Monthly Dose is a semi-regular column where I reread one issue each month of long-completed series.
100 Bullets #3: Though perhaps a bit overly expository in places, the conclusion of this initial arc is a massive triumph overall. Everyone gets precisely what they deserve, which isn't really good news for anyone. Even Dizzy, who gets to avenge the deaths of her husband and baby and get out of the life she'd been trapped in up to now, doesn't walk away without some brand new emotional wounds to deal with. Her brother Emilio reveals himself to be the cause of her family's murder, so Dizzy loses the only person from to whom she still had any meaningful connection. It leaves her future wide open, because her past is about as dead and buried as it could ever be. Her love, her child, and her brother are lost to her, and the crooked cops who're responsible are dead by her hand. At the very end of the issue, she gets in a car with the mysterious Mr. Shepherd, and though we have no way of knowing yet who he really is or what plans he might have for her, it's clear that despite the finality of the events in this issue, Dizzy's real story is only beginning. Eduardo Risso does a lot with shadow in the artwork here, and (along with that) silhouette. This is as emotionally dark as the book has gotten so far, and the visuals match that. I also really love Emilio's whole look, the outward smugness that only tenuously contains the wild young man inside. That wild man spills out once the shit hits the fan and Emilio gets shot by his "partners," and he never really gets a hold of himself again. So the final impression we get of the character is that of an out-of-control, immature, pathetic failure, begging for some forgiveness from the sister he betrayed. She gives him not one inch of it, though, because difficult as it may be, Dizzy is too strong to let herself give in to his pleas. As she says, he's got a hard time ahead of him, but he's brought every minute of it on himself, and at least she lets him live. Brian Azzarello wraps up a very tidy package, providing full and satisfying explanations and conclusions to all the threads and characters of this arc. He does rely on exposition more than I'd prefer, but it's well-written and naturally-fitting exposition. And even as this all draws to a close, Mr. Shepherd shows up and provides the promise of bigger and better things from Dizzy to come. Exactly what I want from the finale of an opening arc.
The Intimates #3: Feels a little bit like the title is coasting through this one. It's got some good moments and it builds to a solid ending, but there's not as much new stuff and some of what we see feels a little tired already. The info scrolls, for example, aren't as focused or thematically tied together here as they were in the first two issues. They still provide valuable and often amusing information to the reader, but they don't seem as sure of themselves this time out. It makes them less enjoyable than before, more of a hassle/annoying interruption to the narrative flow. It's too early for the info scrolls to be wearing thin like this, so hopefully they can pick up some slack in a month. Also there is Destra using her explosive fingernail powers and getting scolded for it, which happened in the debut and isn't utilized for anything all that fresh here. It does set up the idea that Destra is genuinely trying to be kicked out of school, and we also find out via the info scrolls that her parents give a lot of money to The Seminary, so it makes sense that she wouldn't get expelled even after so drastically acting out. You can even see the disappointment in her face when the principal tells her she's sticking around. So there is a bit of detail added to her character, but it's not surprising or even all that helpful, because we already knew that Destra had a bad attitude about school and a rebellious side, now we just have some teensy insight as to why. Anyway, the main story of Punchy finally figuring out that Empty Vee is his secret admirer is much stronger than the stuff that surrounds it. It gives Vee some much-needed spotlight time, and tells a very real and raw tragic teenage romance story. This ain't no Romeo & Juliet bullshit where two kids are so devoted to one another it kills them. This is a lonely and misguided young girl setting herself up to get crushed by the selfish, horny boy for whom she fell. The closing scene where Punchy so brutally and callously turns her down is the highlight of this issue. Giuseppe Camuncoli lights it to heavily add to the drama, and captures Punchy's inner shmuck and Vee's desperate and depressing hopefulness perfectly. Also, like with Punchy and Duke's failed "mission" last issue, the info scrolls go away when this heartbreak scene begins, which is a smart move that deepens the emotion and allows the reader to give it more focused attention. So even if Joe Casey isn't being quite as adventurous or ambitious with his ideas on these pages as he was in the opening two issues, this is a fine read that adds small pieces to several characters and culminates in a powerful final scene.
X-Force (vol. 1) #3: Fabian Nicieza's writing takes a bit of a dive. The script feels more forced and rushed than it has before, like he had less time to put it together or wasn't as inspired by Rob Liefeld's art or something. It starts off right away with Siryn's weird thought balloons that overtly explained the actions we can already see taking place, and only gets stranger from there. Juggernaut makes a Shout brand stain remover joke, Cable says the enemies will be on them "like a lisp on Mike Tyson," and when Spider-Man shows up at the end he refers to Warpath as a "jamochie," "buckeroo," and "rutabaga" all in a single page. Maybe it's humor that worked at the time and has soured with age, but it reads more like weakly-conceived jokes that fall flat right away. And there's a general sense that Nicieza and Liefeld couldn't get on the same page, with lines that don't quite match the facial expressions or mid-battle dialogue that's a lot longer than the action around it would really allow. And this issue is pretty much all action. It's not even a whole fight, just the beginnings of X-Force trying to take the World Trace Center back from Black Tom and Juggernaut. It's tremendously decompressed, taking place over what probably amounts to like 30 minutes and resolving nothing, ending on a cheapish cliffhanger. There is, of course, a new significance today to seeing one of the Twin Towers blown up by villains who're described as terrorists. But within the context of this wham-bam 90's superhero romp, it's too sudden and too typical. Issues like this make it easy to see why Liefeld has adamant supporters and vehement naysayers both. His style craves this level of action, giving him ample chances to do big, bold, eye-catching panels in the midst of a sprawling fight. But there's a level on surrealism to his figures that sometimes distracts, and he can be sloppy at times. Siryn, for example, dominates the opening of this issue, then says she's going to team up with X-Force to stop the bad guys, only to promptly and completely disappear from the action, never to be seen or heard again. She might show back up next issue (or in the issue of Spider-Man where this story continues before returning to X-Force next month) but for now it comes across as a mistake, and a big one at that. So yeah, not a very strong showing from X-Force #3. Too messy.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
The Grand X-Factor Investigations Investigation Part 200
The sixth in a group of like 12-15 posts on X-Factor volume 3.
Three Rescue Missions
X-Factor #200-212
First, Franklin and Val Richards hire our heroes to find their missing mother, Sue Richards a.k.a. The Invisible Woman. It's my least favorite of these three tales, mostly because the big reveal of the mystery feels a bit tired and lackluster, especially following the epic, time-hopping storyline that wrapped up just a few issues before. Sue has been kidnapped by Dr. Doom, working with a version of himself from an alternate reality who took control of Reed Richards' body years ago. So X-Factor ends up not only needing to rescue Sue, but also her husband Reed, since he's been replaced by Doom Reed back at Fantastic Four HQ. That's fine as far as it goes, and it's certainly a classic FF type of plot, but I'm just not wild about it. We get such a tiny glimpse of what Doom Reed is really like, he never feels like a fully-realized villain, and while good for a gruesome sort of laugh, his defeat isn't super satisfying either. But really I think what turns me off of this story is the involvement of Doom whatsoever after a much cooler, more interesting take on the character just finished having a key role in the previous story arc. There we had semi-senile future Doom, wheelchair-bound but no less dangerous, and that's just a meatier character than Doom in the body of Richards ever becomes. I understand that this story is in some ways an epilogue to the one it follows, insofar as it explains the relationship that Doom and Layla seemed to have in the distant future, but even that irks me a little. I wish there had been another, separate arc between the two. At the end of the last story, Layla had once again mysteriously disappeared, and to bring her back so quickly feels a little rushed and makes me question why she had to go away again at all. So I guess my problems with "The Invisible Woman Has Vanished" are with where it comes in the series' chronology more than the actual narrative of the arc. Though, again, that narrative isn't particularly impressive even on its own.
Whatever, it's a plenty enjoyable read. It's short and direct, it sees the team back in NYC, and it makes Layla a permanent, present-day, full-time team member again. So even if I would've preferred to see it further down the line, I'm glad for this arc in the end. And it has some really strong humor. X-Factor plays with different levels of levity and severity throughout its history, and after a dark and intense arc like the last one, it is definitely a good call to do something that can be lighter and more amusing. Shatterstar and The Thing's competing machismo, for example, is the source of a lot of hilarious dialogue and outrageous combat. There's lots of stuff to like in this story, just nothing I especially love.
