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Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: November 20, 2013
The issue starts comedically, with superhero Buzzkill - calling himself “Ruben†- admitting his abilities are due to abuse of drugs and alcohol, as if he's in a meeting for alcoholics. The reveal is that he's with his former superhero team whose leader, High Guard, has zero use for and even less tolerance. It's only by the interjection of Buzzkill's sponsor - the magician and teleporter Dr. Blaqk - that he survives this at all.
Ruben's on a twelve-step approach to making amends for his superhero behavior here and so he's next off to his ex-girlfriend's apartment. His true name of Francis is revealed here, much to the bemused delight of his sponsor. The human cost of being close to a superhero proves too much for her and just as they attempt some reconciliation Francis' old superhero buddy, Eric, shows up. Since Eric apparently slept with Nikki recently Francis is a bit steamed and the two begin duking it out. Again, it's Dr. Blaqk who has to calm Francis down but, just as he does so, a massive explosion rocks a nearby hospital and makes both Francis and Eric stop what they're doing and re-focus. The inhabitant of that hospital, it turns out, is the most deadly supervillain alive, one who somehow Francis managed to put down but at great cost (and hence his current recovery attempts).
The story by writers Donny Cates and Mark Reznicek is a great balance of comedy, drama and action as it seeks to play with the superhero and super-team genre with plenty of cheek. Geoff Shaw's artwork is pretty outstanding here, nice and sharp and detailed. Since the story covers a wide variety of locations and characters it's thus employed to very good effect. I'm hopeful this well-crafted balance remains throughout the entire Buzzkill series as this seems pretty promising.
