Volume 09: The Amazing Spider-Man: Birth of Venom

The Amazing Spider-Man: Birth of Venom

Authors: Tom DeFalco / Louise Simonson / David Michelinie  |  Illustrators: Ron Frenz / Greg Lo Rocque / Todd McFarlane

"Sometimes I feel like I have absolutely no control over my own life!"

Peter Parker returned from Battleworld (Vols 06+07: Secret Wars) on a high, thrilled that he survived the ordeal (he only had to live it – we had to read it) and with his newly acquired black costume intact, but it doesn't take long before the reality of being Spider-Man brings him back down to Earth. He's forced to take stock of his situation and his relationship with Felicia Hardy, aka The Black Cat, a woman who understands the importance of having a secret identity.

Getting back to a more traditional one-on-one conflict after the cluster-fuck that was SW was actually welcome. Spider-Man is being hunted by a villain with an ability that can track the hero over long distances, so no matter how fast or how cunning Peter may be his avoidance of a final and decisive bout is only a matter of time.

His life continues to have its usual ups and downs for a while before the Venom character gets properly introduced. The slow build is never boring, though, because amid the usual comic-book shenanigans there's some tender times and some hard-hitting moments, the best of which comes courtesy of Mary Jane Watson. Even if you're not a fan of M.J. (I'm not) it can't be denied that Tom DeFalco used her well, splitting our sympathies between the confessor and the shoulder being cried upon. Sterling work, sir.

With that in mind, I feel it's unfair that only Michelinie and McFarlane get their names on the cover. They're responsible for only one of the included issues (The Amazing Spider-Man #300), whereas Louise Simonson scripted one and Tom DeFalco was responsible for five.

When Venom finally appears in all his blackened glory the stakes are raised even higher. He's not yet been given the sharpened teeth that he sports on the cover, meaning his toothy grin is at times almost comical, but he still manages to be menacing in all the best ways and push Spider-Man to ever greater levels of desperation.

To keep the page count to an acceptable level and get the reader to the money-shot sooner there's a lot of 'black-suited' Spider-Man issues omitted, which is a shame because there's some good stuff not included, such as the four-part The Death of Jean DeWolff. But overall, what's present is quality that should please most fans of the original friendly neighbourhood web-slinger.

The book collects together The Amazing Spider-Man #252, 256-259, 300.

Verdict:

Volume 08: Daredevil: Born Again

Daredevil: Born Again

Author: Frank Miller | Illustrator: David Mazzucchelli

'I shouldn't call him Matt. Give the man his due. He's wearing the tights. He's Daredevil. The man without fear.'

Frank Miller returned to the series that he'd worked on years before to give Daredevil a new perspective. To do that he dragged Matt Murdock through a hellish descent into paranoia and destitution, stripping the much-loved character of everything that was important to him so that he could be born anew.

If your only experience of Daredevil is the steaming turd filmed version then you won't know how deeply profound his struggles can be. Murdock exists in a world of darkness, literally. His costumed side, Daredevil, strives to combat the evil that arises from the darkness in men's hearts. The religious aspect of the light at the end of the hero's struggle plays a key role in his journey through hardship.

Even though it's mostly self-contained, the Born Again storyline isn't the best place to jump on board because it's really the ending of a larger story, a string of events that are all now meeting in one place.

Interestingly, it's more akin to a crime novel than a superhero comic. Outside of Miller's own Sin City his affectatious hard-boiled dialogue can seem awkward and ill-fitting, but not so with Daredevil, it fits beautifully (except for his usual excessive use of dashes and unnecessary ellipsis points that drive me crazy).

It's a well-crafted story with only minor flaws, the most prominent being the themes that Miller wants to comment on tend to overshadow the characters. With the exception of Matt, the story isn't happening to the characters. Instead, the characters are shuffled around within a rigid framework to advance the writer's goal, and when it comes to the crunch Miller backs down a little. Perhaps he was unsure of the answer to the problem and hoped the act of writing would clarify it for both him and us? Unfortunately, it doesn't, at least not in the way I'd hoped for.

Of course, you can view it from the other perspective and say that what he did was shift from the personal to the public. But either way it robs Daredevil of the intimate resolution that I craved. If the ending had been as gripping and as satisfying as the build-up, then I'd have scored it a perfect 5 out of 5; it misses out on that narrowly.

The book collects together Daredevil #227-231.

Verdict:

Volume 06+07: Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars

Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars

Author: Jim Shooter  |  Illustrators: Mike Zeck / Bob Layton

"You remind me of a lady bouncer I used to know."

The first arc in the series to feature a large crossover event and also the first to be split over two volumes. That's as exciting as it gets.

A powerful entity whisks a bus-load of heroes and villains away from their usual surroundings and deposits them on an alien world to do battle. Many of the good guys can be seen on the cover of the book (left), so I won't go over them all again. The bad guys are Dr Doom, Doctor Octopus, Ultron the Gobshite, and a few more B-Listers that would get paid buttons if it was a film and not a comic they were in.