The next kidnap-and-rescue tale is the strongest, doubly so at its resolution. That may be connected in part to the fact that it is one of the original and most consistent members of the team, Monet St. Croix, who gets captured. But I think its real strength lies in the choice of villain: Baron Mordo. A classic and terrifyingly powerful bad guy, but not one I would ever have expected to see in this book, Mordo represents an unusual threat for X-Factor in several ways. He is the first fully magical opponent they've had, and he sees them much differently than most of their villains because he's not really aiming to do anything to X-Factor as a whole. Monet's power set and history happen to be tailored to his needs at the moment, i.e. magically battling his cancer by controlling her mind and parasitically sapping her strength. If it weren't for the fact that he was dying, Mordo would never have had any reason to cross paths with Monet or any of her teammates, which also means they are about as unprepared to fight him as they could be. Only Guido even goes after her, and though he holds his own for a while, if it weren't for the intervention of a third party, I have little doubt Mordo would ultimately have killed him and Monet both.
That third party is a group of soldiers working for Bolivar Trask (who is under the thumb of Bastion), which all has to do with the Second Coming crossover plot that runs parallel to, before finally colliding with, Monet's kidnapping. I am less of a fan of that story, which I tend to blame on my never having read any of the rest of Second Coming. I wasn't deeply into the X-books at that time, and have yet to go back and fully educate myself. Trask's attack on X-Factor makes for some innovative and exciting action, and when he goes down he goes down hard, but Bastion, his unseen master, is defeated elsewhere as a part of the primary event storyline. We see his hand at the wheel in X-Factor, but never revisit him as a foe because other X-people take care of it. Dangling threads like that are just one of the typical pitfalls of any tie-in story, but no less annoying for it. Maybe more annoying.
The point is, Mordo only lets Monet and Guido go because all three of them need to escape Trask's people, and Monet agrees to let Mordo use her as he initially planned if he gets them out of their mutual jam. And it is that deal they strike that really pushes this kidnapping to the top of the list. Once the Second Coming dust settles and it's time for Monet to make good on her promise, Mordo attempts to betray their contract and immediately drains her of her energy and uses it against all of her allies. As soon as he steps into the street, though, the reader sees that he is in fact still just as sick as before, and it turns out that he was double-double-crossed by Monet, who mentally implanted the image of him taking out X-Factor, when in reality he did nothing of the sort. It's simple, maybe even predictable, but David sells it effortlessly, because it plays to the strengths and flaws of both characters involved. Mordo is, as I said, an unusually high-profile and powerful bad guy for X-Factor, which makes him think himself untouchable, even when he's in the heart of their base of operations. Monet, meanwhile, protects herself above all, and is sometimes underestimated because of her age, appearance, and attitude. She uses all of that to her fullest advantage here, and though Mordo walks away unharmed, he is still summarily defeated.
Finally, there is Pip the Troll, who X-Factor inadvertently help Norse death goddess Hela recapture and then, mostly out of guilt, they go back and save him from her. I'm still not entirely sold on Pip. After this story, he forcibly adds himself to the cast, and as fun and funny as he is here in his introduction, I never felt myself hoping he'd stick around for the long run. But Hela, like Mordo, is an atypical choice of villain, and it leads to a Thor team-up that I adore for its concept alone. He looks so silly standing in front of X-Factor, too big for them and too confident. It's hilarious, and lasts just the right amount of time so as not to let the joke spoil.
The real highlight of this arc, though, is the end when Darwin evolves into a death god in order to survive the attack of a death goddess. That moment is probably the character's most important development since joining the title. It is what pushed him onto the path he still walks and tied him into the title's biggest and most ambitious overarching narrative. Also it's 100% badass when it happens. The best use of Darwin's powers by David yet, and they've all been pretty great.
All of these stories are somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as my personal admiration for them, but it's an exciting and amusing time in the history of the book overall. Layla and Rahne come back, magic and mythology are thrown into the mix, and there's just a lot of really good jokes woven into these issues. Plus Darwin gets to save the day one last incredible time before taking his leave of this title for a stretch, allowing my heart to grow even fonder for him during his absence. The details of that departure will kick off Part 7.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
The Grand X-Factor Investigations Investigation Part 5
The fifth in a group of like 12-15* posts on X-Factor volume 3.
Ah, Yes
X-Factor #39-50
Right away, this opens with two of my favorite issues, both centered around Multiple Man Jamie Madrox, and the consequences of his self-replicating powers. First up is "Multiple Birth" about the birth and death of Sean Madrox, Jamie's child with Theresa Cassidy (Siryn), who is absorbed by Multiple Man as soon as they make contact because it turns out a duplicate was really the father. This does not go over well with Theresa. Or Madrox. Or anyone, really. Then in "Slings & Arrows" Madrox visits recurring character John Maddox, another duplicate who has his own life established as a priest, husband, and father. Of course, his child can't actually be his because Jamie would've absorbed the kid when they met some time earlier, a fact John is already aware of and seems to be dealing with healthily. It's a stark contrast to Madrox, who is completely broken by the loss of his son, feeling responsible and powerless at once. For most of the issue, Maddox seems like the perfect person to help pick up the pieces. He's been there for Madrox in the past during times of crisis and seems to bring out---and maybe even be a physical representation of---the best in him. Their conversation is open and honest, and though Madrox is claiming to be on the verge of suicide, it's easy to believe that this priest who is a stabler, happier version of the same guy has the ability to pull his maker from the ledge.
And then Layla Miller comes back as a full-grown woman on the last page of X-Factor #40 and I smack myself in the head for not seeing it coming. No one has ever saved Madrox from himself like Layla, and her being absent from the title is well worth her return coming at such a pitch perfect moment.
It might even be too on the nose, but I don't care, because I think ultimately this series is really about Jamie and Layla's romance more than any other single throughline. That'll probably be its own post down the line, but the hypothesis gains some serious support from the fact that her coming back and stopping him from blowing his brains out sets off a ten-issue trip to the future that coincides with what's happening to the rest of X-Factor in the present. It's probably the biggest-scale story arc of the series to date (if you don't count the only-just-beginning "Hell on Earth War" because who knows for sure but that seems huge). And though it's not flawless, it is high-quality entertainment with a whole lot of satisfying answers to some of the title's bigger questions, some inventive futuristic world-building, and the violent-then-romantic-then-hilarious entrance of my favorite character, Shatterstar.
The present-tense story introduces a villain named Cortex, who can mentally control multiple people at once. I'm not always wild about mind-control stories, but I like that, for this one, Peter David always tells the audience exactly who Cortex is in charge of, so there's no weak twists where suddenly someone turns out to have been one of the bad guy's mental puppets all along. Cortex himself is a pain in the ass, and I've always thought the reveal that he is the other Madrox dupe who got sent to the future during Messiah Complex was sort of bungled (mostly artistically). But the narrative surrounding his fights with X-Factor is a great one, and he makes a formidable if not especially pleasant foe.
I could spend all afternoon trying and failing to come up with a single-sentence synopsis of this story, but instead I'll promise to aim for brevity in the following paragraph: Layla brings Madrox to the future so he can help a small band of mutant rebels, led by an elderly Scott Summers, figure out why their glitch-proof system lost track of one of their members, Hecat'e. The answer to that mystery ends up being that Cortex was hired in the future to go back in time and kill Hecat'e's mother, a task X-Factor keeps him from pulling off just long enough for Madrox to get a senile Dr. Doom to pull Cortex out of our present and into their future. Even once that happens, Cortex has to be properly defeated, there is Doom's double-cross to deal with, and the man who hired Cortex in the first place, Anthony Falcone, shows up with some of the biggest and scariest sentinels ever to try and wipe out the Summers Rebellion once and for all. It's a lot of balls to have in the air, but Peter David never lets one drop, and the ending of X-Factor #50 not only ties a bow on all that but also finally shows us why Layla Miller knows so much goddamn stuff. The assumption was always that knowing stuff was her mutant power, but David gives her a far more compelling one---bringing dead things back to life at the cost of their souls---and weaves a classic time paradox into the already rich tapestry of her character to explain her knowledge of things to come. Turns out that grown-up Layla from the future stuck a chip or something with all that information into the brain of her childhood self once she got back to the present. It's a head-scratcher, and I know that kind of impossible time travel infinite loop story isn't for everyone, but I eat it up. And this is an especially good one, because it was so long in the making and careful in the telling.
