The Mysterious Minute-Men: Ready for the Future
by Mike Aragona

Ready for the Future is the second installment in the Mysterious Minute-Men saga by Canadian author Mike Aragona. While the first book was comprised of short stories filled with zany antics and peppered with pop culture references, Ready for the Future is much more of an emotional journey in which the characters discover and accept their places in life.

As I mentioned in my review of The Mysterious Minute-Men Omnibus, the best way to describe the Minute-Men books is that they’re graphic novels without any graphics. Populated with unique superheroes fighting crafty villains in an effort to keep the streets of the fictitious Metro City safe, the Minute-Men tales bring to mind the worlds of Batman and Spiderman.

The first thing I noticed when I got my copy of The Mysterious Minute-Men: Ready for the Future was the gorgeous cover, with new images featuring members of the Minute-verse look great along with a wonderful new drawing of Minute-Man. To freshen our memories, there’s a brief introduction to the world of the Minute-Men in Chapter 1, and the next two chapters give us both Minute-Man and Orion’s origin stories respectively.  As a huge fan of back-stories, I really enjoyed learning how our heroes got their start and what brought them together.

We then get a quick look at what the diabolical Chef Jacques is scheming up in his bakery of evil, before we venture into the lives of the Minute-Men. From Powerhouse and Miss Fury to Orion and the Bow-minator, we check in with all the members of the Minute team. We’re also introduced to a wonderful new character, and are revisited by an old friend thought lost. Much of the story focuses on Minute-Man’s inner turmoil and his quest to sort out problems that are impeding his ability to protect Metro City. This was actually my favourite part of the book. While I enjoy the superhero antics, you can really feel Minute-Man’s agony over his situation and that’s when I really got into the story. Then when an evil scheme is revealed, it brings the story back to the lighter-toned superhero genre.

My one complaint with Ready for the Future is the need for further editing. Due to some mis-used words, tense inconsistencies and awkward phrasing, there are times when it’s hard to stay focused on the story. As the drama increases these problems become less noticeable, and it’s easier to immerse yourself in the tale without being quite so distracted.

Although the story is more serious this time around, there are still some laughs in this second Mysterious Minute-Man book, and with all the character development I may have enjoyed it even more than the first one. Without the editing issues, I would definitely recommend The Mysterious Minute-Men: Ready for the Future to all those who enjoy comics. I think fans of the Minute-Men saga will be pleased, and I would definitely read future tales of the Mysterious Minute-Men.

*This book was provided for review by the author via Library Thing.