Original Sin: The Best Marvel Event In A While

Original Sin might be Marvel's best event crossover since Civil War.  But instead of trading on controversial character actions, Original Sin seems to be more interested in high adventure and boundless imagination (and maybe one controversial character action).

The setup was simple enough:  Someone murdered The Watcher and now someone has weaponized the secrets he accumulated over the years.  Now I'll admit, I was a little worried about this whole setup coming in.  Most of the time when someone uses the "Everything you knew was wrong" trope, everything's a little worse for wear.  Fortunately, the only big big reveal that came out of this whole thing was about Nick Fury, which I'll get to in a minute.

Anyway, with the mystery of the Watcher's murder hanging thick in the air, a ragtag group of heroes - including Moon Knight, Dr Strange, The Winter Soldier, among others - are assembled to follow the clues to find who really did it.  And I'll tell you, it was nice to see some lower tier guys get the spotlight in a big crossover like this.  Not that I don't like seeing Iron Man and Captain America mixing it up, but you know, the universe is bigger than just the Avengers.

And lemme tell you, it's fucking great!  The Punisher and Dr. Strange hanging out in a nether realm talking about the merits of murder, The Orb beating the Avengers with an eye of the Watcher, and Nick Fury being the biggest badass in the galaxy; What's not to like?

And listen, I understand if you're shaking your head at the Nick Fury stuff.

A bit of SPOILERS here, please just skip on down if you don't want this big reveal spoiled for you (more than it already has).  So, as it turns out, Nick Fury has become an old man since he got replaced (stupidly) by his long lost son Marcus 'Nick Fury Jr' Johnson - Seriously though, if you're mom got murdered while trying to protect you, wouldn't you keep her name?  What kind of asshole takes the name of his deadbeat dad instead?  I would rather they have brought over the Ultimate Nick Fury during some shitty crossover than this ridiculousness.  But, that's a deal for another day - Ahem.  Where was I?

Right.  The real Nick Fury.  So apparently the effects of giving up the last of the Infinity Formula to keep Bucky alive post-Fear Itself have finally taken their toll on the old warhorse and have made him age appropriate.  That is, he's turned into Bruce Wayne from Batman Beyond; old, crotchety, and supported by a cane.  But while that was the biggest physical reveal, it wasn't the BIG reveal.  That honor goes to Nick's reveal of his job all these years:  The Frontline Defense for Earth aka The Man on The Wall.

It's actually not a terrible setup, but one that falters a little when you think of the stuff Nick let come through.  Sure he was out there murdering rogue planets and developing inter-dimensional bullets, but he was also letting things like Maximum Security (The Earth is chosen to become an intergalactic prison), Secret Invasion (where the Skrulls nearly took over the planet while Nick was busy starring at photographs), and infinity (where Thanos made a run at Earth, landed, and fucked stuff up) happen when he probably could have stopped those from starting.

Regardless, the idea is neat, even if the last thing the Marvel Universe needs at this point is another secret society (Nick hangs with a bunch of LMDs, that's a society in my book) that's secretly running/protecting the world from stuff.  Do you think they ever got in each other's way?  Like, one group is trying to, I dunno, stop an intergalactic war by doing something that totally undermines whatever the opposite group is attempting.  Maybe that's the real reason Operation: Galactic Storm happened.

Back to the book, the only thing I'm not to hot on is the art.  Mike Deodato does some fantastic stuff with some of the craziest layouts ever, but it's totally not my thing.  I respect what he does, but it's too… muddy for me.  It's like Neal Adams' stuff fell into an inkwell but with more boobs.  

In a way, the series reminds me of The Infinity Gauntlet as something that can is very much of the era and can stand on it's own fairly well.  I mean sure, The Infinity Gauntlet had much more story lead up and had the craziest, highest stakes ever, but in the end you could just read those six issues and get nearly the full story of what was going on.  Meanwhile Original Sin, in a welcome change from other modern event crossovers, tells a full story over the course of 8 issues while giving enough motivation to any spin-off series that wants to exist.

