Author: UncannyDerek

Wedneday’s Reviews: Retcons and Amazing Fantasies

On By UncannyDerekIn Comic Reviews1 Comment

Hey folks! This week, I’m deciding on doing a review-rant. Yes, they can be one in the same.

As I read this week’s copy of The New Avengers #10, I can’t help but be ridiculously upset with how it turned out.

This is about retcons. Although it is getting ever-so-closer to Marvel’s big Fear Itself event, I can’t help but feel driven to DROP this comic due to the over-ridiculousness of this retcon.

For those who are unfamiliar with what a retcon is, in a nutshell, it stands for “Retroactive Continuity.” What that means is one may go back into time and adjust the events of the past to explain what happens in the future.

For a hypothetical example, we’ll take the X-Men. Most people know that Professor X started the X-Men, consisting of Cyclops, Angel, Jean Grey, Beast and Iceman.

Now imagine a new issue of X-Men, where they explain their history, and suddenly there was a new X-Men who was part of the team – but no one ever talked about him because he worked on another island, behind-the-scenes. Then suddenly in the future, that character appears and everyone’s best friends.

That’s retcon. But it’s a part of comics. How can comics from the 60’s, with arguably simplistic origin plots still be relevant in 2011? Well, retcons help with that – and for the most part, they can be very interesting and neat.

In this recent issue of The New Avengers however, I’m down-right disappointed.

The New Avengers

The New Avengers #10
Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Mike Deodato & Howard Chaykin (pencils), Rain Beredo & Edgar Delgado (colours), Joe Caramagna (letters), Mike Deodato & Rain Beredo (cover). $3.99

The issue flips back and forth through timelines between 1959 and the present. Starting off in ’59, we see Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan finding Sabretooth in a bar. After mild negotiations, Fury hires Mr. Creed as an Avenger. Yes, Sabretooth.

Fast-forwarding to 2011, and continuing from the previous issue, the New Avengers attack a H.A.M.M.E.R. installation, headed by Superia. Mockingbird is shot, and for most of the issue, we watch our heroes fight off the endless H.A.M.M.E.R. hordes while calling an ambulance for Mockingbird. Literally, that is all that happens in the present.

In 1959, after retrieving Sabretooth, Dominic Fortune, Namora, Kraven, and Bloodstone are hired – all to be “secret” Avengers. Indeed, a league of villains are now Avengers – all before the “official” Avengers team arrives on the scene in 1963.

Leaving on a strong note, we are brought back to the present where rescue vehicles have arrived for Mockingbird, only for Superia to raze the entire ground beneath them. If it wasn’t for comics, Mockingbird would for sure be dead. But we won’t know until next month! Ahhh!

The comic as a whole does not stand out as anything spectacular. As soon as the first villain was hired, I really could not have been surprised to see anyone else be taken in as the idea of this particular retcon ruined any fun I would’ve had with this comic. I digress.

Deodato is on the ball with this issue, penciling all of the present-day moments, while Howard Chaykin focuses on the 1959 plot. Although both are strong artists, I felt as if Chaykin’s style was a bit light for the seriousness of the book. At one part, Mockingbird is splattered in blood while Spider-Man holds her in his arms. The scene is gritty and dark, moody and in despair. The next scene however, we’re brought to a location where shadows disappear and faces are less-serious than prior. Although I greatly enjoy Chaykin’s art, I feel as if it was wrong for this particular issue. And yet his take on Sabretooth was a bit too childish for me, while his Kraven was spot-on.

And after this issue, I’ve concluded that Deodato draws an excellent Thing.

As for the structure of the story, flipping back and forth between fun and sunny places to a battlefield hurt what seriousness the story had. It felt like flipping channels between an intense episode of Law & Order: SVU and Teletubbies. It was sudden with no transition. It simply didn’t work.

Certain dialogue choices by Bendis also took away from the plot. Nonsensical remarks spewing from Thing early on, then to Ms. Marvel versus Superia mindless jabs, and Spider-Man having fun looking for a cellphone to save a life – all of it damaged the intensities of the moments drawn by Deodato. However, with Chaykin’s work, the dialogue seemed more natural. How is this happening?!

Definitely taking a swan-dive, The New Avengers needs to pick up some smart choices in writing and plotting for it to be saved.

Grade: 5/10

Inner-Fanboy Rant

I love comic books as much as I like turtles. In result, retcons are commonplace and something which I should expect from comics. But not since Secret War, have I felt that Bendis did a retcon so over-the-top that I disagree with it.

Now admittedly, the story is not done yet, so who knows where it will go – but I feel as if it’s not going in the right direction. But when you take serious villains – some which are notorious monsters, and put them on a team, you have a problem. And I’m not talking personality issues, either.

If anything, it seems down-right insulting that the first Avengers – regardless of being “official” ones or “secret” ones are the bad guys. That would be literally like suggesting Professor Xavier had a set of X-Men before the actual X-Men came out – it’s absurd and mind-boggling.

Retcons usually have to explain themselves later on, too. Recent retcon’s like with X-Men’s Deadly Genesis, or Spider-Man’s One Moment In Time, worked for me, because they were explained and honestly, could not be as far-fetched as the “powers that be” were involved with Spider-Man’s, while telepathy and clever storytelling was a part with the X-Men’s. With the New Avengers, we’re fortunate that most of the villains are either dead, or haven’t been used in so-long that the retcon does not have to be adjusted in the future. Sabretooth and Bloodstone are dead, while Kraven is dead-but-alive-now-doing who-knows-what. Dominic Fortune has been MIA for years now, and Namora disappeared with the Agents of Atlas since its cancellation – unless I’m wrong with that.

I guess I’m really just disappointed with how this came about. Admittedly, it has TONS of time to sway another way, but I really feel as if this is just going to hurt my faith in The New Avengers for the next little bit.

Amazing Fantasy

Amazing Sale

As a complete side-note, Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), the first appearance of Spider-Man, as officially reached the million-dollar club with Action Comics #1 (1938, first Superman) and Detective Comics #27 (1939, first Batman).

Amazing Fantasy #15, CGC 9.6 sold for $1.1 million

“The sale of this legendary comic is second only to the Guinness World record 8.5 VF+ Action Comics #1, which marks Superman’s 1938 debut that was also sold by http://www.ComicConnect.com last year for a whopping $1,500,000.” – Comics Price Guide.com

Amazing, eh?

Keep on Space Truckin’!

Classic Comic Fridays: Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21

On By UncannyDerekIn Classic Comic FridayLeave a comment

The first Friday of each month, I will review a classic comic from my own personal collection.

This month, I’ve decided on something I’ve been putting on the back-burner for a while. The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 – the wedding of Peter Parker and Mary Jane.

I’ve been wanting to do this since Joe Quesada re-did the wedding issue with his One Moment In Time story arc to compare notes, but really haven’t gotten around to it. It’s also not something I wanted to do – compare two storyboards – but it’s something I wished to revisit. So let’s begin!

Amazing Spider-Man

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21 (September, 1987)
David Michelinie (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Rick Parker (letterer), Rob Sharen (colours), John Romita Sr.(cover). $1.25

The story opens with Spider-Man tackling a few foes – from Electro to some common thugs – it’s a breeze for Spider-Man. Heading home, he meets up with Mary Jane where she is busy prepping for their upcoming wedding. Taking limos to do her chores, Peter Parker starts to think how her lifestyle – in comparison to his – seems a bit different.

At work selling photos of Spider-Man beating on Electro, Robbie Robertson sends Peter into the lunchroom for a wedding surprise party. There he receives a cheque from the Daily Bugle to help out with his wedding expenses. As Parker leaves, he runs into Betty Brant just to say hi. Parker then thinks about how he used to like Brant and how his life could’ve been different with her.

Afterwards, Parker goes to Aunt May’s for dinner, awaiting Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna to arrive. Aunt May was looking through old photos earlier and had them out. Peter decides to look through them too while May baked a pie. Peter finds an old photo of Gwen Stacy and tells himself that he was planning on marrying her first.

Mary Jane and Aunt Anna arrive and the four have dinner. After dinner, Peter and Mary Jane announce that they are getting married to May and Anna. (I’m just as surprised as you that they waited days before the wedding to say anything).

As they leave, MJ gets picked up by a friend named Bruce – a man trying to win over MJ’s heart before the wedding – and even offers her two tickets to Paris. Meanwhile, Paker goes to ask Flash Thompson to be his best man.

As the story progresses, MJ goes out and parties with friends while Peter remains home – thinking about how his will be. He slips into a dream where Spider-Man marries Mary Jane. Uncle Ben is there to support Spider-Man, while heroes and villains fill the pews of the church. Suddenly, Gwen Stacy arrives to give Spider-Man a goodbye kiss, and all of the villains defeat the heroes in the crowd then go after Mary Jane!

Peter awakens from his dream to realize that by being Spider-Man, Mary Jane will have dangers to face.

Spider-Man Annual

Inching closer to the wedding date, Peter has his bachelor party with Flash and Harry Osborn at a bar, and the three discuss relationships and as long as Peter loves Mary Jane, everything will be fine. Mary Jane celebrates her bachelorette party with friends, while Bruce appears and yet again and tries to win over MJ’s heart.

Then comes the day of the wedding. Everyone is gathered at the church, worried about how late both Mary Jane and Peter are. Fortunately, both show up around the same time – and terribly late. They have the wedding on time, and MJ surprises Peter with two tickets to Paris for their honeymoon.

By the end of the story, they head back to their small apartment and Peter wonders what they are “doing in a dump like this.”

MJ simply replies, “Living happily ever after!”

And with the end of the story, we have Peter Parker and Mary Jane married up until the events of Civil War. A twenty-year marriage ain’t bad nowadays, right?

. . .

Well the issue itself was presented very well. A definite look into the insight of both Peter and Mary Jane makes the story that much more intriguing as near the end, you can’t really tell where the story will go.

On the down side of things, that’s also the problem: there is too much negativity coming from Peter about the wedding. With Mary Jane gone all of the time and living a lavish lifestyle – not to mention he seemed as if he was going to end the wedding at a dinner in earlier in the book – it’s more surprising that they did get married. Admittedly, if this was a standalone book, this story simply could not work properly unless Peter lived the rest of his life as a lie. Fortunately enough, that is not the case here.

As for the other exciting parts to the book, Jameson’s hilarity throughout the wedding party at the Daily Bugle gave me some laughs. Robbie’s kindness always shines through, and the action scenes at the beginning were just enough to keep the reader interested in the love story which fills the rest of the book.

Art by Paul Ryan gives great depth in his work as particular scenes from Spider-Man on rooftops, to a wide assortment of Marvel characters, to a crazy bachelorette party, can all look and feel different from one another.

But to grade it as a standalone issue, the book doesn’t really work. But since that clearly is not the case, bravo for an intriguing plot!

Grade: 6/10

Wednesday’s Reviews: Part 2 – Fantastic Four, Avengers, and more X-Men!

On By UncannyDerekIn Comic Reviews3 Comments

As promised, here is part two of my reviews for this week.

Fantastic Four Final Issue

Fantastic Four #588
Jonathan Hickman (writer), Nick Dragotta (pencils, inks), Paul Mounts (colours), Rus Wooton (letters), Alan Davis, Mark Farmer & Javier Rodriguez (cover). $3.99

The final issue of the Fantastic Four.

I don’t think any amount of words could capture what both Hickman and Dragotta put into this issue. The amount of raw emotion really draws the reader into the story with no words. Quite literally, there are no words spoken until the final page of the book.

The book goes over the immediate moment when Johnny dies, up to a month of mourning with the Fantastic Four and Marvel family.

Gut-wrenching moments with Dr. Doom arriving at the funeral, while Thing unleashes anger upon the Hulk and Thor – all are breathtaking moments which had my own eyes swelling up.

The secondary story involving Spider-Man and Franklin Richards places Spider-Man as the face of helping, reasoning, and understanding.

I really don’t think there is anything bad to say about this book. It’s a wonderful, sad, yet optimistic way to conclude the series.

