NOT Recommended both due to length and to an utter lack of likeable/embraceable characters you actually want to spend that much time reading.

Take the "frozen in WWII and revived in the modern era" trope from Captain America and apply it to twelve different "heroes."

Then watch JMS stretch less-than-meaty plots across so many pages as to make them seem pointless meanderings like he too is waiting to see what his point is.

I will NOT be bothering to finish this story in Volume 2 because it's unlikely JMS could pull together enough story for 4 issues, let alone 12. ( )

1121 ( )

What if, after being frozen for 60 years post WW2, the superheroes were just, mostly regular guys, masked avengers, NOT the Cap? ( )

NOT Recommended both due to length and to an utter lack of likeable/embraceable characters you actually want to spend that much time reading.

Take the "frozen in WWII and revived in the modern era" trope from Captain America and apply it to twelve different "heroes."

Then watch JMS stretch less-than-meaty plots across so many pages as to make them seem pointless meanderings like he too is waiting to see what his point is.

I will NOT be bothering to finish this story in Volume 2 because it's unlikely JMS could pull together enough story for 4 issues, let alone 12. ( )

Twelve superheroes and/or masked vigilantes are cryogenically frozen by Nazis at the height of World War II. Before the Nazi scientists can unleash their nefarious plans for the dozen, the war comes to an end and the sleeping heroes are forgotten by history. That is, until construction work in 2008 unearths the underground lair where they've been sleeping away the decades. Newly awakened to all kinds of newfangled contraptions, a culture they don't understand, and family members aged or gone, the heroes are offered and choose to accept an offer from the United States government -- live together expense free in a designated house and consider the option of fighting for good (or at least the government) when needed.

I can't recall anymore how I first heard about this comic, but I thought the concept was interesting. Let's see what happens when a group of people awaken to their future and it's not what they expected. To make things more fun, these aren't new creations but golden-age Marvel heroes who haven't had new reboots recently. So again, let's see what happens when something older makes it way into the modern world.

But the actual book itself was disappointing. For starters, there are 12 heroes and literally ONE of them is female. And, of course, she's barely clad, is built like she'd topple forwards if she were a real person, and every male in the comic is salivating over her even though she's deadly. There's even a creepy scene where the main lead of the comic peers into her door and stares at her naked body while she's sleeping. And to add insult to injury, her powers aren't of her own making like everyone else in the book; instead, she acquired them by making a deal with the devil, quite literally, and as a result is arguably not a "good guy" in this universe. There are also other parts of the book when it's made clear that "hero" and "he" are synonymous. The comic book industry has long had difficulty understanding the very basic concept that women read comics, too. We're not going away and we want content that isn't sexist, plain and simple.

Beyond this initial problem, I found the book was way too choppy. Having 12 characters who your average reader doesn't know well means it's difficult to keep track of them all. Giving them all masked names and real names and backstories is very interesting, but it's a lot to juggle. It doesn't help that Straczynski tells his story in all kinds of chronological order. There's attempts to make this a sort of Watchmen-esque endeavor by making the heroes dark, complex, and sometimes not even acting like a hero at all, but it seems to fall flat somehow. To put it simply, the characters are just not that interesting. The best and most touching story in the book is a brief one about the Rockman's past but it's just a short snippet in a larger, mainly mundane work.

Although this book leaves many, many plotlines up in the air, I did not find the writing stunning enough, the characters interesting enough, or the overall story compelling enough to want to continue on with volume 2. Nor would I recommend this volume except to diehard Marvel fans who can't get enough of that universe. ( )