Marvel Two-In-One #36 - Marvel Comics

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE No. 36, February 1978

Disappointingly a rather water-logged Benjamin Grimm sums up the quality of this seventeen-page nonsensical narrative by Editor Marv Wolfman in the book’s opening panel by exclaiming “Wotta revoltin’ development this is!” For “A Stretch In Time” not only concludes the Thing’s two-part prehistoric adventure with “Skull the Slayer and his band of time-lost travellers” but also appears to show the two-time Jack Kirby Award-winner’s writing at its most unimaginative.

Indeed the Brooklyn-born writer appears to be so uninspired by his own storyline that having extensively depicted the super-heroes outrunning an especially carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex in order to try and reach “the plane that brought us here” in the previous issue, he abruptly has them both find “the charred ruins of the Lockheed Hercules lying in a jungle plain” and unbelievably return "to Ben Grimm’s experimental jet” with "the batteries and parts they need” within the space of a single text box. Considering the group were last seen wearily dragging themselves ashore having fallen down “a blamed waterfall” following an encounter with some ludicrously fanged sauropods, it is inconceivable that the rest of their exploration of this antediluvian world was "uneventful". At the very least they must surely have encountered more of the primordial fauna…

Instead, less than halfway through the comic, Wolfman miraculously has “the anxious five” fly their hastily repaired “super-sonic jet… up into the scarlet skies” and immediately travel back through the Bermuda Triangle to modern-day Miami. Such woeful lazy insipid writing by the co-creator of Blade is both incomprehensible and unforgivable. Doubly so when it means that the Shazam Award-winner then has to populate the rest of the magazine with a tired, poorly thought out battle sequence between the Jaguar Priest and a semi-powerless Reed Richards; as Jeff shouts “I don’t believe it…”

Fortunately such a bland apathetic adventure is at least given some life due to the remarkable pencilling of Ernie Chan. The Filipino-American artist’s illustrations, especially his dynamic portrayal of Mister Fantastic and the “lumpy orange gorilla” battling a flock of giant-sized pterosaurs above Cape Canaveral, are as wonderfully vigorous and vibrant as his blending of flying lizard with space-flight technology is historically inaccurate.

Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman, Artist: Ernie Chan and Colorist: Michele Wolfman

Moon Knight #12 - Marvel Comics

MOON KNIGHT No. 12, April 2015

As the concluding instalment to a scintillating story-arc which arguably started in some ways with this title’s debut edition and the first appearance of Governor Adrian Warsame’s daughter, Issue Twelve of “Moon Knight” is a lamentably actionless, dialogue-heavy disappointment which seems to increasingly focus more upon the ‘frustrations’ of the superhero’s psychologist and her inept bittersweet courtship of Khonsu than it does the titular character’s return to the favourable side of his moon god. Indeed once the Egyptian deity has somehow spared a battered and bruised Marc Spector from plummeting to his death at “terminal velocity”, this comic’s narrative almost exclusively concerns itself with the doctor’s twisted torture of General Lom and the ultimate failure of Elisa’s plan to convince the former African despot to tell her where he moved the “hundreds of millions in looted gold and treasure” which “her father amassed”.

Admittedly the tense, claustrophobic and brutal interrogation sequence of an incapacitated chairbound military tyrant is especially well-written by Brian Wood and not only satisfactorily explains many of Doctor Warsame’s murderous machinations, but additionally provides quite the surprise in revealing her to be the daughter of a previous dictator “installed in 1968 by the Danish colonial warlords.” An origin which is a far cry from the “spin” of her being a “child brutalized in the bush”.

However as finales go, simply having the psychopathic physician revert back to “a poor little Horn of Africa girl again” and be defeated by a single well-thrown half-moon throwing dart is rather underwhelming. Especially when you consider how successfully manipulative the Akiman has been in the past and just what she has cost Moon Knight in order for him to defeat her.

Infinitely more successful is the quite wonderful artwork of Greg Smallwood, who despite the sedentary nature of the script, somehow manages to put a lot of energy and emotion into the characters he depicts. The freelance illustrator’s drawings of Spector being rescued from the icy waters of Norway by a fisherman is especially impressive, and just incredibly well-coloured by Jordie Bellaire.

Yet it is the American artist’s facial intensity of Warsame, as she descends into a savage temper and madness at Lom’s stubborn refusal to submit, where the Kansas-based penciller really impresses. Initially quite open-faced, Smallwood increasingly portrays Elisa with a furrowed brow, narrowing eyes and grinding teeth until he reaches the point where the woman is obviously seething with rage as she repeatedly clubs the helpless General about the head with her pistol.

Writer: Brian Wood, Artist: Greg Smallwood, and Color Art: Jordie Bellaire

Uber #6 - Avatar Press

UBER No. 6, September 2013

“Uber” creator Kieron Gillen has acknowledged that the overarching narrative to this comic book series is “ridiculously complicated with an enormous cast”. In fact one of the experiences he has strived to provide its readers is a feeling as to “the confusion of war.” But such a potentially 'uninviting and off-putting' storyline saw this title witness a steady fall in its circulation figures during 2013, to the point where with just 10,747 copies being sold in October of that year it was actually being bested by the likes of “Sonic The Hedgehog” and “Peter Panzerfaust”.

With this issue however the British writer ‘pretty much starts again’ and at the time of its publication proclaimed “if you’re looking to jump aboard, this would be a good place to do so”. As a result however, any reader anticipating being immersed in the fallout from the Battle of Paris and horrifically gory demise of H.M.H. Colossus was presumably bitterly disappointed. For despite Caanan White’s bloody regular cover illustartion depicting the hastily attired British Tankmen duking it out with their rival Panzermenschs, this edition is actually the first of a two-part story-arc concentrating on the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific theatre.

Fortunately Gillen does an incredible job of quickly reacclimatizing any long-time bibliophiles of this book to the sudden change of scenery. Whilst simultaneously assimilating any new perusers of this periodical with a vivid, profanity-charged crash course as to the ‘final days’ of the Japanese Empire’s war against the United States of America.

Having so immersed his readership in well-researched historical fact the former music journalist then sets about “disrupting” that knowledge with the introduction of three of the Emperor’s “enhanced humans” just “one mile west of US Navy radio picket station two.” These Miyoko warriors are equally as powerful and deadly as their European counter-parts and, rather disturbingly for the Allies, seem to have been “manufactured” first.

Despite this comic, in the main, being a far more factually accurate endeavour than some of the previous issues, artist Caanan White still manages to include the odd grisly panel depicting the disruption halo’s mutilating effect upon human anatomy. For the most part though the African-American penciller is constrained to wonderfully drawing weapons of war such as Kamikaze fighter planes, the ‘nearly 70,000 ton battleship’ Yamoto and ‘bushwhacked’ American marines.

The variant cover art of "UBER" No. 6 by Caanan White

The Walking Dead #124 - Image Comics

THE WALKING DEAD No. 124, March 2014

Creator Robert Kirkman arguably increased the anticipation for this tenth instalment of “The Walking Dead” mega-event  “All Out War”, when he announced shortly before its publication that fans would “learn [Rick Grimes’] final fate” inside the issue. But any bibliophiles expecting to see “Image Comics” main protagonist meet his ultimate end within this book’s twenty-two pages were doubtless bitterly disappointed, as the wounded ex-lawman’s destiny is left decidedly open to interpretation by the time Hilltop’s Doctor Carson declares that 'anyone who was injured by one of the Saviours' weapons… "will die.”

However that isn’t to say that this magazine doesn’t fully live up to the American writer’s promise that “there are going to be a good number of deaths." Because there most certainly are and many of them come as a result of Negan’s men using the pitch black night to get in ‘close and dirty’ with their infected blades. Fortunately such an undignified end to the titular character is narrowly averted by the one-time Kentucky police deputy’s forethought and cunning. For no sooner are the surviving settlers about to be overrun by their murderous counterparts than the colonists' spring their well-timed trap and from their central residence's windows gun down as many of the psychopathic leader’s followers as their dwindling bullets will allow.

Having provided such a pulse-poundingly good first half, it is somewhat disappointing, though entirely understandable, that the comic publishers' executive producer slows things down quite significantly for the rest of the read. Indeed, such a change in pace is probably crucial in order for readers to ponder the dire drawn-out fate of those unlucky enough to have been cut by Negan’s ‘biologically poisoned melee weapons’.

