The Life and Times of Savior 28

The Life and Times of Savior 28 was written by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Cavallaro.

The Life and Times of Savior 28 is a great story that tries to analyze whether violence is the answer to our problems. Comic book superheroes always solve problems with violence and our world also solves problems with violence. We often think that war is necessary (Obama even mentioned this while receiving the Nobel Peace prize), but why do we have to think this? I think the comic does a very good job of making the reader argue this in his head, while also reading a very good story on paper and illustrated magnificently by the artist.

My favorite line in the book, comes close to the start, it is as follows:

"It's funny, y'know? and kind of Sad.
Never once...in all the decades I spent solving every problem with my fists-
did anyone ever accuse me of preaching violence.
But now...when I talk about finding another way...a better way...for us to live...
...they're always accusing me of ramming my views down people's throats..."

I think this speech is at the heart of what the book is about. But before this sounds too preachy, I must add that there is another very good character in the book that exemplifies realism, a character that believes that war is sometimes necessary. The book has two great characters Savior 28, the idealist and Dennis the realist (reminds me of Quixote and Sancho Panza). The story makes one think and reason to find what is the best approach. The author doesn't claim to know the answer, his just showing a side that we never see in comics, a critique on the level of violence in comics.

With respect to the art, I think the art was very good. Sometimes the art is able to tell the story without words and when many words are necessary the art is able to give a great picture that reflects the idea behind the words.

It was interesting to me, to find out that J.M. DeMatteis had planned this story at first for his Captain America run in the 80s. His plan was to have Captain America become a peace activist, then the other heroes would oppose him and eventually he would be killed. They didn't allow him to write that, but 25 years later we get this fantastic story where he can make his own universe as a background to his hero and story. It seems that the political climate is even better now than in the 80s for this story. As a Captain America story it would have been much wider recognized among comic book fans, but I am glad that he was able to tell a self contained story where his work can be changed later by other authors (as an example, DeMatteis has a great issue of Spider-man where Aunt May dies. The issue is excellent, but later on, Aunt May came back to life with another writer).

This is a great book and it deserves to be read by more people. Check it out.