Superheroes. We’ve been there, done it and quite literally bought the t-shirt, right? We mean, what else could the world of capes ‘n’ cowls offer up to readers who have seen pretty much any and all variations of the superhero and supervillain over the decades? Well, how about the Atomic Victory Squad.
From the mind of WolfCop’s Lowell Dean, The Atomic Victory Squad #1 introduces us to a ragtag team of awkward heroes that Dean himself first dreamt up back in the 1980s. Comprising of Invincibull, She-Girl, Bubble Myers, Zoozanna, Triangle Master and Gary the Mime, this oddball group are flung together after the real heroes – the Victory Squad – are wiped out and the planet is left vulnerable at the prospect of losing its prided protectors.
Stepping out of the shadows – or forced together by a global governing body – the Atomic Victory Squad is assembled and tasked with saving the world from nefarious bad guys. But the problem is, the Atomic Victory Squad isn’t a team comprised of insta-smiling, all-action, fighting-the-good-fight sorts. Instead, this superhero group is made up of some complex and compelling characters who have an array of very real issues, ranging from addiction, to depression, to gender identity, to simply having lost faith in humanity.
While it might be easy to just place the generic misfit label on the titular team, already in this very first issue we come to see that each and every member of the Atomic Victory Squad has their own individual issues and problems; that in itself adding further intrigue to just how the dynamics between certain characters will play out as this title is fleshed out.
Of course, an intriguing, engaging story can be utterly redundant if the accompanying art isn’t up to scratch, and in Namwolf and Blood Brothers’ Javier Martin Caba we have the perfect artist to elevate the creations of Dean. By the cover art and opening pages alone, Caba’s vibrant and powerful work instantly draws you in and makes you want to find out a little more about this crazy tale. And luckily for readers, The Atomic Victory Squad #1‘s narrative is well worth giving a chance to.
As an introduction, AVS #1 manages to successfully tick a whole host of boxes that make this a great opening chapter. Not only have we now been introduced to the central mish-mash of a team, but this first issue does what all good opening numbers need to do: it has you eagerly awaiting what lies ahead for these heroes and their world.
THE ATOMIC VICTORY SQUAD #1 / WRITER: LOWELL DEAN / ARTIST: JAVIER MARTIN CABA / PUBLISHER: SELF-PUBLISHED / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
