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amused

Comics You Should Read: Dynamo 5.


I'm a child of the Bronze Age of Comics, the period spanning the 1970s and up to the middle 1980s. It was a great time for superhero comics, as there were serious issues that were being addressed while at the same time the idealism and bounce of the Silver Age hadn't completely faded. Unlike the Iron Age of the '90s, where grim 'n gritty were the norm, heroes could still be heroic. Small wonder that it's one of my favorite eras for superhero comics.

Still, I have to say that lately superhero titles have been stepping up to the plate and blending the best of both adult sensibility and classic action in a way that actually entertains. Case in point is Dynamo 5 from Image Comics, written by Jay Faerber and illustrated by Mahmud A. Asrar.

In Tower City, no evil escaped the sight of their intrepid protector Captain Dynamo. For over forty years the good Captain protected his city from the forces of evil with such amazing powers as flight, superhuman strength, super-vision, telepathy, and shapeshifting. He was a force to be reckoned with. Married to reporter Maddie Warner, he had it all. Unfortunately, the good Captain was found dead, naked in a hotel bed, the cause of death attributed to a poison on his lips. Sorting through his personal effects, Warner discovered his little black book, which was filled with detailed information on countless incidents of infidelity on Dynamo's part.

While devastated by her husband's activities, Warner found herself caught up in the aftermath of her husband's death. Without Captain Dynamo to protect it, Tower City was up for grabs by any of the hero's numerous enemies. Although other superheroes pitched in to help keep things calm, Warner took it upon herself to find the city a more permanent solution.Utilizing the information in her husband's black book, she located five teenagers she believed could be his illegitimate children; high school nerd Hector Chang, law student and activist Olivia 'Livvie' Lewis, shiftless ladies' man Spencer Bridges, Hollywood, CA theatre employee and NYU Film School Grad Bridget Flynn, and Texan high school football star Gage Reinhart.

Bringing these people together, Warner exposed them to the same unknown radiation that had granted Captain Dynamo his fantastic powers, with each one manifesting one of the five powers that their father possessed. Donning costumes of a similar make and color scheme, these five youths carry on the legacy of the Captain as superhero team Dynamo 5! Maddie trains the team and calls the shots from Dynamo's old secret headquarters, and has a big secret; she's an ex-agent of F.L.A.G., an organization that monitors superheroes. She has an agenda of her own, and one the kids don't know about in the least.

This book is simply rad, and for a number of reasons that show a lot of smarts in the design. Faerber has created a team book that skews against the norm, with a team that's a family by blood but strangers by situation. The team's powers have broken down rather interestingly too:

Hector has inherited Dynamo's laser, telescopic, and X-Ray vision. In the field he's known as Visionary.

Livvie has inherited her father's flight powers, and has become the unofficial field leader of the team under the code name Slingshot.

Spencer has gained Dynamo's shapeshifting ability and become Myriad, which fits his aimless, shapeless direction in life perfectly.

Bridget inherited Dynamo's superhuman strength, and has taken the codename Scrap.

Gage, the big jock on campus, has gained Dynamo's telepathy. As Scatterbrain, he grapples with unreliable abilities he's only just learning about while dealing with the fact that he's not the most physically formidable of the team.

The team dynamic has developed nicely over two issues, and you can see where the potential fault lines between the team; amongst themselves, with Maddie, and with their potential opponents. With only four issues in, the storyline is accessible for new readers, and the art is crisp. The dialogue reads like teenagers, bantering and jockeying for position.

A nice blend of classic superhero elements with a contemporary twist, I reccomend you give it a shot.

Stacy