Jupiter's Legacy #2 Review

A generational superhero conflict unfolds.

I wish Mark Millar were more willing to explore outside the superhero bubble with his creator-owned work. Most of his Millar World books deal with superheroes in some form or another. Kick-Ass is about real-world superhero wannabes. Nemesis is about Evil Batman. Super Crooks is "Ocean's 11 with supervillains." Initially, it seemed as if Jupiter's Legacy might finally be the book to break this trend. The first issue started off with a rousing look at a group of 1920's adventurers seeking fortune, glory, and higher purpose on a mysterious island. Unfortunately, the story quickly returned to more familiar fare after the initial few pages.It's not that Jupiter's Legacy doesn't have interesting material to explore. There's the generational clash between the old and new heroes. There's the examination of just how relevant superheroes are to a post-9/11 society. And there are the more intimate, soap opera-y elements that come from the book's family dynamics. That's all fine and well. Millar explores all of these conflicts in issue #2, and generally finds dramatic success in the process. In particular, the conflict between the two aging brothers, Utopian and Walter, aptly highlights the larger philosophical conflicts at play in this book.

Unfortunately, none of this material feels particularly fresh or original. At some point, deconstructing superheroes becomes a fruitless exercise. What is there left to deconstruct? This issue also suffers in its final pages because it introduces a plot twist that doesn't seem justified based on previous character work. It's too much of a stretch so soon into the storyline.

But now matter how redundant a book might be, Frank Quitely's art will always be worth the price of admission. This is a week jam-packed with gorgeous books (Batman/Superman #1, Hawkeye #11, X-Men #2, etc.), and still Jupiter's Legacy stands tall. Quitely's masterful sense of storytelling is on full display. His panels are clean and elegant but also highly precise and detailed. The characters display a wonderful range of emotion and subtle body language.

Peter Doherty's colors further flesh out Quitely's work, lending depth to the characters themselves and contrasting cool nighttime scenes with warm, brightly lit shots of hospitals and city streets. Whether or not the story picks up steam or shows a desire to escape its superhero trappings, Quitely's art will continue to keep me invested in Jupiter's Legacy. Jesse is a writer for various IGN channels. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.