Review by Frank Plowright

This second volume of Super Human Resources immediately ranks higher than volume one by virtue of Armando Zanker being a cartoonist able to bring some life and energy to the cast. Everyone receives a makeover, ranging from slight to complete, but they’re essentially the same Super Crises Squad characters or support staff. Ken Marcus also changes his approach, plotting a four chapter story instead of connected one page set-up and punchline gags.

In Season One there was a plot to close down the Super Crises Squad, and it would have succeeded if not for that meddling temp. Tim was rewarded with a full time HR post, but the threat remains, this time co-ordinated by a more obvious villain, and the other major problem is the parents of alien superhero Plasmarella calling to see what she’s been up to. Turns out she’s a Princess back on her homeworld, and that comes with certain obligations.

Marcus still needs to work on his pacing, but this time round the plot is sound enough, as are the complications introduced to ensure things don’t run to plan. The basis of the Plasmarella plot was introduced concerning Starfire in New Teen Titans shortly after she arrived on Earth, but Marcus pastiches that well enough, while satirising some other aliens whose functions have always been a little suspect. While Tim as an ordinary human remains central, there’s a wider remit than jokes about expenses forms and health insurance. The greater ambition of the plots is sold by Zanker’s neat cartooning. We can believe in the cast because they now have an animated gloss to them, and he packs the panels. Season Two is a far better outing than Season One, but with nothing seen since, seems to have been the end of the line for Super Human Resources.