Parliament of Justice

    (Image, 2003)
™ and © Image Comics, Inc.

Parliament of Justice is a fascinating piece of work that borrows brilliantly from other material — most notably Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (with its fixation on class hierarchy) and Bob Kane’s Batman (with its dynamic duo approach to super-heroics) — and constructs a consistent, believable, and original tale that is sure of itself in terms of tone, mood, art, dialogue, and narration.

Parliament and his mysterious sidekick Gypsum, confident in their roles as sophisticated, morally superior defenders of justice, patrol the night in their hot air balloon, thwarting the villainous efforts of the aptly named Philistine and other low-order vermin. When a rash of grisly, Jack-the-Ripper-like prostitute murders breaks out, the puritanical (or so he likes to believe) Parliament longs for the comparatively innocent days of “Pow! Bam! Huzzah!”

Like Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and various other seminal works, Parliament of Justice transcends the super-hero genre by giving comic-book fans something to think about. In this case, readers will ponder the nature of the role of a super-hero sidekick, shake their heads at the snobbery and hypocrisy of the social elite, and ruminate on the (positive and negative) effects on the psyche of licentious sex and purposeful death.

Parliament of Justice is a bold, elegantly told story that should not be missed.

— Brett Weiss
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#1

March, 2003
Cover Price: $5.95
4 copies available from $1.92 		Michael Avon OemingNeil Vokes