With a long gap between issue one and two and the departure of artist Hairsine at some point for first Crossgen and now Marvel, the future of this mini-series remains a bit cloudy to me. However, I'm happy to see another issue and to see the intriguing story of a disillusioned hero trying to take on the system get a little further. Williams's story seems to require the reader to take a few things on faith, notably that all these shadow manipulations will eventually be explained, but the strength of the character development is top notch and the mixture of politics and super-heroics is very compelling. In addition, it's easy to see why Hairsine was snapped up so quickly by other companies, as his work is detailed and beautiful to look at.
Williams is dealing with complex issues in Classwar, but I do feel like a little more depth would be helpful to making them feel real. The broad strokes, that a shadowy government actually controls things and that the American is trying to bring them down, are pretty clear, but who is lying and who is taking the fall isn't always made clear to the reader, and since the battles in this book are as often about public opinion as they are about physical strength, knowing the sides and who's winning would help a lot. Mind you, I do appreciate that the conflicts are about a more subtle form of villainy, rather than the "ruling the world from my giant island" type of villainy, which helps the book stand out.
What really makes it stand out for me, though, is the strength of the characters. Surprisingly, we're getting more into the heads of the villains than we are into the protagonists, who remain mostly a mystery. The focus on "The Champ" was a nice character piece, portraying him not as a bad guy but as someone who has been forced into the role of the villain by circumstances. And it was interesting to see the President, who was held up as an antagonist in the last issue, shown as little more than another victim.
It's important in a super-hero comic to be able to draw splashy action sequences and dynamic figures. It's important in a political discourse or characterization-based story to be able to handle subtle facial expressions, detailed backgrounds and believable anatomy. Hairsine combines all of these skills and more into a dynamic but very realistic and readable style, and I was particularly impressed with the creepy and lonely death of Simon Jenkins and the climactic battle between The American and the Champ, which matches up to the level of violence that The Authority was known for.
I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what the future holds for this title, as the long wait between issues and the artistic uncertainty means that its appeal for me could change radically as it goes on. But so far I'm enjoying this as an alternate take on super-heroes and an interesting "view from the outside" of how American politics and the American government works and might work differently if superhumans were around.
