April 2003 Archives

I don't like the Ultimate X-Men, which is a surprise considering what a huge X-Men fan I am. I just don't agree with the attitude that Millar writes the X-Men with, he tries to make every moment this gigantic historic event. All he suceeds in doing is cheapening everything as well as building up a new confusing continuity which is what the Ultimate Universe was designed to get away from in the first place.

I also disagree with Millar's take on Magneto. So many writers have spent decades deepening and enriching Magneto's past. The reason he's such a great villian is because he's not evil, he just has a different (and dangerous) point of view. But the real curiousity is that the new series opens with the Sentinels killing innocent civilians. This would never fly in America without some kind of huge incident and even then there would be millions of people who would be outraged. Instead, the people seem to be blaise.

He's cartoonishly evil. What Millar does well is writing teenaged angst, which is the bread and butter of the X-Men's universe. The fight between Cyclops and Professor Xavier feels all too real (with the exception of how often Cyclops uses the word "man.") Millar also manages to write very large action sequences very well, sometimes to a fault since the human element sometimes gets lost amid all the explosions and heroics.

The Kuberts do a good job drawing the book, I personally prefer Andy's work over Adam's but they are complimentary enough that some people might never notice the shift. They manage to do a great job matching Millar's grand writing style and they have a wonderful sense of pacing. Unfortunately, just like Millar the Kuberts aren't as good at the subtle human reaction as they are at the huge action sequences.

There's nothing wrong with this trade of Ultimate Spider-Man, it's just that it seems to be lacking something that the other trades had. It does a very good job of returning to the issues brought up in the first trade and even expands on them. However, the book seems to be more on the characters around Peter rather than on him. Nick Fury has a great cameo and the part dedicated to the Green Goblin's distorted perception of reality is first rate, but the whole time I kept caring more about what was going on with Peter. After all, what this issue is really about is who gets to draft Peter: SHIELD or the Goblin. Now I enjoy this book as a metaphor for how teenagers can feel that forces outside of their control often dictate their lives but I found the book lost a little of its voice.

What did make me enjoy it immeansly was the final panel, a huge splash page of Peter, still in costume, unable to comminicate or even sit close to Mary Jane. It was a picture that truly was worth a thousand words.

Bendis keeps the series trucking along with the introduction of Gwen Stacy, the dangerous hip girl who just came to the school and is going to cause much turbulence in the newly formed Mary Jane / Peter Parker relationship.

The comic highlights the struggles of Peter has he tries to continue being a superhero: from getting badly beaten for the first time or losing his costume. Meanwhile, Parker's personal life goes through some hard times too. Besides the rocky waters that come from an insecure Mary Jane, Aunt May also comes down hard on young Peter.

Don't forget that Spider-Man has to deal with not one but two opponents. Dr. Octopus is revamped and done wonderfully. They've managed to keep all the good things about his character, jetison the bad and introduce some new tricks. The only problem is that Bagley still has him in his tights. I enjoyed the Dr. Octopus in a suit look that came up in the early ninties. It highlighted his intelligence and helped hide his slightly pudgy body. The fact that the tentacles are more of a "liquid metal" is a stroke of pure brilliance. It helps put distance between Dr. Ock and Stilt-Man, making him more terrifying instead of just gimmicky.

The crowning touch is the revamp of Kraven. He's the perfect example of the Ultimate line. He's very true to the original version but he's also totally reimagianed so that he fits in better with the world as it is now. The concept of a "Crocidile Hunter" TV show host who hunts Spider-Man is both more beliveable as well as being very funny. And that's what Ultimate Spider-Man is all about when Bendis writes it: truth of human emotion mixed in with the humor of the absurd.

This is the third series to come along in the Ultimate universe and it ranks in the middle. Millar goes with what he does best, widescreen action and he got the best artist to compliment that: Bryan Hitch. Millar actually paces this book much better than he does with the Ultimate X-Men, and as a result the characters are much better defined.

The only complaint that I have is that I'm not thrilled with the way the characters have been handled. I know that the Ultimate line was created to escape from the continuty heavy "regular" Marvel universe and to update the characters for the modern era. I even enjoy the idea of the "superhero of the 21st century" that Millar talked about in interviews but these characters sometimes feel edgy for the sake of being edgy. I will admit that I can't judge yet what Millar is doing and I'm more than willing to give him a chance to see what he has in store.

The real star of this series though is Bryan Hitch. His art shows off his talent in being able to handle both the epic battles, such as an Allied invasion in World War II, as well as smaller character moments, like when Nick Fury plays casting director for the Ultimates movie. His characters seem to emote as well as to act, a challenge for any artist.

There seems to be an urge by writers who are coming into a long running series at wanting to put their mark on the comic by drastically altering the landscape of the mythology. Be it Alan Moore on Swamp Thing or Garth Ennis on Hellblazer, writers seem to want to shake things up. Stracyznski follows in this tradition, altering Spider-Man's origin from "radioactive spider bite" to inheiriting a "totem power." However just like Moore and Ennis, Stracyznski is also trying to get back to the roots of what made the character work in the first place. The book is filled with deadpan wit, awkward social situations and a vulnerable hero.

