Top Ten Comics Pt 3

Well yesterday I kind of rambled on about JSA, so today I'll try to be a bit less verbose and get more of the list done.

5) NEW AVENGERS - You know, I wanted SO hard to hate this book. It's written by Brian Michael Bendis, who has basically taken over the Marvel Universe and has had so much praise in doing so that I automatically resent him just because of the sheer totality of his success. It's a personal thing; I can't stand to see anyone enjoy that much praise without some kind of mitigating factor involved.

The thing is, though..he's really good.

I am still not ready to crown him the "next Stan Lee" or even the "next Alan Moore" or "next Kurt Busiek". But the guy has an inarguable flair for dialogue and seems to have a very strong grasp of not only Marvel characters but the vast, varied history they all carry with them. I always appreciate anyone who seems to have done his homework before starting on a project, and from what I've seen of NEW AVENGERS, this guy has read a TON of Marvel comics. He is at home writing both the Big Guns like Captain America and Wolverine and also the B characters like the Wrecking Crew and the Purple Man. He has a nice, downplayed knowing sense of humor that pokes fun at the characters without every belittling them.


I am still VERY uncomfortable with the notion of using Wolverine and SpiderMan in a team book. Spidey has NEVER been a team player; it's one of his defining character traits. And while Wolverine is of course a member of the X-Men, I just can't imagine him taking orders from anyone but Xavier or maybe Cyclops, and besides, how exactly does he have the TIME to be on two teams?

Bendis does, again, do a great job with both of these characters, homing in expertly on SpiderMan's "Everyman" status and giving him the fully, incredulous lines, and mining Wolverine's world weariness and carefully contained rage. And he does do a fairly good job of explaining why Wolverine should be on the team, via a dialogue between him and Iron Man. But still...

The overarching plot of someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. having shadow agendas that are counter to the Avenger's mission is a good one. The Avengers haven't had any good governmental intrique stories in years, if ever, and this paves the way for the terribly underused SpiderWoman to shine. I also am really enjoying the evolving origin of the Sentry, a character who has been around forever but apparently no one has ever heard of, if that makes any sense.

Despite my full intention to dislike this book, I like it. I am still smarting over the "deaths" of Hawkeye, the Vision and even poor old Ant-Man, but we all know in time they will all be back. And in the meantime, this is a genuinely original and timely look at the Assembling Ones, a real page turner that you cannot look away from.

6) NEW THUNDERBOLTS - I loved the original THUNDERBOLTS, and only signed on with this version after I saw that original writer Kurt Busiek was going to be co-writing. He has since left the book, but I have to say that Fabien Nicieza (whose tenure on the original series I wasn't that high on) has done a good job on his own.

The whole concept of the THUNDERBOLTS is one that is an instant winner with me. Ex-villains who want to redeem themselves for their past actions sign on and hopefully mesh with a motley crew of their peers, with the whole project being funded (often mysteriously) by ex-Beetle now MachIV Abner Jenkins. I always enjoyed the sort of sliding scale of morality that the team possesses, everywhere from "truly committed to redeeming themselves and doing good" to "just along for the ride in between other gigs" to "I'm using this as a front for my criminal activities". Something about even the notion of being a do-gooder seems to transform the members or at the very least make them re-evaluate the way they have been living their lives.

And I always enjoy anything that brings Marvel second stringers into the spotlight and fleshes them out more. Twenty years ago, who would have thought there would be a MARVEL comic that STARRED the Beetle, the Blizzard, Screaming Mimi, the Radioactive Man, and Power Man? Some of them have different names now, but all are given ample chance to shine in what often amounts to MARVEL's version of SUICIDE SQUAD. The mortality rate here isn't quite as high, but in a book like this that doesn't have iconic characters, the writers are much more free to enact major changes on the characters without fear of reprisal by fans or editors.

Like the old series, this one contains lots of intriguing ongoing mysteries. Who is the Swordsman and whose side is he really on? What is the motive behind the Purple Man's nefarious schemes? Will some of the members, particularly Speed Demon, Joystick and Radioactive Man, be able to acclimate themselves to this new life? All these plots are intermixed nicely, and what you get is so many plot elements occurring at once it's impossible to get bored. If anything, I always feel a bit exhausted after reading one of these books.

NEW THUNDERBOLTS isn't doing that well in sales, and I seriously wonder if it will still be around at this time next year. I sure hope so, because we will always need books like this that eschew the big names in favor of a more heightened sense of realism, particularly as it applies to moral complexity.

7) GREEN LANTERN - I have to admit I haven't followed GL for quite a while, since the whole destruction of Coast City. I never really gave Kyle Rayner a chance, I guess, because the only real Green Lantern I will ever acknowledge is Hal Jordan and anyone who tries to "take his place" is automatically going to be met by my skepticism. But that was an editorial decision, to make Hal nuts, just as it was an editorial decision to turn him into the Spectre. Neither one of them made any sense, and ultimately, neither one worked, so thankfully Geoff John returned Hal to square one.

Well, not quite square one, I guess. He's still Hal, he is still a daredevil pilot and a total optimist. He still loves being Green Lantern and loves a challenge. But the weight of the past is there somewhere, informing and defining his character. Johns really couldn't have written it any other way, not without cheating and casting the last few years into "Dallas" dream land. No, Johns has chosen to deal with history rather than deny it, and the book is better for it.

I guess the first thing that I noticed was the return of Hal to his old occupation of test pilot. He's basically the same guy as Hal as he is as GL; adventurer, confident and thrill seeker. He enjoys kicking alien tail and he is totally at home in either of his two identities. That's a nice change from most heroes who are constantly bemoaning their powers and fate.

I also keyed in on the terrific fight scenes. With GL, you have a power only limited by the will power and imagination of the user, and Hal is so comfortable with the ring that it just seems second nature, like a part of him. I like the way the ring talks to him, and informs him as to the current status of its power, danger in his surroudings etc. It's like your wrist watch suddenly turned into the Enterprise's computer; tons of information at your disposal, AND YOU'RE WEARING IT!

Again, as with other books, this one presents a real sense of menace to its hero, and makes you truly feel as if he is in jeopardy. John accomplishes this by including a truly powerful foe, one of the next generation of Manhunters. His battle with GL is really spectacular, a no holds barred slugfest that makes Hal use his head as much as his ring (though actually there isn't much difference).

The book isn't just all action though. There are some nice scenes with Hal's brother, which serves as a reminder of the dark days of his past. And there's some promising romantic developments with a hotshot female test pilot who flirts a bit with Hal. All of this helps make Hal a real person, someone we care about and want to see prevail.

GL is a book that has such a rich history to draw from; the Guardians, the Corps, the interplay among Guy, John, Hal and Kyle (not to mention the hordes of other GLs), wild, powerful villains and now Hal's former fall from grace. There is enough plot material here to keep this one going and going for years to come, and with Johns at the helm, I expect that is just what will happen.