[Raided] Secret Invasion Tie-Ins: Thor #1/Inhumans #1/X-Men #1
0 Comments Published by Graig August 20th, 2008 in Superhero(Marvel)
Given that comic book sales figures are based on advance orders, and thus reflective of reader anticipation rather than actual reader response, it would seem likely that much of the success of Marvel’s Secret Invasion event has been the elegant simplicity of its premise: “Anyone might be the enemy. Who can you trust?” And as the core story of the Skrull invasion plays out in the main title, it’s left to the inevitable ancillary books to offer alternative views of, or shed light on, the central storyline while still functioning as standalone tales. In the past, these spinoff minis have often served as proving grounds for new talent; for Secret Invasion, though, Marvel’s brought out a number of pretty big guns, and given them enough storytelling leeway that the resulting books are more than just grace notes, or dangling appendages, to the main series, but worthwhile on their own merits.
One of Marvel’s best recent moves was taking Thor off the board for a couple of years, then bringing him back in an engaging and imaginative new series from J. Michael Straczynski and Oliver Coipel. Given their unique take on the character (as well as Asgard’s potential to unbalance the forces arrayed against the Skrulls and bring the war to a sudden, screeching halt), I had wondered if this mini would serve as anything more than a holding action to explain just why Thor and company aren’t jumping into the fray. Writer Matt Fraction ignores that, sending the Skrulls hurtling headlong into collision with godly forces, but with a story surprisingly filled with more heart and intrigue than you’d expect in 22 pages of spinoff. He takes immediately to Don Blake, defining this human aspect of the Thunder God quickly and deftly. He also picks up the threads of Straczynski’s ongoing series smoothly, and brings back one of the most beloved characters in the series’ history. Doug Braithewaite gives us an Asgard of somewhat rougher texture than we’re used to (perhaps fitting since the place currently resides above Oklahoma), with a gritty power that’s more Buscema than Kirby. And don’t be surprised if the events of this story wind up having implications on the Marvel U past the three issues of this miniseries.
The Inhumans spinoff works almost in reverse from that of Thor: instead of events that will shape the Marvel Universe in the future, we step back for a glimpse at a hidden link from the Illuminati to World War Hulk to the Secret Invasion itself. Heroes writer Joe Pokaski doesn’t get as far under the skin of the Inhumans as Fraction does the Asgardians, and so far his story’s a pretty straightforward “Who do you trust?” outing, with the usual banter and bickering among Gorgon and the gang, and lashings of mad ambition from good old Maximus. But I can never get enough of the Inhumans, and the last panel raises enough questions that readers who want to know more about the Skrull invasion will be intrigued to pick up the next issue… if Tom Raney’s gorgeous art hasn’t already sold them. He has the Inhumans down pat (you’ll swear the guy has been waiting his whole career to draw Medusa’s hair), and also uses a neat trick of showing the religious/spiritual foundations of the conflict between Skrull and Kree (progenitors of the Inhumans) as a series of stained glass windows.
(DC)
If someone would have told me in early 2002, that DC Comics would be launching a comic centered around the Gotham City Police, I would have jumped up and clapped.
In 2003, DC gave us Gotham Central and I jumped up and clapped. This was the comic I’d been waiting for. A comic that focused on not hard it is to be a cop but how hard it is to be a cop in a city where Killer Croc is seen as a minor player in the Gotham scheme of things. Gotham Central was special in that it showed how hard it is to prosecute a crime when the villain is dropped off on your doorstep by a man in a cape. How do one fill out the paperwork on that?
ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction #1
1 Comment Published by Adam August 18th, 2008 in Horror/Supernatural, War
(Red 5)
Hi, I’m Adam. I’m the only comics reader in the universe who isn’t utterly sick of zombies at this point. This is because I haven’t read any of the recent zombie books—not because I have anything against the subgenre, it just happened to work out that way. As a result of all this, I think I’m in a pretty good position to review this comic dispassionately and with no bias…but then, since there are so many zombie books out there, maybe mine is the minority opinion.
Put simply, this is a modern war comic with zombies, which immediately calls to mind the “Masters of Horror” episode “Homecoming”. That episode, while insightful and funny, didn’t really click for me; the problem is that if you portray the zombies as sympathetic Iraq war veterans who are there for political reasons, you don’t really allow for the kind of rampaging carnage that is the genre’s raison d’etre. Nevertheless, satire is ingrained in the zombie genre at this point, so it was inevitable that someone would try and combine current events with the zombie genre again. But who would have guessed it would be the writer of Underworld?
