Synopsis Review
Miss Melee is a collaboration between writer Rob Johnson & artist Ariel Guadalupe. It chronicles the struggles of (at least initially-) retired superheroine Janice (Jan) Jones who has settled down to work an office job and help husband Mark raise their daughter, Jackie. The comic updates every Saturday, and explores the "working mom theme" of juggling family, corporate employment, and super-heroing.
Sustainability -4
Miss Melee has been going strong for about a year-and-a-half now (since September 2015). This fact, combined with artwork and story-telling that is above average for a free webcomic lead me to believe MM is likely to keep it up. Language - 5
Three issues in, I've not encountered any language in MM that I wouldn't feel comfortable with my children reading/using. In the world of free superhero webcomics that's kind of rare.
Violence - 5
In terms of violence there's the natural amount you would expect for any "mere-mortal-trained-to-near-human-perfection" type character (e.g., Batman, Captain America, Black Widow, etc.). Naturally the only way she can take down the bad guys is with a healthy dose of fisticuffs. I don't feel like the violence has been gratuitous or excessive in any sense. Thus far, Miss Melee is a lot more late 1980s Captain America than early 90s Wolverine or Punisher.Also as the dad of daughters, I appreciate the symbolism of a character who is both strong and feminine. I want my girls to learn that being a dedicated mom and wife needn't mean that they become passive agents. I like the idea that Miss Melee witnesses to a mom's ability to affect the world around her in positive ways.
Sexuality - 3
Though, as of now, there hasn't been anything I'd consider "excessive sexuality" depicted in the comic, some parents might have reservations about the bikini-clad images of Miss Melee.
Political Leanings - 4
It's so very refreshing these day to read a comic that isn't overtly promoting contemporary (usually Left-wing) political agendas. I assume that there are political values Johnson & Guadalupe embrace, but thus far they've been gracious enough not to bludgeon their readers with ham-fisted moralizing.
Morality - 3
Similarly to the political theme, Johnson has done a good job of presenting characters that embody what most would consider good morals (e.g., devotion to family, justice, etc.) without being implausibly "perfect." For example, Jan clearly loves her family, but one senses there could be a storm brewing as a result of the secrets she is keeping...particularly from Mark. As I've said elsewhere, trying to put a cape on God is not only idolatrous...it results in pretty boring stories as well.
Artwork - 5
Far and away my favorite part of this comic is the art. Guadalupe does a nice job with the action scenes. While not educated enough in artistic styles to know the right terminology, the word that comes to mind is "classic." This look of Miss Melee reminds me of various Filmation productions from my childhood.
Storytelling - 3
I like the nuclear family depiction we're seeing so far; but I hope future issues will develop Mark's character. Unless he changes course and starts giving Mark some more depth, Johnson is on track to rehash the tired Disney Channel meme of dad-as-an-out-of-touch-but-affable-dunce-who-has-no-idea-how-important-his-kid-and-wife-are-to-the-survival-of-the-city.
Overall Rating: 3.88
Issue 1
The opening story features the Joneses enjoying the day at the Metrovale County Fair, until it is crashed by Brazilian Ninjas. Naturally, Janice slips away to change into her Miss Melee attire and whoop some bad-guy butt.
Melee clearly has a history with the ninjas, but it isn't clarified. (This aspect of the story has a Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-vs.-the-Foot-Clan feel.) After dispatching the underlings, MM faces off with their leader, Guerreira. Just as she is about to seal victory, however, a few well-placed smoke bombs allow the villainess to make her escape. Of course, she can't do so without the obligatory threats.
As the smoke clears, it suddenly occurs to Mark that Janice is missing. In a panic he asks, "What if the ninjas took her?!? Just as Mark and Jackie decide to ask for Miss Melee's help, they discover Jan "hiding out" underneath a fair table.
I'm not sure if it was an artistic oversight or not, but the time line for the action in this issue seems a bit long. To all appearances, it's midday or early afternoon when the Brazilian Ninjas appear; yet by the time Jan emerges from underneath the table, it looks like sunset.
Are we supposed to understand that the fight took a couple of hours? I don't know...maybe; but that seems kind of problematic in-and-of-itself. It's hard to believe it would take Mark hours to notice that his wife is missing. Even if you explain that away by appealing to some sort of stress-induced amnesia, there's still the problem of why Mark chooses to stick around the fairgrounds--WITH HIS 14 YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER--to gawk at an hours-long donnybrook when everyone else was apparently smart enough to flee!
