It's a weird thing I have, so I'm going to decide on a post-opening saying, or something.
Anyway, this is the second part of what began yesterday; Thursday's Comics (19/11/2009). Three comics to get through today, but they are doozies. I said doozies. Big whoop, wanna fight about it?
I'm gonna open with another Dark Reign tie-in, as I want to save the next two for last. No special reason other than they're fucking awesome, and you always save the best 'til last. So without further ado, let's do this.
Dark Reign: The List (The Amazing Spider-Man).
Dark Reign: The List is a series of one-shot comic books focusing on specific characters in the Marvel universe (Abbreviated as the M.U. from now on). As I mentioned before, Norman Osborn has a to-do list of everything he feels is wrong with the M.U. and has resolved to correct these issues by any means necessary. All without faltering in the public eye. Being that his mental state is already stretched further than a creationist's beliefs, this proves for quite the entertaining concept.
So far we've had issues of Dark Reign: The List involving each of the people on his list, to one degree or another. These include: Hulk, Daredevil, The Punisher, Wolverine, Secret Warriors (Primarily Nick Fury), X-Men and The Avengers. They've all been pretty solid, with the exception of Wolverine's one. Last, and perhaps most appropriately, comes Spider-Man's turn.
To his credit, Norman Osborn has succeeded in accomplishing a lot of his goals. He had Frank Castle (The Punisher) killed at the hands of Daken, embroiled Daredevil in another blood-feud with Bullseye and left a Hulk-less Bruce Banner in all sorts of trouble. Only a few things remain undone, and one of those things just happens to be "Kill Spider-Man.". The reason I was looking forward to this one the most is because it represents one of the elements I love about comics; Hero Vs Nemesis.
Here is a man in Norman Osborn who has finally got an iron grasp on just about every area of the American government, nearly unflappable public support and a couple of teams of villains masquerading as heroes under his command (Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men). He has won, for now. Yet, despite it all, he HATES Spider-Man. From his time as the Green Goblin, all these years and up until now, there has existed a burning hatred for Spider-Man. Spider-Man has never been fond of Osborn either. Not necessarily Spidey's deadliest foe, but definitely his most personal. You get the impression from the way that Osborn has interacted with Spidey throughout Dark Reign, that he has NEVER forgotten...anything.
Every little defeat he has suffered, every humiliation and foiled plan he has endured at the hands of Spider-Man; these are never far from his mind. Even in his moment of victory and status of power, you get the feeling that nothing would bring him greater joy than to be standing over the corpse of Spider-Man. As the Iron Patriot and with more resources than ever, he's in a dangerously good position to do it.
I was awaiting this issue because finally, it comes down to these two as I feel it always will. You always come back to what is at the centre of your heart and these two people have heart-born hatred for one another. It resurrects the good old "I hate you, you hate me. Let's finish this." battle adage that isn't around enough in comics nowadays.
From the opening line of this comic - written by Dan Slott - it sets this precedent. Spider-Man, through first-person narrative, is somewhat sarcastically listing the possible reasons that Osborn has risen to power. Eventually he says "Me, I let this happen. Enough is enough.". You get the real sense that he means it this time. I don't know if he'll ever have it in him to put an end to Osborn for good, but he's definitely about that business this time around. It's as if he's finally stood up despite being forever the underdog, amidst all this turmoil and his membership in The New Avengers, and finally said "Osborn, you're my problem. I'm going to fix this.".
It's a very simple one-and-done issue story. Parker visits the left-leaning publication, Frontline - ran by Ben Urich, former co-worker of Parker's at the Daily Bugle, and friend of Matt Murdock/Daredevil) - and tries to organise one final push to expose Osborn for who he truly is. Norah - a journalist who previously went undercover in Osborn's ranks - discovered all kinds of info on how Osborn had been doing experiments on people like some kind of Josef Mengele gone crazy. Most notably, his own son, Harry Osborn had fallen victim to Osborn's experimentations. Norah suggests that if they could somehow steal the information Osborn has on record regarding this, it'll be enough to blow his public image to pieces.
