Super Mansion Volume 1 tells two stories about the League of Freedom. The first story, Many Hands, tells about the League fighting a man named Simon Clone. Simon has many clones of himself known as Psy-Clones. Every time the League thinks that they have destroyed them all, more clones show up, zapping more of their energy. Thankfully, two members of the League, Brad and Cooch, find the machine responsible for creating the clones and shut it down. This machine gives Rex, the leader of the League, an idea and he decides to clone the entire League so they can all relax and take a much needed vacation, while their clones fight crime for them. Meanwhile, Simon Clone makes a visit to the mansion to let the League know something sinister about the clones. However, thinking Simon is one of the Psy-Clones, Ranger, another member of the League, plunges a flag pole through Simon’s body while Brad tosses him up high into the air, before Simon can tell the League the information about the clones. Will the League be able to discover the truth about their clones and take back the city?
The second story, Nazi on My Watch, tells about the League heading to Germany where they meet Germany’s group of superheroes called Die Liga. They tell the League about their nemesis called the Mimer, and Rex decides that the League will take care of the Mimer themselves, and asks Die Liga to stay at their Mansion and keep an eye on things. While the League is able to defeat the Mimer, Ranger finds himself going on trial for several War Crimes. Will the rest of the League be able to save him from imprisonment? And when they get back to the mansion, will they like what they find? This comic was hard for me to personally enjoy. The writing by Barry Hutchison was meant to be funny, but to me it was not amusing.
There were sexual jokes spread throughout the entire comic, which grew old extremely fast. Aside from the jokes being crude, in the second story the jokes were filled with racism as well. I picked up this comic thinking it would make me laugh, but this is definitely not my sense of humor. The characters in this comic are also a little bizarre. It kind of reminded me of Action League Now, with the exception that I actually enjoy the characters of Action League Now. The character Ranger in this comic reminded me of the Flesh from Action League Now, only racist and not as charming. Sergeant Agony even has the same personality as the Chief on Action League Now, with the exception being that he uses a more colorful choice of language. None of the members making up the League of Freedom seem to be a decent character, as they treat their clones poorly and converse with other members of society in a demeaning way. The only character I actually liked and had sympathy for was Simon Clone as he showed true remorse for what had happened with his clones and actually tried to make things right by telling the League information that could help them. But sadly, he didn’t last long in the comic.
I did enjoy the artwork by Jake Elphick and the colors by Tracey Bailey though. I thought the art was playful and fun and wonderfully graphic, and I especially enjoyed the funny expressions on the characters’ faces throughout. The colors are bright and vibrant and really make the images pop. For me, the illustrations were the best part about the comic. If you have a crude sense of humor, you might actually find this comic amusing. But if you are like me and don’t find an overabundance of sexual jokes or racism funny, you might want to sit this one out. Super Mansion Volume 1 is available for purchase August 15, 2018
--Amy Walker-LaFollette