Reviewer: James Hatton
Story Title: Thin Air (Part 4)
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by: Mark Bagley
Inked by: Scott Hanna
Colored by: Pete Pantazis
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Cover Art by: Mike Mayhew & Andy Troy
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: J. Jonah Jameson
Interns: Joe Quesada & Dan Buckley
How does one begin? How about with a statement to Brian Michael Bendis. A very direct and pointed message.
Mister Bendis,
I know you are a married man. I am well aware that you love your wife very much. I am sure she knows this. Could you please inform my girlfriend of this. This most recent issue of the Pulse, having heard some buzz about it, drove her to stop my advances so she could read it before anything else went on. I do appreciate your work, as do I appreciate this issue of The Pulse, but if you could tone it down a bit, my libido would be much obliged.
Thank you,
James Hatton
Story!
Where do I begin? In a week of amazing comic books, it would be a hard decision to choose one book I would hand someone wanting to try a book. Even though both are mid-arc, I would have to fight myself as to whether to go with this or Ultimate X-Men. I probably would have handed them the Pulse.
First, it is a self-contained story which is a near impossibility in comics nowadays. If you have never picked up an issue of The Pulse, this issue is just as good of a starting point as issue #1. You don’t even really need to read the refresher page.
Not to be lewd, but this is the comic equivalent of the sex that I did finally receive after my girlfriend squealed with glee having finished the issue. At first, the set-up. We get some Jessica/Cage discussion, and a rehashing of the whole pregnancy point, which becomes important later in setting you up for what’s to come. We are given a full recap of territory we’ve touched before, including brief featherlike touches on story arcs that people haven’t even considered remembering. We try something completely different, in this case the discussion between Ben Urich and Spiderman. It’s new, it’s different, it makes you slightly uncomfortable for a brief moment until finally it is so natural you get to enjoy it.
I seriously mean it, as this book gets rolling you move to this climactic, orgasmic pitch until the explosion at the end. Then you smoke a cigarette, the Green Goblin lit it, and it was that damned good.
Simply put, read this book.
Art!
Mike Mayhew’s cover is just creepy. The dual picture of the Goblin is almost a message about how Osborne really is. A long time ago, he might have been a Jekyll and Hyde, but now he just seems to be a Jekyll. Even dressed in the costume of Norman Osborn, he is still never coming back to the side of sanity.
Bagley is a safe bet on a book. His work is detailed enough to look realistic and cartoony enough to still feel like a comic book. When you read Alex Ross, it feels like Superman is right next to you. When Bagley draws your book, you feel like you are watching a story unfold before you. It’s a subtle difference, but it fits the Pulse without fail.
(I hate to mention it, but someone messed up the plaque at the Oscorp. building. I didn’t want to mention it, as that sign is probably not hanging anymore, but it is a minor flaw to notice.)
Overall!
Brian Michael Bendis is the man who is slowly taking over Marvel. He has started more golden runs on books of the last few years than many I can think of. His beliefs on how the inner workings of J. Jonah Jameson’s mind are a thing to behold, but it doesn’t matter how amazing he writes – he still is not going to have my girlfriend. Just the first 10 I’ve ever handed out on a book.
