Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
They’re growing in number. They’re gathering in strength. And they’re taking over the site. It’s The League Of TalkBack @$$Holes!! RUN!! RUN!!
Captain America #2
Writer: John Ney Rieber
Artist: John Cassaday
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Jon Quixote
Like many of the people who frequent this website, I have a wish list of things that I would like to see happen in the worlds of comics, movies, and television. Here are some examples:
I wish that the inevitable sequels to the Spider-Man movies won’t be numbered, but instead identified by the adjectives used by the comic books. The sequel would be the Amazing Spider-Man, followed by Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, then Web of Spider-Man, etc.
I wish that one day I can walk into a movie theatre and buy a ticket for “Buzz Maverik’s Beatniks Vs. The Martians.”
I wish that someday Marvel will decide to re-launch Heroes for Hire properly. And properly involves Luke Cage wearing a yellow shirt and beating the shit out of a vending machine.
I have a new wish. I wish that I had pictures of John Ney Rieber fellating Billy goats, so I could blackmail him into quitting Captain America. And then release the pictures anyways. Because I’m pretty fucking bitter here.
I don’t know where to begin my critique, so I’m just going to start with Basic Writing 101. I’m embarrassed for Mr. Rieber that I, a man who has never taken a writing course, never written anything of note, and certainly never published a comic book, am the one who has to teach him this simple rule, but someone has to do it.
Remember in The Flintstones, where Fred would try to deceive Wilma, but she would eventually learn about his shenanigans? Fred would come clean, start to tell her the truth, and then it would cut to him saying, “And that’s the whole story.” Well, if Mr. Rieber wrote The Flintstones, a task which he is unqualified to do even though it basically consists of interjecting brontosaurus jokes into old episodes of The Honeymooners, he would show us every single word of Fred’s explanation.
Avoid Redundancy! I’ll say it again, because that’s the sort of unabashed hypocrite that I am. Avoid Redundancy. The title on the cover of this issue says “Fight Terror,” but really it should read “Fight Redundancy!”
By the end of Cap #1, we learned that a terrorist called Al-Tariq had used an elaborate web of land mines to take over the town of Centerville, U.S.A. (No rhetoric here. Keep moving.). We saw the mines drop. We saw townsfolk under siege, and then Nick Fury debriefed us on the rest. Cap was dropped into the burning town to take the terrorist out, and rescue the hostages.
Captain America #2 starts with terrorists taking over the town. Even though we already know this happened, we get to see it again, in a bit more detail. I didn’t really think there were blanks to be filled in, but Rieber fills them in nonetheless. Then, because he apparently thinks his audience consists of total retards, we get to see Fury briefing Cap on the situation. Again. Fight Redundancy!
It actually takes 9 pages to get to the point where last issue let off. More than a third of the story. The only new information that we get in these pages is that the terrorists actually want Captain America to show up, and that a town of 600 has a smoking hot television news anchor, as well as a giant clock tower.
9 pages in, we’re finally back to Cap running through the burning town, skipping over landmines like sidewalk cracks. And this isn’t old “Avengers Assemble” Cap anymore. Nope, there’s no room for him post 9-11. What we have now is Angry Cap. Marvel Knight Cap. And he’s pissed. And do you know how to tell that he’s pissed?
Because he’s got an Internal Monologue going. Yes, Rieber wants to be Frank Miller, and he’s finally giving us long-suffering fans a peek into Cap’s mind. I read it, and I now know what makes Cap tick. Spoiler-warning. I’m going to save you the $2.99 and tell you what is going on inside Cap’s head…
Clichés. Lots and lots of clichés. Cap apparently talks to himself in clichés like “The sky should be burning. Or bleeding – if God’s watching this,” or, “you laughed when you found yourself staring down the barrel of a gun. But you weren’t a soldier…Until that day.” Well, at least Rieber saved me the trouble of having to rent Pork Chop Hill again.
