Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
No greater passion than that of the vocal @$$hole, I’ve found. Take this batch of reviews today... heated and impassioned and well-argued in all the right ways. It’s always a pleasure when these guys hit me with one of their columns...
Aloha, @$$hole-ites! Cormorant here with the latest demonstration of @$$hole reviewing technology. You’ll notice that Vroom Socko’s column returns again this week to shine the light on those books that you might’ve missed, and it’s even sporting a title now, courtesy of our first official @$$hole contest winner! I am simultaneously amused and repulsed --well done!
We’d also like to drop our @$$hole-ishness for just a moment to remind comic fans about the plight of longtime comics pro, William Messner-Loebs. Loebs has hit upon some really rough times, and it’d be a shockingly cool show of support from the comic fan community if we can help this guy out. Details can be found in the story AICN posted earlier this week:
CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL STORY!!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled @$$holes…
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by 22 Different Guys
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Village Idiot
"Yeah. I would – are you kidding? I am a super hero in real life, so…"
Freddie Prinze Jr., on whether he’d be willing to play Captain America, from Moviehole.net
I think it’s pretty clear in that remark that Freddie Prinze Jr. is being flip. But how flip? As many of us who read superhero comics can tell you, on some level we believe that we really are superheroes. The difference is simply a matter of scale: both we and the superhero struggle to do what’s moral in a world where it often seems we’re not expected to even consider what’s moral. We try to be as good as we can, do the best we can; and we feel bad about it when we fail to live up to this standard.
Spider-Man feels bad about it when he fails too, probably as vividly as any comic character out there. This is not a revelation, but one of the standard shorthand understandings of the character: Whereas Superman is about who we want to be, Spider-Man is just a little bit more about who we are, which makes our identification with him that much easier. We like to think he’s our proxy, even beyond the coming of age framework of some of his stories. Like us, Spider-Man blows it, tries to make a joke about it, but then carries his failure around like luggage.
This is essentially what happens in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1, which I thought was a pretty wonderful comic. Peter Parker re-examines his role as a superhero, and tries to struggle through the fact that “responsibility” can be rife with both error and ambiguity. But the story is only part of what makes this comic worthwhile. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1 is also a smorgasbord of comic art; one of those issues where the art is rendered by a different artist every few pages. This kind of approach could be a recipe for mediocrity (OUR WORLDS AT WAR: WORLD’S FINEST), or even disaster. But lo and behold, this time around it actually works.
The story itself is quite simple: Teenage Peter Parker is confronted with two scenarios that make him question his role as superhero: one where he screws up and nearly gets himself killed, another where the moral cost/benefit of an action he made is unclear. He tries looking for some kind of understanding of these problems, first with Mary Jane, and then with what seems like the entire pantheon of (Ultimate) Marvel superheroes. At the end of the story, he tries to put it all in perspective while delivering an oral presentation for his English class assignment about superheroes.
That’s it. The story is familiar enough, perhaps even a little cliché (I’m reminded of the kid trying to find out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop, but there are many others). Bendis manages to take this familiar structure and fill it with enough characterization and sharp dialog to create a story that’s surprisingly thoughtful, affecting, and fun. The meat of the story is in the second act, which is essentially a tour of the Marvel Universe: We ride along with Peter in his quest for understanding, finding different perspectives on not just what it means to be a hero, but what it’s like to be a hero. Bendis knows these characters, and knows just how much of them to give to Peter to take the story where it needs to go, whether it’s Daredevil’s belligerence, the Fantastic Four’s compassion, or Captain America’s inaccessibility. Furthermore, for my money, dialog in comics doesn’t get any better than Bendis. His words are nearly always on target and never false, whether it’s Spider-Man’s typical witty repartee (Bendis’s is the wittiest), or the lower, more serious notes. There’s a scene where Spider-Man asks to join the Fantastic Four where the embarrassment is genuinely palpable. This is a great moment in a book with many.
One of the drawbacks to the issue is that it may feel a bit uneven. This problem is endemic of the smorgasbord artwork approach. Much of the success depends on how well the artwork weaves together throughout the story, and luckily, the structure of this particular story lends itself to this approach: Whether it’s the incidents recounted to Mary Jane, the visitations to the different superheroes, or the reflections under the narration of Peter’s oral report, Spider-Man’s experiences throughout the book are encapsulated. These incidents and moments express distinct enough values to where a different artistic interpretation of each bit conveys those values uniquely and effectively (to varying degrees).
Case in point: James Kolchalka gives two pages of Iceman’s ordeal of a trying to appear in public. His simple “alternative newspaper comic” style breaks away from the prior scene, and sympathetically conveys the sense of stigmatization. I found this to be a wonderfully effective moment, all the more striking within the larger context of different art styles. The same applies to the splash pages of David Mack, Bret Welde, and most of the other artists in the book. I wish I could say they were all terrific, but some of the more conventional approaches missed the mark. For example, I felt Dan Brereton’s Spider-Man looked a bit too much like a midget wrestler. The choice to switch artists for Peter and MJ’s conversation felt a little odd as well: I think artistic continuity would have made this framing sequence more effective. But overall, I felt the interweaving worked nicely, making the drawings in ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1 an aspect of the narrative, but also an enjoyable survey of comic art.