(Marvel)
Nice. This is what I was hoping Secret Invasion proper would be — a war comic. The shaping Skrulls hit a speed bump on the road to universal domination when they try and take over Wakanda, the prosperous and highly-advanced African nation ruled by the Black Panther. Dumb move. Jason Aaron (writer of the Vietnam comic The Other Side) does an incredible job showing why the Black Panther is one of the baddest, and most sorely underused, characters in the Marvel universe, as the Wakandan king and champion proves himself to be a brilliant military strategist, cool under fire and in control in the face of unbelievable odds. The “chess match” between T’Challa and the Skrull General plays out like strategy porn, and will make tactical junkies salivate, while the kinetic and no-holds-barred close quarters melee battle will make action junkies backflip with delight. And would someone please get artist Jefte Palo a monthly, preferably a war, crime or western comic. This guy is an amazing visual storyteller. Bad ass, in every respect.
5 out of 5 Vikings
(DC)
A few months ago, I made an informal vow to review every issue of this series. As an extremely well-written and entertaining “one-and-done” Jonah Hex represents everything that monthly comic books should be (What’s more, any book without capes and tights needs all the help it can get). So, I’d be dishonest if I only reviewed the great issues of this series, and overlooked the less than great. The latest issue of Jonah Hex is less than great. Just slightly above average in every respect. Maybe it’s that writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have now been at this for three years and the well is running a little dry. The retired gunfighter called back into action to right an egregious wrong can be one of two things - classic (Shane, Unforgiven) or tired, familiar and uninspired. That’s the danger of working in a genre with so many conventions. Making contact with the ball isn’t always enough. You have to hit it out of the park for anyone to take notice, and that’s the problem here. Gray and Palmiotti tell a competent story about Jonah Hex finding a quiet piece of land in Oregon to finish out his days, only to pick up the steel on behalf of the hooker with the heart of gold. But at the risk of sounding flippant…been there, done that. This is still a great series though, one of my favorite ongoings, and the fantastic cover by Andy Kubert makes up a little for an otherwise disappointing issue.
2 and a half out of 5 Vikings
(DC)
I have a lot of nostalgia for comics of 1980’s, particularly the 1980’s post-Crisis DC Universe, a time where everything was new again, where the rules weren’t yet defined and anything could happen. The 1980’s also brought us the “Event Comic” building the idea of team-ups but on a mass scale to tackle one massive problem. Secret Wars was the first big “Event Comic”, although self-contained, and it was Crisis on Infinite Earths which we have to thank/blame for the “Epic Crossover” which have pretty much been inescapable since 1985. Every company that’s done superheroes in the past 20 years has done them… from Milestone to Valiant to Wildstorm to Continuity, they’re inescapable. Though each one of them promises some “earth shaking” or “ground breaking” or “internet cracking-in-halfing” changes to their universe, but rarely do they deliver anything of lasting value (sub-plots and spin-offs tend to last a few years at most before they too disappear or return to status-quo). These days, once you get through all the hype, most Epic Crossovers aren’t doing much other than baiting the fans into buying more comics. That hint of cynicism you read there is as a result of what they call “Event Fatigue”. After almost 25 years of these epic smash-’em-ups, they’ve lost purpose, meaning, distinction and individuality, they’ve started to blur together into a mass of crises that, in their center have very little heart.
Obviously, things weren’t always this way. In the mid-to-late ’80’s these events were intriguing, fresh, and exciting, especially for DC. Over their then-50-year publishing history, DC had amassed numerous characters from different eras and different publishers, each inhabiting a separate “Earth”, and post-Crisis most were reborn on one sole Earth. Now, not only were there ongoing stories to be told but also stories of the past to be revised, revised, retconned, what have you. For the first time all of DC’s pantheon could meet with one another without having to detail “dimensional rifts” or explain away the hows of the meet-ups, instead focusing on the whys. After Crisis, they had a success in Legends which launched a new Flash title, Giffen’s Justice League and the Suicide Squad amongst it’s notable accomplishments. DC wanted to make these events an annual tradition, and they wanted to go bigger the following year, to weave together their new universe even more tightly, so what they delivered was a 45-part, 8-week crossover bridging together 21 different ongoing series with an 8-part mini-series. It was an incredible endeavor, still unsurpassed even by the likes of Infinite Crisis or 52, but the annals of time have rendered it’s an abysmal failure (surpassed only by, presumably, Countdown) for one main reason: it’s bloody boring.
