Relative Heroes

When Ma and Pa Weinberg die in a car crash, their four kids and babysitter — all endowed with superpowers — decide to move to Superman's Metropolis and become crime fighters. Think Party of Five-meets-The X-Men and you have Relative Heroes, hyped by one major national newspaper as ushering in the next generation of superhero comics. Let's hope not. Devin K. Grayson is capable of novel characterizations, but she has her Weinberg kids on the road and battling bad guys mere minutes after their parents' deaths. Grieving, apparently, lacks the requisite costumed conflict the genre requires. Here's hoping that in future episodes, Grayson and Yvel Guichet can tell stories that don't trivialize their emotionally rich premise. C-