In the end, Spider-Man realizes that the danger of responsibility is a burden he must bear alone. But he also recognizes that this is a burden we all bear. After all, a regular, average human being has tremendous power; and we all must try to wield it with as much responsibility as we can. And to that extent, yes, we’re all superheroes in real life.
My Rating: Please don’t let my flagrant and reckless use of a Freddie Prinze Jr. quote stand as a reflection of my judgment, especially when it comes to this issue. ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1 is a solid story of Spider-Man battling his own angst while meeting a bunch of other superheroes. You also get to taste a bunch of different comic art styles, without the experience being as annoying as it sounds. Check it out, and next time I’ll quote Gore Vidal, I swear.
INCREDIBLE HULK #41
Written by Bruce Jones
Penciled by Lee Weeks; Inked by Tom Palmer
Published by Marvel Comics
A spoiler-splattered Jon Quixote review.
Aww, poop!
I love this Bruce Jones run on Incredible Hulk. He has me looking forward to each chapter like I’ve never looked forward to a Hulk book. I never much cared for the Hulk’s monthly series, but now I salivate like a Teamster in a cathouse with each new issue. Jones does right what so many ‘name’ writers in today’s comics do wrong: he develops characters through the story, not before it; he withholds information, revealing only pertinent tidbits as he sees fit; he paces his comics like a runaway train, a roller-coaster ride of tension, humor, and even terror. I planned to write a review so enthusiastic, it would have bordered on a bathhouse rim job.
Incredible Hulk #41 is an awkwardly paced, exposition heavy issue, in which characters make stupid choices, and can’t stop talking about themselves. Dammit!
I loved how negotiator Sally Riker was introduced in the last issue. Contemplating suicide, her career in tatters after a botched hostage situation. We identify her as a damaged, but honorable woman – that was all we needed. The less we knew, the more we wanted to know; I was hoping she’d stay around for a few issues, and we’d learn more about her as we went along. But here, Jones fills in all the blanks, those wonderful, wonderful blanks. Suddenly, she’s not as interesting, she’s predictable. She needed to explain her past to establish her inability to kill bad guys. Then, next issue, a bad guy – probably Agent Pratt – will be about to lower the boom on Banner, but Riker will kill him instead. Yawn.
Then, to top it all off, she explains her suicide attempt – to a complete stranger and a madman with a gun. This moment is awkward. There is no reason for Riker to do this, other than the fact that Jones was worried the readers wouldn’t get it without having it explained. This is a condescending choice.
That’s not the only strange moment in this book. Riker knows about an escape route that nobody else does. Then, Banner, Riker, and the hostage-taker come up with a plan to distract the agents outside, while the three of them make a break for it. In the middle of the break, the hostage-taker stops to…pick up a lucky penny! Huh? Boom! He’s dead. But don’t feel too sorry for him; if the Agents didn’t kill him, natural selection was closing in fast.
That said, this is still better than most superhero comics on the market. Jones’s take on the Hulk, that whenever Banner changes it’s an event, is right on. The characters are interesting, and Jones builds suspense like few comic writers can. Each story arc is like an experiment in big-budget cinema; it reads like a movie, but Jones is able to take chances that blockbuster films cannot. This current hostage drama was a great idea, full of great moments, but, the execution isn’t up to the level of the concept. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe issue #42 is going to surprise the hell out of me, and render most of my criticisms moot (not the surprise exit route and the penny-pick up; those are shit moments no matter what). I hope it does. One issue does not wipe out everything that Jones has done with the Hulk up to this point, although it suggests that he could have a little more respect for his readers.
Seven steps forward, one step back. Really, that’s not bad progress.
Title: SPIDER-MAN: BLUE #2
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale
Title: GET KRAVEN #1
“Writer”: Ron Zimmerman
Artist: Ron McCrea
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
OK, class. Welcome to Spidey Writing 101, expanding on the do’s and don’ts of writing the adventures of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Today’s texts are SPIDER-MAN: BLUE #2 and GET KRAVEN #1; two vastly different tales set in the Spider-Man Universe.
SPIDER-MAN: BLUE #2 takes place in Spidey’s past, when Peter Parker was in college and falling for that li'l cutie, Gwen Stacy. This should be considered as a classic super hero tale expanding on the early adventures of Peter Parker, told by a team of modern masters of times past storytelling, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. This is the same team that dazzled us with such hits as SUPERMAN: FOR ALL SEASONS, BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN, and DAREDEVIL: YELLOW.
Our other text is GET KRAVEN #1. Set in the present day Marvel Universe, this tale focuses on Al Kraven, the son of one of Spidey’s most ominous foes, Kraven the Hunter. Ron Zimmerman has become infamous in the world of comics, being responsible for the single most god-awful Punisher story ever, a lame attempt at wit and coolness in TANGLED WEBS #13, and a few back up Spidey tales featuring the aforementioned Al Kraven and that “oh-so-funny, if you’re a fifty year old” late night television personality, Jay Leno. This is Mr. Zimmerman’s first attempt at meatier comic book material.
