Star-Spangled Squadron - an Ascendant Graphic Novel

Back in the 1980s, DC Comics published a comic titled All-Star Squadron, which featured the heroes of World War II on the then-Earth 2 world that was filled with the Golden Age superheroes.  It was, by far, my favorite all-time comic (until Infinity, Inc. came along a few years later), and although it was cancelled not long after Crisis on Infinite Earths and never seen again, the series has always held a special place in my heart.  A few months back, while flipping through Previews to see what new comics were coming out, I came across a one-shot graphic novel titled Star-Spangled Squadron.  The colorful cover featured a team of six heroes jumping off the page, the White House in the background, and proffered the tagline: "America Needed Heroes - They Answered the Call."  Between the title and the premise, I had to check it out.

Written by Alexander Macris and David Campiti, with art by Mel Joy San Juan, Star-Spangled Squadron is the start of a new superhero universe for Ascendant comics, a relatively new independent company founded in 2020.  In this new comic universe, superheroes are only just starting to appear, mostly as a result of a secret government program designed back in 2012 to create superhumans for America.  Only, the government could not control their subjects, and soon enough, both heroes and villains start to appear on the scene, and the world will never be the same!

While the blurb on the inside back cover indicates this graphic novel "tells the origin story of this first generation of superheroes and supervillains," that's not exactly accurate.  In the first of the two stories, we do get the origin of the villain known as Manticore, and we see him go up against the seemingly indestructible American Eagle (former firefighter Bill Goddard), we don't find out how American Eagle came to be the hero that he is or how he has the powers he does.  The second story features a rather interesting hero named Stiletto - a dark-haired bombshell in a skimpy leather outfit who apparently has heightened senses and the agility of a cat, yet bystanders want to know the same thing as readers - "How does she fight in those crazy heels?"  Again, no explanation as to how or why she has these abilities, but we do get the pleasure of reading her introduction into the Star-Spangled Squadron - a group of super-powered humans working for the Coast Guard to help protect America from the new threat of super-powered villains.

Dr. Quantum is the force manipulator ... Stronghold is the invincible strongman ... Warp is the teleporter ... and Aurora is literally a power battery for a star.  Together, with American Eagle and Stiletto, this is the world's first superhero team.  And, I have to admit, I love the self-awareness of the books.  The line about Stiletto's heels - coupled with Aurora's recognition of the stereotypes of the team ("American Eagle is, like, Mister Heartland Hearthrob; Warp is all bad boy from the Hood; Stronghold's repping the Hispanic working class; Dr. Quantum is the cute Asian WAIFU, [Aurora is] fan service for the frat boys; so you [Stiletto] must be, like, for the Goth crowd?").

But the Coast Guard are not the only ones with a team of super-powers.  In a facility harboring alien technology, a group of supervillains are set to steal the technology for themselves, and it's up to the Star-Spangled Squadron to stop them.  Thus, readers are given a spectacular super-battle of super-powers beings that tears apart the facility - and while the Squadron may win against the villains, they are unable to stop the alien ship beneath the facility from exploding, sending a beam of energy to the far reaches of space ... where someone is watching ...

Marcis, Campiti, and San Juan did a pretty good job of setting things up for a whole new universe of heroes, villains, battles, and great stories to come.  There's plenty of mystery about these characters - these two stories give readers a taste of each character and their personalities and powers, while leaving their past and origins yet to be told ... we get the foreshadowing of things to come with the villains disappearing from the battle and the unseen entity watching Earth from beyond ... and we get the questioning of whether the Squadron's superiors are truly on the up-and-up with the team and the goals for them.  Plenty of fodder here for future stories with some very likable characters of whom I would definitely like to see more.

Star-Spangled Squadron is a star-spangled hit in my book, so hopefully these creators have already got more stories in the works!

RATING:  8 crashing ferris wheels out of 10 for introducing a new group of heroes that have some originality and leave you wanting for more!