Between The Panels: Cla$$war
Cla$$war – Series One – Hardcover
Writer: Rob Williams
Illustrator(s): Trevor Hairsine (#1-3) Travel Foreman (#4-6)
Colorist: Len O’Grady
Editor: Eddie Deighton and Benjamin Shahrabani
Publisher: ComX Comics
Price: $24.99
IIn the same vein of Alan Moore’s Watchmen with a double dose of Mark Millar testosterone driven action British indy comic publisher ComX collects the first 6-issues of their politically super hero charged conspiracy comic Cla$$war. Steeped entirely during the Bush-era fear speak and deceit, Cla$$war follows the Superman-esque government sponsored hero American as he attempts the right the wrongs of his country has made and expose the lies to the people. American is pitted up against his former teammates, Enola Gay, as they struggle with their celebrity and the price of serving their country.
In terms of art, it is something we see primarily in Top Cow or Darkhorse comics. Both Hairsine and Foreman have what is typically seen in mainstream comics. With Cla$$war being a superhero comic at its heart the art styles seem suiting. Indy comics and miniseries’ tend to stylize their art to fit the tone of the story. Cla$$war instead brings a 4-color comic book style and lets the story do the talking.
Comics are usually held down and told through the characters that permeate through them. Unfortunately the characters do not pop off the page and feel like cardboard cutouts of character roles that have been done to death. Even the character design seems uninspired. In the collected six issues we only get to see the backstory for one of the members of Enola Gay which attributes to one of the themes of the book but by the time you get to the end of the collected 6 issues you are left empty on who exactly these characters are.
The events in this book are gold. You may not care too much about the characters but what they go through progressess the story. If any of these events happened within the DC or Marvel universes guaranteed fanboys would be left in awe and immediately the books would have sold out. Nukes, heat vision branding, and a super strength punch that rips apart a jaw are just some of the events that happen in this book. Everything feels very Mark Millar like without the under lining feeling of needing to prove it has the biggest dick.
Coupled with the events in the book the themes really help this book shine. The themes often feel like the main character of the story is overshadowing the cast. Shadow governments, corruption of power, and the search for truth are all themes that may feel outdated as this book is wrapped up in pre-Obama era American politics. The corruption of power theme is so strong that it is showcased not only through the use of superpowers but also in the traditional Machiavellian shadow government as well as the price of celebrity fame. As Enola Gay is elevated in to celebrity status each member begins to take advantage of the perks of Hollywood. It further humanizes them but also builds a moral divide between American and Enola Gay with American being some sort of moral savior while Enola Gay falls to temptation.
Cla$$war is enjoyable but will feel outdated. With unmemorable characters surrounded by events that will leave you in awe it’s hard to say to pass this up. The hardcover only has the first 6-issues and the following issues have yet to be announced. By the time you get to the end of the collected series you will be defintely left asking for more. If you are suffering from event fatigue from the big two but are afraid of indy comics because they normally don’t have superheroes definitely pick this up!
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