other shoe to drop. Superior was full of issue after issue of people saying "...next issue it's all going to go to shit. You just watch."

I'm not sure when or if Millar will ever be able to stop that reaction from his work.

[terrykun]

This could potentially be a really interesting take on civilian law enforcement dealing with supercrime. (:

[atom_punk]

I guess he could be kept on retainer (an called in for emergency power outages as you mentioned) but would the occasional emergency that requires his services really be enough money to support himself?

If so, I shall set about developing electromagnetic abilities at once! :D

[atom_punk]

Don't know if civilian law enforcement will be given much time in the spotlight since the story seems to be leading up to villains stealing from even worse villains rather than villains stealing from legitimate businesses.

If you're looking for a police serial sort of story, I suggest the first issues of Powers by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Oeming.

Basically the main characters are two cops in the Powers division who deal with crimes/homicides involving superhumans as victims, suspects, whatever. I really enjoyed it but as a warning, it can be gory and violent at times (real crimes are portrayed with the escalation of superpowers)

On the whole I enjoyed it as an interesting take on how even in a world where they could be set on fire by pyromancers, smashed by superstrong guys, or just generally beaten up by random people with powers, the cops manage to shrug and say: "It's a living" and will still slap the cuffs on their suspect.

[atom_punk]

Thanks icon. I'll fiddle around with the post and see if I can correct it

[md84]

It's refreshing to see supervillains who are willing to admit they're outmatched by the heroes and leaving for greener superhero-free pastures.

No doubt they are going to find out just how Europe is able to maintain a ban on superpowers without being overrun by supervillains.

[atom_punk]

Yeah. Millar is certainly willing to try new ideas. But a premise is only as good as the execution, so I guess we'll have to see if this works or not.

I for one always wondered, why don't villains just relocate outside the US since it's hard to follow someone across the world. For instance, Doc Ock would probably have less trouble taking over, I dunno, Micronesia? than New York City. And Spider-Man would have to A) find Doc Ock and B) finds a means of getting there.

Of course I am imagining the version of Spider-Man I actually liked i.e. penniless high schooler/college student. I imagine nowadays he would just ask Iron Man for a lift or something.

As darkknightjrk said at the top, the question of how there are no supers will likely be a plot point. Or as I suggested, maybe superheroes/villains are just naturally drawn to America for some inexplicable cosmic reason.

Like how Earth is subject to alien invasion by a bajillion different species sometimes simultaneously.

[lascoden]

I think the reason villains don't relocate is because they just know the heroes will somehow stumble into their plan. No matter where Spider-Man goes, he somehow manages to run into one of his villains, whether it's to the beach or outer space.

[icon_uk]

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Using

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shows the pic without the frame.

Again all the above replacing [ with < and ] with >

[atom_punk]

That darn Spidey-Sense! :)

[deleonjh]

I can only base my assessment on the information provided and anything I say beyond that would just be fan-wanking. From the information provided, it seems that the US is safer because it allows superhumans to operate freely whereas Europe is apparently more dangerous because it regulates the use of superpowers - a situation which follows exactly the (specious) argument against gun control in the US, in that heavily regulating guns would inevitably lead to only criminals having guns (an argument with the giant gaping logical hole called the police).

[deleonjh]

More like that darned Parker luck. All he wanted was to go to the beach, Doc Ock, why did you have to have your secret hideout there?

[ian_karkull]

That teaser is so ridiculously random and low-budget, it makes me doubt there actually is a movie in the works. I've seen home videos with better production values.

Also, I just can't wrap my head around the ridiculous premise. Why wouldn't there be Heroes and villains in Europe if powers where commonly available? Public attitude towards them would probably be a little different and varying from country to country, but hell, if I had powers, I'd fly out of my damn window and beat up some Neo-Nazis (or what have you) right this instant.
I'll probably still end up reading this, because I love villain-centric stories, which already proved to be my undoing in the case of Wanted, but still, so unbelievably silly.

[tsunamiwombat]

Inb4 people start dying, being racist, raped, murdered, melted with acid, typical millar stuff et all etc.

[darkknightjrk]

Even when I was reading comics as a kid, I just assumed that there were superheroes all over the world, they just don't get talked about as much as a Batman or a Superman or a Spider-Man or X-Men.

[kamino_neko]

Which is generally the case, which we see in occasional stories that bring in international heroes. (Although in the DCU, officially Canada is lacking any publicly active ones, which is really weird.)

The same holds for cities in the US where the major characters don't hang out - there's a good chance there's heroes, there, too, we just don't see them until one of the big guns passes through and meets them.

[kamino_neko]

(Although in the DCU, officially Canada is lacking any publicly active ones, which is really weird.)

Well, we were at one point, anyway...Robinson's JLA brought in that shadow-powered Mountie, and who knows whether they'll keep that bit of random weirdness if the opportunity to show Canada pops up in the new continuity.

[atom_punk]

I'm fairly certain the the "low budget" nature of the teaser is on purpose. Trying to make it look like "found footage" in the same vein of say, Paranormal Activity or Blair Witch Project, so as to heighten the supposed realism. By showing these "real" people the movie can build up interest. I think the actual movie will likely be in a totally different style and much more traditional in terms of special effects, filming and so on.

[atom_punk]

Oh and as for the lack of European with powers I honestly don't know why or how powers are banned, how powers are obtained, or whatever. Depends whether or not Millar has a reasonable explanation.

[halloweenjack]

Yeah, can't get past the dumb premise. GLA: Misassembled played it for laughs (Maelstrom builds his universe-destroying weapon in Milwaukee because, by the time the real Avengers show up, it'll all be over) and that's about as far as you should really go with the concept, IMO.

[darrylayo]

Issue was good. I got a good laugh from "apparently he's got electrical powers."

Mark Millar was good at the Ultimates and Ultimate X Men. He can do non evil things, so I'm willing to give some of his stuff a try

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

I'd also point out that Millar still relies on the whole 'slap on the wrist' approach to why villains keep getting out of jail.

The main character, Bolt, gets arrested for armed robbery, he's caught by cameras during and after the robbery, and arrested by a hero with the stolen property on his person.

That would be, easily, ten years jail time. Yet when we see him again, there's no indication that anything more than a few weeks passed.

[sir_mikael]

Also another good police serial dealing with supercrime is of course Gotham Central by Rucka, Brubaker &Lark. Basically Law & Order: Gotham with plenty of great art, atmosphere, true-to-life characters and their arcs.

[jlroberson]

>>even if it's almost a complete plot taking of Oceans 12

Thanks, now I know to completely avoid it.