By Jacob Cordas — You’re a hero but you’re always second best. You’re not shot off to be the shining example of your culture. You’re abandoned. You desperately want to go home. You feel insecure and insincere. The world seems to agree. 

That is Penultiman. He’s a sad sack of a Superman. He is the second to last form of man, left with all his savagery. He is incompatible with a future that wants to believe it has moved on from violence and completely out of place with a world that hasn’t evolved enough to catch up to where he is. Trapped between a world that doesn’t want him but that he needs to be a part of and a world he doesn’t belong in but that needs his help, Penultiman is caught in a cycle of depression, of loneliness. 

At least he has his robots. Until they reveal themselves to be better at being him than he is. Is it imposter syndrome if you know they are better than you? 

What could’ve easily been a shallow send up of the Superman-esque uberhero, Penultiman is a surprisingly personal story about not being deserving. Tom Peyer (The Wrong Earth, Dragonfly and Dragonflyman) turns a one joke concept into the most deeply impassioned exploration of the uberhero since Morrison’s The Multiversity: Mastermen. It maintains Ahoy’s humorous tone while adding a deep layer of sadness creating a comic that feels reminiscent of both Christopher Guest and Pre-Crisis DC. 

The art here helps balance the tone. It could’ve easily drifted into grim-dark tone or even simply comedy of suffering. But the art by Alan Robinson (Planet of the Nerds, Secret Battles of Genghis Khan) and colors by Lee Loughridge* (Ruby Falls, The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask) gives the comic a vibrancy that balances out every tragedy. It is a delight to watch Penultiman suffer indignity after indignity.

The character designs are bright and varied with influence pulled from across the spectrum. The world feels real and dynamic, yet only one step away from a cartoon. The lines are heavy and dynamic. Character burst out of the page. Emotions overwhelm. Even a distant frame of our hero screaming in failure is packed with more emotion than you’ll find anywhere else this week. 

With bright reds and blues all over the main world, there is a classic feel to the world. The ultimate future being offset versions of this same color palette immediately give off the sense of disconnect we know is there. Penultiman doesn’t belong and everything lets us know this, even if he is in denial. 

It is such a fresh and fun comic made around a core of absolute misery - something all the best comedies are. It comes together to create a unique and dynamic reading experience with all the fun of superheroes laced with just the right amount of arsenic. 

Ahoy has consistently been releasing high quality comics and this is just another notch in the belt. Hopefully someone will let Penultiman know that. He needs the self esteem boost. 

Overall: Penultiman #1 is a dynamic, fun and deeply sad first issue to a comic that has so much on its mind. Whether you want a discussion of depression or a fun superhero adventure, this has it all. 9/10

*Lee Loughridge has quickly become one of my favorite colorists. I do my best when reviewing comics to not check the creative team before reading. I don’t want it to bias my reviews. However, almost everytime I read something and love the coloring, lo and behold Lee Loughridge’s name is on it. 

REVIEW - Penultiman #1

Penultiman #1
Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Alan Robinson 
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Rob Steen
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
Price: $3.99 
From the pages of the AHOY interactive sensation Steel Cage! Penultiman, The Next-To-Last-Stage In Human Evolution, is the greatest, best-looking, and most admired super-hero in the world! So how can he stop hating himself? His android understudy, Antepenultiman, thinks he knows the answer! Created by Tom Peyer and Alan Robinson. All AHOY books feature additional prose stores and art.
Release Date: October 7, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Penultiman #1

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My name is Jacob Cordas (@jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.