Story Title: 200 Tons of Doom
Reviewer: Paul Sebert
Writer: Sean McKeever
Artists: Lou Kang
Colorist: HiFi
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: John Barber
Publisher: The House of Ideas
Mega Morphs is a rather hard comic to review as to give the book a fair shake one has to put aside one’s usual expectations for a superhero comic. Over the years many fans have valued continuity as one of comics central virtues and have believed that the industry needs to shy away from the medium’s “kiddie” image in order to be taken serious. One could make a good argument that this track of thought has actually hurt the industry far more than it’s helped it.
There’s a lot you could say about MegaMorphs. Sure you could say that the concept of the book is ridiculous. Sure you could say that there’s no way it could fit into Marvel cannon. Sure you the cast of heroes makes absolutely no sense (really how wise would it be to make a giant robot for the Incredible Hulk to pilot) but to be honest… I don’t care. MegaMorphs is subversively silly fun.
And by fun I mean our issue opens up with Spider-Man and Ghost Rider battling a legion of gigantic Doombots wearing rocket packs. By fun I mean we get to see an evil mind-controlled Hulk speaking in old-school Stan Lee style Hulk-speak, referring to Doctor Octopus as “Extra Arms Man.” We also get to see a giant Spider-Man robot spinning a web parachute. Really when was the last time you saw Spidey, much less a gigantic robot version of himself pulling that trick?
Writer Sean McKeever seems fully aware of the book’s absurd premise and seems to be having a lot of fun, with much of the script’s levity revolving around the various characters reactions to working with their robots. Spidey’s his usual smart alecky self, while Wolverine looks particularly embarrassed to be guest starring in this book. Particularly hilarious is McKeever’s take on Ghost Rider, who perpetually keeps enthusiastically rambling on and on about vengeance regardless of the situation.
Art wise Lou Kang’s pencils are appropriately cartoonish and over the top for the material. Being a former member of Dreamwave’s roster, Kang draws a very nice robot, albeit his human characters are somewhat uneven. HiFi & Sotocolor’s computerized coloring is bright and appealing.
In short while MegaMorphs is clearly aimed at younger readers, veteran fans looking for something amusing and unpretentious will probably find something laugh at in this mini-series.
