SUPERMAN #400 – for our 400th post

This is the four-hundredth post at Warrior27, and that number immediately conjures up memories of one of my favorite single issues of a comic book ever – the 1984 anniversary edition of Superman 400.  It’s a super-sized issue (it’s 64 pages & cost $2.00!) filled with superstar talent, and it is one of the comics I would bring to that metaphorical desert isle, if I were ever relegated to such a fate. 

Let’s start with that cover – a beautiful painting that feels more like a movie poster than a comic cover.  In a collage of images readers are given the story of Superman, with the Man of Steel front and center.  It was years before I discovered this was drawn by Howard Chaykin, whose work I have come to admire greatly.  His style is almost subsumed by his painting, but if you look closely enough, and know what you’re looking for, it becomes obvious this is a Chaykin piece (the signature hidden in the top stripe of the American flag also gives it away).  Then, on the inside cover, we are treated to a quick introduction to the wonder of Superman and the importance of this character by legendary author Ray Bradbury, whose works of science fiction and fantasy transcended genre to become literary classics, in a manner parallel to how Superman, as a character, transcended the “gutters” of comic book publishing to become a worldwide icon.  Fitting.

The issue itself is divided between pin-ups and short stories.  With a lone exception, these are all written by longtime Superman scribe, Elliot S! Maggin, and all of them relate legends that have cropped up around Superman in the future.  The variety in tone and point of view for these tales is impressive and far-ranging, and readers would be forgiven for not realizing they all came from the same typewriter.  And every one – every single story – is great, in its way.

After an introductory three pages drawn beautifully by Joe Orlando, the first story proper is drawn by Al Williamson.  Set in 2199 on the lunar city of Armstrong City, we follow a futuristic snake oil salesman, regaling a group of locals with his tale of being rescued by Superman and the secret recipe the Kryptonian offered him, which became his “Superman Nectar.”  It’s a fun tale that mixes a wild west setting – Armstrong City is modeled off the frontier towns of the American old west – with hovercars and other science fictional elements.  Though the narrative is fun, the real star here is Williamson, who, not being anchored to actors’ likenesses as with his contemporaneous Star Wars work, really shines with his traditional, but beautiful, renderings. 

Next, we have Frank Miller drawing a story about scientists who have discovered the true identity of Superman.  They use the unearthed video footage of the 1950s Superman television show starring George Reeves.  In that show, it’s revealed that Superman is actually Clark Kent – coupled with the inclusion of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, and others in the TV show, the scientists extrapolate the truth and offer it to this world of the future.  Again, it’s a fun story that plays on the broader Superman mythos and gives readers an interesting take on the character that wouldn’t normally be included in the regular comic. 

The next story is one of my favorites – a dystopian tale of repression.  The future Metropolis is held under thrall by the Metropolis Militia, working for the rich to keep the masses under its militaristic thumb.  This tale follows a homeless man as Christmas nears.  Cold, hungry, with nothing but the clothes on his back, he slips into the old library building to get warm and find a place to sleep.  Looking for a blanket, he finds a Superman suit and puts it on.  On his discovery by a guard, he is immediately fired upon … and the suit deflects the blasts. This leads the homeless man to rush outside and show the rest of the downtrodden how to resist.  He shouts into the night, “Resist!  Resist!” until the militia realize it’s the suit protecting him and fire at his head, disintegrating the man. 

But his cries of resistance shudder over the crowd gathered in front of the library.  They push back against the militia, using their numbers to roll over the armed guards, and the dreams of freedom and peace that Superman inspired centuries past are born again.  This story was drawn by Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin, and their work is stunning.  Whereas I remember feeling that Rogers’s art for the Silver Surfer relaunch, which would come a few years after, was tired and uninspired, the work on these handful of pages is fantastic. 

