Where Monsters Dwell #5 - Marvel Comics

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL No. 5, December 2015

Almost entirely devoted to an incredibly dull dialogue between the Phantom Eagle and Clemmie Franklin-Cox, this concluding instalment of “Where Monsters Dwell” proves to be a poignant reminder that “having a pint with [“Marvel Worldwide”] editor Nick Lowe” may not have been the best motivation for Garth Ennis to pen a mini-series. For whilst the Northern Irish-born American’s “Secret Wars” five-issue mini-series has undoubtedly had its highpoints with its giant dinosaurs, underwater leviathans, “diminutive cannibals” and Amazonian goddesses. This particular twenty-page periodical doesn’t contain any of them, and instead could arguably have avoided being printed at all, if its previous edition had simply been lengthened by a couple of pages at most.

Indeed all the Eagle Award-winner has happen within this comic book is for Karl Kaufmann to swiftly “repair his plane” using “an engine and propeller [stolen] from the beautiful warrior women” of Battleworld and fly away. Something which is essentially inferred within the final few panels of this title’s preceding publication and hardly seems to warrant having an entire magazine dedicated to its telling.

Admittedly Ennis does use this opportunity to exceedingly expand the backstory of Clementine by having the widow of Lord Bertie Cox explain how her husband “fell off a boat and drowned” during “a cruise in the South Seas” and her subsequent detention on suspicion of the rich man’s murder by “the captain and crew”. But whilst some of this character development is mildly interesting, the vast majority of the callous would-be killer’s lengthy discourse is nauseating nonsense and even wincingly vulgar at times, such as when the “well-heeled” woman describes her wedding night and ‘doing the necessary’.

Ultimately however this comic’s narrative disappoints because the “English socialite” is portrayed as being so callous and dislikeable that it is genuinely hard for the reader to actually care what impelled her to be as equally disagreeable a “piece of work” as Kaufmann. As a result by the time the flying ace’s passenger has decided not to shoot the “general jerk” dead with her pistol, and instead allows him to depart into the sky unmolested, its doubtful many readers will be even remotely interested in what is taking place...

Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Russ Braun and Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara

Where Monsters Dwell #4 - Marvel Comics

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL No. 4, October 2015

Disappointingly for fans of the original “House of Ideas” Phantom Eagle there’s little similarity with this twenty-page periodical’s interpretation of the flying ace and the legendary combat pilot who first appeared way back in September 1968 within the pages of “Marvel Super-Heroes”. Indeed apart from the Great War aviator bearing the name Karl Kauffman, Garth Ennis would appear to have completely turned his back upon the valiant character created by Gary Friedrich and Herb Trimpe and instead replaced him with a petty, sadistic, and frankly evil murderously-minded schemer, who having been “cast out” from the village of his Amazonian captors, merrily sacrifices dozens of pygmies in order to steal a functioning set of propeller blades.

Admittedly the self-centred machinations of 'co-star' Clementine Franklin-Cox are a far cry from being honourable, especially when she clearly takes such delight in the prospect of the “general jerk” literally losing his manhood on the chopping block. But at worst the “English socialite” is little more than a selfishly mischievous rich girl who simply wishes to ‘go native’. The Eisner Award-winner’s so-called protagonist on the other hand, despite his woes being predominantly due to his own ego and “stupidity”, genuinely seems to take great delight in his plans for revenge upon his former jailors. Despite the fact he clearly understands that in order to achieve his goal numerous numbers of his allies will undoubtedly die; an especially chilling trait considering the heartless fiend merrily whistles as his cannibal comrades are swallowed whole by a Megalodon.

Fortunately despite the majority of the Northern Irish-born American author’s narrative focusing upon the vindictive unlikeable anti-hero, there is still plenty of dinosaur-based action for readers to enjoy within this fourth instalment of the five-issue mini-series. In fact Ennis would appear to have populated this “dangerous region of Battleworld” with as many different breeds of prehistoric predator as the comic’s page-count would allow. For having escaped the wooden stockade of the warrior women tribe, the writer’s naked “grubby little oik” not only survives the attention of a territorial “Big Tooth” but encounters with long-necked sauropods, a hungry infant Tyrannosaurus Rex and the sharp claws of a pack of vicious Velociraptors; “What did I do to deserve this--?”

