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.

Acting Out – Anomie and Roleplay in Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's Nemesis

Mark Mllar has become a comic writer superstar with runs on Ulitmate X-Men, The Ultimates, and Civil War. He’s also become synonymous with comic ultraviolence on the titles The Authority, Wanted, and Kick-Ass. This ultraviolence has arguably reached a peak that’s hard to top in his creator-owned title (with artist Steve McNiven) Nemesis which debuted in May 2010 and completed a four issue story arc in February 2011.

Nemesis is an extremely violent super-criminal who dresses in a completely white suit, cape and cowl. After terrorising and killing law officials in Korea, Singapore, and Japan, he turns his attention to America and supercop Blake Morrow who aspires to be head of America’s Homeland Security. Nemesis’s intentions are clear in sending Morrow a card which states precisely when Morrow will die by his hands – ‘March 12th at midnight Flatline still counts’. Nemesis’s first terrorist action in America is to hijack AirForce One and take the U.S. President hostage. He then kidnaps Morrow’s children and threatens to kill them unless Morrow reveals his three “dirty little secrets”. These secrets are Morrow’s wife had an affair with Morrow’s police partner because he was an inattentive husband and poor lover; his teenage son hid his homosexuality from him; and his daughter hid an abortion she had from him. Morrow reveals his secrets but while Nemesis keeps to his promise of not killing the children he instead artificially inseminates the daughter with the homosexual son’s sperm, and booby traps the daughter’s womb so a termination is impossible.

Finally with Nemesis’s real identity apparently deduced, Morrow closes in only to find he’s fallen in to a trap and is instead captured. Nemesis, who has now also kidnapped Morrow’s wife, then presents Morrow with an ultimatum: choose to kill either the president or his wife. If he kills neither, Nemesis will kill both. The president then sacrifices himself, which surprises Nemesis, allowing Morrow to fight and ultimately shoot him dead. However Morrow is also mortally shot and dies but is resuscitated during surgery. As the card predicted, ‘Flatline still counts’ and Nemesis’s goal of killing Morrow is achieved. With the threat over and Morrow retiring from active law enforcement, a twist is revealed. A letter is delivered to Morrow which reveals Nemesis is just an extremely rich and bored person who has paid to live out a super-criminal fantasy. Nemesis shocking actions have been years in the planning down to the finest detail.

Rich and Bored

Why does Nemesis conduct his reign of terror? What is his driving force? The Nemesis narrative provides two reasons for Nemesis’s violent actions. Initially Nemesis says he targets people who are vain. This simple explanation doesn’t hold water and, like the majority of Nemesis’s explanations, is a lie. In his crisp white suit and magnificently muscled body, Nemesis is the epitome of vanity. Indeed the catch-cry on the cover of issue two: ‘Crime is awesome and so am I’ backs this claim. Later when pushed by Morrow for an explanation of his actions, Nemesis reveals, ‘I’m rich and I’m bored. What else do you need to know?’ (Millar 2011 8). It’s my contention that Nemesis’s actions are the result of a condition called anomie. This anomie drives Nemesis’s desire for an obscene and excessive self-obliteration; an egoistic suicide. Why else would he proclaim on the cover of issue four: ‘Shoot straight @*%hole!’? Witness also the array of dangerous situations he puts himself in – jumping onto an airborne aeroplane; allowing himself to be imprisoned and then escaping by fighting nearly 100 prison guards. Investigating why being rich and bored is the reason behind Nemesis’s actions begins with an understanding of anomie and how it relates to suicide.

For sociologist Emile Durkheim, society constrains individuals through integration (being attached to socially given purposes and ideals) and regulation (moderating potentially infinite desires and aspirations) (Taylor 11). These moral rules and constraints are tantamount to an imaginary wall around an individual containing their passions. When passions are contained or limited they can be satisfied. ‘Anomie’ which Durkheim he calls a ‘malady of infiniteness’, occurs

when the moral system... is shaken, and fails to respond to new conditions of human life, without any new system having yet been formed to replace that which has disappeared’ (Durkheim 174). 

