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The single life has left me going to plenty of comic shows lately and I have far too many unread trades. Having a real nine to five job obviously doesn't give me as much time a day to read as I'd like. (That is to say less than 14 hours a day.) So that's over thirty trades, not counting the non-Christmas shopping trades I'm bound to pick up in Baltimore. It is mostly Marvel stuff from various eras but there are a few others still left in my three boxes. I thought I'd do a little reading and reviewing for awhile. These are the trades I managed to read this month.
What If- Volume One (Script and Art by a 'Who's Who' of mainstream comics): Like many comic fans, I've always liked the 'What If?' concept. This collection is really hit or miss. I really liked 'What if Spider-Man Had Joined the Fantastic Four?' It wove various elements from Fantastic Four and Spider-Man stories and showed how they could have played out if the new element was added in. What if The Hulk had Banner's intelligence was a bit of a disappoIntment. Part of that is hindsight, given what Peter David did with that same concept on Earth 616 about 15 years later. "What If The Avengers Had Never Been?" "What If The Invaders stuck around after World War II?" "What if Captain America Hadn't Been Frozen During WWII?" and "What if The Fantastic Four had different powers?" were all pretty forgettable. Was it worth it? No. I paid half price ($11.95) and I was disappointed.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch: Sometimes you'll see an adaptation comic and go: Why did they do that? Earlier this year I read Neil Gaiman's short story collection 'Fragile Things'. While I enjoyed the short stories, I felt something was missing. Remembering the tale, when I came across it in the cheap box at a local show I almost skipped past it. Instead I opened it up. Then I realized what was missing was pictures. What was originally an amusing almost plotless ramble became something amazing. Was it worth it? At $7.95 for a hardcover, I'd have to say yes.
Essential Defenders Volume 4: This review is kind of hard to write. I started reading this one in June and only finished it three weeks ago. I had too many other good trades on my immediate reading shelf to get to this one in good time. On a whole I love The Essentials. Crammed to the brim, almost two years of a series. The other three volumes of the Defenders, while they did have a weak patch here and there, were really good. This one seemed even less of an Essential than Essential Dazzler. Many writers in the 70s and 80s tried to finish stories they (or others) started in other books almost nobody wanted to read or even remember by weaving them into successful titles. Unfortunately writers Kraft, Hannigan and Grant lack the deftness at doing so that many of their contemporaries had-- most notably Chris Claremont. There are four attempts to do this in the 25 or so issues. Many of these arcs go on for five issues or more. Without reprinting issues of Marvel Premiere, Omega the Unknown and Man-Thing, these issues quickly turn into a befuddled mess. Hopefully the next volume will get to the issues where Defenders became an X-Book. Was it worth it? I got this as a Christmas present. I paid nothing and gained nothing so I broke even.
Hellblazer- Child of Man: This trade collects Garth Ennis's return to the world of John Constantine. I really like a lot of Mr. Ennis's work particularly on Preacher and Hitman. The story revolves around one of John's friends being hunted by the mob. Mobsters that Constantine helped many years ago by 'resurrecting' the mobster's son. Only instead, he just gave them a temporarily amnesiac demon until he could go back into hiding. The demon regains its memory and goes on a killing spree. The overall message of the story is that when someone dies, they are dead. Once something is gone, it's gone. You shouldn't try to bring them back or recreate them. It will never quite be the same. I think the same could be said here: The story was good. It felt like a Hellblazer story with all the trimmings. What was missing was the patented Garth Ennis sense of humor. While present, it was severely muted. The perverse sense of glee found in reckless abandon in Preacher, Hitman, Punisher or even most of Ennis's original run on Hellblazer was not felt here. It was more like Ennis was going through the motions but his heart just was not in it. Perhaps Ennis has simply outgrown John Constantine. Was it worth it: at $5.95, it was, but I would be mad if I had paid full price for it.
Essential Spider-Man Volume Nine: Now this is an Essential done right. A few cringe inducing moments like Aunt May's death being an image created by Mysterio and Jonah's anger being amplified by a mad scientist but it was overall a really fun read. With two to three issues a day, I got through it in about a week. The adventures offered top of the line web slinging action and some good quips. I didn't even mind an appearance by The Punisher. That tells you something. Plus, it has Peter Parker being chased by more women than you can shake a stick at. I paid 75% of retail cost and I don't really care. I definitely got my moneys worth here.
Doctor Strange- Shamballa: It is a story that examines the hopes, dreams and impurities of the human spirit. While many comic book writers would be prone to tell this tale as a simple good verus evil didactic, writer J.M. Dematteis states briefly and simply that these flaws and fallacies are not faults but the definition of humanity. This should come as no surprise to fans of Dematteis non-bwhahahahahaish work. He has told this type of story many times in such comics Moonshadow, Supergirl: Wings, X-Factor and his amazing run on Doctor Fate. Somehow he always finds something new to say. Each character provides a different outlook on these ideas. Doctor Strange himself provides the almost perfect vehicle for this type of story telling. I paid $3.50 for this issue and came out of it quite pleased.
Daredevil Visionaries- Frank Miller Vol 1.: I've always been somewhat irked by the idea of Daredevil. On the one hand, there aren't very many disabled characters in comics that aren't sociopaths consumed by their own anger. On the other hand, his radar senses always made it seem that he was just faking it. I don't think that's a good message to send about the disabled. I've always had generally mixed feelings about the works of Frank Miller. I liked the original Dark Knight. I liked the Big Guy and Rusty book he did with Mike Allred. Since this was in a five dollar box and it is one of the truly highly regarded super hero comics of all time I decided to put my prejudices aside. The early stories were fairly run of the mill super heroics. It wasn't until "The Expose" about half way through the book when Miller is promoted to co-plotter that the stories really begin to take off. I especially liked the meeting between Daredevil and
The Hulk. It was one of the best interactions with another Marvel mindless child-like Hulk I have ever read. Not only would I highly recommend this trade to almost anyone interested in super heroics, if I found volume two for even double the price of what I paid for volume one I would not hesitate to buy it.
The Mighty Thor Visionaries - Walter Simonson (Unnumbered): So it comes to pass when wizened old fanboys gather to drink week old Mountain Dew and discuss the exploits of the bold son Asgard, two names dost come to their mouths most frequently, their King Jack Kirby and his Lordship Walter Simonson. The camps battle and fight- and I can't do it. This faux Shakespearian thing just doesn't work for me. This volume collects roughly the first year on Walter Simonson's run on Thor. It is remarkably different from either of Kirby's runs on the character. There are without a doubt, some Kirby influences but it clearly Simonson's story. While Kirby built many of his stories in Asgard, he was just as likely to throw in aliens, other Marvel characters, The Eternals Saga and even had the god of Thunder wasting his time with every day thieves. Simonson weaves Thor's tales through Midgard, space and beyond as well though at least the first year keeps his hands out of the greater Marvel universe opting to use the space build the supporting players from the obvious ones like Loki and Odin to the less obvious ones like Volstagg. . Considering that his goal was to revitalize Thor this was a big help. The only real guest appearance (that I could spot) was the arm of Jarvis. Oh, nobody draws giant fire (aside from possibly the aforementioned Mr. Kirby) draws dragons and dinosaurs better than Walter Simonson. At $12.50 (cover price $25) I'd say I got a good deal.
Be here next time for Ex Machina, Baby Huey and at least one volume of Fantastic Four Visionaries- John Byrne plus hopefully a few surprises.
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