I think we all know why super-heroes would never work in the real world. It is not because of their fantastic powers, because some, like Batman, are somewhat plausible. It is because a public would never support vigilantism, and if they did, it would be under more scrutiny than an IRS audit.
Alan Moore has written a comic-book mini-series that illustrates this idea. Moore is famous for such works as V for Vendetta, From Hell, and the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but one of is greatest works is Watchmen, a 12-issue comic book story that really brought super-heroes into the real world.
Like Watchmen, Judgment Day is Alan Moore playing with the idea of how justice could operate if those who stand for it operate above it. Moore’s story takes place in a comic book universe that I am not familiar with, except for the character Savage Dragon, a creation of Erik Larson.
The major focus on the story is on a group called the Youngbloods, who I can guess are sort of a cross between the Teen Titans and Justice League. The Youngbloods are a government backed super-team that faces a unique situation. One of the members, Riptide, was murdered at their headquarters.
The murder of a super-team member might make for some interesting stories, but Judgement Day takes it a step further when it looks like all evidence of girl’s murder goes to Knightsabre, a fellow Youngblood team member.
From there, the team now realizes that they have a serious situation on their hands, and some even suggesting covering it up. Eventually, the group’s leader Shaft (not related to any character played by Richard Roundtree or Samuel L. Jackson) decides to simply call the police.
From there, the aforementioned Savage Dragon shows up and tells the heroes that he has pulled a few strings and the trial of Knightsabre will be held privately in Supreme’s fortress. Supreme is essentially this comic-book universe’s version of Superman.
The trial story is essentially a super-hero version of Law and Order, without that odd sound in between scenes. There are some odd interludes in between, such as cowboys, jungle men, and barbarians. The plot then turns away from the murder into a story about a mystical book that spans generations. One of the benefits of super-hero comics is they tend to cross genres, and this crosses many. However, the interlude stories are placed pretty randomly, and they don’t seem to build upon one another. Sure, it gets explained at the end, but the interruptions don’t really help much.
In short, Judgment Day is sort of a misleading title for this story, which implies an end-of-the-world T2 style plot rather than a courtroom case. I found that one thing was definitely missing in this story: mourning. Even though the Youngblood’s teammate was dead, there is no page where you see anyone even being sad or shocked over the event. If anything, more focus when into the ramifications other than the bitterness that follows after a fellow teammate has died.
