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Project Patron
Thirty years ago, the world watched in horror as THE PATRON, a hero sent as humanitarian aid from a different dimension, went punch for punch with WOE, a primordial beast and a perfect match for our mighty protector. In the end, hero and villain alike fell…but the Patron returned – and continues to defend us to this day!
At least, that’s what we’ve all been told.
The truth is, the Patron died that day along with Woe. The UN replaced the Patron with a Reploid, designed to mimic the real Patron and continue on his mission of protection.
Today, the Patron Reploid is secretly piloted by an elite team – a team prepared for anything… except for the death of one of their own.
A deep dive into the underside of the superhero mythos as only writer Steve Orlando (KILL A MAN, Midnighter, Martian Manhunter) can tell it. Illustrated by Patrick Piazzalunga (Siege, X-Factor).
At least, that’s what we’ve all been told.
The truth is, the Patron died that day along with Woe. The UN replaced the Patron with a Reploid, designed to mimic the real Patron and continue on his mission of protection.
Today, the Patron Reploid is secretly piloted by an elite team – a team prepared for anything… except for the death of one of their own.
A deep dive into the underside of the superhero mythos as only writer Steve Orlando (KILL A MAN, Midnighter, Martian Manhunter) can tell it. Illustrated by Patrick Piazzalunga (Siege, X-Factor).
120 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 2, 2022
What if Superman didn't actually return at the end of Reign of the Supermen? What if it was a robot put together by the UN instead? It's 30 years later and Lex Luthor has discovered the truth. I wasn't a fan of the ending. It's basically a cliffhanger with the hopes that Aftershock gives Orlando another miniseries. Yeah, not great.
January 18, 2022
Ever wonder what would happen if Reign of the Supermen had a different direction? Because this is a fanfic version of that scenario, there's even a few comments about how some people say Superman's humanity separates him from other superheroes.
Thankfully this issue spends a great amount of time going into how a paragonal example inspires people to act in his absence. With the old Commander having a more tragic sense of loss than the titular Superman expy, his loss feels pronounced and throughout. The pilot team who take up the ruse have great chemistry when they try to work out their issues and the sense of responsibility that comes with it. And that ending... man that felt like something grave was coming.
Thankfully this issue spends a great amount of time going into how a paragonal example inspires people to act in his absence. With the old Commander having a more tragic sense of loss than the titular Superman expy, his loss feels pronounced and throughout. The pilot team who take up the ruse have great chemistry when they try to work out their issues and the sense of responsibility that comes with it. And that ending... man that felt like something grave was coming.
January 16, 2022
Way back when, the Romans killed Jesus, but he resurrected. Whoops, I mean Doomsday killed Superman, but he resurrected. Gosh darn it, I meant Woe – he, he killed The Patron, although it was also his last deed. The Patron, the saviour of humankind and manufacturers of Lycra alike, also happily resurrected. Except he didn't. What Earth now has as Super-saviour is a peculiar entity, a Pretend-Patron, one that can be piloted by one of several ultra-top-highest-of-high-secret soldiers, who each lose a year off their life by inhabiting it, depending on whether diplomacy, subterfuge or sheer lumpen muscle are needed. But as hard and fast as that set-up can feel, some things can always be changed...
Despite the obvious ways this riffs off rather old stories, there is just about enough that is new here, and no I wasn't referring to the cuss "Christing shit!". It's just that there is too much that is old and lame, too. The baddie is bland AF, snacking on some reproductive bits of sharks yes, but generally being as menacing as an Ed Sheeran ballad. The book tries to be one of those that drops you in to a world and let you figure it out, so yack is yacked about suspects and enemies of old, and we just have to go with the flow of jumping on board the narrative at the key time. But I think that helps build the biggest sin here – the lack of threat and of perceived consequence.
The movie "Hellboy 2" is the biggest sin known where this is concerned – casting itself with no end of non-human characters both good and bad and showing so few humans it's never once obvious that any one side besting the other means bugger all to any of us. And this world, this poorly-constructed world, is the same. The Ubermenschen pilots of Pretend-Patron? They're not us. Mr Embryo Eater? Means naff all. There's a huge hole, where the import and value of The Patron should sit, and it's empty. The book is designed around the faith, or Faith, we are supposed to have in him, or Him, and there's not a glimpse at why he was ever needed, what he did on the day-to-day for the average believer, and why a threat to him should ever be of the reader's concern.
The book, the plot and the conceit of it all – they all demand we are like the proles in the story, looking up to Superman, Jesus, The Patron, and having the rug pulled out from under our feet. These pages never once give us that feeling, and nowhere is it shown how Earth might change one jot if the truth was known. Because of that, this is just an empty homage to Superman being killed off, and is a book that can't see how little currency that story has all the years down the line, when we know it meant little in the greater picture. That said, this is even more meaningless.
Despite the obvious ways this riffs off rather old stories, there is just about enough that is new here, and no I wasn't referring to the cuss "Christing shit!". It's just that there is too much that is old and lame, too. The baddie is bland AF, snacking on some reproductive bits of sharks yes, but generally being as menacing as an Ed Sheeran ballad. The book tries to be one of those that drops you in to a world and let you figure it out, so yack is yacked about suspects and enemies of old, and we just have to go with the flow of jumping on board the narrative at the key time. But I think that helps build the biggest sin here – the lack of threat and of perceived consequence.