We’ll start off with the story. SPIDER-MAN: BLUE recaps the tale of the love affair between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. Basically, Loeb is rehashing old material; tales of Spidey’s first serious romance and his first encounters with villains that would go on to plague him over and over through the years. The difference between the original stories and SPIDER-MAN: BLUE is that we know what is going to happen. We know the relationship will not last long. We know Gwen will die. Because of this knowledge, the reader sees the stories freshly and from a different perspective.
Peter recaps this tale into a tape recorder so that he can get these thoughts out of his head. This isn’t really a new concept, since Matt Murdock did the exact same thing in DAREDEVIL: YELLOW as he lamented about his loss of Karen Page and reminisced about their first meeting. But, since Peter Parker and Matt Murdock are entirely different characters, I’m willing to let it slide because Loeb handles both of these characters so well. I’m pretty sure I know how the next series for Loeb and Sale, Hulk: Gray, is going to turn out: A depressed Bruce Banner records his memoirs about his lost love, Betty Ross, while facing his classic foes for the first time. These creators are teetering on the cliff of repetition, but, in a well told tale, each character’s reaction to an event should be unique and that is what makes the story interesting. Loeb and Sale may be telling the same story over and over, but because these are different characters, the story proves to be interesting every time.
So what about Zimmerman’s story? So far, GET KRAVEN is following the plot of the critically acclaimed Elmore Leonard novel and Barry Sonnenfeld film, GET SHORTY. In the film, a hitman goes to Hollywood and finds that the producing game has a lot of similarities with the enforcement business. In GET KRAVEN, Al Kraven is bored with his pampered life in New York and decides to move to Hollywood in pursuit of action in the entertainment industry. Like Loeb, Zimmerman is rehashing old material. Unlike Loeb, it’s not very interesting. Loeb is giving us a different perspective on an old story. Zimmerman is using an old story and plugging in super heroes as the main characters and trying to pass it off as an original take.
Characterization. You know, the stuff that makes one character different from the other. This is an important factor in storytelling. The only thing more important is how that information is revealed. There are different ways one can do this. A good writer uses characterization to show how the situations that present themselves in a story affect a certain character. We can tell the characters apart in SPIDER-MAN: BLUE because Loeb puts Peter and Co. in situations that elicit characterization. Peter is not the nerd he was in high school, but he is still a far cry from the super-model-dating stud-boy he is in present day continuity. How do we know this? Loeb shows us. In issue #2, Peter’s attempts to woo Gwen for a date are thwarted by Flash Thompson’s bullying techniques. But at least Peter makes the attempt (something he wouldn’t have had the guts to do in high school). Later in that issue, Loeb crafts a humorous scene where J. Jonah Jameson reveals to Peter, who has come to Jonah for an advance in pay for his worrying aunt, that he used to have an worrying aunt too. When Peter asks what happened to her, Jonah bluntly responds, “She died!” That’s funny in that it shows us that JJJ is an insensitive blowhard. Loeb doesn’t tell us this, he shows us.
Zimmerman decides to take another route. In GET KRAVEN #1, we find out that Al Kraven is bored because…well…he tells us he is bored. We find out that Al is arrogant….because…well…he tells us he is arrogant. We find out his girlfriend is a great gal because….well…you know. Zimmerman has no concept of how to reveal character in a scene. He tells us everything we should know instead of doing what writers should do, which is show us a story where we understand the character without having to read through long discourses spelling it all out for us.
GET KRAVEN #1 is separated into two parts: the first act of the GET KRAVEN mini-series and a self-contained tale, YOU CAN CALL ME AL. Both stories have repeated instances where there is a bit of action, then the characters sit and talk, then there’s a bit of action, then they sit and talk again. It is as if Zimmerman is purposely separating the two, not knowing that the panels between the fights would be much more interesting if something were happening in them. Instead, these in-between scenes tell us what just happened, what the characters are doing, and what they are feeling. Zimmerman chooses to state the obvious, instead of allow the reader to figure it out for him or herself.
The last thing we are going to talk about today is agenda. Agenda is what the writer is trying to do with the tale he is telling. Loeb seems to have a fondness for stories set in the past. He seems to want to let the reader know that the history of these heroes matter and that continuity is important to modern day comic book storytelling. Loeb respects the creators who came before him and the hero’s own history by expanding on what has come before. He’s not reinventing the wheel. He’s telling stories that fit in with previous material and making it entertaining to boot.
I don’t know what Ron Zimmerman’s agenda is. After reading GET KRAVEN and YOU CAN CALL ME AL, it seems that Ron’s sole purpose is to see how many names he can drop in a single issue. Kevin Smith, Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Bernie Mac, Bill O’Reilly (twice), Cameron Diaz, Seinfeld, George Clooney, Joan Rivers, Seigfried & Roy, Nicole Kidman, Jerry Lewis, Matt Damon, Howard Stern, Bill Maher, Ben Affleck, and Paul Simon are all mentioned in the first issue of GET KRAVEN. We get it, Ron. You’re in the entertainment industry. Groovy. Please tell a comic book tale now and stop trying to make like a bigshot. I know the story is about how the world of a super hero can be much like the world of a Hollywood producer, but when every conversation has a Hollywood personality’s name shoved into it, one has to wonder if the writer is just trying to list the amount of people he “says” he knows in a pathetic attempt to impress the reader.
