And Finally...

It took a long time but I achieved what I set out to do, which is to record my thoughts on Volumes 1-60 of Marvel's Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection. There's nothing more to add. I'll leave the blog open and visible for archive purposes. Maybe it'll be of some use to someone, somewhere, someday, but I'm not planning to make any more posts. Farewell, all.

Volume 60: Siege

Siege

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrator: Olivier Coipel

"...[T]his is the kind of crap we should be avoiding."

The quote I used above echoes what I was thinking while reading through Siege. I could end this post right now, leave it at that, job done, but I've come this far, sixty volumes, so I'm going to finish.

Asgard is on Midgard. Okay, it's not technically 'on' Midgard, it's hovering twelve feet above Oklahoma, but still, WTF? Norman Osborn is still in charge of H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Avengers, such as they are. It was a stupid idea before and it's still a stupid idea now.

Looked at optimistically I could say that I feel the purpose of the story was to get the true Avengers back in place, or, if you prefer to put it another way, to undo all the convoluted, idiotic shit that they did previously. It's a semantic difference only. The result is the same.

Things were changing behind the scenes, too. The story was first published at a time when the live action superhero films were netting new fans for the publisher and Disney had just bought the company for a whopping $4,000,000,000. I don't know if the success of the early films had any influence on the planned direction, but it probably wouldn't have hurt matters. Siege put an end to the (then) current sate of affairs. It reset the nonsense, making things easier for the many new fans and beginning the new Heroic Age initiative.

I've drifted off topic a little. It's because I realised that I actually had said in the opening paragraph all that needed to be said about the book. It's garbage, the kind of crap we really should be avoiding.

The book collects together Siege: The Cabal and Siege #1-4.

Verdict:

Volume 59: Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State

Captain Britain and MI13: Vampire State

Author: Paul Cornell  |  Illustrator: Leonard Kirk

"Is that where she is now? With someone? Being a different person for them?"

I'd like to say that Vampire State is a great book, because I enjoy championing the underdog, which Captain Britain probably qualifies as in comparison to the majority of the other heroes featured in TUGNC Collection, but the confusing prologue is followed up by more of the same head-scratching and by the end I was sick of wondering who the hell anyone was and why they were there.

I attempted to factor in that perhaps I was simply lacking essential knowledge from previous Captain Britain and MI13 issues. But while that's no doubt true to an extent, I don't believe it's solely to blame, because the people I did recognise (from being a Marvel UK reader back in the day) were thrown into the narrative with no proper explanation and in some cases without even a legitimate reason why they'd be there in the first place. It was a mess in more ways than one. Characters randomly appear and disappear once their usefulness is used up (or is wasted), and then some other mad shit happens, before the finale magically pulls new levels of bullshit out of nothing but air. Why? What? Did no one question it at the production stage?

The 'story' has actual Dracula. The legendary vampire desires a nation of his own, so he builds a castle on the moon (because hah, fuck you, logic) from which to organise his forces. In response, Captain Britain, MI13, and a number of other mostly UK-specific heroes attempt to stop the ancient, bitey villain from executing his evil plan.

The most interesting thing about the book is that the Captain's powers are based on his confidence level, so self-doubt is potentially both emotionally and physically destructive to him. It's an idea that could've been put to many poignant uses, in isolation or sequentially, but it never is - or rather, never any worthy of the idea itself.

I felt some relief when I actually recognised things, such as the House of Lords, of all places (or was it the Commons?), but now I can't remember why it was featured. A brain-fart, perhaps, but just as likely a coping mechanism: my brain expunging the mess.

The book collects together Captain Britain and MI13 #10-15; and Annual #1.

Verdict:

Volume 58: Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: Leinil Francis Yu

"[Y]ou all really need your asses kicked!"

I mentioned previously (in Volume 20: Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility) that I believe Brian Michael Bendis can do good work when he sets his mind to it. I still believe that to be the case.

But it must also be said that his CV contains a fair amount of work that's the opposite of good - lazily plotted and clichéd stuff that still makes money because some fans will buy any crap with a Marvel logo; e.g. Secret Invasion, one of the worst books in the Collection.

It's a story about the shape-shifting Skrull, revealing how they've been masquerading as heroes for a long time, both A-listers and B-listers, destroying the costumed community from within in preparation for an all out Skrull attack (aka big yawnsome fight).

It kicks off with a huge battle in the Savage Land, followed by a huge battle in the city. During both conflicts we're repeatedly reminded that we don't know who to trust. It's a solid basis upon which to lay an evolving story of paranoia and misplaced loyalties—because the team need to know if the person next to them is going to protect their back or embed a traitorous knife in it—but the 'evolving' part of the equation is absent. Even five issues into the arc very little has changed, we're still wondering who is Skrull (or still not caring, in my case), still turning page after page of fight scene after fight scene.

The book's script rarely rises above tenth grade fan-fiction levels of accomplishment. It's an almost complete waste of precious time.

The final chapter drops a bombshell that'll once more throw the natural order into chaos. But frankly, the stupidity attached to the decision means the people involved deserve all they get.

The book collects together Secret Invasion #1-8.

Verdict: