Tag Archives: Marvel

House of M: The Incredible Hulk (2006)

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[ Watching the Dresden Files Currently: Watching the Dresden Files ]

Quote:
“Hulk smash puny paperwork!!!!”

 

Next in my House of M read is this book which collects Incredible Hulk 83 – 87. It was written by Peter David who has got to be the writer most closely associated with the Hulk after Stan Lee. The main story (the first four chapters) was illustrated by Jorge Lucas who is an Argentinean artist whose work I have not come across before but who has had short runs on a variety of Marvel books.

As the story opens, Bruce Banner has been living with an aboriginal tribe finding a means to control the Hulk. Australia us also the country with the most severe mutant administration and hundreds of humans have fled to the outback with the help of AIM. When the authorities invade an aboriginal sacred space to try and round up the humans, the Hulk is unleashed and takes the fight back to Sydney and takes over the country’s administration. But all is not well as Banner uncovers an AIM sponsored project into which human refugees are disappearing.

The story was just OK – given David’s reputation I am guessing that this was probably not one of his best. It didn’t have the depth of the Banner book that I read recently or the over the top abandon of World War Hulk. I wanted more of the relationship between Banner, the Hulk and the beliefs of the Australian Aborigines which was touched on in this story but subsumed by the standard superhuman fare. The tension between Banner and the Hulk was quite well explored in the expectations of the human administration who wanted the occasional appearance of the Hulk to appease the populace and Banner who wanted to keep him under check. The art by Lucas was fine without being spectacular.

House of M (2006)

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Quote:
“They gave us what we always wanted, and … isn’t there an argument that we deserved to get this? To be happy for once?”

 

I have put The Walking Dead re-read on hold for the moment as I have reached the same point as the TV series mid-season break and I want to se what they do in the series before carrying on in the comics. Instead I am going to read the House of M books as I have collected most of them from one source or another – I am only missing the Excalibur prelude.

House of M was the Marvel crossover event from 2005 and features the New Avengers and the X-men. This book collects the eight part main story and I was looking forward to reading it as the creative team was writer Brian Michael Bendis and penciller Olivier Coipel. I recently read and enjoyed the first New Avengers book that Bendis also wrote in the same era and as an added bonus I loved Coipel’s work on Thor.

The story takes place after the Avengers Disassembled storyline. The Scarlet Witch is being stabilised by Charles Xavier in Genosha but he fears that he can do little to prevent her having another potentially disasterous breakdown. The Avengers – old and new – and the X-men are gathered together to decide the fate of their former team-mate and fellow mutant. But they arrive too late to prevent the Scarlet Witch from rewriting reality and creating a world in which mutants rule over homo sapiens. Wolverine awakes in this new reality but finds that he remembers the original reality too and sets out on a quest to find out what is going on, round up any of the powered human resistance that he can and put things back they way they were if he can.

This is another great book from Bendis that I enjoyed very much. The storyline was interesting as it offered an alternative few of a mutant dominated world where Magneto won his fight to have mutants rule over the human population. The concept of dreams coming true is explored most thoroughly through the experiences of Peter Parker who is put through the emotional wringer by Bendis when he regains his memory of his true life. The weakness of the book is that it is being used as a game changer in the Marvel universe so a lot of questions are left unanswered presumably to be further explored in the individual comic series, especially the mutant ones, after the legacy that the Scarlet Witch leaves behind. But if you can accept that then it is a fine crossover story and well worth a read.

Startling Stories: Banner (2001)

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Quote:
“Your brain for God’s sake! It’s what makes you who you are.”

“It’s what makes me something I don’t want to be.”

 

This book collects the four issue mini-series of the same name by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Richard Corben. I know Azzarello’s work from various Vertigo series such as the great 100 Bullets, the not quite so great western series Loveless and a run on Hellblazer that I did not like terribly much. Corben also illustrated an Hellblazer story line during Azzarello’s run but I am more used to seeing his work in Heavy Metal magazine though he does have a serialised story running in the latest incarnation of Dark Horse Presents.

Doctor Samson is trying to capture Bruce Banner as the Hulk goes on an uncontrolled rampage devastating several small towns. Meanwhile, Banner is struggling to come to terms with his actions as the Hulk, both in the past and the present, as he tries to help in the aftermath of his most recent episode. And all the while General Ross is waiting for Samson to complete his mission so that he can take drastic steps to control the menace.

