Supreme: Blue Rose

Warren Ellis does strange superheroes

Release Date: OUT NOW!

$ 2.99 | Publisher: Image Comics Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Tula Lotay

How weird do

you like your superheroes? If “very weird indeed” is the answer, then Supreme: Blue Rose may be the right bag of oddity for you, as it’s certainly the most out- there superhero reboot to arrive since Brandon Graham’s wild reinterpretation of Prophet.

Here, the character getting a top- down overhaul is Supreme, Rob Liefeld’s “extreme” take on Superman. Warren Ellis is in the driving seat for a radical new version that plays as if David Lynch had directed a superhero movie.

The woozy, mind- warping storyline concerns investigative journalist Diana Dane, who’s hired by reclusive businessman Darius Dax to find a man named Ethan Crane, all while dream- like visions and messages from the future are collapsing the barriers of reality.

The tone of the first three issues is genuinely Lynchian, and captures a particular blend of dislocated, slow- burning strangeness. Much of this is thanks to the incredible art by Tula Lotay, which combines beautiful figure work with eye- catching digital inks, giving the whole comic the feel of being viewed through a medicated haze.

There’s clearly layers of meaning and mystery to unpack, although the low- key, abstract storytelling makes it a somewhat frustrating read in single issues. The eventual collected edition will allow Ellis and Lotay’s weird and perplexing vision the chance to truly shine, but until then this is one for those who like their comics demanding, offbeat and seriously strange. Saxon Bullock