Geoffrey vs. Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy

The year 2000. Mankind's certain doom at the hands of Y2K was narrowly adverted and we as a species slowly crawled from the wreckage to reclaim the future that was to be ours.

At least that's how I remember the pre-9/11 world. A time of wonders.

One of these wonders from this storied, nigh-forgotten past is the 6 issue mini-series Marvel Boy, written by my absolute favourite comics writer, Grant Morrison with art by the phenomenal J.G.Jones. Colours by Avalon Studios and Matt Milla.

This comic is the story of Noh-Varr, an Ensign on an alternate dimensional Kree diplomatic vessel. After a cosmic accident sets the shift adrift through the superstructure of the mutliverse, it ends up above the 616 Marvel Earth and is promptly shot down by evil corporate mastermind Dr. Midas. Midas is a kind of ur-villain. He wear a modified  prototype Iron Man armour, bathes in gamma rays like the Hulk, and eventually gains cosmic versions of all the Fantastic Four's powers. He is like Dr. Doom squared.

He also had a daughter named Oubliette the Exterminatrix, who self describes as the Lara Croft of evil.

The series is kind of divided into halves. The first three issues are semi-one shots. #1 sets everything up. The origin. And its great. Just as Midas is a delicious melange of villainy, Noh-Varr is the fruit trifle of Marvel heroes. He's a last-of-his-kind, fallen to Earth Kree warrior with altered DNA combined with insects outfitted with fantastic weapons and training. So he's Spider-Man, Iron Man, Captain America, Namor and Thor.

Issue 2 plays up the Namor angle with Noh-Varr ransacking Manhatten, literally carving "FUCK YOU" across its face, all while keeping anyone form losing a life. This is an angry and unstoppable young man.

Issue 3 is probably one of the best Marvel comics produced. Ever. I say this knowing I am biased towards items with a particularly Morrisonian flair.In this issue we are introduced to Hexus, the Living Corporation. A cosmic level predator that destroys worlds through branding. There is a dizzy delight that comes from merely typing those words.

The back half of the miniseries is really a 3 issue fight between Midas and Noh-Varr, with Oubliette performing a face turn to join the side of...I don't want to say angels, because Noh-Varr in this series never really comes round to being on the typical good guy side. She is no longer on Midas' side. You can tell Morrison had an affection for her because she gets all the best lines.

Even though I am pushing 40 there is still a delightful frisson that comes from youth disrespecting age. Now get off my lawn.

The whole series has a real millennial vibe, one that you can forget infected everything back then, before the real end of the world in September 2011. And wow was this series forward thinking. Everything in here, the writing, art, characters, story, they are not necessarily timeless (though that is an element), they are more permanently contemporary. This series could have come out last Wednesday and it would fit right in with any comic being released today. Grant Morrison is really a master.

One of the things I loved most about this series, which leads on the ONLY disappointment associated with it, is the unfulfilled promise of more. Here's how it ended (uh spoiler alert I guess):

Noh-Varr in captivity promising to change the world into a new Kree empire with a post script promising Marvel Boy 2:001. That shit never went down.

I suppose it's not too late. Grant's off DC Comics for a bit now it looks like, doing his own thing. Hey Joe Quesada, back up the dump truck full of that sweet Marvel Movie Money and get Morrison back!

Though if he does come back to Marvel, I kinda would want him to do something new honestly. He already changed the X-Men and introduced Noh-Varr.

Noh-Varr was embraced as time went on, eventually becoming a member of the Avengers. I enjoyed those stories very much as well, but they still were missing what I feel is an essential element of his character: the potent rage at the system and the burning need to change everything. Not just slowly, but to tear it down and feast on the ashes. No writer has embraced the promise of this.

I can see why not associating a main character with a "Cosmic Jihad" would be a prudent turn after 9/11, but surely enough time has past that we can have our Space Namor back, yeah? It's a way better take on the character than a Motown-loving himbo. (Not that the Young Avengers version was entirely unsuccessful either).

Anyway, here's to the Way That Was and to the end of it.

Seriously, get off my lawn.

Geoffrey vs. Ms. Marvel #1

Ms. Marvel, Ms. Marvel. What shall we ever do with you.

Read you every issue, that's what! Man, what a breath of fresh air. I love superheroes and all the regular old air that they come with just fine thanks but it is nice to breathe in something new every once in a while, no?

Not that everything here is new. It's a classic set up. Spider-Man level classic. Teenager gets fantastic powers. The awesome part is the teenager is a female, non-white person, instead of the typical Chuck Whitecheese that usually lucks into the awesome. But classic is classic for a reason, right?

You can read all over the net how successful this series has been. It deserves it. Kamala Khan deserves a long-standing place at the Marvel table. This comic was exciting. Funny, interesting characters (and non-super supporting cast! I love a non-super supporting cast!), gorgeous art...this comic is the real deal.

Writer G. Willow Wilson, keep it up. Artists Adrian Alphona and Ian Herring, you also keep it up. I can't wait to read more, to meet Kamala's rogues, and see her grow into an A-lister.

Given her sales, I think the latter will happen PDQ, IYKWIM.

READ MS. MARVEL!

Free in Marvel Unlimited. For sale elsewhere. Trades I am sure are imminent.

(Here's a free idea for you, Marvel: All-New Uncanny Young Avengers - Marvel Boy, Ms. Marvel, Miss America Chavez, Patriot, Prodigy, Hope, Speed, Kate Bishop Hawkeye, Troll. Aaaaaaaand go. Write it.)

(OK, maybe not Troll. BUT ALSO MAYBE!)

Geoffrey vs. Uncanny Avengers #16

I will one day go into the whole run of Rick Remender's Uncanny Avengers. Not today. Today I bring you one awesome page of badassery, courtesy the Mighty Thor.

I. Care. Not. is pretty awesome (and he said it a couple other times this ish regarding the bad guy's boastful claims). I might have said something like "Now you serve the will of getting your ASS KICKED!" but I am not a warrior poet like Thor.

Anyway, this series is awesome and this page is as incredible a Thor moment as his much lauded "Ultron! We would have words with thee!" from Kurt Busiek's run.

Hey. I was in the middle of reading that run a while ago...I should finish it up!

Art on the first panel: Steve McNiven, inks by John Dell and Jay Leisten, colours by Laura Martin.
Art of the second: George Perez, inks by Al Vey, colours by Tom Smith.

Geoffrey vs. The Infinity Gauntlet

The Infinity Gauntlet was a 1991 Marvel crossover event series that ran for 6 issues. It detailed pretty much one fight by Marvel's top heroes against Thanos, the Mad Titan and cosmic villain who made his big screen debut in the credits of the Avengers motion picture. I forget why I felt like revisiting the series, but I am glad I did cause it is kinda awesome.

It's an important series. While it was not Marvel's first crossover (that would be Secret Wars), it sort of became the model for the "Summer Event Crossover". The big series that once a year every comic touches on in some way. Some of these crossovers have been awesome, some less so, but they sell books so they have continued unabated for decades.

It's also a relevant series because somewhere in the series are the bones of what is likely the plot for Avengers 3. At least that is what is expected by comic fans. If they do go that route (and I am one of those fans that thinks they will) it will be but a very loose adaptation. Infinity Gauntlet's main protagonists are Adam Warlock, as yet un-introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Silver Surfer, rights for film use held by Fox Studios. The story also comes from an era when Iron Man was B-list at best and I can't really imagine a scene in Avengers 3 involving Robert Downy Jr. getting his head ripped off by a female Thanos Real Doll.

Note the blood! Stark's head is totes in the can!

Infinity Gauntlet was written by Jim Starlin, the go to writer for cosmic action in the Mighty Marvel Manner. His affinity for these cosmic level characters shows and the work is a joy to read. A lot of these older comics, while still being very enjoyable, exhibit stark differences in tone and style when compared to modern comics. Infinity Gauntlet holds its own and even feels kind of ahead of its time, with a very decompressed tale told with lots of wide screen action.

This series is really just, as mentioned, ONE FIGHT. It is less than 24 hours of time. Thanos kills half the universe, everybody shows up and eventually curb stomps him (spoiler alert). That's it. But it is 6 issues, 42 pages apiece. That is a lot of story for one fight. It reads really well though. Some of the characterizations are a bit off for the era (Hulk, I am looking at you) and some characters (Gamora, Pip the Troll) seem to only be there to continue Starlin's very long form Cosmic tale of Adam Warlock and Thanos that started long before this series and continues TO THIS DAY.

The art in this series is delicious. The first three issues are by master artist George Perez. Issue 4 is by Perez and Ron Lim. 5 and 6 are just Lim. Inks on the whole series were done by Joe Rubenstein. Perez deserves every accolade he gets. He really knocks it out of the park and I don't really think anyone holds a candle to him when it comes to illustrating group fight scenes. I have to say as well that Ron Lim is maybe a bit of an underrated master himself. I've always liked him and seeing his work here with the hindsight of 23 years, side by side with Perez, it really holds its own. To me, Lim's depiction of Thanos is archetypal, based on this work and on his work in the Silver Surfer series from the same time period.

Man, I wish Marvel could do a Silver Surfer movie based on some of that stuff. It was AWESOME.

Can I talk about colouring for a second?

I was reading the first 12 issues of X-Force some time ago (note how commentary on that didn't end up here!) and had this thought. Lots of people complain about Rob Liefeld's art. I grant you, it is stylized and not to everyone's taste (personally, as I get older, I kinda enjoy it more). I reallllllly don't think the penciling was ever the biggest problem with that art. I think it was the colouring.

So much detail was lost due to the limitations of the colouring process of the era. Colours were just splatted on willy nilly. It was ugly! You can't even really wade through it to enjoy or appreciate some of the art due to the colouring. This is not a condemnation of the colourists of the time. I know there were limitations due to the process.

I'd show some examples but I do not want to get too negative or critical. Instead I will go back to Infinity Gauntlet. While it does not suffer as much from the colouring issues as X-Force seemed to, there are lots of points in the series where, compared to colouring today, it really is just basic and boring. The pencils are under-served. Lim and Perez's art deserves better. I don't know if it is possible but I would LOVE to see this series recoloured using modern techniques. Do it as a nice hardcover and put it out during the release of Avengers 3. Marvel, you know it should happen.

Anyway: here's a fun scene from issue 4 which serves as a nice contrast to modern comics where Captain America and Cyclops are not as friendly.

Get 'im, Cloak!

Spoiler alert: Cloak did not get 'im.

Also: Cyclops' X-Factor era costume was pretty nice.

Other awesome bits from the series: Dr. Doom's duplicity (shame he can't be in the film, but I bet his role could be filled by Tom Hiddleston's Loki!) Mephisto's secret attempts to undermine Thanos (Hiddleston in this role for the film too), the end with Thanos becoming a farmer (cooler than it sounds, yo), heroes like Cloak working with the big guns, Dr. Strange hanging with the Cosmic crowd, Celestials using planets as weapons, Drax the Destroyer in his purple cape (I do hope there is some kind of nod to this in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie...), Black Widow saving a baby from a fire, Eric Masterson's mullet....and so much more.

This was a really fun series. I really enjoyed re-reading it and seriously, if Marvel releases a recoloured version I will buy this sucker again.

I am going to reread Infinity War and Infinity Crusade. I don't recall those being quite as awesome as this one soooooo maybe you won't see them here. But maybe you will!

Geoffrey vs. Hawkeye #16

Hawkeye is straight up my favourite Marvel superhero. Hearing-impaired, ex-con, powerless Everyman with a bow FTW. This is of course the Clint Barton Hawkeye I am referring to. He's right there on the background image of my blog, from the cover of West Coast Avengers #24, the first American comic I ever bought as a comic collector and fan, though of course faaaaaar from the first comic I ever read. At some point I will do a whole thing on Matt Fraction and David Aja's masterpiece, Hawkeye. Today is not that day. I did finish #16 of that series earlier, an issue that focused on the female Hawkeye, Kate Bishop.

Here's the best panel from that issue. A little meta, and it is only gonna be funny to more-hardcore Marvelites, but it's a good one. A real good one.

Bwah ha ha has all round.