Following this, we get a story drawn by Wendy Pini, whose “mainstream” comic work is few and far between.  Set in space, on the off-world campus of Brandeis University, we follow a small group of students as they watch a video lecture, wherein two professors attempt to explain who Superman was.  The debate devolves into a silly argument about which one of them is correct – one claiming the super-suit they are examining was used by an empowered female, while the other believes it was a “masculine product of the popular imagination.”  The students eventually turn off the video, as the vitriol between the two professors reaches an extreme level, and Maggin nicely sums up the theme of this short narrative with his final captions. 

Michael Kaluta’s delicate linework brings the next story to life, which is a premonitive tale about a virtual reality “theater.”  Two boys in this far future world run into each other as they enter the theater, where they are going to role-play a Superman story through pairs of special goggles.  It’s an immersive experience, with one boy playing Superman, with his own imagined powers rather than those with which people are familiar, and the other playing the victim.  In the end, the day is saved.  And then it’s time for the boys to switch roles.  Another really fun story elevated by Kaluta’s beautiful art.

The penultimate story takes place in the year 5902, and is my favorite of the whole issue.  Illustrated by Klaus Janson, his exceptional skill at delineating body language and facial expressions is something wonderful to behold.  In this far flung tale, humankind has moved beyond war and famine and injustice, and every year celebrates Superman’s legacy with Miracle Monday, a day when all families come together for a special meal where each member adds food from their plates to the empty one reserved for Superman, against his eventual return.  On this particular night, with this particular family, Superman is actually thrown through time and lands outside their home.  Disoriented, he finds his way to their door, where the family assists him.  Only one of them realizes Superman’s true identity but keeps it secret from the rest of his family.  And, thankful for that and for the bright future he has now experienced, Superman returns every year – unseen by this family – to partake of their generosity and empties the plate, to the delight of all present.  Yes, it hews a bit close to the Christ tale for me – something I did not see when I first read it – but I still enjoy the magic and beauty evident in this short story. 

Finally, we reach the one piece not written by Maggin.  Jim Steranko writes, draws, letters, and colors the final story in this wonderful tome – “The Exile at the Edge of Eternity.”  Told through captions and beautiful double-page spreads, this is the story of the end of humanity.  The last ancestor of Superman, whose DNA has intermingled with humanity for millennia, makes the ultimate sacrifice, focusing all the energies of the rest of humankind into ten beings in order to halt the death of the universe.  The unleashing of this energy, through the expiration of these ten beings, leaves the architect of this plan a mere mortal, who is now the last man alive in the cosmos.  But it also spurs new growth and renewed life on Earth, and as this tale ends, a new Eve emerges from these energies, presaging a new beginning for humankind. 

Then, there are the pinups scattered throughout. These are phenomenal, adding to the already stacked deck of creators who contributed to this landmark issue.  You saw the listing of talent on the front cover.  But if you’ve forgotten, there are some fabulous images from some of the very best ever to delineate a figure in these four-color wonders – people like Berni Wrightson, whose moody inks bring to life power of the Man of Steel, or Walter Simonson, whose distinct and strong linework showcases an exultant Superman astride a huge S-shield, held aloft by all of his supporting cast, or John Byrne, who was THE superstar artist of the day and would go on to revamp Kal-El two years later for the character’s fiftieth anniversary, or Jerry Robinson, the golden age artist known for his signature work on Batman, who has the dynamic duo swinging in for a Superman statue dedication ceremony, where a mayor looking very much like Ed Koch presides over a crowd filled with real-life celebrities and comic book characters alike, or Jack Davis, legendary Mad Magazine artist with his distinct rendition of Clark Kent’s quick-change into his heroic alter-ego, complete with an impatient elderly woman waiting to use the phone booth.  Brian Bolland lends a hyper-detailed rendition of Clark revealing his costume beneath a business suit, while Leonard Starr wishes Superman the best in the next 400 issues with a classic rendition of the Man of Steel flying Annie and her dog through the air, and Mike Grell offers up a stylish image of Clark Kent and Superman side by side, smiling out at the readership, with a golden S-shield behind them.   

