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Happy 2005, everyone! Welcome to the de facto extension of what was
formerly known as Great X-Pectations. After seven years, I needed a
break from the constant focus on the X-Titles. While they provided me
with a near-limitless supply of material, there were so many other
books out there I wanted to shine a light upon, bring folks' attention
to, and get the word out on. These will still primarily be superhero
titles, since that's mostly what I read these days. I've yet to be
dragged too deeply into the waters of independent publishers.
This column will occasionally swing back towards the X-Men side of
things, since they do put out a few books worth mentioning every now
and then. However, I've now given myself the freedom to move out to
other Marvel books, and even cross the street over to the DC side of
the block.
My continued interest in the X-Men is part of the reason this is
called "Grey Matters," giving a bit of a call to Jean Grey, the
Phoenix. Plus, I'd like to think of this as a slightly intelligent
column, pointing out the good comics that can often get lost in the
shuffle of over-hyped stuff that just isn't that good. Also, I use the
name Jason Grey as my nom de plume in various places online.
I'm sure everyone is familiar with such a title: that one little book
you absolutely love, and everyone you show it to loves, but no matter
what, no one knows much about it before you've brought it to their
attention, and the book's sales are poor, and likely getting steadily
worse. Odds are, everyone has a few of these books.
Several such books were brought up in the old column, such as
CrossGen's "Brath", She-Hulk, and one or two others. While the focus
will remain on reviews, my occasional bouts of odd columns will surely
continue. Not much has changed, just a few letters besides X are
appearing regularly.
Kicking things off for us is one of my top non-X books, Thunderbolts.
I had planned to do the relaunch of Legion of Super-Heroes, as most
everyone else is this month, but my copy has yet to arrive in my hands
as of my writing this.
So, we get the latest Thunderbolts comic, New Thunderbolts. With
this, the racks are becoming quite crowded with 'new' titles. New
T-Bolts, New Avengers, New Invaders. I was almost tempted to call
this New Great X-Pectations. Is there any advantage to doing this?
Does Marvel benefit from a book not being considered a volume two? Do
they expect readers to flock to a book with a "New" in the title over
just another number one? And how long until we get New New Warriors?
New Thunderbolts picks up right where the Avengers/Thunderbolts
miniseries over the summer left off, with Abe Jenkins - formerly the
Beetle and currently MACH-IV - reforming a superteam after the
Avengers have been put through the ringer and disbanded, but going the
unconventional route of reaching out to supervillains wishing to
reform. He recruits several of his former team mates to the team,
Songbird and a de-powered Atlas, and a few new members.
As well as picking up the story, the same creative team carries over
with Fabian Nicieza writing, with Tom Grummett and Gary Erskine on
art duties. They're joined by the creator of the original team, Kurt
Busiek, lending a creative hand.
For anyone already familiar with the Thunderbolts, this book won't be
too surprising. All the well-known elements are here. Strong
writing, action mixed with characterisation, art that tends towards
the classical superheroic side of things, stories that delve into and
dredge up various bits of continuity of the Marvel Universe both new
and old, and shocking surprises at any moment.
This book isn't about dismantling and reinventing the comicbook
genre, this is firmly about reveling in everything that made comics
great up 'til now. This book is for the folks who love their classic
superheroics, their spandex, their fisticuffs. The difference being
here, is that the comic is also one of the strongest written comics on
the shelves these days, even if Fabian can get a bit overly
complicated in his plotlines at times. So far, Thunderbolts has been
mostly straightforward, with a few plates spinning to keep things
interesting.
In just the first few issues, we get to see some old Atlantean
related characters, a fight at the United Nations, Captain Marvel
looking for his own kind of redemption and finding an ass-kicking
instead, explosions, behind the scenes plotting, and the Purple Man,
of all people. The team has a nice balance going here, and the book
is definitely worthy of attention.
Anyone tired of superheroes sitting around, having long gabfests
while their mansion fall around their ears and members die until a
Defender comes and saves their ass, but wants something more in the
classic superhero tradition of action-packed issues just as
characterisation-packed, then this book is definitely for you. Heck,
it might be for you guys who tend more towards the decompressed
storytelling. Try something different. New Thunderbolts has
something for everyone, and is consistently one of the best titles in
almost every way, moreso than most titles of the past decade. The
trade paperback of the Avenges/Thunderbolts miniseries from the
summer is currently available as well, providing a nice chunk of
material by this team for a newbie to come in and digest.
That just about wraps up this month's first Grey Matters. I hope
this isn't too different for fans of my old column, and hopefully
there are folks checking in for the first time whom have been directed
towards a new comic for them to check out. Until next month, when I
should have some Legion goodness to share, see you in the back-issue
boxes.
Jason M. Bourgeois
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