Cosmic
Quick Takes
Brief Reviews of Recent Science-Fiction Comics
January 23rd, 2009
*Warning: Contains Spoilers*
Marvel Comics:
The Origin of Richard Rider: Nova
This one-shot reprints issue #1 and issue #4 of 1976’s original The Man Called Nova series. This reprinting of Nova’s origin and one of his early adventures is framed by a few pages of new art and story at the beginning, middle, and end of the comic. The new framing sequence begins right after the events of Annihilation when Nova is out responding to his backlog of distress calls. He answers a call, deals with the situation, and while in transit to his next call he reviews his origin and an early adventure; with the Worldmind offering some rare praise and encouragement. As a 32 year Nova fan, I had a mixed reaction to this comic. On the one hand, it was fun to see the old stories reprinted on slick paper with new coloring. Even with the 70’s look to the art; John and Sal Buscema are my all time favorite Nova artists and I have to say that with the new coloring and the glossy paper, these old stories have never looked better. The art and coloring for the framing sequences is also good; but suffers in comparison to the Buscema art. As I said, I had a mixed reaction to this comic. So, on the other hand, I almost wish Abnett and Lanning had gone for a re-boot of the origin tale; perhaps expanding on the partial re-boot in 2008’s Nova Annual with new art, an updating of the origin story, and perhaps an expansion of the origin story featuring more back story from Xandar’s first fall and Rhoman Dey’s pursuit of Zorr; as well as Rich Rider’s inheritance of the Nova powers via emergency deputization and his early attempts at learning to use the powers. I was left feeling that DnA missed a good opportunity for an updating and improvement of the origin story. This is a great comic and an entertaining read overall; and not just for old timer Nova fans like me. I encourage you to buy it; particularly if you missed the 1976 origin issue.
Ythaq: The Forsaken World – Book Two “Ophyde The Gemini” (#2 of 3)
Another stellar issue of Ythaq – the best cosmic book that you’re probably not reading. This is an incredible book. The 16 panel grid structure packs a LOT of story into each issue and once again the art and coloring are magnificent. The story picks up where last issue left off and proceeds at a brisk pace with lots of action and character development. It culminates in a fairly original escape sequence. This is part of Marvel’s “Mature” line due to language, nudity, sexuality, and graphic violence. Speaking of nudity, this issue features several au naturel panels of the lovely Callista, including one with full frontal nudity – somewhat of a rarity in mainstream comics. Seriously guys, don’t miss this comic. You’ll regret it if you do.
Secret Invasion: War of Kings (One-Shot)
Other than a few nit-picks that I’ll get to in a moment, this comic has it all – epic sweeping story picking up threads from the last several decades of comic history and lore, great art, great coloring, spot on characterization for (almost) everyone, high ‘clash of civilizations’ type drama. What’s to like? Nearly everything. Buy this comic. What’s not to like? Well, just a few nit-picks – a few points where I had to suspend plausibility and just enjoy the story. How could a mighty and powerful galaxy spanning civilization of true warriors (i.e., The Kree of course) crumble in what appears to be a few minutes to a few hours at most? How could the Inhumans breech a shield that no one but the Phalanx and Technarchy could breach? Where did the Ronan from Annihilation go? Ronan’s characterization has been all over the place. He started as a run of the mill alien thug, reached a high point in Annihilation where he showed he had what it takes to be an Emperor, lost some ground in Conquest but still maintained some respectability and cunning as a military leader and Emperor willing and ready to make the hard choices; and now is suddenly a “I never wanted to be Emperor anyway” kind of guy? Sorry, that just doesn’t work for me. Ronan’s characterization is not what it should be. I don’t think he would cave so quickly and easily; and frankly, I don’t think the rest of the Kree would either. I know, I know – Ronan is not the star of this series and I’m not suggesting he should be – but let’s do bring some consistency to the guy’s characterization and to the characterization of the Kree in the future. It just makes for a more enjoyable story.
Eternals (#7)
I didn’t care for the Superman-esque opening sequence where Ikaris saves the space shuttle. Why were these pages wasted with something like that when it has nothing to do with the rest of the story? Other than the opening sequence, this issue is one of the best of the series thus far. We learn that Eternals have their own version of Valhalla when they die – in the form of a martini bar. OK, stop laughing – it really does work in a weird way. The story finds the Eternals reeling from last issue’s events where at the behest of Druig, Gilgamesh destroyed the resurrection machines, rendering all Eternals mortal. Ikaris renounces the Olympians and sets out to settle his old score with Druig while the rest of the Olympians debate about his choice and try to get their resurrection machines working again. One nit-pick here: If your life literally depends on a machine, why wouldn’t you have more than one back up? NASA does triple redundancy on critical machines. One would think that the Eternals and Celestials would, like NASA, have figured out that redundancy is not necessarily a bad thing if your life literally depends on it. Moving on, there is an interesting conversation between Makarri and Tiamat where Tiamat nearly loses control and we learn just how damaged this rogue Celestial really is. This is followed by a conversation between Tiamat and Uatu where we learn a bit more about Celestials and The Horde and the mysterious Fulcrum they both serve. Slug-fest junkies will like this issue as we have throw downs between Ikaris and several of Druig’s Eternals. It all culminates with Druig’s Eternals pursuing Ikaris into San Francisco and encountering the X-Men. Looks like next issue there will be a throw down between the Eternals and the X-Men. This series has been slow to develop, but it has been well worth the wait as it looks to be getting better and better. Put this book on your pull list cosmic fans. You’ll be glad you did.
