Superior [Hardcover]

Simon Pooni was a regular kid once, captain of the school basketball team, until something life changing happened to him - he contracted multiple sclerosis. Confined to a wheelchair and barely able to use crutches his future looks bleak. That is until a space monkey appears out of nowhere and gives him superpowers! Gone is Simon Pooni, Superior is here!

In a twist on the body swapping premise made famous by "Big" and "Freaky Friday", a disabled boy finds himself with a new body that not only looks exactly like his favourite fictional superhero but can fly, has super strength, super speed, laser vision, the whole lot! Except the space monkey is not who he appears and Simon is about to realise the true cost of a wish fulfilled.

Mark Millar writes a great story most of us who read superhero comics have dreamt of - what would it be like to have superpowers? But more than showing the benefits of having someone like Superior in real life - stopping terrorism, averting natural disasters, saving millions of lives - Millar does a fine job of putting a disease that can afflict anyone, multiple sclerosis, in the spotlight.

One of the best lines in the book is when Simon becomes Superior and says something like "Looking back, I could fly, I had super strength, I could shoot lasers from my eyes, but when people ask me what I liked best about being a superhero?, it was being able to move my toes again". It's a heart-breaking snapshot of what people with MS must feel like every day. The tribute to Christopher Reeve at the back is touching too.

But enough touchy-feely stuff, has the book got the action superhero fans crave? Of course, it's Mark "Ultimates" Millar at the helm. Superior finds his own Lex Luthor (the book is a very thinly veiled riff on Superman) and huge battle scenes commence, skilfully drawn by Lenil Yu who did great work with Millar on their last collaboration, "Ultimate Avengers".

It's a really fun book to read but, in contrast to Millar's "Nemesis" which was out this time last year, "Superior" has a lot of heart to it and you find yourself rooting for Simon throughout. A great alternative take on superhero stories, "Superior" is an excellent read.

In Mark Millar's latest offering that blends elements of the Superman archetype's plus Shazam, the Tom Hanks film "Big", & even hints of the the now very defunct 90's Malibu Comics series, Prime; is still just a very average story. Leinil Francis Yu's pencil's is what really makes this for a somewhat compelling read but in all honestly, Superior is a serious example of don't believe the hype. In fact Superior would feel right at home in Marvel's Ultimateverse if you subtract the foul language throughout the book. It just wasn't very interesting but apparently there's rumor of a live action film in the works so perhaps it'll translate better in that medium.

I heard about Superior from a movie blog a few months back and how they wanted to direct a movie about the comic. I just started getting into to comics (this is actually my first purchased Trade paper back) so I didn't know anything about the story. But when I read the synopsis on the blog I was very intrigued. The whole "space monkey" thing raised my eyebrows. It looked like a great story and when I finally got my hands on it I was right. As soon as I flipped to the first page I was hooked and ended up reading it in 2 days. I wanted to stretched it out so that the story would last longer but I was so into it I couldn't put it down. The whole story is told perfectly and is paced masterful. The characters are very well built and the writing is top notch especially when you get to the action panels. The artwork is great as well as everything is clear and you can see what is going on. By no means is this a complex story or groundbreaking in anyway but that shouldn't stop you from picking this up. If your a fan of underdogs and classic super hero tales from back in the day this is sure to put a smile on your face. If i had a teenage son that wanted a comic for his birthday this is what I would get him.