The movie "Hellboy 2" is the biggest sin known where this is concerned – casting itself with no end of non-human characters both good and bad and showing so few humans it's never once obvious that any one side besting the other means bugger all to any of us. And this world, this poorly-constructed world, is the same. The Ubermenschen pilots of Pretend-Patron? They're not us. Mr Embryo Eater? Means naff all. There's a huge hole, where the import and value of The Patron should sit, and it's empty. The book is designed around the faith, or Faith, we are supposed to have in him, or Him, and there's not a glimpse at why he was ever needed, what he did on the day-to-day for the average believer, and why a threat to him should ever be of the reader's concern.
The book, the plot and the conceit of it all – they all demand we are like the proles in the story, looking up to Superman, Jesus, The Patron, and having the rug pulled out from under our feet. These pages never once give us that feeling, and nowhere is it shown how Earth might change one jot if the truth was known. Because of that, this is just an empty homage to Superman being killed off, and is a book that can't see how little currency that story has all the years down the line, when we know it meant little in the greater picture. That said, this is even more meaningless.
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January 23, 2022I've not got on too well with the Steve Orlando stuff I'd read recently, and was wondering if I'd have to shunt him to the same 'started well, but now approach with caution' list as the likes of Matthew Rosenberg and Donny Cates. Nor did the art here do much to allay my fears – you could argue that idealised cover is meant to look a bit off, the body doing things even superhuman bodies don't do a neat little clue, but the first interior page seems to be going for something grittier by far, and that comes off equally comical. Then there's the premise, essentially relitigating the Death of Superman. What If* Superman had stayed dead, but to give the impression that he'd survived, a secret science project had taken control of a clone or robot double or something (in a nice touch of superhero science, the term used here is the perfectly imprecise 'reploid'), its members taking turns depending on the particular specialties each mission required? Sacrificing normal lives, and a year of their life each time from the stress of a human body mirroring superhuman feats and senses, to make the world feel safe? And then what if that team were to start cracking up? And as it starts to play out, and notwithstanding the fact that calling the dead hero 'the Patron' does tend to confirm that the well of good names for Superman analogues is even drier than the well of decent band names, I decided – yeah, actually, that is a good premise, isn't it? What follows gets a bit muddy in places, but I love that at one point it's the good guys' plan which relies on knowing "belief is an antidote to truth".
*Yes, I know What If is the other guys, but Elseworlds mostly tended not to go to one specific event later in a hero's life in quite the same way.
(Edelweiss ARC)
*Yes, I know What If is the other guys, but Elseworlds mostly tended not to go to one specific event later in a hero's life in quite the same way.
(Edelweiss ARC)
October 4, 2021
The Patron is our superhero. 30 years ago, he defeated Woe, the killer of the dinosaurs. Everyone thought both died.
Except the U.N. stepped in and created a project where humans would control a mechanized Patron, though the side effects include losing years of their lives. They also feel the pain the Patron has, though it's all mental.
Moro Ignatz is a spy for the U.N. (though not to the extent he realizes), and is brought on by Commander Kone to be the Patron's compassion. He's also a therapist for the group. Nadia Ketz pilots for the scientific missions and investigates a crash from issue 1. Davin Deir is the muscle pilot and very emotionally attached to Kone. Lena Yvonne is Kone's second and takes over when Kone dies in the aforementioned crash.
People need faith in a hero, especially given the group's antagonist, Mammon. Everyone is affected by the death, and all pitch in to figure out what happened. Was it suicide or an integrated attack by Mammon?
Since someone takes over the mech after Kone dies and quickly flies the Patron away, the world wonders if their hero has truly abandoned them. The four understand they can't let this happen. When Woe returns, they must do what the real Patron couldn't, and work together as a cohesive group--not individually like the Patron was piloted before.
Mammon gives an ultimatum to truly destroy the world's faith in the Patron, and to make them distrust the Project and the U.N.
But what the hell at the end? That was an odd cliffhanger type thing and I really hope we get a second arc.
Except the U.N. stepped in and created a project where humans would control a mechanized Patron, though the side effects include losing years of their lives. They also feel the pain the Patron has, though it's all mental.
Moro Ignatz is a spy for the U.N. (though not to the extent he realizes), and is brought on by Commander Kone to be the Patron's compassion. He's also a therapist for the group. Nadia Ketz pilots for the scientific missions and investigates a crash from issue 1. Davin Deir is the muscle pilot and very emotionally attached to Kone. Lena Yvonne is Kone's second and takes over when Kone dies in the aforementioned crash.
People need faith in a hero, especially given the group's antagonist, Mammon. Everyone is affected by the death, and all pitch in to figure out what happened. Was it suicide or an integrated attack by Mammon?
Since someone takes over the mech after Kone dies and quickly flies the Patron away, the world wonders if their hero has truly abandoned them. The four understand they can't let this happen. When Woe returns, they must do what the real Patron couldn't, and work together as a cohesive group--not individually like the Patron was piloted before.
Mammon gives an ultimatum to truly destroy the world's faith in the Patron, and to make them distrust the Project and the U.N.
But what the hell at the end? That was an odd cliffhanger type thing and I really hope we get a second arc.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews