Seven Soldiers of Victory (2005-2006)
by Grant Morrison, various artists
7 4-part mini-series and one 2-parter framing device
Sometimes minor or average pieces, when taken together to form something bigger, somehow can transcend the flaws in their singular form and make something grander. Sadly, for this mega-series, the opposite is true. I didn’t liked everything, Klarion, Frankenstein and Bulleteer were my favorites, while The Guardian, Shining Knight and Zatanna were average and Mister Miracle was awful, but on the whole the singular series were more interesting on their own than as pieces of a bigger puzzle. In truth, the revelation about what the Sheeda were or would be, was interesting, but the central concept of every one of the seven revamped superheroes taking part in the downfall of the Sheeda never worked in the end.
Another thing is, so far everything I’ve read by Morrison has more than just one layer, there always seems to be something more going on, from impenetrable but brilliant stuff like the Invisibles or the Filth to superhero fare like New X-Men. I always felt that Morrison’s stuff had more meaningful things to say than just what you see on the surface. And some tiny pieces of that are there in some of the mini-series. But overall, with the whole unifying structure a complete failure, there never emerges anything more meaningful. Which makes Seven Soldiers feel strangely hollow when seen as a whole.
Which isn’t to say it’s not entertaining, as I said the mini-series can be quite good on their own. Just don’t expect a big and grand finish, since the final chapter of Seven Soldiers is the least interesting thing of this whole mega-series.
Cosmic Odyssey (1992)
by Jim Starlin, Art by Mike Mignola
collects Cosmic Odyssey 1-4 (1988 )
These days, I generally hate crossovers in comics. What started out as a tool to strengthen continuity and to write big, epic stories involving as many characters of a shared universe as possible, has become the bane of the two big comic houses and the lesser ones as well, disrupting the ongoing stories of the monthly series and making big, stupid changes that actually do more harm than good. That’s not to say that they can be fun when done right.
Cosmic Odyssey is that, an early crossover that tells an epic story with some of the biggest guns of the DC Universe involved, yet one that is self-contained and told in four issues. Part of the appeal to me is that the all the art is done by Mike Mignola, who, along with Walter Simonson, another favorite of mine, started out with channeling Kirby but refined his style until it became completely his own. Kirby’s influence is not only felt in the art, the story takes many of his fourth world ideas and tells the story of the real nature of the anti-life equation and explains the origins of the New Gods.
If I remember right, Cosmic Odyssey is not completely canon anymore, but I never cared for such a thing. I create my own canon by reading the stories I like. It’s all fiction after all. But what a glorious creation. It’s pompous and downright stupid at times (why arrive the heroes always in the nick of time to stop the doomsday bombs or the whole concept of destroying the galaxy by destroying four solar systems is just hilariously bad), but also a non-stop action fest with convincing characters and a plot with some excellent twists and turns. When it comes down to it, it’s everything the title promises, an exhilarating cosmic adventure.
The Magnificent Kevin (2006)
by Garth Ennis, Art by Carlos Ezquerra
collects The Magnificent Kevin 1-5 (2005)
More of the same stuff. This time the Authority has been defeated by some really weird creature and only Kev seems to be able to help the last man standing, the Midnighter. In this series it becomes obvious to even the most dense reader that Garth isn’t interested at all in writing Authority superhero stuff, but rather trace the life of an SAS employee who realizes just how fucked up the life he is living is. This makes at times for an uneasy balance between the down to earth elements of Kev’s world and the craziness of the Authority’s world. All in all it’s a good read, but I think the inclusion of the superhero stuff weakens the series to some extend.
Black Summer (2007-2008)
by Warren Ellis, Art by Juan Jose Ryp
issues 0 and 1 to 7
Black Summer opens with a shocker. Superhero John Horus kills the president of the US because he thinks he’s a criminal. But the book is not entirely about whether his action was justified or not, even if this is touched upon by many characters on both sides. What follows after this assassination is elements of the government hunting down Horus and his former colleagues. Up to the last issue everything is concentrated on violent action and the question whether the killing of the president was justified.
Black Summer can be placed in that regard in the tradition of superhero comics that try to mix serious issues with the concept of a world where superheroes exist. It didn’t started with Moore’s Watchmen, but it’s probably the most famous example. Ellis is no stranger to this territory himself, having made stuff like Stormwatch and the Authority. There’s a host of questions that have been and still get examined in such works, like what is justice in such a world, who watches the Watchmen, where to draw the line and others.
But while Black Summer touches on all these questions, the most interesting one surfaces finally at the end of the last issue and also makes clear where Ellis stands on the idea of Horus killing a president to make a finer world. With all the technology at his disposal to make a change, with all the nearly limitless potential to make a better world, all that John Horus could imagine was to kill a person. Which is an interesting meta-commentary on superhero comics in general, even his own Authority stuff and this series itself, which does sell mostly through the depicted violence and not through meditative thoughtfulness or peaceful and positive change.
Rating: 5/5
Wanted (2005)
by Mark Millar, Art by J. G. Jones
collects the mini-series that run from 2003 to 2004 for six issues
At its heart it’s an unrealized DC Elseworld where the villains won and made everyone forget they did. All the superheroes are dead and the villains rule secretly from the shadows. But not everyone is content with this situation. This backstory is mixed with the revenge story of your everyday guy who is basically a loser and hates everything around him, all the people, himself, the world in general and so on, but doesn’t do anything about it.
And this guy gets the means to fight back. He becomes the perfect killer. There’s a little bit of story, basically he helps one group of villains triumph over another group of villains, but this is just a vehicle for getting revenge on everything. At the end, when he breaks the fourth wall and tells the readers how pathetic they are, he only reveals how pathetic he is. Instead of growing up, he becomes just another sort of loser.
Mind you, this is just how I’m reading the comic. Hyped up by some parts of the comic audience as the second coming, it’s a typical Millar comic, high on action, low on empathic characters and overall devoid of anything meaningful. It looks good on the outside, but it’s hollow on the inside. And I’m left wondering why so many people praise a comic whose main character is an asshole, whose main story is about empowering said asshole and whose finish is said asshole telling the reader something to the effect of I’m fucking you in the ass. But some people must like being abused, or they wouldn’t like this comic so much.
Rating: 2/5
Eternals (2007)
by Neil Gaiman, Art by John Romita Jr.
collects Gaiman’s Eternals mini-series (1-7)
Gaiman’s take on Kirby’s Eternals is sadly less than what I expected. It’s accompanied by excellent artwork by John Romita Jr. and on par with other Gaiman work, the writing is well done. But the major drawback is that the whole thing is nothing more than a prologue, a set-up for things to come. It’s a nice read, but at the end I felt like: That is all? It has just started! Other writers can tells a whole story that actually feels like one in four issues and while there’s actually a plot that get’s finished, it never feels like a complete product. If there had been a follow-up by Gaiman or someone equally competent, this had might been better, but as a stand-alone that tries to establish a new starting point for the Eternals and tell a whole story, it just doesn’t work so well.
Rating: 3/5
X-23: Target X (2007)
by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, Art by Mike Choi
collects the second X-23 mini-series (1-6)
This is an immediate sequel to Lost Innocence, following from the last panel of the first series. As all the main characters, apart from X-23, have the departed the scene, another, even more generic antagonist than the villain from the first series, gets introduced and retroactively integrated in X-23’s short history. Her main traits are a complete lack of motivations that make sense (apart from: I’m a cackling villain, deal with it) and her imperative to humiliate and bring X-23 back in the fold of the secret organization.
While the first series had at least the objective to tell something interesting (whether they succeeded is another question), the origin of X-23, this one just exists to bridge the time between the end of the first series and X-23 surfacing in NYX. So instead of a weak execution we have a weak concept, which should make this worse, but it’s actually on par with the first series. Weak characterization, questionable character motivations and a general lack of any interesting things happening.
Rating: 2/5
X-23: Innocence Lost (2006)
by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, Art by Billy Tan
collects the first X-23 mini-series (1-6)
This tells the origin of X-23, the female Wolverine clone that was successful enough as a concept on the X-Men: Evolution TV series, to be ported to the main comic universe. It’s a rather pedestrian affair. Since X-23 has the personality (and mind) of a vegetable, everything about her upbringing has to be told from someone else point of view. Cue for her mother, who starts as a scientist, but due to her personal involvement in the project (the making of Wolverine clones) feels more and more resentful of her role as initiator of the project. Due to her emotional involvement she loses all input apart from talking to X-23 from time to time and can’t do anything to help her daughter.
What this series offer is a predictable plot, two dimensional villains, readable but at times awkward writing and some strange choices. For example, is it a secret government installation (which everything seems to imply at first) or not (because the final aim seems to be to make money). Why does the main head of the installation is introduced and handled like a machiavellian leader, only to be outsmarted by his second in command by some obvious and stupid movies (especially the scene where he signed the transfer of power was the most asinine moment of the whole mini-series). Another weak point is the second in command, the main antagonistic character of the series. His first imperative seems to be revenge on everything Wolverine (including females clones and people who associate with them), but slowly, as the series progresses, his motivations become muddier and muddier and he emerges as an all-purpose generic C-villain.
Rating: 2/5
Ultimate Human (2008)
by Warren Ellis, Art by Cary Nord
Ultimate Human 1-4
Ultimate Human starts with two very strong issues, pure, vintage Ellis excellency, only to close with two rather weak issues. I like the reinterpretation of superheroes or superhumans as the first step toward post-humanity, a trend seen first in Wildstorm’s superhero universe, which makes me check it out occasionally over DC and Marvel stuff. Back to Ultimate Human, which shows some interesting talk between Banner and Stark and delves into the mechanisms that make the Hulk work. This is all Ellis’s stuff and quite fascinating, especially the pieces about adapting to the environment on other worlds and then…
Ellis includes a full issue detailing the background of Ultimate Pete Wisdom who became the Ultimate Leader and has head issues (and other issues as well). Then we have a final issue that closes the whole conflict between the Leader and Stark/Banner in a rather abrupt manner. It’s not that it’s not entertaining, but the first two issues made me expect something more meaty and interesting than what it turned out to be.
Rating: 3/5
The Name of the Game (2007)
by Garth Ennis, Art by Darick Robertson
collects The Boys 1-6
Ennis new ongoing series The Boys isn’t really new ground for him, it’s Ennis (again) taking a piss out of superhero comics by creating a world where most of them are perverts or assholes, while their official image equals that of their counterparts in the DCU or Marvel Universe. Still, this is probably the most enjoyable comic I’ve read by Ennis since Hitman. His character dynamics too feel very similar to his previous work, but this whole manly-friends theme that pervades much of his work is something only Ennis can pull off so eloquently, making you care for those guys, whether they help each other fighting for a good cause or whether getting drunk together. As for the Boys, the main characters of the book, they are a group of more or less normal people temporally super powered by some injections, thus allowing them to confront superheroes gone bad.
Rating: 5/5
