Truth, Justin, and the American Way

It's the complete first season of the greatest show you never saw: the classic tale of guy gets girl, guy finds super-suit, guy gains FBI nemesis, guy loses girl, guy loses car, FBI gets girl... well, you get the idea. You'll think it's the '80s all over again as Justin and his friends fight to keep his wedding from collapsing while fending off the feds' who want his ultra-powered outfit.


A small review of it:
One thing that I find often sorely lacking in comics today is fun. When's the last time you really had a good, laugh out loud time reading a comic? That's exactly what you'll get in Image Comic's "Truth, Justin, and the American Way" a trade paperback that collects five issue limited series written by Aaron Williams and Scott Kurtz with the superb art of Italian cartoonist Guiseppe Ferrario. This book can best described as the 80's TV show Greatest American Hero meets Foxtrot, the hilarious Bill Amend comic strip.

Justin is a good-hearted but rather thick-witted doofus who works (barely) as a mailroom clerk. It's the day of Justin's bachelor part as he prepares to marry his sweetheart, Bailey Smithers. Now there are MANY references to 70's and 80's pop culture in this book and one of them is Bailey. Bailey is a combination of Bailey Quarters, the character from the 70's/80's sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, and Jan Smithers, the name of the actress who played Bailey. Justin is clearly marrying out of his league.

Justin's friends have left him a special present in his car that he is supposed to wear to the bachelor party. Unbeknownst to Justin, a Russian spy has replaced Justin's T-shirt with an alien suit, complete with bell-bottoms and cape. Justin is pretty embarrassed to be walking around in the getup, and his friends are more than a little amused when he shows up in what looks like an Elvis Presley costume rather than the t-shirt they bought him. FBI agent McGee (Mr. McGee...don't make me angry...get it?) busts up the party and demands the suit back. It's then that Justin discovers this is no ordinary pieces of off-the-rack clothing as the suit springs to life with defensive measures including super strength, speed, invulnerability, and flight, with lots of other secrets yet to be discovered. Justin's friends are concerned with his safety as he fends off McGee's bullets but mostly they're just concerned with saving the keg!

The party moves to Justin and Bailey's apartment...strippers and all, and Bailey is not amused. She's even less amused when Justin can't remove the suit! As if an angry girlfriend and being wanted by the FBI were not enough, the alien makers of the suit have arrived and they want their property back!

If you're under thirty or so, you might not get a lot of the references (unless you know your pop culture) but if you are, you'll have a blast tripping in the way back machine to the time of The Six Million (Canadian) Dollar Man. The art of Ferrario truly makes this book shine. His cartooning style is on a par with the best. When Justin grabs McGees gun and tears it to pieces, the confused agent can only sputter, "that...you...my favorite pistola!" Looking for something different and fun? Checkout "Truth, Justin, and the American Way," a truly riotous trade paperback.