AMAZING FANTASY #19:
“Death’s Head 3.0 – Unnatural Selection, part 4”
Written by: Simon Furman
Penciled by: Shannon Gallant
Inked by: Rob Campanella
Coloured by: Val Staples
Published by: Marvel
Honestly, how difficult can it possibly be to take a story about a psychotic robot slicing and dicing his way through hordes of puny humans and make it interesting? The original Death’s Head, guest star extraordinaire of Marvel’s old TRANSFORMERS comic (and some DOCTOR WHO to boot), could always raise a smile and get the blood pumping a wee bit quicker than usual. I skipped out on the second version of the character but, considering he was mistakenly reinvented under “the k00l” rules of the mid-90s, it was probably for the best. This third version, gracing the pages of a title that barely anybody reads by Death’s Head creator Furman, is now unfortunately being worked into a bog-standard sci-fi tale about malevolent government organizations and crazy-ass scientists on a power-trip. Death’s Head is meant to be the cybernetic version of an amalgamation of Marv from SIN CITY, Jason Bourne and Grimlock, not a silent killer that is being controlled by a crippled human in an iron lung. With just one issue left in this arc it seems highly unlikely that version 3.0 will get a personality upgrade anytime soon, which is a damn shame (though there is a lovely two-panel close-up sequence that hints at a vague recognition of better times, so well done Gallant). The back-up strip features another New Universe reject… something about a girl in an extremely ugly metal suit designed by her scientist father… she uses it to help contain the Chernobyl incident and learn that – *gasp* – Russians are people too… I have more interesting stories about going to the toilet…
Score: D
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16:
Written by: Mark Waid
Penciled by: Barry Kitson
Inked by: Mick Gray
Coloured by: Nathan Eyring
Published by: DC
Supergirl 2006: Paris Hilton, superhero? Honestly, the way that DC have been exploiting the S-emblem it seemed only a matter of time until she appeared in a story about a Kryptonite vibrator, making a sex tape with Power Girl and finding several new and inventive ways of having a ‘wardrobe malfunction’. On the other hand there is the Legion 2006, a well-crafted and endlessly entertaining group of interesting characters brought to us with tremendous care by Waid and Kitson. Along with ALL-STAR SUPERMAN and 52, it is one of the few DC titles that I am not prepared to trade-wait on following the One Year Later jump… then the book was renamed as SUPERGIRL & THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES and Kara Zor-El, the Last Chav of Krypton, wound up becoming the focal point of most interest in the title. The main reasons for adding her to the book appear to be little more than “mini-skirt + midriff + fanboys = sales” but Waid and Kitson have earned my trust with 15 scorching issues so far, so I’ll try to reserve judgement for now – even if my in-built bitterness means I can’t possibly bring myself to rename the book’s title in my review header. This issue introduces Supergirl to the year three-thousand-and-whatever, with her arrival sparking the appropriate reaction from a Legion whose lifestyle has been wholly inspired by the legacy and/or myths of twenty-first century superheroes. Thankfully, while most current comics would leave the big ‘reveal’ that solicitations have already spoiled for all but the most moronic as the conclusion of the issue, Waid takes things a little bit further and has Supergirl deliver some potentially devastating information to Legion leader Cosmic Boy. What she tells him means we are probably going to down another reality-altering road, which is probably the last thing that anybody wants from DC at this point but is something that has not yet happened to this particular title. The important thing is that the existing plot point about the Legion recently being forced to align itself with the United Planets is given plenty of much-needed attention here. The idea of a leadership election should also prove to be an interesting scenario in later issues. Also, Supergirl doesn’t pout, whine or fight any of the heroes, plus Kitson draws her in a vaguely respectable manner. So far, so good.
