Planet of the Capes

Planet of the Capes is not your typical superhero comic. That's important to remember when you first read this book. It required multiple readings from me in order to grasp what was going on, but I knew next to nothing about the series going in. I did this on purpose as I wanted to look at this with fresh eyes. Everything from the title on down in this series stands for something outside of the book itself. A superhero is not a superhero, a title is not just a title. I would be so bold as to say that a lot of people won't "get" this book until their told what to "get" and honestly I don't know if I would consider that a failing of Larry Young and Brandon McKinney or not. The first read through it came across as a meandering superhero book with nonsense for a plot and strange things happening every turn of the page. It wasn't supposed to make sense when read that way though. It was meant to be read as a metaphor for the comic book industry and in that sense it works. Highlight the text below and read on if you would like more specifics. Spoilers ahead.

Justice Hall, a mix between a Captain America and Batman type superhero, is meant to represent DC comics and The Grand, a Superman type character, is meant to represent Marvel comics. These two are constantly arguing and jockeying for position within the group. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out once you discover the initial premise of the book as these are the two most obvious representations. The Schaff a wild Hulk-like superhero who is two beings merged represents the small press and shows how the different books are a mish mash of styles and genres compared to the others. The Schaff goes on a rampage and is wild and untamed but all the while proves one of the most interesting and fun characters in the book, as well as one of the most innocent. Is it also any wonder the Schaff can barely speak and has yet to find it's "voice" and instead is seldom understood by others on the team? The single character that can calm The Schaff is Kastra, a superwoman that's not so super, and instead must use her wits and charm to survive on the team. She cares for The Schaff helping him grow and deal with the troubles he faces all the while talking to the big two and trying to explain The Schaff's actions to them. Kastra represents the middle ground, the companies such as Image, Dark Horse, and Ait/PlanetLar. Kastra deals with a fan in the story in a little different way than Justice Hall does. Where Justice Hall is aloof and stand offish while talking to the fan, Kastra uses her charm to make the fan feel at home, even bringing the fan to The Schaff as well. The Grand ignores the fan. As you can see if read in this light the book becomes a whole lot "deeper". Later on in the story everyone but the Grand and Justice Hall gets washed away in a massive flood of water (including a fantastic four type family that may be representative of a "family" itself or the past successes of Kirby, Stan Lee and others) because The Grand doesn't do anything to save them as he holds Justice Hall back. In the end even the Fan gets washed away. That leaves the "big two" to battle it out and ultimately kill each other. In the end no one learns anything and everyone dies. Here's to hoping such a future never happens. In my opinion comics will never "die" they may disappear as a viable business venture, but somewhere some kid will be drawing pictures and telling a story, and that's what makes comics.

There isn't really a lot more I can say about Planet of the Capes except that I enjoyed the book more on subsequent read throughs. I had to be told about what some of the other characters such as The Schaff and Kastra represented but after that everything came naturally. If I misunderstood anything, which I don't think any interpretation is flat out wrong, I'm sure Larry Young will set me straight. In the end I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in the business of comics and is worried about their future. Enjoy.

You can win a two page spread from Planet of the Capes in this month's Demo Giveaway!