Art wise, both books are well done. Tim Sale has invented his own style of artistry. His panels combine classically rendered characters with modern day cinematic framing. The panels in SPIDER-MAN: BLUE look like storyboards to a visually stimulating film. There are few writer/artist teams that will go down in history as being perfectly matched. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale are such a team.
John McCrea is an interesting artist. His work with Garth Ennis on DC’s HITMAN was consistently entertaining. Looking at McCrea’s pencils are like seeing the world of super heroes through MAD MAGAZINE eyes. Although cartoony, McCrea’s art has an adult edge. Maybe that’s why it works. In GET KRAVEN, McCrea’s Spider-Man is flexible and wiry, the way Spidey should be. It is just too bad he has to be paired with a writer that shouldn’t be in the comic book business.
We are at the beginning of both of these series, so anyone curious or interested in these stories can jump on now without getting lost. SPIDER-MAN: BLUE #2 is a well crafted tale that respects the hero’s past while expanding on it. GET KRAVEN #1 pales in comparison with its clumsy characterization and lame name dropping. That’s all the time we have this week. Next time, we’ll touch on proper use of dialog and the type of humor that needs to be in a Spider-Man book. Class dismissed.
Title: NIGHTWING #70
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: William Rosado
Publisher: DC
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
The DC Universe is losing one of its most valued heroes. No, Superman isn’t dead again. I’m talking about writer extraordinaire, Chuck Dixon. Chuck has been telling the tales of DC’s heroes for as long as I can remember. After a stellar long-term run on Batman through the 80’s and 90’s, Dixon moved to the periphery of the Bat-Universe some years ago and single-handedly developed characters like Oracle and Black Canary in BIRDS OF PREY, Tim Drake/Robin and the Spoiler in ROBIN, and NIGHTWING. These tales were not mere spin-offs of the Batman titles. Chuck gave them personalities and adventures that will live on long after his upcoming exodus from DC to write exclusively for CrossGen comics.
For those off planet for the last fifteen years, Nightwing is former Robin, Dick Grayson, all growed up and on his own. He’s moved out of that musty cave under Wayne Manor and started a new life in the town of Bludhaven, best described as Gotham City’s uglier, grittier sister. For seventy issues, Dixon has set Nightwing in a world where the villains rarely wore spandex and a friendly face was hard to find. Crime has levels and depth in this town. Nightwing has no choice but to flirt with the darker side of the law and make deals with bad guys to take down even badder guys. The police are as corrupt as the villains, forcing Nightwing to join Bludhaven’s police force in an attempt to fix things from the inside.
It is too bad NIGHTWING has been caught up with the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer” crossover for the last few issues of Dixon’s run. I certainly feel that the events occurring over in the Bat books warrant a crossover into NIGHTWING, but this prevents Dixon from tying up loose ends on the series he has been with from the beginning. At least the higher ups at DC have allowed Dixon one last hurrah with the character in issue #70, a stand alone story revealing whatever happened to LunchMeat Deever, a mob boss turned stool pigeon who is now under the witness protection program in Arizona.
LunchMeat hates where he is. Arizona is nice and pleasant and boring. Everything Bludhaven isn’t. He’d give anything for a little action and he’s about to get it in the shapely form of Hella, a homicidal female vigilante that has tussled with Nightwing a few times in the past. Nightwing hears about Hella’s move to wipe out Deever and heads for Arizona to stop her.
This issue doesn’t allow for much exposition on the Nightwing character, but I feel that Chuck reached the point where he has developed the character as much as he would like quite a few issues ago and now just wants to tell a kick ass action story. Dixon’s NIGHTWING run has been full of nice character moments peppered into high voltage action, so a balls to the wall story that doesn’t focus on Dick’s inner thoughts is okay by me. That is not to say that the issue is made up of brainless punches and unnecessary explosions. Dixon’s stories never are.
Boiled down to the basics, comics are movies without budget. The best comics play out from panel to panel as if you are reading storyboards of a film. Through years of reading Chuck Dixon’s stories, I have come to the conclusion that if he ever made a film, it would definitely be one to watch. NIGHTWING #70 moves fast, but never feels rushed. This is a small story with high action, humorous twists, and mega-thrills. Some writers use the last issue of their run to look back on what has happened. Not Chuck. He leaves this title running and with a bang.
Putting the pictures to Chuck’s words is William Rosado and he does a damn fine job. Seeing this team work their magic brought back that warm feeling I used to get when they worked together on the old GREEN ARROW series during Connor Hawke’s tenure as the Emerald Archer, which is a hidden classic and a treat to anyone who read the series back when Ollie Queen was pushin’ up daisies. NIGHTWING #70 has the same feel to it. Rosado’s art is realistic and intense without being flashy. His panels look like movie stills. It’s no wonder the two creators work so well together.
Chuck Dixon has been an integral part of the development of the Gotham City we know today, which is arguably one of the best developed universes in comics. This was his last issue of NIGHTWING and he’s got a few more issues of BIRDS OF PREY to go, but after that, it’s so long to Gotham for Chuck. I’m sure this isn’t a permanent vacation, but while Chuck is gone, Gotham and this Bug will definitely miss him.
GET KRAVEN #1, the first of a 5-part mini by fan favorite writer Ron Zimmerman, follows the exploits of…of…
OH SWEET JESUS I CAN’T DO IT! I CAN’T, DON’T MAKE ME! DID YOU SEE THOSE BACK-UP FEATURES? THERE WAS BETTER PLOT AND CHARACTERIZATION IN A HOSTESS TWINKIES AD!!!
Fuck it. One good thing is coming out of this embarrassment – the trade paperback re-release of one of the most memorable comic book stories of all time. So let’s bid Zimmerman’s painful melding of Hollywood and super-heroes adieu, and hope he doesn’t employ enough revisionist history to trash the defining Kraven story.
FEARFUL SYMMETRY: KRAVEN’S LAST HUNT
Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Penciled by Mike Zeck; Inked by Bob McLeod
Published by Marvel Comics
A Jon Quixote retrospective
The year is 1989. The Iron Curtain is being taken down, the musical stylings of Milli Vanilli are sweeping the nation, and lusting after the Olsen twins is even grosser than it is today. And, in an industry revolutionized by The Dark Knight Returns and basking in the success of Tim Burton’s Batman, the operative word is dark. Do-good superheroes like Superman and Captain America are passé as psychopathic anti-heroes hook comic fans worldwide. Publishers look for grim and gritty stories to foist upon their characters in order to capitalize on this craze. This is the dawn of the greedy, violent excesses that characterized comics in the 90s, the record sales that led to gun-toting mutants, holographic covers, and Rob Liefeld becoming a millionaire.
The talented, few though they may have been, understood that it wasn’t the violence, the excesses that were the real draw of this newfound popularity, but rather the risks taken in the stories that were being told, the mature handling of the characters, and the gradual realization that the audience had grown along with the industry, and no longer required the didactic condescension that was once of paramount importance. There was nothing wrong with a dark story, as long as the story demanded the darkness, and not the other way around. During this time, Spider-Man was one of the few that got it right.
Everyone has their favorite Spider-Man, and it’s usually the one they grew up with. For some, it’s Peter strolling Empire State’s Campus, holding hands with Gwen Stacy. For others, it’s the images of the 70’s cartoon version, punctuated by that famous theme strong. For kids today – if kids still read comics – it’s going to be Ultimate Spidey, with video game references and gigantic floppy bangs. For me, it’s Peter living in a hole of an apartment, subsisting on peanut butter in order to save up for a birthday present for Aunt May, and wondering if the Black Cat is going to show up later for a rooftop shag. This period of time delivered my favorite Spidey stories; the alien costume, the secret of the Hobgoblin, and the death of Jean DeWolff. Fearful Symmetry: Kraven’s Last Hunt closed out this period; it was the last great Spidey story for a long time.
Fearful Symmetry is a landmark story, but it only worked because its tone and subject matter were unique to the series, rather than the norm. The 6-issue run follows Kraven the Hunter as he captures and “kills” Spider-Man, before donning his enemy’s costume in an effort to prove his superiority. Mike Zeck’s art drips with atmosphere. This is one of the most heavily textured comics you’ll ever read, and Zeck is in perfect synch with his writer. J.M. DeMatteis is perhaps the most inconsistent writer in comics, but he pulls out all the stops in spinning this tale, drawing upon sources as diverse as William Blake and film noir (specifically, the Huston classic The Asphalt Jungle, a movie in which the atmospheric use of light is almost perfectly mirrored by Fearful Symmetry), to flesh out this tale. He even touches upon Tolkien in writing the character of Vermin, who has never been more Gollum-like than he is here. This is the same guy who gave us Maximum Carnage??
This story came right on the cusp of when Spider-Man went wrong: the marriage to Mary Jane. But reading this trade paperback, I’m reminded why it seemed like such a good idea at the time. MJ’s suffering and confusion following the disappearance of her husband – compounded by the claustrophobic restriction of her squalid apartment and the constant barrage of rain outside – is the emotional heart of the story. She made readers cognizant of the risks taken by Spider-Man in a way the series had been missing since the Aunt May character had become tired and played out.
Everybody reading this article has heard of Kraven’s Last Hunt, although I fear some of the more recent Spider-Man converts have yet to read it. Take the opportunity this reissue offers and check it out. It’s the rare story that encapsulates the essence of Spidey and his heroism, without pointlessly retelling his origin. And for those who fondly remember this landmark event, check it out again. The engrossing final tale of a second-tier villain who, in the end, triumphs over his long-time nemesis, is just as good as you remember it. Perhaps, with the painful memories of the Kravens that followed in lesser writers’ attempts to cash in on this powerful story fresh in your mind, you might discover that Kraven’s Last Hunt is even better than it was thirteen years ago.
THANOS: INFINITY ABYSS
Written by Jim Starlin
Art by Jim Starlin & Al Milgrom
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
That Jim Starlin really loves his creation, Thanos. The mad Titanian Eternal first appeared in an issue of IRON MAN by Starlin, and Starlin has been Thanos's greatest proponent among the Marvel creators. Thanos is an incredibly powerful, godlike being who looks a little like Darkseid, and who once worshipped the personification of Death. Actually, he had the hots for her; now I can understand having the hots for DC's version of Death from the SANDMAN comics, but Marvel's was just a skull in a hood. Starlin's limited series THE INFINITY GAUNTLET, with superb George Perez art, is a trade paperback worth investing in for any Marvelite, and featured Thanos' rise to ultimate power. Thanos also figured heavily into Starlin's short-lived series ADAM WARLOCK & THE INFINITY WATCH.
Starlin wrote and drew a poorly selling Warlock series in the mid-to-late '70s that was extremely cool, and I’ve been a fan of his writing ever since. Now, Adam Warlock is not to be confused with the stupid techno-organic being in THE NEW MUTANTS. Adam Warlock has a bizarre and murky history in the Marvel Universe, starting life as Him in THE FANTASTIC FOUR, with ties to the High Evolutionary. He's sort of a cosmic pretty boy, with super strength, the ability to breath and fly through space and some sort of cosmic awareness. Once in awhile, the Warlock character retreats into a cocoon and emerges pretentious. On his forehead is a gem that can steal souls. One of Marvel's most hippie characters - the coolest thing about Adam Warlock - is his sidekick, a cigar smoking troll named Pip who should have his own book.
Both Adam Warlock and Thanos are back in Jim Starlin's THANOS: INFINITY ABYSS. A battered Warlock narrates the story and introduces his allies against a force of STAR TREKKIAN nothingness. I will now make fun of these introductions.
Dr. Strange -- a character Buzz Maverik uses to gauge the intelligence of other comic geeks. If you don't care for Dr. Strange or are indifferent, then no problem. However, I've found that everyone who really hates Dr. Strange is kind of dumb. But why does Dr. Strange now have a Wolverine-style haircut? Damn you, Erik Larsen!
Captain Marvel -- a character that should not exist. Marvel should have the class to give up the name "Captain Marvel" so that DC wouldn't have to use the word "SHAZAM!" in their titles. Captain Marvel is linked to Rick Jones. In this day and age of creators killing off long time characters for no reason, I have to ask, will someone please kill off Rick Jones?
Gamora -- a green skinned, female space adventurer who was raised by Thanos but had a falling out with him. Gamora's portion of the story, along with Pip's, is the best and gives you a clue as to what Starlin's strengths are and the type of story he really wants to tell.
Spider-Man -- He's here because he has a movie out this year and Spider-Man is going to make more pointless appearances in more comics than Wolverine. Spidey's presence is justified by the fact that his spider sense warns him of something big.
Moondragon -- Another character Buzz Maverik uses to gauge other comic geeks. If you think Moondragon is hot, you're too geeky for me to hang out with.
But I kid THE INFINITY ABYSS. I kid because I love. This looks like the start of a kick ass series. Starlin is going to give us a great, Marvel space opera. He really does Thanos, Pip and Gamora best and it's too bad that he probably wouldn't be allowed to do the book with just these three characters and Warlock, but we know how well that’d sell.
Al Milgrom inks Starlin's pencils. Milgrom is a writer/artist in his own right, and did some excellent SPIDER-MAN stories in the '80s. He also penciled CAPTAIN MARVEL in the '70s when Steve Engelhart was writing it. He and Starlin both draw science fiction as well as anyone and make a fine team. Some of the art has a digital look to it that is very bold, very wide screen.
Before I finish, I have to add that my favorite scene involves two stoners, Ryan and Chris, who are working as supermarket checkers and witness a cosmic event. I can only hope that Ryan and Chris appear in each episode of this series, leading to their own book. I'd follow two stoners through the Marvel Universe, wouldn't you?
WAY OF THE RAT #2
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Artist: Jeff Johnson
Inker: Tom Ryder
Colorist: Chris Garcia
Publisher: CrossGen Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
I’m pissed at CrossGen right now. RUSE was the first book they produced that I really took to, and as if to tarnish the lovey-dovey review I gave it last week, they just announced that writer Mark Waid will be leaving the book as of issue #13. Okay, it’s one thing when superheroes get passed between creators – superheroes are broadly defined characters who can weather such ups and downs in their decades-long existence – but RUSE was a title that almost felt like a creator-owned book to me, with characters that were inextricably intertwined with the writer and artist. I don’t care if Mark Waid was being an uncompromising asshole or even if his replacement turns out to be really good – I just know that the book won’t be the same thing I signed up for, and there are too many other good titles out there to waste time with creative teams playing musical chairs.
And that’s why it pains me to say that I really, really, really like WAY OF THE RAT. It pains me because now I have to wonder how long its utterly kick-ass creative team will last. Waid set up long term relationships and mysteries to be resolved in RUSE, and unless his last issue is a 2000-page King Size Annual, there’s no way he’ll be able to resolve ‘em. If that happens to WAY OF THE RAT, the second CrossGen book to lure me, there’s gonna be an ass-whuppin’, no two ways about it. My pissed-offedness aside, I mean that as a sincere compliment to the book.
Newcomers, here’s the scoop on WAY OF THE RAT: in a fantasy-tinged world resembling ancient China, there lives a hard-luck thief by the name of Boon Sai Hong. Think Jackie Chan and you’re not too far off. Through a series of unlikely circumstances, he’s found himself in the possession of two magical objects: the Ring of Staffs, which grants its wearer instant mastery of any staff he wields (insert dirty joke here if you must), and the amusingly-titled “Book of the Hell of the Hungry Dragons.” We don’t know just what the book does, but I’m sure it can’t be good.
Boon is sought by various villainous types, aided by a mysterious benefactor, and perhaps most importantly, accompanied by the funniest, butt-kickin’est talking monkey in comic book history. No disrespect intended to Gorilla Grodd, the Red Ghost’s super-apes, or any other funnybook simians, but they just don’t get lines like, “I will beat your destiny into you!”. I love the little critter, definitely cut from the same curmudgeonly cloth as Yoda and all the martial arts teachers we love to watch terrorizing their students in chop socky flicks.
In some ways, the plot is as irrelevant here as it is in most kung-fu movies. Depth and heavy characterization take an appropriate back seat to moving things forward with zip and letting the action take center stage. This isn’t to fault Dixon’s characters – they’re all sketched out cleanly and make for an enjoyably motley cast of villains, cutthroats, and unlikely heroes, but this is a martial arts comic and it’s not afraid to show it.
And brother, the martial arts stuff is coooool. I was too young to catch Marvel’s fondly-remembered 70’s comic, MASTER OF KUNG-FU, but I have a feeling that if any American-produced comic can be considered its successor, WAY OF THE RAT is the one. Artist Jeff Johnson brings real energy to his fight scenes, and the stances and moves all appear to be derived from real martial arts disciplines. That may sound simple, but it’s something I’ve rarely seen outside of manga. The fantasy martial arts stuff is great too, deftly balancing kung-fu coolness and laugh-out-loud comedy. You will believe a talking monkey can execute a devastating kick in mid-backflip!
No foolin’, I think Johnson is one of the finds of the year. Maybe he’s been lurking in comics for a few years under the radar, but if this book doesn’t make him a break-out star, somethin’ just ain’t right. Aside from choreographing fantastic beat-downs, Johnson excels at creating distinct facial types for the book’s diverse cast of rogues. He’s gotta be using photo references, but if so, he’s using them the way you’re supposed to – as a means of informing the art and grounding it in reality, but never to the point of distraction. The backgrounds are meticulous and exotic, too, and the coloring, which has included a lovely snowfall effect for the past two issues, makes this one of the best looking books from a publisher already renowned for its production values.
Final judgment: As with all CrossGen books, individual issues of WAY OF THE RAT may seem a little lightweight, but don’t let that, or even my bitching about CrossGen’s creator-swapping keep you from sampling this book. Dixon delivers the goods in both the action and humor department, and Johnson damn well better be nominated for best artist come next year’s Eisner Awards. Best of all, there’s not a sign of those ridiculous sigils that CrossGen’s been using to link all their books; WAY OF THE RAT is a total standalone and can be read without fear of having to take in the entire CrossGen Universe. Thank God! And now…seek, Grasshopper!
SABRETOOTH: MARY SHELLEY OVERDRIVE # 1
Written by Dan Jolley
Art by Greg Scott
Published by Marvel Comics
Reviewed by Buzz Maverik
Everyone loves a good villain. And all good stories require a good villain. In comics, it takes several factors to make a good villain. The character should be well conceived, should have his or her own multi-faceted personality, should represent a real threat - preferably on several levels - to the hero, and should be visually interesting. One maxim all writing manuals seem to say is "There are no villains", which means no one really thinks of himself or herself as a villain, and in order to write a villain well, the writer must not think of the character as a villain.
This presents a problem in Marvel Comics, or at least it did in the late '80s and early '90s. If a creator did too good a job with a villain, exploring the character's motivations and self-image such as Chris Claremont did with Magneto in THE UNCANNY X-MEN, Marvel editorial policy would turn the villain into a hero. Magneto ended up leading The X-Men and teaching The New Mutants. It was stupid policy, showing a lack of understanding of nuance and character. There seemed to be no shades of gray at Marvel. Magneto eventually returned to his villainous ways, but it would have been much more interesting if he'd remained a character whom we could understand and sympathize with, but who still committed acts that would label him a villain.
Venom and Sabretooth received even worse treatment. I remember reading a joke somewhere about Marvel characters at a party, and Venom and Sabretooth sitting in a corner grousing about what cool villains they used to be before they were turned into heroes. These characters were so popular and well done they each ended up with their own series. Venom was actually called "Lethal Protector" and Sabretooth joined the X-Men.
Side note: I don't read the X-MEN books these days. I haven't since Claremont left the first time and his return is not an inducement for me to start again. But from GIANT SIZED X-MEN 1 through C.C.'s departure, I never missed an issue. The Hellfire Club comprised some of the nastiest, most well-conceived baddies in the Marvel Universe. They were responsible for Dark Phoenix. I hated it when the X-Men formed an alliance with them, back in the days when Magneto was doing Xavier's job. Imagine how much I hated to find out that Emma Frost, the White Queen, a great vile character whom Phoenix pulverized, is now a member of the team and part of a love triangle with Jean and Scott. She should be trying to kill them and no amount of justification will convince me otherwise. If all the good villains reform, who are the good guys going to fight?