Okay, now let’s deal with plot. We catch up with Cap, running through the besieged town. He fights some terrorists. Does something with his shield – I don’t know what, but stuff blew up and he didn’t get hurt, so it must have been pretty cool – and then we get a cliffhanger where he’s surrounded by…children. With hatchets. Gee, How Is Captain America Going To Get Out Of This Trap??? To be continued.
Let’s review (fight redundancy!!). Captain America #1, ended with Cap being running through a town that has been taken over by terrorists. By the end of Captain America #2, Cap is running through a town that has been taken over by terrorists. Ladies and Gentlemen, John Ney Rieber, the world’s first Teamster comic book writer. Don’t do a two issue story when you can drag it out for nine.
I’m not pulling punches here, and this is a mean review. I hope I didn’t make anybody at GrayHaven cry. Critics often criticize, and then are accused of being bitter, mean-spirited people who point out the flaws in others because they themselves cannot do any better. So I am going to revolutionize the critical world, and I am going to make some suggestions for improvement. Here are some things that might make this book better.
A plot that actually develops. Clear action sequences. Less propaganda. People talking (it’s called dialogue). People talking about stuff that doesn’t include explaining the plot. Villains who are actual characters. Actual characters period.
I’m begging now. Please, someone, anyone. Rieber. Billy goats. Polaroids. My email address is below. Do it for your country. Cap deserves better. So do his fans.
This is the laziest, most inept Captain America story since Rob Liefield went into hiding. A boring, rhetoric-filled rip-off.
And did I mention the redundancy?
MY RATING: D (hey, the art is kind of pretty).
Title: Suicide Squad #9
Writer: Keith Giffen
Artist: Paco Medina
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
As one can tell from my chosen moniker, I am a Giffen fan from way back. I look back at Keith Giffen’s eighties work on JLI, LEGION, Lobo, and, of course, Ambush Bug as pleasant comic readings of old. When I heard that he would be helming a new Suicide Squad series, I was torn. You see, I know Giffen’s style of writing. My favorite Giffen stories dealt heavily with characterization and humor, not the action and intrigue I fondly remember from the previous Suicide Squad series by John Ostrander. JLI and Suicide Squad ran neck and neck during the late eighties as my favorite series, but I liked each series for different reasons. Mixing the two would be hard to pull off, but I had faith in Giffen and gave the series a try.
Through the eighties and early nineties, John Ostrander put together a team that was chock full of intrigue and suspense. It was a book with an amazing, Dirty Dozen-like concept that was intelligent and well written. Second string villains were given depth and I came to love reading about the dangerous missions that Amanda “The Wall” Waller sent them on. I couldn’t wait to see how this new series compared to the old one.
I read the first few issues of the series and was treated to some of the most confusing comics I have ever laid my eyes on. Unanchored dialog littered the page. I had no idea if these characters were old or new incarnations. The ending of issue one borrowed heavily from Marvel’s re-vamped X-Force, having almost the entire team meet their maker. Plot holes ran rampant. The Cluemaster was killed in issue one, but was alive and kicking in the pages of Robin. In that same first issue, the final page showed us a splash page of a gray-haired old man in a diner and only those “in the know” understood him to be Sgt. Frank Rock from WWII’s Easy Company. Things did not look good for Giffen’s version of the Suicide Squad and I was about to give up on the title. But I stuck with it, hoping that Giffen had something up his sleeve.
After the first three convoluted issues, Giffen did something interesting. In issue #4, he served us up a spectacular story set during the end of World War II starring Sgt. Rock and the men of Easy Company. This issue was a turning point for the series. Giffen traded the inane banter for intrigue and adventure and the issue was spectacular. The next issue was back to form, set in the present day, but re-introduced Deadshot to the series, so that was good. But some very real problems still persisted.
Problem number one lies in the structure of the book. This incarnation of the team has two fractions: the villains who are sent out on impossible missions and granted lesser sentences if they survive and the home team behind the scenes pulling the strings. So far, the only villain characterization has taken place during arguments on the various assignments. These are some interesting characters, full of potentially interesting stories about what it is like to be villains trying to redeem themselves, but those concepts are ignored in favor of using the team as chess pieces and comic relief for the home team.
