April 30 Reviews Part Two

Thor: Ages of Thunder
Marvel
Writing: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Patrick Zircher, Khari Evans
Inks: Patrick Zircher, Jelana Kevic Djurdjevic
Cover: Marko Djurdjevic
Editor: Warren Simons, Alejandro Arbona
5/5

When Matt Fraction first came to Marvel and they asked which properties he was interested in working on he responded, “Anything but Thor.” He’s said in interviews that he didn’t like, know much about, or really care for the character in any way. This, of course, makes him the perfect man to be writing this series of one-shots. The investment he had to make in finding what makes Thor matter came from a place of doubt, and as such – he’s found real heart and relevance in the character.

I, also, don’t care about Thor. Never have. Quite frankly I think literary characters like Thor, Hercules, and the like have no place being in modern superhero comic universes. The whole premise seems more stupid and outlandish than superhero comic universes themselves. But as Fraction examines the Asgardian god throughout history I can’t help but realize that, dammit, he’s going to change my mind as he has his own.

Fraction makes these mythical lands and gods accessible even to those who are wholly unfamiliar with them. Yet there’s enough sneaky details throughout to please those highly versed in their lore. The man is a bastion of detail. He easily establishes a tone and voice that honors the traditions of these characters of legend, but that also makes them fresh, youthful and with the energy of the modern day.

This first issue reveals more about Thor as a character than most comics I’ve read, and does it quickly and easily without even spending much time with him at all. Simply by showing us the world he inhabits, with a few brief glimpses of where he falls within it, we’re able to discern much of who this son of Odin is without being specifically told outright. The entire thing is just exquisitely delivered and one can’t help but wonder – what can’t Matt Fraction do?

Much needs to be said of the art here as well, as it’s absolutely beautiful and gives the issue a degree of majesty and grandeur that couldn’t be achieved through words alone. Every detail is intricately rendered and results in the type of product you’re proud to own.

I don’t like Thor. I’ve often made it a point to feel this way. Every time his name comes up in the Marvel U I find my eyes rolling and that I'm angry he’s being brought back into the mix. Then Fraction comes along and does this, and rattles my foundations. I’ll probably read this several more times over the next week. How dare he.

Avengers: The Initiative #12
Marvel
Writing: Dan Slott, Christos Gage
Pencils, Inks, Colors, Cover: Steve Uy
Editor: Tom Brevoort
3.5/5

The key thing that’s working well here is the idea that there are visible repercussions for the events taking place in superhero comics. How many dozens of times have we seen New York, for example, utterly destroyed and reduced to mere rubble only for it to be back in fully functional condition a Wednesday later? Sentiment in these books seems to be that once the bad-guy is down the day is won. Much is said about the damages being done by enemies along the way, but once they’re defeated the impact of such destruction seems to go by the wayside. Real life doesn’t function this way, and although comic book universes clearly aren’t real life, it’s nice to see some of these realities added to the formula.

The Initiative-era Marvel books in particular are making strides to embrace the notion of the Marvel U being realistic and as close to reality as possible and, I would argue, to successful ends. New comic readers today are flocking to Marvel’s new status quo – not the DCU which is loved fervently by long time fans and those nostalgic for old fashioned comic fare but that isn’t picking up much of a new youthful audience. The uninitiated reader wants titles that appeal to them and the world they live in, and issues like this one help get Marvel one step closer to making their universe have that type of believability.

There are some quibbles though. The idea of these characters ‘graduating’ at this stage seems slightly ridiculous considering the training regiment we saw them undergo was nothing more than a series of frenzied unorganized death filled disasters. The issue suggests that, though this is true, what could better prepare these characters for a life as super heroes? Yet it ignores that avoiding this type of chaos was the exact argument made to justify creating the Initiative in the first place. The conflict between members of the superhero brass does, however, dampen this complaint as it implies that Slott understands these inconsistencies and intends to address them sometime later on.

