Ace-Face: The Mod With the Metal Arms

by Mike Dawson

This would be a good example of a convention impulse buy, based on the fact that I like Adhouse books, the publishers of the amazing Johnny Hiro.  I'm not sure if the stories in this book were published before in the Project: Superior anthology or if this is the first they've appeared, but this work was new to me.

Colin Turney was born without arms, and his strange scientist uncle crafted a pair of metal, super-strong arms for him.  Of course, he gave adult-sized arms to a baby, and so Colin had a rough time of it growing up.  Once he became fully grown, he fought crime in 60s London, before moving to the US and becoming a college professor.

Ace-Face gives us a few different stories from Colin's life, and they are charming and interesting examples of indie superhero comics.  The book also has a couple of stories about 'Son of Ace-Face', Colin's indecisive and easily frightened son, and his exploits dealing with the noisy stoop dwellers of Park Slope.  There are also two stories featuring Jack and Max, a pair of super-powered brothers who always fight.

This is a quick, fun read.  There's nothing here that is going to stick with me, but it was a nice diversion on a summer's afternoon.