The behind the scenes home team is the real focus of the book and that’s where another problem lies. The team is made up of Sgt. Rock and Bulldozer from Easy Company and two new characters, Havana, a leggy tough girl who bickers a lot with Rock, and Modem, your stereotypical computer hacker-geek. Like Giffen’s JLI, not a whole lot happens other than the constant arguments and put downs. The reason why this concept worked so well with the JLI series is because it was fresh and interesting to see these established costumed characters act like normal people with childish disagreements, bad attitudes, and ridiculous problems. With this series, the magic is gone because these characters are just a bunch of normal dudes and chicks in suits ragging on each other over the phone and via computers. This is no Suicide Squad. This is Office Squad, bickering at a computer terminal near you. And who wants that?
Paco Medina’s artwork is another problem. He is a talented penciler, but his cartoony style is not suited for a book that kills off its characters so wantonly. Heavy subject matter loses its power and exaggerated facial features camp up what could be suspenseful and poignant. I prefer Russ Heath’s art from the Sgt. Rock flashback issue of the series. It is much better suited for the title.
After Rock’s interesting flashback issue, Giffen has attempted to characterize and make us care about the characters that make up the home team. He has tried to give the away team more adventures and even snagged some of the old Suicide Squad members to join up. Unfortunately, just as the series is answering questions and cleaning up plot holes, DC announces its cancellation with issue twelve.
So we are at issue nine of this 12 part series. Let’s start with this issue’s cover. Why put dynamic characters like Deadshot and Killer Frost on the cover issue #9 if we never get to see them in said issue? Well, the answer is to fool people into buying the book. This issue definitely needs one of those cover blurbs reading “This scene does not necessarily appear in this book.” False advertising aside, is the issue any good? Well…yes, it sort of is.
Issue #9 is a sittin’ and talkin’ book. Havana meets with Amanda Waller, the former leader of the Squad and current member of President Luthor’s cabinet. The two have a past and it’s not a good one. Giffen really does have a gift at real life sounding dialog and it is apparent in this issue. The dialog works well when one knows who is saying what, a problem from previous issues. The pacing is good as the characters speak about both the job at hand and the issues that they have between one another. Many of the above plot holes are dealt with and the issue really fleshes out the character of Havana. I like sittin’ and talkin’ books. If they are handled well, they can be as exciting as a slugfest and more memorable. This is one of those issues. With this issue, Giffen has tried to retool the series, but I feel that it is a little too little and a little too late.
This is not the Suicide Squad from the eighties. Fans of that series will probably be disappointed because the intrigue and adventure just isn’t there. Fans of Giffen’s JLI work will probably be equally disappointed because the humor is not very fresh and the characters are kind of bland. Fans of Sgt. Rock may be satisfied because of Giffen’s frequent trips back to WWII in issue four and in the upcoming 10th issue. I’ll be sticking with this series till the end because I am a completist and Giffen fan, but if you haven’t been collecting the series so far, save your money for Giffen’s upcoming Formerly Known as Justice League series. I had high hopes for the series, but I think it is just a case of the wrong creative team working on the wrong book.
Akiko #48
Written and Drawn by Mark Crilley
Published by Sirius Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
This may come as something of a shock to you comic readers out there, but once upon a tile, comics were actually read by…wait for it…
Kids.
I’m not talking seventeen-year-old kids getting a vicarious thrill by watching someone’s head get punched off in THE AUTHORITY. I’m not even talking thirteen-year-old kids reading ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN. I’m talking about the under ten kind of kids. Those little ragamuffins who can play in Little League, who haven’t heard their first “sex ed” talk, and who can watch an episode of THE LITTLE RASCALS and think, “Wow, I really identify with these guys.”
You know. KIDS.
Unfortunately, it’s damn hard to find comics that are really, honestly, and truly suitable for the little rugrats these days. The superhero stuff that so many of us grew up on has become far more geared for adults or mid to late-teens. There’s always ARCHIE comics, but they’ve always struck me as depressingly bland and repetitive. I’ll grant that there are some solid cartoon-based comics, like POWERPUFF GIRLS, JUSTICE LEAGUE ADVENTURES, and GOTHAM ADVENTURES, but what we really need is something *original*.
