Superf*ckers

For me, one of the most consistently and hugely enjoyable comics of recent years, here collected for your convenience – it helps a lot given the numbering, which did not start at 1 nor go sequentially after that. The premise is simple enough: what if the Legion of Super-Heroes (though actually it’s certainly not specifically about them, despite the tryouts for new members) were all assholes who hated each other? There’s no villain in this, no menace to fight (though two are stranded in another dimension, taking it for granted their teammates are trying to rescue them, which they aren’t), and we don’t even learn what a lot of their powers might be; it’s just them hanging out and getting stoned (by licking or smoking the slime one of them secretes) and swearing at each other and generally being slackers.

I don’t see this as particularly a satire on superheroes, or an ideological deconstruction, just him having fun with the setup – maybe he thought something like “What if my pals [or ‘people I knew in school’] were the world’s top super-team?” and ran with it, throwing in countless ideas and gags. The end of the first issue features a page including the “Super Fucker of the month” (a nude pic of Orange Lightning) and a Next Issue box featuring Jack Krak giving us the finger and saying “Fuck You!”

A good part of the charm is in the visuals: even when Jack in particular is being aggressively loathesome or even vomiting, he looks cute, as do they all. It’s also officially the most colourful comic ever, not just because of all the bright, flat colours on glossy paper, but because even the drawing is in colour – flesh is outlined in a darker pink, or brown for the one black character, and I didn’t spot any black outlines at all, or any black lettering.

The title makes it obvious that this is not a comic for anyone who is easily offended by lots of swearing, but it’s hugely likeable and very funny, and I recommend it very highly.