This is one of a number of tales labelled as Startling Stories. I am not sure of where they lie in Marvel’s continuity with at least one source claiming that they are set on an alternative Earth. In any case, this is a dark little tale from Azzarello with Banner attempting suicide after one particularly devastating episode that completely destroyed part of a town. Azzarello explores Banner’s feelings of guilt and remorse to a level that I have not read before – though I am not the greatest Hulk fan so am ready to be corrected on that. The art from Corben is as good as usual and I like his portrayal of the Hulk. I normally see his work in a fantasy or horror context and I think that this story is enhanced due to his background in those genres, especially in the scenes that feature a reflective Bruce Banner.

The New Avengers: Break Out (2005)

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Quote:
“Why wouldn’t you be wearing underwear?”
“I chafe.””I want off the team.”

Collecting the first six issues of the ongoing New Avengers series, this book was written by Marvel mainstay Brian Michael Bendis with pencils by Canadian artist David Finch. Bendis has had long runs on many of Marvel’s top books including Daredevil, The Avengers, Ultimate Spider-man and has written the lead story on a number of Marvel’s crossover events including House of M. I have come across Fincher’s art before on Volume 2 of Moon Knight.

Luke Cage and SHIELD agent Jessica Drew are accompanying Matt Murdock on a visit to Sentry on the super secure penal facility the Raft when a jail break, carried out by Electro, occurs. Captain America, Spider-man and Iron Man are attracted to the spectacle and are soon joining the others in trying to contain the prisoners as best they can. In the aftermath, Captain America suggests putting together a new Avengers team to investigate the purpose of the break out and help recapture the 40 plus prisoners who managed to escape. In the course of their investigations they are led to the Savage Land, meeting up with Wolverine along the way, and run into illegal, covert SHIELD operations there.

I liked this book a lot. It had a bit of something for everyone – epic battles between heroes and villains, comedic moments between the fledgling team, intrigue and possible institutionally approved illegal activity and conspiracy theories. The book brings the team together and ends at the conclusion of their man hunt for the villain whose escape was being concealed by the mass breakout but it left plenty of loose ends to examine in further issues. I have already placed my order for volume 2 and look forward to more of the same.

Wolverine: Logan (2009)

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Quote:
That broad of yours. She … she once told me you were the only man on this island with … with an ounce of mercy. Whatever happened to that guy?

 

This book collects issues 1-3 of Wolverine: Logan by writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Eduardo Risso. I know Vaughan primarily from his excellent work on Y: The Last Man and I have also read a couple of volumes of Ex Machina. Risso is rapidly becoming one of my favourite artists for work on 100 Bullets, Vampire Boy and currently Spaceman.

Wolverine journeys to Japan with his memories newly restored to him. While there he has to confront the ghosts of his past from 1945 as well those that linger in the present. In the 1945 story line, Logan wakes up in a cell with an American named Warren in a Japanese PoW camp. Together they escape but soon part ways over a disagreement over whether or not to kill a civilian woman they come across. Warren returns to kill Logan and the woman and is found to have similar abilities to Logan in that he seemingly cannot be killed. But before Logan can exact vengeance for the death of his lover, the Americans arrive to bomb the nearby city.

This is a great book but with one slight qualm. I am a bit uneasy that the background of this book is the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. While there is nothing particularly distasteful in the story it only seems to added to, firstly, show that Wolverine can survive a nuclear explosion and, secondly, to create a powered opponent for him to smack down in the present at the end of the book. It is this second aspect that is particularly shabby to me as the character, Warren, while not portrayed in the best light in the 1945 sequence is just as much a product of his circumstances and nature as Wolverine himself. Maybe if they had more space to examine Warren and Logan as two sides of the same coin then maybe I would have had accepted it more.

Risso’s art is great again. The book contains some unused pages in black and white that are even better. He is an artist whose style is well suited to balck and white only – you can see (and buy) most of the pages from this book in black and white on his web site – including some that don’t seem to be in the collected volume. Having said that some of the coloured pages are superb – especially in the third chapter. Well worth the admission price.

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.