If the above murderer’s row of artists sounds great, consider the fact that they are part of the undercard as four true giants of the medium also contributed to this landmark issue – Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and the Creeper, among many other characters, and the only artist who could match in production and quality another contributor to this issue, Jack Kirby, co-creator of the Marvel Universe, as well as the New Gods, Kamandi, the Demon, and myriad other notable characters; there is also Will Eisner, creator of the Spirit and one of those credited with the creation and eventual popularization of the graphic novel format, and Moebius, Jean Giraud, the French comic artist whose Arzach, Lieutenant Blueberrry, and various other creations showcased his supple and beautiful linework. 

All of these talents came together to make this an artistic feast for any and all fans of the comic medium.  My favorite pinup, though, of all these heavyweight ink-slingers has to be the simplest image, which came from Bill Sienkiewicz.  In the back of the book, he offers up a final farewell for the Man of Steel’s 400^th issue, as we are treated to Superman flying away from us, at super-speed, with Sienkiewicz’s signature style elevating this far beyond the simple premise from which it was begat.  Just beautiful. 

The smartest thing DC comics did, in preparing this special issue, was to allow the writers and artists to craft stories untethered by continuity.  Given free reign, while not beholden to anything but the primary essence of Superman, imbues each of these tales with a timeless quality.  And designing these narratives as legends set in a future where Superman has been woven into the mythic tapestry of humanity, adds weight to this heroic icon while also reaffirming truths about the ideals and mores for which Superman stands.  These two aspects – the timelessness and legendary quality of the stories – are what allow for frequent re-reads of this book that never disappoint. 

So, for this 400^th post, one of my all-time favorite comics.  Superman 400.  Check it out.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

-chris  

What It Is - week ending 9 November [2014]

With apologies to Dave the Thune.

WRITING:

Every day.  1000 words.  That’s the goal.

Got back on track with the novel this week, which was nice.  I was afraid, after being away for a week, that it might be difficult to get into the swing of it (so many of the issues I have with writing stem from a need for routine and repetition, and putting aside a narrative for a few days can seriously hamper me, at least during that initial return to the work), but I was pleasantly surprised.  As with most scenes, I had a set idea of where things were going, but – though the overall story remained on course – the characters veered off-track just enough to surprise me and infuse the scene with a bit more drama and engagement for readers, I hope.  Regardless, it’s always fun to be writing, having the words move along the way I’d anticipated, and then, all of a sudden, have one character respond in a manner I had not considered – but it works, within the story and for the character.  Those moments are exhilarating.  Of course, then the question becomes, will it hold up when I start revisions.  Who knows?  But, for now, I’m really enjoying the story – so, that’s a big plus.  And I know, for sure, that this idea has legs and will fill out a novel nicely. 

Got a nice response to something I wrote a week back.  In the “What It Is” for the week ending 2November, I wrote a quick review of “Daddy” by Josh Simmons & James Romberger (published by Oily Comics).  Without warning, I received a pdf preview of Romberger’s next project, THE LATE CHILDAND OTHER ANIMALS, a graphic memoir written and colored by Marguerite Van Cook (Romberger’s partner), adapted and drawn by Romberger, and published by Fantagraphics the end of this month.  I haven’t found the time to read it yet, but I’m really looking forward to it.  Judging by his earlier work, including the aforementioned “Daddy” along with “Post York” and “7 Miles a Second,” I expect to enjoy the experience.  And, if you’re a fan of intelligent and engaging comics, seek out Romberger’s work and check out his site.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

READING:

Finished GONE GIRL this week.  I appreciated how well Gillian Flynn was able to examine her characters and convey this through her prose.  It was impressive.  And the plot twists were well played, putting her main characters into binds that seemed hopeless.  Then she would pull another rabbit out of her hat, up the tension while releasing them from one prison, only to push them into another, more devastating one.  Gone Girl was a totally engaging book, especially the first 85% of it.  With the final twists, I found the character motivations wanting – just a bit.  One might be able to explain it away as these outsized characters going “all in,” and be satisfied with that explanation, but there was something about the final motivations driving the two main characters toward the end of the book that didn’t sit right with me, as far as them being genuine human responses to what had gone before.  That said, it was a good thriller but not a book that will stay with me like Stoner or Age of Innocence. 

