Superhero Saga #1 is a comic written by Julie C. Gilbert with art by Tim Sparvero. This is a look into the life of a woman with the unique occupation of testing superpowers. This is a slice-of-life superhero story with a very chill lead. The leading lady in question is Jess Turpie, a woman with a superpower that makes her the perfect test subject for different abilities. Her best friend is Ellie Chambers, a woman whose life seems to inadvertently revolve around Jess. The story begins with a look at the Jess’s average day-to-day which consists of power testing, telling us how she got this job, and chatting with friends. This takes place in a world where a person having multiple powers isn’t out of the ordinary. There is little here in the way of action and there is no blood or gore. The pacing is steady and the tone is sort of laidback which makes this a smooth read. There isn’t anything particularly intense here. The dialogue has some good back-and-forth but most of what we’ll see is either narration or the thoughts of Jess. No wordy pages here but some of these text blocks are thick. This is a chill debut comic about a woman working a job that’s all about superpowers but she would rather be somewhere else.

            The art here is cartoonish but detailed and has a decent range of colors. The scenery has lush greens, fluffy clouds, and tough mountains. The main location is the facility where Jess lives which has in her in furnished room while the rest of the building has long hallways and looks unremarkably sterile. When Jess isn’t at her new home she’s outside testing powers in a number of different environments, from the sky to the ocean. The backgrounds usually have parts of the scene in them but on rare occasions they’ll be a solid color. The expression level here is high and clear which is a benefit of a more cartoonish art style. The faces have enough details to showcase a bevy of looks as Jess and Ellie go through a number of emotions. There is some slight face sameness but it won’t disrupt your enjoyment of the story. The effects play a big part here as these superpowers cause different things to happen and they’ll all draw your attention. The action is more mishaps than directed violence and there is only one scene.

“Is this worth reading?”

Yes.

“Would I like this?”

If you like slice-of-life and chill stories starring women in a world full of superpowers then this is for you.

“What would this comic’s film rating be?”

G.

“Could I get a quote from the comic?”

“Dunno. They got me testing powers out.”

 

Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/juliecgilbert/superhero-saga-issue-1/description

***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***

Probably Contains Spoilers

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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 20

Violent Pages: 1, for 5% of the comic

Sexy Pages: 0, for 0% of the comic

 

**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**

 

Violence Level – 1

“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”

“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”

“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”

“This was a tournament arc.”

“All my life I had to fight.”

 

Gore Level – 1

“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”

“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”

“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”

“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”

“This is a slaughterhouse.”

 

Death Level – 1

“And everybody lived happily ever after.”

“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”

“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”

“Yeah this was a tragedy.”

“Think Gettysburg.”

 

Porn Level – 1

“Everybody kept their clothes on.”

“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”

“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”

“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”

“Oh. This is porn.”