Issue 2
The second issue opens inside the Jones home. Jackie explains she's been reading up on Miss Melee. Courtesy of the teenager's groupie crush monologue, we learn Melee first appeared in Metrovale 21 years ago alongside partner Osakan Riot ; and that her nemesis was someone named Lord Kharava, whom she fought in a titanic battle 15 years ago. That was the last the public had seen of her until the fight at the Metrovale County Fair.
Jackie speculates, however (and Jan's internal flash backs confirm) that though she may not have been wearing the costume, Melee kept busy subduing thugs and ne'er-do-wells in the intervening years.
We learn Rimi's husband, Keichii, is Jan's costume-supplier. Even more importantly, we learn that Rimi is none other than the aforementioned Osakan Riot! Jan encourages her to come out of retirement, but as the scene ends all Rimi is willing to commit to is that she'll "think about it."
After dispatching the bikers and ending the call, the fourth scene is of a plainsclothes Jan picking up Jackie after gymnastics. En route to the grocery store, mother and daughter engage in the sort of deep soulful banter common during the teenage years:
When Jan surreptitiously spies a gang of would-be bank robbers, she pulls the car over and orders Jackie to stay put while she "makes a withdrawal." In stereotypical fashion, Jackie whips out her phone and commences texting, or surfing, or whatever. The budding quinceaneran is jolted back into the moment, however, by the sounds of gunfire and robbers being hurled hither and thither.
Miss Melee is obviously caught off-guard when Jackie excitedly asks her, "Didja see my mom? Is she okay? Can I have your autograph?" MM complies but makes the mistake of signing Jackie's name without having asked it. When the astute girl points it out, Jan covers by explaining that she read about Jackie in a newspaper article proclaiming her "the best gymnast in the state."
The final scene of this issue finds the three members of the Clan Jones occupying different worlds in the same house. Jan and Jackie are both consumed reflecting on the events at the bank--Jan, berating herself for not having been more careful in the autograph incident; and Jackie with her excited conclusion that the only reason the purple-clad heroine would know her name is that she must be considering Jackie as a potential side-kick.
And Mark? He's thinking about how great his burgers were.
Issue 3
The chase scene with the biker gang in Issue 2 introduced the idea of there being performance problems with the Melee Cycle. Issue 3 opens on this note, with Miss Melee dropping the bike off at an autoshop called the Laboratory.
The twist is that this is where Mark Jones works. It turns out that Mark built the Melee Cycle twenty years earlier at the heroine's request. At the time, the relationship between Mark and Jan was purely professional. (It was not until four years later that she--as Jan--asked him out on a date.)
Through the years, Jan has kept her identity a secret from Mark. She knows him as one person. Mark knows her as two: his wife and his client. (C'mon, Janice! Have you never watched a soap opera, or read your Walter Scott--Oh what a tangled web we weave...?!)
As with Jackie at the bank, Jan evidences increasing difficulty keeping her separate lives separate. Here, she thanks Mark for the pro bono tune-up by calling him "honey."
In the next major scene Miss Melee happens upon a trio of hoodlums mugging an elderly couple. You can predict what happens. (I REALLY LOVE the way Guadalupe draws action scenes!)
After the baddies are dispatched, the couple thanks Miss Melee and expresses their conviction that, "This city needs more heroes like you."
Just at that moment, a winded Jackie shows up and announces her availability.
Despite the "obvious-ness" of Jackie's reasoning, Melee makes clear she is NOT in the market for a sidekick. She tells the teenager to go home, take off the outfit, and never put it on again. In keeping with the idea of the thinning wall between Jan's home and hero lives, a sullen Jackie comments:
Later the same day, Melee confronts a gang leader named Leo Rex along with his entourage (apparently inside their home base). She informs Rex that he and his pride have, "pushed around your last dockworker."
At any rate, just as it appears that Melee may have bitten off more than she can chew, relief arrives as a blast from the past. Osakan Riot/Rimi has decided to come out of retirement!
While putting away the Rex Pride, Melee and Riot engage in some old-fashioned battle banter, wherein Rimi tries to help Jan see that Jackie is simply the proverbial apple to Jan's motherly tree:
We next flash back to the Jones home where Jan is still mulling Rimi's points. After a newscaster reports that Miss Melee was spotted with "an as yet unknown heroic looking girl" and Mark responds excitedly wondering who this potential sidekick might be, the frustrated Jan announces she's going to bed.