Read NIJIGAHARA HOLOGRAPH, by Inio Asano and published by Fantagraphics.  This was an amazing manga.  Similar in tone and structure to David Lynch’s films, I was blown away by it, so much so that I had to write about it.  Check that review out here.  

Continuing through Bakuman – I’m on volume 15 right now – and still loving it.  I also started reading the collection Batman: Strange Apparitions, which reprints the noteworthy Detective Comics run of Steven Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin (with the first two issues, before Rogers jumps in, from penciler Walt Simonson and inker Al Milgrom, who muddies Simonson’s beautifully delicate linework).  It’s some crazy, overwritten, but eminently enjoyable fun, with beautiful art from the Rogers/Austin team.  And, to be frank, looking at the image of the Joker on the back cover – though I don’t remember where I would have seen it (possibly in one of those “Greatest Stories” collections) the Rogers/Austin rendition is a seminal Joker for me.  Great work. 

MISCELLANY:

I’m a member of the Comics Experience Creators’ Workshop, an online resource for aspiring comic writers and artists to work on their stories and art, get feedback from professionals and other members, and to discuss craft in a safe environment.  Created by Andy Schmidt, it really is a great place, and there are a lot of books coming out from members – especially now that Comics Experience and IDW have initiated a publishing agreement.

But another member whom I’ve gotten to know fairly well on the boards, Don McMillan, has a new e-book out.  KIBBLES ‘N’ BOTS is about a Boston terrier puppy who believes she can become a superhero, after finding her owner’s comic books, and must battle bank robbing robots in this adventure.  But what of the true plans of the robots’ leader, Bad Boss?  It’s available for the Kindle, and at only $2.99, a bargain.  Can’t wait to check it out. 

SIGN OFF:

Another week down.  Thanksgiving is fast approaching, which means Christmas is right around the corner.  And that means I need to start thinking about letters from Santa – which is obviously a topic for another time.  As always, check out my friends - Brad & Matt and Don McMillan (see above) for their own weekly recaps on things comic-y and geeky, and we'll see what's what in seven.  

Ciao.

Back Matter #6 - Cry Yourself to Sleep & Detectives Inc.

With the “Back Matter” series of posts, I am reprinting my initial writings on comics from roughly 2006.  A more detailed explanation can be found here. 

-Thanks

BACK MATTER #6

GOOD HUMORISTS WILL MAKE you laugh, will bring a smile to your face.  The better humorists do this while also forcing their audience to think.  Jeremy Tinder, the creator of Cry Yourself to Sleep from TopShelf comics, happily falls into this latter category.  Not only does he present readers with a humorous tale, he also deals with very real issues in his narrative.  With Jim (a minimum wage rabbit), Andy (an aspiring novelist), and Robot (a metallic philosopher), Tinder manages to tell a poignant, touching story that is both sad and funny at the same time.  Capturing the uncertainty and awkwardness everyone encounters during that transition from being a teenager to becoming an adult, he pulls readers in with unfamiliar characters treading completely familiar territory.  This little book is a wonderful read and one that will tug at the heart as you find yourself laughing out loud.

