Remember the old saying: “It’s the job of each generation to make the one that came before them appear to be sane.”
That’s what’s going on in this title, which first came to my attention on Thrillbent.com, a website that has quite a number of excellent webcomics on it! This one is a favorite! I’m glad IDW is bringing a lot of their excellent product to the local comics shop!
INSUFFERABLE #1
Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Peter Krause
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $13.99
Previously in Insufferable: What happens when your crime-fighting sidekick grows up to be an arrogant, ungrateful douchebag who makes Kanye look humble? Worse, what on Earth could force the two of you together for one last case? Nocturnus and his former protege, Galahad, will find out-if they don’t kill one another first.
ROBINS ARE SUCH INTERESTING PEOPLES
Mark Waid always takes such interesting twists on well-known heroes. In fact, I dare say that DC would never approve his Irredeemable comic should he pitch it for Superman. In fact, I bet he did, at some point!
This series turns Waid’s attention to Batman and Robin, or at least seems to. It makes sense when you consider that pre-teens through young adults often are at their most rebellious, and this book’s Robin, called Galahad, feels it’s his job to make his mentor, Nocturnus, be embarrassed every chance he gets.
Of course, Galahad spent many of his formative years learning from Nocturnus just what it means to be a hero. So, being a teen, he’s going to forsake everything he’s been taught – or at least, drive his “parent” as mad as possible by doing things he would NEVER do, such as craving the spotlight that Nocturnus shuns.
Waid does his usual excellent job with dialogue and personal interactions, and I dare say that Damian Wayne could very easily become Galahad in a future story. And he also shows that there is no single place to lay the blame for this dysfunctional relationship. In fact, BOTH are very often at fault, much like real families.
In this first story arc, we discover much about why things are the way they are, and see that in both main characters are planted the seeds of heroism. They just handle things differently.
There have been at least two other story arcs to date, and I’ve enjoyed them as well. I hope there will continue to be more as the future unfolds.
GREAT ARTWORK
Peter Krause does a good job providing the action sequences, particularly in the dark, which is where Nocturnus “shines,” as it were. Galahad wears a brighter uniform and runs to the cameras, and Krause brings those parts of the story to life as well.
The only thing about the art in this comic that I don’t find appealing is that a lot of the time, the figures and faces are somewhat sketchy. At times, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on or what the people are feeling. I do have to say, though, that these times don’t happen very often, so I’m usually pretty content with how this book is illustrated.
BOTTOM LINE: A Battle of the Generations We Can Relate To
It amazes me that, after all these issues, Waid still makes the relationship between the two main heroes believable and that they haven’t completely resolved their differences, at which point this comic would REALLY be a Batman title. I’d enjoy seeing Waid writing the Dark Knight, but that’s not the point of this book.
If you haven’t read this series before, I highly recommend it, particularly if you’re a fan of Batman like I am. Waid takes the two leads where the Bat-titles often cannot go, and that’s what makes it worth the reading!
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