An interesting take on the "superhero-goes-home" concept. It's been about six years since her old high school pals had seen Virginia Patterson. What they don't know is that she's now "Volcano Girl," one of two super-powered heroes in the United States (the other, with powers not ever explained, is "Niagra"). The story starts a few months before Virginia's tenth high school reunion, although there is much backstory told in flashbacks. The first crisis comes when Virginia's younger sister figures out the secret identity, but the bigger crisis is when the sister is abducted by an evil bad guy who suddenly appears.

The story isn't a good ol' slugfest (although there are several fights in this five issue collection), but more of a commentary on how fast we grow up, even after promising our high school friends we'll stay in touch forever. The story is fine, even if it drops a few plot points along the way, and the black-and-white art is very good, evoking comparisons to a refined Robert Crumb (although this artist really has trouble with noses). Judging from the notes in the back, it sounds like these two guys found each other in college, but have now gone on to other projects. That's too bad, as this pairing shows a lot of potential.

---------------------
LT Haiku:

The old adage "You
can't go home again" applied
to superheroes. ( )