ArchEnemies #1-4
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: Drew Melbourne
Pencils: Yvel Guichet
Inks: Joe Rubinstein
Colors: Rick Hiltbrunner
Lettering: Jim Keplinger
Designer: Josh Elliott
Editor: Philip Simon

26 pages (#1, 4), 22 pages (#2-3)

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Premise: Underlord and Star Fighter are arch enemies. In the guise of their alter egos, they also happen to be roommates. Hijinks ensue.

Synopsis:

Issue #1 opens inside a trashed apartment. This is Vincent Darko, a.k.a. Underlord. He seems like a fairly normal guy except for the fact that he’s controlling a huge killer robot outside as it battles Star Fire. The cat knocks over a glass of something, and Vincent goes looking for a mop. We get a glimpse of what squalor he lives in (we assume due to his roommate), and he can’t decide if he hates Star Fighter or his roommate more. Meanwhile, Star Fighter defeats the giant robot, switches into his civvies, and goes home. He notices he doesn’t has his keys, knocks, and who should answer but Vincent. Vincent takes the opportunity to torment his roommate, and leaves him in the hall to suffer while he cleans the apartment.

And that’s the first five pages.

Ethan Baxter is the alter-ego of Star Fighter. He’s got a regular office job with a cute blue-haired girl named Trish Darrow. Vincent is a full-time villain. He’s like a computer science major if you ever lived with one of those in college. Their home life is anything you may have become accustomed to in college. Ethan throws parties without consulting Vincent and has loud sex with Trish. Vincent listens to Ethan and Trish having sex and interviews potential lackeys while Ethan is at work.

Vincent attempts to become a member of an organization of secret villains known as The Masked Circle. His father is a member, and Vincent disappoints both his father and himself when he is not allowed to join due to his pre-existing feud with Star Fighter. After his rejection, he and Ethan become the focus of each others’ ire. Vincent tries to kill Ethan time and again, and Ethan only thinks that the Underlord has finally figured out his secret identity. He breaks it off with Trish to keep her safe, and goes home to apologize to Vincent only to find that Vincent’s father is dead.

Ethan drives Vincent to the funeral at the family estate. The funeral is interrupted by Vincent’s brother’s attack. Both Ethan and Vincent make excuses to run and hide. Ethan thinks that the Underlord has followed him and ruined Vincent’s father’s funeral. The Underlord can’t figure out why Star Fighter is there. Star Fighter gets really angry and threatens to kill everyone for defiling the funeral. Everyone leaves to regroup.

Issue #4 is the finale, and instead of wrapping everything up nice and tight, it leaves it open for a regular series. Vincent and his sister go through the reading of their father’s will. Later, the Underlord seeks out Star Fighter for a climactic battle that we only see in brief flashback. The majority of the book is a conversation between Ethan and his father that doesn’t seem to end well. We then hearken back to the locked door shtick from the beginning of the first issue, and call it a day.

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Review:

This series has been collected in trade paperback form, and is set for release either tomorrow (as per Diamond) or next week (as per Dark Horse). Either way, I’ve got the original four issues kicking around here, so I may as well review them for you, no?

This series is just great fun. If you like things like the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League or The Venture Bros., then this is for you.

Melbourne does an excellent job capturing the roommate dynamic in both subtle detail and mind-blowing explosions. Can anyone who has ever had roommates say that nothing like this has ever happened to them or crossed their mind as a possibility? In fact, Matt and I had this one roommate that I’m sure was some sort of evil - well, maybe not genius - but we’ll go with mastermind.

Melbourne’s pacing is swift and just keeps going from the first page. The only time it really slows down is in the last issue.

And I’m still not entirely sure what that’s about. It was kind of a letdown given the pacing and way the rest of the mini-series was playing out. Melbourne and company were really counting on Dark Horse continuing the series in some way - or at least loyal fans badgering Dark Horse into scheduling a volume 2. Melbourne actually addresses this in his Scryptic Studios column here. He kind of apologizes for introducing a new status quo instead of, you know, writing an ending, but he had his reasons. I just hope that there is a volume two to finish it off.

Anywho…

The art is excellent. Guichet’s got some skills, and Rubinstein and Hiltbrunner are definitely pros who make his work look GOOD. The colors here especially caught my eye. They’re brilliant without being annoying.

This is a superhero book, but it’s also about relationships - Ethan with Victor, Ethan with Trish, Victor with his family, Ethan with his dad. There are plenty of subplots to keep us interested without tiring out the main plot of roommate vs. roommate. Melbourne’s got a good storytelling head on his shoulders.

There seems to be a bit of an underground marketing thing going on here too. It’s got to be more parts of Melbourne’s conspiracy he mentions in that article, but here are a few things to check out:

• For those looking for a more complete experience, Melbourne and company have created a few extended pieces for your consideration. There are prose entries in the back matter of the issues (don’t know if it’ll make it to the TPB). Also, sideline character Trish Darrow has her own MySpace page.
• The movie has been optioned, and Sam Raimi’s name is getting thrown around, so keep an eye on that.
• There is a trailer for the TPB that is on every ArchEnemies-related site out there (including the official website). For your convenience, it is linked via YouTube below.