C.O.W.L. is a series that has been a long-time coming. Kyle Higgins (Nightwing) began working on the project as a senior in college with a short film called The League. Now, nine years later, the comic has come into fruition with the help of co-writer Alec Siegel (Captain America: Theater of War) and artist Rod Reis (Aquaman, Justice League).
C.O.W.L. stands for Chicago Organized Workers League, and is about a labor union of superheroes working to protect Chicago in the early 1960s. The union is led by legendary superhero Geoffrey Warner, known by the alias The Grey Raven. It’s an interesting take on the traditional team superheroes structure, with a lot more emphasis on politics and the fact that these superheroes are actually cashing in paychecks for the hard labor they are putting in.
The story opens with an explosive fight between our superheroes and Skylancer, the last of the group of super villains commonly known as the Chicago Six. There are brief mentions of communism, and Skylancer himself is apparently an ex-KGB agent. This helps set the tone for the era, placing us in a distinctly Cold War mindset right off the bat.
After the main altercation with Skylancer, the actions dies down and we get a deeper glance at the characters’ and their background. The title of this first storyline is “Principles of Power,” and we are already seeing the hierarchal structure of C.O.W.L. established, with Warner at the top and the elite superheroes making up the Tactical Division. We are also introduced to John Pierce, the mysterious loner that makes up the Investigations Division all on his own, and the Patrol Division rounding out the bottom.
The interactions we see between these divisions isn’t as exciting as all of the action we were thrown into at first, but it is important in establishing the power structure, and the tension between these divisions is already apparent.
One thing that readers will definitely have to look forward to is all of the history that Higgins has created for this alternate- Chicago. Within the first issue, Warner is already telling stories about the good ole days, and we know that C.O.W.L. has been around for a while (since 1949, to be exact). I found it incredibly interesting that in the first issue of the series, the media is already asking if C.O.W.L. is obsolete. Between the history of the organization and the present struggle with obsoleteness, there are many different paths that the story line can take.
My favorite part of C.O.W.L. so far is the art. Rod Reis has definitely maintained the film noir feel from Higgin’s original short film, which does serious work in setting the tone for the comic. The style is dark and mysterious, and at times it’s so sketch-like that it is hard to distinguish certain characters’ features, but if anything it only adds to the enigmatic introduction they have received.
Overall, I think we have a lot to look forward to in this comic, and I am very excited to see where this series goes. The nine years Higgins has put in to developing this story and these characters is bound to pay off, and this is a good intro to the sort of action, corruption, and subversion that a superhero labor union 1960s Chicago has to offer.