I think of this arc as a return to form from the book's earliest days, when all the small stories tied to a single larger problem and Layla kept stealing the show. It's good and important that the series diverged from that for a time, expanding its cast and enriching their history. But when it comes back in such force here, it clicks. Loudly. And it's a landmark story in other ways, like including the 50th issue, which is also the last issue before Marvel pulled one of their classic "Let's make all numbering totally meaningless!" moves by adding together ALL the issues from the different X-Factor volumes and then counting from there for the current series. So the issue following X-Factor #50 is X-Factor #200. Dumb, but it didn't hurt anything. I'll start there next time.
*It has become apparent that this project is going to be larger than anticipated. 12-15 is as much a best guess now as 8-12 was originally. Could be more. Whatever, numbering is meaningless (see above).
Ah, Yes
X-Factor #39-50
Right away, this opens with two of my favorite issues, both centered around Multiple Man Jamie Madrox, and the consequences of his self-replicating powers. First up is "Multiple Birth" about the birth and death of Sean Madrox, Jamie's child with Theresa Cassidy (Siryn), who is absorbed by Multiple Man as soon as they make contact because it turns out a duplicate was really the father. This does not go over well with Theresa. Or Madrox. Or anyone, really. Then in "Slings & Arrows" Madrox visits recurring character John Maddox, another duplicate who has his own life established as a priest, husband, and father. Of course, his child can't actually be his because Jamie would've absorbed the kid when they met some time earlier, a fact John is already aware of and seems to be dealing with healthily. It's a stark contrast to Madrox, who is completely broken by the loss of his son, feeling responsible and powerless at once. For most of the issue, Maddox seems like the perfect person to help pick up the pieces. He's been there for Madrox in the past during times of crisis and seems to bring out---and maybe even be a physical representation of---the best in him. Their conversation is open and honest, and though Madrox is claiming to be on the verge of suicide, it's easy to believe that this priest who is a stabler, happier version of the same guy has the ability to pull his maker from the ledge.
And then Layla Miller comes back as a full-grown woman on the last page of X-Factor #40 and I smack myself in the head for not seeing it coming. No one has ever saved Madrox from himself like Layla, and her being absent from the title is well worth her return coming at such a pitch perfect moment.
It might even be too on the nose, but I don't care, because I think ultimately this series is really about Jamie and Layla's romance more than any other single throughline. That'll probably be its own post down the line, but the hypothesis gains some serious support from the fact that her coming back and stopping him from blowing his brains out sets off a ten-issue trip to the future that coincides with what's happening to the rest of X-Factor in the present. It's probably the biggest-scale story arc of the series to date (if you don't count the only-just-beginning "Hell on Earth War" because who knows for sure but that seems huge). And though it's not flawless, it is high-quality entertainment with a whole lot of satisfying answers to some of the title's bigger questions, some inventive futuristic world-building, and the violent-then-romantic-then-hilarious entrance of my favorite character, Shatterstar.
The present-tense story introduces a villain named Cortex, who can mentally control multiple people at once. I'm not always wild about mind-control stories, but I like that, for this one, Peter David always tells the audience exactly who Cortex is in charge of, so there's no weak twists where suddenly someone turns out to have been one of the bad guy's mental puppets all along. Cortex himself is a pain in the ass, and I've always thought the reveal that he is the other Madrox dupe who got sent to the future during Messiah Complex was sort of bungled (mostly artistically). But the narrative surrounding his fights with X-Factor is a great one, and he makes a formidable if not especially pleasant foe.
I could spend all afternoon trying and failing to come up with a single-sentence synopsis of this story, but instead I'll promise to aim for brevity in the following paragraph: Layla brings Madrox to the future so he can help a small band of mutant rebels, led by an elderly Scott Summers, figure out why their glitch-proof system lost track of one of their members, Hecat'e. The answer to that mystery ends up being that Cortex was hired in the future to go back in time and kill Hecat'e's mother, a task X-Factor keeps him from pulling off just long enough for Madrox to get a senile Dr. Doom to pull Cortex out of our present and into their future. Even once that happens, Cortex has to be properly defeated, there is Doom's double-cross to deal with, and the man who hired Cortex in the first place, Anthony Falcone, shows up with some of the biggest and scariest sentinels ever to try and wipe out the Summers Rebellion once and for all. It's a lot of balls to have in the air, but Peter David never lets one drop, and the ending of X-Factor #50 not only ties a bow on all that but also finally shows us why Layla Miller knows so much goddamn stuff. The assumption was always that knowing stuff was her mutant power, but David gives her a far more compelling one---bringing dead things back to life at the cost of their souls---and weaves a classic time paradox into the already rich tapestry of her character to explain her knowledge of things to come. Turns out that grown-up Layla from the future stuck a chip or something with all that information into the brain of her childhood self once she got back to the present. It's a head-scratcher, and I know that kind of impossible time travel infinite loop story isn't for everyone, but I eat it up. And this is an especially good one, because it was so long in the making and careful in the telling.
I think of this arc as a return to form from the book's earliest days, when all the small stories tied to a single larger problem and Layla kept stealing the show. It's good and important that the series diverged from that for a time, expanding its cast and enriching their history. But when it comes back in such force here, it clicks. Loudly. And it's a landmark story in other ways, like including the 50th issue, which is also the last issue before Marvel pulled one of their classic "Let's make all numbering totally meaningless!" moves by adding together ALL the issues from the different X-Factor volumes and then counting from there for the current series. So the issue following X-Factor #50 is X-Factor #200. Dumb, but it didn't hurt anything. I'll start there next time.
*It has become apparent that this project is going to be larger than anticipated. 12-15 is as much a best guess now as 8-12 was originally. Could be more. Whatever, numbering is meaningless (see above).
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Pull List Review: Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #3
When it came out in 2011, I was not as impressed with Witch Doctor as many people seemed to be. It was a ton of fun and had some solid artwork, but for whatever reason, most likely my own tastes, it never quite jived with me in full. Still, it was good enough to being me back for this follow-up series, and I am so glad that I did. Because Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #3 represents a whole new level of fun and excitement for this story.
There is, first of all, the sheer amount of action in this issue. We've seen Dr. Morrow and his assistants have some big-time fights before, but it's never been quite this straightforward or overwhelming. Faced with a surprise army of golems, Morrow, Penny, and Eric atypically cut their chatter and dive in weapons first, and we get some unadulterated comicbook violence that really sings. Artist Lukas Ketner crams a lot of fighting into only a few pages, but it's never cramped or unclear, just efficient. And it doesn't end there, because even once the golems settle down, the more powerful and intelligent villains have several tricks left up their sleeves. By the end, both Penny and Morrow have been taken out of the fight (though neither is dead as of yet) and Eric is like a split second away from his own probably-fatal encounter. Sure, these guys are always on the ropes, but I'm not sure Morrow has ever been so scared or things have ever seemed so hopeless before. I always want my heroes to be challenged, and not only is that the case here, but it seems the challenge might have been too much for them to handle. Do I honestly believe they won't turn it around in the latter half of the series? Of course not, but because this is a creator-owned title I suppose all bets are off. Penny, Eric, even Morrow might very well die or be permanently affected by these new and horrifying enemies. Whatever happens, victory is far off, and will it doubtlessly take incredible effort and strain to get there.
I'd like to be able to put my finger on a single element that made me love Witch Doctor: Mal Practice so deeply, but I'm not sure I can. It just felt like it was firing on all cylinders. Everything that happened in the first two issues came to a head here, and the results were as surprising as they were satisfactory. I think it is that sense of surprise that I liked the most. Brandon Seifert had his villains so well-prepared that every new beat of their battle with Morrow brought something unexpected. Not just the golem swarm that appeared from nowhere, either. I was as shocked by Penny's capture as Morrow, for example, and once she was collared I figured the bad guys were all set, but then they had to rip Morrow's chakras right out of his body, too. Even when they had the upper hand, our antagonists kept piling on, and it brought about some excellent twists.
Seifert has always brought a lot of humor and energy to this project, as well as a lovely blend of medical and mystical jargon. None of that is sacrificed here, but Seifert slips it into what is primarily a high-powered magical street brawl, and everything is a bit more enjoyable for it. The story is now in a place where the villains have everything they want and the heroes aren't even standing, so it's a significant and fascinating spot on the narrative timeline. Just trying to imagine not only how Morrow and company will regroup but what hope they have against these new opponents in another face-off has me buzzing with anticipation. I don't know that Witch Doctor has ever before left me so impressed, surprised, and anxious for its next issue. Fingers crossed that it stays at this level through the end.
8.5/10
There is, first of all, the sheer amount of action in this issue. We've seen Dr. Morrow and his assistants have some big-time fights before, but it's never been quite this straightforward or overwhelming. Faced with a surprise army of golems, Morrow, Penny, and Eric atypically cut their chatter and dive in weapons first, and we get some unadulterated comicbook violence that really sings. Artist Lukas Ketner crams a lot of fighting into only a few pages, but it's never cramped or unclear, just efficient. And it doesn't end there, because even once the golems settle down, the more powerful and intelligent villains have several tricks left up their sleeves. By the end, both Penny and Morrow have been taken out of the fight (though neither is dead as of yet) and Eric is like a split second away from his own probably-fatal encounter. Sure, these guys are always on the ropes, but I'm not sure Morrow has ever been so scared or things have ever seemed so hopeless before. I always want my heroes to be challenged, and not only is that the case here, but it seems the challenge might have been too much for them to handle. Do I honestly believe they won't turn it around in the latter half of the series? Of course not, but because this is a creator-owned title I suppose all bets are off. Penny, Eric, even Morrow might very well die or be permanently affected by these new and horrifying enemies. Whatever happens, victory is far off, and will it doubtlessly take incredible effort and strain to get there.
I'd like to be able to put my finger on a single element that made me love Witch Doctor: Mal Practice so deeply, but I'm not sure I can. It just felt like it was firing on all cylinders. Everything that happened in the first two issues came to a head here, and the results were as surprising as they were satisfactory. I think it is that sense of surprise that I liked the most. Brandon Seifert had his villains so well-prepared that every new beat of their battle with Morrow brought something unexpected. Not just the golem swarm that appeared from nowhere, either. I was as shocked by Penny's capture as Morrow, for example, and once she was collared I figured the bad guys were all set, but then they had to rip Morrow's chakras right out of his body, too. Even when they had the upper hand, our antagonists kept piling on, and it brought about some excellent twists.
Seifert has always brought a lot of humor and energy to this project, as well as a lovely blend of medical and mystical jargon. None of that is sacrificed here, but Seifert slips it into what is primarily a high-powered magical street brawl, and everything is a bit more enjoyable for it. The story is now in a place where the villains have everything they want and the heroes aren't even standing, so it's a significant and fascinating spot on the narrative timeline. Just trying to imagine not only how Morrow and company will regroup but what hope they have against these new opponents in another face-off has me buzzing with anticipation. I don't know that Witch Doctor has ever before left me so impressed, surprised, and anxious for its next issue. Fingers crossed that it stays at this level through the end.
8.5/10
Pull List Review: The Answer! #1
You might think that the debut issue of a comicbook called The Answer! would focus on introducing the character with the same name. But what drives The Answer himself (or herself or itself) is still the biggest question at the end of this issue. Luckily, the character we do meet in full is so strong, and the little bit we do learn about our titular hero so interesting and/or action-packed, that remaining in the dark about what the hell is going on is in no way detrimental.
The real star of the title so far is librarian and puzzle enthusiast Devin Mackenzie. Working alone in a research library after hours, she solves almost instantly the complicated puzzle her mother sent her for her birthday, and it leads to her getting caught up in...something. The solution of the first puzzle takes her to the website of The Apeiron, which is some kind of self-help cult, based on the little bit we see from one of their seminars. Their site, for whatever reason, offers sixty-two increasingly difficult puzzles, and by the time Devin successfully solves them all there is a group of five masked gunmen trying to kill her, and The Answer is already on scene to keep her safe. How he knew to save her, who the gunmen are and what they want, and the truth behind The Apeiron are still unknowns, but based on the name of the book, I'm guessing we'll learn everything soon enough.
Dennis Hopless' script, which comes from a story he co-created with artist Mike Norton, hums along at a nice crisp pace without being rushed. Devin's intelligence, independence, and humor are solidified within the first five pages. She's not the world's most likable protagonist, inasmuch as she's just the tiniest bit full of herself, but she backs it up by being just as smart and quick-witted as she claims, and there is an innocence to her that's incredibly endearing. Though not exactly built for the madness in which she inadvertently involves herself, I have no doubt she'll be able to handle it. She's sure of herself and resourceful enough to roll with the punches, with the possible exception of any actual physical violence. Hopefully The Answer will continue to keep her protected from that.
Because that dude can obviously deal with violence. He brutally and mercilessly puts down three men who are trying to rob a gas station, even when it means firing a gun through the legs of a hostage or blowing up the gas station itself. He does not seem to have much regard for the property of the innocent or the lives of the guilty. He's merely getting a job done in the most efficient way possible. To some extent, this is speculation on my part, because unlike Devin, we never get inside The Answer's head. But his actions consistently send the same message: he is a ruthless crimefighter with no time to waste. There is also an apparent element of immortality, since we watch him get blasted point blank in the face with an assault rifle on one page, and see him on a bus with Devin the next. So there's heaps to be learned about The Answer, and I reckon Devin's the exact right person to discover it.
Mike Norton's art is reliable as ever. He does a lot of subtle facial stuff, most notably with Devin. Her focus and curiosity are clear, as is the joy she derives from all the puzzle solving, but he can just as easily display her crushing fear when the shit hits the fan. I also loved the work he did on the guy who acts as The Apeiron's mouthpiece (and possible founder), who delivers a typical self-help speech that says nothing while simultaneously promising everything. It's tightly written by Hopeless, but Norton is the one who brings it all the way home with the trustworthy confidence that is undercut but a smugness and self-righteousness that's obvious to anyone who cares to look for it. It's exactly the right combination for the man who I am guessing will be a (if not the) major villain before this story is through.
The Answer is the best single character, though, despite being featureless in the face. His design is so simple but still intimidating, and somehow even without a face, his deep confidence and competence shine through brilliantly. He holds himself sturdily and moves without hesitation, and it makes him easy to trust and root for right away. And his words are scarce and deliberate, which adds to the sense that he always knows exactly what he's doing. Devin is going to be the voice of uncertainty and fear in this book. The title character, as is fitting for someone with his moniker, doesn't come across as the kind to have doubts.
Hopeless and Norton seem equally self-assured when it comes to this project. They have obviously taken the time to get into the meaty details of their cast and world, and though what we get here is but the earliest introduction, everything is so enjoyable and everyone so interesting that I can't wait for the next installment. Honestly, I forgot I was reading a mini-series, because the story and characters set up here feel right now like they have legs to go on indefinitely. I may be singing a different tune by the time this all wraps up, but after issue #1, The Answer! has my full attention.
7.5/10
The real star of the title so far is librarian and puzzle enthusiast Devin Mackenzie. Working alone in a research library after hours, she solves almost instantly the complicated puzzle her mother sent her for her birthday, and it leads to her getting caught up in...something. The solution of the first puzzle takes her to the website of The Apeiron, which is some kind of self-help cult, based on the little bit we see from one of their seminars. Their site, for whatever reason, offers sixty-two increasingly difficult puzzles, and by the time Devin successfully solves them all there is a group of five masked gunmen trying to kill her, and The Answer is already on scene to keep her safe. How he knew to save her, who the gunmen are and what they want, and the truth behind The Apeiron are still unknowns, but based on the name of the book, I'm guessing we'll learn everything soon enough.
