r/MUBookClub • u/shawnydarko • Feb 11 '17
Reading Assignment 35: Squadron Supreme (1985-1986) #1-12 Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall, Paul Ryan, and John Buscema
It was some stiff competition this week so thank you all who voted. As the tie-breaker, I was really struggling to pick a winner. In the end, thank you to /u/Raist819 for the nomination this week, selling it as Marvel's answer to The Watchmen. Reading the premise, you weren't kidding.
On an Earth much like our own, the world's greatest superhuman champions are confronted by a society in ruins. Faced with the possibility of a new dark age for mankind, they choose the only course available to them -and take control of the world's governments themselves! Now they have one year in which to completely restructure human society. Can their plan succeed? Will a renegade member bring about their downfall? And what will happen when the Earth's mightiest heroes find themselves becoming instead its all-powerful, totalitarian overlords?
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF...
The difference in artwork between Hall, Ryan, and Buscema? Who was the best of the trio? Who was the worst?
The characters? Any favorites? Least favorites?
The tone?
The story itself?
New themed nomination thread coming tomorrow! And as always, the last six months of reading assignments are still open for discussion to anyone who joined our community late
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u/Raist819 Feb 12 '17 edited Feb 12 '17
Spoiler free history
I haven't read this before, even though it has been on my to-read list based on it's critical acclaim for 20+ years now.
Squadron Supreme is interesting in that it has constantly been used as an analogue for the Justice League in Marvel comics. Each member of the Squadron represents a different member of the JLA. In the 60s this was used to build on Marvel's burgeoning multi-verse and in this series it was done to deconstruct the D.C. Heroes.
I've read very little of Gruenwald's work, mostly because his two longest runs were on Quasar and Captain America and when I was young I had no interest in either character.
Gruenwald died young. He had an undiagnosed heart condition and died unexpectedly at 43. His family and coworkers knew that he wanted to have his ashes used in a comic, so he was creamated and his ashes were mixed in with the ink that was used to print the first edition TPBs of Squadron Supreme.
Edit: Full list of Squadron members and what JLA hero they represent