Issue:
Series:
Writers: Howard Wong, Jim Valentino
Artist: Marco Rudy
Publisher: Image Comics/Shadowline
After the Cape is the type of series where the title alone is what really drew me to it. The idea of seeing a superhero’s life after he relinquishes the tights and cape is an idea that since The Incredibles has had a great deal of potential, depending on where one decides to go with the story. After the Cape is not intended to be family friendly like The Incredibles and thus gives readers a look into a superhero who hasn’t exactly given up being a superhero but who was forced out because of a battle with alcoholism. A decent and interesting concept that really has a great deal of potential to do what only Marvel had done before with Alias. Usually when superheroes give up their identity, they often take on another (e.g. Jesse Quick becoming Liberty Belle). So this story has definitely been outside of the norm, and most of all, it has been very character driven.
After the Cape is a decent, well-written story about a former superhero who only wants to provide the best for his family. While the premise really seems familiar, a once “good guy” who takes on questionable jobs to give his family a better life, there are a few things that make After the Cape stand-out. The first element of this series that stands out is definitely the main character, Ethan. The story is so character-driven and centered around Ethan’s logic that even though what he is doing is pretty much wrong, especially considering his past life, you cannot help but sympathize with him. He would do anything for his family; he wants to give them a better life, and he wants them to feel safe and secure. Thus, he turns to a life of crime. But this eventually catches up to him, and after a brief and colorless battle with his former team “The United Heroes,” this issue opens up with a bit more character back story.
Seeing Ethan with his family isn’t enough for this series, and I love the way Wong and Valentino take a good chunk of time to express the feelings Ethan has for his wife. Even more compelling is the way that in almost every panel of this flashback, Ethan is drinking. And tragically as Ethan battles the United Heroes, his wife and kids are watching the fight on TV in tears. Ethan is destroying the very thing he is fighting for, and he doesn’t even realize it. He is blindsided by the anger of being kicked out of his former group that he forgets why his life has turned to crime in the first place. He loved being a superhero just as much as he did his family, and his rage over losing his status as Captain Gravity takes over as he beats his former best friend senseless throughout this issue.
While Ethan and his former best friend Shadow Stalker battle, the United Heroes go after the leader of the Triads who hired Ethan in the first place. While fighting her henchmen, they debate how they feel about Ethan and ultimately agree that he is still one of them. All the while, Ethan nearly kills Shadow Stalker.
While the story is really the key element of After the Cape, the one thing I did not like was the artwork. Even in this final issue I really wanted color. The inks were way too much, and at times I found it difficult to figure out exactly what I was looking at. Had this series been provided in color, it could have easily been one of the best comic book mini-series in a long time. While I can understand the artwork being a bit on the darker side, especially given the tone of the story, colors and shading would have really brought out the best in this series. As it is, the artwork is really one of the key aspects that brings this series down.
This story is extremely well-written and is an amazing character driven mini-series that is definitely worth a few reads. The ending of this issue is so tragic and heartbreaking that it really raises the stock of the series as a whole. Everything Ethan fought for, everything he loved, is completely lost and all he has is the one thing that destroyed him to begin with. This mini-series could definitely make for a powerful film as I really found the series as a whole very moving and tragic.
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