And that’s where AKIKO comes in. Ladies and gents, for my money this is the all-ages book we’ve been waiting for, and the fact that it hasn’t become a national phenomena the likes of HARRY POTTER tells me that comics must, must, absolutely *must* find a way to break out of comic stores and back into the public eye. Like CALVIN & HOBBES or THE IRON GIANT or THE MUPPETS, it’s a perfect blend of childlike whimsy and a sharp wit that’s sure to entertain adults. The basic premise can be summed up as THE WIZARD OF OZ with a sci-fi twist, but that hardly does it justice.
Akiko is the name of the lead character, a 4th Grade girl who’s constantly being called to the planet Smoo to take on a variety of space adventures. Why is a fourth-grader the frequent savior of an entire planet and one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes? For the same reason Dorothy was the frequent savior and greatest hero of the land of Oz over the course of countless Oz novels: because it’s cool. Because it’s wish fulfillment for the young. Because when you’ve established a fairy tale atmosphere, little things like “realism” are happily tossed out in favor of good old-fashioned “fun.”
Aiding and abetting Akiko is a loveable cast of screwballs with a chemistry not seen since the first STAR WARS movie: there’s the peg-legged Spuckler, a hilarious rogue cut from the same cloth as Han Solo, but with a decidedly Southern bent. Spuckler’s got a wise-cracking rust bucket of a robot named Gax, and a perfect foil in the form of Mr. Beeba, a snooty alien academic who definitely ranks as my favorite of the lot. Rounding out the group is a mysterious spherical alien named Poog. Poog only speaks in an alien language and remains a mystery even at nearly fifty issues into the comic, but letters to AKIKO reveal that he’s a clear favorite among younger readers, going a good ways towards supporting Scott McCloud’s theory (see UNDERSTANDING COMICS) that the more “cartoony” a design is, the more readily readers will identify with it. Here’s what Akiko and company look like:
The art is definitely its own draw in AKIKO. Writer/artist Mark Crilley works in a friendly, cartoony style somewhat reminiscent of animation designs, with more than a touch of Robert Crumb’s affinity for detailed linework. The icing on the cake is the elaborate computer graytones that gives everything a sort of three-dimensionality and makes for some jaw-dropping splash pages when Crilley really wants to showcase an exotic locale. Check out some highlights:
In the current story, Crilley’s actually experimenting with creating that same level of detail purely with the pencil. It’s a fitting experiment, because the story actually takes place on Earth and has less of the sci-fi flavor that usually characterizes the book and that fits the computer tones so well. Having just wrapped a seven-part storyline that was one of the series’ more serious tales to date, this issue goes for pure fun. It takes place entirely on Earth and chronicles the adventures of the Akiko robot that fills on for Akiko at home and school whenever she’s off adventuring in space. As with every issue, there’s also a fun little back-up story and one of the most pleasant letters pages in comicdom. It’s light, it’s fun, and it’s as good an issue as any to see if this book might have something you’d like.
Mostly, though, I encourage folks to try and get this comic into the hands of kids. Now kids shouldn’t be reading this column because, as we all know, Ain’t-It-Cool-News occasionally peppers its commentary with unsavory profanity such as “hell!” or “damnation!”, and even hints at the type of bawdy topics usually associated with Vaudeville. Nevertheless, it’s just possible that some of you folks out there may *know* some kids, or, god help us, you may have spawned a few yourselves. In either case, I recommend no comic to them more highly than AKIKO. This issue is a good jumping-on point, but there are also five shockingly cool trade paperbacks out there, and you could do a lot worse than starting at the beginning. My experience has been that kids are a little wary of the black and white art at first, but become very attached once they really start reading it.