Dennis Hopless' script, which comes from a story he co-created with artist Mike Norton, hums along at a nice crisp pace without being rushed. Devin's intelligence, independence, and humor are solidified within the first five pages. She's not the world's most likable protagonist, inasmuch as she's just the tiniest bit full of herself, but she backs it up by being just as smart and quick-witted as she claims, and there is an innocence to her that's incredibly endearing. Though not exactly built for the madness in which she inadvertently involves herself, I have no doubt she'll be able to handle it. She's sure of herself and resourceful enough to roll with the punches, with the possible exception of any actual physical violence. Hopefully The Answer will continue to keep her protected from that.
Because that dude can obviously deal with violence. He brutally and mercilessly puts down three men who are trying to rob a gas station, even when it means firing a gun through the legs of a hostage or blowing up the gas station itself. He does not seem to have much regard for the property of the innocent or the lives of the guilty. He's merely getting a job done in the most efficient way possible. To some extent, this is speculation on my part, because unlike Devin, we never get inside The Answer's head. But his actions consistently send the same message: he is a ruthless crimefighter with no time to waste. There is also an apparent element of immortality, since we watch him get blasted point blank in the face with an assault rifle on one page, and see him on a bus with Devin the next. So there's heaps to be learned about The Answer, and I reckon Devin's the exact right person to discover it.
Mike Norton's art is reliable as ever. He does a lot of subtle facial stuff, most notably with Devin. Her focus and curiosity are clear, as is the joy she derives from all the puzzle solving, but he can just as easily display her crushing fear when the shit hits the fan. I also loved the work he did on the guy who acts as The Apeiron's mouthpiece (and possible founder), who delivers a typical self-help speech that says nothing while simultaneously promising everything. It's tightly written by Hopeless, but Norton is the one who brings it all the way home with the trustworthy confidence that is undercut but a smugness and self-righteousness that's obvious to anyone who cares to look for it. It's exactly the right combination for the man who I am guessing will be a (if not the) major villain before this story is through.
The Answer is the best single character, though, despite being featureless in the face. His design is so simple but still intimidating, and somehow even without a face, his deep confidence and competence shine through brilliantly. He holds himself sturdily and moves without hesitation, and it makes him easy to trust and root for right away. And his words are scarce and deliberate, which adds to the sense that he always knows exactly what he's doing. Devin is going to be the voice of uncertainty and fear in this book. The title character, as is fitting for someone with his moniker, doesn't come across as the kind to have doubts.
Hopeless and Norton seem equally self-assured when it comes to this project. They have obviously taken the time to get into the meaty details of their cast and world, and though what we get here is but the earliest introduction, everything is so enjoyable and everyone so interesting that I can't wait for the next installment. Honestly, I forgot I was reading a mini-series, because the story and characters set up here feel right now like they have legs to go on indefinitely. I may be singing a different tune by the time this all wraps up, but after issue #1, The Answer! has my full attention.
7.5/10
Pull List Review: Harbinger #8
Harbinger hops off the rails a little bit this month. Everything still moves forward, but it does so at an uneven pace. A single scene of Harada, a sudden and unnecessary flashback, and the addition of another new character make this issue a bumpy ride. All of the ingredients that have made Harbinger so successful before are still here, but not in the same amounts as they've been in the past, so the overall flavor is a bit blander than before.
Joshua Dysart continues to handle teenaged dialogue excellently. John Torkelson, the psiot who is recruited by Peter Stanchek and his crew this issue, is physically immobile and spends his days mentally fighting monsters in a fantasy world he calls Torquehalla. The mix of narrative curse words, intense sexuality, and and exaggerated adventure that go down in Torquehalla are spot on, letting the audience know from the first page that what we are seeing springs from the imagination of an adolescent. This capturing of the teenage point of view has been one of Dysart's most important contributions to the title all along, and even in a script that jumps around and feels rushed at the end, the clear and realistic voices of his cast remain.
The Torquehalla scenes, as good a means of introducing John as they may be, do add to the sense of disjointedness in Harbinger #8. Cutting from our reality to that one, and then watching the two worlds become one in the midst of widespread combat, is all a tad jarring. Not hard to follow, exactly, but accompanied by a feeling of unstoppable narrative velocity. This story whizzes by its readers. It opens with a fantasy world that isn't explained for several pages. It cuts for two pages to five days ago, for the sole purpose of showing us that yes, Flamingo is joining the gang, which we basically knew from last time and could've gleaned from what came in the earlier portions of this issue, too. And there is another example of glossing over Peter's lack of morality when he mentally abuses John's brother Jake in order to more quickly get to his forced meeting with John. Kris does point out the ethical implications of it, but her character can't continue to be the voice of, "Is this right...?" indefinitely before somebody answers with a resounding, "Hell no!" Peter and company need to get ahold of themselves and their abilities and find a less intrusive way to go about finding allies. Even when Peter activates John, he doesn't truly have permission of any kind. He just rolls into a stranger's bedroom and forces incredible powers to awaken within him. The attitude is essentially one of, like it or not, you're in a war now, John. Deal with it.
Just a few months back, I was incredibly proud of this title when it revisited the mind control that Peter had used to sleep with Kris in the debut, and let us in on the long-lasting damage it did to her to be so manipulated. But since then, Peter's done plenty of almost-as-despicable things, and at most we see Kris admitting they're wrong without doing anything to stop it. I guess I want to see more of the internal moral struggle these kids should and would be going through, and it feels like that's being pushed aside right now for the sake of cast expansion and explosive action. They are a varied, grounded, well-written group of heroes, but I would like to see them strive to be a bit more heroic, or at the very least show me that they feel torn over their more questionable actions.
Lee Garbett is on art duties and does very good work with all of these characters. Their youth, their sense of adventure, and in some cases (Peter most of all) their deep inner turmoil are all captured in rich detail. And Garbett puts just as much life, energy, and dynamic layout work in a scene of two girls talking at a diner as he does when John punches a helicopter out of the sky. This artistic consistency actually helps bolster the wobblier narrative points, making the whole a bit stronger than the sum of its parts.
This is still a great book, and still a good issue, but I want the story to give itself a minute and catch its breath. The recent piling on of new characters in exchange for the kind of slow and careful character development that we saw in the beginning of the series is not a trade-off I enjoy, and I'm hoping that there won't be very much more recruitment before Harbinger can settle into a steady rhythm once again.
6.0/10
Joshua Dysart continues to handle teenaged dialogue excellently. John Torkelson, the psiot who is recruited by Peter Stanchek and his crew this issue, is physically immobile and spends his days mentally fighting monsters in a fantasy world he calls Torquehalla. The mix of narrative curse words, intense sexuality, and and exaggerated adventure that go down in Torquehalla are spot on, letting the audience know from the first page that what we are seeing springs from the imagination of an adolescent. This capturing of the teenage point of view has been one of Dysart's most important contributions to the title all along, and even in a script that jumps around and feels rushed at the end, the clear and realistic voices of his cast remain.
The Torquehalla scenes, as good a means of introducing John as they may be, do add to the sense of disjointedness in Harbinger #8. Cutting from our reality to that one, and then watching the two worlds become one in the midst of widespread combat, is all a tad jarring. Not hard to follow, exactly, but accompanied by a feeling of unstoppable narrative velocity. This story whizzes by its readers. It opens with a fantasy world that isn't explained for several pages. It cuts for two pages to five days ago, for the sole purpose of showing us that yes, Flamingo is joining the gang, which we basically knew from last time and could've gleaned from what came in the earlier portions of this issue, too. And there is another example of glossing over Peter's lack of morality when he mentally abuses John's brother Jake in order to more quickly get to his forced meeting with John. Kris does point out the ethical implications of it, but her character can't continue to be the voice of, "Is this right...?" indefinitely before somebody answers with a resounding, "Hell no!" Peter and company need to get ahold of themselves and their abilities and find a less intrusive way to go about finding allies. Even when Peter activates John, he doesn't truly have permission of any kind. He just rolls into a stranger's bedroom and forces incredible powers to awaken within him. The attitude is essentially one of, like it or not, you're in a war now, John. Deal with it.
Just a few months back, I was incredibly proud of this title when it revisited the mind control that Peter had used to sleep with Kris in the debut, and let us in on the long-lasting damage it did to her to be so manipulated. But since then, Peter's done plenty of almost-as-despicable things, and at most we see Kris admitting they're wrong without doing anything to stop it. I guess I want to see more of the internal moral struggle these kids should and would be going through, and it feels like that's being pushed aside right now for the sake of cast expansion and explosive action. They are a varied, grounded, well-written group of heroes, but I would like to see them strive to be a bit more heroic, or at the very least show me that they feel torn over their more questionable actions.
Lee Garbett is on art duties and does very good work with all of these characters. Their youth, their sense of adventure, and in some cases (Peter most of all) their deep inner turmoil are all captured in rich detail. And Garbett puts just as much life, energy, and dynamic layout work in a scene of two girls talking at a diner as he does when John punches a helicopter out of the sky. This artistic consistency actually helps bolster the wobblier narrative points, making the whole a bit stronger than the sum of its parts.
This is still a great book, and still a good issue, but I want the story to give itself a minute and catch its breath. The recent piling on of new characters in exchange for the kind of slow and careful character development that we saw in the beginning of the series is not a trade-off I enjoy, and I'm hoping that there won't be very much more recruitment before Harbinger can settle into a steady rhythm once again.
6.0/10
The Grand X-Factor Investigations Investigation Part 4
The fourth in a group of like 8-12 posts on X-Factor volume 3.
What's Been Up Comes Down For A While
X-Factor #28-38 (and, technically, She-Hulk #31)
Though still tied to everything that came before, the series takes some time to tell more self-contained tales in the wake of Messiah Complex. Peter David still lays the groundwork for things to come in future issues, but the primary narratives here are resolved in the short-term, usually after only three or four chapters. Sad to say, they're some of the weaker stories this book tells, but the pacing of them allows David to do some important cast expansion and status quo shake-ups, so by the time these issues wrap up, the pieces are in place for some really excellent and much slower-burning narratives to kick off.
First is a pretty solid issue centered on Rahne's decision to leave X-Factor, followed by the story of Arcade's attack on the team, then a Secret Invasion tie-in that crosses over with She-Hulk, and lastly Darwin's kidnap and rescue. All very brief and interesting, and with some unique resolutions, but for their own reasons none of them are the strongest material this title has seen. I suppose "The Only Game in Town" might be better than I give it credit for, but personally I just can't get behind Arcade as a villain. Robot fake-outs and double robot fake-outs and cheesy traps that are built into illusions...none of that does anything for me. It's a bit too campy, and Arcade is always uncomfortably pleased with himself for coming up with it. That makes him into too obnoxious a villain for my tastes, so I was happy to see his reason for taking on X-Factor was money, meaning I'd be unlikely to see him again (and I haven't). To David's credit, he writes Arcade with all the smugness, self-satisfaction, and pun usage that has turned me off of the character in the past, so obviously he gets it right. It's just not for me.
The destruction of Mutant Town that is a result of Arcade's nonsense sees the team relocate to Detroit, which is a peculiar choice that I wish David had done a bit more with. It ends up putting them in a unique position for the Secret Invasion story, fighting The Talisman, a sort of Skrull high priest whose presence means invasion is nigh. But really that could've happened anywhere, and so could everything else that happens from that point until they move back to New York. I'm not sure what I expected from the change in setting, but it seems like a missed opportunity that keeps being missed for the next twenty-odd issues.
X-Factor collides with The Talisman, She-Hulk and her Skrull partner Jazinda, and the mutant Darwin all at once, and if it weren't for Darwin being there this whole arc would be something of a bust. Though The Talisman is impressive and important, ultimately this is too early and inconsequential a piece of the bigger Secret Invasion picture. Yes our heroes win the day, but it doesn't stop the larger threat, and they immediately bounce on to the next problem and never look back. The center of the event doesn't involve them, so their time here on the edges of it feels a bit wasted.
X-Factor #35-38 focus on Darwin being kidnapped and subsequently saved, and though it has its rough spots, this arc definitely marks the beginning of an upswing. David already established Darwin as a likable and natural addition to the cast in the previous story (titled "The Darwin Awards"). He was a source of humor and surprise who also held his own against the big, scary bad guy, and I think it was a good choice to make him central to the this story, too, so his potential and personality could be more deeply explored. The rest of the team has been so fully solidified by David by now, Darwin can be given this kind of space right away, and it's worth it to give it to him. We see his darker, meaner side, and also have his unpredictability and level of power more thickly underlined when he escapes a prison designed specifically to hold him. He's a standout character, even though his full-time tenure on the team is one of the shortest. His place in the biggest, longest-running of the overarching narratives has by now become unexpectedly large, and it is because of the strong work done here in his introduction to the title that David has been able to bring him to that point today. Though the villains and consequences of these narratives are small-time, they allow Darwin some serious spotlight time, and for that I still enjoy these issues.
Longshot also joins the cast at this point, and even though I love him, I do think David's done less with his character. He slid into the rhythms of the book so quickly and easily that he's never really had his breakout moment yet. Something is brewing with him and Shatterstar (who will arrive in the next set of issues), and he's been integral in solving a lot of cases and winning a lot of fights. So it's not as if I don't want him around. It's just that he has yet to really wow me in the way other new team members have, most of all Darwin, who shows up just before.
Eleven issues of less-than-A-game material, all told, but they sow the seeds of some delicious fruits. By the end of this section, the team has gotten two members bigger, their government handler Val Cooper's been shot, and Siryn and Madrox's baby is on its way into the world.
Which is where I'll pick up next time.
What's Been Up Comes Down For A While
X-Factor #28-38 (and, technically, She-Hulk #31)
Though still tied to everything that came before, the series takes some time to tell more self-contained tales in the wake of Messiah Complex. Peter David still lays the groundwork for things to come in future issues, but the primary narratives here are resolved in the short-term, usually after only three or four chapters. Sad to say, they're some of the weaker stories this book tells, but the pacing of them allows David to do some important cast expansion and status quo shake-ups, so by the time these issues wrap up, the pieces are in place for some really excellent and much slower-burning narratives to kick off.
First is a pretty solid issue centered on Rahne's decision to leave X-Factor, followed by the story of Arcade's attack on the team, then a Secret Invasion tie-in that crosses over with She-Hulk, and lastly Darwin's kidnap and rescue. All very brief and interesting, and with some unique resolutions, but for their own reasons none of them are the strongest material this title has seen. I suppose "The Only Game in Town" might be better than I give it credit for, but personally I just can't get behind Arcade as a villain. Robot fake-outs and double robot fake-outs and cheesy traps that are built into illusions...none of that does anything for me. It's a bit too campy, and Arcade is always uncomfortably pleased with himself for coming up with it. That makes him into too obnoxious a villain for my tastes, so I was happy to see his reason for taking on X-Factor was money, meaning I'd be unlikely to see him again (and I haven't). To David's credit, he writes Arcade with all the smugness, self-satisfaction, and pun usage that has turned me off of the character in the past, so obviously he gets it right. It's just not for me.
The destruction of Mutant Town that is a result of Arcade's nonsense sees the team relocate to Detroit, which is a peculiar choice that I wish David had done a bit more with. It ends up putting them in a unique position for the Secret Invasion story, fighting The Talisman, a sort of Skrull high priest whose presence means invasion is nigh. But really that could've happened anywhere, and so could everything else that happens from that point until they move back to New York. I'm not sure what I expected from the change in setting, but it seems like a missed opportunity that keeps being missed for the next twenty-odd issues.
X-Factor collides with The Talisman, She-Hulk and her Skrull partner Jazinda, and the mutant Darwin all at once, and if it weren't for Darwin being there this whole arc would be something of a bust. Though The Talisman is impressive and important, ultimately this is too early and inconsequential a piece of the bigger Secret Invasion picture. Yes our heroes win the day, but it doesn't stop the larger threat, and they immediately bounce on to the next problem and never look back. The center of the event doesn't involve them, so their time here on the edges of it feels a bit wasted.
