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Feb 24, 2010 Web Exclusive By Jeremy Nisen

The inherent problem with reviewing SuperF*ckers is that my love for it is unqualified and fierce, but, having read cape-and-tights tales for a decades, I'm in on the joke. I'm not sure a casual comics reader would be.

Here's what everyone can enjoy: a barely-held-together team of foulmouthed assholes, grotesqueries, dumbasses, egocentric divas, and momma's boys, most in silly costumes, hanging out at a clubhouse, and screwing up each other's lives. The situations are funny, the cartooning by James Kochalka is whimsical, funny, and perfectly suited for the over-the-top craziness the teenage heroes get themselves into.

But I have to imagine that people that grew up on books like Paul Levitz's Legion of Superheroes stuff from DC Comics will love it all the more. That iconic book is the basis for many of the tropes touched upon in SuperF*ckers: team tryouts, overly complex team by-laws, inter-team romance, and mucking with the space-time continuum. And SuperF*ckers raises those situations to a level of hilarity and absurdity without resorting to irony or straight-up parody. The love for the source material shines through.

It's gross. It's charming. It's fun and funny. And I'll have to agree with the central character's assertion: Jack Krak is indeed "the motherfucker." Whatever that means.

The trade paperback of SuperF*ckers is 144 pages, with a vinyl flexi-cover, for about $15. It collects the four issues of the series and a Jack Krak one-shot. Well worth it. Add a bonus point to the rating if you're a true comic nerd; add another if Legion is a title you've ever loved. (www.topshelfcomix.com)

Author rating: 7/10