Tag Archives: Jonathan Hickman

The Red Wing (2011)

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Quote:
Who are they, he asked. What choice did you make that they would want to destroy you? Robert, what do they want? And I replied, we don’t know

 

This book collects the four issue mini-series from Image Comics. It was written by Jonathan Hickman who writes almost exclusively for Image and Marvel working on properties such as Fantastic Four, Ultimates and S.H.I.E.L.D. It features some pretty nice art from a new name to me, Nick Pitarra, who has worked with Hickman before on The Manhattan Projects for Image and S.H.I.E.L.D. for Marvel.

The story focuses on Dominic Dorne, a cadet earning to pilot a TAC (Temporal Attack Craft) II ship in the 23rd century. His society is at war with a mysterious invader, wearing helmets with blue visors, who are attacking his timeline in the past and ravaging its resources. Dominic is emulating his father, Robert, who went missing on a mission into the past and the story flips the usual trope and has the father trying to atone for the sins of the son.

I liked this book on a first read – though it has its flaws. A story of this nature has to be self contained but I thought it was maybe a little too short – which is a little surprising given that the plot reminded me a lot of the extremely short Future Shock type stories from the old days of 2000AD. But I whizzed through this book very quickly and another issue or two might have been beneficial to help explain the set up better.

I have to say that the (pseudo-) scientific explanation behind the story didn’t quite work for me. The main problem was that the threat was never adequately explained. The only glimpse that we see of the 23rd century, outside of the ring, looks very futuristic and peaceful. The story didn’t really show us the effects that the Blue invaders were having on the Reds and why there was a full blown war.

Having said that I love stories that involve time travel and the best ones always leave me with a sore head as I try and figure out what is going on. And given the impossibility of the phenomenon, it seems a bit churlish not to enjoy the story on its own merits. The tropes used might have been well worn and the surprise ending not really much of a surprise but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless. Maybe I liked it so much because it is the first sci-fi comic that I have read in a while.

I liked the art in general but the design on the ships seemed a bit lazy being just blocky shapes. The art reminded me of Bryan Talbot in places and Geof Darrow in others and I would definitely be interested in seeing more of Pitarra’s work.

Thor (2010) – Part 2

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This is the second part of the round up that I am doing of the first issues of the recent avalanche of Thor titles published by Marvel. Like the first, this part consists of comics that feature Thor as the main character.

Thor The Mighty Avenger (cover date: September 2010)

The creative team on this comic is writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee. I don’t know the writer but Chris Samnee drew the recent Serenity book, The Shepherd’s Tale. Unfortunately I am not a big fan of Samnee’s art – it is too cartoony and unfinished looking for me. The story is fairly inconsequential – it is told from the point of view of Jane Foster who works at a war memorial museum. One day there is a disturbance and a man, Thor, is thrown out after trying to break a display case. Later on, after a meal with her ex-boyfriend, Jane comes across the man as he takes part in a bar brawl with a character called Hyde. Thor is left weakened and Jane takes him to the museum where his wish is to hold one of the artefacts which he smashes to reveal Mjolnir. This book is far too light for me. It looks and feels like a teen romance title and bears no resemblance to the usual incarnation of Thor. I would only read further if I had it on loan from somewhere. Apparently the paying public think so too as the title is due to be cancelled with issue 8.

Ultimate Thor (cover date: December 2010)

Marvel’s Ultimate universe is an alternative reality to the main Marvel line of comics that allows creators some freedom in re-imagining the characters. I have read a number of books set in this universe and they have been mostly fantastic. So my hopes were high coming to this title. Again the creative team is new to me (I must get out more or read more Marvel titles) – the writer is Jonathon Hickman and the artist is Carlos Pacheco. The story opens with a teaser scene of German Nazi soldiers and frost giants assaulting a ravished Asgard – can it get better than this? Next we have Thor incarcerated and under study as the failed attempt at a European super soldier. James Bradock calls in psychiatrist Donald Blake to evaluate the patient in a scene that deliciously points up some of the differences between Ultimate Thor and classic Thor. Next we eavesdrop on the machinations of Baron Zemo , in 1939 Germany, as he plans to lead an assault on Asgard. Then there is a sequence with Thor, Loki and Baldur in Asgard in a skirmish with some frost giants – with some of the nicest art in the comic. Finally we are left with Baron Zemo as he activates a portal to the seven realms and is about to begin his assault. This is a long overdue solo book for one of my favourite characters from the Ultimates (and the Marvel universe). A great opening issue with a number of plot lines that have to be brought together. It will be interesting to see where it leads – a must buy when it appears in TPB.

Astonishing Thor 1 (cover date: January 2011)

The final comic I am going to look at in this post is Astonishing Thor by Robert Rodi and Mike Choi. Rodi has written a couple of Vertigo titles but I don’t think I have read them. Choi has worked on some X titles for Marvel including Divided We Stand that I read in September. Sadly the story is anything but astonishing. While battling against some freak weather conditions, Thor is called to the remnants of a destroyed Asgard by Heimdall. Heimdall tells him of an appearance of a strange craft in the Solar System that is the probable causes of the disturbances and threatens the future of the planet. Thor sets off to investigate to find Ego the living planet and the Stranger. There is not a lot going on in this issue to get me excited. The art is nice but Thor looks very young. The story is just OK – there is not enough going on or dramatic tension to make me want to read any further. Another to borrow sometime but no loss if I don’t.