A bit of a slow and somewhat mediocre week with no "big" books out this week. But hardly a bad one, and next week will be more expensive and eventful. As always, full spoilers ahead.
Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for August 6, 2008:
PATSY WALKER: HELLCAT #2: I knew this by issue #1, or hell, by midway through Kathy Immonen's MCP story, but this is a very, very, quirky work. You'll either enjoy it or not, with little middle ground. It is fluffy, vapid, and shallow. But so was CLUELESS, and that became a classic, right? I appreciate this book because unlike many other comics, now, HELLCAT is upbeat, good-hearted, and doesn't take itself seriously. In fact, the only downer is when you attempt to compare Hellcat in this to the version that is written in guest stints in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE or THE LAST DEFENDERS. I could never imagine Mrs. Immonen's Hellcat turning into a demon, marrying the Son of Satan, or being clinically insane. Or, maybe I can.
Like I said, weird.
The problem is that Immonen doesn't ever turn the "wacky" meter down. So when it works, it gets out chuckles. But when it doesn't, it feels like a prolonged sugar rush. The "multiple choice pop quiz" to recap issue #1 is fun and I really enjoy the artwork by David Lafuente, which compliments the story very well and is just vibrant and upbeat to begin with.
Behind all the goofball lines (Hellcat never seems to stop with her wonky one-liners) and bizarre quips, there is a story. Tasked with doing "recon" in Alaska for Iron Man's Initiative, Hellcat has stumbled upon some Eskimo mystics (which is a bit of a cliche, but this is meant for comedy, so I can let it slide). After getting her attention with weird beasties, they task her with rescuing their princess from a cannibal called a "Windigo". This is, of course, opposed to the Wendigo that also exists in Marvel, has the exact same schtick (a demonic monster unleashed by cannibalism) and fights Wolverine. In fact I find little reason why this couldn't have been the same Wendigo, since Alaska shares a border with Canada anyway. Wendigo's a classic Marvel villain and I would have rather seen him than a clone with a misspelled name.
(Of course, older fans may recall the last time an alternate Wendigo appeared; ASM #277.)
The most jarring thing about the comic is, basically, trying to insert it into 616. Patsy Walker almost never acts this quirky there, as if her past tragedies never occurred. Usually Hellcat is generic, and this incarnation certainly isn't, but there is such a thing as going too far in the other direction. In an alternate universe, there exists a middle-character who is between the extremes of "demonically tortured ex-Hellstrom " and "Vapid energetic Cartoon Woman". Plus, as one Hype member cited last month, considering the Collective stormed through Alaska on his rampage first, Iron Man should realistically acknowledge it as worthy of a vital "point team" as Hawaii is.
There also seems to be little point to the book besides to tell an offbeat quirky adventure; the story seems very filler and random. It tells us nothing about Hellcat and offers no other characters. I wonder if Mrs. Immonen drafted the story for a second year's worth of MCP that never will happen, and Marvel didn't want to waste the scripts. I will be curious to see how this is selling.
Still, the book has a sort of oddball charm to it. It's like those sugar-filled Pixie Stix; fun in doses, but can cause a sugar headache. Glad that Hellcat is getting some focus, as she is a longtime character. I just wonder if there is another way to make her relevant besides making her Squirrel-Girl's more manic cousin.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #4: An issue some could call a set-up issue, bridging the gaps between the second and third acts. Still, I enjoyed it more than issue #3, even if the parallels of Stark fighting a Stane so soon after the movie reek a bit of movie pandering. But, seriously, hasn't Marvel done so with virtually all of their movies? Hasn't DC? I mean, DC even hired Donner to co-write a book. That's like tasking Bryan Singer to do an X-Book, only, well, Donner actually produced some co-written scripts. So, this sort of thing really shouldn't be a shocker. At the very least, Stark is still head of SHIELD and while Pepper Potts was never dead, her murdered husband is conveniently never mentioned.
She was almost dead, and as this issue continues on, Stark has inserted an Iron-Man like iron-lung into her chest to save her life, resulting in an incredible recovery. Unfortunately, Pepper believes it and Iron Man to be weapons, and doesn't want to become one. Arguably the strongest scene in the issue is Stark's meeting with uber-b**** Maria Hill, and their bickering. Maria is flabbergasted that Stark has "wasted" potential life saving technology on Pepper and not mass produced it to the military. Stark sees it as too expensive to be mass produced, and as he invented it, he can use it as he pleases. Stark's final shot is priceless. Also strong is a scene where Stark plays chess with Reed Richards and shows them as peer intellects.