X-Factor #35-38 focus on Darwin being kidnapped and subsequently saved, and though it has its rough spots, this arc definitely marks the beginning of an upswing. David already established Darwin as a likable and natural addition to the cast in the previous story (titled "The Darwin Awards"). He was a source of humor and surprise who also held his own against the big, scary bad guy, and I think it was a good choice to make him central to the this story, too, so his potential and personality could be more deeply explored. The rest of the team has been so fully solidified by David by now, Darwin can be given this kind of space right away, and it's worth it to give it to him. We see his darker, meaner side, and also have his unpredictability and level of power more thickly underlined when he escapes a prison designed specifically to hold him. He's a standout character, even though his full-time tenure on the team is one of the shortest. His place in the biggest, longest-running of the overarching narratives has by now become unexpectedly large, and it is because of the strong work done here in his introduction to the title that David has been able to bring him to that point today. Though the villains and consequences of these narratives are small-time, they allow Darwin some serious spotlight time, and for that I still enjoy these issues.
Longshot also joins the cast at this point, and even though I love him, I do think David's done less with his character. He slid into the rhythms of the book so quickly and easily that he's never really had his breakout moment yet. Something is brewing with him and Shatterstar (who will arrive in the next set of issues), and he's been integral in solving a lot of cases and winning a lot of fights. So it's not as if I don't want him around. It's just that he has yet to really wow me in the way other new team members have, most of all Darwin, who shows up just before.
Eleven issues of less-than-A-game material, all told, but they sow the seeds of some delicious fruits. By the end of this section, the team has gotten two members bigger, their government handler Val Cooper's been shot, and Siryn and Madrox's baby is on its way into the world.
Which is where I'll pick up next time.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Dirty Dozen: Prophet
Dirty Dozen is a semi-regular feature with twelve disconnected thoughts on the first twelve issues of a current ongoing series.
2. The language of the series shifts playfully between the strictly factual and the deeply personal. Nowhere is this truer than the third-person narration captions, which sometimes sound like a tour guide welcoming us to a scenic new area, and other times give significant insights into the nuanced mental and emotional states of the cast. But you can find it in the dialogue, too, most noticeably with the white and red word balloons of the Earth mothers (white tends to be emotional material while red is for facts and orders). This lingual dichotomy is essential to the tone of the project as a whole. It explores this distant future from both scientifically detached and psychologically intimate viewpoints, which helps to weave a more intricate narrative tapestry more quickly.
3. All the artists are fantastic, so here's what I think they each do best: Simon Roy has the strongest Prophets, expressive and stoic in the right mix, with a clear caveman influence to their shape and movement. It's why Roy was the perfect choice for the opening arc, and he plays heavily to these strengths in the most recent issue (#32), which he wrote and drew in its entirety. There, he explores the humanity (or inhumanity) of being a Prophet by bringing one together with a band of primitive humans. Farel Dalrymple creates the most hideous, terrifying aliens, bringing more of a horror edge to this space story. The Ixtano Circus in issue #30 has the most abundant examples, but the strongest is the Prophet in #24 whose body has become twisted and ruined by a toxic environment. It's a thing of beauty in its ugliness. Giannis Milonogiannis is my favorite, because he does grandiosity better than anyone. The slow and ground-shaking steps of ancient beings the size of mountains, scenes of widespread combat from the old war against the Empire, the floating bodies of dead and sleeping space giants. Milonogiannis can capture these enormities in a single image (though, to be fair, it's often a two-page spread) and his visuals last in my memory more vividly and long-lastingly than most. Finally, there is Brandon Graham, who is primarily the writer but handled art as well for issue #26. Stylistically he's somewhat gentler, giving the vastness of space a calming effect. It feels like he has a great reverence for everything he draws, and it makes me feel the same way. The art of his issue may be soothing, but it is no less awe-inspiring when that is what the story calls for.
4. As we learn of the reach and power of the Empire, we simultaneously see some of its weaknesses, not the least of which is the seemingly-tenuous control it has over its army of Prophets. Even the first Prophet we meet questions and sometimes goes against the voice in his head telling him to stick to his mission. The next guy (with the awesome tail) ends up breaking free of the Empire's control completely. And the the most recent Prophet, John Ka, disobeys a direct order from her masters and tricks them into killing the enemies of their intended targets. She still joins up with the Empire as she is supposed to, but only after this deception. So in spite of what is clearly a vast network of well-trained, mentally-manipulable soldiers, the Empire may not have as tight a grasp on the universe as it expects to, and I am interested to see how that plays out.
5. There are many examples of days or even weeks passing in the space of a single panel and/or through the use of a single caption. The events of this book so far seem to span months, possibly even a year or two, and all of it is taking place after many ages of inactivity and slumber from both sides of the conflict. I love that this is a war no one is rushing into. The Empire and its enemies have to acclimate themselves to this future, organize their forces, and plan their next moves, and everyone seems to be doing so at a deliberate pace. So Prophet matches that pace as a series, within each issue and also in its overall storytelling methods. Switching focus from one Prophet to another, spending as much time in the mundane moments of their lives as the exciting ones, the book gives everyone and everything enough space to be completely explained, examined, and enjoyed.
6. There is an astounding singularity of vision considering the rotating group of artists on the title. Yes, everyone has their own artistic strengths and flourishes (see thought 3 above), but there's also a level of visual homogeneity, at least atmospherically speaking. Wide open spaces, settings reminiscent of the Wild West, alien races that are plantlike or buglike or both, John Prophet as grizzled and brooding---these can be found no matter who is doing the drawing, and it adds a cohesiveness that could easily be missing. So often when artists swap in and out like this, the change is stark to the point of being distracting. Somehow, the Prophet team has found a happy medium. Each artist has a distinct style, but the underlying visual feel of the book remains steadily the same.
7. The moment in Prophet #25 when Old Man Prophet suddenly bursts from the corpse of a Nephilim and so swiftly kills not only two other Prophets but their Earth mother commander...chills. I can still remember reading that scene for the first time and physically sitting up straight (I like to read comics lying on the couch) with excitement. And I didn't even know the full significance of the character yet. It was just such a powerful, well-timed moment, and it represented a clear promise of larger things to come. It marked a shift in the focus of the book. No longer just telling disconnected tales of different Prophets trying to survive, it instead became more personal and established more firmly a long-term story through the introduction of this anti-Empire protagonist. That was when I began to refer to this my favorite current series, and I haven't stopped since.
9. Ed Brisson has lettered every issue. Fantastically. Stylized and easy to follow, his work never gets in the way of the art but won't let you ignore the words, either. And the word balloons of alien symbols covered by balloons with their English translations is brilliant in its simplicity. My guess would be that Brisson did not invent that technique (only because it seems so obvious once you look at it as a way to handle translation), but he uses it expertly either way. The best bit of lettering work is the white or red dialogue balloons of the Earth mothers I mentioned above. It heightens their creepiness and, somehow, helps display the extent of their power. Brisson is one of the most regular elements of the Prophet experience, so he must be doing something right.
10. I love the cover art for this title, which almost always consists of either a single Prophet engaged in some adventurous activity or a gorgeous view of some sci-fi scenery. I guess #30 is really more of an alien than it is scenery, but because it's such a plantlike alien it creates the same feeling as the more scenic covers. The point is, this book knows exactly what it's about: Prophets traversing this beautiful, fantastical universe. The covers express that plainly and clearly, which is sort of rare in comics and something I always appreciate.
11. Like Brisson, Joseph Bergin III has been a reliable aspect of the book as the colorist from issue #24 on. The first arc was colored by Richard Ballerman, who is just as skilled as Bergin III, but only ever worked on Prophet with Simon Roy, making him less responsible for aiding the visual consistency I pointed to in thought 6. Bergin III may even deserve most of the credit for that consistency, and certainly a heaping portion of it should be directed his way. He can capture any environment, and move seamlessly between pages that are a wash of one color and those that are more detailed and realistic. Though his palette tends to favor neutral tones, he can pull out the brasher and more startling reds and blues when appropriate, which helps the many and varied action sequences stand out from the pages around them. Again, there's no question that Bergin III is a great talent, because he's been a part of so many issues of such a strong series.
