Collideoscope

The art is compelling and uses standard superhero styles, though the palate is far warmer than is typical, with strong orange, yellow and purple colors. The characters grow on you, especially the kids, and unlike many new imprints, the Guardian Line comics aren't making "new comic" mistakes, such as cluttering the early issues with too many plot points. They've got a good villain, Stephen Dark, who is either Satan or one of Satan's head honchos, and real-feeling situations concerning class, status, gangs and bad neighborhoods. (Even the churches have class tensions.) Single mothers aren't valiant so much as worried and stressed. Hallways in the projects smell of urine. Yet the friendships between people, especially between the kids, are deep and memorable.