I really hope this is the model of events for Marvel moving forward.  You know, assuming that they insist on doing these with increased frequency (I see that Axis starts next month… sigh) it'd be nice if the actual event was worth reading and not something utterly disappointing like the past dozen or so.  In the meantime, at least I got this one and it was pretty awesome. 

The Threshold

Real Talk:  Infinity is not very good.

It's cold, impersonal, and ultimately pretty boring.  Sure, it has some real epic set pieces, but that junk don't make an impact if I don't care about who or what it's impacting.  And don't even get me started on how the whole Thanos thing feels shoehorned into this over-arcing plot about The Builders and the Ex Nilhos;  it's tenuous at best, but mostly it's just terrible.

But, even though I complain and complain, I'm still going to buy the final issue next week.  Why?  Because I have the other five.  And therein lies the rub.

It was about a decade ago now when I made the conscious effort to stop buying books on inertia.  If I  wasn't enjoying the direction of the book, the creative team, or was just generally not excited about reading it anymore then I wasn't going to read it anymore.  It's a solid policy that's harder than you'd think to enforce, but aside from the odd Secret Warriors run, I've been pretty good at staying true.  

Except,  I just can never figure out the right time to stop buying a miniseries.

Take, for example, Infinity:  It's first couple of issues were good enough to warrant the buy, but after issue 4 I found myself increasingly disengaged with the story on a whole.  Culminating on the point I find myself at today:  I have five issues of a six issue miniseries, so I feel I need to see how it concludes, but I'm not really excited by it.  

I passed the point of no return and now am bound by my stupid feelings of completion to finish off the series.  It sucks.

So the question is:  Where is that Threshold?  What's the optimal number of issues to buy of a miniseries before making a true decision whether to continue or not.

Clearly, buying the first issue is a given.  It gives you a good sense of the tone, style, and hopefully has some gripping plot point that keeps you going.  A great first issue goes a long way to getting me to buy at least the next two to three issues and or looking out for the eventual trade.  A good one has me looking out for the next issue, and of course a bad one has me never going back to that well.  Seems simple enough, right?

Second issues is where things start getting dicey.  If it's no good, or just generally doesn't expand on the promise of the first, I'm out.  If it's good enough, I'll give it another go around before I opt for something more re-reading convenient.  And therein lies the dicey.  

Third issues are trouble because typically (at least with the newer 6-issue series) this is where something big happens that makes you (or me at least) feel the need to buy the next issue.  Then suddenly your four issues into a series you weren't sure about that's going to end in another issue and you might as well keep the train moving.

In other words, we end up where I am with Infinity.  Bleh.

I find myself at a loss.  I don't know how to solve this little conundrum.  So, how do you get around this?  How do you decide when to stop buying a middling miniseries?  Or better, when do you decide to stop buying single issues and just switch to trades?  

I'm curious if any of you have any tips for me and my issues with issues.

Also, does anyone really like Infinity?  

The Bill November 3, 2011

Jeez, it seems like just yesterday I was writing one of these. Time flies when you're QCing DVDs, I guess. Regardless, it's that time again for another scintillating review session with yours truly. What's on the docket this week? Come join me after the image to find out.

Oh. And massive spoilers on this one, so be wary.

Or don't. You know, whatevs.


..





Making the World Right Again:

Fear Itself 7.1: Captain America
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Butch Guice


Just when you thought we were finally done with this event, here Marvel goes pulling us back in with an extended additional epilogue. Fortunately, this one is pretty darn good, with some fantastic art and some stellar writing. Oh, and that twist.

True story: Five months ago (or so) after the release of Fear Itself #3, I was having drinks with a friend of mine who just started reading comics who asked "Do you think Bucky is really dead?"

I laughed her off. I quoted the old comic lore that if there's no body, there's no true death. Hell, that's how Bucky returned in the first place. I was convinced that Buck's run-in with Skaddi (or whatever) was nothing more than some quick 'cheap heat' (as they say in the wrestling world) and just done to move Bucky off the board for a few issues. "There's no way he's dead," I told her confidently, "that 'death' was so arbitrary and forced. There was no emotion, no build up, no hype. He's totally just hurt really bad."

