Humans and Heroes.
Creative Staff:
Story: Gail Simone
Art: J. Calafiore
Colors: Jason Wright
Letters: Dave Sharpe
What They Say:
The survivors of a mysterious event in the world’s greatest city wish they were only being chased by the walking dead! Instead, the world’s greatest heroes have turned into violent, rage-filled killers, and staying alive is nearly impossible. An illegal rescue attempt into the center of the quarantined city goes terribly wrong, and the rescuers attract the attention of the supers in the worst way imaginable. Also, the question is answered—where are all the supervillains?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s the little details that make a story. A properly-turned phrase, the right line at the right weight and right angle, or the little tidbit that doesn’t necessarily propel the plot forward but creates the sense of depth to the story world, as if we’re just seeing one little snippet of a much larger piece. Surviving Megalopolis #2 has all the little details you could ever want, wrapped up in some fascinating larger ones.
The big details are thus: Megalopolis once stood as the shining city on the hill; the safest place on Earth, thanks to the fact it housed the world’s population of heroes. This was true until the day the hole opened in the middle of town. Something came out of the hole, and the heroes fought it. They destroyed it, but in doing so were changed into violent, sociopathic versions of themselves. Now Megalopolis is the most dangerous place in the world—a charnel house haunted by the people who once protected it.
Only one group managed to escape, and that was thanks to the sacrifice of Mina Gutierrez. Three people made it out, and now they’ve re-entered city limits as part of a commando group conducting an illegal rescue operation to save a missing billionaire and to save Mina.
In the last issue, Mina came face-to-face with the Crimson Shadow—a masked vigilante who uses violence, brutality, and theatricality to make himself seem larger than life—to make him look super. We also learned that the Crimson Shadow is none other than Cody Bremner, Mina’s childhood friend, and that he—unlike the rest of the heroes—wasn’t affected by whatever corruption came from that hole.
Unfortunately, before Cody can reveal more secrets, Southern Belle arrives on the scene. Powerful and unstable, Cody must keep her at bay, or else run the risk of both him and Mina dying in a profoundly painful way.
I tell you what, if there’s one thing this comic does well, it’s building and sustaining tension. There’s a genuine sense of danger in this comic, generated in large part from the way Simone keeps us guessing. We expect the story to zig and she makes it zag, making it difficult to predict where it’s going to go, which is something that I love in stories. There’s this feeling that anyone can die at any moment, which makes the moments of simple human courage shine all the brighter.
Because that’s what this comic is really about—the small, human acts of bravery and kindness that ennobles our species. Heroism doesn’t come from the ability to leap over tall buildings or outwrestle a locomotive, this comic seems to tell us, it comes from people deciding to do what’s right, despite the risk involved. When looked at this way, this entire comic becomes an interrogation on heroism.
Take the opening scene. Harold Lamb, one of the three survivors, is preparing to go on the mission to save Mina. He records a statement on his iPhone in case he doesn’t come back. In his video, he talks about Mina, heroism, and symbols. His point is that heroism reifies a person; strips them of their humanity and makes them into something lesser. Heroism is simply part of the overriding narrative that drives our culture, and it isn’t right. We shouldn’t aspire to be heroes; we should aspire to be human. As Harold says, “I’m making this video. In case I die. I want it remembered. I am a human being.”
This point about reification becomes reinforced when Southern Belle confronts Crimson Shadow and Mina. Belle notices that they are in a comic book store and she finds an old issue of the comic based on her. She flips through it, reminiscing, and discovers that it has a paper doll page. You can cut out Southern Belle (dressed only in patriotic underwear) and dress her up as a “Sassy Secretary,” a “French Maid,” or what I think is some sort of naughty librarian or schoolmarm (the page cuts off the description).
This scene is great for so many reasons. Obviously, it functions as both a parody and a fairly accurate representation of how women were presented in comics (hell, are still presented in some cases), but it also engages in the conversation that Harold started at the beginning. Heroism is objectifying. It may be a different form, and it may not be sexual, but it’s just a different flavor of the same ice cream.
The best part, though, comes from Belle’s reaction. She’s overjoyed to see this: “PAPER DOLLS! I used to love these!” She then wants to cut them out with Crimson Shadow, even asking if he has scissors. It’s a moment of pure, childlike joy that humanizes her (which is ironic given everything I just said about objectifying and reifying). The moment bursts like a soap bubble when Crimson Shadow tries to make her remember herself and what happened to her. Her reaction, although adult in one respect, is still very childlike: “Fine. You don’t want to play dolls. We’re grownups. We do grown-up things. Fuck me, Shadow.”
In fact, all of the corrupted superheroes act childish. They act like enfant terribles with no supervision or accountability. Imagine a five-year old with a better-than-average vocabulary and superpowers and you pretty much get who these people are.
At the moment, I’m not certain if this childishness plays into this overarching theme of heroism and reification (perhaps hero-worship is an infantile projection of our power fantasies?), but that’s one of the reasons why I love this comic—there are so many layers to peel away.
In Summary:
Surviving Megalopolis #2 is a heavy book full of fascinating themes coupled with genuinely disturbing moments of horror and brutality. If you haven’t picked it up yet then you’re doing yourself a disservice. This is top-notch writing and art, and if it goes the way I think it is, it may well stand as an important book in comics history. Like Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns, this is an interrogation of heroism and our need for it. And it’s damn fun to read, too! Dr. Josh gives this an…
Grade: A+
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 10th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
