Sunday, October 21, 2012

Guest Review: New Crusaders #2

Glen Davis is back with a review of the latest incarnation of Archie's classic super-team, the New Crusaders:

After the events of last issue, the next generation of heroes are holed up in the secret headquarters beneath Joe Higgins's house.

The book introduces several new characters, including a talking space monkey named Dusty, without interrupting the momentum of the first issue.

There's the expected character study as the teens deal with the sudden changes to their world, and find out who their parents really were.

Unexpectedly, Riverdale, home of the other Archie characters, is mentioned as being nearby. One has to think crossovers are coming in the future, possibly even between the Archie parody heroes, like Pureheart, with the New Crusaders.

From there, we get some action in the Danger Room, that time-honored tradition of creating team unity. Ultimately, they accept their destiny, as if there were any doubts.

The backup story, a meeting of former sidekicks, Dusty, the Boy Detective, and Roy, The Super Boy, tells some of the history of the MLJ hero universe, and introduces some new characters, including Kalthar, a Tarzan-like jungle hero that could grow to the height of 15 feet, mainstays The Black Hood and The Fox, and Darkling, an '80s addition to the pantheon who apparently came to a bad end.

It also introduces some other villains. This all tends to clarify things, giving the reader just enough information to be tantalizing, but without becoming too involved and convoluted.

The art is fine, done in the Archie style. I wonder if they're going for some sort of animation deal?

Grade: A-


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