Superheroes might seem like they’re everywhere, from movies to underwear, but imagine living in a world where men and women 
with superpowers actually exist and save the world on a regular basis. Comics like Kurt Busiek’s Astro City have discussed what it’s like for mostly regular people to live in a world populated by people with powers, but Athanasia written by Daniel Kraus and illustrated by Dani, takes a much darker look at this concept. It not only explores what happens to superheroes who have lost their lives but what their remains mean for those with more earthbound problems.
Kraus’s tale takes us to Venture City, a town known for its superheroes, and follows young Forrest Molson. Forrest is a recovering addict who is looking for direction after graduating high school, so she goes into the family business. Like her father and grandfather, Forrest helps maintain the grounds at Athanasia, a cemetery housing the fallen members of Venture City’s greatest superhero team, the Dynamic Guild. Frustrated with her life and prospects, Forrest soon makes an astounding discovery: a chemical oozes from Athanasia’s soil that gives Forrest different superpowers. This new drug of choice (and the power that comes with it) soon takes over Forrest’s life. As friends and family try to pull Forrest back from the brink, her brush with superpowers soon becomes her villain arch.
Kraus is an author who’s better known for horror novels like Whalefall and Angel Down, but Athanasia is a horror story that touches upon many modern anxieties. The superheroes of this world mainly appear through their memorials, meaning they are not there when the Molson family, who have a deep respect for their positions as Athanasia’s caretakers, actually need them, illustrating how some heroes fly so high that they miss seeing the people who need their help. However, the truly harrowing moments in this book are when Forrest’s addiction spirals out of control, and she commits acts that both shock and appall readers.
Enhancing this story’s dark tones is Dani’s artwork, which eschews the dynamic colors in most superhero epics in favor of black and white ink drawing. This contrast shows readers that this story takes place far below the eyes of heroes, but the black and white also lets the book’s main villain shine. When the ooze makes its appearance and begins corrupting Forrest in earnest, the ooze (and the energy Dani manipulates when on the ooze) is colored a radioactive green, signifying its toxic nature and the frightening power now at Forrest’s fingertips.
There are many superhero stories that have cemented their status in our pop culture, but there are a multitude of stories, like Alan Moore’s Watchmen, that show the shadowy underbelly of these stories. This book will draw fans of both “Watchmen” and “Astro City” because it walks a thin tightrope of hope, like the kind in superhero narratives, and despair, like when readers take too long a glimpse beneath the capes.
Athanasia
By Daniel Kraus
Art by Dani
Vault, 2025
ISBN: 9781638492818
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18)