Grade: 10/10

Avengers

Avengers #10
Brian Michael Bendis (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson & Tom Palmer (inks), Dean White & Paul Mounts (colours) Cory Petit (letters), John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson & Dean White (cover). $3.99

Despite the this cover and the last one, there has really been zero action between The Hood and the Avengers. The majority of the story is the members of the Illuminati gathering the Infinity Gems from their hiding spots. Namor, Thor, and Red Hulk go into the furthest depths of the sea to gather a gem, while Professor X and a large band of Avengers encounter the Danger Room to retrieve another. Iron Man and friends go to Area 51 – a place which Tony Stark apparently owns, to get the third – but The Hood is already there. He snatches the gem and teleports to the next closest one – that being in the possession of Thor.

And that’s really the book in a nutshell. Pages are dedicated to unlocking, swimming, and finding the gems. I am aware that they are to show the importance of how secretive of places the gems were in – but it felt like watching the doors opening in Mystery Science Theater 3000 – only this was about 20 pages of it.

Admittedly, there was a fight in the Danger Room, but it really lacked oomph and trailed quickly into a who cares what happens because there didn’t seem to be any threat from the machine.

Another lull appeared in the story where for I believe, for the fourth time, we see faces bunched up on a page like this. It’s pretty bad when I’m able to start counting on these things in these issues.

A slow story from Bendis with half-decent art from Romita drags this current issue into the ground. Definitely a step-down from last-issue.

Grade: 4/10

X-Men Serve and Protect

X-Men: To Serve and Protect #4 of 4
Chris Yost, Kathryn Immonen, Jed Mackay & James Asmus (writers), Derec Donovan, Stuart Immonen, Sheldon Vella, Eric Koda, Sandu Florea & Miguel Munera (pencilers), Wade Von Grawbadger, (inker), Andres Mossa, Jesus Aburto & Jeremy Cox(colourers) Dave Sharpe (letters), Guiseppe Camuncoli & Marte Gracia (cover). $3.99

In the final issue of the X-Men: To Serve and Protect anthology, four very-different stories wrap up the series. The first involves Rockslide and Anole versus Mr. Negative and the Serpent Society. This story spanned all four issues and grabbed the attention to the reader in each book. Coincidently, it was written by Chris Yost, making the two unknown X-Men really stand out as both relevant and hilarious characters. Great cartoonish art and colours was also portrayed by Donovan and Mossa.

Kathryn and Stuart Immonen run the second story involving both Gambit and Hellcat – on a date! Hilarity ensues as Gambit’s frustration of Hellcat’s care-free attitude make for an interesting night. Kathryn’s storytelling, as far as I can see with her shorts as well as Osborn and Heralds, are beyond-witty and really excel at true storytelling in a limited space. Kathryn shines as one of Marvel’s best writers.

The third story by Mackay and Vella was probably the weakest story out of the bunch, but arguably one of the oddest stories in the whole series. Dazzler, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing act as a super heroine trio, “Dazzler and Her Radical All-Girl Roller Death Squad!” Indeed. They fight M.O.D.O.R.D. (The Mental Organism Designed Only for Roller Derby), as well as Armadillo, Klaw, a Sentinel, Whirlwind, and even Doctor Bong. The three find that Chadmaster (or the Grandmaster in disguise), is letting her fight so she can have cosmic powers. Of course, she beats up Chad because she’s a mutant pop star that roller blades. What else could she want?

The final issue by Asmus, Koda, Florea, Munera and Cox features Psylocke and Hercules defeating the Griffin. After winning, Herc offers Psylocke a chance to “union” with him. We’re then taken to a flashback where the two met before in London above a beaten Crimson Dynamo. There, Herc asks her the same question. Flashing forward to the present, Herc innocently asks, “so. . . did we?” followed by a sock in the face by Psylocke. Brilliantly executed and dramatically simple, the final story was my favourite to the entire series (and not because Psylocke is a favourite of mine).

A great mash up of stories by a group of immensely talented writers – X-Men: To Serve and Protect concludes its series very strong.

Grade: 8/10

Godspeed, and keep on Space Truckin’!