Interestingly such a ‘pause in proceedings’ also provides Kirkman with the opportunity to introduce some ‘zombie action’ into the narrative, something which has arguably been badly underused throughout this multi-issue story-arc. Indeed, what with the undead’s prominent presence at the start of the issue, when an edgy Carson panics at their close proximity to the van he’s driving, and then the roamers later penetrating the Hilltop’s shattered defences, more attention is given to the flesh-eating walking cadavers in this periodical than has been experienced in a good while.

Adding just as much to this edition’s success as its writing, is Charlie Adlard’s workmanlike pencils. Much of this comic’s well-defined pacing is down to the British artist’s multi-panelled pages and large double-splash illustrations. Which despite predominantly depicting events occurring in near total darkness, and being published in the grey tones of Cliff Rathburn, still provide more than enough detail for the reader to readily follow what is taking place within them.

Writer: Robert Kirkman, Penciller: Charlie Adlard, and Inker: Stefano Gaudiano

 

Injection #2 - Image Comics

INJECTION No. 2, June 2015

So grand is the scope of this “ongoing series” by “Image Comics” that it is arguably abundantly clear that twenty pages is simply not enough room for writer Warren Ellis to house even a single instalment of his narrative. Not and have it make a satisfying and understandable read at any rate. For Issue Two of “Injection” contains so many characters and highbrow concepts that it is plainly impossible for the English author to do any of them much justice when they are all so tightly crammed within so restricting a publication.

As a result much of this issue simply and disappointingly provides the reader with little more than a fleeting glimpse of most of the title’s supporting cast. Indeed the vast majority of the five (former) members of the Cross-Cultural Contamination Unit appear for but a handful of panels at best, as the Eagle Award-winner desperately tries to simultaneously progress each character’s very personal journey back to the side of Professor Maria Kilbride.

Fortunately however Ellis does provide Simeon Winters, a slick-looking well-dressed British Foreign Office serviceman who “kills foreign people”, with abundant ‘screen time’ and as a result ‘injects’ this mysterious yet lack-lustre storyline with some much needed action, suspense and excitement. In fact the spy’s somewhat botched assassination mission within the “Ambassade De Gran Bretagne” building is both humorously written by the Essex-born Englishman and scintillatingly well-drawn by Declan Shalvey.

Admittedly a lot of the action is strikingly similar to the creative duo’s work on the “Marvel Worldwide” 2014 superhero comic book “Moon Knight”, even down to the bald bearded three-piece suited killer’s murderous use of a handy telescopic baton. But when the drama is this utterly insane and breathlessly violent, with Winters being mercilessly hurled into furniture and ceilings by a “huge” bodyguard before becoming involved in a vicious knife-fight, such a petty qualm can easily be forgiven. Perhaps even doubly so when the introduction of the ‘gun-carrying strategist’ clearly seems to have galvanised the Irishman’s pencilling, provided colorist Jordie Bellaire with the opportunity to rather impressively use different palettes to 'highlight' bygone-based scenes and finally allowed the reader to immerse themselves in Ellis’ re-energised writing.

The 'Haunted' variant cover art of "INJECTION" No. 2 by Declan Shalvey

Tomb Of Dracula #15 - Marvel Comics

TOMB OF DRACULA No. 15, December 1973

Though arguably best known for his ‘lengthy run’ as the writer on this title, it is highly unlikely that the script to Issue Fifteen of “Tomb Of Dracula” will ever be seen as one of Marv Wolfman’s greatest contributions to the Bronze Age of Comics. For rather than containing an immersive engaging narrative, the nineteen page horror magazine is disappointingly little more than a disconnected collection of unimaginative short stories involving the Lord of Vampires and therefore proves to be a very messy substandard read.

Much of this displeasure comes from the expectations created by Gill Kane’s wonderfully impactive cover illustration of a rifle-carrying bearded hunter first shooting down a somewhat surprised vampire bat in mid-flight, and then standing over the Count’s ‘dead’ body in astonishment. Such an exciting well-drawn composition creates all sorts of questions in any purchaser’s mind as to why a mortal would so foolishly commit such an act upon the supervillain and equally promises some blood-curdling reprisals once the gunman’s prey has recovered from his wound. After all “How long will a vampire stay dead?”

