Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #4 - Marvel Comics

GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX No. 4, November 2015

Despite documenting the twins’ exploits with both the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Inhumans, as well as the series’ diminutively-sized titular characters, Skottie Young’s all-too familiar storyline for Issue Four of “Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX” doubtless disheartened many of the book’s 28,025 buyers with its worrying repetitiveness and over-reliance upon endless panels simply portraying Iron Man, Cyclops and their respective team-mates furiously yelling at one another. Indeed, this seemingly incessant conveyor-belt of shouting, threatening, arguing and gesticulating even appears to get too much for the Inkwell Award-winner himself, who towards the end of the eighteen-page periodical goes so far as to have an extremely agitated Zachary and Zoe scream at everyone to “Shuuuuutttt Up!” as they’ve “had just about enough of all of you!”

Admittedly such reservations about essentially reading the same plot repeatedly over the course of a couple of comics doesn’t necessarily apply to the entirety of this publication’s narrative, with the American author’s decision to incorporate the wide-ranging physical enhancements of the Attilans’ mutagenic Terrigen Mist arguably producing some of the series’ biggest laughs yet; “Ha Ha Ha! Hey we’re the Inhumans! Join us and you’ll get hit with a green fart cloud, wrapped in to a rotten egg and turned into one of these! Ha Ha Ha!” But even this sequence ultimately results in yet another round of everyone just squawking at one another after Black Bolt flattens the X-Men’s sarcastic leader with a single sound, and Zoe matter-of-factly hints she is “thinking of jumping over the zombie wall and calling it a day.”

Potentially of far more interest is Young’s ‘last gasp’ suggestion that perhaps the twins would actually prefer to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants rather than one of the superhero teams. Swiftly attired in black capes and cowls, courtesy of the speedster Quicksilver, and surrounded by the villainous ‘cutesy’ likes of Magneto, Loki, Doctor Octopus, Ultron and Venom, this plot development seems a far more likely source of inspiration and levity than the Fairbury-born writer’s mundane re-treading of old ideas. Sadly however, such a diabolically intriguing opportunity is infuriatingly never actually explored on account of the mini-series ending without warning or resolution on that very splash page…

Words and Art: Skottie Young, Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Letters: Jeff Eckleberry

Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #3 - Marvel Comics

GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX No. 3, October 2015

Containing an astonishing number of cutesy cameos including Devil Dinosaur, Red Hulk, She-Hulk, Fin Fang Foom and Lockheed the Dragon, Skottie Young’s humour-filled narrative for Issue Three of “Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX” must have absolutely delighted its steadfast 32,003 followers in August 2015. Certainly, the twenty-page periodical’s script would have pleased fans of both “The X-Men” and “The Avengers” alike with its inclusion of the “Beast’s Science Lab”, “The Danger Room”, “Asgard”, Captain America’s “Boot Camp U.S.A.” and Jarvis’ reimagining of the Hulk-Buster into “The Iron Twinz!”

Somewhat disappointingly however, so very many ‘guest star appearances’ and swift location changes, aren’t particularly conducive to constructing a terribly elaborate storyline. Thus, whilst the Fairbury-born writer manages to keep things moving along swiftly enough, courtesy of giving the reader a tour of “The X-Tree Mansion” and The Avenger’s not-so secret Headquarters, it probably isn’t until the twins encounter both Galactus and his equally cosmic-powered companion, Thanos, that the former “Marvel Mangaverse” illustrator’s script finally gets interesting. In fact, apart from “the blue X-doggie-cat-thing” transforming Zachary and Zoe into a humanoid mouse and hulking brute respectively, both tours of the two super-teams’ clubhouses and their accompanying “all-out brawls” are actually pretty clichéd.

Fortunately, once the “giant kid with a very impractical headpiece” and “the flying kid sitting in a flying recliner” do make an appearance, Young’s ‘Little Marvel’ (Battle)world suddenly becomes an infinitely more intriguing place to visit on account of its most recently-arrived inhabitants discovering that the place is ‘protected’ by an all-encompassing unbreakable force barrier. This potential hint at just where the cartoon series tangibly sits within Emperor Doom's multi-title Battleworld is just the sort of ‘hook’ the Inkwell Award-winner’s storyline arguably needed, and of course, the magazine’s cliff-hanger panel featuring Star-Lord offering the twins a place alongside “the Guardians of the Galaxy” rather helps ramp up the publication’s pleasure factor too.

So crazy a comic book will always rely upon colourful, well-articulated visuals in order to help carry its audience along with the zany antics on show, and Skottie Young’s incredibly dynamic breakdowns, portraying a fast-moving ice-made roller coaster one moment and then a Sentinel-invading Savage Land double splash the next, more than succeed with just such a task. Indeed the America illustrator’s drawings of Nick Fury being ‘splatted’ by Hawkeye, and Thor subsequently ‘smashing’ an ice giant in the head with Mjolnir are arguably worth this publication’s cover price alone.

