Mark Millar is back with his third all-new creator owned series from the Marvel imprint Icon. This time it’s “Superior,” and the plot is what Fleet aptly describes as, “the film ‘Big’ meets ‘Superman.’” However, unlike his previous Icon series, “Kick Ass” and “Nemesis,” Millar is going for full blown superpowers with “Superior,” with his main reference points being DC’s Superman and Captain Marvel. When a boy suffering from multiple sclerosis named Simon Pooni is visited by a creepy, space monkey he is chosen for the ultimate intergalactic make-a-wish gift; he is transformed into his comic book movie hero, Superior. Now if he only had to say the magic word “Shazam!” this would really be familiar territory, but with the first issue Millar doesn’t give us much else to work with but a vague point of reference with more cussing than you would expect from a super hero.

I would argue Millar has two major points of criticism. The first and most obvious problem Millar has is his inability to meet deadlines. I’ve ranted about this in the past, but as a quick overview of his two Icon series both “Kick Ass” and “Nemesis” have been absurdly late. That’s with “Kick Ass” having John “never late” Romita Jr. illustrating the series, and “Nemesis” only being four issues (The series launched in May 2010 and still hasn’t concluded). With the help of artist Leinil Francis Yu, Millar has promised to meet the deadlines with “Superior” but I would take that with a grain of salt.

Which brings me to criticism number two. The reason Millar’s projects are often late is because his comics get optioned for film before they even have a conclusion. This is already happening with “Superior,” with talks of St. Louis’ Jon Hamm playing the title character. My concern is that Millar relies too much on shock-factor to garner studio attention and his comics get sidetrack from the core story. Is there really a need for Kick Ass 2 Balls to the Wall? In “Superior,” two bullies relentlessly pick on Simon. I don’t know what Millar grew up with but i’ve known some bullies in my time and most would draw the line at harassing a kid with multiple sclerosis. I liked the first issue of “Superior,” but there was really too little plot to give any sense of what the series was trying to achieve. Hopefully Millar won’t base the whole gimmick of “Superior” on shock-appeal or the longevity of his work will quickly be forgotten as his fans move on to his next distasteful idea.

-Jon

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