Review - Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #3 by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

This is the issue where it hits the fan.

The comic fan that is. The comic fan gets hit with a big bunch of silliness.

Nick Fury was pinpointed as a traitor in issue one and Carol Danvers was shown to be employing Tyrone Cash, the first Hulk, also making her a traitor. Good guys as traitors? Ee-gad!

Now we have the fallout, but first...

Now recovered enough to drink martinis, Tony Stark decides the best and easiest way to discharge himself from hospital is to buy the hospital itself which you can apparently do at 2am in the morning. So, I'm assuming it's a private hospital, because of course you couldn't buy a public hospital. And let's just push aside the fact (as Millar has done) that this sort of transaction isn't like buying a car. But of course he has to get out of hospital because...

Nick Fury has turned up at S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters. Seemingly able to infiltrate (with the rest of the Avengers, mind you) the heavily secured facility without being detected even when everyone is looking for him. Why? So Carol Danvers can immediately start shooting and there can be a massive punch-up between the Ultimates and the Avengers of course! Lucky that Iron Man instinctively knew what was happening, other wise he might've missed the punch up!

With Captain America kicking the bejesus out of Fury it's up to the Punisher to save him.

In the tradition of the previous two covers of the series, this issue doesn't cover the 'Death of Spiderman' proper as proclaimed, although he does make an appearance right at the end to cop a bullet. I'm not spoiling anything here, I mean, the whole thing has been billed as the Death of Spiderman, so  I suppose that means he is going to die... sometime.

Spiderman apparently can swing faster than a speeding Punisher's bullet. Instead of just grabbing Captain America with his webslinger thingies and pulling him out of the way of said bullet, it's more advisable (heroic even) for Spidey to put himself in harm's way by knocking Cap out of the bullet's path with his body. Both Fury and Cap are shocked! Nearly as much as readers, no doubt.

Oh and there's a bunch of gratuitous boob shots.

This: Silliness factor ramped up to grimace level.

Forthcoming: The quality has been fluctuating. The next could be better, and... well, I'm here now. Let's see if Spiderman actually dies.. not that I actually care too much.

Review - Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #2 by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates issue two is basically a re-run of issue one, this time following The Avengers.

Nick Fury recruits bad-asses The Punisher and Blade with a few personal incentives and, along with Hawkeye and War Machine, heads off to Brazil to stop the illegal trade of a nascent superhuman. One of the players happens to be Tyrone Cash (the first Hulk) and an impressively brutal battle rages between him and War Machine. However, just like in issue one, we find out that the bad guys are working for someone high up in a U.S. government agency. Can't really say any more than that or I'd be giving it away.

Emblazoned with the 'Death of Spider-Man' on the front, there's still no sign of Spidey in this issue either. Adverts in the back suggest he's showing up in issue three. I'm also perturbed by the fact that the heroes on the covers of both issues so far don't reflect who's in the issue. Is that false advertising? Hmm...

The issue is co-pencilled by Leinil Yu and Stephen Segovia. The fact that I can't tell which pages are attributed to whom, I don't know whether is a good or bad thing. For continuity of the comic obviously it's good. Wildly different styles in the one issue (even in a story arc) can really spoil a comic by changing the feel and tone of the story. Just browsing through Segovia's work at DeviantArt I can see that he is technically brilliant and can cover a number of styles. That his work resembles Yu's so closely is in no way bad, it is simply very accomplished comic art  pushing towards realism in execution. Segovia's art (much like Yu's) is defined by how 'comic' it is.

Which brings me to another point. Recently I reacquainted myself with Will Eisner's Comics and Sequential Art.  In chapter five, 'Expressive Anatomy', Eisner writes that the human form and the language of its bodily movements are are one of the essential ingredients of comic strip art. Eisner goes on to say, 'The skill with which they are employed is also a measure of the author's ability to convey his idea' (p100).

What is missing in comic book art sometimes is that ability to convey emotion. In previous reviews (Superior) I've praised Yu's art but there was something about it that was bugging me and reading Eisner killed that bug with a might THWACK. There are too many flat expressions, more so in Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates than Superior.

