Some thoughts about One-Star Squadron #1

Who can help the common heroes?

Everyone needs some help, even the lesser-known heroes, that's the reason why Heroz4U exists and Red Tornado is willing to give each one of them a hand even if he's not confident of his own abilities.

I was missing books like this. Mark Russell is a very interesting writer, he brings a pretty unique style that is heavily based on satire and is smart enough to make commentaries that make you think. Mind you, sometimes he doesn't quite nail the overall execution but I'm always willing to give him a chance because of brilliant books like The Flintstones and so far, it seems like he's doing the same with this brand new book.

One-Star Squadron is a series about a superhero agency that not only hires D-list (at best) heroes but also helps them in several ways. The main character is clearly Red Tornado and is pretty fitting for him to have that role because, while he's better known than most of the cast, he's far from being well-known. Russell doesn't dwell too much into Tornado's status as a robot and instead tries to give a huge emphasis to his "human" side, mind you, this might look a bit like wasted potential but at the same time, it creates the classic emotional themes that are so prominent in Russell's titles and developes Tornado as a very sympathetic character at the same time.

The other D-list heroes also get interesting portrayal showcasing how society sees them and how irrelevant they can be despite that they actually try to help people. Gangbuster's case is especially heartbreaking because it demonstrates the consequences of a hero's job and how mentally-ill people are treated by others, even people who used to be close to them. Again, social commentary done right.

Power Girl plays an important role. She's actually the best-known character here and is intriguing that Russell is going with a very different take on her, one that distances herself from her superheroine roots in more ways than expected. I'm still not sure what to think about it but hopefully all of this will pay-off.

Steve Lieber handles the art and is perfect for the expressive characters that Russell writes about and even depicts the classic humour that you can expect for the author perfectly.

Promising beginning, can't wait to see more.