Then Fear Itself #4 showed up with a big plate of crow for me to eat. I still refused, holding strong to my experience as a long time comic reader.

Finally, with issue 7.1 my intuitions proved correct. A more cynical man might write this off as a mid stream change up from the higher ups at Marvel, but I'd like to think it was in the works since the beginning. Suddenly, it makes sense that Bucky's death wasn't hyped, talked about, or lingered upon. Or you know, at least is a No-Prize explanation of those things...

Either way, I'm excited. The more I think about Bucky Barnes as a character, the more I like him and can't wait to read his continuing adventures. Especially if they're apparently going to be in the vein of the classic Nomad series from the mid-90s (of which I have a complete run...). Just a man, his motorcycle, a dark past, and the open road. I'm so there, it's not even funny.

Of all the series to come out of Fear Itself, I think I just found my new favorite.

The Obligatory Flashpoint Reaction

So... apparently the DCU is doing a semi hard reboot of their universe come September as a result of the Flash-centric, alternate reality shenanigans that is Flashpoint. Honestly, I don't know what to think about this one.

On the one hand, good for them for trying something drastic to get readers. For too long, the DCU has been hip deep in a strange, labyrinthine continuity (says the guy who loves the Marvel U) with an unclear focus. Perhaps doing this crazy reset will help them get over the hump, clear everything up like they've been trying to do since Infinite Crisis and put them in a great position for the massive readership that may result from the Green Lantern movie. Kudos to them for that.

However...

On the other, this doesn't seem like a very good idea. I may be a simple blogger, but giving your readers an opportunity to jump ship is never a smart thing to do. It's one thing to restart a few books here and there, or to focus on some undeveloped heroes for a bit, but a whole-sale restart in this day and age might result in more readers leaving, then would jump back in the fray. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, to say the least.

And then there's the other huge bomb in that announcement: Digital day-and-date sales. It seems whatever sales DC were to pick up wouldn't be shared with the retailers, and that's a real game changer. They've been talking about the death of the direct market for as long as I've been reading comics, and honestly today is the day that I think I can see the sky falling.

The next six months are going to be fun to watch...

My Problem With Bendis: SIEGE #4

I've made no bones about my misgivings about Bendis, but I've never really explained them. I figure this week, with Siege wrapping up, it would be a great time to really examine my issues with his work.

Let's get it right out in the open, shall we: Bendis has some fantastically awesome ideas. They're imaginative, insightful, and earth-shattering in a way that could truly change how you perceive your favorite characters. That is, if he could actually execute any of these ideas. Case in point is Siege # 4.

Spoilers ahoy.



The idea behind Siege is a sound one. Norman Osborne, drunk with power, decides to go after this foreign entity on his country's land (after some prodding from Loki, of course) using all the 'heroes' at his disposal. This, naturally, doesn't sit well with the real heroes, prompting them to jump into the fray to protect their Asgardian allies. Ultimately a larger threat is revealed (The Sentry) and the heroes have to pull themselves up to stop this devastating force.

With the defeat of Norman Osborne, The Sentry finally lost control and the Void officially took over; our heroes were at his mercy. It was a sincerely great cliffhanger, one that left me legitimately excited to see what was going to happen next. I should have known better.



Siege #4 starts with our heroes mid-beatdown, but we only see their struggle as Loki has the mic. Loki laments that things went too far, that he never wanted Asgard to come crashing down, he just wanted his fellow gods to learn a lesson. Poor Loki then has a hero turn, using what was left of his powers (and taking back the Norn Stones from The Hood) to power up the good guys against this ultimate evil. It should be totally awesome, but it just falls flat and it's all in the execution.

Bendis has a habit of doing this and it always drives me crazy (obviously). It's a great device to use once you've built up to it, but it requires the ability to control the pace of the story and that's something Bendis can't do.



Let's break it down.

