Masks

This story joins together some high-powered, pulp-infused superheroes in one adventure: the Green Hornet, Kato, the Shadow, the Spider, Zorro, Black Bat, Miss Fury, the Green Lama, and Black Terror. The vigilantes confront a brazenly corrupt New York—complete with public hangings and people being shipped off to “work camps”—and naturally unite to set things right. Unfortunately the story itself is overly broad and loaded with clichés, such as the villain who unveils to the heroes his master plan. There are also several inelegant backstory info dumps and an obvious villain unveiling, and the evil master plan itself makes little sense. The fun comes in seeing these all-star characters together in one book; yet the A-list cast, while cool, is too much for the pages, resulting in nobody getting a chance to really shine. Alex Ross’s opening chapter is so detailed and lush that it makes the rest of the book look thin and ill-defined by comparison. (Sept.)