Oh, and you hipster, adult readers should damn well give it a try too. I don’t give a hoot if you have to suffer a little embarrassment as you tuck it between copies of LUCIFER and THE AUTHORITY at the comic shop counter – show a little backbone. It’s worth it. Just imagine if you’d never tried TOY STORY or ANIMANIACS because it seemed “too kiddie.” Wouldn’t you feel like a chump? Yes you would.
Score: 5 out of 5
DC1ST (Superman and The Flash)
Written by Geoff Johns
Drawn by Rick Burchett
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Village Idiot
Geoff Johns writes the best pre-Crisis stories in the post-Crisis continuity!
In the week previous to this week’s batch of reviews, DC introduced a new series of specials called DC1ST. These titles are similar to Legends of the DC Universe series in the sense that the series reaches out of current continuity for the stories, but the hook of DC1ST is to focus on first meetings or historical turning points. The first one was a smart and witty little tale of the first meeting between Superman and Lobo, written by Keith Giffen. (One wonders whether this is what finally happened to that Superman and Lobo screenplay Giffen had written a few years back.) This week’s DC1ST features a meeting Superman and 2 Flashes.
Rather than dip back into the history of the DCU like the last DC1ST, this story actually takes place in current continuity. In fact, it's essentially a Flash story guest starring Superman. The story centers around the escape of the evil time-traveling techno-magician Abra Kadabra from Iron Heights Penitentiary. After Kadabra wreaks all kinds of magical mayhem in Metropolis, Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash, and Wally West, the current Flash and Superman try to subdue him, but Kadabra's magic is too powerful and he forces them all into the big race that you see on the cover.
This story worked well, and I lay most of the credit at the feet of Geoff Johns. If you haven’t read his great work on JSA, or his even better work on The Flash (there, I said it), shame on you. Johns is one of DC’s biggest assets right now, and they know it. He’s spread pretty thin right now, not only doing JSA and The Flash, but the new Hawkman series, some fill in work for the departing Jeph Loeb at Superman, and even the Avengers over at Marvel. And he even finds the time for the issue under discussion. Why is Geoff Johns the savior of the DCU?
Johns combines modern sensibility with a respect for classic superhero comic conventions in a manner that doesn’t overplay the irony card. He uses full blown schlock, imaginative, crazy, pre-crisis comic book schlock, but the stories take themselves seriously enough to where they never feel schlocky, or feel like Johns is constantly winking at us. Take this issue of DC1ST for example: How many times has the idea of a race between Superman and the Flash been rolled out? Other writers may have taken these elements and served up a light story that focused on the homage, or even worse, given us an overly self-conscious or overly self-referential parody. However Johns gives us a situation where the race really does serve the story. Even when other Silver Age conventions pop up in the story, like when the all-purpose whirlwind makes an appearance, all the silliness is strangely contextually credible. The story takes what happening seriously, but not too seriously; there’s a degree of weight, but it never loses a sense of fantasy and fun. I think this tonal balance is key to John’s work. Moreover, the pacing worked, and dialog was clear without being too obvious. The more sophisticated character dynamics that mark John’s run on the Flash were there, as always. Even the art was solid: Rick Burchett’s images of Kadabra in his cell worked particularly well.
All in all, if you like classic superhero comic story-telling, or even if you like just good comic storytelling, you’ll likely find DC1ST: Superman and Flash a satisfying read.
Spider-Man: Blue #1
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Jon Quixote
Remember your childhood. Judging from what currently passes for a talkback on this website, most of you are still mired in it, but for those of you a little more removed from your mouth-breathing days, think back to those more innocent times. Do you remember eating Thanksgiving dinners at the small table, playing Star Wars at recess, and your parents driving home from parties drunk? How about throwing your comics haphazardly in the closet when you were done with them, because you couldn’t even spell “Mylar,” let alone know what it meant.
Back then, the comics seemed just as innocent. They were certainly simpler. Bad guys would pop out of the shadows, rob a bank or two, or maybe even threaten world domination if they were ugly enough, and then the hero would swoop down, talk a little trash, and then right cross them into la-la land. It was so simple; black and white morality in four vivid colors. And it fuelled your escapist fantasies like Viagra at the Playboy mansion. Who wouldn’t want to be a superhero? They had action, adventure, and plenty of laughs. They got to save the world, impress their friends, and kiss the girl. It was all in good fun. Justice always prevailed. The bad guys went to jail. And no one ever really died. At least, no one too important.