All of this drama, whether it be Kauffman’s manically gunning down a pack of dromaeosaurid theropods with his downed airplane’s still functioning Lewis guns or hundreds of grim-faced natives determinedly rowing towards the Amazon’s island, is fantastically illustrated by Russ Braun. And it it abundantly clear from the penciller’s drawing of Megalodon bursting from the depths open-mouthed in order swallow an entire canoe full of pygmies, as to why the New Yorker’s artwork has been described by Ennis as being simply “superb”.

Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Russ Braun and Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara

Where Monsters Dwell #3 - Marvel Comics

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL No. 3, September 2015

There’s a very interesting, if not disturbing, change to the tone of this third instalment of “Where Monsters Dwell”, and the comic’s cover warning proclaiming “Parental Advisory! Not For Kids!” rather succinctly spells out just how much this mini-series’ once humorously fun action-packed narrative now differs. Indeed apart from Russ Braun’s consistent and wonderful lavishly-drawn artwork, along with the occasional Karl Kaufman frustrated chauvinistic quip, it genuinely is hard to believe that Garth Ennis’ mature-orientated script is apparently a continuation of what has previously gone on before within this “dangerous region of Battleworld...”

For starters the rather jolly dinosaur-chasing capers of the title’s previous two issues have been entirely replaced with a rather tediously lack-lustre depiction of idyllic life hidden within an Amazonian jungle-based fortification. In fact it isn’t until the book’s second half, when the “flying ace” inadvertently stumbles upon the imprisoned and wizened Chief Petty Officer Harkins and the equally elderly Bill the Cabin Boy, that the story’s main protagonist suddenly finds himself in jeopardy… And that is simply because he loses his temper and demands “Single combat. Me against the best you’ve got! To the death!”

However such sedentary plot pacing is actually the least of this magazine’s problems, as for whatever reason, Ennis veers away from the family-friendly entertainment his ‘time-travelling’ tale has previously provided and instead embarks upon a twenty-page depiction of scantily-clad bikini-wearing homosexuality and eye-watering male genital abuse; “Swollen. Turned me on an’ orf like a tap, they did… pumpin’ away… treated me like a blinkin’ object…”

Admittedly the Northern Irish-born American writer handles such subjects through the use of some rather tongue-in-cheek moments and the ample use of innuendo as opposed to anything more blatantly explicit. But even so, as the Phantom Eagle is stripped naked and frogmarched to the chopping block, where a heavily-muscled long-haired executioner prepares her sharp axe in order to remove him of his ‘manhood’, it's abundantly clear that the Eisner Award-winner’s ‘Land That Time Forgot’ influenced dino-fest has suddenly become far more akin to one of its publishing company’s extremely controversial “Max Comics” imprint titles rather than something conjured up from the limitless imagination of author Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Russ Braun and Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara

Where Monsters Dwell #2 - Marvel Comics

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL No. 2, August 2015

It is very clear from the narrative of Issue Two of “Where Monsters Dwell” that “writer Garth Ennis loves dinosaurs.” For the Northern Irish-born American comic book author has somehow managed to cram into this magazine’s twenty pages some of the largest most ferocious prehistoric beasts known to Mankind and do so whilst still providing “an old-fashioned, rip-roaring adventure with a strong streak of humour running through it”.

Indeed whether the reader be a fan of the iconic Tyrannosaurus Rex, the reptilian Sarcosuchus or the predatory Megalodon, the Eisner Award-winner’s storyline ensures “they’re huge, they’re noisy, they look fantastic, they rip everything in sight to pieces, and they stretch human imagination beyond its limits”.