1. Though it is building an expansive world and story at an intentionally gradual pace, Prophet has already told numerous fascinating and complete smaller stories, too. The first three issues (#21-23 because this is technically the relaunch of an old Liefeld title) could have been an entire mini-series and left nothing to be desired. The same is true of several single issues that followed. But every one of them has by now revealed themselves to also be a tiny piece of an enormous overarching narrative, which makes their individual wholeness that much more impressive.
2. The language of the series shifts playfully between the strictly factual and the deeply personal. Nowhere is this truer than the third-person narration captions, which sometimes sound like a tour guide welcoming us to a scenic new area, and other times give significant insights into the nuanced mental and emotional states of the cast. But you can find it in the dialogue, too, most noticeably with the white and red word balloons of the Earth mothers (white tends to be emotional material while red is for facts and orders). This lingual dichotomy is essential to the tone of the project as a whole. It explores this distant future from both scientifically detached and psychologically intimate viewpoints, which helps to weave a more intricate narrative tapestry more quickly.
3. All the artists are fantastic, so here's what I think they each do best: Simon Roy has the strongest Prophets, expressive and stoic in the right mix, with a clear caveman influence to their shape and movement. It's why Roy was the perfect choice for the opening arc, and he plays heavily to these strengths in the most recent issue (#32), which he wrote and drew in its entirety. There, he explores the humanity (or inhumanity) of being a Prophet by bringing one together with a band of primitive humans. Farel Dalrymple creates the most hideous, terrifying aliens, bringing more of a horror edge to this space story. The Ixtano Circus in issue #30 has the most abundant examples, but the strongest is the Prophet in #24 whose body has become twisted and ruined by a toxic environment. It's a thing of beauty in its ugliness. Giannis Milonogiannis is my favorite, because he does grandiosity better than anyone. The slow and ground-shaking steps of ancient beings the size of mountains, scenes of widespread combat from the old war against the Empire, the floating bodies of dead and sleeping space giants. Milonogiannis can capture these enormities in a single image (though, to be fair, it's often a two-page spread) and his visuals last in my memory more vividly and long-lastingly than most. Finally, there is Brandon Graham, who is primarily the writer but handled art as well for issue #26. Stylistically he's somewhat gentler, giving the vastness of space a calming effect. It feels like he has a great reverence for everything he draws, and it makes me feel the same way. The art of his issue may be soothing, but it is no less awe-inspiring when that is what the story calls for.
4. As we learn of the reach and power of the Empire, we simultaneously see some of its weaknesses, not the least of which is the seemingly-tenuous control it has over its army of Prophets. Even the first Prophet we meet questions and sometimes goes against the voice in his head telling him to stick to his mission. The next guy (with the awesome tail) ends up breaking free of the Empire's control completely. And the the most recent Prophet, John Ka, disobeys a direct order from her masters and tricks them into killing the enemies of their intended targets. She still joins up with the Empire as she is supposed to, but only after this deception. So in spite of what is clearly a vast network of well-trained, mentally-manipulable soldiers, the Empire may not have as tight a grasp on the universe as it expects to, and I am interested to see how that plays out.
5. There are many examples of days or even weeks passing in the space of a single panel and/or through the use of a single caption. The events of this book so far seem to span months, possibly even a year or two, and all of it is taking place after many ages of inactivity and slumber from both sides of the conflict. I love that this is a war no one is rushing into. The Empire and its enemies have to acclimate themselves to this future, organize their forces, and plan their next moves, and everyone seems to be doing so at a deliberate pace. So Prophet matches that pace as a series, within each issue and also in its overall storytelling methods. Switching focus from one Prophet to another, spending as much time in the mundane moments of their lives as the exciting ones, the book gives everyone and everything enough space to be completely explained, examined, and enjoyed.
6. There is an astounding singularity of vision considering the rotating group of artists on the title. Yes, everyone has their own artistic strengths and flourishes (see thought 3 above), but there's also a level of visual homogeneity, at least atmospherically speaking. Wide open spaces, settings reminiscent of the Wild West, alien races that are plantlike or buglike or both, John Prophet as grizzled and brooding---these can be found no matter who is doing the drawing, and it adds a cohesiveness that could easily be missing. So often when artists swap in and out like this, the change is stark to the point of being distracting. Somehow, the Prophet team has found a happy medium. Each artist has a distinct style, but the underlying visual feel of the book remains steadily the same.
7. The moment in Prophet #25 when Old Man Prophet suddenly bursts from the corpse of a Nephilim and so swiftly kills not only two other Prophets but their Earth mother commander...chills. I can still remember reading that scene for the first time and physically sitting up straight (I like to read comics lying on the couch) with excitement. And I didn't even know the full significance of the character yet. It was just such a powerful, well-timed moment, and it represented a clear promise of larger things to come. It marked a shift in the focus of the book. No longer just telling disconnected tales of different Prophets trying to survive, it instead became more personal and established more firmly a long-term story through the introduction of this anti-Empire protagonist. That was when I began to refer to this my favorite current series, and I haven't stopped since.
8. Brandon Graham, who wrote or at least co-wrote the first eleven issues, makes science fiction seem effortless. I have no doubt that it is, in fact, the result of tireless work, but the number of creatures, planets, cultures, biological idiosyncrasies, and the like that he introduces every damn issue is just an embarrassment of riches. And I admire that the scope of this series is so large that Graham will quickly abandon a setting or society in order to move us onto and into the next one. It keeps the book fresh, constantly expanding its world and history. Of course, many things are seen more than once as well (Qid-Pids come to mind as a race that's apparently everywhere), establishing a baseline consistency for the story even as it continues to grow outward and upward.
9. Ed Brisson has lettered every issue. Fantastically. Stylized and easy to follow, his work never gets in the way of the art but won't let you ignore the words, either. And the word balloons of alien symbols covered by balloons with their English translations is brilliant in its simplicity. My guess would be that Brisson did not invent that technique (only because it seems so obvious once you look at it as a way to handle translation), but he uses it expertly either way. The best bit of lettering work is the white or red dialogue balloons of the Earth mothers I mentioned above. It heightens their creepiness and, somehow, helps display the extent of their power. Brisson is one of the most regular elements of the Prophet experience, so he must be doing something right.
10. I love the cover art for this title, which almost always consists of either a single Prophet engaged in some adventurous activity or a gorgeous view of some sci-fi scenery. I guess #30 is really more of an alien than it is scenery, but because it's such a plantlike alien it creates the same feeling as the more scenic covers. The point is, this book knows exactly what it's about: Prophets traversing this beautiful, fantastical universe. The covers express that plainly and clearly, which is sort of rare in comics and something I always appreciate.
11. Like Brisson, Joseph Bergin III has been a reliable aspect of the book as the colorist from issue #24 on. The first arc was colored by Richard Ballerman, who is just as skilled as Bergin III, but only ever worked on Prophet with Simon Roy, making him less responsible for aiding the visual consistency I pointed to in thought 6. Bergin III may even deserve most of the credit for that consistency, and certainly a heaping portion of it should be directed his way. He can capture any environment, and move seamlessly between pages that are a wash of one color and those that are more detailed and realistic. Though his palette tends to favor neutral tones, he can pull out the brasher and more startling reds and blues when appropriate, which helps the many and varied action sequences stand out from the pages around them. Again, there's no question that Bergin III is a great talent, because he's been a part of so many issues of such a strong series.
12. Even though they have conflicting goals, I always find myself rooting for whichever John Prophet I am reading about at the time. As versions of the same man, they all posses an admirable bravery and sense of honor, even when they're working for an invasive evil empire. They are tough, quiet, and sure, and even the "bad guys" appear to be decent human beings at their core, despising injustice and desiring companionship. I love that consistency, and it demonstrates how fully-realized this character was in the minds of the creators before the book even began.
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