Comics/manga
Brian K. Vaughn et al., Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days: Mitchell Hundred has superpowers and problems, but the relationship between the former and the latter is a bit different than in your standard superhero comic. See, Mitchell's a former city engineer who came into contact with some alien/eldritch artifact and gained the ability to talk to machines, tell them what to do. He styled himself "The Great Machine" and zipped around NYC in his jetpack, fighting crime (and shutting down the subway for a day, which was a major oops).
Then, on September 11, 2001 - well, I love this extrapolation, in which Mitchell makes not quite enough difference. Buoyed by his heroic performance on 9/11, Mitchell runs for mayor as an independent and succeeds, and immediately confronts problems like garbage strikes, gay marriage, and controversial art. Lurking in the background is the federal government, which is still interested in his abilities, plus the disturbing question of the source of those abilities; Mitchell's not the only one who was affected. The mix of mundane politics and superpower mumbo-jumbo is just right for me. I'm not sure Vaughn's yet proved he can end a story, but he can surely start one. The format involves a lot of flashbacks; in later issues, the flashbacks flesh out more and more of Mitchell's backstory, which is left vague in the first trade volume.
Jason Rand et al., Small Gods: Killing Grin: In a world where psychic powers are common, the police are prohibited from using telepathy - and telepaths are thus excluded from the force - a cop with a big secret gets mixed up in trouble, and using his powers may be the only way out. Pedestrian plotting combined with female characters whose breasts are drawn more consistently than their faces makes this one skippable.
J. Michael Straczynski et al., Supreme Power v. 2: Powers and Principalities: Supreme Power is tied with Ex Machina for my favorite comic going; since they've apparently relaunched it as Squadron Supreme with less "extreme" content, Ex Machina may pull ahead, unless "less 'extreme'" simply means that Zarda (the Wonder Woman figure) won't spend so many freakin' pages buck naked. This gonzo reimagining of the major DCU characters, in its second volume, widens its focus to spend more time with Zarda, who appears to have been reawakened by the public appearance of Mark Milton (the Superman figure). Doctor Spectrum (Green Lantern) courts the unnamed fish-lady (Aquaman) who has captivated his interest; the two black characters (Flash and Batman analogues) identify their commonalities and divergences; and someone awfully powerful is killing poor black prostitutes. Zarda - who is either completely crazy or something more disturbing - insists that she knows Mark's true identity and destiny, but Mark is still trying to be human, even as the treacherous government sends Doctor Spectrum to destroy the alien it can no longer control. Given that the impetus was reimagining the DCU origin stories with a twist - alien baby snatched from farm couple and raised as loyal citizen; alien crystal powers given to a soldier who just happens to be a psychotic special forces type; etc. - the story now diverges sharply from the DCU, but remains plenty interesting. “Collateral damage” is the phrase that comes to mind.
Greg Rucka et al., Wonder Woman: Down to Earth: Wonder Woman’s polytheism and philosophy of peace spark angry political resistance in the US - a hint of realism among the bam-pow of this superhero story, in which the gods are conspiring against each other and sowing discord on Earth, not that Earth needs help with discord. I like the attempt to point out that many, many people would be angry with Wonder Woman’s gods, powers, and costume. Rucka does the Watchmen trick of using excerpts from various newsmagazines etc. to give contrasting perspectives, though they lack the depth of the ones in Watchmen. I’m having trouble figuring out the WW trades, so I don’t know if this story goes further.
Naoki Urasawa, Monster, vol. 1: I ordered this on the strength of coffeeandink’s review. It’s manga about Dr. Tenma, a Japanese doctor in Germany who has what seems like a good life, though he’s being exploited for his talents by his hospital’s director, until he follows orders and abandons one patient to work on a more socially significant one; the first patient dies. After that, he refuses a similar order, saving a young boy’s life and letting the mayor die. He loses almost everything when the director retaliates; he decides that responsibility is an illusion and a doctor’s job is simply to save as many lives as possible. Then someone kills the director and two of his cronies. A hard-faced detective suspects him, but can do nothing. Nine years later, the boy returns, in a thicket of bodies. I thought the story was interesting, and it seemed well-translated, but I’m not sure I can do seventeen more volumes to get to the end of the story. Mely did promise, however, that the first volume was weaker than the rest because it’s all setup, so I will keep an eye out.
Then, on September 11, 2001 - well, I love this extrapolation, in which Mitchell makes not quite enough difference. Buoyed by his heroic performance on 9/11, Mitchell runs for mayor as an independent and succeeds, and immediately confronts problems like garbage strikes, gay marriage, and controversial art. Lurking in the background is the federal government, which is still interested in his abilities, plus the disturbing question of the source of those abilities; Mitchell's not the only one who was affected. The mix of mundane politics and superpower mumbo-jumbo is just right for me. I'm not sure Vaughn's yet proved he can end a story, but he can surely start one. The format involves a lot of flashbacks; in later issues, the flashbacks flesh out more and more of Mitchell's backstory, which is left vague in the first trade volume.
Jason Rand et al., Small Gods: Killing Grin: In a world where psychic powers are common, the police are prohibited from using telepathy - and telepaths are thus excluded from the force - a cop with a big secret gets mixed up in trouble, and using his powers may be the only way out. Pedestrian plotting combined with female characters whose breasts are drawn more consistently than their faces makes this one skippable.
J. Michael Straczynski et al., Supreme Power v. 2: Powers and Principalities: Supreme Power is tied with Ex Machina for my favorite comic going; since they've apparently relaunched it as Squadron Supreme with less "extreme" content, Ex Machina may pull ahead, unless "less 'extreme'" simply means that Zarda (the Wonder Woman figure) won't spend so many freakin' pages buck naked. This gonzo reimagining of the major DCU characters, in its second volume, widens its focus to spend more time with Zarda, who appears to have been reawakened by the public appearance of Mark Milton (the Superman figure). Doctor Spectrum (Green Lantern) courts the unnamed fish-lady (Aquaman) who has captivated his interest; the two black characters (Flash and Batman analogues) identify their commonalities and divergences; and someone awfully powerful is killing poor black prostitutes. Zarda - who is either completely crazy or something more disturbing - insists that she knows Mark's true identity and destiny, but Mark is still trying to be human, even as the treacherous government sends Doctor Spectrum to destroy the alien it can no longer control. Given that the impetus was reimagining the DCU origin stories with a twist - alien baby snatched from farm couple and raised as loyal citizen; alien crystal powers given to a soldier who just happens to be a psychotic special forces type; etc. - the story now diverges sharply from the DCU, but remains plenty interesting. “Collateral damage” is the phrase that comes to mind.
Greg Rucka et al., Wonder Woman: Down to Earth: Wonder Woman’s polytheism and philosophy of peace spark angry political resistance in the US - a hint of realism among the bam-pow of this superhero story, in which the gods are conspiring against each other and sowing discord on Earth, not that Earth needs help with discord. I like the attempt to point out that many, many people would be angry with Wonder Woman’s gods, powers, and costume. Rucka does the Watchmen trick of using excerpts from various newsmagazines etc. to give contrasting perspectives, though they lack the depth of the ones in Watchmen. I’m having trouble figuring out the WW trades, so I don’t know if this story goes further.
Naoki Urasawa, Monster, vol. 1: I ordered this on the strength of coffeeandink’s review. It’s manga about Dr. Tenma, a Japanese doctor in Germany who has what seems like a good life, though he’s being exploited for his talents by his hospital’s director, until he follows orders and abandons one patient to work on a more socially significant one; the first patient dies. After that, he refuses a similar order, saving a young boy’s life and letting the mayor die. He loses almost everything when the director retaliates; he decides that responsibility is an illusion and a doctor’s job is simply to save as many lives as possible. Then someone kills the director and two of his cronies. A hard-faced detective suspects him, but can do nothing. Nine years later, the boy returns, in a thicket of bodies. I thought the story was interesting, and it seemed well-translated, but I’m not sure I can do seventeen more volumes to get to the end of the story. Mely did promise, however, that the first volume was weaker than the rest because it’s all setup, so I will keep an eye out.