Pluto

Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox’s “Plutona” #1 introduces readers to a new world where superheroes exist, but they are beginning to permeate daily existence, creeping into news reports on television and inspiring websites and chat groups. In this debut issue, there’s a mystery around super-powered beings that is prevalent from its early pages. The issue opens with close ups of a battered, bruised and broken body prone on the ground. A fly buzzes around, a leaf blows past. No words are needed to augment the somberness of the scene, as Lenox fills the four panels with just enough imagery to convey tragedy, through nothing over-the-top or hideously grotesque. From there, Lemire and crew introduce readers to five kids with disparate interests and personalities as they all set out on their way to school. Lemire uses their trip to school and the progression of the school day to define Mie, her brother Mike, Mie’s friend Diane, Teddy and his sometimes-tormentor Ray, a resident hoodlum-wannabe.