Trouble #1
By Mark Millar, Terry and Rachel Dodson
Published by Marvel Comics
Not quite like anything I've seen Marvel do before (noteworthy in and of itself), Trouble looks to be a realistic look at teen sex and the lesson that with great horniness comes great responsibility, whether you're ready for it or not.
The book is solicited in the current Previews for shipping later this summer, and I know some retailers are wrestling with how many copies to order and who exactly the audience will be for Trouble, so if you come away from this review wanting to read the book, make sure you tell your comics shop now.
As the father of two children, ages 7 and 9, I certainly have a keen interest in comics designed to appeal to young people -- I don't think Trouble is appropriate for kids that young, but anyone 14 and over will probably have no problem with the book's content, and even be able to relate to its premise.
Ben and Richie and Mary and May are teenagers who work at a resort for the summer, looking for some fast cash and the chance to meet members of the opposite sex. All the adults are uptight squares and all the teenagers are drowning in their own hormones, and it all comes to a head one night at the beach. It's all fairly tame stuff for mainstream audiences, although longtime Marvel fans will no doubt be shocked -- shocked, to see such a blunt presentation of life pretty much as it is when you're 16, reckless and good-looking.
The hardest hurdle to leap for many will be the implication that this is Peter Parker's future family meeting and hooking up right before your eyes, and May Reilly's teen years are nothing at all like Stan and Steve might have depicted them. Booze, evil pranks and condoms all figure into this raucous romp, and damn if this isn't teenagehood pretty much exactly as I remember it.
I don't know that superhero fans are going to swallow this easily -- although the wiseass stylings of Mark Millar and the pretty, pretty pictures provided by the Dodsons will serve to ease much of the committed pervert suit devotee's unease. There's cheesecake galore but the hint of a more complex narrative agenda than you might expect from a casual reading of the first issue, and I suspect that the monthly floppy issues of this series will serve mainly as loss leaders for a planned bookstore presence not far down the road. The main audience for this probably isn't -- and shouldn't be -- guys in comics shops. I think this is a genuine attempt to reach a previously untapped readership, and depending on how the eventual collection is marketed, given the quality of the storytelling, it could prove to be a successful experiment in the end. Grade: 4/5