What goes down when the capes come off? Meet the Real Housewives of Earth’s greatest super-team, the Meta Legion! It’s the egos, the tantrums, and the betrayals of the super set. Find out what happens behind the masks as superhero families are faced with the sordid problems of everyday life – and then some! From rising star writer Grace Randolph (Marvel’s Nation X, Her-oes) and hot new artist Russell Dauterman, this series takes the familiar super-team and turns it on its head with a scandalous, TMZ-fueled look at what it’s like to live with a superhero!

I was a little late getting into this series, from Boom! Studios. I had gotten a free copy of the current ongoing series, and I loved it. so I immediately went to buy the preceding 4-issue miniseries. The Real Housewives comparison is pretty apt, but it’s not written like a cheap parody or anything like that. There are various funny bits sprinkled throughout, but this is played straight. The characters of the Meta Legion are all analogues of mostly DC heroes, plus of Captain America. I suppose if I had one MINOR complaint, it would be that some of the analogues are a little too obvious. You’ll recognize whom each character is standing in for right away. MARINE OMEGA is a patriotic super soldier (Captain America), SOVEREIGN is an alien with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men (SUPERMAN), NIGHT FOX is the billionaire masked vigilante with his sidekick AGENT TWILIGHT (Batman and Robin/Nightwing), THE COSMIC CHAMPION was selected by a powerful alien race to protect Earth (GREEN LANTERN, specifically John Stewart, cuz he’s Black), and BATU, a warrior from a secret tribe of mystically-powered women (WONDER WOMAN). But that’s a minor issue. Through these analogues, Randolph is able to take these characters in directions that the corporately-controlled heroes could never go. And she takes full advantage of that freedom in this series.

Our Point of View character for this series is Eve White, a Nurse who has just recently married Robert White, whom is Marine Omega’s sidekick (or 2nd-In-Command as her prefers to be called) BULLDOG (Bucky). As the series opens, Eve and Robert have just returned from their honeymoon and are moving into the quiet neighborhood where all of the heroes live in the secret identities, with their families, as the Meta Legion HQ is built underground. As Eve tries to ingratiate herself with the other heroes, and particularly their spouses and husbands (with varying degrees of success), we soon see that life isn’t so rosey for everyone, that behind the smiles and super-heroics, there are scandals and secrets. Sovereign is living with Hella Heart, an ex-supervillain who is still wanted by the world at large. Sovereign also becomes increasingly cold towards humans, as the series progresses, feeling that his incredible powers make him so superior to everyone else that he can’t relate to them. Night Fox’s cold, money-hungry wife, who controls the family finances, has just discovered that he and Agent Twilight are gay lovers, so she fires Twilight, and threatens Night Fox with being replaced himself if he doesn’t fall in line. Cosmic Champions wife Tia is a retired vigilante herself, who quit that career to become a housewife, focusing on raising their young daughter, Zari. But Tia is started to get bored with housework, and is considering getting back into the vigilante game herself. And Batu has two young children, and is eager to train her daughter Sara to become a warrior like her, despite Sara’s complete lack of interest in fighting, and zero display of powers, while virtually ignoring her son Eli, the one who actually wants to follow in his mother’s footsteps and be a hero. And Marine Omega has been suffering from an unexplained illness, while his wife, Ruth tries to take care of him, but he stubbornly refuses to give up his hero career, continuing to join the rest of the league on dangerous missions.

But don’t think this series is all dramatic soap opera moments. There’s superhero action too, as the Legion faces an army of giant robots that are attacking the United Nations building, and Sovereign has a battle against Hector Hunt, the magical villain whom Hella used to work for (& sleep with). And when the battle is over, well, let’s just say that Eve’s abilities as a nurse becoming sorely needed. And not everyone in this series is whom they appear to be, nor does everyone make it out alive. . .NO SPOILERS!

Action, drama, suspense, this series has it all. Randolph’s writing is top notch, all of the characters feel believable, & the dialog flows naturally. I was sucked right into the story from the beginning. And huge praise goes out to artist RUSSELL DAUTERMAN, who does a beautiful job with artwork, all of the men look like heroes, and he knows how to draw sexy women without devolving into cheesecake. I even have to praise colorist Gabriel Cassata, who makes the pages look bright and dynamic. This is a winning creative team, on a winning title. Chacebook rating: FIVE STARS

This series is collected in Dead Tree (ie “print”) version, available on AMAZON or you can get all 4 issues immediately, via digital download, for just $1.99 each on COMIXOLOGY or COMICSPLUS