Cover complete digital edition of The Ten Seconders published 1 March 2016

(3) ROB WILLIAMS –

THE TEN-SECONDERS (2005-2013)

“If you meet a ‘God’ you expect to just last ten seconds, correct? I only counted to eight.”

Beware the Superman!

I have a soft spot for stories that are wary of superheroes (and tend to feature the trope of Cape Busters as their hope spot) – there’s Grant Morrison’s Zenith in its entry in my top ten comics and it also bubbles beneath the surface of Adam Warren’s Empowered in its entry as well. And of course – Garth Ennis’ The Boys.

And oh boy do you have to beware the superman in Rob Williams’ The Ten Seconders. Set in an post-apocalyptic world in which the apocalypse has been brought about by superpowered beings called “Gods” resembling archetypal superheroes in comics – out of boredom no less (and a sense of innate superiority), although they initially presented themselves as benevolent. The few surviving humans who opposed the “Gods” are dubbed “Ten-Seconders” because that is how long they are expected to last against their other-worldly enemies. They’re also fond of quoting Nietzsche (“God is dead”) but a little more pointed than Nietzsche’s original metaphor.

RATING:

A-TIER (TOP TIER)