The Crossovers #3
Review by Doc Ezra
Story:
Art:

Written by Robert Rodi
Pencils by Mauricet
Inks by Ernie Colon
Colors by Mark McNabb
Lettered by Troy Peteri with Oscar Gongora

Published by Crossgen/Code 6
Price: $2.95

My Verdict: Skip it.

The Crossover family has a secret. Actually, it has four secrets. Dad's the local spandex-clad superhero Archetype, mom's a third-generation vampire slayer, sis has a warrior princess alter ego waging war in another dimension, and baby brother is in cahoots with aliens to wipe out the human race. And none of the four know a thing about the secret life of the other three. Makes for some awkward pauses over casserole at the dinner table, but for the most part, the family manages okay. That is, until Archetype's archnemesis learns his secret identity and starts targeting family members. So Archetype calls in his predecessor, Prototype, and asks for some help keeping his family safe. Meanwhile, mom's head vamp villain has likewise vowed to target her family, so she's changing all the sheets to patchouli-soaked throwbacks to her 80s goth days, replete with crucifixes in gold thread on black sheets.

Sounds silly, no? Well, it is, but at least the title never takes itself terribly seriously. Hell, Archetype's mentor Prototype is also known as Kent, whose best friend is Wayne. Not sure how much more painfully self-aware the title could be without imploding. At one level, the premise actually sounds like it's got some comedic promise, but the title just doesn't bear it out very well to this point. About the only exception is Cliff, alien abductee and co-conspirator bent on wiping out the human race. His straight-faced misanthropy warms the recesses of my blackest heart. His alien friends are too stupid to really be the least bit entertaining, but Cliff shines against the rest of the family.

The attempts at humor are essentially just too obvious to work most of the time. Rodi's trying too hard to be funny, and stepping on his own toes. He's got the knack for cooking up an amusing concept, but then he bungles in the execution. Perhaps as he gets more and more confident with the title, the comedy will smooth out into something that just flows naturally, as is the case with something like Barry Ween.

The artwork is decent here, but occasionally seems to mistake "cartoonish" for "sloppy." Making a book light-hearted is not a license for the penciller to slack off and skimp on detail and texture. I'd love to see somebody actually illustrate a comedy book like it was a standard title, just for the cognitive dissonance it would initially cause ("but it doesn't LOOK funny?!"). May just be me, though. The colors are well-suited to the art style, lots of bright primary colors and bold inking, but I'd like to see a little more time and care invested in the initial pencils and inks.