Today’s Comic> War of the Independents #1

The back cover appears to be an alternate, with characters fighting.

War of the Independents #1

Red Anvil Comics (2011)

The problem with trying to review this is that I have no idea what’s going on. Even with the different artists it flows together nicely and the pacing is…no, that’s part of the problem. Some bad guy shows up at some ruins to find an android that almost kicked his butt centuries ago. Then heroes from different indie comics realities, I guess, show up, they do battle, one sacrifices himself to stop the bad guys, and two of the heroes recruit more characters for….something.

Compare this with the web comic Crossoverkill, a similar story currently in production online. Like its parent, Crossoverlord (you may recall me mentioning this comic a few times) it brings together superhero characters from different online comics. However, it keeps to a short main cast, gives you an idea of what the problem is, and introduces everyone.  In War of the Independents, unless I missed an issue #0, it’s more like playing “Where’s Waldo” with your favorite smaller (but still Diamond-approved–I don’t seen anyone from Jerzy Drozd’s The Front, for example) publisher characters, like Cerebus, The Tick, Too Much Coffee Man, and Gumby, just to name ones I’m at least casually aware of. It just feels like it was done to show off a bunch of indie characters and not much else.

Personally, I really can’t recommend this comic. I don’t even know why some of these characters were chosen for this story and that’s partly because I can’t tell what that story is. Leaf through it to see if any of your favorites are in here, and then walk away. It was a good idea, and I wouldn’t be against them trying again with some better ideas, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.