Eisner quite rightly states: 'Except for the ears and nose the surface of the face is in constant motion' (p109) which means that for every piece of dialogue, and every close up, characters should have expressions. If they don't then the wrong instant of time has been illustrated. Comic book heroes are all too regularly rendered emotionless or reduced to having only one or two emotions (such as anger or anguish). Comic art revels in stern grimaces and gritted teeth. Thus what we have in Yu and Segovia's art (which in turn is in the same style as Jim Lee) is artists with great technical ability to draw a hero but less ability to show us what is going on in the hero's mind.

I'll quote Eisner again on employing body posture and facial expression - 'Properly and skilfully done, it can carry the narrative without resorting to unnecessary props or scenery' (p111). And when I go back over Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates issues one and two, unnecessary props and scenery is what I see. There's characters in shots that don't need to be there, or if they do, then how those characters are feeling isn't conveyed. Similarly there's just too much background, which while highly detailed and displays great artistic ability, is simply wasting space and could've been used to progress the story.

Now this isn't completely the artist's fault. Artists are given comic scripts to draw. If they're not getting the feeling through the script then quite likely it doesn't translate to the art. What is then needed is better writing for the artist and/or better interpretation by the artist of the script.

It's not that the story isn't engaging or the art great, it's just it could be done better in a way that takes us with the characters, rather than just having them there to be looked at.


Reference

Eisner, Will. Comics and Sequential Art. Florida: Poorhouse Press, 1985.

Review - Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #1 by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

First off let me say that I am not familiar with what's going on in the Marvel Ultimate Universe. I picked up Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates because it was a first issue and figured it may well be a self-contained story. What was I thinking? Since when is any story in a major comics line a self contained story? Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #1 picks up from the end of Ultimate Avengers, a storyline involving vampires, the Triskelion ending up in the middle of the Persian Desert, and Tony Stark (Iron Man) being taken to hospital suffering from a cancerous tumour in his brain. Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #1 is also supposed to be integral to the much 'Death of Spider-Man' Ultimate Universe event although Spiderman appears nowhere in this issue.

So now that's out of the way, on with the story.

Seems there was a break in at something called an 'English Facility' and all the contents were stolen. The contents being the next generation of U.S. super soldier. Main suspects are the Russians or Chinese but looks like there's something of an inside job going on too. So Thor, Captain America, Giant Man (not Henry Pym but  Doctor Scott Lang), and Black Widow head off to Bulgaria to intercept a train carrying the missing cargo, which they do with surprising results.


(Minor Spoiler Ahead)


The heroes find the super soldier cargo not to be a lethal killer but an Afghanistan veteran inspired by Captain America to volunteer for the Super Soldier program. However instead of becoming a superhero like he'd been told, he's been turned into a pain-wracked cyborg freak, unable to see and with little control over his own body.

On first reading of this issue I was entertained and for a Millar story, at least a little impressed that he provided a bit more by the way of content than he usually does for a first issue. On going back over it there are some things that just, well, shouldn't be there.... To whit: apparently in Bulgaria they still use steam trains. Hmm... On the opening page we have the aforementioned train in a long shot on a really big bridge, and then a panel of the train's wheels. Now maybe Leinil Yu likes drawing train wheels, I don't know, but really, I know the train is moving. I don't need the wheels. Thor decides to stop the train-we'll call it stopping to make it easier overall-by leaving his hammer on the tracks. I assume he does this so when the train hits the hammer it can plunge off the rails and we can have the massive carnage and explosions that we expect from a Millar comic. Not sure why a steam train explodes, but there you go... Okay it could be a diesel train, but that still doesn't explain the explosion... Now, I'm thinking surely there must have been an easier way for The Ultimates to stop the train which wouldn't have seen it going over the edge and at least not have killed the humans on the train. They are superheroes, aren't they? Okay I know too that The Ultimates Universe is a bit harsher overall, but why make work for yourself? Huh?

I know too that Captain America is a nice guy, but do we need him telling the others that snow is 'pretty slippery'. They're superheroes for f@#)$ sake! Even if they fell over, the damage ain't gonna be that bad, y'know?!

