The courtroom drama has long dominated the television airwaves, but in comics, Supernatural Law pretty much rules the genre, and does so with a genre-twist that is ingenious and deceptively simple, allowing Lash to explore a variety of topics both pop cultural and of a classic monster movie nature. In this particular volume, the stories feature a mummy, a muse, a misogynist, a monkey and multiple Mavises (Mavi?), and though each issue is based on a certain gimmick, there's also a nice throughline of subplots and character development that makes the book engaging for more than just the lawyers or the monster fans in the crowd. Not every story is a home run for me, but each one has something to offer, and Supernatural Law is almost guaranteed to inspire some chuckles.
The very heart of the concept of Supernatural Law is to examine myths and legends through a more modern lens, that of the law. Lash always brings a skewed sensibility to these explorations that is both clever and funny. Using reincarnation and the code of law in Egyptian times makes for a neat twist on the mummy's curse. The notion of a muse that sounds like your average Jersey Girl and inspires pot-boiler novels rather than art and music is a lot of fun. In other stories in this volume, Lash explores indie comic Cerebus and its famously crazy author Dave Sim, the accident/assault that befell author Stephen King and that staple of the comics genre, the talking gorilla.
Supernatural Law is actually something of a soap opera, with continuing subplots and character development that serve as an interesting background to the amusing high concept of The Practice Meets The Universal Monsters. The background subplot of the office reconstruction makes for an interesting backdrop to all the stories, as well as a nice bit of anticipation of its completion in the next round of tales. Lash also explores the troubled relationships of Mavis, Alanna and Jeff, whether it's to their current significant others, flames past or future or just to obnoxious members of professional organizations like the Associates of Portia. Mind you, I do sometimes feel like the interesting subplots and characterization of this book are moving at a pretty glacial pace, and some of the important relationships (such as the one between Alanna and Chase) feel like they've been in the same exact place for at least a couple of trade paperbacks.
When I first read this series, I was delighted to find it littered with puns, and I was a little disappointed that the puns had faded somewhat from the ongoing series. They're back with a vengeance in this trade, from the descriptions of the office as "ghastly" to the many, many plays on the number three that come up as a result of Mavis's predicament. Lash is likewise unashamed of his propensity for silly monkey and gorilla jokes, and it makes for a funny read in the "Tale of the 800 lb. Gorilla." The names of the witnesses and the references to common monkey sayings (there are more than you'd think) come fast and furious.
Lash also does a fair amount of experimentation with his artwork in this issue. Whether it's echoing some of the style of Dave Sim in his Cerebus parody or showing influence from Carmine Infantino in the gorilla story, Lash shows some nice versatility in this trade. I was also impressed with how Lash uses a shift in storytelling technique to indicate the shift between the dream world and the real world in "The Co-Inkydinks." Ditto for his use of thought balloon images and silent storytelling in "Words Don't Do IT Justice," a clever little reversal story about who the real monster is. I wasn't quite as impressed with the strange quirk in which the omniscient narrator fills in story elements whenever there's a thin silhouette panel in "Trial of the 800 lb. Gorilla," which kicked me out of the story whenever it was used.
By far the best part of this collection, though, is "Huberis the Dybbuk," a smart and scathing parody of Cerebus and the antics of his creator Dave Sim. As someone who hasn't read Cerebus, I'm almost certain I didn't get all the jokes, but the overall story is one of the stronger ones that Lash has offered up. Without really attacking Sim, Lash creates a story that pokes fun at his more outlandish views and simultaneously incorporates the likable and funny character of Cerebus at the same time. Instead of Huberis's misogyny coming off as a tired joke, it is instead played off as the wearying lifestyle it must be. Huberis hates women, but he's forced to deal with them on a constant basis, and one almost feels sorry for the poor demon as he suffers what are to him numerous indignities. Though I found his particular bias reprehensible, I could identify with the idea of being forced to confront that which drives you crazy on a regular basis, as I'm sure most people can.