Things pick up when, at Avengers Tower (Formerly Stark Tower, now Osborn's H.Q.), Osborn is telling Victoria Hand how he plans to kill Spider-Man once and for all and cap off the most important thing on the list (Though going as far as to say that his plans extend far beyond what he's done already). As they enter a large computer room, Osborn finds Spider-Man with a flash drive in his hand and the notice of "100% Complete: Download Finished." on the screen.
What ensues is a beautiful, but short, mix of nostalgia and classic comic action. Osborn flying through the night sky of New York City, pursuing Spider-Man and eventually locking horns with him for a while. Spider-Man eventually one-ups him and damages his chest piece after noticing a flaw in the design. As Spider-Man makes his escape into a civilian crowd as Parker, Osborn pursues and eventually finds him in an internet cafe (Bear in mind, he isn't aware of who Parker is). He approaches Parker, unaware that he has uploaded the data until Parker starts opening verbal fire on him in front of everyone, under the illusion that Spider-Man had given him the flash drive.
It's a very poignent and potent piece of dialogue from Peter Parker; it embodies everything he was intended to be, and everything he's shaping up to be in the future. After reading Osborn the riot act and explaining how, as one of the American people he allegedly swears to protect, he can say or do whatever he wishes. He lays it all down and goes so far as to tell Osborn that HE should answer to the PEOPLE, for HE is there to serve them. When Osborn threatens to "erase" the troublesome Parker, Parker has the perfect ripost.
Parker says, more or less, "You see me as a problem to erase because I'm exercising my rights as an American. What next? You gonna make all these people in here disappear too? How far are you willing to go?". You can almost see Osborn's rage beneath the helmet as Parker uses his own web of lies and deception against him, and conversely, you can feel Parker smirking deep down inside as if to say "I've got you now, you son of a bitch.".
The story ends with Osborn flying off, frantically contacting his headquarters and telling them to immediately pull any of the evidence off the internet the second it appears, whilst Peter Parker's inner monologue triumphantly exclaims how he feels good about having been the first chip in Osborn's armour. The first step to his final downfall.
All in all, it does what it set out to do. Dan Slott manages to successfully portray a story that could have come off as trite and cliche in a manner that feels weighty, but not sluggish. Poignent, but not sappy. It conveys greatly the extent to which Spidey has suffered at the hands of the public favour and how, despite this nightmare scenario of his greatest enemy being in power, he has never given up on that which he swore to do the minute he put on his costume for the first time; protect and stand up for the people.
It's a very nice finish to a really slick series of one-shots and does that extra part to making me excited for Siege.
Realm of Kings #1.
I swear, one day soon I'll get to review something I don't have to give people a retrospective on! Let me keep this one brief; the evil brother of Cyclops and Havok - Vulcan - took over the Shi'ar empire (A race of people in space) and waged a brutal attack on the Kree empire (Another race of people from space). The Kree empire, then ruled by the Inhumans' (Pre-history humans intended to be made into living weapons at the hands of Kree experimentation and then discarded) and their king, Black Bolt, fought back.
It resulted in massive casualties and included Gladiator, one of my main boys, turning his cape on the Shi'ar throne as long as Vulcan ruled on it. Black Bolt and Vulcan fought to the death, which resulted in Black Bolt detonating a terrigen bomb which decimated the Shi'ar and won the war for the Kree. That was War of Kings, and this is Realm of Kings.
I LOVE Dan Abnett right now. Not only has he been doing stellar work on Nova, but he wrote War of Kings and this is shaping up to be amazing too. Here's the premise; the terrigen bomb was so destructive that it has caused a rip in time and space, dubbed "The Fault". To the best I can tell, the fault has caused various galaxies and realities to crash against each other, making things understandably problematic for...everyone and everything that lives, anywhere.
