In 2008 writer Troy Hickman won the second Top Cow Pilot Season with his title Twilight Guardian.  Twilight Guardian was the story of a young woman who was obsessed with being a superhero and went out every night patrolling her neighborhood.  This title was different because it didn’t actually involve any violence or superpowers.  It was simply this one woman’s tale of her delusional life and it captured enough interest to win the Pilot Season voting.

As a fan of Hickman’s previous work and this title in particular I had been eagerly awaiting the series that was the prize granted for wining a Pilot Season.  As time went on I began to wonder if we would ever actually see the title in print.  In June of 2010 Paul and I had the opportunity to interview Filip Sablik the publisher of Top Cow Comics.  Naturally I asked him about the future of Twilight Guardian and was pleased to hear that they were finalizing the art team and the book would be published.  Seven months later after I had given up all hope of seeing it once again the first issue of the title has finally come out.

As impressed as I was with the Pilot Season Issue I had many doubts about the ability of this character to hold a longer story than a one shot.  She has no powers, no villains, and the strength of the story was the slice of life experience of one of her patrols.  All of this added up to a very difficult story to translate into a longer format.  So as excited as I was to see Twilight Guardian on the shelf I was a bit nervous about whether it could live up to the Pilot Season issue.

The first issue so far has managed to capture the same feel of the Pilot Season while expanding on the story.  The new miniseries though is introducing a crime and other people who also are dressing up as superheroes.  I am afraid that before it is over we will see her grow into actual superhero action and for me at least that will take away from the ultra realism that the title has presented so far.  I have never been let down by Troy Hickman’s writing before so I am going to continue to give him the benefit of the doubt and be confident that the title will continue to be a strong and unique story.

I know the concept of a woman off her meds wondering around the streets under the delusion that she is a superhero may not sound like the most interesting concept out there.  It is truly different though and Troy does an excellent job of getting inside this woman’s head.   If you want to see more variety in stories that are published in comics please support this title and give it a try.  I am confident that you will not be disappointed.

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