Our protagonists, three friends whose separate tales spread out over the black and white pages before weaving back together in the climax, are all experiencing heartache and rejection of one kind or another.  Jim, a yellow rabbit working at Tubby Subs as the story opens, soon finds himself unemployed when the assistant manager receives another complaint of fur in a sandwich.  Jim protests, arguing he can’t use the sanitary gloves provided because they have finger holes and he only has paws, but the boy in charge will hear none of it.  If Jim can’t follow rules, smile, or even party with the other employees after hours, then it is the assistant manager’s duty to fire him.  Jim walks home under a cloud of financial stress and “specie”-al prejudice, and his mood promptly worsens the following day when his roommate Andy mentions off-handedly that he will need Jim’s half of the rent by Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Andy is dealing with the rejection of his first novel.  Fully expecting Big Deal Publishing to accept it, he is at a loss when the rejection letter arrives.  Talking it over with a couple of friends at the local diner, they come to the conclusion that maybe Andy is a little too close to the subject matter as the concept sounds like a thinly veiled autobiography.  Andy disagrees with this assessment and finds himself starting to wonder if he should just give up this notion of being an author.  Returning to his apartment he finds Jim sitting there and is happy at the prospect of discussing his awful writing with his roommate.  Walking into the kitchen, Andy expounds on the possibility of becoming manager at the video store where he currently works.  Afraid to stop talking he does not allow Jim to give any response and is surprised and let down when he returns to the living room to find his roommate has left without warning. 

Walking to his parents’ house Jim passes Robot who shares a quick greeting but has no time to stop and chat.  He is following his new friend, a bird whose style Robot professed to like when the tiny bird shit on his metallic shoulder.  Robot is a philosopher who is intent upon learning how to become a better person.  These two new friends make their way into the country where the small bird finds a tree in which to sleep for the night.  Taking a cue from his new acquaintance Robot sits down against the tree’s trunk and shuts down for the night. 

In the morning Robot awakes first.  After calling for his friend to “wake up, wake up, wake up,” thirteen times, he finally tosses a pebble that startles the little bird from its slumber and exclaims, “Hey, you’re awake!” in animated surprise.  Asking what the bird might teach him today, Robot assists in retrieving twigs for a nest.  Wondering what might be gleaned from this activity, Robot views the repetitive twig delivery as a form of meditation used to achieve a greater understanding of one’s place in the world.  Likening this repetition and limited range of motion to video games of the late 70s and early 80s, Robot’s final thought on the whole exercise is that he could have achieved the same insights from the comfort of his own living room, but “with only slightly worse graphics.” 

Each of our characters ultimately finds some direction in their life, or at least some resolution to their immediate problems, and although Jim ends the story lying in a hospital bed with broken bones and possible spinal damage, he at least has a better outlook on life than he did when the tale opened.  Andy, who briefly flirted with giving up writing, finds himself reinvigorated by a chance encounter at the video store.  And Robot is in a better place mentally after having saved his friend Jim’s life and assisted in the building of a nest.  Like life, these three friends don’t have all the answers yet, but at least they have found themselves beginning the climb out of the dark valley into which they had fallen.

If readers are unable to connect with the characters in Cry Yourself to Sleep then I don’t know of any fiction with which they could connect.  That job you hated when you were just out of high school?  That’s here.  Overprotective Mom?  Got it.  Overbearing Dad?  Check.  The boss that made you feel small and insignificant while he sloughed off in the back room?  He’s here too.  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  The kid that tried to rent porn with a fake moustache?  He makes an appearance as well.  All the pain and all the humor and all the uncomfortable situations everybody finds themselves stuck with, that is what Jeremy Tinder is speaking to with his comic.  And it all works magnificently well.  His art style is reminiscent of another TopShelf alumnus, Jeffrey Brown.  A raw energetic style with an animator’s sensibility that only adds to the funny bits, because come on, who wouldn’t laugh at a short yellow rabbit cursing “fuck” at the thought of having to go to his parents for help in making the rent.  This is a great book that you should definitely check out.  It may be about a rabbit, a robot, and a frustrated novelist, but when you open the cover and start reading you’ll find yourself in there too.   

