Marvel Comics Thread

[Sven]

Update, update:

Secret Wars - After Hickman's rushed and insignificant Infinity, I was skeptical of his ability to steer another major event. I couldn't be happier to be wrong. The scaling of the main event issues has been the most impressive part (other than Ribic's chops, which are not a surprise now) - each issue has been a measured address of major plotlines concluding Hickman's Avengers story, but also a fantastically surreal jaunt in its own right, building a world from the scraps of scrapes past, building a Battleworld that may as well be called Marvelworld because the concept is allowing creators to bring back favorite Marvel characters, create new ones, blend others, crosshatch concepts, etc. A reality-bending scope worthy of Morrison's Seven Soldiers.

Old Man Logan - My favorite ancillary issue so far. I think I love the cinematic aspect of it. Sorrentino is one of my favorite Big 2 artists at the moment, and this issue only further hammers that spike into the ground. Nice scope, great expression, moody, intricate, logical. And Bendis... I don't know. Maybe I need to give this guy another go. I love every single Powers issue, but his Marvel stuff (what I've read, obv) always leaves me ho-humming. But I dig the man's pacing like none other. Throw me some recs, if you wanna.

Future Imperfect - Could be this one is my favorite, though. Even Land's work is impressive here. An exciting fusion of classic sequential zest and new-fangled cinematic appeal. The Maestro has always been a top-tier character. There're rumblings that he'll be around after the event shakedown.

Infinity Gauntlet - Weaver's cooking on a Euro-level with this one. It's an artbook more than it is an adventure comic. Which I don't mind. It still reads well, and I'm curious to see where it goes. Any Thanos is good Thanos, and the panelling style on this one used for space stuff could be epic.

Planet Hulk - Eh. I'm sorry, Mr. Humphries. You are not a very good writer. The art and ideas are in place, but I wish the dialogue were better. The backup Cho story by Pak is cool though.

Where Monsters Dwell - My bad for not realizing how much Ennis was gonna play with good taste on this one. Uncomfortable laughs a-plenty, and his collabs with Braun are always well paced. I'm curious to see how Doom is gonna play into this, knowing Ennis's proclivities for subversion.

MODOK Assassin and Giant-Size Little Marvel AvX - Cute. I laughed.

Inferno and Armor Wars - Pretty much a great example of why people hate crossovers because of how much they make otherwise talented people phone it in so hard.

A-Force - A good read. Probably will appeal to people for whom straightforward superhero comics do the trick. A fine example of that. And I love anything Miss America-centric. She's a great character.

Master of Kung Fu - Wish it were better. Parlov inking Talijic is tremendous, but the plotting is... well, it's just not for me. Didn't check out issue 2. Maybe it gets better?

Journal and Battleworld have been offering fantastically imaginative reinventions/blendings of Marvel characters and concepts. Seriously recommended event.

Oh, and X-Tinction Agenda has tons of promise. The artwork has me hooked, anyway, but the story (the original of which I never read) is compelling enough.

[sevenarts]

Secret Wars is amazing so far, the payoffs and fist-pump-inducing moments are really packed in. I'm in awe of Hickman's ability to construct character arcs that not only stretch across his tenure on a title, but with what he's done with Doom and the FF, across several major multi-year runs and events.

The premise has encouraged a lot of fun tie-ins, too. None seem essential to the main story at this point but it's a great, flexible playground and Bendis, Ennis, et al seem to be having a good time set loose in it.

Re: Bendis at Marvel, not sure what you've read before but Alias is a classic with very good reason, one of his best books ever. His Daredevil is good too. And his Moon Knight is unfortunately often overlooked but is an inventive, really smart and fun take on the character, which probably benefited from being cancelled early and thus not having the chance to become as meandering and unfocused as some of his longer runs.

