Polite Dissent

This was a brisk enjoyable book. It’s nice to see a story with a female Hispanic super-hero who isn’t a hand-me-down (a la Wildcat II or Tarantula II) or a teen wannabe (Silverclaw, or whatever her name was from the Busiek Avengers).

The Cover – Good and bad. The cover is a parody of Time magazine, with fits with the tone of the story. On the other hand, the cheesecake on the front has little if anything to do with the story. The readers it attracts probably won’t like the story and it will turn off readers who would potentially like the series.

The Art – Nice clean art by Jonathan Luna. The story is well served by the straightforward penciling and subdued coloring. While there aren’t any particularly dramatic scenes or angles, the script doesn’t really call for any. Luna does a good job differentiating characters and an excellent job drawing backgrounds, a skill lacking in many more established artists. There was a clever fake ad for Llama cigarettes; I missed it on my first read through.

The Story – The script by Jonathan and Joshua Luna serves as a good introduction to the characters. Driving home after a late night of partying, three women decide to stop and see a “fortune teller.” As the story hints, these are no ordinary women, but the reader is only explicitly introduced to Pearl Penalosa, otherwise known as the super-heroine Ultra. It’s not an action filled issue by any stretch of the imagination, but it keeps the reader’s interest and sets up the future storyline. There is a little bit of adult humor, but nothing a person wouldn’t encounter around the office.

I look forward to the next issue of Ultra, and hope the Luna brothers can keep up the potential of the first issue.