Superstar writer Mark Millar is unleashing three new creator-owned series this year, Nemesis, Kick Ass 2, and this book, his “family” title. He's definitely thrust himself into the creator-owned world which is good. It's probably even better for him that Marvel is accommodating him with their new Icon imprint. Twenty years ago if you wanted to put out your own comic and keep the rights you had to quit Marvel and join a company like Image. It didn't particularly work for writers, though, and thankfully for Millar he gets to have his own books and tap the awesome arsenal of Marvel artists. This new book is penciled by Leinil Yu, the dude that drew the Secret Invasion mini-series (or started to...they went to a different artist after Yu took too long). Leinil Yu is a phenomenal artists. He reminds me of Robert Liefeld's bigger than life superheroes but also Jim Lee's detail. The one problem is the heavy inks by Gerry Alanguilan. There is too much black in most of the panels which loses some of the crispness and ferocity of Yu's pencils. The major problem is the story. Mark Millar is infamous for profanity and violence and this is more or less his meat-and-potatoes family superhero story. It's aw-shucks cute: a kid with multiple sclerosis gets one wish from a space monkey (no, that part hasn't been explained yet). His wish is to become the famous Superior movie superhero. Over night he turns from a kid in a wheelchair into the muscled superhero. This issue is all set-up, so who knows where it goes from here. Will it turn into a regular superhero book or will Millar add some much-needed gonzo action to the mix? So far it's rather dull stuff. The art is great, but it pales in comparison to Millar's other books which have bite. **
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