[Sven]

Re: Bendis at Marvel, not sure what you've read before but Alias is a classic with very good reason, one of his best books ever. His Daredevil is good too. And his Moon Knight is unfortunately often overlooked but is an inventive, really smart and fun take on the character, which probably benefited from being cancelled early and thus not having the chance to become as meandering and unfocused as some of his longer runs.

Thanks. I've bumped Alias up my queue. I heard intriguing things about his Moon Knight. Was always curious.

Forgot to mention that I thought his Ultimate End issue was excellent as well.

[sevenarts]

Speaking of Ultimate End, Ultimate Spider-Man is real good too. Like any series that ran that long with one guy writing it all, there are dips in creativity and excitement a few times along the way, but Bendis always brought things back on track. The first - I dunno, 50, 60, even 70 issues - are excellent and truly do constitute the "ultimate" Spidey experience. It was a model for what the Ultimate line could be (and too seldom was). And he rejuvenated the concept a few more times later in his run too, notably when he introduced Miles Morales. There were long stretches when USM was basically the whole Ultimate line, or might as well have been.

Bendis (rightly) gets a lot of shit for his excesses, his often samey dialogue, his tendency to wear out his welcome and repeat himself, but at his best he can be really, really good.

[Sven]

Bendis (rightly) gets a lot of shit for his excesses, his often samey dialogue, his tendency to wear out his welcome and repeat himself, but at his best he can be really, really good.

I am in awe of what he and Oeming do on Powers. Its quotient of quantity to quality is insane given the ease with which the concept can be so, so tired.

[Acapelli]

i'm enjoying his and oeming's united states of murder inc as well

[number8]

Speaking of Bendis, they just announced at Special Edition: NYC that after Secret Wars, he's leaving X-Men and going to be taking over Iron Man with David Marquez. Bendis will create new villains, a new girlfriend, and apparently instead of having 30 different armors that do different things, he'll just have one brand new armor that can turn into all of them.

[Sven]

Update, update!

Consider me practically 180'd on Master of Kung Fu. I still think Blackman's plotting is a little vague, but the fun of all the kung fu and supernatural villains and Sudzuka's alchemical inks give it an addictive edge. I couldn't stop thinking about it, and a revisit was flattering.

Ultimate End's tandem Iron Men are a terrific duo (easy to see Bendis planting seeds for his run). Bagley's artwork has never looked so recycled, unfortunately, particularly in the sequence where 616 Peter Parker meets Ultimate May and Gwen. Touching, but eyelines are wonky.

Avengers 2099 meet Defenders 2099. This series is mostly great at making me want to familiarize myself with the 2099 stories and concepts. It's a fine diversion.

Marvel Zombies has the potential to be one of the best minis off the event. Spurrier's got Elsa's voice down, and Walker being wild and monstrous is the best thing to pay him to do. Fabulous, effectively clipped emotional throughline.

In that same vein, being nice to read things with a sense of humor about the whole thing, Weirdworld cracked me up something righteous. Del Mundo's epic rendering and Aaron's sandal/sorcery voice combine to great effect (trolls! dragons! vistas!), but the second Arkon showed us his map, I was lost in hysteria.

I'm trying to determine how much I liked Ghost Racers. More than half the book is context-free race spectacle, with a multitude of sound effect captions. I think Gedeon may be leaning a bit too hard on Manga, which when colored like an American action comic tends to give the setting and backgrounds an empty feel. On the fence.

Years of Future Past is fairly worthless. I'm not a big fan of X-men anyway.

Boss introduction of the Noir Spider-Man in Spider-Verse, but that's otherwise one for the fans strictly. Araujo's illustration is nice, but in a half-baked kind of way (much like the Spiderverse concept itself).

I was slightly surprised at how well Renew Your Vows reads. I'm liking the minis that go whole hog on the strangeness of the situation (unlike ones like Master of Kung Fu or Ghost Racers, which have yet to really utilize the Battleworld concept). Still, I get the vibe that most Spider-man books these days are written for the longtime fans.

Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos - I laughed a few times. Perhaps I'll read some more Deadpool one of these days. It's interesting how he's the one truly omnipotent character in the Marvel universe. Always love how Joe Kelly went wild with that, but still gave him gravitas...

Few more later maybe.

[Sven]

Secret Wars Journal - the one where Murdock is Sinister's chef... damn. I might have nightmares.

[Sven]

Capt. Marvel and the Carol Corps is a fine piece of work. Solid pace, well-illustrated, intriguing address of the Battleworld concept, and shows promise of blowing up into something relevant. Recommended.

The second issues of both Inferno and Attilan Rising reduce their drams to noisy, esoteric fan-service. Neither should be given much attention.

[Sven]

Okay, fine, 1602: Angela, Witch Hunter was badass. I'm ready to write Bennett off as a not-terribly-good writer of dialogue (and her '-eth's and 'thou's are horrid), but this is a pretty entertaining throwback, and has enough twists on heroic grandstanding to be refreshing. Mostly I'm just amazed at the high threshold of "not crappy" this crossover has produced.

[Acapelli]

love what you're doing in here sven

[Sven]

love what you're doing in here sven

Oh thanks. Maybe when it's done I will write something greater than just these bites. Until then:

Old Man Logan remains one of the essential minis. Sorrentino's command of splash and spectacle is equal to Bendis's rhythm as a storyteller, and the fusion of character to concept is made even more seamless with this issue.

Thors, though, I dunno... the overt COPS riffing is very distracting. So great to see Sprouse back in action, and its overt address of the new world dynamic is scratching that itch for novel fantasy world-building that this massive corporate imperative has surprisingly produced. I have a feeling I'mma reread all this in three or four years and it's gonna really click.

Squadron Supreme is decent entertainment. Kinda like Morrison/Quitely's Earth 2 book, with Hyperion as an Ultraman proxy. Guggenheim seems a fine storyteller, with this iteration's Nighthawk (Batman?) duly subterraneous in characterization and motivation. I wish Marvel'd let Pacheco take his time. Man is capable of astounding renderings, but always seems rushed when dealing with supes...

[number8]

You know, I think this sort of writing has largely gone out of style, but I really appreciate how all of Al Ewing's Marvel stuff is full of references, callbacks, or teasers to something in a particular issue from the past or currently on the stand. Not in the deconstructive and easter egg way that Grant Morrison works in Silver Age stuff, but more in the old school way of "Let's have the characters talk about something that happened in issue such and such to explain why they think this way now." Except Stan Lee and co used to do that for stories that are maybe 6-8 issues ago. Ewing is doing it with issues that are sometimes decades old. Every issue of Loki and Mighty Avengers has at least 4-5 "* For more, see ____" editor caption boxes. The cool thing is, with the digital era (and especially the Marvel Unlimited library), fans actually can just load up that issue they're referring to. It's kinda cool. Maybe the next step would be to turn those caption boxes into hyperlinks.

[Sven]

Yeah, Al Ewing I've decided is pretty much the best. Well, he's up there. Why can't more writers be as simultaneously stylish (but not showboaty) and emotional (but not melodramatic)? His Last Days issue of CAatMA nearly wrung tears from these icy cubes I call eyes. I love that there was pointedly no moment of grand revelation or heroism. Ewing's is a virtue rooted in ensemble. All of his stories are about the interrelationships of constituent parts, which is pretty much the functionality of comics narrative, and it doesn't matter if victory is achieve so long as collective harmony is achieved. I have the first volume of his Loki book waiting for me at the library.

I've never read any of the Runaways, but my cursory knowledge of the greater Marvel U made the Battleworld Tie-in work. I imagine confused faces at the Cho/Skaar pairing, or the significance of Valeria, but I could follow the story and the dramatics were entertaining. I dug Rauch's palette mostly, I think, in terms of the artwork, which seemed a little like Skottie Young, a little like Jeff Stokely, but not as committed as either. Plus, comics about groups of teens in high school have quite an uphill climb in terms of visual intrigue. Buncha young'ns sitting around yapping. Still, not bad.