Stark essentially deliberately releases his tech on the black market to trace Stane to his next terrorist plot, and Stane bites. The next issue will explore the showdown. Larroca's art is fine as usual and Fraction is striking a good balance to please fans of the movie with fans of the comics, giving some on both ends but not too much. IIM is more accessible to non-hardcore Iron Man fans, which is probably why it is selling better than it's parent title. Fraction even ties in things with IRON FIST by having Rand's company involved in Pepper's non-weaponized "iron lung", which I thought was a nice touch. Of course, the question of why Stark would accept aid from a man he knows damn well is acting as an unregistered hero (just, supposedly, can't prove), but, HUSH.
Plus, the title presents a hero who, in other titles is more like Dr. Doom than Dr. Doom has been in some time, as rootable and noble again. Or at least more readable. I regret the loss of THE ORDER, but Fraction's doing well here on an A-List book, which will only cement his Marvel future on other titles. Maybe hitting one of the Avenger books when Bendis has his fill?
PUNISHER: WAR JOURNAL #22: Now that the Hand segment was over and the comic doesn't look like a bad attempt at Frank Miller comics, the issue read a bit better than last month's, when I felt real apathy for the series. Frank Castle is being transported to prison by Bridge and his lady warriors (one of which we know is a Skrull, but that doesn't much matter here), while Jigsaw is hardly about to let Frank survive, even in prison.
This also is Fraction's second book of the week, and it is worse than INVINCIBLE IRON MAN. But not too bad this month.
Stuart tries to save Frank, but it turns out that Frank's bandaged lady-friend is working with Jigsaw all along, and double-crosses them. Meanwhile, Jigsaw hires the Wrecking Crew to kill Punisher for "fifty large". I hope that is 50k each, because $12,500 apiece to kill a legendary vigilante like Punisher seems a bit low. Mac Gargan agreed to be hit by radiation and become the Scorpion for not much less than that ($10,000) back in the 60's. Granted, maybe the Crew are desperate for cash after coming in from Canada. Maybe Marvel villains just are easily hired.
It is kind of cool to see the Wrecking Crew here, but I fear they are about to be embarassed again, and that seems to happen too often. The irony is that Fraction gets something about Punisher that he failed to comprehend co-writing IRON FIST; beating named villains = cool. Punisher has overcome a slew of actual villains on Fraction's watch. Danny Rand couldn't even beat a large robot. But, apples and oranges as IIF was a better book. Still, if the Wrecking Crew are split between Castle, Domino, Fontane and Sable, that could work (I guess), although the Crew should clearly overpower them if ninja could last issue. We'll see. But I am tired of seeing the Crew job poorly, so I'll be watchin'.
THE TWELVE #7: After taking July off, THE TWELVE returns and is easily the best book of the week for me. It also shows that while JMS' pace is slow on THOR, his pace is just fine for a title that is trying to juggle 7-12 characters in it. He may be better suited for team books that solo ones. Granted, one could claim not a GREAT deal has happened in 7 issues, and we only tolerate it because it is a 12 issue mini and not issue #7 of an ongoing.
A murder takes place in a gay bar that infuriated Dynamic Man last issue, only when Phantom Reporter investigates it, he finds out that D.M., who he hates, may be innocent after all. The most likely suspect is the demonically powered Black Widow, who P.R. pines for. The police also poke fun at the Reporter's lack of a secret identity, while Mastermind Excello warns him that someone on the team is about to die. I'd be wowed at the guy's foreshadowing skills, if every single superhero team didn't have someone go traitor or die within the first year, so it comes off as more mundane than it should. Blue Blade also works with the grand-daughter of Electro's builder to save his TV career, and Captain Wonder meets his long lost sidekick, Captain Tim.
While the book does focus on every character, some are clearly intended to be the stars, such as Phantom Reporter, Black Widow, Capt. Wonder, Blue Blade, and Dynamic Man. The rest are just support. Which is fine as some of them are a bit generic and not every character can be a star; hence why supporting characters exist.
Despite Stan Lee's disliking of them, sidekicks were standard fare for Golden Age heroes so it makes sense for Captain Wonder to have had one. Unfortunately, "Tim" had his powers fade while he was still young and since then has lamented his return to "normal" life and contracted cancer. When Wonder can't help him, Tim seemingly reverts to suicide. Of course, with a mad killer about the series, one has to always wonder if his powers may have "kick" started off panel next issue and he decides to off the heroes.
Much like WATCHMEN, this series is taking the heroes seriously and providing some realistic, yet interesting, reactions to their thawing out and superhero re-emergence. The only niggle is while the book is written in a post-SHRA mindset, the Twelve appear separated from the rest of Marvel while still living in, sigh, NYC. You would have expected Dynamic Man and Capt. Wonder to have run into like 6 other teams by now.
Still, this is the best foundation for a Marvel version of the JSA that they have had in a while and while not every character will survive, I hope enough do that the team can return, because there is loads of potential here beyond a 12 issue arc, even if JMS, who is under contract with DC now, may not write it.