The issue starts with the heroes mid battle, which would be great if the previous issue ended with a fight, but instead it ended with a reveal. To get to that point of the heroes in total dire straits, we needed to be 'in' the moment of that fight. To come in mid way works if our perspective is a hero on the ground getting his ass whooped, but then you lose that Loki moment. So then the answer is to end the previous issue with The Sentry standing triumphant over the heroes. He doesn't even need to be totally triumphant, just get a few good hits in so we can tell that he means business and the heroes are way out of their league, THEN you can start the fourth issue with Loki yammering on as the good guys go down.

Speaking of Loki, after super-charging the champions, The Sentry kills him. Rips him in half and Thor has a spark of sadness.



Of course this scene would have been way more effective if Loki was actually a part of the whole series. Sure he was the impetuous for the whole thing, and appeared briefly in issue one to remind us, but other than that he was suspiciously absent throughout the whole shebang. You want me to care about a character who's about to make a face turn and promptly get ripped in two? PUT HIM IN THE BOOK! Let me see his change. Let me see him take in the horror of what went down. I need to see the key story bits through his eyes to make me identify with what he's going through, otherwise it just seems tacked on and I have no emotional connection.

Horrible Bendis execution strikes again. He's in such a rush to get to those moments, he ignores the foundation that he needs to built to make them really work. Unless, of course, it's one of his pet characters then he's normally pretty good about it.



So you would think that The Sentry, being one of Bendis' pet characters, would have a great death, right? Right. With Loki in pieces, the troops are pissed so they pull out all the stops. Thor hits The Sentry with some lightning (but bigger this time!) and then Iron Man throws a helicarrier at the crater.



What?

So in the end it's not the heroes appealing to the good side of The Sentry, or some kind of 'Love will save you' bullshit that defeats this ultimate enemy, it's just hitting him harder. Sigh.



The dust clears to reveal a very naked Bob Reynolds begging the assembled to kill him. They refuse, citing the same ol' 'Heroes don't kill Mantra' that people make fun of comics for, only to realize that Bob needs them to kill him because he can't control the power inside of him.

He attacks! Oh NO! What last ditch trick can our heroes pull out to stop the unstoppa....



Or they can just hit it. Again. Double Sigh.

This death almost has the opposite problem than the first, which shows that Bendis is just full of surprises. Here's a character that he's really worked with, one that we've seen change and become this horrible creature, but one that had a good guy underneath. So instead of highlighting the hero that The Sentry was in this death, by having Bob struggle against it and give the heroes the chance to strike, Bendis highlights the weakness, having Bob helpless to stop anything that's happening to him or his friends. By doing it this way, Bendis again weakens the impact of a potentially iconic moment for The Sentry.



We'll end this on a good note. What Bendis does nail really well is the epilogue. It seems that he's finally found that balance between giving us a satisfactory wrap up, but still leaves things open for future stories.

It only took him three big crossovers to get it right....

Here's hoping that in the upcoming Heroic Age, Bendis does what he does best (big ideas and great character moments) and leaves the massive crossovers to someone who can better handle them.

The X-Tinction Agenda Ate My Brain

Oh The X-Tinction Agenda, how you've been forgotten.



You were the start of a string of bigger and badder (in both senses of the words) X-Men crossovers, reaching creative highs during the Age of Apocalypse (I don't care what you think, it was mind-blowing for the time) and ultimately crashing and burning with The Twelve Saga (shudder).

I found a trade collection of you the other day and thought, "oh, how wonderful it would be to remind myself of why I fell in love with the X-Men all those years ago." I didn't expect greatness from you, X-Tinction Agenda, but I didn't expect you to rot my brain with this horrible dialogue from Gambit:



"What care I for the others, whom I hardly know?"
"Missing? But where can she have gone?"

That feeling you have reading this scene are your brain cells dying. Just leave it be, it's not worth it. It took me a solid week to recover from processing Gambit's strange turn from mush-mouthed Cajun to oddly formal and grammatically confusing Dickhead.

What did I do to deserve this X-tinction Agenda? Maybe this is why everyone forgot about you, because you hurt them all the same...