Legion Of Stupid Heroes
Legion Of Stupid Heroes #1,2&3
Legion Of Stupid Heroes #1
©Johnny Lauck (script), Chas Gillen (art)
| Legion Of Stupid Heroes #1: Script: Johnny Lauck Art: Chas Gillen Legion Of Stupid Heroes #2: Scripts: Johnny Lauck & John R G Barrett Art: Chas Gillen, Charles Burgoon, Linc Polderman, Danny Watson, Richard Tomasic, Brian Briggs & Dustin Krcatovich Legion Of Stupid Heroes #3: Scripts: Johnny Lauck & John R G Barrett Art: Danny Watson, Chas Gilen, Ricard Tomasic, Charles Bagoon, Earl Geier, RickSchmitz & Donnie Page Legion Of Stupid Heroes #4: Scripts:Johnny Lauck & Johnny R G Barrett Art: Charles Burgoon, Earl Geier, Rick Schmitz, Danny Watson, Chas Gillen & Richard Tomasic |
| Links: Mail: Johnny Lauck |
Err... how old is this comic... (flip, flip)... 1997. Blimey!
I thought that the topic of superhero parodies was wiskery in
the days of ZUM!#3, but no, here's another one. A bunch
of rubishy superheroes blundering about fighting rubishy
villains?Tub-Mariner — he's FAT!
Flaming Armpit — his, er, armpits are aflame!
And so on.
OK, the production values are high; glossy colour covers, printer,trimmed, you name it — and I've no doubt the original artist (Chas Gillen) could walk into a job on MAD at any time with his slick newspaper-strip quality cartooning.
However, the unsophisticated slapstick humour of the writer & Johnny Lauck rarely manages to raise more than an internal smirk — and this is the writing at its best. Despite the comic's shiny surface the spectre of quite depression lurks within — e.g. the first issue plainly consists of reprints from strips cut up & rearranged to fit an upright page; in the second & third issues Lauck employs writing help and Gillen is almost absent, (coaxed on to better things?) his place taken by half-a-dozen assorted & mainly inferior guest artists. Two killer blows are; the cover of #2, which bears the chilling cliché 'Please Buy My Comics', and the ultimate micro-press skidmark: the Space-Filler AAArggh! So... if you STILL like superhero parodies, it's just about what you'd expect, (Tub-Mariner eats a lot!) but then again, there are plenty of people out there who still like superheroes per se, so there.
Conclusion: Better than a poke in the eye, but not much.
Terry Wiley
(above) Legion Of Stupid Heroes#2: © Jonny Lauck (script) Charles Burgoon (art)
Legion Of Stupid Heroes #4
Legion Of Stupid Heroes #4 ©
John R G Barrett (script) Earl Geier (art)
Delightfully drawn in a variety of styles by its six artists and written by two gangsters; this affectionate send-up of the superhero society concept is well produced and contains 14 jokey complete stories varying in length from one page to seven. Yet another personage paints the cover, so it's good value for money, in fact the comic itself is a prime example of good ol' Yankee teamwork. One of the longer stories deals with a secret origin, a Legion orphanage and a boarding school for young superheroes, during which we encounter the junior "de-tach" who has the ability to dismember himself.
Bib Edwards
| Legion of Stupid Heroes All issues 36 26x17cm pages, full colour glossy covers |
Recieved at ZUM! HQ: no info |
Legion of Stupid Heroes $2.50 +P&P each |
Johnny Lauk, 2376 W Michigan, Battle Creek, MI 49017, USA. |