Review Date: 04/24/2010
Last week we reviewed two new DC titles, so in the spirit
of equal time, Good King Leonardo has decreed that this
week
we review the launch of two new Marvel Comics Limited Series. So
let's see how these two issue #1's stack-up:
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Timestorm
2009-2099 Issue #1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Brian Reed: Writer
Eric Battle: Penciler
Andrew Hennessy & Vicente Cifuentes: Inkers
Bruno Hang: Colors
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Marvel kicks-off issue #1 this week of a new, four-part
Spiderman mini-series entitled "Timestorm 2009-2009".
The comic is scripted by Brian Reed, with pencils
by Eric Battle, inks by Andrew Hennessy & Vicente
Cifuentes and coloring by Bruno Hang. This series
takes place in the 2099 alternate reality Spiderman
series that Marvel ran back in the 1990's. For
the uninitiated, the title had a very science fiction
cyberpunk feel, a la the movie Bladerunner, with the
society of 2099 run by large corporations and superheroes
marginalized as part of the past. Although I
never read any of the series back then, I had heard
that part of the premise was that the reality
of present-day superheroes was twisted and mythologized
via a 2099 religion called The Church Of Thor.
The story in issue #1 of
the new mini-series provides us with a time-travel
focus. The all-powerful Alchemax Corporation
is messing with the time continuum by sending a Punisher-like
2099 assassin back to our time in order to assassinate
as many 2009 superheroes as possible, as such altering
the time continuum per the unrevealed goals of the
company's chief executive, Tyler Stone.
Unbenownst to Stone, the assassin's weapon when fired
actually propels Spiderman into the year 2099,
where he is quickly drugged and imprisoned due to
that era's illegality of anyone wielding power abilities.
The plot branches into two directions, one in which
another imprisoned powerbeing attempts to assist
Parker and another in which the assassin propels a
second Marvel hero into the future, resulting in a
very interesting end-of-issue #1 cliffhanger.
A secondary sub-plot introduces us to 2099 teenager
Miguel O'Hara, who in the 1990's "2099" title run
came to serve as that era's Spiderman, fighting against
Stone.
This issue worked for me
for a few reasons. First and foremost, writer
Brian Reed has scripted a story that successfully
creates a very credible science fiction dystopian
corporate society, while blending it nicely with the
existing Marvel superhero universe. Secondly,
Reed structures the story clear enough for the newcomer
to the "2099" Spiderman Universe to enjoy it
in its own right and pick-up enough pieces of the
"2099" storyline concept to figure-out what its all
about without having to do any background research
(or asking around to fellow readers more familiar
with "2099"). While there is a very detailed
narrative of the "2099" universe in the back of the
issue, I really didn't need to read it to gain the
basic understanding of this alternate take on the
world of Spidey.
I also enjoyed the early
pages of the issue in which scripter Reed
shows skill at giving Spidey/Parker that joke-cracking
sarcasm that has always been one of my favorite aspects
of Spiderman's character. The art team's work
is a special treat in this section of the comic, as
they manage the rare feat of giving some humorous
and very enjoyable facial range to the Spiderman mask
itself, particularly in a two-page spread in which
it dawns on Spiderman that he's been propelled into
a very futuristic time and place.
So all-in-all, I recommend
this kick-off issue as a very strong and entertaining
blend of science fiction and superhero story-telling.
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Electra
(Dark Reign) #1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Zeb Wells: Writer
Clay Mann: Penciler
Mark Pennington: Inks
Matt Hollingsworth: Colors
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Our second new
Marvel mini-series for this week is a new Electra
title. This comic is part of the wider "Dark
Reign" group of story titles in which Marvel is addressing
the aftermath of the Skrull Invasion, whereby the
former SHIELD has been replaced by a shadowy national
security group run by Norman Osborn. Issue #1
is written by Zeb Wells with an art team of Clay Mann,
Mark Pennington and Matt Hollingsworth.
Writer Wells begins this
new story at the moment of the ending of the big Skrull-Human
battle in Central Park, at which point a severely
injured Electra is taken into custody by Iron Man
and Shield. Her initial humane medical treatment
in a secure SHIELD facility quickly turns to interrogation
and torture, as Osborn takes over the agency and wants
to break Electra in order to find out why the Skrull
singled her out for experimentation while in
captivity. The plotting here is very tense as
the story accelerates through bloody confrontations
between Electra and her interrogators. The issue
concludes with a nice bridge to the upcoming second part
as Electra breaks-out of her confinement and gets
set to take-on the entire security force for the containment
facility.
I've always been a fan of
Electra and have enjoyed the interpretations on this
character by various writers and artists. Wells creates
a very silent and extra-deadly version of Electra
here, giving the story an atmosphere where one
gets the feeling that perhaps The Skrull's experimentation
may have transformed her into someone inhumamely
powerful and dangerous. Electra barely says
a few words throughout the issue, conveying as much
as words could via a mere look, gesture or just her
perceived attitude. The result is a thriller-type
story that reminded me of a superhero version of some
episodes of the FOX television series "24".
Definitely a recommended and enjoyable read,
and I'm looking forward to seeing where the upcoming
issues in this mini-series take Electra as she
makes her way through this Dark Reign world.
So there we have it for
this week, two thumbs-ups for the respective first
issues of these brand-new Marvel Comics mini-series.
King Leonardo is pleased that we have given equal
time in the past two columns to respective pairs of
new titles from The Big Two, DC and Marvel.
Happy reading, and see you again next week Here In
Bongo Congo!
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Contest Winners!
We had several correct entrees for our current
contest to name the current hit t.v. sitcom in which the main
characters are big-time comic book fans, along with naming
at leat one of the DC heroes regularly referred to on
the show and giving us a line or joke from an episode.
While I mentioned that two DC heroes are regularly referred
to on the show, some entrants correctly pointed out that four
characters are actually talked about: Flash, Green Lantern,
Superman and Batman.
Using my fellow reviewer Dave LeBlanc's roll of the dice
to select among many correct entrants, our winner is Ben Mininberg,
who correctly identified the show as "The Big Bang Theory,"
on CBS Monday evenings at 8:00 p.m. The four main characters
are huge comic fanboys, and DC comics are constantly referred
to. None of our entrants gave us a joke from the show, instead
referring to various references made to one of the
four DC heroes or comic book collecting references.
Although Mike Dooley was ineligible to enter this contest
as he won our last competition, he sent a very good observation
that "the comic book background for this show is not the superficial
"Batman/Superman/Spiderman/X-Men" common knowledge that almost
everyone knows." As an example, our contest winner Ben
noted that a recent episode had a character pointing-out that
you can't pick-up just any DC book off the store shelf these
days without having previously read "Infinite Crisis" or "52."
As a personal observation, I love the comic book humor of
the show. As an example, in a recent episode the character
Raj says to his friends "if the Golden Age Green Lantern's
weakness is wood and the Modern Green Lantern's weakness is
the color yellow, that means I could take them both out with
a Number 2 pencil!"
So if you haven't seen the show, my advice is to check it
out, you won't be disappointed. And congratulations
to Ben on winning the $10.00 That's Entertainment gift certificate
for this contest!
New Contest
Announcement!!
Our new challenge for you is to submit to us
your favorite television animated cartoon show and pitch to
us your explanation for why its your favorite show.
It can be a current show or a previous series that's in re-runs,
since so many of our favorite cartoon shows live-on forever
in endless re-runs. So e-mail us at Gordon_A@msn.com and see if
you're the winner of the $10.00 That's Entertainment gift
certificate!!!
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