Welcome to Tranquility



Welcome to Tranquility is an American comic book series created by Gail Simone and Neil Googe and published by Wildstorm. It is set in the fictional California town of Tranquility where superheroes and supervillains, also known as "Maxi's," have retired and settled down to raise families after their hectic and action-packed youths. Despite the presence of both heroes and villains there is little crime amongst the populace, the heroes have grown old and the villains have either been cleared of their criminal charges or served out their prison time, allowing them to live in (relative) peace. Old rivalries remain, but revolve around traditional aspects of retired life, such as debating who gets the apples that fall on either side of a property line.

A large cast is composed of both retired Maxi's, the children (and grandchildren) of Maxi's that have grown up in this Superhero Retirement Community, and the normal amount of civilians to be found in any small town. Sheriff Thomasina "Tommy" Lindo, who has no powers, works to deal with the normal conflicts that arise in any town, but which have the added threat of being carried about by people with an inordinate amount of superpowers. Alex "Judge" Fury, the Mayor of Tranquility and hero of World War II, is also featured along with his wife, Suzy "Pink Bunny" Fury, and Colonel Isaac Cragg and Bad Dog. Together they formed the Liberty Squad along with Maximum Man, Astral Man and Arnold "Cosmos" Stipple before Astral Man was murdered and they all retired to Tranquility.

The original volume, twelve issues long, was published in 2007 and 2008 before it went on hiatus, returning in 2010 for a planned six issue limited series. A part of the Wildstorm Universe, Welcome to Tranquility is unique in its relative disconnect from other series set in the same universe. The Authority are mentioned on occasion, and Gen 13 guest stars in the second arc of the original series, but the majority of the story remains independent.


 * Action Girl: Sheriff Tommy Lindo, who maintains order even in the face of outrageous danger.
 * Affectionate Parody: Throughout the series there are "reprints" of the adventures of the various characters from their youth, portrayed as classic comics from the 1940's and 1950's. These include Minxy Millions, Kid Hero and child millionaire, and the Liberty Squad, who faught the Nazis in World War II. They portray a lot of the problems with these stories, such as what happens to a Kid Hero when dementia sets in and what fighting Germans on the Eastern Front will do to a man, but they remain pleasantly nostalgic and fond of the classic style.
 * All Anime Is Naughty Tentacles: That the manga-obsessed Mangacide has tentacles is probably no coincidence. Hell, during the massive fight with, she's told to keep them out of certain, ahem, orifices.
 * Arch Enemy: Henry Hate, to Maximum Man, though they've long since buried the hatchet. The same can't be said for Captain Cobra and Mongoose Man, "enemies to the death" with a legendarily fierce hatred for one another to this day.
 * The Atoner: Presley used to be the sheriff, until he browbeat a man who he believed had killed his family to the point where the man committed suicide. The next day the real killer was found. If Presley wasn't exaggerating, the experience very nearly drove him to suicide as well, if Tommy hadn't stepped in and given him "a job I don't deserve," resulting in him becoming both fanatically loyal to Tommy and a Determinator to boot.
 * Badass Grandpa: The majority of the cast. As a home for retired heroes and villains everybody over the standard retirement age has a history to curl your toes. Half of them fought Hitler, and the only reason that is not the entire cast is because the rest of them worked with Hitler.
 * Badass Normal: Tommy Lindo, who faces down walking gods with nothing but her wits, her courage and a technological baton.
 * Being Tortured Makes You Evil: always had a darkness in him, but what happened to him on the Eastern Front let it out.
 * Blind Without'Em: Emoticon is literally blind without his mask.
 * Butt Monkey: Blamed for the death of Astral Man, his home constantly vandalized by kids, blamed by the former sheriff for almost all crimes in Tranquility...it certainly does not pay to be Arnold Stipple.
 * By the Power of Grayskull: HECATEAN!
 * Captain Ersatz: Maximum Man is clearly the Wildstorm version of Captain Marvel, being a small mortal who transforms into a magically powered flying brick with a magic word. The twist? Maximum Man is a tiny old man rather than a child/teenager, and he transforms in a column of magical fire rather than lightning. He's also considered the "Mightiest Maxi" alive, according to Majestic.
 * Comic Book Time: Judge Fury, Pink Bunny, Colonel Cragg and Bad Dog all look pretty good for people who fought back in the 1940's...
 * Conviction by Counterfactual Clue: Invoked. Emoticon is recounting one of the detective stories from Mr. Articulate's youth and he mentions one that always stuck in his mind: Mr. Articulate discovered the identity of the murderer because the "Korean" man at dinner left his chopsticks in his bowl of rice, something no actual Korean would do since it is a symbol for death and, therefore, he must not be Korean, but Japanese instead, and thusly the killer. However, Japanese culture has the same custom. "So the ending doesn't work. It's a cheat."
 * Crossover: In the second arc of the first volume, Gen 13 guest starred as they were passing through Tranquility.
 * The Dark Age of Comic Books: A young child explains to Pink Bunny that his favorite comic is his favorie because, unlike the old comics his mother lets him read, in this comic people die. It is not real if nobody dies.
 * Darker and Edgier: It is not real unless somebody dies.
 * Deconstruction: Of The Golden Age of Comic Books; the people who faught the Nazis are horribly scarred because of what they experienced, supervillains who faught with the Nazis have been shunned and hassled all their lives since then, and most characters are struggling to deal with growing old in a world where younger heroes have taken their places.
 * Deliberate Values Dissonance: Mr. Articulate is a charming, sweet old man whom everybody liked, and when other people come back from the dead craving flesh all he wants is a nice piece of pie, but even his adventures from olden days are "culturally insensitive." One of the retold mysteries of his youth was solved by identifying a man as Japanese because he violated a Korean custom, but Emoticon is quick to point out that the story (and solution) do not work, since Japan has the same custom.
 * Determinator: They are old, out of shape and hurting, but the people of Tranquility do not quit.
 * Devil in Disguise: Funky Freddy Beasel, a seemingly ageless radio DJ who turns out to be a satanic demon known as The Host.
 * Differently-Powered Individual: People with superpowers are termed "Maxi's." A fan theory listed on The Other Wiki derives the title from Maximum Man, a former member of the Liberty League and regarded as the strongest Maxi there was.
 * Dumb Muscle: Bad Dog is strong, but not very sharp.
 * Ensemble Cast: Pegging down one single "star" is difficult. Sheriff Tommy is clearly The Hero, but she shares so much panel-time with other characters that even she might not be called the "main" character.
 * Fan Service with a Smile: Pink Bunny wears her outfit while serving in her cafe, and the restaurant in general seems to be a Maid Cafe.
 * Face Heel Turn: what happened to Cosmos in the backstory, when he supposedly betrayed his companions and killed Astro Man.
 * Faux Action Girl: Averted. Pink Bunny is defeated with (relative) ease, but the point is also made that she was never a fighter to begin with. She might be as strong as Judge Fury, but without the experience and history to go with her strength there is nothing to set her up as an Action Girl in the first place.
 * Flying Brick: Maximum Man seems to be the closest to the ideal. He mentions in Issue #3 of the relaunch that his eyesight is no better than normal, but he seems to have all the other requirements (Flight, invulnerability, super-strength, etc.)
 * The Fountainhead: Decapitate (Don't worry, you will get it once you read the series)
 * Fountain of Youth: Just a few drops...
 * Friendly Enemies: Time, as they say, heals all wounds and Henry Hyde (AKA "Henry Hate") and Kyle Trueblood (AKA "Maximum Man") like to pass theirs playing chess.
 * Glory Days: Some have matured and come to genuine emotional aceptance of their old age, but many are constantly trying to recapture those days of their youth when they were powerful, active and could change the world.
 * The Golden Age of Comic Books: The primary active era of the town's residents, and portrayed rather warmly by "reprints" of their adventures during World War II.
 * Gosh Dang It to Heck: Doody
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Pink Bunny might have a few wrinkles, but ain't nobody gonna say "no".
 * Hollywood Density: Played with. Minxy builds a plane out of solid gold, and it is specifically mentioned that it will not fly because it is too soft and dense a metal. It does anyway.
