After WATCHMEN shattered all the barriers of how human
superheroes could actually be in comics, all bets were off. In the
past two decades, we’ve seen super beings be all things to
all people, in a way.

So it’s not exactly groundbreaking that WELCOME TO
TRANQUILITY envisions retired superheroes living in a California
town. That’s not what makes it so intriguing; what’s so
fun about it is writer Gail Simone’s effortless way of making
superheroics seem so normal and so interesting at the same time.
She’s a veteran of the genre --- check out her great work in
Wonder Woman, Birds of Prey and The Atom
for wonderful proof --- and here she creates a world within a comic
book world.

In WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY, Tranquility, California, is home to a
vast collection of empowered beings, known as “Maxis,”
who relive their glory days. Some old rivalries and bitternesses
still survive, though, a fact that rears its ugly head with the
murder of a longtime hero, Mr. Articulate. Mr. Articulate is a bit
of a dandy, and a fine and proper gentleman. He has a slightly
complicated relationship with the local sheriff, Thomasina Lindo.
Sheriff Lindo makes it her mission to solve the crime, which occurs
during a huge brawl at a lunchtime eatery.

WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY is set in a comic book universe (that is
to say, it isn’t as firmly entrenched in the
“real” world as, say, WATCHMEN), but it makes it known
that superheroes are not the perfect ideals carved out in
traditional comics. As a publication of Wildstorm, an imprint of DC
Comics, the book is part of a larger universe, and it makes
reference to it in the form of mentions of current Wildstorm
heroes.

There’s no need to be a regular reader of Wildstorm books,
or even acquainted with them at all, but those who are will get the
references the book makes. Without that knowledge, though, new
readers can still enjoy it. Simone does a nice job of balancing
humor and straightforward mystery, and that’s all anyone
picking up the book really needs to know to get hooked.

Artist Neil Googe is a find as well. He’s a relative
newcomer, and seeing him paired with Simone here is a treat. He has
a straight, clean style that’s light on background details
but is so crisp and clear that it enhances the storytelling of the
book.

A second volume collecting several issues of Welcome to
Tranquility has also been published, so readers who like this
book can find more. In addition, Simone has indicated she will
continue the series in six-issue increments (each trade paperback
collection contains six issues). It will be interesting to see
where Simone takes Welcome to Tranquility in the future.
With her keen eye for human and superhuman interaction, and the
genuine warmth and spirit that shine through in her writing, this
could be a series that grows and grows for a long time to come.