That is, until Gwen. And suddenly, it didn’t seem all that fun to be Spider-Man.
For those of you who like to buy your nostalgia in comic magazine form, this is your lucky month. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, the Retro Kings who brought us the second best Batman story ever in The Long Halloween, and did the impossible by surpassing Byrne’s Man of Steel as the definitive Superman origin story with For All Seasons, are back. And now they have turned their attentions to the Wall-Crawler. I always felt that, given their talents, Loeb and Sale were born to write a Spider-Man story. After issue #1 of Spider-Man: Blue, I am beginning to feel that my faith was well placed.
There are a number of reasons behind Spider-Man’s constant appeal, and in wake of the media blitz surrounding the movie, they have been U.S.A. Today’ed to death: His everyman quality; his real world setting; his personal problems and tragedies. But one of the reasons, maybe even the most important one, is often overlooked. Spider-Man is not static, and never has been. Batman is. Sure, Robins come and go and Babs Gordon ain’t the hopscotch player she used to be, but Batman is essentially the same as he was sixty years ago. The same goes for his Metropolis counterpart. The only thing that has really happened to Superman in seventy-five years is that he got married. So when Loeb and Sale decide to set stories like The Long Halloween in the hero’s past, the choice is largely atmospheric. They could have set it in contemporary continuity, probably without missing a beat.
But Spider-Man has changed over the years. Cast members have come and gone, lived and died, and Peter Parker himself has evolved and matured from a stuttering bookworm to a confident young man who gets to include a chapter called “I Porked a Super-Model” in his memoirs. Peter Parker 2002 lives in an entirely different world than Peter Parker circa 1973. So when Loeb and Sale decide to send you back, the nostalgia hits you like the drinking squirts after a Tequila night.
Confession time. I’m twenty-four years old. So when Gwen took her swan dive off the George Washington/Brooklyn Bridge, and died from a broken neck/shock of the fall, I was nothing more than faulty latex in a men’s room vending machine. But even so, Loeb and Sale’s nostalgic punch still hits me square in the jaw. And that is their gift. Whether or not you actually remember hearing the sickening snap of Gwendy’s neck when it was hot off the presses, or you can only remember as far back as the Secret Wars, Loeb and Sale will still send you back. They will touch upon the first things you loved about comic books, and the reasons you still buy them.
And here’s the best part: They make them better! Have you ever tried to read some of these comics from the 60’s and early 70’s? These comics not only read like they were written for twelve year old boys, they read like they were written by twelve year old boys. Plots are inane, characters often act in completely inexplicable manners, and everybody talks like Waylon Jennings after a Dukes of Hazard commercial break (Okay, here’s what happened so far…). Trust me. I’ll even sell you my copy of Essential Marvel Team-Up, if you want proof. Really, really cheap. So when you read Spider-Man: Blue, you not only get the best parts of those early, innocent comics, you get none of the condescension. Old style comic fun, grown-up comic complexity.
And the art! Normally, I’m a meat and potatoes art guy. I usually find that when an artist tries to go all, well, artsy in a comic book, the story gets lost in the experimentation. I’d use Dark Knight Returns as an example, if it had a discernable story to begin with. But Tim Sale is amazing, the artist Frank Miller wishes he could be. In fact, I feel dirty even trying to describe Sale’s work with words. The first three pages of this book should go in the comics hall-of-fame. Spider-Man, The Bridge, and a rose in a breathtaking operatic sequence. There is no way to maintain that intensity for the rest of the book, but damned if Sale doesn’t come close. It is as though he channels the essence of every character, from the Goblin to Aunt May, through his pen.
If there is any complaint, it is that after only one issue, it’s a bit too early to get a handle on the story Loeb is going for. There’s just not enough space. But it is issue one of six, I believe, so there is plenty of time. It does not help that the damn Zimmerman story is in the back, eating up precious space, marring my copy, and delivering unto me the realization that both he and Joe Quesada, who I have nothing but the utmost respect for, should be kicked in the ding-dings for even thinking about including that piece of shit in this issue. In fact, it is so abhorrent, that my initial reaction was to not buy anymore issues, as protest, and to just wait for the trade paperback. But why punish myself for a simple mistake made by Zimmerman’s parents years ago? There is no power on earth that can keep me from salivating like a Pavlovian dog until the next issue comes out.
Instead, I’ll urge you - my devoted audience – to boycott this book to punish Marvel for thrusting back pages shit on us. Wait for the trade. Besides, it will be better to read the entire story at once. You’ll get a more aesthetically pleasing reading experience. Marvel will get a lesson in tricking us with marketing ploys that force us to buy the crap with the gold. And my back issue prices will skyrocket!
MY RATING: Just kidding. Buy this comic. You will never, ever regret it. It gets a solid A. And remember, Essential Marvel Team-Up. For sale. Cheap. Anyone? Anyone? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
DR. STRANGE: A SEPARATE REALITY TPB
script by Steve Engelhart, art by Frank Brunner.
Review by Buzz Maverik.
Steve Engelhart was the Brian Mark Bendis of the early '70s. Each month he would write THE AVENGERS, THE DEFENDERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, CAPTAIN MARVEL and DR. STRANGE. For DC, he collaborated with artist Marshall Rogers on an incredible BATMAN arc that has been collected in a tpb called STRANGE APPARITIONS. In the '80s, he was supposed to follow Frank Miller's second run on DAREDEVIL, but Marvel was stupid enough to allow one of Engelhart's major plots to be used in one of the fill-in issues. Still, Engelhart reteamed with Rogers and later Ron Lim for SILVER SURFER VOL. 2. Currently, you can read his work in AVENGERS: CELESTIAL QUEST, although some of us are waiting for the tpb.
This trade collects Engelhart's initial issues on Dr. Strange, both in MARVEL PREVIEW and Doc's own magazine, collaborating with artist Frank Brunner. They made a great team. Dr. Strange is a character who takes visionaries willing to step out of the superhero restrictions to bring him to publication properly. At the time this work was done, those kind of visionaries were in short supply at Marvel.
Dr. Strange is not a superhero. He often becomes involved in superhero situations, but generally that requires him to bring in his non-teammates THE DEFENDERS. Doc is a sorcerer who battles to save our realm from the mystic menaces of the Marvel Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko is the '60s, Doc was the perfect hero for the kid who tended to listen to Bob Dylan over the Beach Boys, the kind of kid who would end up being a hippie. Editor Ralph Macchio reportedly horrified Ditko by suggesting that Doc's adventures might turn kids on to psychadelia. No worries about that in this volume, though. Engelhart and Brunner are from a later generation than Ditko, and their work here indicates an intimate acquaintance with the psychedelic and psychotropic.
The stories collected here have Doc saving the universe from the Lovecraftian Shuma-Gorath, killing his own mentor the Ancient One (who like Charles Xavier seems to die and come back to life all the time), journeying back to the creation of the universe with his arch-foe Baron Mordo to witness the birth of God, talking to a hookah smoking caterpillar, and finally defeating a would-be Pope called Silver Dagger who tried to destroy all sorcerers. These works were ahead of their time and very non-Marvel, which is why Marvel is always canceling DR. STRANGE. They wouldn't be out of place in the Vertigo line up.
There's always talk of reviving DR. STRANGE. Everyone from Neil Gaiman to Kevin Smith to J. Michael Straczynski has been mentioned to write a Doc series and I feel that all would be excellent choices. The thing that will make or break a new DR. STRANGE book for Marvel will be the art. I think they should take a SANDMAN approach with a rotating series of comics best surrealists.
My rating: treat yourself to this book!
The guys’ll be back tomorrow with more comic reviews. And holy cow... a D rating on AICN Comics... is that a first?!
"Moriarty" out.
