From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates

Minor Threats

by Patton Oswalt, Tim Seeley, Jordan Blum

Spinning out of the world of the hit Minor Threats superhero series created by Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, and Scott Hepburn comes a new tale of costumed underdogs—featuring a support group for superheroes, struggling to reclaim their mediocre lives after tasting their true potential.

Mary the Multi-Monster! The Tripper! Crab Louie! Kid Curious! Persona! These offbeat b-list superheroes, formerly known as The Alternates, seemingly sacrificed themselves to stop an invasion from another dimension. Instead they were transported to a mirror reality where they lived complex lives in a more four-dimensional existence—expanding both their powers and consciousness.

Five years later they've returned to Twilight City, struggling to reacclimate to their old lives in a traditional two-dimensional superhero world—in withdrawal from the vivid ones they left behind. When elements from this alternate reality turn up as a dangerous new street drug, some of the heroes band together to destroy it, while others succumb to its temptation.

Illustrated by Tess Fowler (Rat Queens) and Christopher Mitten (Hellboy, 30 Days of Night) and featuring pinups by Fabio Moon, Tony Fleecs, Ryan Browne, Martin Simmonds, and more!

Collects The Alternates #1–#4.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Superheroes

Kindle Edition

Published April 16, 2024

About the author

Patton Oswalt is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor.

His first wife was the late Michelle McNamara.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here we have the Alternates, a literally alternate group of superheroes from the main Minor Threats group, and it feels muuuch too early to start throwing around alternate groups. I barely got to know the core group, I find it hard to care about yet another group.

The story is dense, there's a lot of story to chomp through, and I think the chosen template to be used for every issue/chapter gets in the way of storytelling - every issue is told from the POV of one of the Alternates.

The art is pretty great!

2.5 stars

(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Matthew Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The characters really shine the brightest in this one, and I really enjoy the overall story, but the turn this one takes in the third issue gets a little too psychedelic for my liking. I was able to follow the plot enough, but a lot of it just didn’t resonate as super interesting for me. I enjoyed more of these characters back in their real lives as opposed to seeing them in action. Overall though, I’m definitely intrigued in the Minor Threats universe and I will continue to read more for sure.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprising to find a Minor Threats spin-off already, but I certainly enjoyed that series, so I was excited to delve into The Alternates. It follows a similar format, introducing a group of has-been superheroes who must save the world again. In this case, the "has-been" piece is because the heroes were shunted off into an alternate reality (where they really were capital-H Heroes) and are now struggling to acclimate to a world where they're basically sidekicks.

An intriguing setup and mystery involving a drug from the alternate reality never quite gels, though. I'm not sure I ever understood what the drug was or why it threatened the world. The individual Alternates are well-crafted and the artwork is superb, so I mostly enjoyed my time in this world, even if it wasn't as crisply defined as Minor Threats.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

In "From the World of Minor Threats: The Alternates" a bunch of disillusioned super heroes with whack-a-doodle powers attend group therapy sessions and manage some minor world saving while lamenting their return from the alternate dimension in which they held real power and were adored and respected. This one has a lot of potential, but does not have the same vim and vigor present in other "Minor Threats" offerings. Hopefully, that will change with the next volume.

[Ian Welke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just what I was looking for: a comics story with a wild hallucinatory ride. It reminds me a bit of the old Chris Claremont X-Men and New Mutants, where anything could happen. But it also seems like it's influenced by the early Vertigo years with Grant Morrison and Peter Milligan... and with a pinch of Ben Edlund's knack for creating an endless number of side characters who could easily be the subjects of great stories themselves.

Also there are at least 4 pages that if the art were a poster I'd gladly pick it up. Especially the cover art for Chapter 3.

[Clint · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
A side story in the Minor Threats setting, following washed up heroes this time instead of washed up villains. I’m still loving the lived-in Astro City vibe of the familiar but freshly imaginative world-building, but I was also reminded of Lemire’s early Black Hammer stories in the shift to focus on minor heroes who were disappeared to different realities for an extended time after fighting an existentially threatening big bad. And honestly, I enjoyed this as much as those early Black Hammer stories (and definitely more than the later BH miniseries that seemed to overstay all narrative momentum.)

The middling heroes have more pathos than usual as they struggle to fit back into their shared reality, particularly given how desirable their purgatory experiences were, and the trippy superhero plotting is surprising and original. Im looking forward to seeing these guys show up in the margins of future Minor Threats stories!

The A-list super team continues edging into the margins here, and it’s amusing to see their heavy influence without seeing much of any of them. It’ll be interesting to see if that remains the trend or if they’ll finally show up in force later on (either could work!)

[Centauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting universe of superheroes and supervillains? Yes. Good art? Yep! A concept that begs to be read? Hmm, okay, sure. The tale starts out with gravitas, sucking you in. C-list superheroes having to go to an A.A. type meeting to handle the fact that they once were in paradise but are now back/stuck in the crappy version of their life/world is a spectacular premise. But then it starts getting weird as the group investigates a new illicit drug on the streets; a little good-weird and a little bad-weird. The story paces well for an incredbile and potent reveal, only to stimper out of steam at the finish. Its just as bad as the "it was all a dream" trope. When its revealed what they are, they could have easily asked to be sent back, but the "noble heroes' heart" had them fighting their counterparts. For me, it made no sense the original good guys went bad. The insanity wasn'  played up enough. The underlying concept could have made for a great story arc, but this follow up to Minor Threats didn't pack any of the same punches as the first story in the series. I guess its encouraging to the characters that they kinda have a clean slate.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy the Minor Threats-iverse. The Alternates continues the theme of following C-team super-powered characters, in this case heroes who were sent in to deal with a universe warping situation because if powerful heroes were "turned" it might be catastrophic for the world. I'm still unclear how I feel about the ending and whether it was in fact true that the characters we follow are copies and not the originals, who stayed behind in the warped universe. I feel it somewhat undercuts what we as readers feel when that happens.

The art remains perfectly suited to the story.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was alright. It felt like something that would have popped up at Vertigo back in the day. Don't expect Patton Oswalt's humor in this. This is a straight up take on minor superheroes that have saved the world. They spent years in another dimension where they reached their full potential. Now they are back in the real world and have formed a support group now that they are back to their normal minor selves. They are on the hunt for a new street drug, one that originates in The Ledge (where they returned from).

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 78/101 for 2024. I may have liked this one even better than the original volume of Minor Threats. A really thought-provoking story about lower-tier supers (basically what kind of things would evolve in a world where not every super has to be kept viable to feed the never-ending IP needs of a megacorporaton). Hope Patton keeps doing more weird stuff like this!

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed it more than Minor Threats Vol 1, since I felt the story held together better. However, I still found it tried to cram too much in: a weird psychedelic mystery, with a whole world and different superpowered individuals you've never heard of, and then changing the POV character in every issue? There's no time for any of it to breathe.

[Manuel Ruiz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the characters were interesting but the story was too confusing.
I could not distinguish which version was which in the end fight. Well, I did not care, anyway.
It is true that I have not read the previous stories but this did nothing to make me want to.

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is in the vein of those weird, apparently drug-addled comics — or “comix” — from the 70s. I never could really follow them because the story connections were so tenuous. Pretty much the same here, except it’s easier to follow the specific beats of the plot, just not the overarching weirdness.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun world!

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Watch me give up on this story within 7 pages. It's just....
No.

Art style threw me from the start.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had a Grant Morrison Doom Patrol vibe, which I don't mind, but there wasn't quite enough character development for my taste. I would give it 3.25 stars.

[Sara Zia · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5stars) This one wasn't for me--artwork, characters and storyline didn't engage me. But could see others enjoying it!

[Richard Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little difficult to follow but over all a decent book. Great art!

[Mee Too · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

It’s like doom patrol but not funny. I feel like this was written by a addict in recovery who wanted to write something nice about their support groups.

3.1 ⭐️

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delight.

[Michael Daines · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5)

“The Alternates, Vol. 1” takes place in the world of “Minor Threats”, but in a completely separate storyline.

The story stands on its own without having read the other books first, though you might miss some of the world building. Like volume one of “Minor Threats”, each chapter is centered on the perspective of one of the minor league heroes, all who helped defeat a threat in the past which the most powerful superheroes didn’t want to risk taking on.

Recommended if you liked the other books, I enjoyed this more than volume 2.