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane Season 2 #1
0 Comments Published by Jeb August 14th, 2008 in Romance, Superhero
(Marvel)
I have to admit that I never read an issue of the first volume of this series. Much as I respect Sean McKeever’s work, the idea of a modern-day “Archie” with superhero trappings and lashings of anime stylings left me pretty cold: after all, I figured that Joss Whedon has pretty much “done” the modern high school experience for me already. But new writer Terry Moore is among the top writers of relationship comics working today, and coming on the heels of the brilliant Strangers in Paradise (as well as his more recent, and quite entertaining, Echo), I figured I had to give it a shot; and if it’s not the revelation I’d somehow hoped it might be, it’s certainly not bad.
Again, not having read the first series, I don’t know where that left off, but Moore seems to be doing a kind of “soft reboot” here: the characters are already established, and know each other, but this first issue re-introduces the familiar supporting cast from Spidey’s high school days, with a few “up-to-date” twists. And “date” raises kind of an interesting question: given that this is, so far as I know, more or less “in-continuity,” then it should take place a decade or so ago (Mephisto may have made everyone forget the Parker-Watson marriage, but he didn’t erase the elapsed time… oh god–nerd alert for even knowing that!), which may explain the “Rico Suave” reference. On the other hand, it feels very contemporary (text-messaging is far more a given here than it would have been ten years ago), and is clearly geared toward bringing in younger readers. My guess is that it’s another example of Marvel allowing continuity to exist as something flexible, designed to serve the needs of the story at hand, and not vice-versa.
(Zur-en-arrh, eh?
Grant Morrison, you’re in a very small minority of writers that can have the editorial and artistic leeway granted by the publisher of a major character to do anything you desire. And you don’t waste a panel, do you? There’s definitely a part of me as a reader that gets excited about the unlikely idea of Bat-mite providing the exposition in a Batman comic published in 2008, but there’s another part of me that wonders how new readers or people unfamiliar with the Bat mythos will receive something as far out as this. I mean, all in all the story of Batman RIP is fairly straightforward; a group called the Black Glove is trying to destroy Bruce Wayne and Batman while ruining everything in his life. The motivations behind that, and how the plan came together are still mysteries, but it’s the details and how the story is getting from A to B that is why this book is worth reading. I’ve made it in no ways unclear that I’ve absolutely loved this story arc thus far, and when all is said and done I think it’s going to blow us away. That being said, I was wondering in which issue was the story going to drag ever so slightly, but enough that it’s noticed due to the ridiculous pace the first three issues put forth. While the first issue’s main criticism was it retread on plot points that had already been established for the sake of getting new readers to catch-up, this book takes a break from the revelations and twists to set up the last two issues which seem as though they’re going to revolve around the Joker and the ultimate destruction of Bruce Wayne. As with the rest of this story, this issue had it’s reasons and place in the arc, but we’ll have to wait a few weeks to see where it’s all heading. The issue is good, the art is great and for the next installment I cannot wait… See what I did there?
[Raided] NewUniversal 1959 (One-Shot)
1 Comment Published by Sean August 12th, 2008 in Crime-Noir, Superhero
I don’t know anything about writer Warren Ellis’ re-imagining of Marvel’s “New Universe” line from the 1980s, which is the larger backdrop for this one-shot. I just know that the cover had a “noir” look to it and that my dealer told me that it was a solid “superhero noir” story that stands on its own. He was right. NewUniversal 1959 is a solid superhero noir (more noir than superhero) tale that can be taken on its own terms. What do I mean by “superhero noir”? Well, let me put it this way - within the first three pages Tony Stark takes a bullet point blank to the head, which serves as our introduction to the story’s “protagonist” Philip Voight, a dedicated, ambitious and pragmatic NSA agent convinced that the super-powered beings slowly starting to emerge in America pose not only a national security threat, but a threat to human existence itself. Imagine Ed Exley from LA Confidential (more the novel than the movie) with no restraint and you get an idea. Voight is a complex and compelling character, truly convinced that the means he employs will justify the end result - undoubtedly the hero of his own story, but, ultimately, alone with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Writer Kieron Gillen does a great with the limited number of pages he’s given to craft an engaging, atmospheric and complete noir tale about fear, paranoia, obsession and the downward spiral of moral ambiguity. I’d read a Philip Voight ongoing by Gillen, especially if Greg Scott and Kody Chamberlin (quickly becoming one of my favorite noir artists) continued to handle the artwork. Recommended.
4 out of 5 Vikings