Unfortunately the entire matter is very brusquely and bewilderingly resolved within the space of just three short pages as Wolfman reveals that Dracula actually allowed himself to be ‘shot at’ in order to “see what sort of man would dare raise a weapon to me”. Such a sudden resolution to so potentially thrilling an adventure is then followed by three similarly brief tales; all of which are supposedly taken from the Transylvanian’s very own “personal ledger.”

Admittedly there is some logic to the two-time Eagle Award-winner’s creation of such a bizarre anthology book, as clearly none of the unrelated ideas included within “Fear Is The Name Of The Game!” would themselves be substantial enough to ‘fill an entire issue’ on their own. But such a potpourri of plots, including a murdered wife seeking a fitting revenge upon her homicidal husband, an immortal Roman luring Dracula to a lake of blood and an elderly Scotsman ‘killing’ the Count in his own castle, smacks of the scripter still “floundering on the series”.

Possibly just as uninspired by this comic’s storyline was penciler Gene Colan, as the American artist’s drawings becomes increasingly unimpressive and erratic the further into the book one looks. Indeed so inconsistent is the Bronx-born illustrator’s sketchings, one moment superbly depicting the hapless hunter Vinnie being chased by rats and then impotently showing a wronged woman savaging her ‘killer’ in the next, that it could be argued it is plainly obvious which parts of Wolfman’s writing Colan enthusiastically felt worked and which he clearly felt did not.

Scripter: Marv Wolfman, Penciler: Gene Colan, and Inker: Tom Palmer

Darth Vader #6 - Marvel Comics

DARTH VADER No. 6, August 2015

There’s an unsettling aura of creative disconnection which permeates Issue Six of “Darth Vader”, and dishearteningly it doesn’t just confine itself to Kieron Gillen’s ‘blasphemous belief’ that the Galactic Emperor would surround himself with a “team of technically enhanced warriors.” For the pacing of this twenty-page conclusion to the British writer’s six-part story-arc is quite noticeably drawn out for the magazine’s latter half. Almost as if artist Salvador Larroca suddenly ran out of script to illustrate despite still having a number of empty sheets yet to fill.

This situation is entirely plausible considering the utter ludicrousness of this periodical’s opening scene, which sees the Dark Lord of the Sith ‘fending off’ the pathetic individual attacks of technology specialist Cylo’s “lightsaber-wielding cyborgs.” Despite the fighting, which is annoyingly narrated by the humanoid doctor like some poorly thought out second-hand car salesperson’s pitch, the Valencia-born cartographer really struggles to imbue the action with any sense of danger or excitement and instead confines each confrontation to a handful of suffocatingly tight panels.

Such a ‘cramped’ artistic technique even extends to when Palpatine demands “a real demonstration” and all the combatants must fight “to the death”. For the Spaniard boils all the supposedly frenzied drama of the ‘ensuing melee’ down to a single seven-framed page which simply focuses upon Vader’s lack-lustre contest.

As a result Larroca then finds himself with an intimidating ten pages with which to depict Anakin Skywalker’s discovery from a completely incompetent bounty hunter Boba Fett that he has a son… cue plenty of disappointingly drawn flashback scenes from the 2005 motion picture “Revenge Of The Sith”.   

It also seems rather nonsensical that any of Gillen’s fanciful, yet in many ways unimaginative, creations would ever be capable of replacing the former Jedi Knight as the Emperor’s right hand, especially when the likes of the Trandoshan trainee simply attacks with his bare claws. The bipedal reptilian may have undergone “cyberanimate modification” in order to no longer feel something “as petty as pain”. But that is scant protection when a lightsaber slices you in half. Something which makes Vader’s apparent defeat at the ‘hands’ of the creature even less acceptable.

However the biggest flaw with the British author’s storyline has to be the way in which he depicts the relationship between Palpatine and his Sith apprentice, as Gillen seems to have completely forgotten that by the time of the Death Star’s destruction these two characters would have existed alongside one another for over twenty years. Instead the Emperor’s rapport with Vader would seem to more closely resemble that of him still addressing an adolescent Anakin, even incredulously rebuking his protégé for ‘disappointing him on Mustafar’.

Writer: Kieron Gillen, Artist: Salvador Larroca, and Colorist: Edgar Delgado