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One-Star Squadron
One-Star Squadron (2021-) #2
Meet Minute Man, the greatest hero probably never heard of! It’s not easy being Red (Tornado)! As the boss, he’s got everyone relying on him for their next paycheck. Enter Minute Man, a 1990s has-been superhero looking for 15 more minutes of fame…or at least a way to pay for Miraclo pills. Without them, he’s a super-zero and he’s willing to do anything for one more chance at power. How far will he go? Meet Metropolis Comic Con’s newest special guest!
26 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2022
About the author
Mark Russell
455 books399 followersMark Russell is the author of God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also writes the comic book series Prez and The Flintstones for DC Comics. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 26, 2026
This series continues to blow me away with how it handles these characters, they feel so lived. Only to turn a page to see the writer himself, lmao. No updates on gangbuster this issue, but we do get an issue spotlight on the daily trials and tribulations of minute man as since the VA cut off the provision of Miraclo pills, which they originally got him hooked on and are required for his minute of peeper, he has to go out into the streets to pay even more for them. He even resorts to trying to trade a copy of the movie they made about him (which was after 9/11 so it very promptly features the twin towers) only to end up with only one pill. As we get into the office we see the usual as G.I.Robot is talking on the phone about their online as well as on-site training classes. But then red tornado stands up to make an announcement as they have a big job coming up, and anyone interested he wants to meet in the conference room. Minute man of course jumps on the chance as he really needs this, but Red can’t justify putting Terry in that kind of danger alongside his partner. Minute man storms out of the room as he really sees this as ruining Red’s reputation and not the companies or anyone else. But Red does have one assignment he can take for a birthday party gig. Terry is sick of those and once again starts complaining about how his movie has made everyone hate him…but he needs it. Ultimately the job is given to plastic man and firehawk, definitely some of the heavy hitters, as power girl uses the groans from the rest as a chance to spread dissent against red tornado.
Minute man arrives at the party and it doesn’t go well, none of the kids know who he is or the movie made about him and the selfie he has with Superman makes it look like he paid for it. The dad isn’t happy, especially after learning that Minute Man’s powers really only last for a minute. But now it’s showtime, as he pops a pull and sets the timer off. He flies for the kids, he lifts a car, and then the final act as he hands the kids really hard hammers to throw at him so they just bounce off…but once 45 seconds hit suddenly the hammers start to really hurt and the kids don’t stop until the dad notices that minute man is on the ground bleeding. Terry went from getting a cast directly to the dealer he bought from to shake him down for giving him a bad pill that almost killed him, but these are street rules and there is no guarantee that they will work as intended. The high level protection job seems to be going well between Lex Luthor, who hired his own henchmen, and a tech mogul looking to sell his business called cannon fodder. The whole gig is just sitting around waiting for something to happen that never does. Plastic man and firebird get a chance to talk to the villains about the company they work for, turns out they have much better rates but you have to be a villain…but as sportsmaster points out…who can really tell anymore.
Turns out the account that hired minute man for the party tried to call about giving a zero start review and canceled their account. Red suggests that minute man take a break from the hero work to go back to the office for a bit, but minute man worked his entire life to be a hero and he doesn’t want to put that dream down. Is there anything else red can give him? Turns out there is, but there isn’t a lot of dignity with it as the next time we see minute man it’s at a metropolis comic con booth. The booth isn’t going well, and hilariously he is setup next to the author of this book, Mark Russel, who directs Terry to the VIP room where he got some food from. But Terry is only a guest, not a VIP, so when he goes back to start enjoying the spread he is promptly kicked out by some of the staff and when he didn’t leave they drag in security to pull him out where he is then banned from any future metropolis celebricon events. Minute man has to beg for a phone call as he takes a minute to think of someone he can call to help him…only to break down crying as he can’t think of anyone. He eventually calls Ted tornado, who starts to rush out to go and help Terry…only to be met with the rest of the heroz4u branch as power girl has gotten all of them plus the board of directors on her side to orchestrate a change in leadership.
Minute man arrives at the party and it doesn’t go well, none of the kids know who he is or the movie made about him and the selfie he has with Superman makes it look like he paid for it. The dad isn’t happy, especially after learning that Minute Man’s powers really only last for a minute. But now it’s showtime, as he pops a pull and sets the timer off. He flies for the kids, he lifts a car, and then the final act as he hands the kids really hard hammers to throw at him so they just bounce off…but once 45 seconds hit suddenly the hammers start to really hurt and the kids don’t stop until the dad notices that minute man is on the ground bleeding. Terry went from getting a cast directly to the dealer he bought from to shake him down for giving him a bad pill that almost killed him, but these are street rules and there is no guarantee that they will work as intended. The high level protection job seems to be going well between Lex Luthor, who hired his own henchmen, and a tech mogul looking to sell his business called cannon fodder. The whole gig is just sitting around waiting for something to happen that never does. Plastic man and firebird get a chance to talk to the villains about the company they work for, turns out they have much better rates but you have to be a villain…but as sportsmaster points out…who can really tell anymore.
Turns out the account that hired minute man for the party tried to call about giving a zero start review and canceled their account. Red suggests that minute man take a break from the hero work to go back to the office for a bit, but minute man worked his entire life to be a hero and he doesn’t want to put that dream down. Is there anything else red can give him? Turns out there is, but there isn’t a lot of dignity with it as the next time we see minute man it’s at a metropolis comic con booth. The booth isn’t going well, and hilariously he is setup next to the author of this book, Mark Russel, who directs Terry to the VIP room where he got some food from. But Terry is only a guest, not a VIP, so when he goes back to start enjoying the spread he is promptly kicked out by some of the staff and when he didn’t leave they drag in security to pull him out where he is then banned from any future metropolis celebricon events. Minute man has to beg for a phone call as he takes a minute to think of someone he can call to help him…only to break down crying as he can’t think of anyone. He eventually calls Ted tornado, who starts to rush out to go and help Terry…only to be met with the rest of the heroz4u branch as power girl has gotten all of them plus the board of directors on her side to orchestrate a change in leadership.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2022
A superhero series yet to have any battles, featuring mostly unknown or C-List heroes and that I put on my pull list for one reason and one reason alone, Power Girl--
Well the series is 2 issues deep and I completely love it, totally unique and willing to try something completely off beat and funny, sad and heartbreaking with twists of betrayal.
Yup I'll definently be collecting this whole series.
Well the series is 2 issues deep and I completely love it, totally unique and willing to try something completely off beat and funny, sad and heartbreaking with twists of betrayal.
Yup I'll definently be collecting this whole series.
January 19, 2022
This is shaping up to be a really strong miniseries. I’m all down for a satirical critique of gig economy precarity and Mark Russell is hitting all the right notes…well, there are a couple of bits that fall flat but it’s really good overall. Plus, Russell strikes just the right balance of humor and pathos. The workroom procedural drama that’s driving the overall narrative arc isn’t super compelling but so far the self-contained stories in the individual issues have been really really poignant.
January 6, 2022
Fun book, I like seeing this run down and unglamorous side of the DCU. Lieber really is perfect for these funny books. Still confused why Power Girl is part of this but I'm glad she's there.
January 24, 2022
This comic is starting to get depressing at this point, and Power Girl still doesn't feel like herself.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews