Marvel Comics Presents

[PhotoJones]

Reposting my review from the B/T thread:

Marvel Comics Presents #1 - I'll break this down by story:

Vanguard - "Is this in continuity?" was my first reaction. Whoever or whatever "Vanguard" is or means, there was apparently a cosmic looking Captain America guy in Yokohama, Japan in 1944. That's in one of the three prologues before chapter one in this 8 page story. Chapter one begins with two detectives investigating the murder of a John Doe in a building in dowtown Manhattan that no one seems to own. They're only clue is a composite sketch of an "unusual man" looking very much like a Watcher. Color me confused. My guess is that this is going to be a parallel dimension story. Perhaps the cosmic Cap is indeed Steve Rogers from an alternate timeline. And I doubt this Watcher is Uatu. I'm both intrigued and miffed that this all I get for now. The artwork is very cool. It's very Olivetti-inspired, but with less exhaggeration. The dialogue is very organic and real and that's enough to keep me interested for now.

Hellcat - So cute I threw up. Screw Squirrel Girl. Patsy Walker wins my contest for most adorable Marvel heroine. Like the character's personality, this story is both flighty and lighthearted. Somehow, there's at least three Patsy Walker's running around, although I think there's a lot more then just three. The Immonen's make for a great team. Kathryn's script is charming and Stuart's art is just perfect. He's a gem. I can't wait for more.

Unfriendly Neighborhood (Spider-Man) - The hell? This is beyond strange. I know it's supposed to be fun, but damn. Thank God it's a done in one. Yikes.

Weapon Omega - This one's really good. I enjoyed Oeming's Omega Flight, and this a fairly natural continuation of that mini. For some reason, Michael Pointer's powers have been fizzing out and no one seems to know why. It looks like it's connected to a red headed woman quarantined to a room somewhere on base. And at first it seems that the USAgent is there for comedic relief by just being the *****ebag thug that he is, but he's up to something and may know a lot more then he's letting on. This while story seems like a primer for a new Omega Flight project and Andrea DiVito is a good replacement for Kolins. I've seen him do better work than this, but he might have been rushed what with WWH: X-Men. I'm hooked.

To Love a Man, Not a Monster (The Thing) - This one is my favorite. I'm a sucker for a good Ben Grimm story. It's basically 8 pages of Alicia Masters recanting past dates with Ben and how they've always been disasters, but also how they've always managed to laugh about them and continue on. I wish their relationship was something that was played up more in FF. Nelson's words and art are beautiful. It's not something that's breaking new ground but it's just a really solid read about a heartwarming character and his girl.

All in all, I'd say this project is off to a pretty good start. The talent is there, the fun is there and in at least one case, the mystery is there. I enjoyed it and I'll definitelt be picking up the next issues.

 

[King Namor]

Hellcat - So cute I threw up. Screw Squirrel Girl. Patsy Walker wins my contest for most adorable Marvel heroine. Like the character's personality, this story is both flighty and lighthearted. Somehow, there's at least three Patsy Walker's running around, although I think there's a lot more then just three. The Immonen's make for a great team. Kathryn's script is charming and Stuart's art is just perfect. He's a gem. I can't wait for more.

Well numerous Patsy's make it easy to explain how she knew Miss America back in 1944, was a guest at the FF wedding and is now the resurrected Hellcat but still looks to be in her twenties.

 

[Phaedrus45]

I read this comic last night, and all I see in its future is cancelation. The previous volume of this comic was biweekly, which worked well for the "to be continued" 8 page stories. (Or, other "to be continued" 8 page stories we've been reading, like Endangered Species being almost weekly, make the story much more readable.) But, to have to wait a month for the next issue, and one of the stories being a 12 parter....and, in addition none of the stories were particularily well-done...I can't see why anyone, besides a Marvel hardcore reader, picking this thing up past issue #1. Very bad job on Marvel's part.

 

[PhotoJones]

I thought this was biweekly.

 

[Dread]

Reposting my review:

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1: This is one of those old-time "Marvel brand" titles that had Marvel in the title and in the past had a long run, despite some rather loose premises. Usually this meant that over time, one A-List character became the main draw and it became one of their unofficial titles. Examples: Marvel Team-Up had the premise of having two random heroes "team up" for a story, and it quickly became an unofficial Spider-Man title with him the hero of choice; one relaunch was even called Spider-Man Team Up to be blunt during the Rielly era. Kirkman's MTU ironically managed to avoid relying on Spider-Man as a crutch beyond the first 6 issues, but didn't last beyond 25 issues and even that was a while considering it dove from the Top 100 by around issue #18 or so. Then there was Marvel Two-in-One, which quickly became like Marvel Team-Up, only with Thing being the unofficial main character. The prior volume of Marvel Comics Presents started in the late 80's-early 90's and from the get-go relied on Wolverine for the main draw, and it became an unofficial Wolverine title back in the era when the concept of Wolverine in 3 ongoings (an X-book, MCP and his solo) was rare. Sam Keith rose to fame doing Logan stories on that book. MTU showed that the appeal for some of these sorts of titles may not be high in terms of sales, but they always provided a dose of Marvel adventure that takes some break from what the rest of the line is doing. Unfortunately, without that sense of relevance, it relies on the draw of the creative team. Especially since you get 12 pages or less of each story a month. Much like MTU's debut issue, it chooses to have a cover with many Marvel characters, including those featured in the actual issue (Spider-Man and Hellcat, with Thing on the back; just try not to look at Man-Thing's, eh, bush; EWWW). It will double as a decent fold-out poster at some point. The first story gets off to a slow start about Vanguard, or rather, a story about some random images of wars past and present with a mysterious murder and the newest police woman/agent who is also a near supermodel with a low cut shirt, by Guggenhiem & Wilkens. Vanguard himself looks a lot like Capt. America but has a cool costume, and Wilkens' art is nice, and I appreciated someone in the comic book industry having some balls and showing some actual Middle East terrorists that don't have some sympathetic reason. Still, it was the slowest installment of the book as the rest were bursting with energy.

Hellcat's story from Kathryn & Stuart Immonen was incredibly fun and bouncy and I can't wait to follow it; it manages to blend Hellcat's post Silver Age superheroine identity with her pre-60's "teenage dating girl" title of Patsy Walker (y'know, back when Archie and Betty & Veronica sold lots of copies). Finally we get another heroine who isn't dark or broody or ****ty or mean and this is something considering she literally dated the son of a demon and was revived from death once. Hellcat's costume has even survived the 90's affair and looks as classic as it ever did, right down to eyebrows sewn on a mask (looks better on her than Adam West) and a SASH (looks better on her than Corsair). Spider-Man gets a weirdo "dream or is it?" story from Stuart Moore with some FANTASTIC art by Clayton Henry which is a lot of fun. Koslowski and DiVito team up for the lone follow-up to OMEGA FLIGHT's success with a story that delves on the new Guardian trying to attone his guilt and learn how to be a hero, but his power levels are deminishing and he may be absorbing life-force from other people (along with U.S. Agent keeping tabs for someone, possibly the feds). Tentakill, BTW, appears to be a new enemy, which is good because there should be replacements for types like Rhino, Mr. Hyde or Grey Gargoyle who seem to be perennial punching bags. The Thing story by "Nelson" (ha HA) was very endearing and was argueably my favorite from the book, although most of the rest were a lot of fun so it was a close call (liked the alternate Spidey who kept psychically revealing his identity; that is the one written by Bendis). The #1 issue has 5 stories and scores 4-1, with the Vanguard story likely needing more time to assert itself. Not too shabby, it just remains to be seen if the audience will respond with the kind of bite that Marvel expects. Hopefully they do. There has to be some sort of fun in the Marvel Universe these days.

So, yeah, I enjoyed it. A lot of fun.

I read this comic last night, and all I see in its future is cancelation. The previous volume of this comic was biweekly, which worked well for the "to be continued" 8 page stories. (Or, other "to be continued" 8 page stories we've been reading, like Endangered Species being almost weekly, make the story much more readable.) But, to have to wait a month for the next issue, and one of the stories being a 12 parter....and, in addition none of the stories were particularily well-done...I can't see why anyone, besides a Marvel hardcore reader, picking this thing up past issue #1. Very bad job on Marvel's part.

Realistically, you are probably correct; I don't see MCP selling in the Top 100 for a year, which is the prerequisite these days to remain after issue #12. I agree with you that the audience probably won't be there. But so far it is fun and I'll take 12 issues of an enjoyable read vs. the latest generic Wolverine/Spider-Man/Avengers crossover sloppy blockbuster any day.

 

[PhotoJones]

Editors Lowe and Barber did an interview with Newsarama talking about the series and future stories and creators. There's some information there about just what this Vanguard story is about. Apparently, there's a group trying to uphold Cap's mission statement, but not in a way we'd expect. My interest is piqued. There's a lot of to look forward to with this book.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=130127

 

[Dread]

Editors Lowe and Barber did an interview with Newsarama talking about the series and future stories and creators. There's some information there about just what this Vanguard story is about. Apparently, there's a group trying to uphold Cap's mission statement, but not in a way we'd expect. My interest is piqued. There's a lot of to look forward to with this book.

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=130127

Sounds good. Plus, it shined on another purpose of anthology books; testing out talent in new waters. Rather than throw many series and creators against a wall and see what sticks, try a bunch at once. And even if it tanks, that is extra experience for some creators.

Still, I am cynical and doubt it is lasting very long because of how harsh the market is for anything that isn't a juggernaut these days. Still, few would have predicted THOR #1 outselling a WWH issue, but here we are.

Really, why is it an issue when for once Marvel thinks about a comic besides the bottom line for once (and it isn't SPIDER-GIRL).

 

[PhotoJones]

I'm really looking forward to B. Clay Moore and Lee Weeks' Stingray story.

 

[Dread]

I'm really looking forward to B. Clay Moore and Lee Weeks' Stingray story.

Ditto.

Titles like this also give lower tier characters something to do so their Handbook Bio's can have some decent additions.

Clearly, Marvel likes having some anthology series around as they kept stabbing with Unlimited series and now this revival.

 

[PhotoJones]

Some of those unlimited stories had some real talent. Spider-Man Family has had it's share of good stories by talented folks, too.

 

[King_Mungi]

Weapon Omega - This one's really good. I enjoyed Oeming's Omega Flight, and this a fairly natural continuation of that mini. For some reason, Michael Pointer's powers have been fizzing out and no one seems to know why. It looks like it's connected to a red headed woman quarantined to a room somewhere on base.

Not so sure, I think Pointer actually absorbed her mutant energy and that's why he felt so good at the end...while her? not so much.

 

[PhotoJones]

His suit controls that, though. Which means someone's obviously behind this.

 

[King_Mungi]

His suit controls that, though. Which means someone's obviously behind this.

Yep, in the solicits for MCP #4 it even mentions someone is behind Pointer's flux.

Xorn?

 

[PhotoJones]

Doubtful. My guess is someone within the Canadian government. Either that or just a good old fashioned scheming villian.

 

[Dread]

I'd rather re-read Ultimate Clone Saga than see Xorn anymore.

 

[PhotoJones]

I'd rather re-read Ultimate Clone Saga than see Xorn anymore.

Wow, that's big talk, man. I thought Xorn was cool when he still Morrison's.

 

[Dread]

Wow, that's big talk, man. I thought Xorn was cool when he still Morrison's.

That was a long time and many confusing retcons ago.

Even then I was never a fan of Morrison's execution. I just hate that most of his ideas have been flushed away.

 

[PhotoJones]

That was a long time and many confusing retcons ago.

Even then I was never a fan of Morrison's execution. I just hate that most of his ideas have been flushed away.

A long, long time ago. Yeah, Morrison's run was the best run the X-Men have seen in years. He added so much good stuff and I agree it's a total shame and sham that so little has been used since. Quitely's designs seem to be making a comeback, though, at least with Scott. I'm all for that.