Every week I take a look back at the comics that deserve discussion, damnation, and/or praise. I spoil, I curse, I have sex with your mom...like, all the time.
S.H.E.I.L.D. #1
This is Hickman's best work for Marvel, by far. Reshaping the history of the Marvel Universe is a big undertaking and one that could easily go awry. First you have to navigate through decades of stories and even if you manage to do that without contradicting other works, the fans could still hate the changes you make. Fear not boys and girls, Hickman and Weaver have deftly constructed a tale that simultaneously adds depth and intrigue while flowing seamlessly with our understanding of Marvel history. It also delivers cool geek-out moments like that above wherein Imhotep fights an invasion by the Brood alongside characters like Apocalypse (pre-celestial tech) and the original Egyptian Moon Knight. Or when Galileo beats back Glactus in 1582. Or when Leonardo DaVinci built a steam punk rocket pack(?) and flew to the sun to save the world. Behold:
It goes without saying that the art is quite good. Hickman has always had a wealth of cool and interesting ideas but he hasn't always been able to present them as a coherent story, not so here as, despite all the big concepts, the book is driven by the story. Hickman does enough with the main character, Leonid, and his situation to hook the reader into his experience. The small things like Leonid's reaction to his father or the Immortal City, it's not much, but it's enough to make him real. Hickman also smartly avoids relying too much on fanboy knowledge. Not every flashback is necessarily connected to superheroes or villains and even the ones that are don't count on you knowing it. The fathers of Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic are a part of S.H.E.I.L.D. but even if you didn't recognize them it's not crucial to the story, it's just a nice detail for the hardcore. It's a great start and a meaty read I highly recommend picking up this issue.
Wolverine: Weapon X #12
Okay so I know it was established in the fondly remembered Age of Apocalypse that Logan could totally loose a hand but it's always really bugged me. Dude has a healing factor! Even if your saying that somehow the whole adamantium bones thing didn't prevent limb loss it would grow back. (I know that gets into a whole other pseudoscience argument about joints and tendons and the inability to move if they were covered by an unbreakable metal.) I'm disappointed in you Aaron and that's what really hurts. That aside this was another good issue I just felt like nerd bitching.
Uncanny X-Men #523
Relief, the Dodsons are back, this is a good thing. The Second Coming got off to a pretty good start last week and Fraction and the Dodsons continue that goodness here delivering a bit of everything. They've managed to smartly separate the various teams and pace out the action sequences so the event should hum along. I really liked that Fraction found the time to add a some human touches with Hope and Cable. The scene where she jumps ecstatically on the hotel bed and the one in which Cable gives her the hair/beauty supplies adds so much impact to scenes like the one above where shit is blowing up. Hope hasn't been around long but scenes like that, especially when drawn by talented artists, really help endear a character to the audience.
Thor and the Warriors Four #1
I picked the page above because I thought in encapsulated a lot of the reasons why this was good. There's the obvious humor with The Pet Avengers failing to introduce themselves, some serous drama with the older kids trying to convince Frog Thor to help them save their Grandma, and some great detail/comedy work in the background as the younger kids goof around. I'm not sure how much of the is writer Alex Zalben and how much is Girihuru but both did a stand up job on this. As always Girihuru delivers a fun, dynamic comic with clear layouts and expressive characters. Zalben equals his artist with a funny, surprisingly heartfelt, issue. Zalben seems to understand that just because it's a kids story doesn't mean you can't talk about real things. People die, life is sometimes scary, bad things happen, no matter how hard parents or writers try and hide it these things are true, denying them won't make them go away and kids have to face them just like adults do. It also shows ample talent to balance the somber bits of the story with the humor and fun of the rest of the issue without feeling forced and unnatural so kudos all around. Then to top it off you get a back up story by Coleen Coover...
...that also excels. I love the expression that the Power Pack kids have as they listen to Herc's story. Not as much as I love the lion's expression however, as that shit is priceless. I haven't laughed as much at a funny animal expression since Frank Castle punched a polar bear.
Star Wars: Purge: The Hidden Blade #1
That is entirely too many colons. Anyways, in this issue Darth Vader fights not one, but two Jedi. He also slaughters a bunch of rebels. You should know by now if you want to buy this comic.
Turf #1
The first thing you'll notice about Turf #1 is that it's beautiful. The second thing you'll notice about Turf #1 is that it's beautiful. By the third time though you might notice that it's actually a pretty good story too. It's a mash up of a prohibition-era gangster story with vampires and even more surprisingly, aliens. Somehow it actually works together. Part of this is because Tommy Lee Edwards absolutely kills it blending the 30s style crime look with just enough gothic horror so the vampires feel right at home even the alien stuff blends while still looking alien and otherworldly. That's not to lessen Jonathan Ross's script as it does a capital job of thematically tying in themes of addiction, power, corruption, and greed that spans all three stories connecting them as one. If there's one critique I have of the script is that he harps on his themes a bit too much without the subtlety that a seasoned comics writer might have. Overwriting is a common problem with writers that have never, or don't often, work in comics and Ross does suffer somewhat from it, but the plot, characters, and dialog are all strong enough to overcome any redundancies in the narration.
It's an exciting week when you have four #1s and all deliver.
That's all for now, we've had one winner in the Comment Challenge 2010 contest, will you be next? Comment below.
-egs
I'd talk about Batman and Robin but at this point you should know enough just to buy it.
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