Essentially there is a breakdown, a mismatch, of social and moral norms. That is, society’s integration and regulation is weak or missing, leaving individuals with a feeling of a lack of guiding principles in their lives. When a society’s moral boundaries are weakened leaving the individual less constrained or lacking in social norms, values or ideals, the individual’s desires and wants are no longer kept in check. Weakened or non-existent barriers permit the individual to ‘devote themselves, without hope of satisfaction, to the pursuit of an end that always eludes them’ (Durkheim 173). An individual’s desires thus become limitless and unable to be satisfied. An example is the accumulation of wealth – ‘it is possible that the more wealth he accumulates, the more dissatisfied he becomes, because the horizon of his ambitions expands’ (Giddens 15). I would argue this is the precise predicament in which Nemesis has found himself. Nemesis is extremely, even obscenely, wealthy. Evidence of this is all the cars he gives to prison inmates on escape from incarceration, the huge mound of drugs he offers his henchmen, and his secret high-tech lair. He doesn’t commit crime for money, he commits crime because he has money. As Durkheim describes ‘it is because morality has the function of limiting and containing that too much wealth so easily becomes a source of immorality. Through the power wealth confers on us, it actually diminishes the power of things to oppose us’ (173). Nemesis’s horizons have become limitless due to his wealth his wants and desires are unable to be satisfied. As the quote suggests, because of his wealth Nemesis has nothing and no-one to oppose him. He may be rich and bored, but he’s bored because he’s rich.


Egoistic Behaviour, Anomie, and Suicide

Durkheim positioned anomie as explaining four kinds of suicide – egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic. Egoistic suicide results when the individual has become detached from his community leading to an excess of individualism and this is strongly depicted in Nemesis. But you may well exclaim, “Nemesis doesn’t commit suicide! Morrow kills him!” True, but this is ‘Suicide by Cop’. Suicide by Cop describes an ‘incident whereby the suicidal subject engages in a consciously, life-threatening behaviour to the degree that it compels a police officer to respond with deadly force' (Stincelli). 

Durkheim states that “Man is the more vulnerable to self-destruction the more he is detached from any collectivity, that is to say, the more he lives as an egoist” (Durkheim 113). Egoists are more likely to commit suicide because ‘they think primarily of their own interests and desires and are not sufficiently integrated into social groups around them’ (Taylor 14). The characteristics of ‘egoistic’ or ‘excessive individualism’ are ‘hedonistic self-fulfilment instead of social solidarity; ruthless pursuit of one’s own interests while using others as a mere “means” in strategic actions’ (Mesner, Thome and Rosenfeld 172). Nemesis exhibits all the traits of an egoist. His wealth is the source of his anomie and seen him become detached from society. He has no social bonds to keep him in check– no partner (sexual or otherwise) –and no family. He doesn’t even have a permanent “gang”, employing new henchmen in every city and then murdering them once he’s finished. 

So how does Nemesis go about achieving his desire of an excessive self-obliteration? Well, Nemesis isn’t the criminal terrorist mastermind we’ve been led to believe. In a neat piece of outsourcing Nemesis buys the role of super-criminal in an elaborately designed real-life roleplaying game. Buying and “acting out” the role of super-criminal is an instance of egoistic behaviour, a ruthless pursuit of his own interests to allay his boredom. Not only is he rich and bored but he’s also devoid of ideas paying a secret organisation that has created the Nemesis super-criminal persona and meticulously planned the campaign of terror, all years in advance. As the letter which Morrow receives at the end of the story states: ‘I run a business, you see, where the rich and the bored can savor adventure for a few short weeks of every year’ (Millar 2011 6). The whole thing resembles an adventure holiday. Graham Dann writes– 

related to anomie, the fantasy world of travel seeks to overcome the humdrum, the normlessness and meaninglessness of life, with more satisfying experiences. As regards ego-enhancement, travel presents the tourist with the opportunity to boost his ego in acting out an alien personality (188).

But this isn’t any holiday­–it’s a holiday from himself (whoever that was before becoming Nemesis), acting out the alien super-criminal personality, which like a pre-rolled roleplaying game character, was ready to go!

