Volume 24: New X-Men: Imperial

New X-Men: Imperial

Author: Grant Morrison  |  Illustrators: Frank Quitely / Ethan Van Sciver / Igor Kordey

"Hey, it's those pesky X-Men."

Now they ask the obvious questions~. I'm not sure if that redeems them or further highlights how blinkered they were before.

Imperial continues the story that began in Volume 23. It's a much bigger book, containing over twice as many issues as before. But like a guy with small feet might say, size is no indication of quality. In fact, Imperial is even less enjoyable than the previous book.

A lesson that has been well-learned countless times before is given another airing: that when you make yourself a target (or someone else makes you one), there's no shortage of people willing to take up arms and cast their stones in your general direction.

As the story grows more and more chaotic it seems as if Morrison was respectfully acknowledging an old way of plotting, but at the same time giving it a new skin to live in. The wild comic book fantasies exist alongside real world concerns, the latter functioning as occasional much-needed grounding to the former.

The Nuff Said! event that I first mentioned in the Volume 22: The Amazing Spider-Man: Revelations and Until the Stars Turn Cold post hit New X-Men at issue #121, which is included. It's interesting.

I fear my eventual scoring will overshadow the books strongest aspect; i.e. the art. I want to draw particular attention to Ethan Van Sciver's backgrounds, all of which are detailed and beautiful.

If Sturgeon's Revelation (aka Sturgeon's Law) is accepted and ninety percent of everything is crap, then statistically team-based adventures make up a sizeable potion of Marvel's ninety percent.

The book collects together New X-Men #118-126.

Verdict:

Volume 23: New X-Men: E is for Extinction

New X-Men: E is for Extinction

Author: Grant Morrison  |  Illustrator: Frank Quitely / Ethan Van Sciver

"...[G]allows humor is currently the only thing keeping us sane."

Both Morrison and Quitely are fully deserving of inclusion in the collection, together they've produced some excellent work — DC's All-Star Superman is a good example — but E for Extinction is neither man's best work; in fact, it's probably some of their worst.

The book's cover neglects to mention that artist Ethan Van Sciver also contributed; he illustrated a full one quarter of the content. I'm not familiar with his work elsewhere, but here his art is detailed and dynamic, and his version of Beast in his current form is excellent.

It's a thin volume, just four issues, but should really have been only three because it's a three-part story. The fourth issue does keep continuity but feels like it doesn't belong, like it should've been moved to the next volume in order to preserve the completeness of this one. I suspect it was added to boost the page count, which, as you'll see, is something that Volume 24 had plenty of already.

The ongoing series having the word 'New' added to its title wasn't the only new thing to happen: it was Grant Morrison's first issue; Professor X got a new sci-fi toy to play with; it was almost the beginning of a new school term; and the team got a new member, which feels rushed and is accepted all too quickly by the remainder of the group, namely Cyclops, Jean, Wolverine, and Beast.

A similar criticism can be applied across the board, with many of the major events hurried and failing to make the impact they deserve.

One example is when a lot of people die; because the build-up was lacking, I'd no connection to them whatsoever and didn't feel anything when they were snuffed out. It was like crossing items off a list.

I had just as many problems with the relationship side of things. Wolverine and Cyclops cooped up together in a small space had the kind of strained atmosphere you'd expect, but elsewhere a few people were doing things that felt unnatural and forced.

One of the major scenes involves such an action, but the others accepted it when in reality they should've been almost enraged. As it is, they felt false and it pushed me even further away from caring about the plight of those affected. I'm all for changing the X-Men formula because I consider them a boring bunch a lot of the time, but I just wasn't able to connect with what we got.

The book collects together New X-Men #114-117.

Verdict:

Volume 22: The Amazing Spider-Man: Revelations and Until the Stars Turn Cold

The Amazing Spider-Man: Revelations and Until the Stars Turn Cold

Author: J. Michael Straczynski  |  Illustrator: John Romita, Jr.

"You can't beat this by hitting it. It's not that easy. But that doesn't mean you don't try."

The previous Spider-Man story, collected in Volume 21: Coming Home, ended with something that Revelations addresses. It couldn't not, such was the gravity of the situation, but it does it in such a way that the telling of it is as memorable as the reveal itself.

There's a small amount of suited, web-swinging action, but the majority of it is a people story, a quiet but powerful confessional that significantly alters the life and feelings of those involved.

It's the kind of situation that J. Michael Straczynski is really good at. He uses conversational scenes as multifaceted tools, enabling his action scenes to be justifiably interpreted as tests of character as revealed in the personal moments, working as a commentary that's a much better reason for action than is action for its own sake.

Outside of that, Peter is still settling into his new job as a teacher at a high-school. He's attentive to the kids' moods even when they aren't attentive to his lectures. His teaching is more than academic.

