Review by Frank Plowright
Ahead of a surprise continuation of Quincred!ble four years after the series was last seen, Oni Press combined the previous two volumes of Quin’s unpredictable journey as a superhero.
Quin’s grown up in New Orleans, where a devastating meteor shower followed shortly after Hurricane Katrina. After that combination people started developing super powers, Quin among them, but he undervalues his invulnerability until other heroes point out the positives.
Rodney Barnes is updating the Spider-Man template of a smart and good-natured, if perhaps somewhat withdrawn teenager suddenly being confronted with great power equating to responsibility. Yet, having established that, Barnes has enough ideas of his own to ensure Quin is no 21st century copy, but very much his own character. Unlike Spider-Man, Quin isn’t a proactive superhero, but someone who prioritises his ordinary life, not least the pursuit of potential girlfriend Brittany. A departure from predictability is that she’s not greatly interested. When Quin is acting as a superhero it’s often coping with real world problems such as bullies and crooked developers, which can lead to generic threats, but it keeps Quin grounded.
Quin’s world is an attractive one, and that’s down to Selina Espiritu, whose storytelling ensures clarity, and it’s matched with a talent for design, best seen on Quin himself, and Glow, the superhero he eventually sees most often. Her art switches between what were original collections The Quest to be the Best and The Hero Within. The first is heavy on shadow and light contrasts, but colourist Kelly Fitzpatrick adds the visual depth on the second, also ensuring the present is distinguished from flashbacks.
A big superhero dust-up occurs between the two volumes, but Barnes minimises the need to pick up other books to understand what’s happened by concentrating on how it effects Quin.
A light touch characterises Quincred!ble throughout, and people who bemoan that superhero comics are no longer enjoyable and have become too dark will find this activates their nostalgia button by being fun, yet contemporary. Quin’s adventures continue in A Better World.