However, being a super-criminal in an elaborate game is a waste of time if you have no-one to play with. Playing a game involves a goal: to win. Without competition there can be no definitive “winner”. Nemesis must have an opponent. Luckily the organisation Nemesis has paid has also handpicked his target/opponent, and that someone is Blake Morrow. Nemesis has no grudge (except spurious, invented ones for the game) against Morrow. He’s simply someone to ‘play’ with, in an elaborate, high-stakes game.[i] 

The question then must be asked – if it’s all a game, what constitutes Nemesis winning? On the surface it would appear the killing of Morrow would be the answer, but I am arguing that as a sufferer of anomie, his own death constitutes him winning. The card Nemesis sends to Morrow reads, ‘flatline still counts’. This short statement constitutes a “rule” of the game, a technicality that means ultimately it doesn’t matter if Morrow doesn’t remain dead. That Morrow dies and is resuscitated, means Nemesis still “wins” the game for which he’s paid. On the other hand because Nemesis’s real goal is pursuing an egoistic suicide, if he is killed, he also wins. When Nemesis states: ‘I’ve beaten all of my opponents...’ (Millar 2011 7) this in fact means his suicide attempt has been “defeated”. In issue four Nemesis proclaims –‘I’m too rich to fail. Don’t you understand? People like me never lose!’ (Millar 2011 16) Why? Because either way his underlying desire to die will be achieved. He’s too rich to fail because even if Nemesis had killed Morrow and survived we can safely assume he would continue his reign of terror against another hand-picked opponent, and this would continue until he was killed. Standing trial and incarceration is not an option considering the scale of carnage he has caused. However, the more he “wins” the more he loses. With limitless horizons, Nemesis is unlikely to retire, so like in his rich and bored life, his anomie can’t be excised by killing an ongoing succession of opponents, whoever they may be. If Nemesis keeps “winning” this twisted game can only regress to the level of everything else in his life–a bore. His excessive individualism due to wealth means the only limit, the only goal left, is excessive self-obliteration: death. In death Nemesis is finally “cured” of his anomie, making him eternally happy, evidenced by his grinning “death mask”. Before this he only exhibits the pretence of happiness as shown by his smearing of a massive red grin over his mouth and cheeks. Why doesn’t Nemesis just let himself be shot? The game gives his death meaning. He will be remembered. In the end he has bought himself a legacy.

So why at this particular time does Nemesis decide it’s time to go? The answer lies in the unknown mastermind’s letter to Morrow explaining: ‘my client-list has been growing healthily even in the current financial crisis’ (Millar 2011 23). This is because ‘economic booms or depressions undercut the predictable material goals from which individuals would ordinarily derive satisfaction’ (Orcutt). Thus in times of economic crises the prevalence of anomie increases and suicide rates rise (Taylor 15). In fact it is because of the financial crisis that the client list has been growing.

To a different degree Nemesis’s rampage has also taught Morrow to have limits. Morrow’s family has suffered due to his constant desire for “more”; placing career before his family. By the end of the story he no longer seeks to be the head of Homeland Security and is contented being a father and grandfather. In an ironic twist Nemesis has saved Morrow from anomie.

In conclusion, Nemesis’s excessive wealth has seen him lose sight of any horizon, any goal, and become dissatisfied suffering from anomie. His desires become limitless and thus can never be satisfied. The result of his pursuit of excessive wealth is a detachment from society, and thus Nemesis suffers from an excess of individualism. This leads him down the path of committing egoistic suicide which he achieves by buying the Nemesis character in an elaborately planned “game”. Nemesis’s personal goal is death which ultimately, is the only thing which can “cure” his anomie and make him happy.


Reference 

Dann, Graham. “Anomie, Ego-enhancement, and Fantasy.” Annals of Tourism Research 4.4 (1977): 184-94.

Durkheim, Emile. Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings. Ed. Anthony Giddens. Trans. Anthony Giddens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Giddens, Anthony. “Introduction.” Durkheim, Emile. Emile Durkheim: Selected Writings. Ed. Anthony Giddens. Trans. Anthony Giddens. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Mesner, Steven F., Helmut Thome and Richard Rosenfeld. “Institutions, Anomie, and Violent Crime: Clarifying and Elaborating Institutional-Anomie Theory.” International Journal of Conflict and Violence 2.2 (2008): 163-181.