Words and Art: Skottie Young, Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Letters: Jeff Eckleberry

Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #2 - Marvel Comics

GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX No. 2, September 2015

Absolutely crammed full of some genuine, belly-laugh inducing quick-fire gags and comical set-pieces, Issue Two of “Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX” doubtless had its 36,019 readers heartily chuckling to themselves with each and every turn of the page. Indeed, considering this publication’s opening groan-inducing “Dodgeball” sequence, which starts by depicting team captain Cyclops boldly declaring “Eye pick [those on my side] first” and ends with Spider-Man asking the blind super-hero Daredevil “Did you see who won?”, it is hard to recall “Marvel Worldwide” printing a more pun-filled publication this side of their Late Sixties title “Not Brand Echh”.

Somewhat fortunately however, Skottie Young doesn’t just rely upon a seemingly endless series of unrelated corny gags with which to fill this twenty-page periodical’s script, and soon introduces two new students to Marville Elementary in the shape of the dour-looking Zachary and Zoe. Not being mutants, “lost in a time not of your own”, “bitten by any insect or animal”, or interested in visiting a homicidal Arcade’s “house after school to play my own indie game Murderworld”, the twins soon become the subject of a secret clubhouse tug-of-war between “the astonishing, amazing, uncanny, super-dope X-Men” and “the mighty, ultimate, super-fresh Avengers.”

Perhaps predictably, such a titanic tussle provides the Inkwell Award-winner with plenty more opportunities with which to demonstrate his witty waggishness, and Black Widow’s needling of Scott Summers, after the X-Men’s leader has had a “Welcome” (to our not-so secret headquarters) banner made from macaroni and glue, is a good example of this. Although even the subsequent mass-battle involving a cutesy Sentinel blasting the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier doesn’t compare to the belly-laugh caused by Namor feeding a pet goldfish which is simply waiting for ‘the World to soon be covered in water once again’ so he can have his “cousin Toothy” eat the Sub-Mariner; “Heh heh.”

Featuring a somewhat more sedentary storyline than its previous edition, Skottie Young’s ultra-cartoony and brightly-coloured breakdowns still manage to instil this comic’s narrative with plenty of pace and energy. In fact, the children’s book illustrator somehow even succeeds in imbuing Professor Xavier’s “few minutes to get to know each other” classroom question & answer session with some much-needed dynamism, simply by over-exaggerating the facial features of each character concerned.

Words and Art: Skottie Young, Colors: Jean-Francois Beaulieu, and Letters: Jeff Eckleberry

Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #1 - Marvel Comics

GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX No. 1, August 2015

Whilst “Marvel Comics” have printed several cataclysmic confrontations between Professor Xavier’s former students and the “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes” during their seventy-five year-old history, with the 2012 multi-issue “AvX” crossover event probably proving to be the most commercially successful, the two super-teams have never before battled one another simply to determine which can serve the best ‘street food’ to the likes of Toad and the Blob. Skottie Young’s narrative for Issue One of “Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX” however, is based upon just such a humorous supposition and for almost the entirety of this twenty-page periodical wonderfully portrays all manner of toddler-like superheroes continually vying for the ‘gastric’ attention of Mortimer Toynbee and Frederick Dukes.

Such a less than serious tone of juvenile ‘one-upmanship’ really does create some delightful ‘laugh out loud’ moments within the Fairbury-born writer’s narrative, and only the most cold-hearted of this publication’s 66,401 readers wouldn’t have found either the miniscule Thor out-trumping Wolverine’s burger-based X-snack with his “finest Horgon ribs straight from Asgard”, or Daredevil blindly ordering “the diablo nachos” from no-one in particular, charmingly endearing sequences. Indeed, the Inkwell Award-winner’s storyline is chock full of similarly amusing moments and even goes so far as show Tony Stark ‘hitting upon’ Spider-Gwen only to be told in no uncertain terms to desist on account of ‘a kid with a moustache and goatee being creepy.’

Unsurprisingly, these childish “food truck hopping” shenanigans soon escalate out of all proportion, particularly when a rather portly Hulk scoffs all of the X-babies food, and Storm is soon found focussing a highly localised rain storm to drench Iron Man’s technologically advanced “we have it all” meal van customers, whilst Magneto subsequently disassembles the playboy’s armour suit in order to reduce a seriously peeved-looking ‘billionaire’ down to his pink undies; “You think that’s funny? Let’s see if you’ll laugh at this. Thor. Hammer Time.”

Young’s pencilling throughout this ‘tongue-in-cheek’ adventure is absolutely’ spot on’ and genuinely makes every panel depicting the various infantile characters a real delight to the eye. In fact, the American illustrator’s breakdowns are arguably faultless, with his breath-taking double-splash of the “two biggest factions in the Marvel Universe” fighting as a result of a mischievous Stark deliberating melting Magick’s evil pony pal action figure with his “new hand-blasters” proving to be the comic book’s highlight.

The regular cover art of "GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX" No. 1 by Skottie Young