Honor Brigade #1-6
Written by Tom Stillwell
Art by Bradley Bowers
Spinner Rack Comics
Cover price: $2.95; Available now

Creating a new superhero universe is never an easy thing to do, because most of the good ideas have been done and the books come off as pale imitators of the original. In order to create new superhero books, you have to either come up with a fresh way of looking at the genre, or just approach it with a love that comes off the page and infects the reader with enthusiasm. Honor Brigade, a new six-issue miniseries from Spinner Rack Comics doesn’t really bring anything new to the superhero genre, but you can feel the love the creators have for superheroes in general, and the characters they’ve created in particular.

The story starts off with Joe Irvin, a regular guy, working security for a company called Plus-Co after having been release from the Police department due to being an alcoholic. He’s just having another night at work, until the mischievous Toy Boy shows up and destroys the office, which sets Joe down a path that will change his life forever. From there, the story introduces the reader to the rest of the Honor Brigade, and how they eventually team up to take on the villainous Adrian Conroy, your basic Lex Luthor evil corporate boss type.

Really, the plot of the story is just a way for writer Tom Stillwell to create a world of superheroes who still go out and save regular people from irregular situations. He goes for a more traditional type of superhero story where the heroes meet up, fight a villain, and overcome that villain. There aren’t a lot of complications to the plot, and there’s not a ton of moral ambiguity. The reader can tell who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and knows from the start that the heroes are going to win. It’s not so much about the surprises, as it is the way the story is put together. And the story is put together with a lot of love and enjoyment, which carries over to the reader. The creators are doing this for the love, and they’re telling a story they don’t feel they’re getting from anywhere else, and I’d say that’s to be commended. Is it for everyone? Maybe not. I found the story a little simple, and to be honest I’m not really looking for a nostalgia ride, I want new stuff. This feels like a book that stepped out of the early 1990s, and I’ve read those stories already, and I’ve moved on. If you still like superhero stories, but not the ones currently being peddled by Marvel and DC, this might be for you. Anyone who enjoys a good superhero yarn should get some enjoyment out of this.

The art is provided by Bradley Bowers whose work brings Todd McFarlane and Greg Cappulo to mind. The lines look decent, and his characters are very expressive. The character design borrows from the classics, but is modern enough as not to be cheesy or unnecessarily retro. It manages to look pretty good in black and white, even though given the subject matter; you would think the series should be in color. I don’t have a problem with black and white art, I enjoy it most of the time, and I can understand the economic factors that went into making the book b&w, but this is one book that could really benefit from color. It doesn’t hold the story back, but it’s just something that might have made it better.

So, we’ve got a pretty decent little superhero story, plucked from a simpler time and dropped into our laps today. It is fun and enjoyable, and you can do your heart good by supporting a small publisher struggling to get their book noticed in a tough market. Probably you best bet would be to buy it directly from the company’s webpage at here.