Ball and Chain #2

The cover of this second chapter of Homage Comics' four-issue miniseries says it all: a rumpled everyman in a loosened tie and business suit soars high above a city skyline, one fist raised aloft gripping a heavy iron ball and chain, while far below a tiny figure calls up a speech bubble reading "Don't forget to pick up some milk on the way home!" It's a wonderfully grounded bit of comedy — superpowers meeting suburban domestic life — brought to vivid life by cover pencils from Alé Garza and inks by Richard Bennett. With Scott Lobdell's story "Marital Law" waiting inside, this 1999 series clearly has a lot of fun with the idea that saving the world and keeping a marriage running might be equally demanding jobs.