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Comparative Review: Walt Disney's Comics And Stories #699 vs Christos Gage's Absolution #2

Two non traditional superhero comic books in one week? But which is best? There's only one way to find out. Fight!

Absolution #2 opens with a wonderfully composed scene, that of a murderer being killed by a super cop. The victim is pressed against a window, a bolt of solidified psychic energy bursting through his head. In the mirror, we can see what looks like the energy continuing in a straight line to the supercop who fired it, all at a tilted angle. It's just a beautiful composition.

Walt Disney's Comics And Stories #669 has chosen a different approach, with a break in at Scrooge McDuck's place, and Scrooge's television seemingly on the blink as a result. The first panel however, gives a wonderful feeling of size, scope, even loneliness under a bright moon sky, juxtaposed with the break-in attempt that we can't even see.

Both approaches bring us straight into the action, giving us an explanation in the panels ahead, both stylised in their own way. But the tone of each book is incredibly different, but with some surprising parallels.

Walt Disney's Comics And Stories #699 is the first issue from Boom! Studios and it's slap bang into the middle of Mickey and Duck continuity, necessitating acres of editorial caption boxes that suddenly give me a flashback to eighties Marvel comics. During the story there are mysterious indications of peril that necessitate a team of superheroes being created, and naturally it is the Mickey and Donald family of characters that provides the members. It's very much play acting, people playing at being superheroes and experiencing the joy of cosplay. It's bright, shiny and recognises the concept of a "superhero" as a tangible entity in its own right, but seperate from reality.

Equally Absolution #2, looking at the life of a super powered cop turned serial killer, plays around with the idea of the superhero as separate from reality, something not quite real and fake, with so much more behind the secret identity mask than could ever be surmised, and we're given a tour around his head as he deals with circumstance. There's no Dexter-style cop out here though, this is not the mind of a psychopath, as he says, many police have an experience once of twice in their lives when they take things too fare because they feel they have to. He just can't stop. And keeps being given reasons not to.

Absolution manages to keep a fine balance between action and dialogue, feeding the eyes with a superpowered shootout in a warehouse, and hideous disfiguring deaths before pausing for relationship talks around the table. WDCAS sadly doesn't. It's billed as a superhero comic but no actual superheroics seem to go on and we're left in a nebulous state as to what these characters' powers may even be. It doesn't help that WDCAS is taken from longer European stories, chopped up into size, so this issue doesn't so much end on a cliffhanger as stop mid-conversation. No seriously, two of the characters are talking and the book finished with a To Be Continued. Even Cerebus wasn't that harsh during its "every issue is just 20 pages from the graphic novel" phase.

Absolution is very much a "chapter", there is a journey here, there are actions and consequences and a cliffhanger to boot. Fight scenes, conflict internal and out, despite its more serious take, its use of police procedure, kitchen sink drama and serial killer fiction, Absolution is far more a traditional superhero comic than the surface flim-flammery of WDCAS which is all about telling a Disney story with the appearance of superheroes. And no, I wasn't expecting that.

Oh also, they take a very different approach to dogs.

Walt Disney's Comics And Stories #699 is by Riccardo Secchi, Georgio Salatiamy, Ettore Gula, Roberta Migheli and Stefano Turconi from Boom Studios! Absolution #2 is by Christos Gage and Roberto Viacava from Avatar. Both are published today.

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