Admittedly the “Preacher” collaborator’s “black” comedy occasionally strays close to the ‘mature’ mark with the odd swearword or uncomfortable adult reference, such as when the Phantom Eagle offers to keep “the fetching Clemmie Franklin-Cox” warm overnight and insensitively suggests that “if it comes to it you can always have a… whatchamacallit… abortion”. But in the main Ennis’ script, which includes the “flying Ace” inadvertently leading a ‘lizard king’ straight into the centre of a hapless pygmy village, is a wonderfully witty non-stop thrill ride with plenty of gory tongue-in-cheek moments; “Nightmare, some kind of awful nightmare - Oh God, just let me wake up --!"

Equally as engaging as the flawed character of Karl Kaufmann is the World War One fighter pilot’s acidic passenger, Clemmie. The young woman’s pithy banter with her cowardly would-be-bedfellow provides several laugh out loud moments within the book, especially as the combat aviator becomes increasingly stressed and terrorised by “giant lizards and pushy broads” and won’t “stop bleating for five minutes…”

However undoubtedly the main draw for this comic is the outstanding artwork of one of Ennis’ “all-time favourite collaborators” Russ Braun, a man whose pencilling “makes it all look effortless and easy, when of course it isn’t at all.” “There’s an old-school quality” to the New Yorker’s illustrations which not only brings the dinosaurs to dynamic bone-crunching life but also imbues the “general jerk” with plenty of waggish touches which only add to the airman’s hilarious panicky antics.

Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Russ Braun and Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara

Where Monsters Dwell #1 - Marvel Comics

WHERE MONSTERS DWELL No. 1, July 2015

Whilst it is far from clear how this “story about a World War One fighter pilot battling dinosaurs ties into” the “Marvel Worldwide” multi-title mega-event “Secret Wars”. This first edition of “Where Monsters Dwell” proves to be a fun, enjoyable read, crammed full of intense action-sequences, some genuinely entertaining madcap moments and plenty of prehistoric behemoths.

Most of this enjoyment comes at the expense of Karl Kaufman, a “famous flying ace” who writer Garth Ennis has made every bit the scheming somewhat disagreeable rogue as he is a skilled aviator. Indeed the hapless Phantom Eagle seems to personify the Eisner Award-winner’s aspiration to pen “something a little bit lighter” with his humorous yet oft-times deplorable behaviour throughout the comic’s twenty-pages. Whether it be the American-born stunt pilot’s insincere promise to a pregnant native princess that he’ll do the honourable thing before racing to his bi-plane’s cockpit, or ‘stinging’ a “naïve English socialite” into paying his aircraft’s latest repair bill, the stubble-faced swindler’s unscrupulous behaviour arguably can’t help but generate a smile upon the reader’s lips.

Equally as engaging is the Northern Irish author’s Clementine Franklin-Cox, a “ditsy little half-wit” who is clearly “not quite all she seems” and evidently just as knowledgeable as “Kaufmann-Tuan” when it comes to uncouth songs, flying manoeuvers and “the ins and outs of an air-cooled Lewis gun”. Missy’s putdowns and insults, despite containing the occasional profanity, are extremely endearing as she switches between personas; one moment lightly enquiring whether the surrounding hurricane “might delay our arrival a tad?” and the next sarcastically belittling her would-be rescuer for failing to recognise a Pteranodon Longiceps because ‘an education is clearly not his forte.’

However it is undoubtedly the dinosaurs which steal the show due to some incredible illustrations by Russell Braun. The New York-based penciller’s stunning series of pages depicting Kaufmann’s vintage bi-plane being battered by a flock of flying reptiles builds wonderfully upon the anticipation generated by Frank Cho and Jason Keith’s terrifically dynamic cover artwork. In fact the sequence’s two double-splash montages really show off the former “Walt Disney” animator’s flair for incorporating both the dramatic and comical into his drawings with Clementine bashing Karl about the head as the lizards from the Late Cretaceous murderously encircle their aircraft.

Writer: Garth Ennis, Artist: Russ Braun and Color Artist: Dono Sanchez Almara