Captain Excelsior is a webcomic that I discovered late. I met Zach Weiner at the 2008 San Diego Con and he gave me an ashcan of his webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal he was handing out. That led me to his website which had a link to Excelsior. See how this whole “internet thing” works?

Captain Excelsior was almost completed by then so I went back to page 1 and read through the previous installments all in one sitting. Created by Weiner and illustrated by Chris Jones (artist on Grumps), the series is about Captain Excelsior, a super-hero who’s having some issues.

One of his sons has no super powers, another might be gay, his high-strung daughter can’t find a date for the prom and she kills people when she gets angry, his ex-wife is getting remarried and he’s having trouble navigating the dating world because, well, he’s a doofus. He’s a better super-hero than he is a father, but he’d have to be: he’s a terrible father.

Here’s Captain Excelsior offering to help his teenage daughter recover from a break-up: “Say, you know what would cheer you up right now? Let’s hit a bar and you can pick out a brand new mommy!”

It is at once a send-up of the super-hero genre, and a really good super-hero story with plenty of action.

And it’s funny as hell. Just read the first two pages starting here and see if you don’t agree. I think you’ll follow it through to the end. These guys really know their stuff and what starts out as hi-freaking-larious at times becomes genuinely poignant. Be sure to stay for the epilogue. Artist Jones is a real treasure and he draws the action well, but he’s also adept at keeping it interesting even when it’s those quiet, talking moments. Added bonus: his facial expressions kill.

I’ve heard through the internets that a book collection is coming – I know Zach and I know the guys at Content House who put the deal together – and now it’s been announced. Zach was handing out nifty postcards from his booth at this year’s con. IDW is putting it out in November and even though I’ve read the strip in its entirety online (something you can do, too), I still want the book for myself because that’s how the internet rolls. Also, there’s stuff in the book that’s not on the internet because that’s how publishing rolls.

The book is available for pre-order from all the usual suspects.

[Weiner and Jones and James Ashby also have a strip called Snowflakes that’s running now.]

[Artwork: A piece of art by Chris Jones that may or may not be the actual cover to Captain Excelsior, © Zach Weiner & Chris Jones]