On the plus side, I was of course expecting the generic massive fight between the super soldier and The Ultimates, but was surprised when he emerged from the train wreck as a pathetic and pitiful figure, not looking for a fight but meaning and understanding of his situation. In extreme pain both physically and mentally, this abject figure asks questions that The Ultimates can't answer. And here is where I think Millar missed a golden opportunity. If we didn't have so much extraneous stuff at the start, we could've had a bit more poignancy at the end which would've elevated this comic way above most superhero comics. This sequence is dominated by images of the soldier. We're not involved in how each member of The Ultimates is affected by what the soldier is saying, especially Captain America, considering he was the soldier's inspiration. A few choice close ups of The Ultimates' faces depicting the horror of the whole situation would've really given the scene more depth and shown an interesting side to each character. Maybe something on the idea of how superheroes affect other people's lives, where in this case their existence has made someone's life worse. Would Cap be ashamed at his influence on this man?

Yu's pencils are once again amazing (I especially liked Captain America's snow outfit), and Alanguilan's (with Paz and Huet) inks ably supplement Yu's art. But as with Superior, of which we have the same creative team here, I'm just not a fan of the colouring, although I will admit that I found it less jarring in this comic than in Superior. My main gripe specifically is that I just don't like the way people are coloured. It reminds me of the first digital colouring used in the 1990s which was often very harsh. Their faces are two, sometimes three-toned and it detracts from characters expressions and buries the pencilling.

Having said all that you may think that I didn't like Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates, but overall I did. Millar provides us with too much filler but the thing is he also comes up with some really good stuff and that's why I keep picking up his books. With him you have to take the good with the less than good.

This: Don't think too hard about it
Forthcoming: Certainly thinking about it

Review - Superior #3 by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

Superior #3 sees Superior/Simon Pooni save the crashing space station that was hurtling towards New York in issue two and then begin dramatically rescuing people in life-threatening situations across America.

Introduced in this issue is TV anchor-person, Madeline Knox who for an unexplained reason looks dressed to go partying rather than to work. She mentions in her voice over that when she was the highest paid television personality she wasn’t a very nice person. Held up in traffic she complains aloud that the stoppage must be because of ‘some kind of retard convention'. Hmmm... seems she’s not so much of a nice person now either! However she vows to find out who Superior is. I smell mismatched relationship happening, where Simon and Madeline learning something special from each other...ooh, won't that be nice. Millar referenced the movie Big in issue one and Superior, I dare say, is going to draw some close parallels.

This issue also sees the return of Ormon the talking monkey in a space suit, albeit minimally and it seems that he may not be the benevolent simian we were led to believe! Millar, you scoundrel! All talking monkeys, especially those in spacesuits should be working for the forces of good! This is an unwritten comic law!

What is excellent in this issue is the scale of heroics presented. This issue is mainly an onlooker's view of Superior’s actions. Really well done is the sense of wonder (which Millar has said he wanted to show) in how a man can pick up a space station. Superior is dwarfed and hidden by the space station so to an onlooker it looks as if the thing is hovering on its own. Yu's artwork and use of scope is excellent. He uses the widescreen format that Millar likes so much to great effect. His cityscapes are quite remarkable and the scenes of the space station using an array of worm's eye and bird's eye view angles are especially brilliant.

One criticism of Yu’s artwork is the somewhat gratuitous use of boob and crotch shots. Is this Yu ad-libbing or directions from Millar’s script? Either way, is there really a need for Ms Knox to have such a low cut dress, or a female train passengers' dress to ride up in a crash to reveal her panties, or… yeah, I think you get the idea. From the promo art for issue four it looks like it’s going to continue.

As I stated in my review of Superior #2 I’m not a fan of the colouring and in that regard for issue three my stance hasn't changed. It looks harsh and takes away from Yu's artwork.

Now, would a pre-teenager with massive power go straight to heroic actions? Would he even have an idea of how to stop a nuclear meltdown in a power station (as he does)? We’re not privy to Simon’s thoughts in this issue about what he's going through apart from the fact her likes the attention. It seems Simon just knows what to do. But I'm not really supposed to ask these questions, am I? I mean Superman and all those Golden Age heroes never had any other thoughts than to use their abilities for forces of good, did they? It was straight to work as the good guy! No doubts, no hesitation. This is what Superior is all about and it's working a treat.

The question is - why am I enjoying this, a fairly straight forward superhero comic? Well, unlike Grant Morrison's stuff, it's not taxing on the brain nor does it come burdened with years of comic continuity which means it can just be enjoyed on its own. And to Millar's credit, he knows how to pace a story to keep you interested.

This: Entertaining (portrayal of superheroics) and mildly annoying (sexist art) at the same time.
Forthcoming: I've come this far, I can't go back.

Read review of Superior #2.

Review - Superior #2 by Mark Millar and Leinil Yu

Superior is Millar's attempt to return to more traditional type of comic story, one filled with magic and wonder. In this Millar follows in the footsteps of Kurt Busiek's Astro City and Alan Moore's Tom Strong. This may not seem much of a talking point but since Millar's stories (The Authority, Wanted, Kick-Ass and Nemesis) are generally wall-to-wall blood-filled, over-the-top, action extravaganzas, a little magic and wonder is definitely a different tack for Millar.

I haven't reviewed issue one because, while I bought it, I lost the copy! Where it went...

Anyway here's a quick recap. Issue one saw multiple sclerosis sufferer Simon Pooni granted a wish by Ormon, a talking monkey in spacesuit. The last talking monkey I saw was in Grant Morrison's The Filth - and a foul-mouthed simian he was! Simon's illness has left him wheelchair-bound with his parents having to help bathe and feed him - terribly embarrassing for a budding teenager. Simon is also bullied and spends most of his free time immersing himself in movies. All pretty standard stuff but let's face it, anything with a talking monkey instantly elevates the story to comic book gold! Simon's wish? To become Superior - the superhero star of the Superior movie franchise played by actor Tad Scott. Wah-lah! The monkey grants Simon's wish. This has echoes of Captain Marvel/Billy Batson and smells of adolescent power fantasy. Well, really, which superhero comics aren't adolescent power fantasies... None of it's subtle but Millar doesn't do subtle.

Issue two sees Superior/Simon convincing his friend, Chris, that he's actually Simon in Superior's body. Thankfully we're spared the "I'll tell you something that only you and I know" scene. They test out Superior's super abilities to see if they're the same as the Superior movie character version or the comic book version - some pretty standard "new superhero learns how to use their abilities" stuff, but at least a little amusing. Simon uses his frustration of living with multiple sclerosis to fuel the control of his new powers. The climax sees Superior confronted with his first major disaster. There's also a hint that Simon may not be Superior forever.


As I've come to expect from Millar the story jumps along at a nice clip but like Nemesis I feel that Millar is delivering only just enough per issue. This issue could've been told in half the pages which means we could have double the amount of story! Do we really need half page splashes of Simon/Superior learning to fly? Or him learning to use his supervision?

The issue's high point is Leinil Yu's realistic styled artwork. Each panel is meticulously drawn and striking really producing a big look.

The one thing that was disappointing was the comic's colouring, especially on Superior's face. It just looks heavy-handed at best, amateurish at worst, and takes away from Yu's fine pencil work. Pages with just Yu's pencils are reproduced in the back of the issue showing the detailed and crisp line work.The colouring really obliterates this detail. I'm assuming the colouring has been done digitally I've found this on any number of occasions in comics. It used to be worse, especially in the 1990s when the use of computers and digital imaging was just beginning. Thankfully proficiency and programs have improved but like anything it can be done badly and here, I think it is. I sometimes think that I'd prefer to see the comic printed just as pencils without the coloring.

If there's one other small criticism, while Yu's work is fantastic, the poses Superior strikes are still in the vein of superheroic. There's less conveyance of a young goofy boy in a hulking unfamiliar body. Nothing like how Frank Quitely brilliantly managed to pull off making Clark Kent look completely different, and actually hold his body different, to Superman in All-Star Superman.

Superior #2 is entertaining enough and is setting up the longer story nicely. Millar is one of the superstars of comic writing at the moment and it's easy to see why. He's developed a distinct style in his storytelling - bold in style, big in concept. Millar produces a spectacle, leaving lots of room for his artist to work. Still, I just wish there was more...

This: Solid and interesting
Forthcoming: Why not? Talking monkeys (and ones that grant wishes) are always a drawcard. Let's see where it's going...

Read review of Superior #3