 * I'm Not a Hero, I'm X: "I'm just the sheriff."
 * Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Astral Man. "We Must Do Right"
 * Informed Ability: A rapist has Sheriff Tommy's sister...except he never actually raped anybody or, to the knowledge of the readers, even tried to rape anybody.
 * Intrepid Reporter: The first arc of Volume 1 features a documentary being filmed within Tranquility, spearheaded by Collette Pearson.
 * I Was Quite a Looker: Some of the heroes have aged well (A little too well...), but a lot of the others are not holding up in their old age. Many spend most of their time reminiscing about when they were young and filled out their uniforms in ways that only superheroes can.
 * Kid Hero: Minxy Millions, adorable child millionaire and inventor who helped win World War II with her aerial inventions and who personally battled the Sky Pirate. Unfortunately, that was seventy yeas ago and dementia has begun to set in.
 * Les Yay: "You're not...Sheriff, you're not in any way available, are you?"
 * Like A Daughter To Me: Mayor Fury and Sheriff Lindo are practically father and daughter, which makes what happens all the harder.
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Sweet Sally might make you really want to shout, but he could probably do it better.
 * May-December Romance:.
 * The Modern Age of Comic Books: The setting of the series, with most of the characters having retired from the Golden Age.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Pink Bunny. Honestly, her superhero outfit is as a Playboy Bunny!
 * Otaku: Mangacide, one of the younger superpowered beings, was an outcast her entire life until she discovered Manga, which connected with her on a personal level because it was "right to left" like she was. After she discovered the entire world of Japanese-media and entertainment she gained a new personality and self-confidence and came out of her shell.
 * Parental Substitute: Tommy Lindo's dad disappeared when she was young, but Mayor Fury brought her up like his own child.
 * Physical God: We get a lot less detail on their exact powers than in some other comics, but Maximum Man and Astral Man seem to approach these levels. Judge Fury might also be in the league, considering what hapens when he and Maximum Man face off, but even he says that he has a serious advantage since Maximum Man is so out of practice. Derek might outshine them all, to a rather extreme degree if Sheriff Tommy's worrying is anything to go by, but he also has not been given specific details for his powers.
 * Playboy Bunny: It is Pink Bunny's costume.
 * Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: When Seriff Tommy is recruiting help to face off against Derek she does not mention his godlike powers or predilection for buckets, but instead explains that "a rapist has my sister."
 * The Real Heroes: An inversion. The town sheriff, traditionally "The Real Hero," explains that "I'm just the sheriff" and the rest of the town is composed of real heroes, powered and non-powered alike.
 * Reality Ensues: People get old. You can slow it down, stretch it out and fight it as much as you want, but time moves on and you need to deal with the fact that you can no longer hold the same place in the world you used to.
 * Retired Monster: Their waning years may have worn off some of the rough edges, but many of the characters are honest-and-truly bad people. Be fooled by their feeble appearance at your peril.
 * Serious Business: Captain Cobra and Mongoose Man are "enemies to the DEATH" and each will damn-sure make sure the other does not get the apples that are their proper due.
 * Show Within a Show: Many of the adventures of the heroes were reprinted and sold as comic books back in the 1940's, 50's and 60's, and their children and grandchildren had careers as voice-actors in cartoons based around their lives as the next generation of heroes.
 * Sky Pirate: The...well, the Sky Pirate.
 * Sophisticated As Hell: The Sampson Twins. One of them speaks Ye Olde Butchered English, the other talks like a modern frat boy
 * Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Salabal eventually took over Terry Terrific's comic. He didn't mind, because he loves her.
 * Those Two Guys: Colonel Cragg and Bad Dog, partners since WWII and sticking together.
 * Those Wacky Nazis: A large chunk of the Maxi-history is the history of WWII as the Liberty League battled the Nazis and various villains tried to help them conquer the word.
 * Wildstorm: It is part of the Wildstorm shared universe, which is itself part of the larger DC Universe since 52, but remains primarily independent from other series. DC has recently announced that the Wildstorm imprint itself will be discontinued due to changes in the market.
 * World War II: From all we have heard it seems like the Liberty Squad won it single-handedly...except for Colonel Cragg.