The book starts off with the introduction of two new players in Spider-Man's life. One of them is Ezekial, a man who knows much about Peter's life but reveals very little of his own life. Considering that Stracynzski is the man who planned out a five year television series, Babylon 5, I can understand and appreciate that he is laying the groundwork for something that will probably pay off further down the line. The other addition is Morlun. I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the character. His background and character design both fell flat. While his origins may have been unnecessarily vague, his actions have a beautiful simplicity to them. He's a man who wants one thing and has no desire to do anything other than pursue his goal. The fact that he fights Spider-Man without any banter makes him all the more terrifying.

The art of the book is also very strong. I've long been a fan of John Romita Jr.'s stuff. His heavily lined style intrigues me and he's been able to produce on a regular pace, which is a blessing in the days of these delayed-delayed-delayed comic schedules. He has the ability to show movement very well, so the kinetic feel of Spider-Man comes very natuarally. Also, the cover designs by J. Scott Campbell also look very nice. He manages to embody more of the goofy and lithe energy of Spider-Man. The inclusion of his sketchbook at the end was very entertaining.

All in all, this is a clever and enjoyable Spider-Man yarn but it lacks that certain quaility to make it one of the truly great stories. What it does have, and Tucker would yell at me if I failed to mention it, is one of the best Spider-Man scenes ever. Spider-Man, after having fought Morlun for hours and knowing that he has to fight him again and that he probably won't survive, calls Aunt May to tell her he loves her. It's a moment of true humanity that shows how the character of Peter Parker is really defined by his relationships with other people.

Tommy Monaghan isn't your typical anti-hero. Sure, he shoots up the bad guys just like the Punisher (who Ennis would go on to write for, unsurprisingly) but his speciality is super-villians. Odd considering that some (including Batman) see Monaghan as a super-villian himself. He was granted X-ray vision and telepathy when he was bitten by a giant alien space vampire parasite (no, I'm not making that up).

Although, Ennis is creative when it comes to explaining things like how the protagonist got his powers, that's not what makes Hitman so fresh. Ennis writes Tommy as a very real person with hopes, dreams and even doubts. We see him trying to court a lovely new neighbor that he has recently met, we see him dreaming of retiring and moving to Manhatten. We sympathize with him.

Another strong factor is that the book never takes itself too seriously. Besides his zany origin story, Tommy only refers to himself as "the Hitman" twice and one of the times he's mocked for it. There's also one of my favorite Batman scenes where Batman punches Tommy in the stomach, forcing Tommy to vomit on Batman's shoes. There's a single panel where Batman just stares at Tommy in shock and disgust. It's brilliant.

The book itself doesn't just collect the first arc of the Hitman series, it also includes the introduction of Hitman (which came from The Demon Annual #2) and his first meeting with Batman (from The Batman Chronicles #4). It was very nice of DC to put together the apocraphyal readings so that we could better understand the character without having to hunt down these two obscure books on our own.

McCrea's art is solid throughout the book, but he never seems to hit his stride until Hitman gets his own series. While I mean no disrespect to McCrea's work from the other two books, it's just not as solid as the art from the ongoing series.

I enjoy Tom Strong in the same exact way that I enjoy the earlier seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's fun, it's got high enery and it's well written but just like with Buffy I don't spend all day with it. I see Tom Strong as something that every comic geek needs to read. It's the story of a pulp hero redefined as a superhero. It feels both innovative and iconic at the same time. The book's appreciation of the forerunner of the comic, the pulp novel, alone earns it a look and the fact that it's being worked on by such talent individuals means it deserves an even closer look. The stories have a wonderful momentum to them and Sprouse's super clean look complements it well. However, this is not anyone involved's best work and shouldn't be put at the top of any must-read lists.

The character of Tom Strong has a deep and rich history that is explored in the book through a series of flashbacks. These flashes are further proof of Moore's genius as well as the talent of the guest artists (Jerry Ordway, Art Adams, Gary Frank and Dave Gibbons). The flashes are drawn in the style of comics from the past ad the tone of the writing also shifts to the likes of a bygone era. And if you need more proof of Mr. Moore's master intellect: he created a language for the Ozu people of the island of Attabar Teru. It's not complex, in fact you can decipher it based solely on context clues (trust me, Guy Ryder keeps showing me his notes) but it's there. This is a great book to pick up and read in a quick sitting. It's quick, clean and fun.

