The Red Hook, Volume 1: New Brooklyn

Winner of the 2017 Ringo Award for Best Webcomic in its original online format, this lively graphic novel is a fast-moving, funky twist on the standard superhero. Haspiel (Beef with Tomato) gives the setting-as-character concept a literal version, imagining Brooklyn awakening as a life force when its people secede from New York State. Only Sam Brosia, a costumed superthief called the Red Hook, can save the heart of Brooklyn by turning from crime to become a hero. This postmodern Jack Kirby–style adventure injects superhero tropes into contemporary urban politics—or is it vice versa? Underneath the fantastic, funny exterior lies a fable of strength and righteousness populated by heroes and villains with punny local names: the Coney, the Sheep’s Head, gang boss Benson Hurst, and superhero the Green Point, who bestows upon Sam “the Omni-Fist of Altruism,” an inner selflessness, and borough awareness. Haspiel’s dynamic and energetic page layouts lean into the over-the-top visual absurdity of his gag, with characters in spandex costumes battling as urban ballet against a backdrop of recognizable Brooklyn architecture rendered with detail and authenticity. Haspiel sets up a playful, novel mythology in the Red Hook’s mission of salvation with room to expand (despite rent inflation!) in the ongoing series. (June)