THE BOOK
DEADWEIGHTS #1
Story: Tyrone Finch | Art/Cover: Sebastian Piriz
Ahoy Comics | $3.99
Is this another exciting new superhero universe? No — just a buddy comedy about two unlucky henchmen trying to make their way in the world! Deadweights takes a hard look at what happens after the fight when the villains are tired of being villains, and the heroes aren't as heroic as they want you to think.
Written by Tyrone Finch (Swine, Station 19) , with art by Sebastián Píriz (We Ride Titans), the comedic, action-filled six-issue series follows two members of a villainous team of evil mutants who are fired for their incompetence and try to go straight — but learn that life doesn’t get easier just because you’re wearing pants instead of tights.
“At its core, Deadweights is about friendship,” said writer Tyrone Finch. “It’s the story of two people who have been relentlessly beaten, battered, tossed off of bridges and forced to live in hideouts with no electricity or plumbing. But somehow, the two of them have never given up on each other or their dreams. When you look past their costumes, battles and vows to subjugate the human race; they’re just a couple of guys looking to find a place for themselves in this crazy, mixed-up world.”
“Jerry and Clarence are two guys you can’t help to feel bad for,” said artist Sebastián Píriz. “The more you know them, the more you’ll root for them — but that’s the moment where Tyrone sends a curve ball to remind us that, just like in real life, things rarely are so simple as we’d like.”
“I love the idea of DEADWEIGHTS,” said AHOY Comics Senior Editor Sarah Litt. “No one really looks at the aftermath of the fight, only the fight itself. I think DEADWEIGHTS is what happens when the villains figure out that maybe that life doesn’t pay off after all.”
THE REVIEW
Our protagonists are the overweight Cannonbulk (Jerry Patton), with some sort of super-strength and super-resilience powers, and Bounder (Clarence), who seems much the same, only he jumps around a lot. They were part of a team of villainous mutants, but after a fight with the heroic Paladins (which they lost), Cannonbulk is fired. Bounder goes with him, indicating the depth of their friendship.
And Jerry is just so done with the Spandex scene. "Conquering the world, subjugating the weak, and having our own island was a nice dream, but it's not going to happen," he says. That's his new philosophy, and I think we can agree he's not exactly a deep thinker. But he knows what he wants, and what he wants is to find a different line of work — and to wear pants again.
But while Jerry and Clarence are through with the super-world, the super-world isn't through with them. There will be more of that, it seems, in future issues.
I've always enjoyed henchmen books, because A) they're usually funny, and B) they explain a superhero trope that, at first glance, is pretty silly. This is in a similar vein, except that instead of diving into the crummy lives and unhealthy motivations of henchmen, Deadweights does the same for minor supervillain team members. It's like 1960s Toad and Mastermind waking up one day and thinking, "You know, we're never going to conquer the world. And if we do, we'd still have to answer to Magneto, and he treats us like crap. We're always going to be cannon fodder for the big guns. Maybe we should look into another line of work, and not get our backsides handed to us on a regular basis."
Because yes, I did wonder why Toad kept idolizing Magneto, who literally kicked him around. Books like Deadweights show us the path not taken, and I'm eager to see where it goes.
It helps that both writing and artwork are top-notch. Finch fleshes out our main characters with dialogue that's confident, efficient and revealing — but also funny. He works in the main themes of the book, and the central conflicts: Jerry's internal conflict, and the external threat of people like the Paladins. And finally, an interaction with the victim of one of the superhero-supervillain fights serves to remind Jerry (and the readers) that, despite being a fairly genial and likeable guy, Jerry has done some bad things and may never escape hs past.
That's a lot to pack into one issue, but Deadweights #1 doesn't feel overloaded. The story moves smoothly and swiftly along, reaching a logical cliffhanger that entices to the next issue.
This is surpported by the art. I'm not familiar with Piriz, but his work is painterly with just enough cartoonishness around eyes and expressions to remind us that, at heart, this is a comedy. A black one that is satisfying to look at.
The book also includes two unrelated short stories, both of which I enjoyed. Text pieces in comics were never very good, but Ahoy is correcting that. They're reviving the lost art of the short story and lost concept of the anthology at the same time. Thumbs up from these quarters.
Some folks on this site say they've never read an Ahoy book they didn't like. If this book, with its marriage of professionalism and cheekiness, is any indication of the rest of the line, I can see why.
Replies
Sounds as if you liked it. I did, too, but I don't have anything to add to what you already said.
Instead, I want to mention My Bad by Mark Russell. Russell recently wrote a letter to retailers thanking them for supporting this title (which is soon to begin its third volume), and my retailer shared his with me. (Actually he gave it to me because I buy all AHOY! Comics.) I was touched by the sincerety of his letter, in which he describes My Bad as "a series I believe in, One which I think you will enjoy (if you do not already), and one I hope you will recommend to your customers."
He goes on to say: "I truly believe that there is nothing on the stands quite like MY BAD. It's an irreverent love letter to comics and so a title I think is ideally suited for the local comic shop, more so than the Barnes and Noble or online digital comic market. This is precisely how I hope people will experience MY BAD for the first time, holding it in their hands, standing in a shop where they've discovered every comic they've ever loved."
If you liked Deadweights, I urge you to give My Bad a try.