BACK IN THE VAULT this time we have the initial foray for Detectives Inc. from creator/writer Don McGregor and artist Marshall Rogers.  Originally published in 1980 by Eclipse as an original black and white graphic novel, it was also reprinted a few years later in color as a two-issue micro-series.  Best known for his work on Marvel’s Black Panther and Killraven, this was a story that had been stewing in the back of McGregor’s mind for over a decade.  As an author, he had high aspirations for the types of stories he would tell and believed the possibilities for the comic medium had barely been scratched.  With Detectives Inc., McGregor did his best to look ahead at what those possibilities could be and eschewed all “conventional wisdom” with regard to how a comic should look and what stories could be told.  Knowingly taking a big risk, McGregor dove head first off the deep end and made it work.  And it can be argued that with this book he helped to redefine the way comics were viewed.

Ted Denning is black.  Bob Rainier is white.  They are best friends, and they are also the private eyes known as Detectives Inc.  The story opens on a cool October night in the South Bronx.  Denning and Rainier have been hired by a man to bring his son home.  The father fears that his boy Randy may be involved with a recent spate of tenement torchings and he couldn’t stand to lose him to this harsh city that took his wife away from him and his son.  The two detectives are to meet Randy on a deserted rooftop in this seedy borough of New York.  But when they arrive he is not alone.  Straton Clark, a tough punk known to Rainier and Denning, is with the boy and handles the discussion, leaning on Randy the whole time.  When Randy states his allegiance to Clark, the other gang members come out of the long shadows and things quickly get out of control.  The sheer numbers distract the two private dicks long enough for Straton and Randy to take off across the rooftops.  Rainier is soon in pursuit, but it is unwise to be chasing blindly through the shadowy summits of New York City.  From behind a dark corner, the butt of a gun slams into the back of Rainier’s head, driving him into the ground and sending his own gun sprawling across the roof.  As young Randy looks on, Clark stands above the prone detective, leveling his pistol at the back of this man’s head.  Denning is immediately on the scene, the weight of his own gun heavy in his hands as he points it at the man threatening to end his partner’s life.  Clark sees the gun aimed in his direction but doesn’t believe Denning will use it because why would another black man gun down on him “for [a] white muthafucka”?  Plain and simple, Denning and Rainier are friends and Clark is a blight on the face of humanity.  Denning asks the punk to let his partner go, sick at the thought of having to use his pistol, but in the end there is nothing to be done.  And Ted Denning will have to live with that for a very long time.

Some days later Denning is still coming to grips with what happened as he and his girlfriend Vera Lawrence walk through Riverside Park on a colorful autumn afternoon.  Denning cannot shake the guilt weighing on him, but Vera is there for him, there in a way all men need but few can admit.  Meanwhile, Bob Rainier is dealing with his own personal issues as he and his very recently divorced ex-wife have dinner at a Japanese steakhouse.  Though only five months removed from the divorce, Rita has moved on completely while Bob has trouble keeping visions of them together from his mind.  Refusing to admit his unease Rainier babbles on, unwilling to accept that all those years together meant nothing to her.  But Rita has asked him here in a professional capacity.  A friend of hers, a mid-wife, is obsessing over the death of a colleague and Rita would like to know if Bob and his “colored friend” might look into it.  From there things get worse and the meal ends badly, as all meals of this nature do.  Despite that, Bob still agrees to look into it.

The two investigators go to speak with Ruth Hamilton, the mid-wife Bob’s ex mentioned.  It is her belief that the death of her friend Linda Clarke was no accident and she immediately provides them with two viable suspects.  The two men are grateful for the leads, but they need to know more about Linda’s life before they can move forward with the investigation.  Ruth tells them of her relationship with Linda, that they were lovers.  Linda touched her with “love and lust” and she took away any guilt Ruth had about loving her back.  She was important, more important than the hit-and-run statistic the police have made of her.  Ruth Hamilton needs them to find out what happened to Linda and give her some closure.  