Plot dissection aside, the issue is well written and flows nicely. The narrative is edited together well and Slott/Gage continue to balance a considerable load of story threads without leaving the reader confused, and they do so without resorting to constant unnatural explanations. If there’s a major complaint to raise against the issue it would unfortunately have to be the art, which looks decent enough but without distinctive costumes and being referenced by name characters are incredibly difficult to recognize as the ones portrayed for eleven issues previous to this.

Avengers: Initiative has been a very enjoyable title so far, and seems to be widely embraced by audiences. Seeing these characters move forward and begin being placed around the country is an exciting transition, and it’ll be fun to see where things go from here.

New Avengers #40
Marvel
Writing: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Jim Cheung
Inks: John Dell
Colors: Justin Ponsor
Cover: Aleksi Briclot
Editor: Tom Brevoort
3.5/5

Well whatya know. A tie-in that actually enhances a major event. Color everyone refreshed.

Bendis has lots of intriguing moments here and succeeds in giving the Skrulls some much needed development and sense of purpose. He ends on a reveal that actually has implications and raises a lot of questions, and even manages to incorporate a few tongue-in-cheek moments in an otherwise serious issue, such as the Skrulls referring to their plans as ‘the initiative,’ a statement that certainly didn’t escape giggles along the line in Marvel’s editing process. This was a highly enjoyable issue that effectively fleshes out their current major event.

There is a sense though, that Bendis overly pussyfoot baby’s-first-steps the reader thru this material. A great deal of time is needlessly spent essentially explaining that much won’t be explained when time could be better spent in other arenas. It’s probably a safe assumption that the average comic reader is used to accepting things like ‘DNA augmentation’ and cloning without asking too many questions. Trying to justify such unspecific explanations by having them repeatedly restated with bigger words does nothing to improve the story or change that we’re really not getting a creative clarification; it only wastes opportunity to give readers more substantial information. Spending more time with the state of Skrullian culture or their sociological mindset would have been more interesting and valuable.

Overall though, Secret Invasion continues to be the best large scale plan Marvel has presented in a long time. Hopefully the main series itself will have plenty of payoff and not let-down after such fantastic peripheral planning. Only time will tell but so far this seems to be the best of Marvel’s recent conga line of universe spanning events.

Proof #7
Image
Writing: Alex Grecian
Pencils, Inks, Cover: Riley Rossmo
Colors: Fiona Staples, Frazer Irving
4/5

More of an action/suspense outing for a series that typically makes time for slower introspective moments; this month’s issue of Proof manages to really get the blood moving. It does, however, manage to sneakily (but not all that subtly) develop the characters despite the issue’s action heavy design, including a scene in which we get to see Proof remind us that somewhere inside him are some brutally vicious animalistic instincts.

There are a bunch of great moments of dialogue, many of which benefit greatly from the expanded implementation of the cryptoid boxes, now more frequently being used to supplement dialogue in a straightforward manner as well as dispensing trivia. Grecian has always demonstrated impressive control over his characters voices, but he’s increasingly coming into his own as a master of timing. Everything here is very meticulously paced to effectively deliver whatever his intentions are, be they humor or tension.

There’s lots of suspense this issue and it feels like a welcome reminder that we’re currently entering the summer blockbuster season. Proof is equal parts X-Files and Michael Crighton. The who’s good, who’s bad, what’s what conspiracy aspects work well. They do, unfortunately, happen to set up a cliffhanger ending that feels like a bit too much and robs the series of, believe it or not, some of its realness and believability. There was also some disappointment that we didn’t get to see any baby dinosaurs this time, but that may be a personal problem.

All in all this is a good continuation of a very promising new series that deserves far more attention than it has been getting. It’s difficult to believe that there aren’t more comic readers out there interested in seeing Bigfoot work for the FBI, particularly when it’s this much fun. C’mon people – you can’t deny this is right up your alley.