Volume 22 also contains Spider-Man's entry in the 'Nuff Said! event that had all of Marvel's major titles for December be without dialogue or exposition. There is some written word in the Spider-Man tale, but none of it is spoken. It highlights the essential role that pacing and spacing have in a story, and it forced people who may overlook such things to sit up and take notice, hopefully in a lasting way.

The second part of the book, the ...Stars Turn Cold part, is less interesting to me than the Revelations part. It returns to the Villain vs Hero format, something that was maybe considered long overdue by some readers who had to wait four weeks between issues.

I know my own mind well-enough to conclude that I'd likely have been less receptive to the change than I actually was if not for the comparative balancing I mentioned previously. In short, the immediate situation needing a resolution meant less time was available for introspection. And while it's true that the two parts collected as they are could be perceived as giving a reader the best of both worlds, the Revelations part is the main reason I'll be keeping the book when the time comes to choose what stays and what goes.

The book collects together The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol 2) #37-45.

Verdict:

Volume 21: The Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home

The Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home

Author: J. Michael Straczynski  |  Illustrator: John Romita, Jr.

"We tell stories, put on masks, build statues and say prayers to a memory."

Have I mentioned elsewhere that the books were released to shops out of order? I'm not sure. But they were. Volume 21 was the first issue, the one that started TUGNC and set a benchmark for the entire series. It was a hell of a good start! J. M. Straczynski nailed it.

It's about the adult Peter Parker, not the wise-cracking teen. He's separated from his wife, and living in a small apartment. It's a temporary, transitional period, but anyone who's been in that same situation knows that the weeks can become months, even years. If Peter is to bounce back, then he'll need to adjust to a new routine.

When not in the suit, Peter has time on his hands to think. JMS uses the time to explore the character's origins: who Peter is, why he is, why he feels like he does, and how he fits into a world that he tries to shape. It's a scenario I can very much relate to; when your own life is shit you sometimes find situations that enable you to improve the life of others, hoping to achieve a kind of universal balance in order to reinforce the belief that the world is worth saving from itself.

In a way, it reworks the character from the ground up, turning the familiar into something new and equally wonderful. It's not a disrespectful approach. The event that changed Peter Parker is exactly the same, but we view it differently, we're given a new plateau upon which to stand and have the benefit of onlooker-hindsight.

That's all I'm willing to say about the story. It's best if you go into it without expectations; not because it won't meet them, but because the story is structured to work upon a reader that way. It's so well-written that I suspect even folks who are unwilling to accept the philosophical side of things will be unable to forget it completely.

As is often the case with J. M. Straczynski's best works, the dilemmas and resolutions have a power that lingers even after the book is closed (or the TV episode ends); the questions and concepts are revisited on a more personal level during the small hours. One such conclusion is that to progress through life it's necessary to use all our available strengths in precise, calculated ways that are tailored to meet each new challenge - but even a perceived weakness can become its own opposite in a time of crisis.

The book collects together The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #30-35.

Verdict:

Volume 20: Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility

Author: Brian Michael Bendis | Illustrator: Mark Bagley

'I was selfish. So selfish — and you paid the price.'

Marvel were in financial difficulty back in the late 90's. The ULTIMATE line was a make or break concept that saw them reboot some of their most popular franchises for a potential new audience. It was a complete wiping clean of the slate, resetting characters back to day one. They didn't abandon the existing books; the new ones ran concurrently with a separate continuity that kept the core values but left behind all the baggage.
In the case of Spider-Man they made him 15 again; he's an adolescent in an adult world, on the verge of learning real responsibility for his actions. It was the most daring, freshest thing to happen to the character in many, many years. And luckily for Marvel it was instrumental in saving their ass financially.
More titles followed, including Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and an Avengers style team-up called The Ultimates.

Click the drop-down box above for some brief information about the Ultimate line of superheroes and how they fit into the existing Marvel world. It's not essential to what follows, so you can ignore it if you’re not interested or if you already know.

There's no flaffing around in Brian Michael Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man. It introduces the teenage Peter Parker, his friends and family, sets up the relationship he has with each of them and gives a glimpse of the world in which they all exist, then BANG! The spider bite, the transformation, and the crux of the story takes hold.

Comics are often filled with narrative boxes that document what a character is feeling; it gives a reader an insight into the head-space of the hero, but an over-reliance on them can be a crutch. Bendis makes use of them, it's difficult not to, but he keeps them at a minimum in the early stages. What he does instead is revert to a 'show don’t tell' attitude that gives the story a real vibrancy and immediacy; it filled me with a desire to get to the next page as hurriedly as possible, which is the opposite of what I normally do because I like to take in all aspects of the work (construction, style, art, etc).

Artist Mark Bagley understood the approach and fills his panels with everything necessary to communicate the unspoken parts. In just a few pages writer and artist show Peter's isolation, Mary Jane's compassion, Harry Osborn's arrogance, Uncle Ben's paternal longing, and Aunt May's stern but sensitive role-play.

