Liberty Girl No. 1

There are lots of new comic books pusblished every week. Lots of Marvel Comics. Lots of DC Comics. And squeezing inbetween those are a bunch of Dark Horse Comics and a whole lotta Image Comics. And then, squeezed between those two are the independent comics.
That’s how I found “Liberty Girl” No. 1. I was browsing through the recent releases, feeling a bit tired of “One Year Later” and overwhelmed by “Civil War,” and I decided it was time to look at some of the other super heroes available. I wasn’t interested in Star Wars comics, and I’ve never been a big fan of Image’s output.
That’s when the cover to “Liberty Girl” No. 1 caught my eye. I said to myself, “what’s Alyson Hannigan doing on the cover of a comic book?’ You know Alyson, Willow from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and Michelle the Band Camp Girl from “American Pie.”
Well, there she was on the cover of “Liberty Girl. Maybe it’s not supposed to be her, but in my head it did. Maybe cover artist Mark Sparacio can clue me in.
It was enough to get me to look at the book. I picked it up, figuring the inside would be terrible. It will be black and white. It will be flat and boring. Most certainly, it will be a whole other comic artist.
Boy, was I wrong. Inside was a fully colored 28-page story. The action was dynamic. The anatomy was rock solid. The women were pretty. The men were cool looking. The planes were straight out of an old newsreel.
And another surprise: the interior art was actually done by the same guy who painted the cover. Wow. That’s quite rare in today’s market.
The story by Dennis Mallonee was top notch too. He takes time to introduce each character. He makes our mind tickle at mystery after mystery. Each of the characters have their own voice. We get to see Liberty Girl in action and just hanging out. We get to see how someone like her might just be able to inspire some patriotism in someone like me.
So what’s the story? An aged U.S. Senator is informed by the military that something strange has happened. A woman of great power and ability has turned up, and it’ s believed that it’s Liberty Girl, “America’s Bronze Goddess of Freedom,” who fought for America during World War II. The Senator is called in to identify her, but the amazing thing is that she hasn’t aged a bit. It seems that a time warp has brought a superhero into the modern world, and the Senator hopes that maybe she can clean up America.
And maybe, just maybe, she can also grab your attention too.

LIBERTY GIRL No. 1 (August 2006)
“Liberty Girl”
Heroic Publishing
Written by: Dennis Mallonee
Art by: Mark Sparacio
$3.25
Four Stars out of Four (Patriotism sprinkled with stunning art and an exciting story)