Part of That Bulletproof Kid’s unique appeal is the juxtaposition between the heroics of fighting supervillains and interplanetary monsters, and the life of ordinary high school students. Anth (a.k.a. Bulletproof), our inimitable protagonist, attempts to straddle the line between both of these worlds—and does neither very well.

Well, that’s not entirely true. He’s actually quite a good superhero—or sidekick, rather. He’s very powerful and has fought off a variety of evils successfully. But, the Tribunal—the organization that oversees superheroes—distrusts him, which results in his constantly getting into trouble with his superiors.

For instance, issue #4 opens with Bulletproof fighting off an enormous, rampaging, horned . . . thing. He’s successfully able to get rid of it and is promptly locked up for his trouble by another superhero, and accused of being in league with a group of criminals. He’s then belittled by the Tribunal and lectured (sternly but lovingly) by the superhero who mentors him. No matter what he does, Bulletproof can’t seem to catch a break.

Issue #4 focuses entirely on the superhero side of things, from Bulletproof’s problems with the Tribunal, to revisiting the mysterious alien outlaws that we met in the first issue, to the story of an ancient Mayan amulet that may or may not destroy the world. Issue #5, however, balances things out by focusing entirely on Anth and his human, high school interactions.

His friends talk about cosplay and career fairs and other seemingly mundane topics compared to the action of the previous issue. Anth, meanwhile, spends a lot of the time quietly off on the sidelines, reluctant to commit to any of his friends’ planned activities and trying hard to keep them all at arm’s length. There’s no place for friends or a social life in Anth’s life. All he’s supposed to care about or concentrate on is the Tribunal and his job of fighting evil.

Of course, that’s not to say that issue #5 is completely devoid of action. There’s tremendous uproar when more of those horned things show up at Anth’s school on career day, and Anth ends up—well, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

In both of Anth’s conflicting worlds, writer and artist Matt Kyme creates compelling stories and vivid visuals. It’s sometimes exciting, sometimes funny, and generally worth reading. Do yourself a favor and check out That Bulletproof Kid #4-5, available now from IF? Commix.