The Wrong Earth, Vol. 1

This love letter to vintage comic tropes satirizes the 1980s wave of “dark and gritty” superhero deconstructions and is rife with inside jokes for genre fans. Deploying the cliché of parallel but opposite realities, the narrative alternates between virtuous Dragonflyman of Earth-Alpha and his teen sidekick, Stinger—allusions to the Batman and Robin of the campy 1960s Adam West TV series—and the vicious Dragonfly of Earth-Omega, a Punisher-like costumed vigilante whose teen partner died tragically. The two heroes collide through a dimensional gateway (literally “through the looking glass”). Stranded in each other’s realms, facing versions of the same nemesis, the heroes try to adapt, which alters the worlds around them; mayhem ensues. With action to excess and intentionally ridiculous dialogue, the script skewers both the quaint style of classic superhero comics and the harsher material and corrupt politics ushered in since the debut of the Watchmen series, with Igle’s skillfully rendered art bringing the proceedings to believable (if absurd) life. This series contains more entertainment than most contemporary comics and serves to remind readers of what they were always intended to be: fun. [em](May) [/em]