And now, ladies and gentlemen; the Main Event! Introducing, hailing from Other Earth, with a combined might that still couldn't protect their own world, three times.....
Squadron Supreme #1
Cover by Bob Hall and Josef Rubinstein. Dynamic, though a little "busy," with the speed lines and the characters. Notice how Nighthawk looms over everyone else. That will be a major element of the entire maxi-series.
Creative Team: Mark Gruenwald-writer, Bob Hall-pencils, John Beatty-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Christie Scheele-colors, Ralph Macchio (not the guy is Crossroads or Teachers)-editor, Jim Shooter-EIC and last world on page layouts and storytelling.
Synopsis: When we left Other Earth, it had been devastated by the manipulation of Null, the Living Darkness and the puppet Overmind. The nation's economy was laid waste, to build a space fleet, on the Moon, to conquer the stars. The country had only been recovering from the Cadre Cabal, a group of conglomerate heads who were secretly running things, while under the control of the Serpent Crown. The Defenders have departed. The Avengers are long gone. It is now the time for the Squadron Supreme of America!
Hyperion struggles to save Rocket central, the satellite headquarters of the Squadron Supreme, whose orbit is decaying...
It is no use and Hyperion steers it to the ocean, where it splashes down. Amphibian (spelling changed) is there waiting and gets a thumbs up from Hype. Whizzer and Dr Spectrum come along and Doc uses the Power Prism to wrap a sling around it and he and Hype pull, while Amphibian and Whizzer work to propel the hulk through the water, to land. They beach it; but have to move on. They had been distracted and were unable to correct the decaying orbit. had they not cted now, it would have broken up and crashed over a wider area, with flaming debris. They must leave it for now, as they are needed elsewhere.
Near Niagara Falls, Power Princess and Nuke are on their way to rendezvous with Arcana and Cap'n Hawk. They had been running aerial recon on the northern and southern parts of the country and the picture isn't good. We see vehicles jammed on a highway and they spot a crowd taking cargo from a semi-trailer. They yell at the looters to stop, and then get an earful about the situation...
Right after Cap'n Hawk turns a blind eye, the military shows up and opens fire. The team stops them and Nuke goes....well, nuclear, blasting the soldiers. The people escape to safety; but, the Squadron see how bad things really are. Also, they notice something is up with Nuke.
Over the Midwest, Tom Thumb, Nighthawk, Lady Lark and Golden Archer anre traveling in an air sled. They are depressed from seeing the breakdown in infrastructure across the country. Eastern cities are experiencing blackouts. Communications are down en masse. Transport systems have broken down. The economy has crashed an people have walked off jobs, unpaid. Food is scarce, crime is rising, and that is just the easy stuff. They spot a fire raging; but, can't do much about it. At first they think it is looting, then realize it is a gas main explosion and fire. there are storage tanks nearby and if the fire reaches them, it will be an inferno. Tom Thumb detaches his pod and Nighthawk vaults to a streetlight to try and close the safety valves in time, while Golden Archer and Lady lark see what they can do to slow the fire. GA hits a water tower with arrows, releasing the water to douse the flames. However, there isn't enough volume and time has run out. Lady Lark gives the retreat signal and TT sends Nighthawk out, while he finishes. GA picks up Nighthawk and TT just makes it out, in time. He is exhausted and begs a rest, asking Lady Lark to continue piloting. Tom ignores the short jokes from Golden Archer.
The teams rendezvous in the mountains, inside a temporary complex, built inside a cavern. There, they relate what has happened. Kyle remarks how he gave up being Nighthawk to make a greater difference, in business and politics. He was nominated for the presidency and won in a landslide (more than some businessmen did). He sought to bring peace and prosperity, but fell under control of the Overmind. He brought him to the Squadron, who fell under his control. They subverted the military and created a police state. They then launched a war of aggression on the rest of the world, with Overmind acting to nullify the world leaders, making conquest easy. Soon, they devastated resources to build missiles and ships to conquer the stars, before eventually freed by the Defenders.
Whizzer has covered Europe, at super sped. the withdrawal of American control has led a collapse of their economies and political structure, leading to rioting. US troops have been massacred and people fight for food. Luckily, the Squadron had removed all nuclear weapons, when they conquered the globe, under Overmind's control. The US is reviled throughout the world and is now isolated from everyone else, as they deal with their own problems.
The Squadron recognizes that they have a credibility problem, having been the superpowered stormtroopers of the Overmind. Kyle wonder whether they should disband, to appease the populace, which Power Princess dismisses as defeatist. She relates her background, as last remnant of a utopian society (created after genetic manipulation of the Kree), built on an isolated island. When the atomic bomb was developed, the society went to the stars, in a ship, leaving Zarda behind. She served with the Golden Agency and the Squadron Supreme; but, never succeeded in bringing utopia to the people. She thinks they will be more receptive now, when things are bleakest. Hyperion agrees, relating how his human parents cautioned him not to use his powers to affect mankind; but, his every action or inaction had some affect. he believes that by curbing his power, he was prevented from doing greater good and the same is true of the entire Squadron. He proposes that they use their combined powers to bring about Zarda's Utopia, to find solutions to the big problems, rather than waste time on the symptoms, such as crime. It draws a stirring endorsement from the team.
The lone voice of dissent comes from Nighthawk, who thinks that handing utopia to people on a silver platter will ultimately undermine it...
Lady Lark adds her voice to Kyle's and Whizzer counters. it is put to a vote; but, Kyle cautions that a vote by a power elite, deciding the fate of the world, is no different than what Overmind did.
They will need to take total control to implement the plan. The vote proceeds, with only Nighthawk and Amphibian voting against. Amphibian agrees to abide by the majority, with reservations. Kyle refutes the vote and resigns. Hyperion tries to get him to stay, to work with them, as president; but, he leaves. Dr Spectrum proposes announcing the Utopia Plan on television, before details have been worked out, to give people hope. he further suggests unmasking, to lay their cards on the table. The rest agree, and take the time to secure their loved ones, before unmasking.
Hyperion goes and sees Lonni Lattimer, his girlfriend. he confesses that he was Mark Milton, which she seems to have known, then tells her about the plan and how he is dropping all facade of being human. He is an alien and their species could not mate, and it would not be proper to carry on with her. She tells him to leave.
Whizzer goes to find his wife and child, who have been hiding in a bunker, beneath their home. Dr Spectrum returns to his trailer and displays a self-centered arrogance, as he contacts the numbers in his little black book. Cap'n Hawk visits his parents and learns his father died a week ago, when the medicine for his heart ran out. He left him a letter and a new costume (his father was The original American Eagle). Zarda visits her husband, Howard Shelton, a sailor she rescued during WW2. They fell and love and remained together, even as he aged and she did not.
Amphibian spends time with dolphin friends and is tempted to leave the surface world behind. GA and Lady Lark got to their apartment. It has been ransacked by looters and Lark's records, from when she was a singer, have been destroyed. GA finds a corpse of someone who took shelter and hides it from Lark, as she has seen enough.
Nuke visits his parents, who are in a hospital dying of cancer, due to radiation exposure, from their son. Arcana finds her husband and children and they spend the night together, though the kids have a bad sense of timing. Tom Thumb has no family and goes to the wreck of rocket central, to get their AI, Aida, back online.
Kyle returns to his mansion, which was the original HQ for the Squadron. he sees protestors outside chain-link and razorwire fencing. He calls the White House and gets an earful. The Joint Chiefs believe the US has been under the control of a foreign power. The VP has resigned, Congress has declared a national emergency and adjourned. Kyle says he will make a televised address the following day and will get there himself. he dons his old uniform (slightly modified from the goofier original) and is interrupted by Hyperion, who wants to make bygones be bygones. He asks to make a joint address with Kyle, and Kyle rebuffs him. Hyperion leaves quietly, but it has planted a seed in Kyle's head. He goes to a vault and removes the chunk of
argonite, the one substance to which Hyperion is vulnerable. he wonders if he can fashion a bullet, as he contemplates Hyperion's words about lincoln, wondering if the world will need a Lincoln to emancipate it from the Utopia Plan.
Kyle makes his address and announces that he has asked for and received the resignations of his entire cabinet, has dismissed those leads from the military who supported his policies (while under Overmind's control) and will publish the names of all Congressmen who supported them. He accepts his responsibility in this and wishes the next administration well. He turns it over to Hyperion, who announces the Utopia Plan and vows to solve all of the world's problems within one year or they will cede control of government back to the populace. Kyle has his argonite bullet; but, cannot bring himself to shoot his former friend. The plan goes forward and the team unmasks.
