Crash Test Heroes

In the single-issue series Crash Test Heroes (2016, Pencilepsy), the premise is exactly as blunt as its title: a group of would-be superheroes are subjected to a brutal, high-stakes audition process where failure means disfigurement or death. This comic, a standalone experiment in grim satire, was created and illustrated by Pencilepsy, who uses the one-shot format to critique the disposable nature of superhero media and the commodification of heroism itself. It matters as a sharp, self-contained statement on the genre's darker underbelly.