These days I will read comics from any source. From the blockbuster Marvel and DC books to alternative stuff from Vertigo and Image to self published stuff funded on Kickstarter. If it's good, I'll read it. Deep down though, I'm a lifelong Marvel guy. I cut my teeth on Spider-Man during the Clone Saga and haven't missed an issue since. I delved further into the universe on the back of Heroes Return picking up The Avengers, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Iron Man. I resisted X-Men for a very long time but finally succumbed during Schism. I now read almost the entire Marvel line.
This may be a big call, but I think this current crop of books launched during Marvel Now! is some of the highest quality I've read in 20 years of reading from the House of Ideas.
Marvel Now is, of course, in response to DC's New 52 relaunch. Same kind of idea, just a little less harsh. Instead of rebooting the whole universe from scratch Marvel kept their universe and history intact and simply launched a bunch of new series which made great jumping on points for new readers. While we still had an Iron Man, Thor, Hulk (etc) series they were fresh new takes on the characters with great new creative teams.
I've now set myself the difficult task of picking my favourite three ongoings of the line.
Who made the cut? Let's find out in this week's Thursday Threesome.
First up we have All New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen.
He didn't start small, either. The new lead X-Men book sees the original five teenage X-Men, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman and Angel, brought forward to the present day. Essentially things have gone to hell and modern day Beast wants the past team to talk some sense into their modern selves. Poor Scott has to deal with his modern self being the number one mutant terrorist and working with Magneto of all people. A very still human Hank sees the blue, furry changes his mutation will bring. Poor Jean Grey has to face the reality of her future death.
It's high concept and brilliantly executed. Bendis had gotten a little stale on Avengers so his X-Men is a breath of fresh air. He has a fantastic feel for the original X-Men's characters with his Jean Grey being a stand out. Stuart Immonen's art is bright, fun and dynamic and suits the tone perfectly. It's just a fun, fresh book and always goes on top of my reading pile.
Superior Spider-Man by Dan Slott and Ryan Stegman
Superior Spidey is a drastic new status quo that has been met with as much hate as praise. In a story a hundred issues in the making, a dying Doc Ock swapped bodies with poor Peter Parker before his death. Thankfully a little of Peter was left behind giving Ock his sense of responsibility and heroism. With his greatest enemy defeated Ock now takes up the webs and vows to be a better hero than Pete ever was.
Yep, Peter Parker is dead. Ock is in his body and the fan base is up in arms. I don't get the hate. Comic book deaths are about as permanent as a tattoo in a gum packet. The old status quo will surely return down the track. Why not just stop being so angry and enjoy the ride? This is coming from a guy who hasn't missed a Spider-Man issue since 1993. Slott clearly has all this planned out and it will come to a conclusion in good time.
Besides, the book is fantastic. I'll forgive anything as long as the result is high quality. The tone is a little darker but it's still just as fun. Ock is a far more cunning, efficient, logical and brutal hero than Peter was. It's great fun watching his super villain tactics bleed into his hero life. He has an island lair and squads of Spider goons. That is terrifically funny. He's even in the good books with the mayor, J Jonah Jameson (yes, he's mayor of NY now).
Equally as great are the series' companion books Superior Spider-Man Team Up and Superior Foes of Spider-Man. Team Up, of course, pairs up Ock with with other Marvel Heroes. Seeing his new personality bounce off guys like Thor is really interesting. There's a really intriguing story arc with Ock capturing his former Sinister 6 teammates that's coming to a head. Can't wait to see what's in store. Foes is a villains book centering around lovable loser Boomerang and other b-list villains like Shocker and Speed Demon. This book is a sleeper hit for me and really shares a similar tone to Fraction's award winning Hawkeye. Worth a look.
Thor: God of Thunder by Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic.
This book is easily my favourite of the whole line. This is a high concept and massively scoped take on the mighty Avenger. Weaving in and out of three time periods God of Thunder follows Thor as he hunts the malicious God Butcher through time and space. We get plenty of bang for our buck with not one, but three iterations of our hero. We have the current Thor we know and love, a young, brash pre-Mjolnir Thor and an old, battered King Thor. Of course thanks to some time travel shenanigans we end up having a fantastic team up between three generations of the son of Odin.
The art is spectacular. Can't praise it any higher. Ribic's painted style perfectly matches a book about characters of myth and legend. The folks at Marvel must of loved it too as Ribic has been promoted to the main Avengers book in December.
The God Butcher arc runs for 12 issues and is perfectly paced and executed by Jason Aaron. He really gets this character. Having three versions of Thor makes for some interesting interactions and give a real sense of who he is. It's been a long time since Thor's role as a God has really been acknowledged and I really enjoyed seeing that side of him.
I hope you go out and try the first few issues of each of these. Very new reader friendly and really show the high quality Marvel is outputting as of late. Just missing the cut but also fantastic are Avengers, New Avengers, X-Men Legacy and FF.
No comments:
Post a Comment