Pink Raygun Reviews: Welcome to Tranquility (1-6)

Tagged with: gail simone

I have the first three issues of lots of comic series’ in my closet. My general rule is to give a series three issues to grab my attention and get me invested in the characters. In the past few months, most comics haven’t been doing that for me, and it was getting pretty irritating. I initially resisted Welcome to Tranquility because I was feeling negative that day and didn’t feel like being disappointed again. Recently, I picked it up and immediately fell in love with it. Now I feel silly.

I really like the concept – a town that is entirely made up of former Maxi Comic superheroes and their families – and the whodunit aspect of Welcome to Tranquility. The first three issues, even though they’re dealing with a murder, are pretty lighthearted and quirky. We’re meeting the characters, learning about the retired heroes’ backgrounds through their old comics and seeing how that has played out in their retirement.

Most of them have kept the trappings of their former superhero-hood – Judge Fury still wears his mask as the mayor of Tranquility, Pink Bunny runs the Chick ‘N Go diner and insists on wearing her pink bunny outfit, which is basically lingerie. Formerly plucky aviatrix Minxy Millions is now riddled with senility, but has more money than an oil cartel, and is constantly building one crazy airplane after another. Maximum Man, who has a magic word that grants his super powers, much like Captain Marvel, has forgotten his magic word and wanders around town in his costume randomly shouting out foreign words in hopes of finding the right one.

That’s good stuff by itself. Then we meet the superheroes’ grandkids, formerly The Tranquili-Teens, who grew up to be a Goth gang called The Liberty Snots. I liked them as a concept, but as characters the only one that was really compelling was Ajita, who got the most page time.

Issues four through six took a different tone and became darker than the first three issues. The humor all but disappeared and Welcome to Tranquility became more like the average adventure comic, which disappointed me. The resolution of the murder mystery and the reveal of the town secret felt totally rushed. Issue six in particular felt really disconnected and jarring.

After six issues, I like Welcome to Tranquility enough to keep going with it. I like Gail Simone’s writing style and the concept is solid. Run out and buy it. Now!

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