Of course, things would be far too easy if Miss Hamilton were completely forthcoming.  Ted Denning discovers that one of Ruth and Linda’s colleagues from the clinic was also involved with Linda, Dr. Curtis Blakesley.  This opens up the possibility of not one, but two new suspects– Dr. Blakesley and Ruth herself – in what is looking more like a murder all the time.  Each suspect tells the detectives that Linda was promised to them, and the fact that Linda was indeed bisexual and enjoyed exploring her sexuality sheds no more light on who actually perpetrated the murder.  It all comes down to who is telling the truth, and whether Detectives Inc. can figure that out before somebody else gets killed.

I admit opening to the first page of this comic with a bit of hesitation.  This is the first book I have read by Don McGregor and I worried it would suffer from the stilting dialogue and poor use of exposition prevalent in a lot of work from the early 80s, especially from creators that worked for Marvel at this time.  I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case.  Certainly, there are spots where the dialogue sometimes gets preachy, but in most of these instances it falls in step with the characterization.  The story was very compelling and refused to fall into melodrama.  With this book, McGregor brought a gritty realism that I can only assume was sorely lacking within the comics medium at the time this first saw print a quarter century ago. 

In my opinion, this is an incredibly important comic.  It came at a time, shortly after publication of Will Eisner’s A Contract with God, when creators closer to the mainstream began pushing at its boundaries.  In Detectives Inc., McGregor ran headlong through any taboo you can name, dealing with lesbianism, divorce, racism, abortion, sex, nudity, and murder in a taut, literate, and intelligent manner.  This would have been nearly impossible to pull off if his protagonists, Ted Denning and Bob Rainier, were not such well realized characters.  These two men are familiar because they deal with all the fears and insecurities everyone faces on a daily basis.  The use of violence is not something they revel in, and in fact only leads to trouble down the line when Denning is again put in a situation where he must use his gun.   Unable to discard the phantom of the boy he found it necessary to kill, Denning hesitates for just a second.  This is all the murderer needs as he runs Denning down with his car, leaving him on the edge of consciousness.  Meanwhile, Rainier is still dealing with his recent divorce throughout the entire series, often unable to focus as his mind wanders to thoughts of sexual fantasy with any woman that may be near, including his stated feelings on this subject to his ex-wife.  And if the expectation is that things will be tied up as neatly as on Law & Order or NYPD Blue then readers are in for a surprise. 

Those not turned away by the subject matter – No capes?  No cyclotrons?  No anti-matter devices? – are not only in for a treat regarding the story, but will also find McGregor and Rogers playing with the way a comic can look as well.  McGregor set the story up as a graphic novel, with the emphasis on novel, and broke the story into chapters along with a prologue and epilogue.  Each chapter is titled and opens with a few paragraphs of prose before starting into the traditional comic panels, which are beautifully drawn by Marshall Rogers.  With this being a dense work, there are a lot of panels.  And yet, Rogers manages to convey what is happening within those panels masterfully.  Nothing seems cluttered, nothing is missing, and his storytelling is as clear as any artist.  And despite utilizing many different panel arrangements – including one early two-page spread that includes 21 panels – one never has trouble following the story.  It is obvious that Rogers felt as passionately about this story as McGregor did, and it shows through in the final product. 

This was a big risk for both writer and artist.  The direct market was in its infancy, as was Eclipse Enterprises, and then, as now, superheroes were king.  The thought of trying to do anything outside of the strict boundaries of the spandex set was not at all a healthy gamble to take.  For that aspect alone, as well as for the fact that McGregor and Rogers wished to attack the taboos that had plagued mainstream comics for decades, this is an extremely important book and one worth seeking out.  McGregor realized the untapped potential of comics and challenged himself to live up to that potential.  In doing this, he also challenged readers to expect more from their comics.

ANNIHILATION books 1-3

Another series (or group of series) I'd heard a lot of good things about was the "cosmic Marvel" stuff of a few years ago.  Spear-headed by editor Andy Schmidt and writer Keith Giffen, followed by DnA (Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning) this set of books - including Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Annihilation, and a series of mini-series and one-shots - got a lot of attention on podcasts I listened to and boards I visited online.

