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By Jason Bourgeois
After last month's look at a rather heady topic, and a heaping pile of dislike, let's shift gears a bit, and shine our little spotlight on a light-hearted comic, that is sorely in need of it, since it is one of those rare things from Marvel. A really good comicbook.
For anyone who has been reading my columns for awhile, the last year or so, have seen me giving a lot of time to Marvel writer Dan Slott, and his excellent title She-Hulk, which is very similar to this month's topic, not for the least of which is that both are written by Dan. But I won't be taking this month's column to urge you to buy She-Hulk. At least, not entirely. Because you should be buying it. However, that's not why we're here.
A few months ago, Dan began writing a spin-off of the Fantastic Four, staring Marvel's stalwart, the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing. Ben carried a book of his own back in the '80s, as well as Marvel Two-in-One, as well as staring in Fantastic Four almost entirely since the day it debuted. He knows absolutely everyone in the Marvel Universe, and with such a well-rounded, full personality, there is a lot of material to work with for a series, plus the pathos you get with the whole "man trapped as a monster" motif.
So, the book comes out, and like many of Dan's work to date, is very well written. Dan, as I've said before, is capable of mixing humour with straight writing, giving it a more realistic feel to it, since even in the darkest moments, humans can find the time to smile a little, and casual conversation is filled with little jokes. And in the superhero world, things can only be stranger than even real life, one would hope. Dan naturally has a great handle on Ben. He's been around for so long, his character is very clear, and Dan writes him perfectly.
On top of that, and equally important in the world of comics, is the art. And on the Thing, the art is top notch as well, a perfect match for the writing. Pencilling duties are more than ably filled by Andrea DiVito. Andrea previously worked for CrossGen on the First, and Brath, the latter title of which was some amazing work done by him. The man has great range, and can draw real anatomy, while still exagerating it slightly for the comics crowd, but well within the humanly possible. He can draw real clothes, that look natural, as easily as he can draw the spandex crowd, and he can draw humour and action with as great skill as he can draw the quieter moments.
And just like with She-Hulk, every issue so far has been self-contained, or two-issue arcs, so if you want to check the book out, there is no long term investment involved, you can dip in, read an issue, marvel at its greatness (Hopefully), and continue buying them. Just checking the book out will only cost you a mere three dollars, and you will walk away with a complete story. You don't get that in many comics these days. That alone makes it worth at LEAST checking out, in my opinion. If you don't like it, no harm, no foul.
This is a near-perfect example of a good comicbook. And I don't mean that to be hyperbole. This is a great synergy of writing and art, and includes action, revels in the shared universe concept, and is just good fun. There are far too few comics like this out there today, and it's suitable for almost all ages, but mostly for the teen market and upwards. If the Big Two were putting out more comics like this, it would be a most glorious day.
Sadly though, the sales are rather dismal. They're falling fast, and the book is already in danger of going away due to lack of people buying it, which is an absolute shame. This is a rare good book, and people should be buying it. To help raise awareness of the book, Slott has started a campaign, called Pull Dan Slott's Thing. He doesn't want people going out there and just buying the book. That's not enough. He wants people to go up to the guy behind the counter at the comic store, and have the title put on their pull list. This will make stores up their orders, because they have X number of guaranteed sales, and still want to keep the same amount on the shelves for casual browsing. And there are folks who were waiting for the trade, and that's not helping sales either. If the book doesn't get bought, trades won't get made. For more information, swing over here (Link: http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=27ec2e769310a0f5876cdcb7c72ceadc&threadid=64296) and read Dan's own impassioned plea, as well as a little contest to support the campaign.
I was already planning to write this up before Dan started his campaign, but the timing of it all was just perfect, and gave me a chance to help spread the word for the Pull the Thing campaign, because the more word gets out about this book, the more people will buy it, and with everyone piping up at once, that becomes a very loud voice that hopefully a lot of people will hear, and listen to.
So, check it out. Three bucks. What's the worst that could happen? You get a whole story in an issue. It's the perfect book to check out, and still get an enjoyable, complete experience. Too many books require you to buy six or more issues to get a whole story, and that's just too much to ask the average consumer these days. And if you like what you see, please, add the title to your pull list, and keep good comics alive.
And while you're at the comic rack, pick up She-Hulk too. All the above applies to that title as well.
Jason M. Bourgeois
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