B+

Few people understand the importance of Daredevil. It's an attempt by a studio to see if comic books are a valid medium to tap for ideas or not. There's very little risk when you make a Spider-Man, Hulk, Batman or X-Men movie because they are name brands, they're known commodities. All you have to do is put together a decent film, one that's not too silly and you've got a winner. The real tetst comes when you take a second-tier character like Daredevil or a third-tier character like Blade and put them in a movie. That's when Hollywood will know if they should put their weight behind the recent trend of successful comic book movies. Now, you might be thinking, that Blade and its sequel should've proved the potential for no-name heroes however those movies were less superhero and more supernatural. Daredevil is the first no-name superhero (i.e. dressed in spandex) to come out since comic book movies have started making money again (with the two Blades, the X-Men and Spider-Man movies). If it does well, the studios will feel more secure in backing the Punisher, Ghost Rider, Hellblazer, ad nauseum.

So the question rises: does Daredevil rise to meet the challenge set before it? For the most part, yeah. It is obvious how much both Mark Steven Johnson and Ben Affleck love the character. There's no real problem with how Jennifer Garner plays Elektra, although the character is not very well written. I'm not a huge fan of the way they chose to do Bullseye but Colin Farrell does it well. I do like Michael Clark Duncan as the Kingpin. The only three problems I have with the movie is the writing (which is atrocious), the editing (which is nauseating) and Ben Affleck's "Daredevil voice" (which just sounds silly).

A lot of the dialogue is just "on the nose" writing (my favorite bad line is when Daredevil is asked what he wants, Daredevil responds in his laughably bad voice "Justice.") and the motivation for any of Elektra's actions are either unclear or just not strong enough. The best written scenes of the film are between Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson, those are the ones that just feel the most natural to me. The editing, which is in the vein of a music video, just goes by too quickly to appreciate the action. These might've been some great fight scenes but I couldn't tell because the edits weren't clean. In going with the music video editing style is an overabundance of music throughout the film. It's distracting really, not to mention it's not very good (although I was a big fan of the use of House of Pain when Bullseye was introduced).

The radar vision is very good, it's a nice visual style and I think it works well.

All in all, it's a movie worth seeing and it's definitely one that comic fans should support if they want to see any more comic movies down the line.

I, like many people, am a Wolverine fan. He's an archetype, the grizzled sensitive badass with a heart of gold. He's a great character, and this (for all its intents and purposes) is the origin story of he went from being "Logan" to Wolverine. I got this book and read it expecting some magic, however I was slightly disappointed. There's some good moments: Logan being captured, cutting off the hand of his captor, Logan being burned to a crisp and going head-to-head with a Siberan Tiger are some of them. However the story is too confusing, it's dreams within dreams and often gets bogged down. However when it's running smoothly, it's amazing. What's always amazing is Windsor-Smith's art. This is a book filled with technological devices, fights, gore and other complex visuals. Windsor-Smith handles them all superbly. While this book may be a bit of a headache at times, it's got good moments and great art.

I read Cerebus despite the fact that I didn't think I would like it. It had been recommended to me, of course, by many people but it just didn't seem like my type of book. I'm not really into the fantasy warrior genre. That's why I was so surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. It's very well written although the art is crud in places. Despite the slight falterings of the art, you can still tell that there is something there, something you can't put your finger on.

What I must say is that the book is very creative and its satire is dead on. Nothing is safe from the barbed pen of Dave Sim. In this trade alone he mocks Batman, Captain America, Deadman, politicans, Conan, the Marx Brothers, Red Sonja, Foghorn Leghorn, as well as the almost identical Swamp Thing and Man-Thing.

The trade, as a whole, has some focus problems. It lacks a coherent story for one, it seems to be just one random event after another. It's really not until about halfway through its massive five hundred pages that a proper story really begins to set in. It's about the same time that Sim's artwork really picks up also. With that said, it's a good trade. It's laying the groundwork for some work which I'm sure will be far above this.

At the end of the day, this is a damn fine trade.

Every time I read a Warren Ellis book I always get a similar feeling: this is a disturbed guy who's very creative. Plantary is more on an extension of his creative side than his disturbed side. It's akin in tone to the X-Files (pre-Mulder's leaving), sort of a "monster of the week" adventure story but with a developing mythology to keep you coming back. This is an example of Ellis on top of his game, nothing's wasted.

Warren Ellis' true genius is that he realizes that it's all been done before. So he just resolved to do it better than everyone else. Planetary is a post-modern comic for people who love comics but are less sure about post-modernism. That is its greatest strength and its only weakness. To best appreciate this trade you have to know about Captain Marvel (or Shazam!), Japanese monster movies, pulp heroes, the Fantastic Four, et cetera. Ellis does a good job of keeping the book from relying too heavily on that but it still does rely on it.

He's not alone. John Cassidy is right up there next to him, drawing some of the best work of his career. Cassady does amazing work keeping the book looking fresh and innovative. He's truly one of the best artists in the field. His art is clean, his lines simple; the action is always clear and he gives a great sense of emotion. He also, and this is a big testament to his talent, changes his art style to complment the story. These changes are sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic but they are always for the best of the book. I remember reading an interview with Warren Ellis where he told DC that he and Cassidy wanted to a different style cover every month and when DC asked if fans would be able to find the book every month, his response was that it'd always be the most interesting looking book on the shelf. I think they succeeded with this trade. It is superb.

B+