The Ones (2022), Volume 1

Starred review from July 31, 2023
In this welcome deconstruction of mainstream comics tropes from Eisner winner Bendis (the New Avengers series) and Edgar (the Batman Adventures series), a superhero team is destined to defeat evil—if they can get their act together. Wilson, “Keeper of the Prophecies,” recruits a Vampire Slayer (and her mortal sidekick, Barb, who’s in real estate); master of magic Doctor Jamax; the brawny “Thrace the Champion,” wielder of the Bloodspiller Sword; Ava Granetstein, who appears to be a normal human; plus, a genuine superhero type called Novus and a figure named “The Chosen One”—though the conceit is each of these fighters are one of a kind. Together they promise to be the winning combo to best Satan (the real deal), a goal thwarted by infighting, second-guessing, and demands for catered meetings. Bendis plays to his strengths in the script: quippy dialogue, brilliantly realized archetypes, and mundane profanity are peppered throughout. The art and design by Edgar achieves a stripped-down cartoon style akin to Michael Avon Oeming’s work on Powers (also a Bendis-scripted comic), with clear and crisp detail across action and (ample) dialogue. For example, while three different red-headed women are introduced as major characters within a dozen pages, Edgar makes each immediately distinct. This arch superhero saga by way of the Coen brothers shows Bendis at his best.