Demo Derby

Although Watchmen truly redefined the super-hero trope by examining super-heroes in "real world" terms, and Millar included some realistic touches in The Dark Knight Returns, my fascination with this perspective didn't truly emerge until Kurt Busiek's wonderful Marvels and subsequent series Astro City. Granted, Busiek's take is slightly different: he examines what living in a super-hero world would be like for us. But those four titles resulted in my continued search for new and interesting takes on super-heroes.

I can grow tired of the typical super-hero story; slugfests bore me to tears. I look for something different - stories that surprise me and keep me on my toes. Stories that use powers to tell a different story or comment on our world. So, in that vein, I picked up BRIAN WOOD's and BECKY CLOONAN's Demo limited series. These twelve issues, according to materials I had read, deal with "regular" people living with powers. No spandex. No arch-villains.

Indeed, for the most part, Demo does just that. A couple of issues actually wander off into the realm of horror and the supernatural, but that comes within acceptable limits. A few issues involve no extranormal event. Wood states in one issue's column that he had decided to tell certain stories even if they veered from the original premise.

I present all this build-up to give context on why Demo, as a whole, didn't quite work for me. I was looking for a different experience that the one given and the one I believe I was promised. That proved disappointing and perplexing when this first happened in #9 - Breaking Up. I thought I had misread the issue and spent time trying to figure out the "trick".

Even if you set that issue aside, I definitely feel like I am not the intended audience for this series. As a thirty-something year old man, I feel completely detached from the youthful, punkish ennui and pathos that pervades these books. Even as a teen and twentysomething I never quite felt the way many of these characters do. In fact, the varying aspects of punk, slacker, and goth become mildly grating.

Cloonan's artistic talents are wide ranging, although falling on the manga side somewhat. Still, her versatility and talent are clear in the wide range of styles she employs through the series. She's certainly suited for and conveys the slacker and juvenile themes well.

Setting aside my distaste for the mood of the work, several issues do stand out. Some issues start out well but end questionably. Some serve more as mood pieces rather than storytelling vehicles, which diminished my interest in them. As individual issues, most feel too light and are exceptionally quick reads, which makes their content seem airy and insubstantial.

Issue 1 would have been a nice story if the characters' ending wasn't revealed in the first page. Wood may not wanted his readers to focus on the ultimate fate of the couple, but knowing their final status robs the otherwise interesting and emotional story of much of its power.

Issue 2 fails to resonate with me mostly because I can't understand how somebody with the power that Emmy possess would live such a miserable life. Although she may be paying her own version of penance for her misuse of her power, her situation seems too extreme. Likewise, Emmy's feelings about herself and her situation are not very clear, and thus her choice at the conclusion seems arbitrary.

Issue 3 is one of the better issues, with mostly the brooding goth ultra-smart and supposedly world-savvy teen girl facade being the largest detraction. The ending has a nice payoff, however questionable the logic getting to it is.

Issue 4, "Stand Strong" is the first of the stellar issues. Cloonan's art really shines here and provides an appropriately rough and strong look to this issue and the protagonist. The cover evokes a Communist Russia propaganda poster, perhaps intentionally, although the link of that image to the theme is tenuous. Probably the worst aspect of this issue is that although our hero finds redemption, he obtains no salvation.

Issue 5 starts out with tremendous promise; the central concept is gold. I wish Wood had taken a completely different direction with the story. It devolves from a very human conceit to a situation that is hard for most people to relate to.

Issue 6 is the first horror issue and is genuinely spooky. Again Cloonan shows her versatility with appropriately moody and sketchy drawings. Genuinely skeevy and spooky.

Issue 7 "One Shot, Don't Miss" is thematically very similar to "Stand Strong", but despite the close parallels, this is one of the better stories (despite, again, it's somber ending).

Issue 8 both charms and annoys. Jess's motivations are suspect, and thus, never real for the reader. It's hard to understand the situation as it stands. This issue also deviates from the original premise, taking a supernatural bent, although it has less effect than Issue 6. It also romanticizes suicide; Nick never truly mourns the horror of what Jess has done.

Issue 9, as mentioned, involves no extranormal twist. This is a look at two people breaking up from their two perspectives. It's handled well for what it is, although I'm left wondering why we should really care that these people are done. We have no investment in them, and so it's hard to feel sad about their relationship. This feels like Wood unloading some emotional baggage rather than taking characters through an arc. Also, the overall thematic link between issues is sharply broken here.

Issue 10, "Damaged", overall, is one of the stronger issues. The super-power has an interesting twist, although motivations are unclear. Nobody is particularly likeable either, so it's hard to connect to the fate of the characters. Cloonan's art is its most manga-ized here, and it doesn't quite fit the tone of the story.

The concept of Issue 11 is so entrenched in slackerdom that I cannot possible relate to it. Somebody being upset because of an agreement (and particularly the terms of this agreement) made in high school is broken is nearly unfathomable to me. Nobody is very likeable here either and this is another issue that deviates from the concept.

Lastly, Issue 12 is the one I'm most ambivalent about. The whole book is essentially a love poem, and as that, is done well, but essentially there is no story here. Also, Wood revisits glamorized suicide, apparently. Cloonan delivers some staggeringly beautiful artwork in this issue. The picture of two shoes just barely touching conveys so much in that one panel. The major sticking point for this issue develops becaus not all of the previous 11 issues consistently dealt with powers in normal people's lives. Had they done that, this would have been a fantastic issue. This could have been a perfect capstone to that series. Unfortunately, the wandering nature of Demo causes me to wonder if this is a neat allegory for powers and what that would really mean or is this a revisit of a previous issue.

I praise Wood for his ambition here and concede again that perhaps I'm just not the right audience to fully appreciate the book. Wood's sensibilities seem to differ from my own and this dissonance interfered with my enjoyment. Also, like any experiment, not everything is successful, but there's enough here to show promise.