PS 238 is the latest brainstorm from Aaron Williams, who created the hapless henchmen Nodwick and the fantasy gaming parody comic that bears his name. The subject matter is something of a departure for Williams, tackling the generally overdone genre of super-heroes, but because he brings a different spin on the idea to the book, as well as his usual good-natured humor, it's surprisingly engaging. Taking the concept of a school for super kids and transplanting it from the usual high school setting to a much younger age makes for an interesting premise, and while this issue is a collection of short strips that set up some of the characters and more than a few gags, there's enough underlying material here to promise an interesting and more story-driven ongoing series.
To be honest, I'm not entirely certain who is going to get the most out of PS 238. Those who enjoy Williams's work will probably enjoy the book, because while the subject matter is different, Williams's sense of humor and writing style shine through on every page. However, while the book is certainly all-ages, I'm not sure the average kid is going to enjoy a book where the kids are always being outsmarted by parents, teachers and other authority figures. And I'm afraid that the genial tone of the book may put off those who are interested in an examination of the issues raised by super-heroes having kids. Perhaps, then, the audience is made up mostly of people like me, who find Williams's jokes funny and his take on superhuman kids to be fun but with an undercurrent of analysis underneath it to make the joke work. In order to parody something effectively, you really need to have a pretty strong grasp on how it works in its basic form, and Williams does.
The structure of this issue is mostly three page strips, with a shorter one introducing the book and a longer one closing it out. I know that some of the strips are reprints of the backups that ran in Nodwick, but I'm not sure if all of them are. At any rate, while the strips are largely a setup and punchline of a gag relating to a recognizable super-hero archetype (including The Hulk and Sandman), there's also some strong development of the cast that helps run PS 238, as well as a basic explanation of the school and its rules. In particular, Ms. Kyle becomes an important character, possessing not just smarts but a strong adaptability and better leadership and speaking abilities than she realizes. The hints about the principal's mysterious past or the playful nature of supernatural instructor Vashti also serve to introduce an interesting supporting cast for the book.
Williams couches these introductory strips as infomercials beamed directly to the super-heroes who might need PS 238's services. It's a good structure, and although it would get repetitive in the long run, it works for this short collection. The finale shots, complete with slogans that demonstrate the point of the story, are often quite funny. The comedic timing that Williams has shown off in Nodwick, both in terms of art and writing, is displayed in full force in PS 238 as well.
There are those who would say that the last thing the industry needs is another super-hero parody, and I'll grant that. However, PS 238 is a different take on an old chestnut and it features an age group that is rarely explored in comics before being rapidly aged or killed off to make things more convenient for the writer. It's hard to tell now whether the book will serve as anything more than a vehicle for (funny) gags, but the laughs and the thought that have gone into the book makes me curious to see more.
