Lei Ling needs to smooth things over with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend quite nearly became her fiancee not too long ago, and she’s hoping to apologize to him about it, but external events threaten to make problems for her in Aero #9. Writer Zhou Liefen takes a closer look at the deeper personal life Shanghai’s champion superhero in an issue largely focussed on her romantic relations with an incredibly nice guy named Zou Yu. Once again, artist Keng is given a great deal of room to bring across both drama and physical action on two drastically different scales in a thoroughly satisfying issue.

Lei Ling walks through the door of The Art Room Gallery Pub at 11:23 p.m. It’s been a long day. A few issues back, she narrowly avoided getting proposed to be a really nice guy named. The pub in question is the place where they met. Mention of that prompts a flashback to their first meeting there at the bar. Things seem to be settling-in between Lei and Zou until another massive jade tower that has sprung up around Shanghai is starting to spring to life. Aero wants to protect the innocent, but running out on Zou two nights in a row would introduce all kinds of instability into her life, so she’s going to need to find a novel way to save lives.

Once again, Liefen finds a very cleverly idiosyncratic variation on traditional superhero concepts with Aero. The pacing is absolutely beautiful with this issue as the first half of it is earthbound with the interpersonal drama between Zou and Lei at a bar. Liefen lets those moments breathe for long enough to add depth to a relationship, which allows for a greater emotional connection with the characters. The flashback gives insight into Lei’s attraction and affection for Zou before shooting forward to handle matters in a powerful superhero conflict in a clever way that pays homage to the first big character crossing-over into the series next issue. 

Keng gives The Art Room Gallery Pub its own personality. There’s a well-thought-out atmosphere to the place where Lei and Zou first meet. Liefen allows Keng plenty of space to set mood and tone for the conversation and the flashback. Liefen hands Keng a much bigger challenge in the conflict with the towering jade monster. She’s confronting the monster via an avatar of herself that she’s conjured with her powers. Keng brings the dual-focus of this conflict to the page with a vividly fluid reality. 

There’s very little here that is inherently original. Superheroes have always had to deal with juggling romance and duty. They’ve always had to deal with maintaining a secret identity and giant monsters and things. Liefen and Keng handle the standard superhero tropes with a class and poise that makes it all feel new. It will be interesting to see what distinctive style the creative team will add to the Iron Man crossover coming next issue. 

Grade: A