Marvel Zombies 3 (#4 of 4)
This issue brings to a close Marvel’s current Zombie mini. I must say that of the 4 zombie series (i.e., Marvel Zombies 1; Marvel Zombies 2; Marvel Zombies 3, and Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness) produced thus far, I enjoyed Marvel Zombies 3 the best with the Army of Darkness crossover being a close second favorite. Marvel Zombies 3 managed to present a blend of humor, pathos, parody, and grotesquerie reminiscent of George Romero’s zombie movies. So, if you like George Romero’s take on the zombie genre, you’ll probably like Marvel Zombies 3. I have not kept up with Machine Man since Kirby created him in the 70’s, so it was fun to get caught up with his new characterization. His genuine glee at destroying zombies in a myriad of gorily brutal ways makes for a fun read. Another fun element was Zombie Black Bolt’s portrayal. Ever wonder what Black Bolt would say if he could talk (his Zombification has destroyed his sonic powers so he can now talk normally)? Turns out he would be a bit on the loquacious side; and the joke made out of his verbosity, while obvious, is still fun. Our heroes save the day of course, but the end is left open for – you guessed it – Marvel Zombies 4 – featuring a team of Marvel’s occult characters (The Midnight Sons) chasing a few zombies who got away to wreak havoc in the 616 universe. This is a fun book – not for the weak of stomach though as it is filled with gory images. Pick it up if you like zombie genre stuff.
Image Comics
Invincible #58
Wow! Kirkman opted for a 16-panel grid page structure this time around so there’s a lot of story packed into this issue. The great thing about Invincible is that it tells an ongoing story where the characters evolve and change like real people might. This issue advances several of the ongoing story arcs. The romance between Invincible and Atom Eve continues to blossom with plans being made to cohabitate, Invincible gets new employment, Invincible’s alien brother continues to develop his Viltrumite powers, and we learn who has been spying on Invincible. It looks like Invincible will be facing a small army of clones of himself in the near future. This book has it all – good storytelling, good art, a briskly moving overarching cosmic plotline, likeable and relatable characters, good characterization, and enough action to keep everyone interested. Add this one to your pull list.
IDW
Star Trek: The Last Generation (#3 of 5)
My hat is off to the writers of this comic. They have managed to do what no one else has done before. They have been able to weave together characters from all the televised series (with the exception of Enterprise at least thus far) into a fairly entertaining alternate universe story that proceeds from the premise of “What would have happened if Kirk had not completed his mission in the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.” The art isn’t great, but it is acceptable. The story is moving along at a good pace. The body count is high – so be prepared to say goodbye to some of your favorite characters. IDW’s adaptations of the various Star Trek series have had their ups and downs; but this mini is definitely one of the ups.
Star Trek: Countdown (#1)
This comic is written by the writers of the upcoming Star Trek re-boot movie; and is considered CANONICAL to the re-booted Star Trek universe. It features the origin story of the movie’s villain, Nero. Spock fans will be happy with this comic as a very old Spock is featured prominently. The story is pretty good once you get past the (questionable) premise of a star’s impending supernova threatening the entire Romulan Empire. The art and coloring are nothing to write home about. Buy this book if you are a Star Trek fan and you want to get a sneak peek at some of the movie’s characters and concepts.
Dr. Who: The Forgotten (#6 of 6)
This ends The Forgotten mini and I must say it has been a fairly good story giving each incarnation of the Doctor some face time and treating us to cameo appearances from many of the most popular companions and adversaries. As Dr. Who comics go, this has been one of the better ones and is well worth your time and money even though the art and coloring are mediocre. As a 30 year fan of Dr. Who, I can say that I was glad I bought this mini. I haven’t been able to say that about most of the other Dr. Who comics I have purchased over the years.
Well, that’s it for my cosmic pull list for the past few weeks. Did you read any of these comics? Do you agree? Disagree? Let’s discuss it in the forum.
Article by: Timelord
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the author of this article and should not be construed to be the opinions of Cosmicbooknews.
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