Thoughts: Apologies for length of the summation; but, this issue puts a lot in play. The entire world economy and infrastructure has collapsed. Mob rule is prevalent and government systems are broken. people live in hunger and fear. Th Squadron hopes to use their combined abilities to bring light out of this darkness. It's the kind of thing you'd hope for, from your heroes. Except, mankind is flawed and its heroes are flawed, and flawed people will never create a utopia, certainly not within a year. Any such plan is bound to have cracks. To start with , how do you feed the entire world, before it is further devastated? Where will the food come from? how will it be distributed? What about power, water, light, fuel? Medical treatment is needed and pharmaceuticals. Where will the medical people come from? How will they get pharmaceutical plants back up to speed? What about incurable diseases? They mean to bring cures, possibly even to death. How? They haven't even outlined the plan, let alone prioritized the crises. They can't be everywhere. So far, it is little more than an idea.
Why would the populace believe them or listen to them? These gods, in their satellite, looked down upon the mortals of the Earth and conquered them. They don't care if an alien mind forced them to do it. it was probably only a matter of time. Are they desperate enough to let that hatred and fear go, and accept the plan? Time will tell.
Kyle recognizes the flaws, as he is the most human. He has no powers, no special gimmicks, no miracle tech. He has worked in business and government and understands the complexity of social systems. he also sees the arrogance of his colleagues, to believe they few can do what so many other great minds failed to do. And, he understands better than they do that power corrupts and their absolute power will corrupt, absolutely.
Their family lives show various states. Hyperion walks away from love, just because he cannot breed, borrowing a page from Larry Niven's "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex." Is it impossible to have a future, if you cannot have children? Hundreds of couples suggest otherwise. Has Hyperion forsaken all connection to humanity? If so, how can he help bring a utopia, if he cannot relate to the masses?
Nuke's powers are what poisoned his own family and, he demonstrated that he may not have control of them. Are others in danger? Tom Thumb has borne jokes and insults about his stature; but, his intellect is giant. Will it be enough, or is the internal pain from being kept apart from society greater. His only connection is a computer AI; is there no love for a man who is smaller than others? Amphibian wonders if it is worth it, when most of the world isn't affected, as the oceans cover more of it than land. Sea life lives in harmony with its environment. Golden Archer seeks to protect Lady Lark from the horrors of the world, yet she faces things as they are. How far will he go to protect her? Princess Power wants the utopia of her people; but, her people left the world to its fate and their world existed ina microcosm, an alien experiment given human form. What makes her believe their way was the only path to utopia?
Gruenwald presents a lot of very tough questions, questions which get right to the heart of the flaws in superheroes. Fighting crime is only attacking a symptom of society's ills. Wouldn't society be better served if these scientific geniuses and people with special abilities did more to help mankind, beyond just catching a few crooks?
Gruenwald surpasses his previous work with this first issue. He wrote entertaining superhero adventures; but, they never had the depth or truly epic quality that some of his colleagues brought to their work. He was a fan who made good and ended up a writer and editor, under Jim Shooter's tutillege (as well as others), becoming steeped in Shooter's philosophies of storytelling, which became the end all, be all standard for Marvel. This steered more of the Marvel line into higher sales; but, had the effect of leveling off the top, creating a rather generic experience with a lot of stories and series. Experimentation was not greatly encouraged. Gruenwald followed those dictates. Now, that isn't to say he was mediocre; just not bold. He wrote some fine stories and added humor to things, which helped make the same old story more entertaining. He and Ralph Macchio had a great and memorable run on Marvel Two-in-One, a disposable series, where he actually crafted continuing stories out of guest appearances, like the epic Project Pegasus. He was capable of greatness; but, not always encouraged towards it.
Here, Gruenwald is bold. He was a huge fan of the JLA and the concept of the multiverse. His fan credits were his Omniverse fanzine, which sought to create a coherent continuity to all universes, including competing companies. He was the keeper of continuity, at Marvel. Here, he takes the idea of the world's greatest superheroes and has them face the world's biggest problems and sees what happens. You can't get much bigger than that. And, the thing is, he did it before more high profile writers did the same thing. Watchmen would be a year down the road. DC was in the middle of Crisis on Infinite Earths, when this debuted. Now, others have done stories along these lines, while some parodies, like those of Harvey Kurtzman, displayed the absurdity of superheroes. Still, Gruenwald is reaching and he is mostly succeeding.
