The reality show has taken over the television networks, and I'm generally not all that happy about it. However, there's an undeniable fun to be had with reality shows, and melding reality show politics with the super-hero genre is a golden idea, one I can't believe no one has thought of before. Nauck, both writing and pencilling the series, has captured the most important element of the idea, the fun and slightly goofy side of super-heroes and chasing fame, without making either too goofy to really enjoy as anything more than slapstick. What Casting Call #1 reminds me of more than anything else is the good old fashioned Legion of Super-Heroes tryout issues, with all the wackiness and "who will survive?" drama that entails, but with a slightly different spin given its place at the center of a media event.
In making Casting Call work, half of the important work done is coming up with interesting and fun characters, and Nauck certainly doesn't skimp there. Some of the characters get full-blown multi-page development, some only a few panels, but all of them are fun characters that don't just fit into the usual archetypes but instead encompass the full range of strange and sometimes silly abilities that super-heroes could possess. I loved characters like Kid Citrus, sidekick to what sounds like a nutrition for kids comic-book hero Vitamin Justice or Adhesor, the poor guy who is essentially a living Post-It Note with hilariously bad control over his powers, as much as I did the more serious characters like sensory specialist Red Rover, pyrokinetic Ignacia or stretchy guy Snapback.
Another important aspect of the book, and it's all about tone here, is that it never feels like we're laughing at the super-heroes, or mocking the genre for cheap laughs. Nauck clearly has a love of super-heroes, and at least some fondness for the reality show concept, and the result is that every character, no matter how lame their powers, is somewhat sympathetic. You feel bad for Adhesor even as you laugh at his failure to impress the judges. You want Ignacia to succeed because she seems so earnest in her goals. And you feel bad for the relationship strife brought on in Snapback's life by his much-needed but unfortunately pointed advice to his girlfriend. This doesn't mean that Nauck skimps on the hilarity, though. He just nails the inane morning banter of his Regis and Kelly Ripa morning sound-alikes, and all of the auditions provide at least a chuckle. I loved Little Miss Sunshine's cheery description of her powers, which are kind of a neat idea and a nice twist on the usual light generating power, and I got a kick out of Popstar's mistaken choice of venue.
Nauck also has the makings of an interesting world in which to set Wildguard, which also makes me want to stick around. The notion of a super-hero celebrity, who went from child star to teen sensation to popular young adult hero, is an interesting commentary not only on the nature of media stardom in our world but an interesting take on super-heroes that is rarely seen in the status quo of mainstream super-hero universes where heroes don't age. And I love the idea of farm team super-heroes, hoping to graduate to Ultra Mega Super Five or another big league team, as well as the idea that the big teams know of their popularity and use it. It reminds me of the way super-heroes are treated in Powers, although we're a little closer to their exploits here.
In what is perhaps a bit ironic, I'm actually more enamored of the writing than I am the art on Wildguard so far. Nauck has a great design sense, and I love the various heroes he came up with. And no one could accuse him of skimping on the detail, as he does some insane crowd scenes this issue, not to mention a lot of different power demonstrations. However, his backgrounds lack the detail and imagination that clearly went into the characters, and there are some parts of the issue that look a little rough, like they weren't quite finished or nailed down with a clean line. Nauck, Stucker and McCraw are all polished professionals, and the work is at a professional level, but it doesn't quite have the same spark that the writing does, falling more into the "serves its purpose" camp for me much of the time. However, the exceptions, like the results of the exploding robot or the two-page splash of heroes demonstrating their powers, make up for some of my gripes, and the strong design sense and storytelling ability shown here makes up for most of the rest.