One criticism regarding the current Hawkeyes: the sunglasses instead of masks thing. Clint Barton's classic Hawkeye costume is THE BEST COSTUME EVER. Dear, sweet Marvel. Please revert. Thx.

Geoffrey vs. Deadpool #22

I have a love/indifference relationship with Deadpool. I used to think he was a worthless 90s relic buuuut...lately I have noticed he is kinda hilarious in the right hands. Those hands right now are writers Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan. Posehn is an actor/comedian who you have definitely seen in things. Duggan is...some guy, I dunno. But he seems to know his way around a pen.

ANYWAY! I never cared for Deadpool because I felt his overall design was unappealing (cheap Deathstroke knock-off), his powerset was ill-defined and weird in the way of most 90s Marvel mutant characters, and  he always seemed to be featured in punny-not-funny stories that were clearly outside continuity.

I started to get the appeal a bit after reading his appearances in Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force. Deadpool worked in there. I kinda thought it was just due to the situation in that particular book by that particular writer.

Then I read the most recent run on Thunderbolts, written by Daniel Way and later by Charles Soule. I liked Deadpool there too, especially his interactions with the non-mutant portion of the Marvel universe.

So I decided to give Deadpool's main series a try, starting with the storyline called "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", which involves, in the broadest terms possible, Deadpool going to North Korea to look for his daughter, accompanied by Captain America and Wolverine.

This storyline was action packed, funny, and emotionally moving. What more could you want, right? So now I quite like Deadpool.

Here is my fave panel from issue #22. This made me crack up but it probably won't make too much sense out of context, even though Deadpool explains it all with dialogue in-panel Art by Mike Hawthorne, colours by Jordie Bellaire.

There he is, flying along in Phil Coulson's car. Hee hee hee! Delightful!

Anyway. I like Deadpool.

Added bonus contextually hilarious panel from Thunderbolts # 15, written by Soule, art by Jefte Palo.

Oddly enough, both the above panels are from stories in which Deadpool uses a hansom cab. Is that his signature vehicle? If not, it should be.

Geoffrey vs. Ed Brubaker's Captain America

I was into Captain America long before I ever started being into comics. I can remember throwing frisbees and pretending they were the shield. Also garbage can lids.

I think my appreciation of Cap goes back to this:

This little black and white softcover paperback was bought for me on a camping trip probably in 1982, the year it was released. So I would have been 7. This book contains a two part story about Captain America fighting a Nazi vampire, and a 1 part story about Cap running for President. Story by Roger Stern, art by John Byrne.

This panel:

Probably is the one that sold me on superheroes in general. Buncha good guys I had no clue about, bunch of obvious, creepy bad guys...to this day I thrill at panels like this. These issues are why Union Jack and Spitfire remain some of my Marvel faves, even though they are definitely lesser lights of the superhero universe.

These issues were originally in Captain America 250 and 253-254. If I still had this book, I think I would give it a read tonight. Instead I will read it on the Marvel Unlimited app sometime soon.

Oh check out this panel:

Awesome.

My favourite run of Captain America, this time in my early years of comic collecting in North America, is probably the mid-late 300s of the series, so late 80s and early 90s. This stuff was written by Marc Gruenwald with art primarily by Kieron Dwyer and Ron Lim. The Bloodstone Hunt, from issues 357-362 pretty much defined how I like my superhero stories.

And Cap's Rogue's Gallery! Man, it is awesome. It is an often overlooked one but it contains some great villains. Red Skull (mais oui), Arnim Zola, MODOK, A.I.M., Baron Zemo, Strucker, Hydra, Viper, Batroc the Leaper, the Serpent Squad, Crossbones, Mother Night, Flagsmasher, Sin...these are seriously bad people, as well as being complex characters.

Anyway so I love Captain America blah blah blah.

So why did it take me so long to get around to reading Brubaker's acclaimed run? Well I like Brubaker as a writer (as mentioned before, his Smells Like Teen President is a long standing fave of mine...). I like Cap. What was the deal?

Bucky. Cap's teen sidekick, dead since WW2, and jokingly referred to as the one Marvel guy who doesn't come back from the dead. Well Ed Brubaker brought him back from the dead and made him a Soviet era hitman.