Quasar decides, after somewhat of a cosmic meeting, to fly into the fault and check it out considering he is the only one capable of braving the conditions that may reside there. As he is flying through, he describes how the realities of the multiverses are grinding against each other, merging and smashing with tremendous energy. Just as he muses on the fact that this rip may not have an end, he feels himself being pulled into one of the unsettled realities.
He arrives on a world so nightmarish in design that I actually felt a shiver when I saw some of the artwork. After fighting what appears to be one gigantic tentacled hellbeast, a demonic version of The Avengers seem to show up and defeat it. Quasar is confused, but accepts the help. This beast is revealed to be the Hulk of that world. The Avengers rip his heart out and, if he wasn't sure before, he is confirmed in his suspicion that all's not right. It's revealed that this is another reality and universe's Earth, transformed by dark forces and demonic possessives.
After being captured and interrogated, Quasar is introduced to the horrifying truth; the fault is not a rip, it's a tunnel. He wasn't interrupted and sucked into a reality, he reached the end of the fault and this is what lies there. These demonic Avengers serve masters/spirits that have essentially drained their world and they wish to come through the fault and bring these bad, bad things with them. Quasar escapes with the somewhat inexplicable help of Vision and returns to regularly scheduled reality, to the relief of his team.
He utters the words; "They're coming.", and we see his eyes glow red, implying that he is changed for the worst by his experiences.
All in all, this is a chilling, dark piece of cosmically politicised, mystical fantasy. Dan Abnett seems to know how to make a series impactful and important, and exactly what to do to blow it up on another level. Marvel's cosmic characters, though important, have never really been at the forefront of the biggest stories (Save for the likes of Surfer and Galactus etc). They probably never will, but it's very nice to see them getting some deservedly great play from a very good writer and some astounding artists. There doesn't appear to be a central series as with War of Kings, but the Inhumans and Imperial Guard five-parters as well as the Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy tie-ins should be just enough to nail this story tight.
It's a long arc, with issue #5 of both Realm of Kings: Inhumans and Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard due in March. I can't wait for the rest.
Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1 of 5.
Tying into Realm of Kings and the aftermath of War of Kings, this mini-series is to the Inhumans/Kree what Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard is to...well, the Imperial Guard.
It tells the tale, so far at least, of Queen Medusa and how she has taken on the role of royalty after Black Bolt's sacrifice. As this left her widowed, she's understandably tense about taking the mantle of royalty. She remains negative about Black Bolt's sacrifice and has grown to hate the way things have happened and the Inhumans' involvement in it.
Directly mirroring Gladiator's struggle with throne-dwelling life, it's not easy to see how this will tie into the events of the above reviewed Realm of Kings one-shot, but I trust Abnett that it'll work well.
I'm really liking the political and morally ambiguous undertones surrounding this series. It seems to be more personal, about how the PEOPLE can be affected.
The issue basically tells the tale of how the under-society of the Kree are growing distasteful of the Inhumans. Feeling that, despite best intentions, they do not hold respect for the tradition of the Kree empire (Nor should they, in my opinion). This comes to fruition when Ronan and Crystal (Sister of Medusa) are ambushed by Kree underground dwellers. It ends with The Mighty Avengers (Hank Pym, Hercules etc), I believe, appearing in the aftermath of a fight between Inhuman enforcer Gorgon, and one of Blastaar's minions, who seeked to cause a ruckus and ruin the appointment of that planet's new consulate (Because the Kree are obviously looking to rebuild after the war. Putting selected officials on each world within their empire).
I'm not really sure how this fits with continuity, as I'm certain Hercules is off doing the New Olympus thing with Spidey, but we'll see. Maybe New Olympus isn't in continuity or canon.
I've not got much to say in terms of this issue besides that it's good, and different enough from the Imperial Guard one to be worth collecting also. As time goes on, keep your eyes to this page for my coverage of Realm of Kings and all its atttachments.
For now, though, that's all I've got for you.
I may fit in an album review, comic book review (In general) or a comic/music musing between now and next Thursday, but until then; take care.
Peace.
-The Mast