Millar, Mark (w) and McNiven, Steve (art). Nemesis. Vol. 1 #4 (Feb 2011). New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2011.

—. Nemesis. Vol. 1 #1 (May 2010). New York: Marvel Worldwide, 2010.

Orcutt, James D. “The Anomie Tradition: Explaining Rates of Deviant Behavior.” <http://deviance.socprobs.net/Unit_3/Theory/Anomie.htm>.

Stincelli, Rebecca. “Suicide by Cop Defined.” 2008. Suicide by Cop: Victims from Both Sides of the Badge. <http://www.suicidebycop.com/7922.html>.

Taylor, Steve. Durkheim and the Study of Suicide. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1982.

Footnotes

[i] Supporting that the whole thing is a kind of game is shown in issue one where Nemesis is introduced as ‘Player one’ and Morrow as ‘Player two’.

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 - Nemesis #4 by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

Millar gives us the final installment (for now) of his twisted supervillain comic Nemesis.

WARNING: Some Spoilers Ahead

With supercop Blake Morrow believing he's found out the identity of the despicable Nemesis, he closes in. Unfortunately it's just another trap in a long line of traps. Morrow finds himself captured alongside his wife and the President of the United States and forced to choose which one to kill. The reason why he's doing all this? Nemesis provides no in-depth reasons. No big statements. No revenge tale. He’s just rich and bored.

Fed up, the President volunteers his life and ends up as human meat all over Nemesis. A knock-down, kick-out the jams fight ensues between Nemesis and Morrow with Morrow coming out the winner. Or does he? As with each issue of this macabre and dirty tale (sometimes dirty enough to make you want to wash your hands after reading) Millar has a wicked sting in the tail.

The Nemesis saga is far from finished.

 

Unlike the previous three issues there’s actually a bit of meat (not just human) to this issue, which for a climax issue there should be. The story is far-fetched, that’s hardly worth saying, but it is done very well. The time frame and planning of the events in the story would be impossible to carry out successfully, but who cares? We’re on a wild ride, we paid our ticket, so let’s scream till we’re hoarse. As usual McNiven’s artwork is outstanding. There’s not much more I can say than what I already have in previous reviews (#1, #2, #3). His depiction of action and carnage is quite stunning. Only familiar with his previous work on Civil War McNiven has become one of my favourite artists.

I mentioned in my review of Nemesis #1 that the trick would be in how Millar would handle who the reader would be cheering for. In other words who holds the moral centre? Initially it’s family man Morrow but as Nemesis extracts his secrets we find Morrow isn’t as pure as we might believe. In fact he’s really just a fallible man who’s made mistakes albeit one who is very good at his job. Nemesis is the bringer of chaos of almost unstoppable force. His attraction lies is in the pure escapist power fantasy he represents.

Cleverly Millar gives both up and downbeat endings to satisfy both parties. Morrow 'wins' in the sense that he defeats and kills Nemesis and unlike normal superhero comics he’s promised he won't be targeted again. He also wins in the idea that he now values his family over his career (a hard lesson taught by Nemesis). Yet he loses as Nemesis managed to kill him - 'flatline still counts'. Nemesis loses - he's killed, but 'wins' because he did manage to kill Morrow. Ultimately it is Morrow who is the hero as he opts to (finally) choose family over career and good-heartedly deal with the lifelong consequences of Nemesis’ actions against his family. Morrow's conundrum is does he go up against the 'next batch of supervillains' armed with the knowledge he's been given? Or is this just further bait? A little knowledge can be dangerous. Let’s wait and see…

This: Most excellent.

Forthcoming: Don’t know when, but I’m in.

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

Review: Nemesis #3 by Mark Millar (writer) and Steve McNiven (artist)

Carnage. Nemesis #3 is pure carnage.

Millar and McNiven have produced a love letter to violence and shock tactics with Nemesis #3 going into gross-out territory in both physical and moral violence.

Having been captured by supercop Blake Morrow, Nemesis (aka Matthew Anderson) isn't too worried as it appears being incarcerated in a maximum security prison is all part of his master plan. Sure enough, with some help from his henchmen Nemesis escapes, in the process killing not one, not two, but ninety-seven fully-armed riot-cops! This takes up approximately five pages.