I was kinda Meh to that idea.

With the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I thought I might delve into the Marvel Unlimited archives and finally read the Winter Soldier storyline. See what was what.

My expected 6-12 issue read turned into a marathon 100 issue festival of shield slinging red, white, and blue.

Like all other great superhero comic stuff, this run takes the best parts of the past and spins them up modern. The changes are the stylistic story elements, not the story substance. Given Brubaker's success with crime style comics, I guess I kind of expected a lack of superhero type stuff, but nope. It's all there. And all rooted firmly in the Marvel Universe. Serpent Squad, Crossbones, Red Skull...and he even goes superhero nuts with the concepts, giving the world Zola-Skull, which is a simultaneously goofy and terrifying image, and MODOCs, and just plain fun stuff that felt modern and mature.

My largest concern, Bucky's return, was handled with what I guess should have been expected skill. This was no hack job. That guy came back, he earned his return and he redeemed his checkered past. And he was a different Captain America during his time in the suit too, but was still a really solid Captain America.

It was great. I wish it could have gone on forever.

Oh and Steve Epting's art, as well as Butch Guice and Alan Davis and everyone else, was all just wonderful.

Read it when you can. It's all TPBed up or also available digitally through Marvel.com or on Marvel Unlimited.

PS: Even squeezed in Diamondback.  Sweet.

Geoffrey vs. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #6

Two panels from Superior Foes of Spider-Man #6, written by Nick Spencer, art by Steve Lieber and Rachelle Rosenberg, letters by Joe Caramagna.

Both these panels are from the same page. 

So funny.

New 52, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

I was out. Out of comics. Done. I don't remember the last one I bought. Sometime in 2007. I didn't leave for lack of interest (I was loving Grant Morrison's beginnings on Batman, frex) but for financial reasons. These little, colourful beasts were getting mighty pricey every month and I had a new fiance and debt to be paid and so many other number-crunching reasons that I had to leave my spandex clad amigos behind.

I am a geek though so I kept in touch. Comics would write and I would smile at their postcard. "Hey Geoff, this Bendis Avengers stuff is actually pretty fun. Wish you were here!" and "A new Fables trade just came out and it is faaantastic. Love to the wife and kid!" Stuff like that. So I heard about the end of the DCU and its rebirth after Flashpoint. I heard about it and I thought maybe this would be a good time to jump back in.

Having been away, I was really looking for some new thrills when I returned. Old stuff revisited and made new as well as twisted in a new way. I got most of the number 1s of the new 52. By month 4 I was down to maybe 10. By month 6, it was 6 (And this was the month I dropped Justice League, which as you may surmise from this blog's title is somewhat of a signature series in my comiclife.) As it stands now I am hovering at 4 new 52 titles. Grant Morrison's sublime Action Comics, Green Lantern, Red Lanterns, and Aquaman.

Really, what it  boils down to is that the New 52 isn't really that new. It seems a lot like the old  DCU except that...it isn't. The changes seem arbitrary. The characters sometimes are the same in motivation and personality and sometimes aren't. Huge, universe affecting details pop up at random (Really, Tim Drake was never Robin? Really? Really?) and there has been no expectation that there will be any real resolution.

A lot of this may have worked if the old DCU had actually ended. Which it didn't. It just stopped. The New 52 may be a wild ride, but I kinda wish I was back on the other roller coaster. The one where the comic universe is allowed to grow and change and reflect the new and the old.

Kind of like what Marvel is doing in spades.

Getting ready to move.

I have so many comics,man. Compared to some maybe not an insane amount but 9 long boxes worth seems like a lot to me.
The weirdest part is going through them and finding things I've completely forgotten about. I apparently have a couple years' worth of X-men from the late 90s. Before Grant Morrison's run. I had no idea.
Other finds include an early Ed Brubaker comic from 1995, the Vertigo one-shot Smells Like Teen President. One of my faves from back in the day. I'm going to read it again and see if I still love it.
This is I guess my first blog entry on a blog I set up a year ago to.review the New 52 DC comics which brought me back in to the world of comicdom. Neat. Maybe I will soon get to that story and how the New 52 would eventually come to Make Mine Marvel.