On the way, she drops in to check on Jackie who's hard at work on what she insists is, "a school project." (Of course, you know that isn't true.) Jan finally retires to her bedroom confident that her conversation with Jackie has effectively squelched the sidekick dream. Jan now believes she can, "keep my two lives from mixing..."
In the next major scene, we flash across town to a new character--one Vanessa Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy looks to be a hacktivist who's targeted Keng Consolidated as a corporate villain. Upon successfully breaching Keng's security features, Vanessa is greeted by the face of the aforementioned Lord Kharava on her computer screen. The erstwhile nemesis of Melee informs Vanessa that he can give her power she needs to truly combat injustice as she desires.
We next see Vanessa entering a Keng facility on the outskirts of Metrovale (presumably she's been directed to this locale by Lord Kharava). After stepping onto a glowing circular template, Vanessa is awash in light as an automated voice announces: "S.A.B.R. system initiated. Commencing installation." As Issue 3 ends, we are left with the distinct impression that S.A.B.R. has not merely given Vanessa power...but it may, in fact, have twisted and darkened her personality as well.
The twist is that this is where Mark Jones works. It turns out that Mark built the Melee Cycle twenty years earlier at the heroine's request. At the time, the relationship between Mark and Jan was purely professional. (It was not until four years later that she--as Jan--asked him out on a date.)
Through the years, Jan has kept her identity a secret from Mark. She knows him as one person. Mark knows her as two: his wife and his client. (C'mon, Janice! Have you never watched a soap opera, or read your Walter Scott--Oh what a tangled web we weave...?!)
As with Jackie at the bank, Jan evidences increasing difficulty keeping her separate lives separate. Here, she thanks Mark for the pro bono tune-up by calling him "honey."
In the next major scene Miss Melee happens upon a trio of hoodlums mugging an elderly couple. You can predict what happens. (I REALLY LOVE the way Guadalupe draws action scenes!)
After the baddies are dispatched, the couple thanks Miss Melee and expresses their conviction that, "This city needs more heroes like you."
Just at that moment, a winded Jackie shows up and announces her availability.
Despite the "obvious-ness" of Jackie's reasoning, Melee makes clear she is NOT in the market for a sidekick. She tells the teenager to go home, take off the outfit, and never put it on again. In keeping with the idea of the thinning wall between Jan's home and hero lives, a sullen Jackie comments:
Later the same day, Melee confronts a gang leader named Leo Rex along with his entourage (apparently inside their home base). She informs Rex that he and his pride have, "pushed around your last dockworker."
JUSTIN'S CRITICAL SIDE-NOTE: In doing this, Johnson introduces another (and heretofore, unmentioned) sub-plot into an already overcrowded issue. Especially considering how many gratuitous action scenes have been thrown into the mix by this point (e.g., the bank robbery, the mugging, the biker gang) it seems like one of them could've easily been re-written in such a way as to anchor this idea so it doesn't just come "out of the blue."
At any rate, just as it appears that Melee may have bitten off more than she can chew, relief arrives as a blast from the past. Osakan Riot/Rimi has decided to come out of retirement!
While putting away the Rex Pride, Melee and Riot engage in some old-fashioned battle banter, wherein Rimi tries to help Jan see that Jackie is simply the proverbial apple to Jan's motherly tree:
We next flash back to the Jones home where Jan is still mulling Rimi's points. After a newscaster reports that Miss Melee was spotted with "an as yet unknown heroic looking girl" and Mark responds excitedly wondering who this potential sidekick might be, the frustrated Jan announces she's going to bed.
On the way, she drops in to check on Jackie who's hard at work on what she insists is, "a school project." (Of course, you know that isn't true.) Jan finally retires to her bedroom confident that her conversation with Jackie has effectively squelched the sidekick dream. Jan now believes she can, "keep my two lives from mixing..."
In the next major scene, we flash across town to a new character--one Vanessa Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy looks to be a hacktivist who's targeted Keng Consolidated as a corporate villain. Upon successfully breaching Keng's security features, Vanessa is greeted by the face of the aforementioned Lord Kharava on her computer screen. The erstwhile nemesis of Melee informs Vanessa that he can give her power she needs to truly combat injustice as she desires.
We next see Vanessa entering a Keng facility on the outskirts of Metrovale (presumably she's been directed to this locale by Lord Kharava). After stepping onto a glowing circular template, Vanessa is awash in light as an automated voice announces: "S.A.B.R. system initiated. Commencing installation." As Issue 3 ends, we are left with the distinct impression that S.A.B.R. has not merely given Vanessa power...but it may, in fact, have twisted and darkened her personality as well.
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