Nemesis though has much in store for Morrow and his family. Nemesis' actions against them are genuinely sickening.

As far as story goes, there's actually not a lot here. Nemesis escapes, makes Morrow reveal some secrets, and Morrow's resolve to capture Nemesis is reinforced - 'let's nail this bitch.'  Morrow's family secrets aren't really that shocking but they're supposed to show us that attaining 'supercop' status has had disadvantages and consequences which affect Morrow's family. It's supposed to make us sympathise (and empathise) with Morrow (i.e.: he's flawed) and show that Nemesis has no scruples (as if we didn't know that already) in trying to tear Morrow down.

Okay, so let's make it clear. Millar isn't drawing on subtlety, or indeed reality, with Nemesis. It's major over the top stuff in virtually every sense. He's going for big and extravagant and succeeding brilliantly. Nemesis is pure spectacle. Don't believe me? A supervillain walking around in a completely white suit and cape for starters...

The issue really belongs to Steve McNiven. His artwork, especially the violent and bloody sequences, is top quality. As shown by the sample script pages at the rear of the comic, Millar's directions are minimal allowing McNiven's talents to shine. If asked for one word to describe his art, I'd volunteer- precise. There's nothing extraneous or superfluous here. Everything is exact.

My only gripe is that it ripped along so fast. Pages where there's all action and little or no dialogue makes a very quick read. Considering I'm in Australia and it cost me $6, I was hoping for a longer experience. Again produced in the widescreen format with a maximum of five panels to a page (with the exception of one page with six) and four full page spreads I couldn't help but feel this was really only half a comic.

I'm hoping for a truly memorable ending next issue.

This: Worthwhile, but a little disappointing in content. Forthcoming: Bring it on!

Review: Nemesis #1 and 2, by Mark Millar (writer) and Steve McNiven (art), Icon (Marvel) Comics.

Managed to pick up the first two two issues of uber comic writer Mark Millar and Steve McNiven's creator owned Nemesis at the incredibly excellent Minotaur pop culture shop in Melbourne.

Nemesis is a very nasty man. He has a vendetta against police of all nations having had his very privileged upbringing torn from him when his parents were arrested for running a hunting club. With the father committing suicide and the mother sent to the chair, the young man who'll become Nemesis inherits a massive fortune and travels the world acquiring the skills that will make him a criminal genius. All to eventually to take revenge on Blake Morrow, the cop who "stole his life away".

Nemesis asks the question, basically, what if Batman were a criminal? It reverses the "good guys wear black" to "bad guys wear white" (and it doesn't even add any weight to Nemesis at all).

I have to say I was pretty impressed with these two issues. This sort of storytelling reminds me of the early Image comics, only much better.

Millar hits all the cool points and sets up the Nemesis' motivation cleverly and succinctly. He doesn't waste any time on needless exposition - the mark of an accomplished writer - and heads straight for the action. These action sequences filled with train wrecks, exploding buildings and the required high body count are spectacular and plain over the top, which unfortunately for meant for a fairly quick read, with few pages sporting more than four panels.

Even so there's a lot to get into with McNiven's art (previously combining with Millar for Civil War) verging on stunning. McNiven seems to have pared back his line work since Civil War but the art loses nothing for it. It's detailed and highly individual. I've been going over the panels just taking in the intricacies. There's not one flaw or unnecessary line.

Millar writes in an Afterword that since the Wanted and Kick-Ass movie adaptations there's been many a person sniffing around Nemesis. Whoever gets the gig won't have much work to do in adapting it because whether deliberate or not  Nemesis could easily be translated to the big screen with little trouble. It verily screams "summer blockbuster".

The challenge for Millar will be in making the "everyman" hero cop Blake Morrow more interesting than the supervillain-genius, Nemesis in the too cool all-white costume. Otherwise you won't want him defeated. I mean, this guy is bad - murdering cops and indiscriminately slaughtering civilians by the truckload. But, you know, carnage can be appealing. At this point I think Millar's got it about right with it looking like it's going to a battle of intellect and wits even though there's sure to be more high-stakes action.

These: Highly recommended. Forthcoming: Highly anticipated.