Score: A
SUPREME POWER: HYPERION #5:
“The Prodigal Son”
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Broken down by: Dan Jurgens & Staz Johnson
Finished by: Klaus Janson
Coloured by: Raul Trevino
Published by: Marvel
Well, here we are. This is the final stand of Straczynski’s reinvented Squadron Supreme in the Marvel MAX line. The ‘explicit content’ warning on the cover is not really needed for this issue, which shows not one single bared boob throughout its pages, contains less disturbing violence than Itchy & Scratchy, and contains so few swear words that it would not last a day on the streets of Glasgow. We’ve spent the past four issues traipsing around an alternative dimension (or ‘quantum probability’ depending on your vantage point) in which Hyperion has gone all Frank Miller on us mere mortals and has taken control of the planet, doing away with anybody that dares to think differently. The ‘proper’ version of Hyperion was chased here by metahumans representing the US military, which is desperate to get him back under their watch, and after taking a royal pounding he finally decides to come back and work with the military after all. This is hardly the sort of story that merits five whole issues. In fact, it could have been tacked onto the SUPREME POWER series in at least half the space, which would have tied things together in a far more satisfactory manner than stumbling across the finish line without grace just to make it to Marvel Knights (see below). The supposed supergenius Emil Burbank believes that they were not in an alternate dimension at all but were actually in the future and promptly sets about making contingency plans to protect himself from Hyperion’s future wrath. This seems rather redundant since it is the kind of thing Burbank should be doing anyway, and the evidence supporting his time-travel theory is extremely slight. A mediocre end to a once enticing series, but all is not lost yet…
Score: C
SQUADRON SUPREME #1:
“The Pre-War Years”
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciled by: Gary Frank
Inked by: Jonathan Sibal
Coloured by: Chris Sotomayor
Published by: Marvel
Where it all begins… again. SUPREME POWER was dominated by conspiracies, betrayal, mistrust, graphic violence and the odd bit of nudity that never really felt necessary to the story. It began very well but, after the first unofficial team-up of Hyperion (not Superman), Nighthawk (not Batman) and Blur (not Flash), things rapidly tailed off into plodding disinterest. Now, with a shot of adrenaline, the book is reinvented as all the super-powered characters are finally gathered together into a team and unveiled by the US government (complete with cameo appearance from George W. Bush, with JMS nailing his speech mannerisms). Along with Hyperion and Blur, the team consists of Dr Spectrum (not Green Lantern), Zarda (not Wonder Woman), Arcanna (not Zatanna), Emil Burbank (not Lex Luthor), Nuke (not Firestorm), Inertia (not Halo), Tom Thumb (not The Atom), Amphibian (not Aquaman), and Shape (not Elongated Man). There may or may not also be a covert team in operation that has not been detected by Hyperion’s senses yet. The first issue covers its bases very well by reintroducing all the characters, including the man responsible for making the team, General Alexander, and the reporter that earned Hyperion’s trust, Jason Scott. The Achilles heels of all the characters are here to see, from Tom Thumb’s inferiority complex to Blur’s mother issues, which bode well for further exploration at a later stage. Then there is Nighthawk, underrated by the government and still at large, doing his vigilante thing and surely capable of providing an objectionable voice in a more believable manner than Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Hyperion tries to steer things in a slightly more positive direction than the one he saw in the alternate dimension (see above) as Burbank lurks and plots otherwise. There are some great little scenes in here, given extra heart by Gary Frank’s impeccable standards. He draws faces so expressive that the words become distractions. I was planning on dropping the Supremeverse titles but after reading this I might just stick around a while longer.
Score: B
TRANSFORMERS: GENERATIONS #1:
“Warrior School”
Written by: Bob Budiansky
Penciled by: William Johnson
Inked by: Kyle Baker
Coloured by: Nel Yomtov
Published by: IDW
Not really another new addition to the IDW franchise, but the launch of a reprint title that will collect apparently hard-to-find classic tales from previous Transformers comics. Quite how hard-to-find these are supposed to be is a bit of mystery. After all, Titan Books recently brought out collections of the entire run of the Marvel TRANSFORMERS series from the ’80s, plus the vast majority of the Marvel UK stories. All that remains to be collected is the black-and-white short stories from the tail-end of the Marvel UK title, which are currently being released in digest-sized books that can be found quite easily on Amazon. In fact, you’d probably have more difficulty trying to find the Dreamwave issues than the Marvel ones. Nonetheless, the first issue of GENERATIONS collects “Warrior School”, originally printed in August 1985 as issue #7 of the original Marvel title. Shockwave has usurped Megatron as leader of the Decepticons and holds all of the Autobots as his prisoner, save for Ratchet, who finds himself forming an unlikely alliance with Megatron in order to salvage the situation to their mutual benefit. Starting with this issue merely highlights the flaws with the premise of this title, since several plot points shown here (Optimus Prime hiding the Creation Matrix in Buster Witwickey’s mind, G.B. Blackrock turning an employee into Circuit Breaker, the arrival of the Dinobots, the eventual fate of Ratchet and Megatron) will not be followed up on here, since the next issue reprints a previous installment of the series. If anybody is intrigued enough by the developments here to go out and track down the original issues or the Titan collections, then IDW will miss out on the money. With most of the best TF stories requiring lengthy build-up and pay-off, such as the Underbase Saga or Target: 2006, picking random issues here and there seems a little odd. Still, it raises awareness of the original TF comics and only costs $1.99 per issue, so why not? Sometimes you just can’t beat a bit of dodgy ’80s colouring and absurdly enjoyable Budianksy dialogue. Here are some choice excerpts:
“You and this plant are now property of the Decepticons! Make no attempts to resist this edict, fleshlings!”
“Great Optimus… you function!”
“For such effrontery I shall tear out each wire one by one from your body!”
“I shall crush your cerebro-circuitry into molecular dust with one hand!”
“Hmm… intriguing… heat tempered proteincylinders!”
Honestly, you just can’t beat it. Not to mention the wonderful panel of Ratchet punching Megatron in his cerebro-crotch. If only I had a scanner. Then there’s the dated ’80s references. I have no idea who the hell Lee Iacocca is but the name-checking makes me feel special, like a poke o’ soor plooms and a can of Irn Bru on a hazy back garden day. I’m well off on one now. Excuse me while I party like I was 4 years old…
Special mention to Ashley Wood for an impressive, grown-up cover…
Score: B
