Jonah Chuang recommends United States of Murder, Inc. #1
I don’t want to sound hyperbolic, but almost everything I believe about what makes a hero comes from Brian Michael Bendis (brianmichaelbendis). His portrayal of Peter Parker in Ultimate Spider-Man helped shape my views on what a hero should be, and, indirectly, what kind of person I want to be. And it’s not because he writes the most powerful or the slyest heroes but because he writes some of the most real and complex characters who struggle with the mundane problems we all struggle with. (He also knows how to milk the hell out of dramatic moments to really make you feel those emotional highs and lows.)
In Powers (if you don’t know Powers and its fourteen year run with its original creative team, you should), Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming (oeming) bring that same relatability to the grittier, edgier, and more ethically ambiguous characters, Detective Christian Walker and his partner Deena Pilgrim. Their stories have less to do with super heroics than with the crappy personal issues that adults have to deal with as they schlep their way through bureaucracies as small, seemingly-powerless cogs caught up in the intricate and burdensome machine known as society (but yes, there are also a lot of super heroics).
With United States of Murder, Inc., Bendis teams up with Oeming again to tell the story of an America run by gangsters. The story follows one mobster as he attempts to uncover the secrets of the organization he works for. Though this sounds like quite a departure from the superhero stories I just praised Bendis for, it still possesses the same complexity, intrigue, and dynamic/relatable characters for which Bendis has come to be known, with even more shades of gray. If all that’s not enough to sway you, then just know it’s twice the amount of comic from two of today’s greatest talents for regular price.
[Pick up United States of Murder, Inc. #1 here!]
For fans of: action, crime, mystery
Jonah Chuang is a Production Coordinator Assistant and 1:1 time traveler. He’s just trying to get to 88 MPH.