But my budget was slim and I never knew where to jump on board.  So I never checked it out.

Now that those series seem to have ended, I have decided to go back and check out the collections.  So I jumped in the deep end of the pool and requested the first three collections - Annihilation books 1-3 - through the library.

And I was impressed, overall.  These three collections encompass the series:  Drax the Destroyer, Annihilation: Nova, Annihilation Prologue, Annihilation: Ronan, Annihilation: Silver Surfer, Annihilation: Super-Skrull, Annihilation, and Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus.  And they are some hefty books.

The first collection started slowly for me with the Drax the Destroyer mini-series.  Four issues set on Earth, in order to set up this character for what he needed to be in the coming event, it moved along at a slow pace, for me, and I found it a bit of a chore to get through.  I think some of this can be chalked up to a point made by Peter Rios, late of CGS, that cosmic characters don't work well when they are earthbound.  These are aliens that belong in the stars where they can have cosmic, epic battles and storylines rather than what inherently becomes the focus when these characters are planet-bound, the banality of their "human" side.

We aren't reading these books to see how they interact with ordinary people.  We want the stakes to be high, the battles to be blazing, and the canvas to be infinite.  As an example, look at the Silver Surfer.  His original series (much-beloved, in hindsight), which was written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Buscema (a pretty good creative pedigree, there) only lasted 18 issues.  And it was all set on Earth.  When Steven Englehart and Marshall Rogers relaunched the Surfer in the mid-80s, the very first thing they did was to get the Surfer off Earth.  And his series then went on to a run of over 150 issues, if you include the 7 annuals.

But I digress.

Anyway. After we get off Earth and into space where the "Annihilation Wave" is running rampant through the galaxy, taking out Kree and Skrull worlds and anything else in its way, things get interesting.  And, from her on out, it's basically the story of this giant war that rages across the cosmos, bringing with it the destruction of the Nova Corps (except for our local Nova Corps warrior, Wendell Vaughn), the death and rebirth of the super-skrull, the betrayal of and hunting down of Ronan the Accuser by his fellow Kree.

We meet a huge collection of characters throughout these three books, and one of the things that was nice about these books was that the editor chose to include short bios of the main characters in the story, like the Who's Who or Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries I read, as a kid.  It helped a lot.

This was a massive story that encompassed 30 issues, and the most impressive thing, for me, is how the creators managed to keep the story moving forward without it feeling as if they were just treading water.  I fully expected to be tuning out by the time I reached the midway point, but I just wanted to keep on pushing through.  I burned through the bulk of the second trade on a single Sunday morning.  It was that captivating for me.  Certainly there were a few slow spots - the aforementioned Drax mini and the Ronan mini-series, which was similarly planet-bound - but for the most part, the writers and artists kept me interested throughout the bulk of the story.

And they did some things that seem obvious, in hindsight, but which are generally out of character for comic stories.  One thing was that, in the timeline they included at the opening of chapters and scenes, they had this war take place over the course of many, many days - hundreds of days.  Typically, due to the nature of serialized comics and the limited space within a single issue, the battles - and even the "wars" - feel as if they take place over the course of only days, or even within a single day.  It seems to be the nature of the beast, but I appreciated the fact that these creators chose to add a bit of realism to this "Annihilation Wave" threat.  It helped to ground things, as well as imbuing the struggle with more tension than one might have if it seemed to be truncated, time-wise.

And secondly, they didn't have any clear cut winner at the end.  This story ended with concessions given on both sides, so that they could end the bloodshed.  It was a smart way to go because, again, it was not the expected way to go.  And, it opened up future storylines for these characters, on both sides, since we all know evil doesn't like to be kept down.

Overall, this was a great introduction to the recent "Marvel Cosmic" books, and I am looking forward to continuing with future trades.

chris