Which brings me to SABRETOOTH: MARY SHELLEY OVERDRIVE. Sabretooth might not be the giant, raging beast he often was in X-MEN comics, or the feral criminal who fought Power Man and Iron Fist, but at least he's in character. He's an assassin who kills who he's paid to kill, and is not just a killer of criminals or something stupid like that. At one point, he's almost outraged when he finds out that he's accidentally saved a woman's life.
The art made me buy this book. Greg Scott, aided by colorist J.D. Mettler, gives us realistic, well-proportioned figures, faces with character and statement, and a chilling atmosphere. Not a hint of manga influence, not a hint of sampling. I was reminded of Paul Gulacy's art in the old MASTER OF KUNG FU series, which was a high point in comic art for me.
And if the art made me buy the first issue, the writing has me waiting for the second. Despite the MARY SHELLEY OVERDRIVE subtitle and the presence of apparent Russian zombie assassins, Dan Jolley's story reads like a great, hard-boiled crime tale (and I'm not talking self-conscious pastiche stuff like Frank "Over-rated" Miller has been churning out for years). With only a single caption reading "New York City," no thought balloons and minimal dialogue, we get a sense of Victor Creed better than any first person narration could have provided. Here, Sabretooth reminds me of novelist Richard Stark's relentless armed robber hero Parker or the protagonist of Lawrence Block's HITMAN novels.
My favorite piece of story telling is page 23, which shows the moon moving into view from behind Sabretooth's brownstone and could be labeled "If this building's rockin', don't bother knockin'".
I'm sold.
Tales From the Crevice: Books that fell through the crack
By Vroom Socko
First thing’s first: Congratulations to Robert C. Smith for his winning title. Robert will receive a free copy of VROOM SOCKO: PAID IN FULL by Evan Dorkin. However, Honorable Mention should go to Adam Shelp and his suggestion of The Brazilian Tree Penguins Comic Nest, if nothing else than for sheer oddness. Now, on with the show.
Over the past year, I’ve had several conversations about comics with a wide variety of people. Here on AICN, at my local comic shop, at friends’ places, in bars, and each time I’ve brought up this week’s book. So far, I haven’t met anyone else who had already read Alex Robinson’s BOX OFFICE POISON. This upsets me to no end, because BOX OFFICE POISON is the most well written comic I’ve ever had the joy of reading.
The story (in the beginning at least,) is about a wannabe writer named Sherman and his cartoonist friend Ed. Sherman is in the process of moving into a new apartment with his roommates Stephen and Jane, and Ed’s been hired on as an assistant to an artist named Irving Flavor. Yeah, and JAWS is a movie about a shark. With one exception, the plot of this book is really unimportant. What is important are the characters, and how they interact with each other. This is a book about life, and the act of living itself.
Actually, I’m even hesitant to call them characters; they’re people. Although they may seem like clichés at first, (the clerk who hates his job, the geek who can’t get laid, the crotchety old fart,) by the time the book is half over, they’ve all achieved their own identities. And once the final page has been turned, they’re almost ready to walk off the page. If these “characters” were any more real, they’d have to pay income tax.
Part of what makes these people so real is the situations they find themselves in. Nearly everyone here makes at least one life-altering mistake at some point. In a lesser story, they’d all learn from their mistakes and become better people. Here, many people only learn half a lesson, and some learn absolutely nothing.
One of those people is Irving Flavor, a Golden Age comic book artist. After creating Zoom Comics’ most popular character, The Nightstalker, Flavor is fucked over Kirby style. Once Ed discovers who Flavor is, he mounts a vigorous campaign to get Flavor his due from Zoom. Flavor doesn’t exactly appreciate this effort from Ed; he claims that anyone who signed away their comics’ creation knew what they were doing. He doesn’t think much of people like Will Eisner, people who “rock the boat.” Despite this, Ed does what he can to get Flavor a taste of the millions Nightstalker has made for Zoom. This crusade, as well as the entire book, comes to a head at Grano-Sequon, New Jersey’s biggest comic-con. This portion of the book takes up about 1/6th of the page count, about 100 pages. Yes, this tome can be used as a doorstop in an emergency, but you’d never know it while reading.
One of the reasons the book flows so well is that it shifts between “characters” so smoothly. Robinson seems to know just how much time each person needs on the page. The best example of this is the section showing how everyone spends his or her Christmas. In fact, the story of how Stephen visits Jane’s family and takes on one of their traditions is probably my favorite part of the book.
Whenever I talk about comics, I usually drop the word “comic” and just call them books. This is the one instance where instead, I drop the word “graphic” and just call it a novel. The books I tell you about every other week are ones I think you should hunt down and buy. I wish I could afford to buy up an entire print run of BOP from Top Shelf, just so I could give all of you a free copy. I love this novel that much.
QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
If you knew that they’d read the entire thing, what one comic book would you give to someone who has never read comics?