I know Bendis has his haters, but I would argue that when he didn't dilute himself across multiple titles he was damn good at what he did.

If you want a Spider-Man origin story that closely resembles the Sam Raimi film version, and you want a great comic that starts strong and keeps on giving, then Ultimate Spidey is highly recommended.

The book collects together Ultimate Spider-Man #1–7.

Verdict:

Volumes 18+19: Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank (Parts 1+2)

Punisher: Welcome Back, Frank (Parts 1+2)

Author: Garth Ennis  |  Illustrator: Steve Dillon

'By the time he's done, I've passed out half a dozen times, the bullet is almost bitten through, and I'm holding the forty-five so tight the barrel's dripping blood.'

Like the colours of the logo emblazoned on Frank's chest, a lot of writers tend to make their Punisher stories black and white when it comes to motivations. They see the character as either a troubled victim lashing out at the world that created him or as a hopelessly violent sociopath who enjoys what he does and cares little for anything else. Both of those perspectives are in fact true, but there's much more to Frank Castle. There's a psychological depth that can be explored, and when that happens the stories take on a second life.

With that in mind, it made sense to hire writer Garth Ennis to bring Frank back to Earth. Prior to this reboot Frank had been working for a group of angels, killing sinners with ridiculous supernatural weapons. Something had to be done before he disappeared up the ass of incredulity forever. Ennis' love of violence and black humour, and his dislike of traditional 'superhero' stories, seemed like he'd make a perfect fit, but it's not as perfect as it should've been.

It's disappointing that he ignored the potential and instead went all out to make his début on the character as explosive and as violent as possible. Not content with just one vigilante killing people, he added more and butchered dozens. It certainly helped wash away the memory of what came before, but it's far from his best work. His usual black humour is there but smothered under the brutality.

The first half of the book is filled with awful dialogue; e.g. "Well, don’t just stand there! There he is! Get him!" It’s uninspired bad-guy stuff, and henchmen are dumb cannon fodder. I struggled on and the second half of the book saved the day. It had secondary characters worth caring about and when all was said and done it delivered a decent conclusion for everyone involved. Ennis had taken baby steps (in puddles of blood) toward a more interesting Frank.

The art is something else that could've been better. Artist Steve Dillon worked with Ennis years before on the British comic 2000 AD and together they'd created the controversial long-running series Preacher (1995-2000) for Vertigo. My problem with the art isn't Dillon's pencils, but Chris Sotomayer’s bland colouring. There's a good chance he was simply working to Marvel's brief, because a lot of their output around that era was similarly boring and lazy, but it doesn't change the fact that the end result is weak.

The book collects together The Punisher Vol 3 #1–12.

Verdict:

Volume 17: Daredevil: Guardian Devil

Daredevil: Guardian Devil

Author: Kevin Smith | Illustrator: Joe Quesada

"I've been blind since I was a child, and as a result,
I've never actually seen the woman who cried herself to sleep in my bed last night."

Guardian Devil isn't a direct sequel to Frank Miller's Daredevil: Born Again story (Volume 08 of TUGNC), but Kevin Smith's version of DD, his treatment of one of the more tortured heroes of the Marvel Universe, was clearly influenced by Miller's work.

It opens with a handwritten letter, a heartfelt confession exposing someone's inner feelings. Ink on paper can be a powerful modifier of a reader's emotional state; comics are ink on paper, too.

The text speaks directly to Matt's inner demons, a part of him that's never far from the surface thanks to his catholic upbringing: the unique feeling of guilt that the Catholic Church creates and nurtures in an individual, requiring them to feed it for life lest they fall from God's grace. For many of the lambs, the tether of conditioning the Church attaches stretches but rarely breaks, strengthening each time the individual is forced to confront their own mortality.

When someone is feeling lonely, lost, or underappreciated, when there's no-one around but they need acknowledgement of their feelings, who else but God can give it to them? Furthermore, just because someone wears a mask, is a symbol of hope for others, it doesn't mean they themselves aren't ever lonely and lost.

A new element is introduced and presumed to be either a form of divine salvation or its opposite, damnation. It's something that either ought to be protected or destroyed. The uncertainty, the pressure on the hero to choose one side or the other, is laid on thick.

Credit where it's due, Smith has some excellent ideas — delving beneath not just the spandex but also the character's skin, into their psyche is a solid basis for storytelling — but his heavy-handedness often undervalues the good work. When the text is being wholly subjective, such as the aforementioned letter, it's not a problem. When it's required to be objective, however, it can feel forced and melodramatic. The finale, in particular, was that way for me. It left me unfulfilled and resolute that, while I feel it was a book worthy of the score given below, I've no desire to read it again.

The book collects together Daredevil (Vol 2) #1-8.

Verdict: