The Order - Volume 1: The Next Right Thing

The Order is a comic set in the aftermath of Civil War, the big Marvel event of 2007. The situation is that SHIELD has decided that every state gets its own set of superheroes to defend it. They have the technology to give people superpowers for a year, this way they can build teams of superheroes for each state, heroes that they train for several months before letting out on the street. The Order is about the heroes selected for the state of California. Because California has many celebrities, the team has celebrities: an ex-alcoholic actor who played Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.?), a charitable sexy actress (Angelina Jolie?), a teen pop superstar singer (Britney Spears?) and a few other non celebrity characters. Each issue centers around a character, having about 4 pages of interviews to give us a back story on them. Besides the four pages, the issues do involve all characters and the series has plenty of subplots that all reach a conclusion by the tenth issue. I liked the comic a lot, specially how it highlighted a character in each issue and how it shows a little of how hard it can be to lead a superhero team, as often Henry (the team leader) feels frustrated and tries to get help from Stark, who himself is in charge of 50 such teams, a much harder task. The comic has a lot of fun over the top action to complement the nice character moments. I recommend checking this book out.

Matt Fraction is one of the most prolific of Marvel's new wave of young writers - and one whose name consistently promises quality comic books. The Order is no exception - it's probably the best book that no one was reading until it was too late. Early in the book, the team's captain is talking to its PR agent, asking her how to make sure people don't hate the team. She replies, essentially, that they don't have to fear hatred, that The Order has no brand recognition, no big name heroes, and that the concern is that people will be apathetic. Little did Fraction probably know, writing this exchange, that he was prophesying the comic's downfall. Several months in, the book was selling poorly, Marvel was moving both Fraction and the artist, Barry Kitson, to other projects, and Fraction decided that he'd rather pull the plug on the book and end it with dignity than have it linger on painfully, and so the series ended with issue 10. A sad story. Should it prevent you from picking up this book? Absolutely not. This volume, "The Next Right Thing", collects the first half of The Order's 10 issues, and it is excellent. The Order is part of Tony Stark's 50 State Initiative to put a superhero team in each state. Based in California, The Order is made up not of established superheroes, or Camp Hammond graduates (as seen in Dan Slott and Christos Gage's Avengers: The Initiative), but rather celebrities: washed-up or discontent actors, athletes and so forth who are given intensive training and given superpowers by the government, in exchange for a year of superhero service. Each issue of the book focuses on a different member of the team. Fraction's writing is good, his humor is actually funny, and each character is distinct and interesting with real motives and, of course, plenty of baggage. Unlike some team books featuring lesser-known or new characters, I had no problem keeping the characters straight, even during busy action scenes. Each issue reads well on its own while moving forward the bigger story. And Barry Kitson's art is beautiful, clear, clean without being boring or static. Even in these days with a glut of good superhero comics, The Order stands out as a fun, excellent series that certainly deserves better than it got. I highly recommend this book to any fan of good superhero comics.

This story focuses on one team coming out of Iron Man's Initiative to put a government sanctioned super hero team in each of the 50 states. This is the team for California, and as you would expect, heavily influenced by Hollywood and the "celebrity" movement. You get a group of "stars" who have different reasons for wanting to become a superhero, but they all seem to want to be "famous". I think Matt Fraction does a good job of highlighting a different hero in each part of bigger series story, and really taps into America's obsession with celebrity. Since all The Order superheros are government made, existing only in this story, their future and lives are always in jeopardy. I found this to be one of the most exciting parts of the story, as truly anything could happen. The artwork is absolutely fantastic and probably the main reason I picked up this book. Barry Kitson's great detail, costuming, and design really makes the story come to life. I can't wait to read more of the story.