[Sven]

Also, hmmmm... to issue 2 of Armor Wars. It's nice to see something through that I would have ordinarily written off (though I'm pretty sure I'm going to be finishing very few of these X-men-based minis), because this second issue definitely helps develop the perspective and voice of the story, which the first issue didn't develop too terribly well. Issue two though was a nice pace quickener, and features some impressive artwork and quirky beats. Still wouldn't call it great, but definitely not the disaster that it suggested it would be.

[Sven]

Alias is a classic with very good reason, one of his best books ever.

It was good. Probably real good. But I have to say, everything he does in it, Powers does better. The Rick Jones arc, though, was pretty amazing. The book's best exploration of the alias-premise. I like how well Bendis's narrative style works with artists that work in heavy contrast. Feels more journalistic, maybe? I dunno...

[number8]

Part of it is probably because it's his own art style done better. He honed his writing skills with that type of art that he did himself in Jinx, Goldfish and Torso.

[Sven]

Update! Update!

Age of Ultron v Marvel Zombies is so much more awesome than I anticipated. I love this relegation of the U's most volatile hostilities, and the promise of intriguing consequence. Giving Ultron the foil of a 19th century Pym is perfect, and I adored the percussive splashes detailing the zone's history. Definitely overshadowed some of the clumsier colloquialisms in the dialogue.

And how about E for Extinction? Love the popping colors, and it's deliciously weird. Cyclops and Emma are hysterical. Burnham must've finally tapped into that Moz-mojo, because his Batman Inc issue was definitely not this good. Still, though, not the best X-book tie-in, which would be Gugg'/'domenico's X-Tinction Agenda.

Infinity Gauntlet 2 is a tiny step down from the surprise of the first issue. Watching a hero family bond over discovered super dynamics has never really been an interesting trope for me. Still hella well illustrated, of course (Dog Nova is gnarly). And the modest infusion of villainy so far is refreshing.

I tried reading X-Men 92, but bailed. I'll try again sometime soon.

[Sven]

A few more thoughts -

MODOK Assassin is now one of my favorite ancillaries. The second issue was rambunctious but clear, and never less than hysterical. Some choice panels. Also, its interwoven Battleworld functionality is quite creative.

Planet Hulk, on the other hand, is even worse with the new issue. Lurching and confused, and Doc Green's dialogue is really leaden. Shame, cuz the artwork is cool, but this is one to veer far from.

Korvac Saga was fine. A little redundant in that there's not much here that other titles aren't doing, but there's some intrigue with this iteration of Wonder Man...

[Sven]

All new Marvel titles post-Secret Wars have leaked. I perused. This will be an opportune time to quit Marvel. The highlights, and the only titles I may compromise and purchase, are Karnak by Warren Ellis, Contest of Champions (which looks like space gladiators overseen by the Maestro) by Al Ewing, and Dr. Strange by Aaron/Bachalo. I'm moderately miffed that they gave Old Man Logan to Lemire, but at least I won't have to read it.

[number8]

Yup, I'm actually seeing this as a good ending point for all the Marvel titles I'm reading and will be dropping them. I won't have any Marvel on my pull list after the "Last Days of" issues and the final Hawkeye issue.

[ledfloyd]

I'm interested in Waid's Avengers and Soule's Daredevil. Also A-Force. And Wilson's Ms. Marvel, natch.

Curious to see what Zdarsky will do with Howard the Duck.

Is Fantastic Four over?

[Sven]

Curious to see what Zdarsky will do with Howard the Duck.

I'm the rare fan of the Zdar that does not like Sex Criminals.* His comedy writing is fabulous. I'm a huge Kaptara fan.

*I've only read the first arc

[number8]

I like quite a few currently, Ms. Marvel and Howard the Duck including (the latter has been REALLY fucking funny). I think I just want to take a break from following Marvel and DC for a bit and they gave me the perfect opportunity to do so.