By the end of Part 1 (Volume 06) I was of the opinion that maybe the Secret War should've stayed secret, like a shame, because it hadn't managed to do anything worthwhile in that time. It was originally a monthly comic, so after six issues (six months!) you'd expect at least something worth the time taken to collect and read them. Nope.

It mentions in the back on the book that it was originally conceived as a way to promote a joint Marvel and Mattel toy line (Mattel were the folks who produced Masters of the Universe). The actual story was a secondary concern. That explains a lot. It's a multi-part advert.

Rarely does anyone just speak in Marvel comics, they exclaim everything. When dialogue flows nicely it can detract from the overuse, but SW's is so awful that it heightened my awareness of it. I didn't hunt for the best example to prove a point, I simply chose one random page and this is what I got: two people in a room together, no one else around, six panels of equal size, twenty-five exclamation marks. There's a fine line between adding drama and being outright ridiculous. Jim Shooter left that line in tatters. It's fucking stupid.

When it was time to read Part 2 (Volume 07) I was close to despondency but determined to continue. And, thank the gods of turnaround, things improved. The fighting was still tedious but wasn't always just filler - there was actual consequences this time, some of which were continued into each hero's respective individual title. A few of the protagonists even had their emotional state altered or affected. Bloody hell! Secret Wars had justified it's existence. (But that doesn't exonerate it, because it's still crap and could've easily achieved the same result in 6 or 7 issues.)

Volume 06 collects together Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars #1-6; Volume 07 collects #7-12.

Verdict:

Volume 05: Thor: The Last Viking

Thor: The Last Viking

Author and Illustrator: Walt Simonson

"I live! The heat revives me. Yet I am broken inside."

The beginning of a four-year run on the series for author and illustrator Walt Simonson starts out shaky, but by the midway point has built itself a solid platform from which to scream, "I'm damn memorable, after all!"  After that point it changes focus to a less interesting situation, but overall remains stronger than its beginnings.

In Simonson's hands the hitherto unknown alien enemy that goes up against the thunder-chump eclipses the hammer-wielding hero in how remarkable he turns out to be. For me, so too did the thoughtful Balder, despite his substory being small. And, not to be outdone, the Allfather also comes across as more engaging than his son. All of which leaves Thor's star somewhat deflated by the end. But that's okay because the storytelling is what's most important, which is something that Simonson proves he's clearly good at.

He also did the art. I'm guessing he's either a wizard able to generate more hours in his day than the rest of us or he simply never sleeps.

The version of the story presented in the book is the recoloured edition. I'd prefer they didn't do that to important works, but, in all honesty, besides a few lazy gradient fills the result is fantastic, remaining respectful to the amazing art while breathing new life into the environments. The quality paper stock used by the publisher really does the restoration justice. I still believe that it was an unnecessary step, but it didn't make me twitch as much as it usually does, although that's perhaps because I'm not much of a Thor fan to begin with.

I'm sad that I might never get to read some of what's hinted at in future issues, in particular the journey undertaken by Lady Sif and her companion, and the continuation of the aforementioned Balder story.

The book collects together The Mighty Thor #337-343.

Verdict:

Volume 04: Wolverine: Wolverine

Wolverine: Wolverine

Author: Chris Claremont  |  Illustrator: Frank Miller

'I'm the best there is at what I do. But what I do best isn't very nice.'

In a remarkable and uncharacteristic feat of memory, I still recall the first time I heard the name 'Wolverine'. I was around ten-years-old. My neighbour, a year older than me, was raving about a new issue of a comic he'd picked up. It was most likely an X-Men comic, I don't recall that part, but the name 'The Wolverine' stuck in my mind even though I'd never seen the character and all I had to go on was that he was a short guy with retractable claws. The name was enough for my mind to fill in the blanks. And the fact that he was being referred to as The Wolverine, with a definite article attached, made it even cooler.

Many months passed (a long time to a kid) before I actually saw the character in action on the pages of my own comic and, even more remarkably, Wolvie lived up to the image I'd created of him.

Chris Claremont's four-issue miniseries (published Sept-Dec 1982) was Logan's first solo title and quickly became one of his most seminal adventures. In an introductory scene written in a first-person narrative he successfully establishes Logan's strong personality, animal instincts, mutant healing ability and draws attention to his struggle to balance savagery and violence with compassion.

Besides the customary catch-up monologue at the beginning of each issue for the people who missed the previous one, the author doesn't waste words on unnecessary exposition. He creates events that cause Wolverine to quickly question, conclude and act according to his nature, at a pace that keeps the drama thundering along. The result is a book that could be turned into a novel with minimal effort.

But if that happened then we'd miss out on Frank Miller's art. His seeming preference for small panels that tell a big story are a perfect fit to Claremont's precise wording. Many of the angles used are in a filmic style, guiding the reader's eye from one panel to the next like a good movie editor would do for live footage. To keep things interesting Miller throws in a few silhouette shots, double page tussles, and other things that are best experienced first-hand.

The book collects together Wolverine #1-4.

Verdict: