Welcome to Tranquility VOL 01 [Paperback]

Gail Simone (Author), Neil Googe (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: WildStorm (December 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401215165
• ISBN-13: 978-1401215163
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #421,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book, March 4, 2008

By 

J.D. "Cornelius" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome to Tranquility VOL 01 (Paperback)

Ever wonder where superheroes go when they retire? Yeah, I hadn't either. But I do think it's a great idea for a comic. Luckily, Gail Simone and Neil Googe did think of it. Imagine Watchmen crossed with Twin Peaks with a little dash of Grumpy Old Men for good measure, that's about what Welcome to Tranquility is like.

Tranquility is the small town where old World War II era superheroes went to retire and raise families. Some have forgotten how to use their powers, other's still cling to their past glory. There's some great characters here: Mr. Articulate, the suave, sexually ambiguous spy. The decomposing Crypt Keeper-esque villain who spouts macabre puns. Emoticon, a gangsta whose mask always displays his mood in instant message type characters. The squad of angst-filled goth superteens.

A great start for a series. In this first arc, including issues 1-6, as well as the Wildstorm preview, one of the town's heroes is murdered in broad daylight in a crowded restaurant, with no witnesses. It's up to the town's non-superhero female sheriff to solve it.

If Tranquility falters, it is in its sometimes unevenly shifting tones from parody to low-brow comedy to straight violence. Some of the ideas also owe a lot to previous works, most obviously Watchmen--especially in the use of classic comicbook designs for flashback scenes. But it's a fun book and a promising start for the series.

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting addition to the superhero genre, June 28, 2011

By 

Andy Shuping (Macon, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Welcome to Tranquility VOL 01 (Paperback)

I'm not a huge fan of superhero comics, but this one is not your normal superhero comic. Tranquility is the town where superheroes and supervillains go to retire and escape from their former lives. Here they live, recount old tales, raise families, and exist as mostly normal people. Not much happens here...and then, one day, a murder occurs. And then others follow. It's up to the sheriff, the daughter of a former hero, to solve the crime and protect the town. Will she be able to solve the murder before the town is torn apart? Or will the world be destroyed first? Turn the page and find out...

It's an interesting story concept--Superhero's and supervillains living together in supposed harmony, even becoming friends, and growing old together. But...there are some plot holes. At times I turn the page and wonder if I've missed something. Such as who the sheriff's father is. Or who some of the characters are that show up, like the young teen heroes (apparently they used to be on TV?) Some of it gets revealed as the issue continues, but it creates for some "wha...the heck just happened here" moments. It's a decent enough of story, but feels like it could have been arranged a bit differently to present a more cohesiveness. The artwork is decent enough, nothing really spectacular or amazing stands out about it, but it does work well for the story.

In short...it's an interesting addition to the superhero genre and does have some creative, entertaining characters...and even with its faults I'd still recommend it. I look forward to reading a future volume and hope that perhaps the story telling is a little bit better in it.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Addition to the Genre, June 21, 2011

By 

Kirk Job Sluder - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Welcome to Tranquility VOL 01 (Paperback)

Welcome to Tranquility falls well within the "superhero community" genre also covered by Astro City and Top 10, but also into the "quirky town" genres explored by the television shows Eureka, Twin Peaks, and Northern Exposure. The plot is a fairly standard murder mystery that offers a few twists, but is saved by reasonably strong characterization and Googe's dynamic frames and character art.