Where he is being let down is in the art. A bold series requires bold art and "bold" isn't an adjective I would apply to Bob Hall. You needed someone who can do epic and who can to intimate; someone who brings style and experimentation to things. This is standard grid layout, with the same act structure and action beats that Shooter would preach as gospel, despite overwhelming evidence that other approaches work and the best approach is the one that most suits the particular story. The art has such a generic look to things it is no wonder this series wasn't a game changer, like Watchmen. Dave Gibbons used a grid layout (at Alan Moore's urging); but, there were layers to the panels, subtexts and clues that required attention. You had to process the visual language of Watchmen, to fully appreciate the story. Here, things look like every other Marvel comic. Watchmen didn't look like an issue of Blue Beetle; it was it's own world, with its own aesthetic. This could be an issue of Marvel Premiere, for all we can see here. It is much the same as when DC (and even Marvel) would assign poor inkers to a penciller, or vice versa. Rather than getting the best out of people, it tended to bring more work down than elevate it. I think that is the key factor in Squadron Supreme not being remembered as one of the giants of the field, despite the epic ideas at play.
It does have to be said, though, that Gruenwald also holds back, a bit. He has the grand ideas; but, he doesn't really have the grand language, and cannot turn a phrase, like a Moore or Gaiman or Morrison. He hasn't the satirical bent of a Gerber, or the philosophical mind of a Starlin, the fiery passion of an O'Neil, or the sheer talent of an Archie Goodwin. However, he has a talent there for plot and concepts and stronger collaborators might have helped him rise to greater heights. He soars quite beyond his norm, though.
There are cute in-jokes about the origin of the Squadron, as a pastiche and parody of the JLA. Hyperion says goodbye to his Lois, Wonder Woman affirms her love of her aging Steve Trevor. Whizzer heads for his wife, Dr Spectrum has never been able to build a relationship. These are all character traits we see in the JLA counterparts. Superman had not progressed in his relationship with Lois, Wonder Woman did not have a love, except on an alternate world, where she was more interesting (seriously, the Golden Age Wonder Woman stories are very memorable, while Silver and Bronze Age were rather forgettable, apart from the initial Diana Prince experiment). Flash is devoted to Iris, but Green Lantern has failed at love and has drifted between jobs.
Gruenwald corrects previous portrayals of Hyperion as a muscle-bound idiot, giving him a more Supermannish vocabulary. He also displays the Superman/Batman friendship, though more as it would be redefined, post-Crisis, before those changes had been made. One suspects that he and other Marvelites sat around talking how they would fix DC and then we saw it play out, in the late 80s, as Marvel exiles did just that (plus some home grown talent).
Leaving aside acclaim, Squadron Supreme and Watchmen vary greatly in their intent. Squadron Supreme is a superhero "what if?" experiment, picking up the ball from Roy Thomas and running even further with it. Watchmen is a murder mystery, with a bigger mcguffin at play. It is a commentary on superheroes and a deconstruction. Watchmen seeks to tear it apart, while Squadron tries to remain within the confines of the structure. Squadron wants to hang onto childhood, though maybe grow a bit, while Watchmen says "Childhood is over. Time to be an adult." However. Gruenwald is totally hanging onto childhood, any more than Moore ever fully grew up. We will see darker elements at play.
One interesting thing to see is how Gruenwald treats these characters more seriously. Past writers have used them for satire and straight out parody. Gruenwald treats them as if they are the Avengers or the JLA, not just copies done for a joke. Tom Thumb was the butt of short jokes under Thomas and Englehart; Gruenwald celebrates the mind of the man. Hyperion was a moron; Gruenwald says he has a brain. The others were cyphers; Gruenwald seeks to give them personality and a past. As they say, there are no bad characters, just bad writers. It only takes a writer with inspiration to make a character great. Ted Knight was just another playboy hero, until James Robinson made him the coolest science her out there. The X-Men were yet another super team, until Roy Thomas and, later, Chris Claremont expanded upon their uniqueness.
Enough of my prattling. We next explore how the Squadron will implement there plan and meet the obstacles along the path to utopia.
