Customer Reviews

Squadron Supreme Vol. 1: The Pre-War Years (v. 1)

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Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski's excellent Supreme Power title came to an end, but the story isn't over yet. After a couple mini-series events, Supreme Power is relaunched under the Squadron Supreme title (which is where Straczynski originally took the material from and made it his own), and minus Marvel's mature themed MAX imprint. Now, this might not be a big deal to some people (though I doubt it), but thanks to this the sense of realism that Supreme Power had is gone. Not to mention that the action and events are predictable; which is something that Supreme Power never was. That aside though, there are a few great moments, including some nice action scenes (courtesy of Gary Frank), and Doc Spectrum's seduction by Power Princess should be seen to be believed and harkens back to what made Supreme Power so great. The other characters that populate here though, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Blur, etc., are quite wooden though. Oh well, I guess that everything Straczynski does can't be great. All in all, this is worth a look for Supreme Power fans, but this is actually better suited for new readers of the characters, and is more of a starting off point for future events that are hinted at throughout this book.

I have to disagree with Mr. Durham's assessment of the Squadron Supreme: the Pre-War Years hardcover. It may be something of a departure from its predecessor series - the excellent Supreme Power - but I'd hardly call it a disappointment.

Writer J. M. Straczynski and artist Gary Frank are both in top form here, doing what they do best. Straczynski had to face a major challenge here, carrying over the intense character development he mastered in Supreme Power to a series with twice the number of key characters. I think he passed with flying colors, even if it meant the characters featured so prominently in Supreme Power had to take a back seat so we could get to know the rest of the Squadron. He also had to overcome the fact that the whole "government sponsored superhero team" idea has been done to death, and while Squadron Supreme may not have the same impact as Ellis's Authority run or Millar's Ultimates, it still presents a fresh take on a timeworn subject.

Gary Frank's artwork is fantastic as usual. Beyond the dynamic character designs and powerful action sequences, he has a skill for displaying a wide array of emotion on his characters' faces that is second only to Steve Dillon.

I will second the argument that losing the MAX label was a poor decision. The more mature, but never gratuitous, content in Supreme Power added a sense of realism that Squadron Supreme is lacking. Sometimes PG-13 just isn't enough to tell the story the right way.

Overall, Squadron Supreme: the Pre-War Years is quite satisfying. It serves as an excellent transition between Supreme Power and the ongoing Squadron Supreme series, introducing the key players and setting the stage for things to come.

Squadron Supreme Vol. 1: The Pre-War Years was another good addition to the series. I have enjoyed the entire run so far. I like the MAX story lines the best. They created more realism in the characters. The non-MAX titles are almost as good. I have not been disappointed yet. I especially enjoyed the African story line in this book. It was very thought provoking. J Michael Straczynski has become one of my all time favorite writers.

I discovered JMS' work on this when Supreme Power was about 2/3 complete, and was impressed enough that I bought the three compilation books. Since then, I've just been waiting for more. With the move to Marvel, I thought that Squadron Supreme would make for an interesting series, with more grit & realism than the usual beat-up-a-villain-each-week stuff. And I was right. The only complaint I can find with this is that I want more of it, and there doesn't seem to be, in the monthly series form anyway.

They managed to keep it going with the Hyperion vs Nighthawk bit, and the Ultimate Power limited series, both entertaining, but these days the problem with a storyline that actually challenges seems to be that you can't keep it going, and I have to wonder why. Are the ideas just not there, or is it the readers scared off by something that challenges their viewpoints on the world a little too much?

Anyway, hopefully they'll manage to bring this title back into the picture. If not, consider it yet another example of the sort of meaningful, quality writing we could be seeing out there.

Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski's excellent Supreme Power title came to an end, but the story isn't over yet. After a couple mini-series events, Supreme Power is relaunched under the Squadron Supreme title (which is where Straczynski originally took the material from and made it his own), and minus Marvel's mature themed MAX imprint. Now, this might not be a big deal to some people, but thanks to this the sense of realism and ultra grittiness that Supreme Power had is gone. Not to mention that the events are predictable; which is something that Supreme Power never was. That aside though, there are a few great moments, including some nice action scenes (courtesy of Gary Frank), and Doc Spectrum's seduction by Power Princess should be seen to be believed and harkens back to what made Supreme Power so great in the first place. The other characters that populate here though, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Blur, etc., come off as kind of wooden though (or in Hyperion's case, more wooden than usual), but the good still outweighs the bad here. All in all, this is worth a look for Supreme Power fans, but this is actually better suited for new readers of the characters, and is more of a starting off point for future events that are hinted at throughout this book.