Volume 13: Marvels

Marvels (1994)

Author: Kurt Busiek | Illustrator: Alex Ross

"I was learning a great deal about the world, and even more about the pain of a forced solitude.
I was aware of everything... understanding nothing."

The individual stories that Marvels was originally envisioned to tell would've been interesting reading, but the unified, multi-layered work that it became is something very, very special. Writer Kurt Busiek cites Tom DeFalco as the man that provided inspiration for turning many ideas into one idea, so kudos also to him.

It revisits iconic comic moments that span 35 years (1939 to 1974) by exploring those events from the perspective of the regular people that were directly affected by them. It's the Everyman story entwined with the story of a world unprepared for the threats that face it.

The eyes and voice of the work belong to Phil Sheldon, a freelance photo journalist. Phil can't climb walls or shoot fire from his fingertips, he can't even protect himself from being swept up by a changing public opinion, but when the superheroes begin to bleed into society he's there to capture it with his camera. Sheldon embodies the fear, awe, and confusion that grips a person as they watch two 'Marvels' fighting for dominance, tearing up a city like it was paper.

Flipping the perspective from the heroes and villains to the common man replaced the usual metaphor device with a more overtly relatable truth. It emphasised the choices and consequences forced upon the ordinary citizens thrust into a world they'd no control over.

I wasn't familiar with all of the storylines that played out upon the city like a canvas, but it didn't matter, the book is written in such a way that a lack of knowledge doesn't exclude you from Phil's story. Even if Marvels is the first comic book you've ever read, it still astounds. It's a love song to an age of comics that can never be repeated, and a genre breaking advancement in narrative that works on many levels.

It's also notable for being artist Alex Ross' comicbook début. His fully painted art style is unmistakable. Using people as character models helped capture a sense of dynamic realism. His heroes are truth exaggerated but never twisted into impossible forms.

The book collects together Marvels #0-4.

Verdict:

Volume 12: Wolverine: Weapon X

Wolverine: Weapon X

Author + Illustrator: Barry Windsor-Smith

"When all the secrets are exposed an' all the runnin' ends. Hell… Hell is comin'."

The story of how Logan got his adamantium skeleton. You've maybe read or seen that same event elsewhere in comics or film, but in Weapon X Barry Windsor-Smith, an auteur of the comic world, does it his way. He scripted, sketched, inked, and coloured the work; it seems that the only thing he didn't do was the lettering.

It uses the comic book format's strengths in every way. Sure, you could adapt it into a film, but you'd lose most of what makes it special because it's not just the story that makes it memorable. In fact, it's hardly the story at all - it's the structure.

Often when a page is broken up into patterns the positioning of dialogue is what helps us keep track of which panel to go to next. That applies here, too, but it's more complicated because the text boxes are arranged in a stylistic, unconventional manner and sometimes there's more than one voice speaking simultaneously.

A large portion of it is what I'd call background chatter that's functional but hardly revelatory, and it's repetitious. So why is it there? It has a second function: it's arranged in a circular pattern upon the page and in order to advance the story you sometimes have to read widdershins. It's like a clock face that requires you to read it backwards (it's a timer counting down and we know what's going to happen when that timer reaches zero). It's structurally complex but easy to follow in practice. There were only two or three occasions when I was unsure of which panel I was supposed to go to next.

The book collects together Marvel Comics Presents #72–84. The story is also included in The Best of Wolverine, Volume 1 (2004).


Verdict:

Volume 11: The Incredible Hulk: Silent Screams

The Incredible Hulk: Silent Screams

Author: Peter David  |  Illustrator: Dale Keown

"My whole life has been so unbalanced."

The first issue of the arc occasionally goes to some weird places (such as bizarre happenings in a closet), but author Peter David does a fine job in giving us an insight into where the long-gestating relationship between the flawed Bruce Banner and his hulking alter ego is currently at, and why it's crucial for what will follow.

The type of story it develops into uses the comic format wonderfully, pairing feeling and imagery in such a way that they work in tandem upon the reader — a state of affairs that's equal parts thanks to illustrator Dale Keown — one supporting the other in ways that are sometimes understated and all the more powerful because of it.

At this stage in the Banner/Hulk relationship the transformations are mostly under control, coinciding with the day/night cycle; i.e. during the day the Banner persona is the dominant one, whereas at night the Gray Hulk takes over. Green Hulk is repressed by both.

The communication between the personalities of Banner and Gray allows for a number of interesting parallels in both the astral plane and physical world, separately and together. (E.g. while Banner's friends fight to stop a threat in the physical world, he's deep in his psyche fighting for control of his conflicting emotions.) Quite often the dramatic use of colour during those times is excellent.

There's a number of timely light-hearted moments and even a few stupid ones, but overall it's a mature story that'll have the biggest impact upon individuals who understand that maintaining personal relationships is difficult; to take trust to a higher level it's necessary to willingly give a part of yourself, an act that weakens you while also strengthening a different but interdependent side – in short, it changes the individual. Someone with a fractured psyche, someone such as Banner who's fought to attain a kind of (shaky) equilibrium, has every reason to need the trust but fear the change.

The book collects together The Incredible Hulk (Vol 1) #370-377.

Verdict:

Volume 10: The Amazing Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

The Amazing Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt

Author: J. M. DeMatteis  |  Illustrator: Mike Zeck

"Don't fear me. Love me. For I intend to bless you. With pain. And blood. And Sorrow. Tonight."

I didn't expect it to be very good because Kraven hasn't held much of an allure for me in the past, but Kraven's Last Hunt turned out to be one of the finest Spider-Man stories I've ever read. Hell, it's one of the finest comics I've ever read. J. M. DeMatteis crafted a dark tale of personal suffering, full of symbolism and primal longings that puts many of the other writers on the Marvel roster to shame.

One of the reasons it works so well is because there's very little dialogue. Often writers use dialogue to bridge the gaps between small parts or to lengthen action scenes. There's no such trickery herein. Instead, there are inner monologues to tell the story; they really get inside the head of each of the three main players: Spider-Man (obviously) and two very different antagonists.

It struck me that reading KLH feels like reading a Noir text, but not any Noir that I've ever encountered before. Neither Spade nor Marlowe could climb walls, for a start.

Quite often whole pages go by with no text at all because it's not needed. The imagery from Illustrator Mike Zeck is able to deliver everything we need to follow the drama. His work oozes dynamic movement and pace. The colouring paints everything with a shadowy, other-worldly brush. The colours act like a kind of curtain or a veil that gets pushed aside just enough to let the person behind it act out their role. It's a truly collaborative effort between writer, inker, and colourists, and no one part would be as powerful on its own.

With a little help from William Blake and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, DeMatteis presented us with an enduring tale of men fighting for their sanity in a world that seems destined to take it away from them piece by piece. It deserves a place on every comic fan's shelf.

The book collects together Web of Spider-Man #31-32, The Amazing Spider-Man #293-294,
and Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132.

Verdict:

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 its 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: