Justice League International/America by Keith Giffen (plotter; penciller, issues #8-10, 13), J. M. DeMatteis (scripter), John Ostrander (writer, Suicide Squad #13), Kevin Maguire (penciller, issues #1-12, 16-19, 22-24; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), Steve Leialoha (penciller, issue #14-15), Ty Templeton (penciller, issues #20-21, 24-29), Mike McKone (penciller, issues #25, 28, 41-42; Justice League Annual #3-4), Bill Willingham (penciller, issue #30; Justice League Annual #1-2), Adam Hughes (penciller, issues #31-35, 37-40, 43-45), Tom Artis (penciller, issue #36), Russell Braun (penciller, issue #45), Luke McDonnell (penciller, Suicide Squad #13), Bart Sears (penciller, JLE #7-8), Tim Gula (artist, Justice League Annual #3), Terry Austin (inker, issue #1), Al Gordon (inker, issues #2-18), Joe Rubinstein (inker, issues #19-31, 35, 38-39; Justice League Annual #2; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), Dick Giordano (inker, issue #27; Justice League Annual #1), Art Nichols (inker, issues #32-37), José Marzan (inker, issue #35, 40, 42-45), Bruce Patterson (inker, issue #41; Justice League Annual #1, 3), Malcolm Jones III (inker, issue #45), John Beatty (inker, issue #45), Bob Lewis (inker, Suicide Squad #13), Pablo Marcos (inker, JLE #7; Justice League Annual #3), Bob Smith (inker, JLE #8; Justice League Annual #4), Dennis Janke (inker, Justice League Annual #1), P. Craig Russell (inker, Justice League Annual #1), R. Campanella (inker, Justice League Annual #1), Bob Lappan (letterer, issues #1-10, 12-27, 30, 32-36, 38-45; JLE #7-8; Justice League Annual #1, 4; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9), John Workman (letterer, issue #11), Albert de Guzman (letterer, issues #28-29, 31, 37; Justice League Annual #3), Todd Klein (letterer, Suicide Squad #13), John Costanza (letterer, Justice League Annual #2), Tim Harkins (letterer, Justice League Annual #3), Gene D'Angelo (colorist, issues #1-45; JLE #7-8; Justice League Annual #1-3), Carl Gafford (colorist, Suicide Squad #13), Lee Loughridge (colorist, Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6), and David Baron (colorist, JLA: Classified #4-9).

DC, 64 issues (Justice League/Justice League International/Justice League America #1-45; Suicide Squad #13, which comes after issue #13; Justice League Europe #7-8, which come after issues #31 and 32, respectively; Justice League Annuals #1-4; Formerly Known as the Justice League #1-6; JLA: Classified #4-9: "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League!"), cover dated May 1987 - December 1990; September 2003 - February 2004 (Formerly Known as the Justice League); April 2005 - August 2005 (JLA: Classified #4-9).

Some SPOILERS, I guess. And click on the images to giganticize them! Some are totally worth it!

There's no way this comic should have worked. As Andy Helfer writes in the introduction to the first trade paperback, "We needed to come up with an idea for a book that would work regardless of which characters were featured in it. It sounded like a suicide formula - after all, a sure sign of a bad comic book story is one in which any character can be used as the hero." But then, of course, he and Giffen came up with the idea to focus on the Justice League as a "club" for super-heroes, meaning they would show the heroes when they weren't necessarily "working." Again, Helfer explains that, in the aftermath of Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC's "big guns" - Superman, Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan, even Wally West - were all undergoing "renovation," so they couldn't have a "return to glory" for the Justice League. If they had launched the book with the line-up they did - J'onn J'onzz, Batman (Denny O'Neil "took pity" on Helfer, he writes), Black Canary, Mister Miracle, Captain Marvel, Blue Beetle, Doctor Fate, and Guy Gardner - and tried to make it a straight superhero book, it probably would have tanked as badly as the just-cancelled first Justice League series did at the end. But Giffen, who when he only writes comics is usually deadly serious, went nuts with the plotting, and DeMatteis, who presided over the destruction of the previous team (and showed a few flashes of humor, even though it was mostly deadly serious), were allowed to flex their funny bones as much as they could. They also lucked into Kevin Maguire, who was just starting out in the business but immediately made an impact with the kind of book Giffen and DeMatteis wanted to do. And so one of the most influential comics of the past 20 years was born!

Giffen begins the series with a full-page splash of Guy Gardner, which is fitting (note: Giffen is often credited with breakdowns, but I didn't feel like listing those above, because I'm not sure how detailed his breakdowns were), as Guy has become one of the symbols of this incarnation of the League. If we consider the structure of the League after the first year, when the roster settled down to a core, we get a bit of a triangle: At the top is J'onn and Maxwell Lord, at one point is Blue Beetle and Booster Gold, at another point is Fire and Ice, and in the middle sits Guy, annoying and being annoyed by all (yes, other characters come and go, but those are the stalwarts). If we skip the fact that Giffen and DeMatteis decided to give Guy a serious head trauma in issue #7 and nobody seems to care about it (he gets better at the end of issue #18, when Lobo crashes into the embassy; this story has probably the best characterization of Lobo ever), Guy remains irascible throughout the series, but he also underscores the major theme of the series: redemption. All of the major characters are redeemed, even if it takes two mini-series fifteen years along to do so. With DeMatteis scripting the book, perhaps the redemption theme is not surprising, but it's interesting that in a book that is known for its comedy, Giffen and DeMatteis give these heroes heroic quests that ennoble them and make them much more interesting as characters than we might expect. Redemption is a common theme in superhero books, of course, given that the hero often has to fail before he can succeed, but when it's a single character book, it's less effective because it happens so often. In a team book, the writers can shift the redemption angle around in an effort to keep it fresh. With this version of the League, it went a bit deeper, because the cast was, to be charitable, not the A-list. The Leaguers needed to redeem themselves not only within the individual story arcs when the bad guys (such as they were) beat them up, but also in the eyes of their fellow heroes. This makes the book far more interesting, because so much of the humor is predicated on the fact that these characters are not, in fact, DC's big guns. But they are heroes, and over the course of the years, Giffen and DeMatteis were able to show that without ever making it explicit. At no time does a hero ponderously narrate about his or her search for redemption, which makes the quests fresher. Even many minor characters are seeking it. Consider: Wandjina, Blue Jay, and the Sorceress (in issues #2-3) are desperate to save the Earth from nuclear destruction because they failed to save their Earth. Mari McCabe is trying to redeem herself after the disaster that ended the previous League, and she's looking for it in the Suicide Squad, which leads to her reunion with and forgiveness by J'onn in Suicide Squad #13, which crosses over with JLI #13. In issue #28, Black Hand has gone straight, presumably looking for redemption for his evil ways. Irwin Teasdale (the mad scientist who turns people in vampires/zombies in "The Teasdale Imperative," the crossover with the European branch in JLA #31-32 and JLE #7-8) is, in his own twisted way, looking to redeem himself after Simon Stagg rejects him. Wally Tortolini, the reporter who writes a devastating exposé on the Justice League in issue #38 (which gets spiked by the Crimson Fox, who's the European distributor of the magazine for whom he wrote the piece), looks to redeem himself by befriending Sonar. The Injustice League goes straight in JLA Annual #4, the notorious Justice League Antarctica story. Even G'nort, perhaps the dumbest character in DC history (okay, maybe not, as there's a wealth of candidates), continously tries to make up for the mistakes he makes.

But it's the main characters who go through the most trials and are most in need of redemption. Let's check them out individually, starting with Maxwell Lord, the new creation for this book. Max is instrumental in bringing the new League together, from planning the terrorist strike on the United Nations in issue #1 (he does, however, take the firing pin out of the bomb the head terrorist straps to his chest, thereby neutering the threat even before the League shows up) to setting the Royal Flush Gang on the League in issue #4 as a way to get Booster Gold onto the team to allying himself with a machine to create a threat to the League in issue #7, clearing the way for UN recognition. We see some cracks in his façade throughout the first 12 issues, most notably in issue #11, when the League returns from space after fighting the Manhunters (in the "Millennium" crossover). Max expected that the "big guns" of the DCU who joined up with the League to fight the Manhunters - Superman, Hawkman, Hal Jordan - would stay in the league, but J'onn tells him they're not joining. Max freaks out, telling them he needs "raw power" and not a "bunch of weak-kneed second-stringers!" We don't know what he's talking about, but over the next two issues, we learn that Max is working with a super-computer built by Metron (of the New Gods) that achieved awareness at some point. The computer helped Max move ruthlessly up in the world of business, and then it conspired with him to achieve "world peace," mainly by manipulating the League and the United Nations into granting the League "super-police" status. But now the machine has gone too far, and Max rebels against it. He destroys the computer, but at great cost - in issue #9, he had been shot by a Manhunter, but the computer "repaired" him. When Max destroys the computer, his wounds re-open, and he spends several issues recuperating. But he has overcome his somewhat evil past and changed. He's not off the hook, however. Giffen and DeMatteis do this quite often - they reach the end of a story arc, and we think that the character will now remain static, but they continue to throw more challenges in front of the character. Max gains a "persuasive" power when the gene bomb explodes at the end of Invasion! He gives people "nudges" with his mind to get them to come around to his way of thinking. This is a potentially evil power, and Max must struggle with the ethical dilemmas he gets into when he does use it. In issue #41, he uses it to get a woman to talk to him at a party, then dreams that he uses it to fight crime, at which he becomes more and more unethical. He wakes up and realizes that he only gave the woman - Wanda - a little push, but the dream has scared him (mostly) straight. Finally, years later in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Max has been humbled in business and, although he's still arrogant, he's learned how to deal with people better, and he's much more a part of the team rather than the overlord. It's a fascinating character arc, one that could only be achieved over several years (in publication time, of course), because then we believe that Max is slowly learning how to be a decent human being.

The next person on the League totem pole is J'onn J'onzz, and although he was an established character and therefore had to conform to the way previous writers portrayed him (yes, this was back when writers actually tried to hew closely to established characterization), Giffen and DeMatteis still give him chances to redeem himself. Of course, DeMatteis was writing the prior incarnation of the League, so the continuity was there. In the first issue of this series, we learn about the guilt J'onn is carrying around with him when he purges the records of the previous League, wiping Steel, Vibe, Gypsy, and Vixen out of (computerized) existence. J'onn takes a paternal role in every version of the League, even when the "big guns" are involved, but definitely moreso in this version, where the members - after Black Canary leaves and Batman shows up only occasionally - are largely neophytes. J'onn's previous League was inexperienced, too, and the shadow of that League's disastrous ending looms over J'onn for the entire run, even if you didn't know what had happened to the prior League (and for years, I didn't know because I hadn't read it). J'onn's larger redemption comes from the fact that, through his example, the heroes in this League find their footing and become better at their jobs, to the point where he doesn't feel like he needs to babysit them. His biggest chance for redemption comes when Despero shows up in the excellent three-part story, issues #38-40. Despero is looking for the League, but the League he knows no longer exists - he finds Steel's body and destroys it, then kills Gypsy's parents and goes gunning for her. J'onn saves Gypsy, but Despero is too strong for the current League to handle, as he easily trashes them. The plot contrivance that Giffen and DeMatteis use so J'onn can defeat Despero is a bit annoying, but what makes it work is that J'onn believes in love - love for his home planet, his long-dead wife and child, his adopted planet, and his surrogate family - and he believes that love and forgiveness - a mirror of redemption - can save the world. Despero scoffs at this, but J'onn proves that it can. It's a brilliant arc because J'onn understands that he must change the way a hero fights a villain when the villain is too strong. J'onn's solution to the Despero problem is a perfect summation of who J'onn is. Giffen and DeMatteis give him a wonderful sense of humor throughout the series (and a love for Oreos), but he remains the emotional rock of the League.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold get the most interesting redemptive story arcs, because for so much of the run, they're used mainly as comic relief. Beetle is on the team from the beginning, and we get hints about his desire for money, but we don't get the full story until issue #38, when we find out that as Ted Kord, he declared bankruptcy and "disappeared" into the Beetle identity. This is one of the interesting moments of "realism" in this book (as much as becoming a superhero to avoid creditors is "realistic") - Ted Kord lost his fortune and didn't know what to do, so he became a costumed hero. Throughout the book, Beetle concocts get-rich-quick schemes, culminating with the casino on Kooey Kooey Kooey (issues #33-35). The increasingly desperate attempts to regain his fortune make Beetle an increasingly pathetic figure, even as we laugh along with the goofiness. This ability of Giffen and DeMatteis to tinge the rampant goofy humor with some real-world pathetic behavior is what makes Beetle and Booster work - they're not complete buffoons, because we understand why they're so desperate to make a buck. It's interesting that even though Beetle and Booster want money, they're not willing to betray their principles - in issue #25, they take a "repo" job but discover that things are definitely not what they seem, and they walk away from the job much changed. Furthermore, the experience on Kooey Kooey Kooey seems to change Beetle to a certain extent, although this doesn't play out until much later. In the issues after #45 (which I'll get to), he and Booster remain figures of humor, but Beetle gradually lets himself go physically, and when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Giffen and DeMatteis give him a heart condition. It's mostly played for laughs (the characters tend to mock it), but it's interesting to note that he's put his life back together, is running Kord Industries again, and is far more mature than we've ever seen him. Giffen and DeMatteis always made sure to portray Beetle as competent, yet with that one fatal flaw: greed. By the time the "sequels" occur, Ted has realized that get-rich-quick schemes don't work, and he's moved on. Booster's arc is a bit more complicated, because he often got involved in Beetle's schemes just because he was Beetle's friend. As he's from the future, he has niftier gadgets than Beetle and often, in the early issues, seems far more competent than his friend. This, subtly, drives Beetle's insecurities and makes him seek easy riches. Early on in the series, it seems as if Booster is simply humoring Beetle and is only friends with him because there's no one else on the team for him to befriend, but we see the depth of their friendship in issue #29, in which Beetle has to be "deprogrammed" from the Queen Bee's hypnosis and Booster has to wait while his friend is in a coma. There's a nice scene in which Booster sits alone, worried sick about Beetle. As this episode occurs a few issues before the Kooey Kooey Kooey disaster, it illuminates why Booster would go along with Beetle's schemes - they're best friends, and best friends help each other out. Booster isn't quite as obsessed with money as Beetle is, but he still goes along with his plans. Of course, this leads to Booster quitting the team because he's fed up with being treated like comic relief, which implies that he's a bit more grown-up than Beetle. He does return to the team, of course, and when we get to Formerly Known as the Justice League, he's married to a rich old woman and waiting for her to die so he can inherit her wealth. He and Beetle, to some degree, have switched places. Throughout the two mini-series, Beetle acts as the mature hero while Booster is somewhat childish - he's the one who sends the team to "Hell" in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," after all, in a fit of petulance. But he too redeems himself by saving Beatriz in the alternate universe and proving that he's a true hero. His arc takes a bit longer and shows how insecure he really is - not surprising for a man out of time - but in the end, he isn't just a figure of ridicule, he's a worthy member of the Justice League.

Fire, Ice, and Guy are inextricably linked throughout this run, and both Beatriz and Guy also get redemptive arcs. Tora, interestingly enough, is one of the few characters in the series who gets very little character development. She's most interesting when she's reacting to Bea and Guy, and by the time the sequels come around, she's dead. This, of course, is a key plot point in the second sequel, but it still doesn't make Ice any more interesting. What Ice does is bring out the best in people because she's somewhat saccharine and definitely naïve - she's the daughter of a god, so she knows little about the world - and this is most evident when she dates Guy, but also in her friendship with Bea. Much like Beetle and Booster (whom they mirror in some ways), Bea and Tora's friendship goes through different permutations, but Bea (like Ted) is usually the instigator of situations, with Tora (much like Booster) going along with them. We first see them in JLI #12, soon after the Global Guardians lose their United Nations funding, as they get their final (and puny) paychecks and try to figure out what to do next. Bea decides to join the Justice League! We don't see them again until issue #14, when J'onn, who initially dismisses them, realizes he needs warm bodies to deal with the threat of Manga Khan. They quickly become mainstays. Notice, of course, that they join the league for the same reason, it seems, that Beetle and Booster stay in it - the opportunity for a steady paycheck. This gets back to the "realistic" attitude Giffen and DeMatteis take toward the League - it's a job, and many of the members appreciate that. Beatriz transforms due to the gene bomb into a woman who can turn into fire - not unlike Johnny Storm - and they both remain powerful members throughout this run. Much like Beetle and Booster - to a lesser degree, however - they are part of the comic relief corps, as Tora is always there to deflate Bea's vanity ... to a point, as Bea is, to put it mildly, extremely self-confident. But like Beetle and Booster, their friendship helps anchor the book. It's telling that when Despero shows up, Beatriz faces him alone, furious that he's hurt her friends - even though those friends include Beetle and Guy, whom she often denigrates. Guy, of course, is the driving force of much of the comedy in the series, because he's so very unlikeable. But he's not inhuman, and this is, again, where Ice comes into the picture. She first meets him when his personality is altered, so she doesn't realize what a tool he is. When his "original" personality returns, she doesn't believe it at first, choosing instead to think he's masking his true, sensitive personality. In issue #28, their first date, he basically dares her to go out with him. Of course, Beatriz, who feels very maternal toward Tora, doesn't think it's a good idea. The night ends disastrously, naturally, as Guy does everything wrong (taking Ice to an X-rated movie, for instance) and eventually punches out Black Hand, who has surrendered after a brief fight. Guy, of course, thinks he still has a shot with her, and in issue #45, we see another one of their dates (not the second one, as Tora refers to a cockfight Guy took her to). Guy lets her choose where they go, she chooses the "Ice-Capists," and he promises not to lose his temper. Of course, Beetle pranks him and he loses his temper, but he still tries very hard to keep his cool. Ice has already begun to change him.

This becomes most evident in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League," when Guy returns to the fold. If we look at the redemptive theme running throughout the Giffen/DeMatteis run, Beatriz has already begun to take another innocent under her wing, as Mary Marvel takes Ice's place in Formerly Known as the Justice League. Bea might not be the best influence, but she does know something about the world, and she and Mary have the same kind of dynamic that she and Tora had, with Bea teaching Mary something about the world and Mary teaching Bea how to be less cynical. Then Guy returns, setting up the emotionally devastating trip to Hell in issues #6 and 7. First, Guy proves how incredibly powerful he is when he spearheads the rescue operation and puts Power Girl in her place (he's still, after all, a jerk). Then, in issue #7, he sees Tora, who appeared at the end of issue #6. He snatches her away from Bea, who's trying to revive her (she's basically a zombie), and places a protective bubble around himself and her. Bea's anguish and Guy's tenderness is astonishing, especially because Guy is able to get through to Tora. Etrigan tells them they're allowed to take Ice out of Hell, but only if they don't look back at her. Of course. We know it's going to end badly, not only because Etrigan tells them that "they always look back," but because that's how these things work! But we're not sure if Guy or Beatriz will look back, and when Bea succumbs, Tora says as she disappears, "You always did care too much." In a beautiful moment, Guy and Beatriz, their hatred for each other forgotten, weep in each others' arms. What makes it more painful is that they return to an alternate universe, where Ice is still alive but is a stone-cold murderer who tries to slaughter Bea. Without the years of stories about this triangle, Guy and Bea's brief reconciliation wouldn't have the power it does. Tora has changed both Bea and Guy, as Bea has become more mature - much like Beetle - while Guy has learned that he had a chance at love and lost it. But we see that he has perhaps gotten a second chance at redemption. Giffen and DeMatteis aren't concerned if he'll take it, but they give him the chance, at least.

Of course, what everyone remembers about this series is the humor, but what makes it interesting is how organic the humor is. Helfer points out in the introduction that if they were going to make it a "club" for superheroes, why not make it funny? Friends crack jokes and throw insults at each other all the time when they're in an informal setting, so why wouldn't superheroes? This was a huge paradigm shift in superhero comics, because although Helfer says it was a reaction to the "grim-'n'-gritty" trend in comics at that moment, it was also different from pre-Crisis superhero stories, where the characters fought a villain and the only time we saw them at a headquarters was when they were discussing the threat. They weren't grim and gritty, but they were serious about the threat (as Hawkman hilariously points out many time during his brief tenure with this league). Giffen and DeMatteis dared to wonder what they did during the many, many hours when a super-villain WASN'T attacking the city, country, or planet. The humor flowed naturally from that, as personality clashes led to funny situations. What makes this such a wonderful look at superhero relationships is that the humor WAS organic, and therefore fit in with the general flow of the story. The worst stories in the series are those where Giffen and DeMatteis set out to write something goofy - the Manga Khan tales, the G'Nort and Scarlet Skier story in issue #36, even the Kooey Kooey Kooey epic. These stories, which are often funny, aren't as effective because they feel more like broad sketch comedy rather than the finely-honed situational comedy of the rest of the book. The humor also works best when we get a generous dose of action with it - Giffen and DeMatteis easily switch from the team bickering to fighting effectively, and again, it feels true - these people might argue with each over trivialities, but they're still superheroes, and they get the job done. What's also interesting is how Giffen and DeMatteis shift the effectiveness of the team to match the threat facing them - like most people, they underestimate things, and this gets them in trouble when they fight a doofus like Wally Tortolini in issue #44. They don't treat all villains with the seriousness that they do Despero, and this adds to the humor. But it also makes them more human. The old League would give the same amount of respect to Despero AND Wally, to the detriment of both stories. What makes the Tortolini story humorous is that Orion DOES take every threat very, very seriously, and that's bad news for the loser villains from whom Wally won all the gadgets. Giffen and DeMatteis know that this team is formidable, and they give them plenty of difficult threats to deal with, but they have the team deal with the threats in new and interesting ways. Batman going undercover in Bialya as "Bruce Wayne" (a fantastic idea) is one of those ways. Bartering with Manga Khan instead of fighting him is another. It's impressive that the writers don't simply give the League a threat and have them beat it up. They think about how this particular team (whichever characters comprise the team at that moment) would react to the threat, and go from there. It's part of what makes the book so successful, beyond the hilarity of many of the situations.

The run is anchored, artistically, by two stellar pencillers - Maguire and Hughes. In the original run, Maguire drew 19 issues (Giffen's pencils in issues #8-10 were back-up stories, so Maguire didn't draw the entire issue, but still) and Hughes drew 12 (both drew issues outside of this run - Maguire returned for issue #60, the final Giffen/DeMatteis one, while Hughes came back for issue #51). In between, Templeton, McKone, and Willingham did solid work. These artists share one thing in common - they were relatively new to the industry, and it's strange to see such new artists put on a flagship DC book. Of course, Maguire got the job because of his tremendous work with characters and their facial features, about which much has been made over the years, but it really is impressive. From the very first issue, he does a wonderful job, as when Batman cows Guy into stopping his shenanigans, and Guy's face, in three quick panels, goes from aggressive to thoughtful (he's wondering whether he can take Bats) to ashamed because he's backing down even though he has a power ring. This continues throughout his run on the series - Black Canary's absolutely devastated look on her face because she missed Batman punching out Guy in issue #5 is priceless. Maguire only got better, too - look at the cover of Formerly Known as the Justice League #1, as he captures the personalities of every character perfectly. His work in the two mini-series is much better than his work on the original series, which was already excellent. Mary Marvel's slow breakdown in Formerly Known as ... #5, when Ralph keeps bringing up the fact that she almost killed Captain Atom, is wonderful, and of course the magnificent scene in JLA: Classified #7, when Guy and Bea are trying desperately to keep from looking back at Tora, is simply beautiful. Maguire is a fine artist who has been good on other projects, but his sense of humor, combined with Giffen and DeMatteis's, makes this his most memorable work. Hughes is much more on a pin-up artist than Maguire (it's not surprising that Fire seems to be his favorite character), but his marvelously fluid style works well on the two big action arcs he drew, "The Teasdale Imperative" and the Despero story, and he's no slouch in the facial features department, either. The Despero story is a masterpiece of not only pacing and excitement, but Hughes does a marvelous job turning Despero into a true monster, and his United Nations "cape" (a flag he crashed through as he landed on Earth) is a nice ironic touch. It's stunning to think that Hughes's JLA issues are the most he ever drew on a series, and he finished it when he was 24. Covers pay the bills, I guess (well, that and Penthouse Comix, which he also drew for a time), but it's a shame that we don't get more interiors by Hughes, because he's so good at them.

The series went quickly off the rails after issue #45. The "General Glory" arc that led to issue #50 was terrible, and soon afterward Giffen and DeMatteis began the interminable "Breakdowns" arc, a 15-part story that destroyed both the American and European branches of the League. They were both revamped into normal superhero groups fighting normal supervillains, and the series staggered along for a while until DC mercifully axed it and paved the way for Grant Morrison and his "Big Guns" return to glory. It's almost impossible today to think of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League without considering what DC has done to stain its legacy. In the past few years, Sue Dibny has been retroactively raped and she and Ralph have been killed (they weren't in the original run, but they were members of Justice League Europe), Ted Kord has starred in a one-shot in which almost every DC hero mocks him and then Maxwell Lord, who is now a bad guy, shoots him in the head, and Max himself has been killed. (This ignores the fact that Black Hand, who was trying to be a legitimate businessman in JLA #28, recently killed his entire family in preparation for being a Black Lantern.) It's as if DC can't stand the fact that they once published a series that bore the proud name "Justice League" and it didn't take itself too damned seriously. It becomes even creepier when we recall the now-famous panel in JLA #35 in which Beetle and Booster actually discuss Max shooting them in the head or the running gag about Sue's pregnancy in "I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League" (which, of course, was published after Sue was killed in Identity Crisis, but who knows when it was written). But we simply have to put the subsequent events of the DCU out of our minds and enjoy these comics in a vacuum. It's much better that way.

The great thing about the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League is that it didn't rely simply on slapstick humor. It relied much more on creating interesting characters and allowing them to interact with each other, from which the humor sprung. Giffen and DeMatteis took the idea of the League seriously, but didn't take the idea of heroes hanging out together too seriously, and that made all the difference. There's a lot of action in this series, and because we know these characters as people, the fights become more personal. It's not a question of just having heroes show up and beat villains, it's a question of whether they will win or not and how. Giffen and DeMatteis understand that when you don't have DC's Big Guns, you need to be more creative about how the heroes triumph. This makes their triumphs much more interesting - as an example, we don't want Guy to be so effective with his ring, but let's face it, he is. It's annoying cheering for Guy, but we do. And that's part of the genius of this series. And when Giffen and DeMatteis get serious, the impact is greater because we feel like we know Ted and Booster (I know his name's Michael, but no one ever calls him that in this series), and Guy and J'onn and Bea and Tora and Scott and Oberon and Max a little more than we know a more stolid League. And so we care more about them.

DC has finally, it seems, committed to releasing this series in trades. The first 12 issues were collected years ago, and recently DC has been putting out nice hardcovers of the series. It appears that the first two years have been collected in four volumes. Eventually they'll be out in softcover, as DC's policy of releasing paperbacks is a bit ridiculous (the paperback of volume 4 is coming out a year after the hardcover, in other words). Formerly Known as the Justice League and JLA: Classified #4-9 are also in trade. I don't know how far DC plans to go with collecting the original series - perhaps all the way through issue #60, the final Giffen/DeMatteis JLA? Either way, this is a wonderful series that's as good as you've heard it is. And it's definitely a Comic You Should Own. And hey, if you want more - check out the archives! It's almost Christmas, and you need gift ideas!

53 Comments

• At November 16, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  Awesome AWESOME profile of these series. I agree with almost everything except The Breakdowns storyline, which I thought regrounded the ...

• At November 16, 2009, BrianHouston wrote:

  Great series.

• At November 16, 2009, Thok wrote:

  when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice League, Giffen and DeMatteis give him a ...

• At November 16, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Wonderful write-up, Greg. My love for this series (and its sister book, JLE) is one of the many reasons I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Are they ever going to release the 5th Trade???

• At November 16, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I used to have all (or most) of this stuff.

  God DAMN those WERE the days.

  sigh

  What EVER happened ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thok: Thanks. I didn't know that about Ted.

  Wesley: The reason I don't like Breakdowns is because of the ...

• At November 16, 2009, roberto wrote:

  you know, i have never think on the theme of the series as redemption

  and that is absolutely right.

  And that ...

• At November 16, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Sweet, sweet nostagia...

  Thank you...

  *sniff*

• At November 16, 2009, FuryOfFirestorm wrote:

  Your review of the JL/JLA/JLE/JLI era was so good, I look forward to your reviews of the Satellite and Detroit ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  While I doubt anyone will admit it for sure, it certainly does seem like recent DC folks have purposely been ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Hey, don't forget the post-Zero Hour JLA series headlined by Wonder Woman, with Fire, the old Ice Maiden, Nuklon, Obsidian, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  You know, I never bought into that whole "Dan Didio hate's Giffen's League" business, but as I'm re-reading the old ...

• At November 16, 2009, Henry wrote:

  At the same time Ethan, the fans have to take some blame as well. I think we can both name ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FuryOfFirestorm: You might have to wait a while. I don't own any of those issues, so I have no ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  First: your analysis is brilliant. Very good point. My only complaint is that I wouldn't exclude either Breakdowns and especially ...

• At November 16, 2009, Rob Bass wrote:

  Killer write-up, man, makes me want to go back and hit the whole run from "Wanna make somethin' of it?" ...

• At November 16, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Re: Volume 5 of the JLI collections.

  Checking over Amazon's listings, DC's trades and collections through June of next year are ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  RE: JLI trade program

  There is something that also has to be addressed: how to include JLE and JLIQ into this ...

• At November 16, 2009, Jeremy A. Patterson wrote:

  Some of these characters (and some of the short-stint members of this era) would fit right in if DC ...

• At November 16, 2009, Lupin Yonsei wrote:

  I agree with roberto above -- the JL* and Suicide Squad were mirror images of each other. They are also ...

• At November 16, 2009, Sallyp wrote:

  These are definitely comics that you should own...and I DO! It was, and remains, my favorite incarnation of the ...

• At November 16, 2009, Basara wrote:

  To me, the JLA/JLI & JLE era were the definitive version of the league.

  I started reading comics before CoIE - ...

• At November 16, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  Beetle gradually lets himself go physically, and when Max puts the team back together in Formerly Known as the Justice ...

• At November 16, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Classic series, but yeah, but by the General Glory arc it was going downhill, and Breakdowns was a bit of ...

• At November 16, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  What a great group of comics. These things were content-packed, too; it takes a while to read one. ...

• At November 16, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: I consider JLE a totally separate title, especially after DeMatteis left and Jones took over the scripting. I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Eric F wrote:

  Unfortunately, I think Volume 4 was the last one we're getting. See the comments to this article:

  http://blog.newsarama.com/2009/04/03/jm-dematteis-on-justice-league-international-vol-4/

  "RussBurlingame Says:

  April 5th, 2009 ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Part of the problem may be the wide availability of cheap back issues. I got the first two trades in ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  To Mike:

  Because trade market not necessarily has anything to do with the scarcity of a title: rather, it is directed ...

• At November 16, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Great piece; I love the idea that's it's all about redemption.

  But you'll break my heart if you don't do a ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Ricardo, I can't disagree with anything you're saying, just offering my opinion that getting the issues cheap would be appealing, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  To Mike:

  I totally see your point, and that's probably relevant to DC in order to decide on whether putting out ...

• At November 16, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  Read 'em once when they came out and bagged 'em. I should really reread 'em to see if I ...

• At November 16, 2009, Mxy wrote:

  I've been re-reading this stuff (recently completed the run), and I think Templeton and Willingham are great artists and all, ...

• At November 16, 2009, Shaq-fu wrote:

  KOOEYKOOEYKOOEY

• At November 17, 2009, Patrick C wrote:

  I would include that story from the JLA 80 Page Giant as well! Great article.

• At November 17, 2009, acespot wrote:

  Mister Miracle was another book written in a similar vein.

  In fact, it diverged from JL/JLI immediately after the Manga Khan ...

• At November 17, 2009, acespot wrote:

  Also, my love of this series is one of the main reasons that I HATE the Martian Manhunter "revamp" prior ...

• At November 17, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  Nice write-up, Greg. I agree that Breakdowns is less essential than the other stuff, but anyone who reads the ...

• At November 17, 2009, Brian Lockhart wrote:

  In my humble opinion this book/concept got old after about a year - around issue 12 which, if I recall, ...

• At November 17, 2009, Steven verbridge wrote:

  I have this whole run and just love it! One of the few runs I have kept over the ...

• At November 17, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Maybe it should be pointed out that we currently have an ongoing Booster Gold series. It's not in the vein ...

• At November 17, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "I'd add there is an extra fact here: the paper in which comic books used to be printed in was ...

• At November 17, 2009, Ethan Shuster wrote:

  Oh, and the best part of that second cover that's posted here? The tagline refers to the JLI as the ...

• At November 17, 2009, katefan wrote:

  I agree with Brian, it was largely over rated. Being unable to use the A-listers and forced to rely ...

• At November 17, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, I certainly disagree. The point is that the writing MADE the characters interesting. The "scrubs," as you ...

• At November 17, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  Great write up!

  I came to the tittle midway - Adam Hughes' first issue, he's still my favorite artist of this ...

• At November 18, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  Insightful, thorough, and awesome review/recap here. Nicely done.

• At November 18, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Releasing something in $25 hardcovers with softcovers not coming until a year later is not the best way to get ...

• At November 18, 2009, Chris Stansfield wrote:

  Nice article, though I disagree with some of your conclusions (and some of the assumptions they're based on) Blue Beetle ...

• At November 19, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chris: Well, I'm going to read JLE next, so we'll see about that.

  This is an interesting comment - thanks for ...

• At November 20, 2009, Comics You Should Own – Jl/Jli/Jla #1-45 + Ancillary Comics … « debtconsolidationandcreditrating wrote:

  [...] The Despero story is a masterpiece of not only pacing and excitement, but Hughes does a marvelous job turning ...

The Authority by Mark Millar (writer, issues #22, 27-29), Tom Peyer (writer, issues #23-26), Frank Quitely (penciller, issue #22), Dustin Nguyen (penciller, issues #23-26), Arthur Adams (penciller, issues #27-28), Gary Erskine (artist, issue #29), Trevor Scott (inker, issue #22), Richard Friend (inker, issues #23-26), Jason Martin (inker, issues #23-26), Tim Townsend (inker, issues #27-28), David Baron (colorist), Ryan Cline (letterer, issues #22-23), Bill O'Neil (letterer, issues #24-28), Tom Long (letterer, issue #29), and Sergio Garcia (letterer, issue #29).

DC/Wildstorm, 8 issues (#22-29), cover dated March 2001-July 2002.

Minor SPOILERS below. Don't say I didn't warn you!

"What?" you say. "Greg doesn't consider Ellis's run on The Authority essential?" Well, first off, it's comics you should own, not comics you already own, and any comics geek probably already owns Ellis's 12 issues. Secondly (and more importantly), when you get right down to it, Ellis's run is pretty simplistic, with none of the political machinations or even interesting villains of his take on StormWatch. Yes, I love reading the issues, and yes, Hitch's art is magnificent, but if you really stop to think about it, it's all "Here's a bad guy - let's punch him in the brain." Worth the time, but nothing really ground-breaking (especially if you buy Rob Liefeld's latest [I wrote this in 2005, remember] assertion that he, not Ellis, invented "wide-screen" comics).

Then came Millar.

His first storyline is a fairly good arc, but nothing terribly amazing except for Quitely's art. His second arc, with the rogue Doctor, was weaker, and I suspect many people left the book during it, especially with the delays in printing. Then Doselle Young stepped in with, basically, a set-up for his title, The Monarchy (whatever happened to Young? - he was supposed to be the next big thing [Editor's note: this is still a pertinent question over 4 years later]). His issue (#21) was one of the weirdest comics I've ever read, and I still don't get it [Our main man Chad Nevett tried to make sense of it, though]. So by the time Millar began his "death of the Authority" arc in issue #22, I suspect the book had lost a good chunk of its audience. Add to the fact that Quitely suddenly left to go do X-Men and Millar had some issues with the censorship board at DC, and the final issues of the first volume of The Authority limped out in late printings, taking over a year to complete. By the time it was put out of its misery, it was a shell of its former glory.

Or was it? Sure, waiting for the issues to come out was interminable. But I submit to you that these latter issues of The Authority were just as good, and in some ways much better, than the sanctified Ellis run. No, the art wasn't as good. Hitch remains a master at the kind of art this book needs, although Nguyen, I would say, gave him a run for his money. I have my issues with Quitely's art (don't get me wrong, it's very good, but I still have issues with it), and I don't think Adams really works here, although I love his art, and the Erskine's art in the finale is just yucky. So the art is inferior, but not by too much. It doesn't take me out of the story, which is all I want in my comics [I still feel this way, although I'm much better at reviewing art than I was in 2005].

The stories, however, are more complex and far more interesting than Ellis's run. Ellis gave us a ridiculously stereotypical Asian terrorist who would have made people writing Fu Manchu comics in the 1930s pause, a silly alternative Earth with a straw dog as a villain (Regis doesn't really do anything, does he? I mean, Hawksmoor kills him by jumping through him!), and, well, yet another take on aliens returning to Earth to find out the annoying humans have taken over. Millar and Peyer give us the United States government. Sure, it's just as much a cliché as the aliens coming home, but it's still more interesting. It's something we can believe the government doing, since most governments are all about preserving the status quo. When the Authority gets too big for its britches, the government steps in. Who's to say they can't?

Issue #22 sets up the story. We get that eerie shot of the Midnighter's mask lying in the sand, and then Quitely slowly pulls back to reveal the downed Carrier. We flash back a week to Jack giving an interview to "Ed Bradley," and this gives Millar a chance to spout more of his "leftist-dictatorship" dogma that so many comic book writers enjoy. It's still good reading, but the shit hits the fan pretty quickly when Seth, the genetically-enhanced assassin sent by the government, gets onto the Carrier (in typically gross Millar fashion) and begins killing people. He's pretty stinkin' good at it, too, and the team is dispatched with minimum fuss, leaving the new Authority in charge. Exit Millar for four issues.

When Peyer takes over, the book really gets interesting. If you skip from issue 22 to 27, when Millar takes over again, the book really doesn't work as well, even though that was apparently how it was supposed to work. Of course, Millar may have completely changed his story after the censors got to work on him. But Peyer's interlude allows us a couple of things: it allows us to believe the old Authority is really dead, and it also allows us to see things from the villains' points of view. It's been noted other places that building a book around villains doesn't really work long-term (even Ostrander's Suicide Squad, as great as it was, had a good mixture of good guys and bad), but for four issues, Peyer makes it work. The key is, of course, to make them human beings and make us care about them. We don't like the new Authority because, after all, they're bastards, but we do care about what they're doing, and it's a good trick. They uphold the status quo and get away with being just as depraved as the old Authority because of who they represent, but they also have feelings for each other, although they hide them under a veneer of bastardness. The dynamics of the team make for interesting reading. Obviously, the relationship between Teuton and Last Call is the most interesting, as Teuton wants to be a crime-fighting team like Apollo and the Midnighter, but Last Call doesn't want to get too close to him because of the "couple" associations with the heroes they replaced. Peyer makes Teuton a weepy baby at times, which adds comic relief but also points out that he's not a complete villain, and Millar makes him a closet homosexual who wants to "experiment" on Apollo just before the Midnighter kills him (in a scene the censors got to, apparently). I'm not sure if Peyer knew Millar was going to do that, but it makes the scenes where he breaks down and sobs a little weirder than they would be otherwise.

Peyer's story arc is, of course, a none-too-subtle dig at other superhero team-ups in the "real" comic book world that DON'T fight the status quo. The Justice League and the Avengers would never dump a bunch of refugees out of their space station, but if the rich and elite of society suddenly lost all their money and the JLA found out who was behind it, you can bet they'd go punch them in the brains, just like the new Authority does. With more subtlety, I would argue, than Millar did with his Avengers stand-ins in his first storyline (I laughed quite hard when they showed up, I'll admit, but I doubt if "subtlety" is a word Millar is familiar with), Peyer shows us that superhero groups are ultimately about keeping things humming along the way they always have done, and the Colonel's line in issue #23, "But we have to rebel in our own way. We choose to do it within the system" is a perfect refutation of Superman's dictum that humans have to save themselves - those with god-like powers can't do it for them, an excuse that always bothered me. The Authority made the world better for humans who simply could not help themselves. Hey, Clark, tell the Tibetans and the Australian aborigines and blacks and Hispanics in this country that you can't help them because it's not in your code. They'd tell you to go screw yourself. The new Authority shows perfectly why the supergroups in the "real" comics' universes (the regular DC and Marvel ones) can't do a damned thing. Just when we think the old Authority is coming back and the "status quo" of everything being different will be restored, Last Call thwarts that because he's not gay. It's a very funny moment, and the new Authority is off again to uphold the ruling elite. Peyer doesn't give us the resolution we want, which is why this arc resonates - it's not the good guys winning, at least not our good guys. We want our old Authority back!

Which, of course, Millar does in issue #27. We find out that none of the team is dead, merely neutered. The Midnighter, of course, is going to save the day (even outside of the regular DC universe, Batman is always the last hope). In issue #28, he kills everyone in the new Authority, leaving Seth as the last bad guy to defeat. Issue #28 is another one where the censors took control, especially on the page where Rush and the Surgeon die, because you honestly cannot tell what happens. Apparently it was too graphic for DC, so they put panels over it. Stupid DC. Anyway, in issue #29 Jenny Quantum defeats Seth, Millar gets in some jokes about rednecks (ha, ha, Mark - it's not even as funny as when Ennis did it in Preacher, and it wasn't that funny then), and the status quo is restored. The Authority, interestingly enough, has become a stodgy, unchanging superhero group. And, in another interesting twist, they have lost all reason for being. I haven't read the title since issue #29 came out, but I can't believe it's any more or less good than JLA or Avengers. If you like it, fine, but if it's any more than superheroes punching people in the brain (yes, I'm running with that today), I'll be surprised.

What these final issues of The Authority did, ultimately, is expose the hypocrisy of superhero groups in a concise and entertaining way. Millar and Peyer exposed the reader to his (or her) own hypocrisy is supporting the status quo of superhero groups and superhero comics in general, and in a much less obnoxious and insulting way than Millar did in Wanted. This kind of thing is, of course, a Millar staple, and he does it with varying success. Here he does it well, and is able to subvert his own message of "change or die" with the subtext of "change is no good." While the Authority is creating a new world in which a different elite (but a "good" elite) is in charge, the comic is saying that everything has to stay the same. It's an entertaining read, sure, but troubling nonetheless because of what it says about our buying habits and our own relationship to whatever status quo we choose to acknowledge. Pretty heavy stuff from a superhero comic book.

As always, you can check out the archives. You don't have work to do, do you?

22 Comments

• At November 8, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Then came Millar.

  Who liked to raise political issues with snide one liners, and then have people punch people in the ...

• At November 8, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  FGJ: Because Millar's story was supposed to be published as four consecutive issues, I doubt he cared what Peyer did ...

• At November 8, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  "Who liked to raise political issues with snide one liners, and then have people punch people in the head."

  Wait, how ...

• At November 8, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Wait, how is that different from Ellis Authority?

  They stayed away from politics.

  I may have understated the political talk, but go ...

• At November 8, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Ellis' Authority was more significant based on how it was done than what it was doing-- the Authority were ultimately ...

• At November 8, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember leaving the book when Quitely left the book to go to work with Morrison on the New X-men. ...

• At November 8, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Is Dustin Nguyen the only artist to draw two runs on Authority?

  He did Peyer's fill-in arc, of course, and then ...

• At November 8, 2009, Michael Rawdon wrote:

  I think the best way to view Ellis' run on The Authority is that he was basically doing what Grant ...

• At November 8, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  To me, the defining excample of Millar's failure to do more than hint at the shallows of actual politics occurs ...

• At November 8, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  The only thing I dislike about Millar's Authority work is that it pretty much wastes Frank Quitely's talents. I'd ...

• At November 8, 2009, chad wrote:

  Millars run on the authority proved that some writers as genius as Warren are not a good fit for ...

• At November 8, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I really liked the first issue of this story when it came out -- it was great in that 'watch ...

• At November 9, 2009, Julian wrote:

  While I agree with Omar for the most part, I did think that first four issue arc was pretty smart. ...

• At November 9, 2009, Dexter wrote:

  I don't quite mean it to sound quite as mean as the comparison really is, but to me, Millar is ...

• At November 9, 2009, Chad wrote:

  I re-read Millar's run last year and I didn't loathe it as much as I did when it was coming ...

• At November 9, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Count me in the crowd who prefer Millar's run.

  Ellis's run was quite fin and pretty to look at, but I ...

• At November 9, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Ellis' stories were a game of super-hero one-upping. The Authority fights an evil dictator, then an alternate reality, then a ...

• At November 9, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " I don't quite mean it to sound quite as mean as the comparison really is, but to me, Millar ...

• At November 9, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Never looked back except for the Planetary/Authority two-parter, but that was a Elsewhere project, if I remember correctly.

  What two-parter was ...

• At November 10, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I liked the Jenny Sparks mini - though it was a bit like Forrest Gump

• At November 11, 2009, Sweeps Week « DarcKnyt wrote:

  [...] Comics You Should Own flashback – The Authority #22-29 (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At November 12, 2009, Fabio Ciccone wrote:

  Although I don't like the artist, the story is awesome. Very good comic indeed.

The Immortal Iron Fist by Matt Fraction (writer), Ed Brubaker (writer, issues #1-14, Annual #1, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), David Aja (artist, issues #1-6, 8-13, 16), Travel Foreman (penciler, issues #1-5), Russ Heath (artist, issues #3, 6, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), John Severin (artist, issue #2), Sal Buscema (penciler, issue #4), Leandro Fernandez (penciler, issue #7), Khari Evans (penciler, issues #7, 15), Roy Allan Martinez (artist, issue #8-9), Scott Koblish (artist, issue #9), Kano (artist, issue #10-14), Javier Pulido (artist, issue #12), Tonci Zonjic (artist, issue #13-14), Clay Mann (penciler, issue #14), Howard Chaykin (artist, Annual #1), Dan Brereton (artist, Annual #1), Nick Dragotta (penciler, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Lewis LaRosa (penciler, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Mitch Breitweiser (artist, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Derek Fridolfs (inker, issues #1-5), Tom Palmer (inker, issue #4), Francisco Paronzini (inker, issue #7), Leo Fernandez (inker, issue #7), Victor Olazaba (inker, issues #7, 15), Raul Allen (inker, issue #9), Mike Allred (inker, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Stefano Gaudiano (inker, issue #14, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist, issues #1-6, 8-14, 16, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), Dean White (colorist, issue #2), Laura Martin (colorist, issue #6), Dan Brown (colorist, issue #7), June Chung (colorist, issue #8-9), Edgar Delgado (colorist, Annual #1), Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic (colorist, issue #15, Annual #1), Paul Mounts (colorist, issue #15), Laura Allred (colorist, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death), and Dave Lanphear (letterer).

Marvel, 18 issues (#1-16, plus The Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1, which comes after issue #9 and The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death one-shot, which comes after issue #12), cover dated January 2007-August 2008.

Minor SPOILERS below. I try to keep it vague!

One of the important reasons The Immortal Iron Fist is such an excellent comic is that it was published by Marvel. What I mean by this is that DC has a more sense of "history," as there are legacy heroes, elderly heroes, a history of different "earths" where the heroes grew old and had children, a strong history of war comics and westerns that stretch the days of the DCU further back in time to the nineteenth century, and a legacy of printing comics that don't "fit" into an official "continuity." Marvel, while they have published such books, doesn't have as much of a legacy in this area as DC does, with most of their comics fitting into a very rigid "continuity" that began with Fantastic Four #1 but has been extended back to include the early Marvel superheroes of the 1940s. Even with their "quirkiest" titles (until recently, that is), at some point someone fits it into regular Marvel continuity. For years, there wasn't much room at Marvel for comics like this, and even though Fraction and Brubaker place this firmly in Marvel continuity, they also create a strange world that isn't necessarily in sync with the Marvel Universe we've come to know. That's not to say it wouldn't be a great comic if DC had published it (difficult to do, as the book is full of Marvel characters), but the fact that it takes place in the Marvel U. but also expands that universe makes it a bit more interesting.

Of course, it's a great comic on its own, too, and Brubaker and Fraction make sure that the comic doesn't become too much of a regular Marvel Universe book. They acknowledge the post-Civil War reality, use Hydra as one of the evil forces, and ... well, that's it, really. Other than the fact that Iron Fist and his cronies are owned by Marvel, this is simply a pulp story with a veneer of superheroing on top of it. Brubaker, presumably, adds in the noir-ish elements, while things like The Empire of Hypothetical Science screams Fraction. The two writers blend their strengths to give us a giddy examination of a strange world full of possibilities. So we get crazy mechanical spiders, women who turn into cranes, pirate queens, airplanes with angel figureheads, hauntingly beautiful subway stations with pneumatic trains, floating trains packed with explosives, steampunk interdimensional tunnels, Lightning Lords of Nepal, gun-toting courtesans in Harlem, the Green Mist of Death, scantily-clad and buxom cowgirls, Frankenstein's monster, poet emperors, bloodthirsty folk legends, and all sorts of cool martial arts action. All of these elements could easily show up in a regular superhero book, of course, but the way Brubaker and Fraction blend it into one delightfully pulpy stew makes this comic a world-building exercise that's breathtaking to read. That it exists side-by-side with the rest of the Marvel Universe is just a nice cherry on top.

The big innovation that Fraction and Brubaker come up with, of course, is the idea of a succession of Iron Fists stretching back over the millennia. This allows them to tell stories that take place in the past without screwing up Danny Rand's established continuity while also, through Orson Randall, Danny's immediate predecessor, indulging in their desires to tell pulp stories set in the 1920s and 1930s. This not only gives us some great pulp stories, it puts Danny into a context and deepens his connection to K'un-Lun, the mystical city where he gained his powers. It's a nice twist to Danny's history, and although the concept of a legacy hero is a bit overdone, it's all in the execution, and Fraction and Brubaker are able to seamlessly create an alternate history of the twentieth century through these tales. It's one of the things that makes this comic so much fun.

Ultimately, the grand plot (the run is technically separated into two big arcs, but it's really the same plot) doesn't matter too much, because it becomes bad guys versus good guys very quickly, and when the bad guys include Hydra, it's tough to take them seriously. The plot is certainly exciting and interesting, but Brubaker and Fraction are much more concerned with the major theme of the series, which is family and how it affects our lives and the decisions we make. Yes, this is a family drama dressed up as a martial arts comic masquerading as a superhero story. But it's about what binds us together and what's important in life, and Brubaker and Fraction come down on the side of family, however that family is defined. This is evident from the first pages of the book, when Danny reminisces about how he arrived in K'un-Lun after his parents died. Almost immediately after that we're introduced to Danny in the boardroom and Jeryn Hogarth, his major domo. Hogarth is his friend, but he also treats Danny as if he's a child. In quick succession Fraction and Brubaker bring in Orson Randall, who acted as surrogate father to Danny's biological dad and will soon be a mentor to Danny himself; Luke Cage, Danny's "brother"; Davos, who was Wendell Rand's "brother" and therefore intimately connected to Danny; and Misty Knight, Danny's ex-lover. The comic becomes a tangle of familial alliances and obligations, driving the characters forward. Danny learns about his past and what it means to be an Iron Fist, and this drives him to join the tournament in the second arc. Davos feels the need to impress his father, Lei Kung the Thunderer, who trains the Iron Fists and becomes their mentors, making Davos jealous in more ways than one. Jeryn is forced to work for Xao and Hydra because they kidnap his mother and threaten her life. Luke, who operates outside the law, buries the hatchet with Misty and Colleen Wing, who are working for the government, because Danny needs them and they're family. Orson Randall's "Confederates of the Curious" form familial bonds as well, with Wendell Rand learning how to live from the older members of the group. In the excellent standalone story, issue #7's "The Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay," Brubaker and Fraction give us a wonderful and exciting story of martial arts that's ultimately a love story. In "The Capital Cities of Heaven" arc (issues #8-14), Danny learns of the champions of the other cities, and he forms sibling-type bonds with them, as well. And Orson Randall's daughter leads the revolution within K'un-Lun as a way to honor her father. In fact, the two main bad guys - Yu-Ti and Xao - are distinguished by their disrespect of familial ties, as Yu-Ti rejects his father's teachings and Xao drags Jeryn's mother into their business, showing a lack of respect. Davos, who is the other main bad guy, gains redemption by coming back into the family unit and asking forgiveness from his father.

This theme makes Iron Fist an interesting comic because unlike most other superhero books, there's a strong sense of history and generational conflict to it. Most superhero books, even if they adopt a family structure (team books do this a lot, but Spider-Man is very concerned with family, too), are locked into the present so much that the family structure never changes too much, and it's more of a sibling dynamic anyway. By expanding Danny Rand's universe into the past, Brubaker and Fraction are able to examine the way sons relate to their father figures and how this changes the way they live. Orson Randall's father crashed in K'un-Lun a century ago, and Orson struggled to live up to not only his biological father's legacy, but his adopted father's (Lei Kung) as well. Then, he became a father figure to Wendell Rand, and struggled with being a good role model to a boy who wanted to follow in his footsteps, even though Orson tried to dissuade him. Davos craves the approval of his father and tries for years to prove himself, only doing so when he lets go of his pride. By stretching these conflicts over the generations, Brubaker and Fraction give us a more complex characterization than we expect in a mainstream comic book, and they're also able to examine family bonds from many different angles. There's no one dominant way a person relates to his family in this comic, and it makes the nuances more subtle and varied. We can look at Orson's relationship with Wendell and see how Orson learns from it and applies those lessons when he meets Danny. We can see how the Thunderer treats his biological son, Davos, and how he treats his surrogate sons, Wendell and then Danny, and wonder whether he could have made different choices. We can compare Danny's life to Davos's or even Orson's and speculate how it would have been different if he didn't have Luke, Misty, and Colleen to lean on. That Fraction and Brubaker place this complex skein within the framework of a superhero comic is often a dazzling achievement.

The fact that Iron Fist is a terrifically good adventure comic shouldn't be overlooked, either, and a lot of the strength in that regard comes from the art. Aja is a wonderful artist for the book, with a noir-ish style that works well for the often gritty stories that Brubaker and Fraction come up with. Aja is also excellent at the martial arts in the book, creating the wonderful characters at the tournament and giving them each a unique look and style of fighting. He's also very good at the quiet moments, such as issue #16, in which he illustrates Fraction's final script beautifully even though there's very little action in it. The haunted look on Danny's face as he realizes the implications of it being his birthday is fantastic. Obviously, Aja had big deadline problems, which led to the ridiculous number of artists working on just 18 issues of the series, but the artists are almost universally strong on the book, and the selection of artists again shows how nicely this comic fits into a historical setting. John Severin illustrates a section during World War I. Daniel Brereton's funky style works perfectly for the mystical adventures of Orson Randall in the 1920s and 1930s. Russ Heath gives us a story set in the West. Khari Evans has a fine style for the tale of Bei Bang-Wen in the 1860s. All of the artists bring unique styles to the book, but they blend together very well, and although the lack of Aja is occasionally frustrating (at no time more so than in issue #14, the climax of "The Capital Cities of Heaven"), the fill-in artists do a marvelous job and, more importantly, are there for specific sections, so we know that when we see Kano's art, it's for the story of Wendell and Davos training together. By breaking the art chores into discrete sections, the book gains a consistency it would otherwise not have.

Ultimately, the reason this is such a good comic is because you can simply read it as a high-spirited adventure, but there's plenty going on underneath that deepens our appreciation for it. Fraction and Brubaker take a simple concept and broaden it to the point where they create a new world within the Marvel Universe. This is different from going back and "filling in the blanks" in the lives of current Marvel superheroes. They expanded the Marvel U. to make it a much more interesting place, full of crazy new characters. Danny Rand becomes a more interesting character simply by fitting into this universe. The Immortal Iron Fist is a wild ride that leaves you breathless, but it also makes you think about how people react to each other and how people can use the past to create a better future. Unlike many superhero comics that came out at the same time, there was a sense of freshness to this title that made you feel like anything was possible. And for 18 fine issues, anything was.

Marvel's policy of releasing everything in trade means that this is available. It appears like there are three trades collecting this run, although a single, giant Omnibus edition would look nice a shelf, wouldn't it? And be sure to check out the archives if you have some time to kill.

26 Comments

• At October 28, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  You should own #17-27 too, Swierczynski's run was good as well.

• At October 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I got the first Swierczynski story arc and thought it was okay, but nothing special.

• At October 28, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Agreed -- I read them all back to back in trades recently and noticed a sudden drop in my reading ...

• At October 28, 2009, Andy wrote:

  Easily the greatest Iron Fist stories ever told. Admittedly, it's a small mountain to climb, but there it is.

• At October 28, 2009, Dan Fleming wrote:

  Haven't read Swierczynski's run, but these few issues were amazing. My favorite book at the time. Now Marvel, lets ...

• At October 28, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Comics you should own: Yes!

• At October 28, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  Brilliant stuff. Everyone should own these.

• At October 28, 2009, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  Bought the Omnibus this Summer without ever having read an issue. They are some of the best comics I have ...

• At October 28, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Worth noting that, unlike many of the characters listed, the Green Mist wasn't an original character, but a reinvention of ...

• At October 28, 2009, Dr-Strange wrote:

  Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California should have got a nod even if Swierczynski's run is being ...

• At October 28, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Issues #1 through #3 are impossible to find! Own the rest though.

• At October 28, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  *Looks at IIF Omnibus on shelf*

  Ah yes, one of the best runs of the decade in one giant, pretty hardcover. ...

• At October 28, 2009, Darren Mac wrote:

  First time I've commented on this site, and JUST because it is this comic. I'm an Iron Fist fan from ...

• At October 28, 2009, Roman wrote:

  Really good series. Really though, Swierczynski's run is pretty much just as good (as others have mentioned). I ...

• At October 28, 2009, r wrote:

  I love this- my highlights of the book were the entire first arc, and whatever issue it was where Danny ...

• At October 28, 2009, dmor173 wrote:

  Terrific Run.

  One of the hardest things to do now in fiction is to come up with decent names but ...

• At October 28, 2009, JasonF wrote:

  This entire series was the best thing I have read in years.

• At October 29, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  I really don't get why everyone loves this series so much.

  It's probably just that I like my martial arts ...

• At October 29, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  ..and the dark comedy notes during it just classic like Jeryn's line in #13:

  "GREEEEAAAT You know what the four ...

• At October 29, 2009, Rob Ocelot wrote:

  I kind of like that the book depicts a level of reality divorced from the mainstream MU but still with ...

• At October 29, 2009, c0ld wrote:

  This was an absolutely fantastic run. The names Bru, Fraction or Aja would put any book on my pull list, ...

• At October 29, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  Rob O., speaking of books that need to be collected...Waid's Ka-Zar and Cap run after the skrull imposter are also ...

• At October 29, 2009, TomerS wrote:

  Only read issue #1 when it was released and been planning on reading the whole run for a very long ...

• At October 29, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  Swierczynski had a nigh-imporssible task - living up to the previous arcs.

  He fell short, but still made good comics.

• At October 29, 2009, Ian wrote:

  #16 is the best issue released last year.

  That is all.

• At November 16, 2009, Comics Nexus | I’m Just Sayin’…#75 wrote:

  [...] with some news, I saw that COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD gave a more than deserved shout-out to the first sixteen issues ...

The Intimates by Joe Casey (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (penciller, issues #1-8), Scott Iwahashi (penciller, issues #9-10), Carlos D'Anda (penciller, issues #10, 12), Alé Garza (artist, issues #11-12), Jim Lee (artist of random panels, issues #1-2, 5, 8), Sandra Hope (inker, issues #1-10), Randy Mayor (colorist, issues #1-5, 7-11), Wildstorm FX (colorist, issues #6, 12), Tony Aviña (colorist, issues #6, 8, 10), Johnny Rench (colorist, issues #9, 11), Richard Starkings (letterer, issues #1-7, 11), Rob Steen (letterer, issues #1-8), and Comicraft (letterer, issues #9-12).

DC/Wildstorm, 12 issues (#1-12), cover dated January-December 2005.

The Intimates is the third of three Wildstorm comics that, in the first half of this decade, made Joe Casey one of, if not the most, interesting writer of superhero books you could find. The trifecta began with his work on Wildcats (which spanned 2000-2004 and included the 2.0 and 3.0 version), continued with the hallucinatory Automatic Kafka (2002), and ended with this comic. The Intimates, to be honest, is the weakest of the trio, and one gets the sense that Casey was exasperated by the reception his attempts at recreating superheroes for a new millennium were getting and started to pull back (this is most evident with Gødland, which is a brilliant, brilliant comic book but treads no new ground in the arena of cosmic superhero comics). Thus, the brash youngster who toiled for Marvel in the late 1990s and then tried to re-invent the superhero with Wildcats has, in the space of a few years, become the bitter cynic who spends most of the final issue of The Intimates wondering why the book failed. (As an aside: I've met Casey a few times, at the past few San Diego conventions, and he's as jazzed as ever about writing stuff, and it shows in his work. You can be bitter about an experiment failing and then get back on the horse and fire off great stuff over the next few years. I'm speaking of Casey's apparent mindset during these years, based solely on what's on the printed page - the end of Automatic Kafka and the end of this series. He might have been yanking all our chains and wasn't sad at all that the books got the axe. You just never can tell!) It's part of this bitterness that makes The Intimates a Comic You Should Own, in fact. There's such tension between the things Casey wants to do with the series and the fact that it's just not going to last, and that's part of what makes this such an interesting comic.

Whereas Wildcats is a re-invention of superheroes within a superheroic framework (Grifter still kicked ass, in other words) and Automatic Kafka was more caustically satirical, The Intimates is neither a total re-imagining of superheroes nor a savage satire. In many ways, it's more subtle than AK, but it's also gentler. That doesn't mean it's not dripping with irony, though, beginning with the title. Given that the book is about teenaged superheroes, two groups with built-in intimacy issues, the title mocks our expectations before we even begin reading. Casey piles on the irony by adding layers between the reader and the character, deliberately highlighting the fact that we're reading a text about fictional characters. He does this in many ways. The storytelling is staccato, shifting quickly from one scene to another and back, never letting us get our bearings. This is especially evident in the scenes set in the school - the Seminary - where the cast is learning how to be superheroes. Casey jumps back and forth between cast members, forcing us to splice together the narrative, distancing us from the characters. Intercut between the "present" are asides showing secret origins, fantasies of the characters, the teachers in their superhero guises from years earlier, and built-in advertisements about the products the cast members use. Then, of course, there are the infamous "info scrolls" on the bottom of the pages, where Casey ruminates about any- and everything that strikes his fancy, as he either comments on the story in progress, gives us various "factoids" (all of which, he admits near the end of the run, are made up), explains and advises teenagers on how to interact with adults, or even narrates all of Kefong's summer vacation in Las Vegas. In the final issue, he writes about how the comic itself came together, comments obliquely on the industry itself, and makes meta-commentaries in the flow of the narrative: Punchy's favorite spy comic gets cancelled in issue #12, and he rants about "fill-ins" - once Camuncoli left The Intimates, the art went downhill - and reads on-line that the editor loved the series, but that it never found its place in the market - a commentary about every cancelled series, more than likely, who often have someone championing it until push comes to shove. All of these tricks are meant to keep us separate from the book, and Casey mocks the notion of "intimacy" with these characters. He does this for a specific reason, and it's not to make sure the inevitable cancellation of the book won't sting. All of these barriers to involvement with the characters make the true "intimate" moments stand out more and cut us deeper. The end of issue #3, when Punchy realizes that Empty Vee has been sending him text messages and not Destra and he cruelly rebuffs her, is a devastating portrait of teenaged emotions, both from Punchy and Vee. When Duke and Destra dance in issue #4, it's a wonderful moment, a true moment even, as these two people come together briefly for complicated reasons but do not become any closer. The kids' journey into Sykes' mind in issue #6 tears away their bravado, exposing their deepest fears, but what's interesting is that Casey refuses to allow this to become a cathartic moment - the kids do change after their experiences, but very gradually and very subtly. And Punchy's sexual encounter with Flora in issue #8 is beautiful because it reveals Punchy's insecurities and desires, something he can't admit to himself. All of these moments, and other brief ones like them, become more powerful because it feels as if Casey is simply taking down a barrier or two just for a moment before throwing it back up again. It's all manipulative, of course, but that's the point.

Casey's metaphorical use of teenagers makes The Intimates fascinating, too. As I noted above, teens and superheroes have/would have intimacy issues, but making the teenagers superheroes themselves allows Casey to tap into the idea of identity and rebellion that superheroes often grapple with. Identity, of course, is crucial to teens, as they often have a difficult time figuring out their own identities and construct ones to suit their peers. Casey belabors the metaphor with Empty Vee, the overweight character who must concentrate to become visible, but she also turns out to be one of the most interesting characters as the series progresses. Vee is a typical tragic figure, crushing on the brash Punchy until he destroys her emotionally in issue #3, and then twisting that crush into a sexual voraciousness over her summer vacation, when she beds first a bass player in an opening act before moving up to the lead singer of the headlining band. Of course, Vee's summer escapades are another construction, as she rebels against Punchy's rejection by becoming more of a predator (she initially sent Punchy the text messages, after all). Meanwhile, the other cast members deal with showing different facets of themselves to the world in much the same way that Vee does. Punchy, the obnoxious wannabe hero who speaks in "gangsta" slang (more than one character comments on the idiocy of him talking that way) and lies about his family and his prowess with girls, is rebuffed by Destra, rebuffs Vee, and hooks up with an old friend. When he leaves Flora at the end of issue #8 and immediately heads out on his grand adventure with Destra, it's a sad moment, because we get the sense that Punchy and Flora need to say more to each other, but Punchy can't or won't leave behind the image he's created for himself, even though no one likes him. The scenes spanning issues #8 and 9 are fascinating, as Punchy leaves Flora even though it's clear he doesn't want to, and then is accosted by Destra, who wants him to go with her. Destra, the epitome of cool in the comic, never really cracks except in two panels in issue #9 - when she asks Punchy to go with her and, a moment later, when there's an awkward pause. Iwahashi, unfortunately, isn't up to creating the right amount of awkwardness in the panels, but it's clear from Casey's writing how difficult it is for Destra to ask for help from Punchy (Duke had already turned her down). Of all the main characters (Kefong and Sykes don't really count), Destra has built a sturdy edifice, but even she isn't confident in her identity. This problem with identity is most obvious in issue #5, which focuses on Dead Kid Fred, who is, well, dead but still suicidal. That Punchy figures out what Dead Kid Fred is planning is another source of irony, as it's only because Punchy thinks Dead Kid Fred's melancholy on-line journal is written by a girl that he pays any attention to it. Punchy saves Fred almost despite himself.

It's not difficult to figure out why The Intimates failed. It really doesn't have much in the way of plot, with Casey only bringing in a rather desultory story about the food being tainted by the company that sells it to the school in order to keep the kids docile, but like everything else in the book, that got cut short when the book got cancelled. Casey is obviously not interested in plots, but when you're publishing a book under the Wildstorm imprint and you feature characters that are, after all, superheroes (not to mention cameos by the Engineer, Mr. Majestic, and Spartan), readers kind of expect it. With Automatic Kafka, we had the barrier of Ashley Wood's decidedly non-superheroic art, but Camuncoli is definitely a good superhero artist, so the fact that Casey is subverting our expectations may have been his downfall (I certainly can't definitely say that's why the book failed, but on-line chatter about it seemed to indicate that the main complaint was that "nothing happened"). Casey is far more interested in trying to figure out what makes teenagers and/or superheroes tick, and that's a tough nut to crack. What's best about Casey's writing in this series (and in his Wildstorm days as a whole) is that he confronts us with things that we don't usually see in superhero comics. With the Teen Titans or the New Mutants, to name a couple of teen superhero books, we got lip service to the anxieties that teens go through. Casey tries to show how insane it can be to be a teen, and he adds to it the oversaturation of twentieth-century advertising, which adds more pressure. This is a far more "real" teen book than we've seen in comics, showing teens as rebellious conformists, with all the contradictions implied in that phrase. Most teen books seem to portray them as adults with a few immature quirks, but Casey's cast is much more interesting than that. The lack of an overall plot is a deliberate choice by Casey, highlighting the lassitude that many teens (and, hell, adults) feel because they aren't "stars" in some grand narrative. It's pertinent that the most "together" of the teens, Kefong, is a supporting character whose big summer adventure is narrated in the info scrolls, while Punchy and Destra's significant (to them) but ultimately pointless trek to discover the big food secret takes center stage. Even Duke's work for the government is downplayed, because it's too "important." Casey cares more about showing Punchy and Destra's emotional growth on their journey rather than Duke's efforts to prop up the status quo. For this, plot is insignificant.

The Intimates plays with the idea of overturning that status quo, but unlike his previous two Wildstorm books, which actually challenged the way the world works, this one must fail, because the kids aren't fully formed enough to do it. Like Automatic Kafka, Casey gives the kids an extremely metafictional "out" at the end of the series, even if he doesn't show up in the book as he does in AK (he even calls the ending of issue #12 the "Kafka gambit"). It's an ending that shows that the kids are growing up, as they begin to work together as a team, but they retain their youthful exuberance and, yes, obnoxiousness. In a strange way, much like Casey's ending of Automatic Kafka, we feel as if the kids "escape" more than the Seminary, but the bounds of the comic book itself, even as Casey reminds us, via the info scrolls, that the characters exist only on the written page ... and in readers' imagination. That's where The Intimates triumphs, because Casey's blending of traditional narrative with metafictional commentary has reminded us again what kind of power stories have. That's what makes this series so good.

The Intimates, as far as I can tell, has never been collected in trade paperback. So sad! It's worth a dive into the back issues boxes, though. And, as always, I feel I must steer you toward the archives, incomplete as they are. Don't let my laziness in fixing them stop you!

24 Comments

• At October 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember trying this series out once.

  I do know I didn't really care much for this series at the time.

  Ah ...

• At October 11, 2009, Punchy wrote:

  I loved this book. I got my username from it. I think most people have forgotten it now, so people ...

• At October 11, 2009, Bill Burns wrote:

  It is ridiculous how much of Casey's Wildstorm work was never issued in trade.

• At October 11, 2009, Neil Cameron wrote:

  Iirc the interview Joe Casey did with Matt Fraction, the name intimates was a play on the Ultimates.

  Sadly much like ...

• At October 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Has anyone done a review of Casey & Wood's Automatic Kafka?

  Now, that was fun to read. ;-)

• At October 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Tom: Of course I did, as it was earlier in the alphabet than this! Sadly, it was been lost ...

• At October 11, 2009, Grico wrote:

  I picked up the middle of the run in a cheap bin but it never really did anything for me. ...

• At October 11, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I wanted to like this book, but I really hated the art. It was just too hard to look at.

• At October 11, 2009, J.R. LeMar wrote:

  Got the whole series when it came out. I loved it! But I'm also not surprised that it didn't succeed ...

• At October 11, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  I'm not sure I got what Intimates was supposed to be, but I sure enjoyed the novelty of it. It's ...

• At October 11, 2009, agent_torpor wrote:

  Casey used to do some good stuff.

  Now, we get Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance. Heavens.

• At October 11, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  I really liked this one. I liked the tone, and it's so rare to get this kinda formalistic/structural experimentation ...

• At October 11, 2009, rodney wrote:

  its a shame Joe Casey has not done anything interesting after this. its like he gave up. godland fun and ...

• At October 11, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Casey used to do some good stuff.

  Now, we get Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance. Heavens.

  its a shame Joe Casey has not ...

• At October 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, I love Godland. And Zodiac was very good. And some of his graphic novels - Nixon's Pals, ...

• At October 11, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I really liked this. It's a shame it never got released in trade.

• At October 11, 2009, Bryan wrote:

  The Intimates, one of the many reasons Joe Casey is a far better writer than people give him credit for. ...

• At October 11, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  This series was fantastic. The final issue made me so sad. I do wish your review spoke ...

• At October 12, 2009, wwk5d wrote:

  Casey is hit or miss for me. He does have interesting ideas sometimes, but I'd like to see him focus ...

• At October 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ryan: I didn't speak too much about the art because Camuncoli left and the art went way downhill (D'Anda's wasn't ...

• At October 12, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I'll have to track this down. I also need to track down a run of Automatic Kafka, as I ...

• At October 13, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  And one should note that Casey's running commentary on the bottom of the pages presaged FB/Twitter status updates.

• At October 13, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  Yes, but wasn't Tony Millionaire doing the same kind of thing in his strips before the intimates came out?

• At October 15, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I'm very conflicted when it comes to The Intimates, because it's not a good book if you're looking for a ...

The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (writer), Adam Kubert (penciler, issues # -1, 454-456, 458-460, 462-464, 466-467), Joe Kubert (penciler, issues #456, 464), David Brewer (penciler, issues #457, 461, 465), Mark Farmer (inker, issues # -1, 454-456, 458-460, 462-464, 466), Cam Smith (inker, issues #457), Andrew Pepoy (inker, issues #457, 461, 465), Bud LaRosa (inker, issues #459, 463), Dan Green (inker, issue #463), Jesse Delperdang (inker, issue #463), Lovern Kindzierski (colorist, issues #454, 457, 460), Digital Chameleon (colorists/separations, issues #454-465), Dan Brown (colorist, issue # -1), Igor Kordey (colorist, issue #461), Matthew Paine (colorist, issue #463, 465), Steve Buccellato (colorist, issue #466-467), and John E. Workman, Jr. (letterer).

Marvel, 15 issues (#-1, 454-467 of "volume 1"; the -1 issue comes after #454), cover dated June 1997-August 1998.

A few SPOILERS below, but nothing you probably don't already know, even if you've never read these. And remember that you can click on the images to giganticize them.

After Gary Frank left The Incredible Hulk, Peter David seemed to flounder a bit, not helped by Marvel's general editorial direction in the mid-1990s. For 30 issues after Frank left, the title wandered around aimlessly, as whenever David seemed to fix an idea in his mind, something would come along to upset it. Liam Sharpe obviously could not keep up a monthly schedule, as his art began to look rushed almost immediately, and when he left the book, David abandoned the "monster in the swamps" theme he was going with. The "Ghosts of the Future" story arc, probably the best story during these years, wasn't helped by truly atrocious Angel Medina art, which is a shame as Medina's art on Dreadstar, another collaboration with David, was wonderful. Then the book ran headlong into the Onslaught mess, which became the Heroes Reborn mess, and presumably it was selling well enough that Marvel didn't cancel it along with the other comics that got the axe, but how can you recreate the Marvel Universe without the Hulk? So Bruce Banner was sucked away into Franklin Richards' "pocket universe," became the Hulk there, and then we had a bunch of different Hulks running around ... I really don't want to waste this much brainpower or typing on what a clusterfuck mid-1990s Marvel was, so let's just say it was a clusterfuck. Mike Deodato's artwork wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. And then Adam Kubert came on board with issue #454.

Kubert seemed to rejuvenate David, and even though he needed help with the schedule (the most issues he drew consecutively were the first four, and he needed help from his dad on one), one wonders if he and David could have had a nice long run like the other four great Hulk artists to work with the writer. Marvel put the kibosh on that, of course, dictating a direction for the title that David didn't like, and issue #467 was his final one (until his return years later for a short stint) after, unless my math is wrong, 137 issues (he skipped two issues but wrote the -1 issue and the Hulk/Hercules special). His final story arc on the title was therefore truncated, as just when he seemed to starting to gear up for yet another new direction in Banner's life (at the end of issue #465, Bruce gets a job with the government as an "agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.," an idea too awesome for Marvel to deal with, apparently), it's snatched away. Betty dies, the Hulk goes nuts, and David leaves. The title did not long survive his absence.

Reading these issues in hindsight, the specter of David's departure seems to haunt them, even though David presumably didn't know until very close to the end that he was no longer going to be writing the book. But even the -1 issue (for those who don't know, Marvel did a line-wide "negative one" issue in the spring of 1997, the idea being that these stories would take place before each title was officially launched by Marvel; of all the -1 issues that I read, David's one was the best) seems to wrap things up that David had been flirting with for years, as we finally learn that Bruce was directly responsible for his father's death (he punches his dad, who falls into a tombstone, cracking his skull open). David gets Bruce back in issue #460, but before he can really get started again, his stint ended. In issues #454-459, David still seems to be waffling a bit (with the exception of the -1 issue), and only the first and last issue of those are noteworthy: In issue #454, the Hulk ends up in the Savage Land and fights Ka-Zar and Wolverine, while in issue #459, he battles the Abomination. Both issues are better because Kubert kills on both of them - the first is his breathtaking debut on the title, and he revels in the action scenes (this also features the Hulk making fun of Wolverine's bone claws, speaking for the entire Marvel audience). Kubert dazzles in the -1 issue as well, taking a simple four-grid page (which he often uses during the run) and turning it into a tour-de-force, a hallucinatory turn through Bruce's psyche that breaks panel borders and then switches to thinner panels to increase the pressure on the Hulk and Bruce. His Stan Lee is like Puck, teasing and taunting Bruce/Hulk until the revelation comes. Issue #459 begins with a horrific vision of the Abomination in a double-page "landscape shot," and when we get to the pages where the Hulk is pinned under an airplane (on which he had been traveling in the previous issue and which he helped land after Mr. Hyde tried to crash it), Kubert slowly turns the page from landscape to portrait as he shows how the Hulk is slowly going mad, mostly from the effects of what he learned in the -1 issue and from the fact that he's still separated from Banner. As the Hulk walks, dazed, through New York, Kubert gives us a stunning full-page picture of a truck smashing into him. Mercy, the alien who grants suicidal people their wish, still can't figure out why the Hulk never gives up. She puts him into conflict with the Abomination, and Kubert is magnificent with the fight scene. This issue features the famous beating on the Abomination, as David writes: "For two solid minutes, his own body the only source of light, the Hulk pounds on the Abomination. And if two minutes seems a short while ... Count it out. A second ... at ... a ... time." It's this kind of writing on the Hulk that makes David's run so devastating, because he understands the horror of the Hulk even as he made him many different things, including a pseudo-family man. The Hulk should be terrifying, and David makes him such without devolving into "Hulk smash!" clichés.

David regains his footing with issue #460, in which Bruce returns. It's a magnificent issue, as David and Kubert both shine. The actual "reunion" of the Hulk and Banner takes place in a different comic (the "Heroes Reborn" mini-series, presumably, although I haven't read that), but David summarizes it fairly quickly and then gets on with the story, which takes place on two levels of reality - the world of the Marvel Universe, where the Hulk slowly recovers from the trauma of the reunion, and in Bruce's mind, where he's tormented by past and future demons like his father, the Leader, and the Maestro. David splits the comic into two levels - the upper level on the page is the Hulk at ground zero of the gamma bomb explosion, trying to recover his health, while the lower level on the page is Bruce navigating "hell," which is where his father tells him he is. David takes him through this psychological journey until Bruce is able to reject his father and reach out to the "light," symbolized by Betty. It's not the deepest Freudian examination of Bruce's psyche, but it does allow David to set up the new direction he had in mind. Kubert, meanwhile, is amazing, both in the way he draws the Hulk, but also in the way he shows us Bruce's mind. The little artistic touches are wonderful - the Maestro appearing on the side of the carton of milk with the proclamation "I can see you," the Hulk in Brian Banner's eggs, the Leader chopping up a rabbit (blocking it with his body, of course, because this is a mainstream Marvel book). Issue #460 sets up a new status quo for the book, and it would have been nice to see what David would have done with it.

But, of course, we'll never know what he planned to do. Thunderbolt Ross, back from the dead, wants to make peace with the Hulk. President Clinton is convinced to look the other way with regard to what Ross is planning with the Hulk, thanks to the Hulk's "saving" his daughter in issue #463 (which he doesn't really do, as Armageddon's robots just happen to be hanging around Stanford, so naturally everyone thinks they're attacking Chelsea), and we get a coda to the "Troyjan War" story arc in issues #413-416. By issue #465, the Hulk has his job offer and he's made amends with Betty. But by then, David knew he was off the book, so at the end of issue #465, he gives Betty radiation poisoning. This allows he and Kubert to end with two more amazing issues: in issue #466, Betty dies while Ross and Bruce argue about whose fault it is (David does a nice job showing us that they're not being jerks, they're just overcome with grief), and in the parallel story, Marlo reads Betty's new autobiography. Kubert is fine when drawing the story of Betty's death, but when he draws the "autobiography" - Marlo reads the scenes from Betty's life and Kubert draws them as if she's imaging them - he changes his style, softening the pencils to make it more ethereal and contrasting the triumph of Betty's life - she's gone through so much and come out alive - with the starkness of what's happening to her in the present. It's a great technique and shows how talented Kubert can be. Then, of course, we get issue #467, which takes place in the future and features "Peter" interviewing an old and bitter Rick Jones (we never see "Peter," so it could be Peter Parker - he writes for the Bugle - or, of course, Peter David himself). Rick tells the story of what happened after Betty died, and it's a tragic tale of a man who tries to kill himself but can't, because the Hulk won't let him (David revisits this in The End book he wrote years later). It's a harrowing story, because David makes Bruce something we've never seen - truly insane. Sure, he's been a bit crazy over the years, what with all the different personalities, but in this issue, it seems like he's completely sane ... except when he talks. In previous incarnations, he could manage his personalities for any number of reasons - there's always another fight, he had a Pantheon to lead - but he always had an anchor, and that was Betty. In this issue, Bruce - not the Hulk - becomes truly frightening. He can change into the Hulk with no shift in demeanor at all, and the Hulk has finally learned why being human is important, but it's too late. Kubert pulls out all the stops, too. The issue is a visual feast, from Rick's living room and all his memorabilia around him, to the way the issue is laid out - the left-hand column on each page is blank except for text and Rick's cigarette smoke winding its way through the book, and the visuals stretch over the staples to form double-page spreads on each page. Kubert gives us Bruce, surrounded by all his enemies and allies (as we see on the cover, although inside it's Bruce, not the Hulk), and when the Hulk looks at Rick for the last time, it's a beautiful and tragic moment. Betty's funeral is stunning, with Thor creating a small ray of sunshine in the rain, and Bruce's last meeting with Rick is terrifying. David, of course, ends with a metafictional reference to his time as writer, which he's earned. If it's not a completely satisfying ending to his time on the run, it's still a stirring way to bring it to an end.

Of course, David is the kind of writer who seems he would stay on a comic until it's pried from his cold, dead fingers. Marvel wanted to go "in a different direction," and David didn't want to go that route. I don't know what the sales figures were like pre-David and then during his run, but it seems like he took a moribund title and completely revitalized it, so maybe Marvel should have continued to let him do what he was doing. Considering they cancelled the book not long after David left the book and it only regained some of the buzz he brought to the book when Bruce Jones took over (and his early issues were quite good and very "un-Hulk-like," meaning they were vaguely reminiscent of what David did on the book) and then when Greg Pak took him off-planet, for crying out loud, maybe David knew what he was doing. But that's neither here nor there. David left a difficult legacy for future Hulk writers. It's not so much that he killed Betty (the preview of the following issue shows that she'd be back), it's that he did so much with the character that, despite building on what had come before, was fresh and new, that there was little left to do. Since David left, writers have either gone "back-to-basics" (with middling results), aped David (Bruce Jones tried this), or been forced to remove him completely from the Marvel Universe. None of them have been completely successful. Over a decade on, writers are still having trouble dealing with the Hulk and his place at Marvel.

David didn't quite go out the way he wanted to, and this brief run isn't quite as good as issues #331-426. There's still a lot of editorial interference evident, perhaps not as much as the Onslaught period, but it's still there. That makes these issues less important Comics You Should Own than the earlier David work on the title, but still ones that are worthy of your time. While David's overall direction at the end of his run is a bit meandering, some of the individual issues are extremely powerful. Kubert has a great deal to do with this, as I would argue he's never been better than these few issues. His work prior to this was a bit raw and too "Image," while his work following this has become more slick and has lost some of the crazed stylistic touches he uses in full effect on this book. Perhaps David brought out the best of him. Mark Farmer certainly has something to do with it. But this comic is one of the few times that a Kubert son holds his own with the Kubert father (as we can see when Joe steps in to assist on this title), and much like the story, one wonders what David's new story would have looked like drawn by Adam Kubert at the top of his game. Alas, we have only these 12 issues to tease us.

These issues have not been collected in trade paperback; Marvel is releasing David's run as part of their "Visionaries" collection, so perhaps these are slated to be collected at some point. The nice thing about these issues is you really don't need to pick up the 30 issues that come before them, even though David wrote those. You can pick up the story easily enough, and David refers mainly to arcs he wrote prior to issue #426, when the title's quality went sideways. So you can just skip the ones in the middle. Of course, you already own issues #331-426, because I have already written about those and you rushed out and bought them, right? And you can always consult the archives for more suggestions. I am going to fix the dead links; please be patient!

25 Comments

• At September 29, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Loved these issues, although I really would include the Deodato issues. In my opinion, that's when the title really ...

• At September 29, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I've read some of Bruce Jones' Hulk arc, but I've stopped reading the Hulk since then.

  One thing I've wondered is, ...

• At September 29, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I'm drawing a blank on the fourth of the "other four great Hulk artists." I assume three of them are ...

• At September 29, 2009, Aqualad wrote:

  Probably George Perez, on Future Imperfect.

• At September 29, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  @Tom Fitzpatrick:

  I only restarted reading Hulk during Planet Hulk and it seems that she's still dead.

• At September 29, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Betty was brought back during Jones' run, but that was later retconned, so she's still "dead" (but come on, talk ...

• At September 29, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  I agree that Kubert's arrival seemed to rejuvenate David, as these last two years were incredibly strong - they still ...

• At September 29, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Ah, Bruce Jones...something clearly went very wrong by the midpoint of his Hulk run, and his work since hasn't been ...

• At September 29, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  jazzbo: Number 4 is definitely Jeff Purves. Good stuff!

  Adam: Good points about the Hulk feeling out of sorts without ...

• At September 29, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  I read Jones's run, and I don't remember them changing it back when he was writing it.

  I don't blame ...

• At September 29, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I believe PAD's official position is that he left it up to the reader whether Jones' run is still in ...

• At September 29, 2009, Adam wrote:

  By the way, did anyone ever resolve what happened to Janis Jones? She last appeared in PAD's run when ...

• At September 29, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  What's Marlo up to these days?

• At September 29, 2009, Jeff R. wrote:

  For that matter, where's Rick Jones been lo these many years? (Post Captain Marvel and the brief appearance in Alias, ...

• At September 29, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Jeff--

  I believe Rick appeared in...what was it...the Loners? Whatever book convinced people that Katie Power was a lesbian. ...

• At September 29, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  As Adam alludes to (damn! that ended the alliteration), Rick Jones is a savage-Hulk-like gamma mutant called "A-Bomb" in ...

• At September 29, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Adam Kubert's Hulk is one of the best. I'm glad you included the scan of the transformation scene colored from ...

• At September 29, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  The current Hulk family of titles is great, in my opinion. Even Loeb's work on Rulk has been more entertaining ...

• At September 29, 2009, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  "That's kind of amazing that Marvel has kept Betty dead, considering that it feels like David only did it to ...

• At September 29, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Ah, I see, Doug. Thanks!

• At September 30, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  Good comics.

• At September 30, 2009, Gary wrote:

  Greg Burgas said:

  ...of all the -1 issues that I read, David's one was the best...

  I thought Thunderbolts -1 was fantastic. ...

• At September 30, 2009, googum wrote:

  Unless Marlo turns out to be the Red Hulk, Loeb doing himself a disservice in not using her in Hulk. ...

• At September 30, 2009, jackdaw53 wrote:

  It's a lot easier to just buy the entire PAD run... there's no real duds in it (completely subjective) and ...

• At October 17, 2009, TheGoose wrote:

  "That's kind of amazing that Marvel has kept Betty dead, considering that it feels like David only did it to ...

(I'll point out that I posted this originally in May 2005, as I've been pointing out all along with these "flashbacks." Blame 2005 Burgas if you don't like these comics! Also, some of this has been edited, as I mentioned the "current" Aquaman series, which of course no longer exists. But the essence of the original post is still here!)

(Oh, and some SPOILERS, as usual. Not too many, though. At least I hope not.)

Aquaman by Peter David (writer), Martin Egelund (penciller, issues #0-4, 6-8, 11-14, 16, 18-20, 22-23, 25), Jim Calafiore (penciller, issues #5, 10, 15, 17, 21, 24), Gene Gonzalez (penciller, issue #3), Casey Jones (penciller, issue #8), Joe St. Pierre (penciller, issue #9), Alan Caldwell (penciller, issue #20), Derec Aucon (penciller, issue #23), Brad Vancata (inker, issues #0-2), Howard Shum (inker, issues #0, 3-9, 11-14, 16, 18-20, 22-23, 25), Craig Gilmore (inker, issue #8), Rodney Ramos (inker, issue #9), Peter Palmiotti (inker, issues #10, 17, 21, 24), Mark McKenna (inker, issue #15), Charles Barnett (inker, issue #15), Tom McCraw (colorist), Dan Nakrosis (letterer, issues #0-22), Kevin Cunningham (letterer, issue #4), and Albert de Guzman (letterer, issues #23-25).

DC, 26 issues (0-25; the zero issue comes after #2), cover dated August 1994-October 1996.

In the last flashback installment, I told you that you really ought to go out and buy Atlantis Chronicles, Peter David's history of Atlantis. As a continuation, I now give you Peter David's Aquaman, the only Aquaman series I really like. Bill Reed will tell you that the good Aquaman series is the McLaughlin/Hooper/Dvorak run of 13 issues from December 1991 to January 1993, and he blames DC for shoving that out of the way so they could get David. Well, that might be true, but Atlantis Chronicles finished in September 1990, and David's first Aquaman story, Time And Tide, didn't come out until December 1993, many months after McLaughlin's run got cancelled, so I don't know what the machinations at DC were like in the early- to mid-1990s. However, McLaughlin's run, though decent enough, isn't really that good. Making Arthur the ambassador to the UN is a neat idea, and issue #8, with the disciple of the NKVDemon from the Batman books, is a very good issue, but overall - meh. Even David's "Year One" story, the aforementioned Time And Tide, isn't that good, largely because David goes way too far with the clever humor he enjoys. He's good at it, but a little goes a long way, Mr. David. When he took over the Aquaman ongoing (with yet another issue #1), he really hit his stride, and the first 26 issues of his run form a coherent and fascinating story.

You don't really need to read Atlantis Chronicles to enjoy Aquaman, but it wouldn't hurt. That's why I looked at that one first, even though I do these comics in alphabetical order (I'm anal - sue me). David continues the themes he laid out in the Chronicles book - mainly brother fighting brother for the future of Atlantis, but also the idea of curses and never escaping the past. As I mentioned in my review of Atlantis Chronicles, this is all very Shakespearean and Greek tragedy-esque, and if that's the kind of stuff you like, this is a good read. I do like it, so this is right up my alley.

The most famous thing David did, of course, was chop off Arthur's hand. This event may have been a "let's make Aquaman mean" marketing ploy, but in the hands of a good writer like David, it becomes a symbol of both sides of Arthur's nature - his underwater and land side, a duality that all writers of Aquaman ought to bring up, since it's such an interesting part of his personality. Arthur uses the hook to spear shrimp in one scene, and he spears a person in another, and wonders at the implications of it. The fact that hunters use similar harpoons to spear dolphins in issue #4 (guest-starring Lobo!) is a subtle reminder that Arthur is both an Atlantean and a surface-dweller, even though David has changed his ancestry so that he's not descended from a light-house keeper anymore.

After getting rid of Arthur's hand (though the machinations of a global terrorist named Charybdis, who only lasts two issues but is extremely creepy - and has apparently come back from being eaten by piranhas, a nifty trick), David slowly introduces the plot elements that will form his grand narrative. It's all about uniting the seven lost cities of Atlantis, of which Poseidonis is only the capital. It's also about the real reason for humanity's presence on Earth, as slaves for intergalactic scavengers who are returning to reap their harvest. Only Aquaman can save us!!!! It's not the greatest plot, but plots are a dime a dozen - what matters is how David pulls it off, and his narrative is full of realpolitik, and stands as an interesting take on what it means to be more than a hero, which, after all, Arthur is. He's not necessarily always the "good guy," because he is doing things for the greater good and doesn't have time for legal niceties. David puts it in our minds that maybe Arthur is insane, or maybe he has lost touch with reality, or maybe he's just not that nice a guy. When Garth goes missing (we think he's dead, but he's not), Arthur doesn't go and look for him, believing that Garth is an adult and can look after himself. Arthur is often petulant and confused, not like a hero at all, and, especially in the early issues, we find ourselves wondering why anyone cares about this guy, especially Dolphin, who is a major player in the title and gets busy with Arthur about halfway through the run. This crankiness might put off Aquaman purists, but for someone whose only experience with him was from the SuperFriends and some of the stuff from the '40s, I liked what David was doing - he was humanizing Arthur, and making him less a heroic figure and more of a man who wants to do the right thing but can't always figure out how because of his stubbornness. These kinds of people are much more interesting than people who always do the right thing.

Arthur finds out he has a son, and the Atlantis Chronicles theme begins again. You may think that David isn't being terribly subtle, but he is: he doesn't beat us over the head with the fact that Arthur, like his own father (Atlan the wizard) is an aloof, mythical figure to Koryak (his son). We're allowed to see how poorly Arthur relates to Koryak, even though he tries, and how Koryak rejects him not because of who he is, but because of who Koryak thinks he is. Arthur's poor parenting skills are evident when he confronts Arthur Jr., who has been living in Thanatos's dimension with Mera. He tells him, "Pray you're not my son. Because if you are, you're caught up in a prophecy that will doom you to a life of conflict." (To which Mera replies, "Thank you, dear. Very inspiring.") The point is - Arthur tells the kid the truth, but he's not terribly nice. This sort of thing makes his growth throughout the title, to where he can reach out to Garth and try to make amends with Koryak, nice to see and more believable. He's learning how to be a father, and he's also learning how to be a son (in his interactions with Atlan, when he shows up). He's trying to break the Atlantean curse the only way he knows how.

Koryak, of course, gets caught up in the curse, when he allows King Thesily to die and leads the Poseidonisians (?) out of the city after it's shaken by earthquakes (all part of the old prophecies about Atlantis rejoining the surface world - see how David ties everything together?), eventually breaking Tritonis's law about the tunnels between the cities and meeting Kordax, the blond scaly monster dude from Atlantis Chronicles. Kordax uses his mental powers to enslave the refugees, and this leads to a fight between Koryak and Garth, a battle between Arthur's "sons." The twists and turns that the story takes to get all the principals in one spot are what make reading a long David run so fulfilling - individually, the issues have action and humor and fun stuff, but over the long haul, it all fits into a longer story, even if you didn't see it coming. By the final few issues of the run, Arthur has united the various cities of Atlantis (and again made some hard choices about his loyalties), recruited many of DC's underwater heroes, including the Sea Devils and Power Girl (she's related to Atlan somehow), and fought off the Justice League, Lobo, Green Lantern alone, lost to Thanatos (!), and finally, thwarted an alien invasion not by using his fists (although there's a lot o' fighting) but by using his brains and his political skills.

There's plenty of David humor, as I mentioned, and the best issue of the run might be #14, the Underworld Unleashed crossover with the new and improved Major Disaster. This issue is dripping with irony, and it has one of the better "butterfly effect" stories I've seen. It's really neat to see all the elements come together, especially because you're not totally sure where it will lead. Arthur fights plenty of powerful monsters and bad guys, and although Manta doesn't show up, Thanatos and Ocean Master do. It's action-adventure on the grand scale, and coupled with the humor, makes it a fun read despite the dark undercurrents. Even the most gruesome scenes (when Arthur loses his hand, for instance) are laced with dark humor.

Many people might get caught up on the art. I happen to like Egelund and Calafiore, but Egelund especially typifies mid-1990s "Image" art. His women are petite except for the gigantic breasts, and occasionally border on the grotesque (check out Wonder Woman on the cover to issue #16). His style flows well, however, and despite some of the contortions he puts the characters through, it's never that distracting, like some artists - *coughLiefeldcough* - I could name. Calafiore's underwater scenes are wonderful, and he has a real talent for drawing sea life - a must in a comic like this. As I am not an art critic, most of the time I can live with unspectacular art if the story is good, and although the art on Aquaman hasn't aged well, it's still pleasant to look at.

David wrote Aquaman for another 20+ issues, but the remainder of his run wasn't as strong as these issues are. His run also ended sloppily, as he had a falling-out with DC. This incarnation of the title lasted until issue #75, and the character was given yet another series that didn't last too long (and Arthur is currently dead, if I'm remembering correctly). The aforementioned Mr. Reed said that he reads Aquaman as an Arthurian hero, which is not a bad way to put it. That being said, I'm not sure what his objection with David's run is, especially these issues, which seem to me to be the epitome of an Arthurian Grail Quest. David's Aquaman is a powerful story that gives us many facets of Arthur's personality and also examines what it means to be a king even when you're not ruling anything. None of the run has been collected in trades, but I can't imagine the issues are that high-priced. Check them out next time you're browsing!

And here are the archives! Aren't they cute?

24 Comments

• At September 4, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I haven't read these, but it is interesting that your analysis illustrates the continuing Peter David trend: he does wonderfully ...

• At September 4, 2009, Ted wrote:

  occasionally border on the grotesque (check out Wonder Woman on the cover to issue #16).

  No, you misunderstand. Wonder Woman was ...

• At September 4, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " This crankiness might put off Aquaman purists, "

  Such a thing exists?

• At September 4, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  " This crankiness might put off Aquaman purists, "

  Such a thing exists?

  Well, my gut reaction is to say yeah, I'm ...

• At September 4, 2009, John Lewis, Jr wrote:

  I loved this run! I read/pulled a good chunk of it. People focus too much the harpoon-hand. Wow, I thought ...

• At September 4, 2009, Randy wrote:

  Why is it that so much of Peter Davids Dc work is not collected in Trade paperback?

• At September 4, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Loved this stuff. It was the first time I really started to think of Aquaman as a king, with all ...

• At September 4, 2009, Cat Skyfire wrote:

  I loved this run. I didn't know much about Aquaman (or comics in general) when I started reading it. ...

• At September 5, 2009, Kris Bather wrote:

  This was a great run I gotta say. Peter David made Aquaman a fully fleshed out character and it never ...

• At September 5, 2009, joecab wrote:

  I came in late on Peter David's run on the Hulk. but I loved it. I gotta read those earlier ...

• At September 5, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  I think the idea behind Aquaman taking and keeping the harpoon-hand was almost entirely that he was going a bit ...

• At September 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Omar: Yeah, if I had written this today, I would have focused more on Ocean Master, because you're spot on ...

• At September 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Adam: David's decline on this book, I think, has to do with DC editorial more than anything. The post ...

• At September 5, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  Only thing I disagree with is that my favorite arc on this book was issues 28 (or thereabouts) through to ...

• At September 5, 2009, Black Manta wrote:

  Well I guess I'm in a minority but I liked the McLaughlin run better. I also liked the 70 series ...

• At September 5, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I do love sticking up for the McLaughlin series, mostly because so few people remember it existed-- and because it ...

• At September 5, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Hurm, my reply's not showing up for some reason. Did the spam filter eat me? Well... eat me, spam filter!

• At September 5, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  It was the spam filter. Wish I could un-spam my own posts. I blame the URL HTML. Anyway:

  I do love ...

• At September 5, 2009, Keg wrote:

  The Peter David Aquaman run is something I've always wanted to read but none of it is in Trade!! Sometimes ...

• At September 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dang, the Comics Treadmill post is pretty harsh. I think the problem some people have with this run is ...

• At September 5, 2009, kalorama wrote:

  I own this run and I have to say I wasn't very taken with it. Admittedly I had limited knowledge ...

• At September 5, 2009, Vincent Paul Bartilucci wrote:

  I'm an Aquaman purist and I didn't care for PAD's take on Aquaman at all. The idea that McLaughlin's ...

• At September 6, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Well I loved PAD's run...I also liked McLaughlin's. I like Superheroes in government stories (like Rucka's Wonder Woman and Priest's...everything)

  An ...

• At September 29, 2009, Comics You Should Own Archive | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources wrote:

  [...] Aquaman #0-25 by Peter David, Martin Egelund, and Jim Califiore. [...]

The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (writer), Gary Frank (penciler, issues #403-411, 413-418, 420-423, 425), Jan Duursema (penciler, issue #402), Paul Pelletier (penciler, issues #407-412), Roger Cruz (penciler, issue #419), Darick Robertson (penciler, issue #424), Liam Sharp (penciler, issues #425-426), George Pérez (artist, Future Imperfect), Cam Smith (inker, issues #403-422, 425), Mark Farmer (inker, issue #402), Josef Rubinstein (inker, issue #423), Fred Fredericks (inker, issue #423), Ron Boyd (inker, issue #424), Robin Riggs (inker, issues #425-426), Joe Rosen (letterer), Steve Buccellato (colorist, issue #402), Glynis Oliver (colorist, issues #403-414, 416-426), John Kalisz (colorist, issue #415), and Tom Smith (colorist, Future Imperfect).

Marvel, 27 issues (#402-426 of "volume 1," Future Imperfect #1-2), cover dated February 1993-February 1995.

Many people thought the previous installment, issues #368-401, should have contained these as well, as this continues the story of the "integrated" Hulk, which ends fairly decisively in issue #425. However, while it's true that Banner is integrated throughout most of this section of David's run (although cracks are showing throughout), I split them up because of a couple of reasons: 1. That would have been an extremely long post, and I'm long-winded enough as it is; 2. In the first section, Banner was learning about the Pantheon and becoming part of it, while in this section, he's running the show. So there!

Of course, the main theme running throughout this section of the run is Bruce's disintegration as he finds it harder and harder to control the monster within. This has always been an interesting part of the Hulk's psyche, because when normal people get angry and punch something - like a wall, not another person - they don't cause the house to fall down. Bruce, of course, always had to keep his emotions in check to avoid turning into the Hulk, and as we saw in issue #372, even when the change is dictated by day and night, the green, angry Hulk can break through. Then, once Bruce is integrated into the "Dr. Banner" Hulk that becomes the leader of the Pantheon, he has to worry about losing control of his emotions, because he's still one of the most powerful beings on the planet. David, of course, twists this problem in issue #425, when the Hulk, enraged because he thinks Betty has been killed, turns into ... Bruce Banner. His mind has created a failsafe for when the Hulk loses control - he becomes a man, unable to do much damage except to himself. David has once again upped the ante in terms of how we think of the Hulk and his multiple personalities. With that one image of Bruce mindlessly raging as Achilles beats his now weak body, we see clearly that these are not aspects of one personality, but a true split that exists within Bruce's mind to make sure the rage doesn't spill over and kill everyone he loves. It's a disturbing image for a mainstream superhero comic, and it's just a part of why David's run is so magnificent. The shadow of David and George Pérez's Future Imperfect looms over the latter half of the run, as well. I'm not sure of the chronology (Future Imperfect is cover dated December 1992 and January 1993, meaning it showed up before issue #402, if those dates correlate correctly - I don't have the original issues, so I don't know specifically when they were released), but according to David, the events in Future Imperfect take place between issues #416 and 417, so it colors Banner's thinking in the way he goes after Agamemnon in issues #421-423. Future Imperfect is a fine story, with gorgeous Pérez art, and David leaves it up to us to decide if the Hulk's mind created the "Raging Banner" failsafe after learning he might turn into the dictator of the world (as Future Imperfect shows us) or if that was always the last resort to keep the Hulk in check.

David, as usual, manages to fit this psychological breakdown into the framework of a superhero epic, and this section of his run is really the most superheroic, as Banner takes over the Pantheon and becomes much more involved in world affairs. Interestingly enough, much of the tension in these issues stem not from external enemies, but from within the Pantheon itself, as the soap opera shenanigans of the participants begin to strain relationships. The first story (issues #402-404) features the Red Skull doing dastardly things, while issues #407-409 flow out of what the Skull had planned. Issues #410-411 actually show the Hulk doing something with the vast resources of the Pantheon, as he rescues an old flame from a prison in Nebraska, where she is incarcerated for treason (which, of course, is less her fault than the fault of the evil American government). Issue #412 features the Bi-Beast, but then, for the rest of the issues in this section, the Pantheon takes center stage, from the return of Trauma and his obsessive love for Atalanta (issues #413-416, "The Troyjan War") to the the search for Agamemnon (issues #421-423, "Myth Conceptions"). Only the battle with Talos the Tamed in issue #419 is concerned with an "external" enemy, and it's not like Talos is trying to conquer the world - he just wants the Hulk to kill him in battle. It's unusual how insular this section of the run is, and it's useful to consider why that is. It comes back to how David is trying to reconcile this last bit of Banner's personality, the part that turns to rage to get what it wants. If Banner has external enemies to fight, all is right in his world. It's only when he turns inward, to examine his own leadership skills, does he become enraged. This section of David's run is about Banner's failure as anything but the Hulk, revealing, subtly, that perhaps he's nothing but the brute. When is he most successful? When he's a leg-breaker for Michael Berengetti or a foot soldier for the Pantheon. When he tries to break out of that mold and achieve something else, it all comes crashing down. His leadership skills are suspect, because as the Hulk, he's always been able to simply brutalize his way to a solution. He's no statesman and definitely no politician. Even if the positions he takes are right - when he goes after Agamemnon in issue #421, the Pantheon supports him - he carries through poorly. Banner simply isn't capable of leading, at least not the Pantheon, which has been around longer than he's been alive and whose members have their own agendas and don't like listening to an outsider (his lack of leadership skills is a theme of Future Imperfect, as well). As we see in issues #424-425, "The Fall of the Pantheon," Banner has no hope of keeping these people together and focused on a common goal, because he's not Agamemnon and has little authority over the members of his team. Perhaps in time he might have been able to establish his authority, but he doesn't have the ability to do so instantly, and based on the trials facing the Pantheon, that's what was needed.

The most impressive issues in this run have nothing to do with the Pantheon or the Hulk battling enemies. Throughout David's run, he wrote "slice-of-life" stories very well and was even able to keep up the action. In the early part of this section, Marlo's comatose condition casts a large shadow over the principals, as Marlo's family wants to take her away from Rick and send her to a proper medical facility. Rick is less than enthused about this idea, defying even his mentor, Captain America, who tries to reason with him. The Hulk, of course, takes Rick's side, and all is solved when, at the end of issue #406, Marlo wakes up. David does this kind of issue well, as he sets up a moral dilemma (the Jones brothers have the law on their side, and even though Rick and the Hulk claim they have a moral right on their side, do they really?) that raises more questions than it answers. The Incredible Hulk isn't really the place to debate moral issues like whether Rick has any claim to Marlo, but David at least makes the reader contemplate it. David, in fact, does this quite often - raises questions that are far too complex for mainstream superhero comics and lets us chew on them. In our gut, we want to side with Rick and the Hulk, but when we stop to think about it, why should Rick have any claim, legal or otherwise, to Marlo? They haven't been together all that long, either in "real" time or even "Marvel" time (David makes a joke about "comic book time" in issue #412, where he also plays along with John Byrne's conceit at that time that She-Hulk can break the fourth wall) - they don't even get engaged until issue #410 - so why should Rick take care of her, especially as he's not, you know, a doctor? David takes care of that problem, of course, because Marlo simply "wakes up," with absolutely no side effects of being dead and then coming back to life, so David doesn't really have to deal with the implications of Rick defying a court order and Captain America himself, but we can forgive him because most comic book writers don't even get this deep, much less provide answers. This problem comes up again in issue #420, in which Jim Wilson dies of an AIDS-related illness. This issue garnered a lot of mail, many of which focused on the fact that David wrote a story in which two people die because of AIDS, implying that there's no hope for those afflicted with HIV. The Hulk, of course, famously refuses to give Jim some of his blood, because he doesn't want another She-Hulk situation - or worse - on his hands. The parallel story in the issue features a man calling Betty's help line, telling her he's HIV-positive and that he's going to kill himself. David got a ton of flak for the issue, mainly because he didn't tell the "whole" story about people with AIDS, focusing instead on Jim and Chet, one of whom dies because he's too far gone, the other of whom is suicidal even though he doesn't actually have AIDS and won't even tell Betty his girlfriend's name so they can contact her to get tested. As Bobbie Chase points out in the letters column of issue #426, David only has 22 pages to tell a fictional story in a comic called The Incredible Hulk, so of course things are going to be left out (although David did tell stories without the Hulk in the book at all, so Chase writing that the book is NOT The Incredible Jim Wilson rings false). It gets back to the failure of monthly comic books to provide a good forum for this kind of story. David deserves credit for even bringing it up, and he forces us to think more about it. That he doesn't provide good answers (or, really, any answers) doesn't mean that it's not worth writing about.

Then there's the bachelor party and wedding issues, #417 and 418. The wedding issue is quite good, even linking back to the Hulk's confrontation with Satannish back when he was living in Las Vegas and reminding us nicely how interconnected the Marvel Universe is, as Rick's wedding has many, many guests from across the line. There's also a cameo by a certain Goth chick who was quite popular in a Neil Gaiman comic in those days (this is after, in issue #413, the Hulk clobbers Doomsday in a simulated fight). David has always been very good at writing humor (not just puns, for those people who hate his puns), and this is evident in issue #417, in which Rick and Marlo have bachelor/bachelorette parties. There's far too much to go into here, but as the cover demands, I won't tell anyone the "shocking secret" revealed within. David even has enough room to add some serious stuff into the mix, because he's the kind of writer who uses all 22 pages to his advantage. As a single issue story that fits into the larger story arc, it's textbook comic writing. It's the kind of issue that we rarely see from Marvel and DC anymore - a story where very little happens (there's an attempted robbery, but it's played for humor) but is completely character-driven and gives us a great deal of insight into the principals. Whenever I see one of these issues these days, I tend to enjoy it more than the action-packed ones, as these issues usually force the writer to think about the characters, and David is extremely good at this kind of comic. The bachelor/bachelorette parties are wonderful scenes, and make us care more about the characters than we might otherwise.

Gary Frank is the last of the four great artists to work with David on The Incredible Hulk. One could make the argument that Todd McFarlane isn't as good as the three who followed him, but it's also arguable that he is a "great" artist in the sense that he is famous and very influential. After Frank left, the quality of the art declined, not necessarily because the artist weren't any good, but because they didn't stick around long enough to forge much synergy with David. If McFarlane made the Hulk a monster, and Purves made him a gangster, and Keown made him a superhero, Frank's style meshed well with Keown's, and he continued the superhero look quite well, with clean lines and bold layouts. The biggest problem with Frank's art is, ironically, the Hulk himself, as Frank made his head too small for his body, which, combined with his bigger arms, made him look downright goofy too often. Everyone around Banner looks great (Frank's Silver Surfer, for instance, is phenomenal), and although Banner's size isn't a problem - he should be bigger than everyone - his head is just strange. In a odd coincidence, Frank drew 20 issues of The Incredible Hulk - which is average number of issues for the four most famous artists to work with David (Keown, 27; Frank, 20; Purves, 19; McFarlane, 14). David didn't have them for long, but he got the most out of them!

It's interesting to consider what might have been with The Incredible Hulk as we get the transition from Frank to Liam Sharp. David, as I've mentioned before, seemed to either switch the tone of the book to suit his artist or find artists who fit the way the book was going, and in issues #425 and 426, we see that Sharp is a bit weirder than either Frank or Keown, with a darker edge and a decidedly different way of laying out a book. Issue #426, which acts as a coda to the Frank run and shows the Raging Banner in an asylum and Betty on the operating table, is a wonderful comic to look at, as Sharp shrinks panels and crams them onto the page, making the book far more claustrophobic than anything Frank had done. He succumbs a bit too much to the mid-1990s Image-influenced aesthetic, but his Hulk is more monstrous than anything we've seen since McFarlane, and Sharp's Hulk is more dangerous-looking than even McFarlane's was. It signaled an interesting shift in the book, but we'll have to wait and see if the next chapter in Banner's life is worthy of being Comics You Should Own!

Unfortunately, these issues are not in trade yet (with the exception of Future Imperfect, the most recent printing of which comes with David and Keown's contribution to Marvel's The End series), but presumably Marvel is working on Visionaries trades as we speak! Well, I hope they are. It takes a while for those to come out, so let's cross our fingers that they'll be out in the next few years. That would be nice.

The archives remain incomplete, but there's still plenty of comics to check out there. And who knows what'll be next in the series! Will the rest of David's run make the cut?

13 Comments

• At August 12, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Great, great comics. I had read and enjoyed David's run on Hulk since the Jeff Purves/early Dale Keown issues, but ...

• At August 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  The bulk of my Hulk collection comes from this section of the run. That bachelor party issue is one of ...

• At August 12, 2009, Iñigo PM wrote:

  I stopped collecting when Frank left the series. Now I wish I had the entire run as it surely is ...

• At August 12, 2009, Jeff R. wrote:

  I have to admit that one of the main reasons I read through the marvel solicits each month is to ...

• At August 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Jeff: That's the problem - there are some very good issues in the final 40 of David's run, but they're ...

• At August 12, 2009, Tracer Bullet wrote:

  I keep waiting on some Hulk writer to introduce the Wild Man. Maybe it'll be one of those X-Men-like dangling ...

• At August 12, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  I love Adam Kubert' & Mark Farmer's Hulk art. The stories themselves varied in quality, but they improved leaps and ...

• At August 12, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Tracer: Wild Man showed up during the Mike Deodato issues. I can't remember the exact one- maybe 450- but I ...

• At August 12, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Agreed that this is sadly where the PAD analysis needs to stop, or at least skip about two years' worth ...

• At August 12, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Wild Man showed up...something like a crazy guy with the powers of the heroes lost to the imageverse. He was ...

• At August 13, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  I only came on board later, but I plan to get these all once all the trades are all out, ...

• At August 13, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  I bet if someone begged FVL and Pak to do something with the Wild Man hard enough, they would.

• At August 13, 2009, jackdaw53 wrote:

  Kept the entire run, unusual for me. Will have to re-read sometime. Really enjoyed first read... only "concern" was that ...

Atlantis Chronicles by Peter David (writer), Esteban Maroto (arist), Gaspar Saladino (letterer), and Eric Kachelhofer (colorist).

DC, 7 issues (#1-7), cover dated March-September 1990.

Peter David is an extremely good comics writer. Some people may not like his stuff, but that doesn't change the fact that he knows how to tell a story, he knows when to ramp up the action, he can be very funny, he knows how to tell single-issue stories and use cliffhangers, and he has an excellent grasp of comic book history. All of these attributes are shown in this seven-issue series that acts as a prelude to David's 1990s run of Aquaman, the only time I've ever been remotely interested in the character (sorry, Bill Reed). Aquaman shows up in this comic, on the last few pages and only as a small child, but his history is laid out here, and if you know anything about DC's aquatic history, this series is a treat for you.

What David does is present Atlantean history as seen through the eyes of the official chroniclers. The Chronicles are started by King Orin, who is ruling Atlantis centuries after Arion left and devastated the countryside - his Atlantis remains sunk, but the Atlanteans have risen again, and Orin feels that a history needs to be written of Poseidonis, Atlantis's greatest city. Each issue is a section of the Chronicles written by a different historian, a device that allows David to show us that history does indeed change depending on who's doing the writing of it. The first 4+ issues are the saga of Orin and his brother Shalako and Shalako's son Dardanus and grandson Kordax and the civil war that almost tears Atlantis apart. The last few issues deal with the Atlanteans' attempts to conquer the world, which they thought had been destroyed when Atlantis sunk. Finally, we are brought up to the present day (sort of - like I said, Aquaman's a baby when the series ends) and see how Aquaman was conceived and why he's so important.

This is epic storytelling, helped by Maroto's beautiful art. I'm largely unfamiliar with him [Edit: I'm less so these days, but this is still the only comics I own with his art], and I think this may have been one of his few ventures into mainstream American comics (correct me if I'm wrong). It's wonderful to behold - the undersea art is weird and creepy, and the coloring really puts us into this world - it's full of blues and greens and bright underwater wildlife. Maroto and Kachelhofer help propel the story along, but since I'm not an art critic, I want to look at what David is doing with the story.

There's a lot going on here above and beyond simply creating an epic for the Atlantean people. I don't know if David knew at this point that he'd be writing an Aquaman ongoing, but I have to assume he did [Edit: Apparently he thought he was going to, and then DC launched the McLaughlin/Hooper series, so David had to wait a few years]. I also don't know how much stomping on DC history he did in this series, but if he did, good for him! It all fits in well with his later ongoing Aquaman series, and it also fits in with the little I know about this section of DC history - like good old Lori Lemaris and why she doesn't look like Aquaman. Some DC history buff can enlighten me - I'm just looking at this one series.

David uses the Chronicles to bring up a lot of issues that are not only relevant in history, but also today. In fact, Haumond's argument with his father Honsu in issue #6 is weirdly prescient - Honsu thinks the Atlanteans should attack the newly-discovered surface world because they might attack Atlantis some day, and Haumond says, "Are you saying we should go to war with them on the chance that, in some far-flung future, they might attack us?" Honsu (George Bush?) says, "This will not be a war, boy! This will be a slaughter." Hmmm ...

There's more than that, however. Orin is shown as the devotee of science, while his brother Shalako is the high priest of Suula, the sky goddess. Shalako thinks Orin's plans to dome the city are an affront to the gods, while Orin thinks it's just common sense to protect the city from the barbarian invasions. When the dome is completed, it either saves the city from the meteor that crashes into the ocean near Poseidonis, sinking it, or it was the cause of the meteor, depending on whose version of the events you believe. Shalako, who in the first issue is presented as a decent man trying to sway his weak brother (because the chronicler is his follower) is shown as completely insane by the second issue, when the chronicler is squarely in Orin's camp. David probably should have done more with this dichotomy based on the chroniclers, but the point is made - history is just as distorted as anything, and, as Orin puts it, it's up to future generations to decide.

The story shows the classic tragedy of family - brother against brother, and after Shalako is killed, nephew against uncle and cousin against cousin. It's very Shakespearean, and David is careful to show every consequence of every action. No one escapes unscathed, either - yes, Kordax is a horribly cruel monster and his father, Dardanus, raped Orin's daughter Cora to create him, but Cora did abandon Kordax when he was born, and lied about it to the people of the city. Orin admits that he made mistakes with Shalako. These are complex characters, and not everything they do leads to good outcomes, even if they have good intentions.

The family tragedy theme is played out throughout the book. Centuries later, when Honsu goes to conquer the surface world, his one son Kraken is enthusiastically on his side while his other son Haumond thinks he's insane. His third son, Atlan, thinks it's all very amusing - he's an adventurer, not a warrior, and is the only one, for instance, who knows about the bends. Haumond and Kraken eventually battle to the death, because they must. Not only is it Shakespearean, it's all very Greek tragedy too. The themes are familiar, yes, but David is tapping into a rich tradition, and he ties it so neatly into world history as well as DC history that we don't mind. If you're going to go for an epic, you have to use epic themes, damnit!

Finally, we come to Atlanna and Trevis the Weak, the last king of Atlantis before Aquaman. This is when David ties everything together and sets up his ongoing title. Atlan, who has become a powerful sorcerer and has also lived a remarkably long time, comes to Atlanna in the night and has crazy sex with her because her husband's too much of a wuss to get her pregnant. Atlan explains that he will get another woman pregnant, and the two sons will battle for the future of Atlantis, because that's the way it's always been. He's as trapped by the past as anyone else, despite his power. Atlanna gives birth to a blond baby, and since Kordax was blond, all blond babies are considered evil and left to die, hence Aquaman's origin. Because he's descended from Kordax, Orin (Aquaman's real name) has mental dominion over sea creatures. He also has a dark side. Oooh, scary!

This is pretty complex myth-making for a comic book mini-series. David wants this to be the founding myth of Atlantis, like the Aeneid is for Rome, and he succeeds admirably. While the story is good, it's what David does to tie this book into regular DC history and also how he uses it to mirror historical writing throughout the centuries that make this book special. David returned to these themes often during his run on Aquaman (some of which you should own; I'll get to them soon), and they make his saga of Aquaman much more interesting than any other presentation I've read (granted, I'm not a huge fan, so I haven't read that much, but still). These issues aren't collected in trade paperback (given DC's policy about trade paperbacks, that's not surprising), but they're pretty cheap in the back-issue bins. Seek them out!

As always, you can check out the archives if you're so inclined. Don't be ashamed!

9 Comments

• At August 3, 2009, layne wrote:

  Esteban Maroto only designed Red Sonja's metal bikini! GOD! I hate 2005 Burgas!

  That aside, I always meant to pick this ...

• At August 3, 2009, Mxy wrote:

  Another interesting aspect of this story is that the articles contained within the comic claimed it was based on the ...

• At August 3, 2009, Mr Wesley wrote:

  I remember when this came out, and I was absolutely FLOORED by the storytelling--both writing and art. It is nothing ...

• At August 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Yeah, 2005 Burgas was kind of a douchebag. I found out about Red Sonja and Maroto long ago, but ...

• At August 3, 2009, Jcush wrote:

  Yeah because Saddam never invaded Kuwait or anything. *rollseyes*

• At August 3, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Can a leopard change its spots? Inquiring minds want to know.

  ;)

• At August 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I'm not talking about the invasion of Kuwait, Jcush. When I wrote this, I was referencing the fact that ...

• At August 4, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  I seem to recall the text piece concept was inspired by the notes in Goldman's "Abridging" of Morgenstern's Princess Bride. ...

• At September 4, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Comics You Should Own Archive wrote:

  [...] Atlantis Chronicles by Peter David and Esteban Maroto. [...]

The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (writer, issues #368-388, 390-401), Tom Field (writer, issue #389), Dale Keown (penciler, issues #369-77, 379, 381-88, 390-93, 395-98), Sam Kieth (penciler/inker, issue #368), Bill Jaaska (penciler, issues #378, 380), Gary Barker (penciler, issue #389), Herb Trimpe (penciler/inker, issue #393), Andrew Wildman (penciler, issue #394), Jan Duursema (artist, issues #399-401), Chris Bachalo (penciler, issue #400), Kelly [sic?] Jones (inker, issue #368), Bob McLeod (inker, issues #369-72, 374-77), Sam de la Rosa (inker, issue #373), Jeff Albrecht (inker, issues #378, 380), Mark Farmer (inker, issues #379, 381-86, 388-93, 395-98, 400), Joe Rubinstein (inker, issue #387), Charles Barnett (inker, issue #393), Chris Ivy (inker, issue #394), Brad Vancata (inker, issue #401), Joe Rosen (letterer, and Glynis Oliver (colorist).

Marvel, 34 issues (#368-401 of "volume 1"), cover dated April 1990-January 1993.

As David got more into his Hulk run, his long-term plan became clearer and clearer, reaching fruition early on in this section, with issue #377's brilliant integration story. That issue gave us a new green Hulk, with all the strength of the earlier incarnation but the full intelligence of Bruce Banner. This Hulk never "becomes" Bruce, because this is how he looks when he's fully integrated. But the brilliance of Peter David lies in the fact that, unlike many other writers, he doesn't seismically shift the status quo of a series and then leave. He seismically shifts the status quo of a series and then asks, "What's next?" He did it when Todd McFarlane left the book and he "killed" the Hulk, bringing him back as a Las Vegas enforcer. Then, when that storyline ran its course, he gives us a Hulk struggling against himself, as the gray Hulk and Banner try to keep the green Hulk locked inside their mind. That doesn't work, so Leonard Samson psychoanalyzes Bruce and gets at the roots of his multiple personality disorder. Then, when we have an intelligent and more powerful than ever Hulk, David wonders what would happen next. And away we go again.

David previews this entire section of the story with issue #368, which is a single-issue tale featuring Mr. Hyde and art by the great Sam Kieth. Bruce Banner, having survived the murder attempt in "Countdown" (issues #364-67), jumps a train to escape the military and ends up in a box car with the Marvel villain, who recognizes him. Hyde tells him he should consider it "an honor to be able to become the Hulk ... a being infinitely superior to humanity. The ultimate definition of glorious savagery." Hyde hits a nerve, because even though the gray Hulk revels in being the Hulk, Banner resists. Hyde gets under his skin, and as we see, ten issues later, Samson manages to "create" a new Hulk, one with much of Banner's personality but who loves being big, powerful, and green. (Although this is a standalone story, David also introduces the Pantheon in this issue, and Kieth gives Prometheus a beard, which is never seen again, interestingly enough.)

David also introduces early on another idea that will color this section of his run, and that is the futility of violence and what it does to people. This is most evident, of course, when Samson psychoanalyzes Bruce and our hero relives his father killing his mother after brutalizing her for years, but it's also there in the entire Pantheon storyline. Even earlier, David begins toying with this idea when Freedom Force goes after the Hulk in issue #369. Crimson Commando (who always seemed to have a lot of potential as a character) muses that an old man like him should be enjoying time with his grandchildren instead of fighting all the time. When the team fights the Hulk, he realizes he's completely outclassed and spends most of the battle on the sidelines, allowing the Blob and the Hulk to slug it out. Earlier in the issue, Bruce had met a family recovering from Hurricane Hugo, and he meets their young son, with whom he identifies, as Jack is also withdrawn (although Bruce's leap to assuming Jack is being abused, while understandable because of what happened to him, is a bit much - young children who meet strangers are often withdrawn). Later in the issue, random violence from the fight spills over and injures Jack (and it's nice that David makes the Hulk the instigator of the violent act that hurts Jack, heightening the irony a bit more), and Crimson Commando helps him dig Jack out of the rubble. Crimson Commando, again, wonders what kind of man he is to let this happen. Of course, David remains a clever writer, and once the Hulk makes sure Jack is safe, he knocks Crimson Commando unconscious before leaving.

This link between violence and its consequences manifests itself in many other ways during this run. The re-emergence of the green Hulk in issue #372 comes about because Betty is about to slip through Bruce's fingers once more, and as it's daytime, the gray Hulk can't come out. Prometheus, who is tracking Bruce, traps him and keeps him from catching the train on which Betty is leaving, and Bruce's anger brings out the raging Hulk once again (and also gives Keown a chance to provide one of the iconic images of the run, with Bruce's skin flapping around an enraged monster). Once he's out, the green Hulk won't be contained anymore, and this prompts Samson's integration (which I'll get back to, I promise). Once the "Bruce" Hulk appears at the end of issue #377, the theme of violence and its consequences switches to what the Pantheon does. Once Bruce is recruited (which begins in issue #379, even though Bruce resists in that issue and ends up infiltrating the Pantheon's headquarters by stealth), we begin to understand what the Pantheon is all about. According to their leader, Agamemnon, they work to bring about a perfect world, and occasionally this means using violence. In issues #386-87, Achilles, one of the Pantheon, goes rogue when he's sent to bring in a child that the group's oracle, Delphi, sees becoming a worse dictator than Hitler. David perhaps goes to the cliché well with the whole "would you kill Hitler as a child if you had the chance?" riff presented here, but it's still a cogent point, especially when you consider that the Hulk comes down on the side of letting the child live. He makes it more interesting by having Sabra fight the Hulk even though they're both on the same side - the Hulk can't speak for a good part of the issues thanks to Sabra's tranquilizing quills, so she doesn't know he's intelligent and trying to work with her - showing once again the consequences of mindless violence - perhaps things would have ended differently had Sabra and the Hulk worked together sooner. In issues #390-92, the Pantheon goes into Trans-Sabal and overthrows their corrupt dictator, and David does a fine job showing every side of the conflict. The ruler of Trans-Sabal is a monster, but as he puts it when the Pantheon and X-Factor (which guest-stars in these issues) confront him, "My people have a belief in their leaders that transcends your paltry notions. 'High crimes' implies I owe my people. I do not. They owe me, and have pledged me, their very lives. Just as an earthquake is an act of God ... so are my actions taken on behalf of God. To attack me, accuse me ... is to challenge God." His people begin to bow down to him, and Ulysses of the Pantheon is about to kill him, but Bruce stops him. The people have to choose, he tells Ulysses. Of course, a few panels later, the Farnoq (that's his title) is gunned down ... by Rick Jones, who's hiding in a mandroid suit. Rick had befriended a local who was then killed in battle, and he couldn't allow the Farnoq to get away with it. Did he do the wrong thing? David leaves that question hanging. Ironically, one of the few times violence isn't used to resolve a crisis, it's during the Infinity Gauntlet crossover, when Bruce shrinks to about six inches tall and needs to help the Abomination's wife, who has been kidnapped by her husband. Bruce convinces Emil Blonsky (the Abomination) to let Nadia go, and although he engages in a bit of slapstick violence, it's basically just Bruce appealing to Blonsky's still-human core and Blonsky finding that humanity within himself. David, interestingly enough, immediately contrasts this two-part story with a bloody tale of mob mentality in issue #385, when Bruce himself "solves" the problem through violence and thinks nothing of it. In some comics, this would be a case of a writer simply ignoring what he's done before to fit the story, but when we read The Incredible Hulk as a whole, it's clear that David is having the Hulk struggle with this idea that violence can solve a great many problems, but it might not always be the best thing to do.

As interesting as this theme is, the major theme of this section of David's run is, of course, the integration of Bruce's psyche. In issue #393, the 30th anniversary comic, David cleverly brings the Hulk's history into this idea, as Dr. Samson points out that other "cures" of the Hulk's condition simply treated the symptoms and not the cause, so the fact that other writers worked with the Hulk's multiple personalities becomes just part of the process, and not a very efficacious part at that. It ties the long-standing tradition of the Hulk being a subsumed part of Bruce Banner's personality in with David's run and even makes parts of the history that had nothing to do with multiple personalities seem to fit into it. David also has Samson express doubts that his psychoanalysis worked all that well, something astute readers probably noticed when the run was first published - in one issue (#377), Leonard Samson figures out the core problem with Bruce and why his personality splintered, plus he rebuilds his personality into a whole, with the green-skinned, gigantic, and intelligent Bruce becoming dominant. Even for comic books, where no one wants to read issue after issue of psychoanalysis, it seems Samson works a miracle, and David addresses this. We're just waiting for the powder keg to blow, again.

While issue #377 is a powerful story on its own, the subsequent issues, in which Bruce becomes more and more superheroic, are fascinating as well, mainly because of Bruce's relationship with Betty. Obviously, these two people are extreme personalities - Bruce finds Betty in a convent, after all - and suddenly, the dynamic of their relationship changes, and neither knows how to handle it. Bruce has gone from a wallflower to an A-type personality, and Betty isn't sure what to make of it. Bruce, for his part, thinks that Betty should just accept the new him, which is a bit of a reach for anyone (this is nicely paralleled in the Abomination story). The evolution of Betty's character is one of the best parts of this section of the run. In issue #381, Marlo asks Betty to room with her, and the conversation they have is pointed: Marlo says, "Are you going to put your entire life on hold, waiting for him to come back?" Betty replies, "I don't have a life outside Bruce," and Marlo asks, "Then don't you think it's about time you got one?" This leads to a new friendship for Betty and a new life as well. Marlo and Betty get drunk, Betty mocks what earlier writers have done to her (they laugh about the time Betty was Harpy, with Marlo confusing her with Harpo Marx), Marlo dyes Betty's hair green (mistakenly), then blonde, and Betty gets a job. David does a marvelous job turning her into a real character instead of one who reflects Bruce. In issue #383, Bruce tells her they're going to live with the Pantheon in their hollowed-out mountain, but Betty doesn't want to go. She flinches when Bruce reaches out to her, and we see how far apart they've grown. Later in the issue, she tells Marlo, "I want to feel needed. When Bruce was Bruce, he needed me. Desperately. I want to be someone that he can't live without. You saw how easily he blew out of here and left me behind." She admits that it's selfish, but that's the way she feels. David never makes anything easy, of course, as we learn at the end of issue #388, when Bruce tells her he'll always be there for her, no matter what. Betty's evolution as a character is necessary so she can deal with threats like Rick's so-called mother, Jackie Shorr, who tries to kill Rick and succeeds in killing Marlo. The old Betty couldn't have survived a threat like Jackie, but the new Betty can. Betty also needs to come back around to loving Bruce, the new Bruce, and she can't do that unless she's able to recreate herself as a new person, one who can deal with the new Bruce on his own terms rather than the way she did with the old Bruce, as someone who "needs her." The love story between the two, which was always a bit formulaic, becomes more real under David's stewardship. These are two people who love each other not out of any ulterior motives, but because they simply love each other. It's one of the more impressive themes in this section of David's work on the title.

Obviously, this is one of the more "super-heroic" times in the Hulk's history, as he's fully in charge of his faculties and super-strong, plus he's been recruited by a group of do-gooders. David, of course, uses this to explore a bunch of different themes about the abuse of power, but he doesn't get into it too much until after issue #400. With the earlier sections of David's run, there were clearly defined ends to that story - the destruction of Middletown that coincided with McFarlane leaving the book, and the end of the Hulk's time in Las Vegas that coincided with Jeff Purves leaving - but this section doesn't really have a clear end, as it blends easily into the next section. One would think that issue #400, which featured the death of the Leader and the pseudo-resurrection of Marlo, would be a good place to end, but issue #401 ties up some of the loose ends from that issue and leads into Bruce's leadership of the Pantheon. With issue #400, David makes a final statement about the two main themes running through the book at this time: the uselessness of violence and the integration of Bruce's personalities. It's interesting that the Leader can push all the right buttons to drive Bruce over the edge, costing Marlo a chance at a complete resurrection and leading to a new and more dangerous leader for the survivors of Middletown. Bruce doesn't consider the consequences of his actions, and David, who hints over the course of several issues that the integration of his personalities isn't complete, makes it more obvious in this issue. It's a good climax, but David immediately begins to examine the aftermath of Bruce's actions, which form the basis of the next section of the run.

As usual, David has a fantastic artistic partner on The Incredible Hulk. After the bombast of McFarlane and the grittiness of Purves, Dale Keown's magnificent pencils turn this into more of a super-hero comic, and as usual, this fits with what David is doing to the character. Purves made Mr. Fixit an almost believable mob enforcer, but Keown makes Bruce gigantic, both less and more monstrous than he had been before. On the one hand, he's a "person" in that Bruce's personality is the dominant one, and in one scene, Keown puts him in eyeglasses and combs his hair back, giving Rick a reason to mock him. On the other hand, Keown makes Bruce truly huge, bursting from the book like the alpha male he's become, intimidating everyone around him, including Betty, which, combined with David's insightful writing, shows us how different their relationship has become. Keown has a wonderfully clean style, and although Bob McLeod does a decent job inking him, once he's paired with Mark Farmer, the art really goes up a level. Keown was adept at some of the darker stories too, such as the Abomination story and issue #385, but he's best when the Hulk is smashing the hell out of things. He didn't appear rushed, either, as he managed to draw 26 of the 34 issues, and he only stopped because (presumably) he went off to Image. It's a shame that he didn't finish the final storyline, "Ghost of the Past," which, despite Duursema's solid fill-in art, lacks some of the dynamism that Keown brought to the book. It's interesting to compare Keown's current work with his Hulk work, because he fell into the "Image style trap" and has never gotten out of it. This run really remains the high point of his comics career, which, considering how long has passed since it ended, is somewhat unfortunate.

David leaves this section of his run behind with a lot on his plate: Bruce running the Pantheon, Marlo in a coma, a new foe, secret romance in the Pantheon, and a nagging suspicion that Bruce isn't as healthy as he'd like everyone to believe. It provided a lot of fodder for the new stories, but, of course, that's a different post. For now, let's just appreciate, once again, how much he had already gotten out of the Hulk. These issues take the character to new heights, and that's saying something, considering how good the title had already gotten with David at the helm. So of course it doesn't appear it's all been collected. There are two Visionaries trades (volumes 5 and 6), collecting issues #364-372 and #373-382, but nothing else. Why would Marvel want to collect one of the best stories they've published in the past 30 years? Yeah, it makes no sense to me! But you can get some of them in trade format!

Unfortunately, many of the links in the Archives are broken, and I don't know when they'll be fixed. But there are plenty of other comics to check out, if you're eager for things to buy! Have a look!

33 Comments

• At July 12, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  I once had a copy of #393 simply because it seemed like an IMPORTANT issue. I remember nothing about it. ...

• At July 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Another fantastic column-- this section of the run is where my first Hulk comics came from. The Merged Hulk was ...

• At July 12, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  My favorite run of anything, ever. Hands down.

• At July 12, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  This is the first run of a title I can remember--I actually traded for some of these issues on the ...

• At July 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Chad: Issue #393 is the one about the Russian who didn't stop the countdown on the gamma bomb, thereby sort ...

• At July 12, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Oh, and it is "Kelley Jones." I guess the credit in the issue was wrong? Probably doing business ...

• At July 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: Yeah, I figured it was THE Kelley Jones, but that's how it's spelled in the issue, so I couldn't ...

• At July 12, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Loved, loved, loved these comics. I also thought it was great how well these issues segued into the second ...

• At July 12, 2009, chad wrote:

  my favorite run of hulk espically how peter shows that even with the personalities merged that the hulk is still ...

• At July 12, 2009, Adam wrote:

  By the way, assuming some Marvel editor is reading this: PLEASE get the next two (or ten) volumes of Hulk ...

• At July 12, 2009, Jake wrote:

  Ok, so this may be a little off topic but a long time ago I remember reading a hulk trade ...

• At July 12, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  You're thinking of Bruce Jones' Hulk run there, Jake, but as for which trade, I couldn't tell you. You just ...

• At July 12, 2009, Jake wrote:

  OMG, THANK YOU. I feel like I knew that all along, I just didn't know I knew it, you know?

• At July 12, 2009, Marc Mielke wrote:

  I recall a rather funny bit with the inverse-Integrated Hulk: The Rampaging Hulk's mind in Bruce Banner's body. Was that ...

• At July 12, 2009, Dario Delfino wrote:

  The best the Hulk has ever been. I've yet to see anything come close to PAD's run. His ...

• At July 12, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  They haven't gotten to getting these in the Visionaries trades yet because they were busy putting out the ones that ...

• At July 12, 2009, I AM FeAR wrote:

  I'll have to read the whole David Hulk run someday, I've only read a few issues here and there.

  Best Hulk ...

• At July 12, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Jake: I think the 1st Bruce Jones trade was called "Return of the Monster."

  Greg: Excellent write-up of my favorite run ...

• At July 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mike: Yeah, I probably should have mentioned Crazy Eight. That was a really nice issue.

• At July 12, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I agree with Michael P above that the "integrated" Hulk continued until #445, although he'd been showing varying moodswings by ...

• At July 12, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Adam: Your wish is my command! I thought about doing this post about the entire run up to #425 ...

• At July 13, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I enjoyed David's Hulk well enough through the Mr. Fixit phase, but his writing became insufferably smug by this point. ...

• At July 13, 2009, James wrote:

  Another strong point for Peter David's run on the book from #368 through #401 - he would plant subtle seeds ...

• At July 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  James: As good as the Man-Thing story was, David didn't write it. I'm not sure why.

  You're right about the ...

• At July 13, 2009, Nick Marino wrote:

  Greg - I'm not gonna read your overview of these issues... BECAUSE I GOTTA READ THE ISSUES FIRST! Thx for ...

• At July 13, 2009, Jbird wrote:

  First Hulk I ever read was the "integrated" one; it didn't seem so strange to me, but it helped that ...

• At July 13, 2009, Mark Shaw wrote:

  > There are two Visionaries trades (volumes 5 and 6),

  > collecting issues #364-372 and #373-382, but

  > nothing else. Why would ...

• At July 13, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  I've really been meaning to remedy my complete lack of having read the PAD Hulk run. I have lots of ...

• At July 13, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Mark: I'm not sure when the last Visionaries volume came out, but you make a fair point. I just ...

• At July 13, 2009, Mark Shaw wrote:

  > I’m not sure when the last Visionaries volume came out, but you make a fair point

  Per Amazon, the most ...

• At July 14, 2009, Alex wrote:

  Man, that is the coolest stuff ever. They should put it in the Smithsonian!

  I have most or all of those ...

• At July 15, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  Thanks for the advice Greg!

• At October 2, 2009, Panji Sudoyo wrote:

  The David/Keown Hulk run came during my first forays into comics and much like McFarlane's run on Amazing Spiderman and ...

Arrowsmith by Kurt Busiek (writer), Carlos Pacheco (penciller), Jesús Merino (inker), Alex Sinclair (colorist), and Richard Starkings and Comicraft (letterers).

DC/Wildstorm/Cliffhanger, 6 issues (#1-6), cover dated September 2003-May 2004.

Arrowsmith is a wonderful comic book, the kind of comic that all creators should strive to do, as it explores other uses of the comics medium besides superhero stories. Comics are a fabulous medium for fantasy tales, a fact that some creators have appreciated more than others, and it would be nice to see an audience grow for this kind of book, since anyone can appreciate this story, not just hard-core comics fans. Comics used to be more diverse, and recently they're going back to that, thanks partly to titles like this, and it's good to see. It's a long haul, obviously, as books like this don't sell nearly as well as traditional superhero stuff, but as long as creators are willing to take chances with stuff like this, we'll eventually get fantasy books like Conan, also written by Busiek (for a while), which sells well enough to continue.

The story in Arrowsmith is straightforward enough: World War I is being fought in an alternate universe where magic is real and useful in a war. The opposing sides are the same, despite being referred to by the countries that exist in Busiek and Pacheco's world: Albion (England), Gallia (France), Lotharingia (Brussels/Holland) and Muscovy (Russia) fight against Prussia (Germany), Tyrolia-Hungary (Austria-Hungary) and the Ottoman Empire (the, well, Ottoman Empire), while the United States of Columbia (wonder who that could be?) stands on the sideline. In issue #1, a troll refers to the "Peace of Charlemagne," which apparently set the boundaries of Europe for something like 1000 years (Lotharingia is named, presumably, after Lothar I, Holy Roman Emperor from 840-855 and Charlemagne's grandson - Carolingian history rules!). Into this mess comes a young "American," Fletcher Arrowsmith (groan at the pun if you must; I did), who volunteers for the Overseas Aero Corps, an elite unit that uses the flying power of dragons to fight dogfights in the skies over Europe.

This is all stunningly rendered by Pacheco, whose art has matured leaps and bounds from his early (decent) work on the X-titles. From the fiery Prussian troll that attacks the Gallican lines in the first few pages to the destruction of a Prussian town by giant green-flaming salamanders, the magical stuff in Arrowsmith is unbelievable. Pacheco also excels at the quiet moments, drawing wonderful human emotions in Fletcher, Grace, Rocky the troll, and all the other characters. This book is worth is for the art alone.

Busiek hits all the standard "war story" notes, and it's in this where the book is weakest. When Saving Private Ryan came out, one reviewer mentioned how difficult it is to do war movies, since there's an inherent beauty in destruction (this is even more evident in The Thin Red Line, which is hauntingly beautiful even as it shows people being killed). Well, in a world where magical beings abound, it's even more difficult for Busiek to write an anti-war book, which is part of his point. In issue #5, when the OAC drops the salamanders on a Prussian town in a scene probably evoking the Dresden firebombing in WWII, it's a beautifully drawn tableau. When the rag-tag survivors fight off the Prussian assault in issue #6, it's majestic and stirring, even though people are dying. It's the nature of the beast, and despite Busiek's attempts to show that "war is hell," we're too amazed by the magical creatures and wonder at how he integrates them into a gritty narrative to be too disturbed by his anti-war sentiments.

Despite this weakness, it's a good story (it would have to be, as it's a Comic You Should Own). What makes this an interesting book rather than just a nice-looking one with a decent story is the way Busiek uses the fantastic as a metaphor. The crucial scene in the book actually comes in issue #1, when Fletcher talks to his father about the war and his desire to volunteer. His father, Martin, says it's not his war, so why should he have any part in it?

And this flyin' nonsense - even more foolishness. What's it make that a man could eat, or use, or sell? Nothin', that's what. 'S a reason why magic don't work around cold iron - it's unnatural. Nothin' sensible men should put their trust in.

Fletcher tells him that some men are using magic to fertilize fields, cure sicknesses, and other things, and Martin Arrowsmith explodes in anger:

They're just puttin' good men outta work with these "miracle methods." They'll see, when it backfires on 'em ... This new commercial wizardry may be all th' rage in the big cities - but it won't catch on here.

Martin never shows up again, but he provides the book with its dramatic tension, one that Busiek explores subtly throughout the whole work. World War I, obviously, is a moment in time when the "modern world" was created - the era of the gentleman-soldier was over, small armies and "noble" fighting were gone, and the age of the meat-grinder army was at hand. What Busiek is doing with the magical angle is highlighting the tension between the old generation and the new - Martin doesn't like all this new-fangled magic stuff (even though it's been around, apparently, for centuries) and doesn't think it will catch on. Fletcher, meanwhile, with the endless optimism of youth, throws himself into the magical world with abandon. It's only after he has experienced it first-hand does he start to question his decision. However, he, like the rest of the world, can never go back - Pandora's Box is open. At the end of the book, Fletcher realizes, like the people on the Manhattan Project, that some things might be better left unexplored.

Busiek has always been a bit of a nostalgic writer - he wrote the JLA/Avengers crossover, for crying out loud! - and here, his affection for the past is channeled quite well. He never thumps us with a "things were better in the past" vibe, allowing instead his characters to discover that progress doesn't always mean "better." Fletcher never wants to return to his home, despite the horrors of war that he experiences. Fletcher understands that we cannot go home, and he must force his way through to a better future instead of striving for a bucolic past. Magic (and war) has remade the world, and Fletcher needs to make the new world a good one.

Busiek varies a little as a writer - some of his stuff his just decent and some of his stuff is excellent, but he usually has something interesting to say. In Arrowsmith, he creates a world that allows him to play to his strengths - a "common-man" view of great events, a large cast, each with a well-defined personality, and a sense of wonder about the world. Arrowsmith succeeds because it takes a standard Busiek weakness - nostalgia for a lost innocence - and subverts that to tell a fable about growing up. It's a grand adventure story, and it works as one, especially when paired with Pacheco's fabulous art. But it is elevated by the subtext, which makes it a mature reflection on war, innocence, and the future.

Arrowsmith is available in trade, and I believe it contains the short story from the Astro City/Arrowsmith flip book (which hadn't come out when I first wrote this, so it's not included). The most frustrating thing about the comic is that Busiek had more stories planned, but they haven't panned out yet. I don't know if Pacheco is just too busy or if Busiek himself is too busy, but I'd love to see more series about this world. I guess it just wasn't financially viable, which pretty much stinks. Oh well. This story stands very well on its own.

If you're wondering about an archive link, here it is! Enjoy!

17 Comments

• At May 25, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  I loved it. There is a ray of hope. Supposedly, Busiek and Pacheco are working on "Arrowsmith: Far From the ...

• At May 25, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  This is great stuff!

  I read it years ago and remember being pleasantly surprised at a fantasy story done well in ...

• At May 25, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  And now I'm a bitter, cynical old comics blogger. Oh, to be wide-eyed once again!

• At May 25, 2009, Carl wrote:

  This was a great series! Busiek, besides being one of THE BEST superhero writers out there, really understands what makes ...

• At May 25, 2009, garbonzo wrote:

  Arrowsmith was absolutely fantastic. I keep hearing rumblings about a new Arrowsmith tale, but they never come to fruition. ...

• At May 25, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  I checked this out of the local library years ago and just loved it. I always hoped to see ...

• At May 25, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Pacheco is a great artist when he isn't pulling a "Land Grab"

  The "trace a photo" crap he's doing in Iron ...

• At May 25, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  despite Busiek’s attempts to show that “war is hell,” we’re too amazed by the magical creatures and wonder at how ...

• At May 25, 2009, Michael wrote:

  When they're couched in the form of people dying horribly, probably.

  But Greg speaks only for himself. I was personally able ...

• At May 25, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Actually, what I meant was that we don't find the horror too disturbing, because it's drawn so well. The ...

• At May 25, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I was personally able to feel both wonder and horror at the appropriate moments without one getting in the way ...

• At May 26, 2009, Jsm wrote:

  Pacheco is a great artist when he isn’t pulling a “Land Grab”

  The “trace a photo” crap he’s doing in Iron ...

• At May 26, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  My copy of the TPB came from eBay seller ... Joe Rice.

  Scary.

• At May 26, 2009, David Norman wrote:

  This was an excellent series: Busiek and Pacheco work well together (see Avengers Forever), they created an interesting world quickly ...

• At May 26, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  This is a good book. I'm just gutted that the new story is going to be a prose one.

• At June 23, 2009, Will wrote:

  This is kind of off topic. I just wanted to point out that the link to Automatic Kafka no longer ...

• At July 11, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Comics You Should Own Archive wrote:

  [...] Arrowsmith by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco. [...]

The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (writer, issues #347-59, 361-67; Web of Spider-Man #44), Bob Harras (writer, issue #360), Jeff Purves (penciler, issues #347-59, 361-66), Dan Reed (penciler, issue #360), Dale Keown (penciler, issue #367), Alex Saviuk (penciler, Web of Spider-Man #44), Mike and Valerie Gustovich (inkers, issues #347-48), Terry Austin (inker, issues #349-50, 352-53 ), Bob Wiacek (inker, issue #351), Marie Severin (inker, issues #354, 358-67), Herb Trimpe (inker, issue #355), Jim Sanders III (inker, issues #356-57), Keith Williams (inker, Web of Spider-Man #44), Joe Rosen (letterer), Rick Parker (letterer, Web of Spider-Man #44), Petra Scotese (colorist, issues #347-53), Glynis Oliver (colorist, issues #354-67), and Gregory Wright (colorist, Web of Spider-Man #44).

Marvel, 22 issues (#347-367 of "volume 1," plus Web of Spider-Man #44, which occurs between issues #348 and 349), cover dated September 1988-March 1990.

After "killing" the Hulk in a big explosion, Peter David had to do something with him, right? So why not move him to Las Vegas, have him become a mob enforcer called Mr. Fixit, and get him involved with another woman? And so begins the next phase of David's run, a somewhat controversial story arc that begs the question: Are these good comics on their own, or are they good simply because they link the earliest parts of David's work on the title to the later parts? It's an interesting question, mainly because it feels like David is unsure of where he's going with the book for a while. The first few issues of Mr. Fixit's career feel like an entirely different writer has taken over the book and isn't sure what to do now that Peter David has killed the Hulk. It's very weird, because David had to have a plan for after blowing up the Hulk, but issues #347-52 do feel like David is treading water somewhat. We have to remember that David was a relatively new comics writer at this point, so despite the strong and extremely well-plotted work he did on the book when McFarlane was drawing it, he wasn't perfect, and although the idea of the Hulk being a cunning legbreaker for Michael Berengetti is inspired, David seems to have some problems making it work perfectly. Although the return of Bruce Banner in issue #353 might seem to be a return to the boring old Jekyll-and-Hyde motif, David obviously has a lot to say on the subject, and Bruce's return allows him to bring the main theme of this arc into clear focus: What happens when the Hulk wins and gets whatever he wants?

It's an interesting theme, and David explores it twice. As we learn in issues #351-52, when the gamma bomb went off, the Hulk was transported to Jarella's World, a microscopic world where he had journeyed before and fallen in love with a woman named Jarella (and no, the world is not named after her; the Hulk just calls it that). Jarella was killed and the Hulk left, but the inhabitants of the world have set him up as a god. He is brought to Jarella's World by Gorsham, a wizard who wants the Hulk to overthrow the Grand Inquisitor, who is using the inhabitants' fear of their god to become all-powerful. The Hulk, of course, does so, but he wants to stay in Jarella's World, as being a god suits him. Gorsham, however, was just using him to get the Inquisitor out of the way, and he has no further use for the Hulk so he sends him back to the Marvel world. The brief interlude in Jarella's World, which takes place a few issues after we've already seen Mr. Fixit in action, shows the Hulk in a place that will give him everything he wants. So when he ends up in Las Vegas (with Banner sublimated thanks to a spell by Gorsham), he decides that living this kind of life is a good deal. But does it fulfill him?

Ultimately, no, and that's what makes this an interesting arc. Sure, Banner returning in issue #353 screws up the Hulk's world, but as the arc moves on, the Hulk himself becomes aware that having it all isn't enough. Bruce may have hastened that realization, but the Hulk comes to it himself in issue #358, when he's fighting the Ghoul, a creation of Satannish (one of the many Marvel stand-ins for Satan). He narrates: "And part of me is feeling alive, for the first time in ages ... because no matter how nice the clothes, or good the food, or fancy the women, one thing about me remains constant ... I just love breaking thing. Big things. The bigger the better." It's an interesting statement by David, because it applies to all characters in mainstream superhero comics - they can never be satisfied, because then the book will end. The Hulk, as Mr. Fixit, gets a penthouse suite and the opportunity for inflicting violence on people (even though no one really gives him a challenge, which becomes a problem for him as the arc moves along), and all the women he wants. In issue #347, he gets set up with Marlo Chandler, a statuesque redhead who turns out to be his perfect woman, as she intimidates smaller guys (she's over six feet tall). Marlo doesn't have a problem with the (presumably) rough sex that you get with the Hulk, either, as David shows her in the morning, very satisfied. So Mr. Fixit has it all. What's the problem?

The problem is, of course, that the Hulk likes "breaking things." Early on, he fights for a reason. The Absorbing Man shows up in issue #348, but the Hulk only fights him because Creel has been hired to rough up Mr. Berengetti, and he tries very hard to keep his cover (and ultimately fails, but at least he tries). In issue #349, he fights a group of war game-playing androids because one of them injured Marlo in Web of Spider-Man #44. When Banner returns in issue #353, we get the introduction of the Glorian plot, which is interesting, as Glorian's function is to make the Hulk "happy." Exactly what that entails is what makes the whole Glorian story a good fit in the Hulk mythos. In issue #355, Glorian gets inside the Hulk's head and creates a fantasy world where everything is perfect, but Bruce knows it's a trick. The Hulk comes back to reality and confronts Glorian, who tells him, "There's no need to fight! I want to give you everything you've ever wanted! No more anger. No more hatred." In another telling quote, the Hulk replies, "No! Anger ... hatred ... gives me strength! Without that, I'm nothing!" A few pages later, he "kills" Glorian (who gets better, but Marlo, who witnesses the event, doesn't know that). Despite "having it all," when pushed, the Hulk admits that it's not enough. If he gets the money, women, and fear of everyone in Las Vegas but loses his rage, it's not worth it. This Hulk, despite being far more intelligent than the old green Hulk, is still, at his core, the same. He spirals out of control in issues #356 and 357, as he goes looking for bigger and badder threats to defeat, because he realizes that all he wants to do is pound on things. This leads to his confrontation with the Ghoul in issue #358.

His redemption comes in issue #359, when Satannish is ready to drag Glorian to hell. Glorian unwittingly made a deal with Satannish, and when he fails to turn the Hulk into a heroic soul, his own soul is forfeit. The Hulk ends up in the desert watching as Satannish drags Glorian away, but he stops it when Satannish tells him he's the real prize - when the Hulk ends up in hell, it will be marvelous to see his suffering. The Hulk decides that's not a good deal, and he eventually winds up playing craps for both his and Glorian's soul. He and Satannish both cheat, but the Hulk wins, and David shows us how this Hulk is different from the savage incarnation - this Hulk, ultimately, uses his brains (he won his fight with Ben Grimm in issue #350 the same way), making him much closer to Banner than he'd like to admit. He doesn't really learn anything at the end of the issue, except that maybe thinking his way out of a jam is as good as fighting his way out of it. With that realization upon him and his job in Las Vegas over (Mr. Berengetti fires him at the end of issue #358), the stage is set for David to move toward the next phase of the Hulk's life.

The final issues of this section of the run are devoted to integrating both this run in with the first arc and setting up the direction David wants to go. Therefore, Bob Harras writes a fill-in issue in which we learn that Betty, who was pregnant when last we saw her, has miscarried (I don't know why David didn't write this, but considering it's relatively important to the story as a whole, I've included it, even though it's not that good), and then he ties up loose ends both with the gangsters who were trying to muscle in on Mr. Berengetti's casino and Marlo. Issue #362, in which the Hulk fights Jack Russell, the "Werewolf by Night" (when else, pray tell, would he be a werewolf?), contrasts the Hulk's transformation with Jack's nicely and also seemingly ends his relationship with Marlo. She is menaced by the werewolf, and the Hulk actually thinks about letting her die "to get even for her dumping" him. When he does actually rescue her, she says it's why she fell in love with him in the first place, but he comes clean. He knows she loves him because of who's inside him, the decent part of him - Banner. He tells her, "Except you don't understand. I'm all on the outside. What's inside me ... isn't me. That's what you loved, and Betty loved. That's what he needs ... But not me! I don't need anything or anyone." Marlo asks him if he really believes that, and he replies, "I have to." This is yet another example of David getting not only what makes the Hulk tick, but what makes a lot of superhero-type characters tick. The Hulk, despite getting everything he wants in this story arc, can't deal with it. Ultimately, if the green Hulk is the id in this personality, the gray Hulk would probably be the ego. For a time, Mr. Fixit was able to suppress the id, but by the end of the arc it was rising up again. What's interesting about the end of this part of David's run is that he's clearly moving toward integration, which makes him even more dangerous. David does a nice job constrasting this emerging Hulk with other similar beings in the "Countdown" four-parter in issues #364-367.

"Countdown" is an interesting phenomenon for late-Eighties Marvel comics, in that they rarely promoted actual "mini-series-within-a-series," instead relying on the long-running subplots that were Marvel's stock-in-trade for years. Obviously, this was beginning to change ("Kraven's Last Hunt" is a prime example, and it came out a few years before this), but it was still a bit of a novelty. David tied it into the longer arc, of course, but what's interesting about "Countdown" is that you can buy only the four issues and get a nice snapshot of what was happening with the Hulk at that time. I know this because it's what I did - I bought these four issues as they were published and only later went back and picked up the rest of David's run, but I never felt like I was lost. Of course, reading them in context illuminates what David was doing much better, but the four issues comprise a nifty little murder mystery, in which the victim is still alive. Bruce gets poisoned in the first issue, but then he changes into the Hulk, which slows the poison down. He has to find the antidote before he either changes back into Banner, which will kill him instantly, or the poison works on the Hulk, which it will soon (the countdown shows up in panels every once in a while). So on the surface, it works nicely as a story. But David was digging deeper, as is perhaps unsurprising.

First, the Abomination shows up and forces Banner to turn back into the Hulk during the day. This is necessary because it forces the poison to slow down, but it also frees the id a bit. He's still the intelligent Hulk (as we see in the way he defeats the Abomination), but because the Abomination was able to trigger the change, it implies that he's reverting to "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry" form. David doesn't do much with it in this arc, but he does lay the groundwork. As the Hulk looks for the cure, David has him square off against the Abomination, who is the dark mirror of the Hulk; the female Thing, which allows David to have the Hulk gloat over the human Ben Grimm; the Leader, who returns and once again shows how monstrous he is; and Madman, the Leader's brother. Madman poisoned the Hulk in the first place, and when he finally fights him, we learn that he deliberately exposed himself to gamma rays to be like the Hulk. David has always been good at writing strangely sympathetic yet very disturbed villains, and Madman ranks up there - he's pathetic and pitiable, but we still root for the Hulk to bash his brains in. In issue #367, we get a nice summing-up of a lot of what David has been doing - the Hulk needs Banner, the superego, to figure out the Leader's angle, and he needs the id to fight Madman. He humbles himself to get the antidote, which enrages Madman, and Madman's multiple personalities come to the surface much more obviously than the Hulk's, but we still see the Hulk in him. And then, just when we think we've figure it all out, David shows how close to integrating Banner is, as he does something perfectly Hulk-like, meaning nasty. Who's really in charge now?

With that, Bruce moves on, as does David. He's ready to delve deeper into the Hulk's fractured psyche, which is why this is a good spot to stop. David has shown us that the Hulk can't enjoy the fruits of his labor, because what he really enjoys is letting the id free, and until he can balance all three aspects of his personality, he'll never be happy. David gave him the sojourn in Las Vegas to highlight the fact that the gray Hulk simply can't exist without the green Hulk and Banner, even if he didn't want to admit it. When he's confronted with that fact in issue #367, he has to figure out what's next. Luckily, David had a plan.

As I often do, I've overlooked the art, mainly because I always feel awkward writing about it. David's run on The Incredible Hulk, however, is marked by a succession of excellent artists, each bringing something different to the table, and Jeff Purves is no exception. Purves (who, as far as I can discover, has done nothing else of consequence in comics) started a bit roughly, but his Hulk was still a marked contrast to the later McFarlane stuff, in which the Hulk became more monstrous. Purves's Hulk is a gangster, and he looks the part. He's weaker than he's been in a long time ("weaker" is a relative term, of course), and Purves makes him almost, but not quite, human. Marlo, for instance, is nonplussed by his size - it's made clear that she's a large lady, but the Hulk still isn't a monster compared to her. Purves got better and better through the run, helped (unsurprisingly) by Terry Austin's inks and (perhaps a bit more surprisingly) Marie Severin's inks later in the run. Severin, who had just turned 60 when she inked Purves, does a nice job softening his sharper edges and making the Hulk even more human - just at the time when David was beginning to show how inhuman he can be, so the contrast is nicely handled. Right when it seemed Purves was truly mastering the craft, he left the book and disappeared from comics. Dale Keown's first issue, which only hints at how good he could be, nevertheless leaves us with a brilliant first image of the Hulk, terribly weakened by the poison, looking more like Banner than ever. Keown does a fine job showing how frail the Hulk looks against Madman, making his abject debasement to his foe even more pathetic. Of course the Hulk triumphs, but David's script and Keown's pencils make it clear how close it was.

Ultimately, these are good comics and not just placeholders between two better known arcs. Yes, they serve as a bridge between the McFarlane era and the Keown era, two more critically acclaimed arcs, but the Mr. Fixit phase is important in its own right, as David is trying to sort out who the Hulk really is, and showing us a somewhat contented Hulk is part of that. David needs to tear it all down and show the Hulk's reaction to that, so although he flounders for a bit early in the arc, it still stands up today. The later Purves issues can stand with anything, art-wise, and they're also where David seems to regain his control and figure out what he wants to do. This part of the series is collected in disjointed trade paperbacks. The first two issues can be found in the Visionaries volume 2 trade, which features issues #340-348. Visionaries volumes 3-4 feature the main bulk of the arc, while volume 5 collects "Countdown" and the beginning of Dale Keown's run. The way the arc is broken up is weird, but at least you can find them! Still, the single issues can't be that expensive and hard to find, can they?

If you're interested in other Comics You Should Own, feel free to browse the (unfortunately incomplete) archives! I'm working on getting everything updated, I swear by Grabthar's Hammer!

27 Comments

• At May 11, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  I really gravitate to Peter David's Hulk when I'm looking for some good old-fashioned fun superhero comics. This run ...

• At May 11, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  I absolutely loved Mr. Fixit. I hadn't read a Hulk comic in several years and Fixit got me back on ...

• At May 11, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the Mr. Fixit run on this book. It's one of my favorite parts of possibly my favorite run ...

• At May 11, 2009, Mark Shaw wrote:

  "Therefore, Bob Harras writes a fill-in issue in which we learn that Betty, who was pregnant when last we saw ...

• At May 11, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I love the way Hulk looks with his eyes set widely apart.

• At May 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I enjoyed the Countdown 4-parter.

  BUUUUUT, I also dug the Dale McKeown run as well as the Gary Frank/Cam Smith's too.

• At May 11, 2009, David Hackett wrote:

  I picked up the "Incredible Hulk the Complete Comic Collection" last year that's got every Hulk issue through '06, but ...

• At May 11, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Sorry.

  #346 was my last Hulk for a long long time...

  I thought the twist at the beginning of ...

• At May 11, 2009, Greg McElhatton wrote:

  If I remember an old "But I Digress" column correctly, Bob Harras wrote the issue with Betty's miscarriage because the ...

• At May 11, 2009, Peter David wrote:

  Just so you know, the reason I didn't write the miscarriage issue was because it was done over my objections. ...

• At May 11, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  "Bob Harras writes a fill-in issue in which we learn that Betty, who was pregnant when last we saw her, ...

• At May 11, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  So Greg writes that PAD refused to write it, and I write that PAD refused to write it, all while ...

• At May 11, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I read a lot of PAD Hulk back in the day, and this really takes me back. I may ...

• At May 11, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  I had forgotten about that Hulk jr guy from the Deodato issues. Hey PAD, if you're still reading - was ...

• At May 11, 2009, Lee Marino wrote:

  IIRC, David didn't write the miscarriage issue because he objected to that direction, so the editor (Harras) wrote it instead.

• At May 11, 2009, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  Cutting things off just shy of one of my favorite PAD Hulk issues, 369, vs. Freedom Force.

  Wolverine #7-8 also made ...

• At May 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I kind of assumed David objected to the miscarriage story, which is why he didn't write it, but I didn't ...

• At May 11, 2009, Adam wrote:

  PAD: I assume you're referring to Skaar and the Thundra/She-Hulk hybrid. However, you also implied a few years ago ...

• At May 11, 2009, Jbird wrote:

  The pictures are a little jumbled up, aren't they? The Madman vs. Hulk picture should be two paragraphs down, where ...

• At May 11, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Jeff Purves was a very good Hulk artist. I remember an interview Peter David gave many years ago, in which ...

• At May 11, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Jbird: Are you telling me how to arrange my scans????? :) The Hulk versus Madman one is there ...

• At May 11, 2009, David B wrote:

  I *do* own these. And you're right. They are good. I'm proud to say I have the entire Peter David ...

• At May 11, 2009, stephen cade wrote:

  This was my favorite Hulk run ever.

  The run preceding it was great.

  I really enjoyed the search for the gamma bombs--some ...

• At May 11, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  It's things like Mr. Fixit that make reading monthly comics so much fun. This was a major league curve ball. ...

• At May 12, 2009, Onion3000 wrote:

  Lee Marino said:

  IIRC, David didn’t write the miscarriage issue because he objected to that direction, so the editor (Harras) wrote ...

• At May 12, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  Any source for this?

  About 15 comments up.

• At May 12, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  I just bought the first Visionairies volume. The stories are great. The McFarlane art wasn't very good, but the ...

DC, 26 issues (#1-26, cover dated September 1988-August 1990).

BONUS! Animal Man by Peter Milligan (writer), Chas Truog (penciller, issues #27-28, 30-32; inker, issue #32), Steve Dillon (artist, issue #29), Mark Farmer (inker, issues #27-28, 30-31), John Constanza (letterer), and Tatjana Wood (colorist), with covers by Brian Bolland.

DC, 6 issues (#27-32, cover dated September 1990-February 1991).

In looking around for information on the principals involved in the creation of this mind-bending comic book, I came across this excellent critique of Morrison's run on Animal Man by that crazy nut, Dave Fiore, who offers insights I don't even want to touch. I'm going to try to put Dave's criticism out of my mind, because I don't want this to become an affirmation/refutation of his, but it's excellent - read it and this back-to-back!

I suppose I should point out that there are SPOILERS ahead. Go read the books if you want to be surprised, although, if you're a comic fan, you've probably already been spoiled. The fact that you know what's coming doesn't mean this isn't a great run, though - that's why they're great comics!

Animal Man is the subject of a great deal of scrutiny in the comic book world, simply because 1) Grant Morrison wrote it, and it's his first American comics work; and 2) it's freakin' brilliant. It also uses the "character-meets-creator" trick to good effect, something that has been done in comics before (Bat-Mite in the 1970s, and I was reading that Ambush Bug did - I may be remembering wrong, so don't sue me!) and since (Automatic Kafka is a good recent example, I believe). In fact, this is probably the first true postmodern comic book. [Boy, that's a sweeping statement, isn't it? I don't believe it anymore, but back in 2005 I was a bit dumber than I am today. Forgive me for my ignorance!]

For me, "postmodern" is less of a catch-all phrase that many use and more of a narrowly defined segment of literature - fiction that is aware of itself as fiction. Morrison makes his characters aware that they are fictional (Buddy Baker is the most important, obviously, but others are aware as well) and inserts himself into the story. Whenever the author starts inserting his metatextual thoughts into a work of literature, the obvious question for the reader is: Why the bleepin' bleep is he bleepin' doing this? Let's take a look.

At its most convenient, Animal Man is a story about a superhero with animal powers who one day decides that he needs to fight more for animal rights. The only reason he does this is because Morrison himself is an animal rights activist (as Morrison himself tells Buddy, in issue #26, page 13). Morrison quit the book, he said, because he was becoming "too preachy," a sentiment many in the letters column disagreed with, but something I can see in the book. Morrison puts himself into the comic on one level to let us know that these are the feelings of a real person and that much of what he wrote is based in reality. Of course, readers are always aware that the fictional characters take on the traits of the author, but Morrison felt the issue with which he was dealing was too important to be left in the realm of the fictional. He needed to step into the pages to clarify his thinking and explain what regular people could do about it. Ironically, issue #26 is probably Morrison's most "preachy" of the series, as he stops telling stories and tells us all what he thinks. It's not a bad way to do it, but it does take the willingness of the readers to read - and we do, because we have grown to trust Morrison's vision.

The other reason Morrison inserts himself into the book (issue #26 is not the first time he does it, for the uninitiated) is because of ultimately what the book is about. No, it's not about animal rights. It's not even about Morrison's avowed love for discarded characters and his prodding at the monstrous Crisis on Infinite Earths which changed the DC Universe forever only a few years before he wrote the series. While the animal rights issues are very powerful (the denouement to the first 4-issue storyline is chilling, ironic, and fitting; issue #15, "The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea," with Dane Dorrance, Dolphin and the dolphins is heart-rending and ultimately majestic; issue #17, "Consequences," is complex and the turning-point of the series in many ways), they are just a way for Morrison to deal with his true theme. The "Second Crisis" is a bit of a red herring, even though it does allow Buddy to go into limbo and meet his (current) maker, because it's still just secondary to Morrison's continual theme.

So what, you say, is the book about? Well, it's not terribly revolutionary, but what Morrison does in Animal Man is look at loss, and faith, and loss of faith. This is a truly spiritual comic book (more so than almost - almost, mind you - any other mainstream book). Every major character experiences some sort of loss, including Morrison. What Morrison does is show us exactly how each of the characters deal with their loss and how this reveals what kind of person they are. This is, I would argue, one of the most depressing comic books ever written, despite the deus ex machina ending (which is brilliant, by the way) and the (dare I say it?) childlike art (I do not like the art - it's one of the book's weaknesses, I would say - disagree with me as you will!), which foreshadows none of the book's downers. I'm serious - this is a tragedy masked as a comic book with a happy ending tacked on. Shakespeare would be horrified. It's a testament to Morrison's ability as a writer that we feel for each loss and also that we do not feel cheated when he brings Buddy's family back to life with a wave of his pen. We also must learn to deal with loss throughout the book, and we do - we rage and we deny and we accept, just like Buddy does (as Morrison points out in issue #26, page 7). The point is, we take the journey with Buddy, and Morrison puts himself into the book at the end to show that our suffering is, well, genuine but also silly - as the tale of his dead cat illuminates. Jarmara (Morrison's cat) suffered and died, and her suffering was real, as opposed to Buddy's (and our) "fake" suffering. Writers know exactly what Morrison is talking about when he says that at least he could use Jarmara's suffering in his comic book - writers are inveterate liars and quite evil, after all. But here's what no one has ever pointed out - what if Jarmara herself is a creation of Morrison's mind? Why on earth couldn't she be? If Morrison himself is a character in the book, couldn't his cat be non-existent too? We accept that Jarmara actually existed, but not Buddy's family? Why? Because Morrison tells us it's true, and we feel his suffering and loss perhaps more keenly than we felt Buddy's.

The minor characters lose important things in their lives as well. B'wana Beast loses Djuba, the ape. His response is rage and a rejection (even more than before) of humanity. When we next see him, Mike Maxwell is ready to pass on the Beast's torch and do ... something (Morrison never tells us what). Carrie (the hitchhiker in issue #5, "The Coyote Gospel") loses her innocence and her life. Crafty the Coyote loses his life and his chance at redeeming the World Below (the Creator said "while you live and bear the suffering of the world, I will make peace among the beasts"). The art martyr Rokara Soh dies, and his masterpiece is aborted when Hawkman turns his bomb off (how does Hawkman get the funniest line in the entire run?). The Red Mask kills himself. The Mirror Master loses his job, but strangely enough, he comes out of the whole run looking pretty good, since he retains his self-respect and leads Buddy to the shadowy government body behind the murder of Ellen, Cliff, and Maxine (I don't like the shadowy government body, since it's too clichéd, and I'm glad Morrison didn't dwell on it too much, as it's a MacGuffin). James Highwater, one of the truly excellent supporting characters ever created, loses his sanity but gains a purpose in the purposeless comic-book universe. The Time Commander loses his ability to dream of new frontiers of reality. Metamorpho loses, perhaps, the respect of Buddy, Ralph Dibny, and Dmitri when he punches the Time Commander and destroys the détente Buddy had going with him. Roger Hayden, the Psycho-Pirate, loses his mask and his knowledge of the wondrous worlds that existed prior to the Crisis.

This is a long litany of loss, but what keeps the series from complete gloom is that Morrison is also looking at faith and whether or not it can redeem us. Yes, the book is about the loss of faith (Buddy, Highwater, Morrison himself) but it's also about searching for faith and how this helps us move on and create the world anew. Crafty has faith, and he is able to convince the Creator to redeem the world, and even though it comes at a price, Crafty never hesitates. Even Crafty's killer, misguided as he is, believes that he is doing what he can to redeem the world. The layers of the book are wondrous - there's Crafty's world, which in Buddy's world is the two-dimensional world of cartoons; there's the world of the Creator, which is separate from Buddy's world but not quite part of Crafty's; there's Buddy's world, the world we see as two-dimensional comic books; there's limbo, where comic book character go to hang out until they are used again; there's the world where Grant Morrison becomes two-dimensional to meet his star; and there's our world, which Buddy sees in probably the most chilling panel in comic book history in issue #19, but which the Psycho-Pirate also sees quite often, and of which the Mad Hatter has some knowledge. All of these worlds are tied together, and Morrison asks where God is in all this, and who exactly is God? Morrison puts himself in the "God" role throughout the series, but when he meets Buddy, he admits that he is a rather impotent deity. We the readers are cast as "God," for our purchasing power keeps books going and keeps characters out of limbo. Buddy plays God when he drops Ongur Nielsen in the ocean and kills the men who killed his family and even when he goes back in time to change their deaths, but he is an even worse god than Morrison is. Morrison is also implicating all of us when he says that the only reason we abuse animals is because we can. Is faith a good thing, he asks, when faith leads to tragedy and despair and abuse of power? What should we have faith in? The answer seems to be ourselves, as Highwater deftly illustrates when he takes on the role of the Psycho-Pirate and holds back the flood of "erased" characters. But Buddy has faith in himself, and that doesn't bring his family back. His "God," Grant Morrison, does that, as a final miracle before he abdicates the throne.

The greatness of Morrison's Animal Man is in its ambiguity and its deliberate challenge to the status quo. As with all but one of Morrison's mainstream comics work, the status quo is not really torn down, but at least he challenges it (the exception is Doom Patrol, which is one reason why it's his best work). The re-establishment of the status quo, however, allowed new writer Peter Milligan to come on board in issue #27 and fuck with everyone's head again. Milligan was on the book for only six issues (he had other commitments), but his run is as different from Morrison's as night from day, and that's fine. Milligan's run is actually weirder than Morrison's, which is saying something. Milligan ignores Buddy's animal powers for the most part (he uses them, but they're not the focus) in order to tell a mind-bending story about the fundamental nature of reality. Yes, Morrison toyed with this idea, but Milligan takes it even further into quantum mechanics and Schrödinger's Cat territory. Weird stuff.

The story is pretty simple: Buddy wakes up from a coma to find that the world has changed in a fundamental way. Ellen is a bitch who's cheating on him, Marvin Gaye is still alive, there's a jungle in his bathroom - the usual stuff. He is conscripted to protect the president against a trio of superpowered kids known as the Angel Mob. He is helped in this endeavor by Nowhere Man, a very bizarre hero. Other heroes in this world include The Front Page and The Notional Man (both of whom go bad and try to kill Buddy), as well as Envelope Girl, who Milligan later used in Enigma. It's all very weird, but Milligan is making a serious point: How do we determine what is real and what is not? In his own way, he is also taking a look at DC's "multiple earths" policy that was killed when the editors went ahead with the Crisis. Interestingly enough, physicists are dealing with "parallel universes" these days, something comic book writers have done for years, and Milligan takes it to its macrocosmic conclusion by splitting off separate universes for Buddy to inhabit. We are confronted with the fact that each time we make a decision, a new universe is created. Buddy is aware of these things because of time travelers from the future, who trapped a far distant ancestor of his (far distant as in, he's still pretty much an ape) in a time doorway and screwed up his family tree. This gives Buddy the opportunity to explore these alternate universes and understand why they occur. Who is the "real" Buddy? None of them are. They are all Buddy, just Buddys that made different decisions at some point in their lives. Milligan challenges us with the notion that there are different versions of us living just a slight change in frequency away from "our world," and if you think about it, it's kind of disturbing (that's why I don't). In the end, everything works out, but we're left wondering how the other Maxine and Cliff will deal with the loss of their father (the Buddy of that world dies) and what happened to Ellen that turned her so hard inside, and whether Buddy's death will change her. It's not quite as thought-provoking as Morrison's epic, but it's close. Milligan is actually aided by Truog instead of held back by him (as I feel Morrison was) because Truog is inked in these issues by Mark Farmer, one of the best in the business, who gives his lines a little more weight and less cartoony aspects, and in the final issue, Truog inks himself, which is very nice, with much heavier lines and a rougher feel to it all. I'm not an art critic, so that's all I'll say about that (some would say I'm not a literary critic either, but you'll have to deal with it).

The letters in Animal Man are fabulous, too. I did a quick search for Malcolm Bourne, Charles J. Sperling, and Mark Lucas ("Mahalo") before I wrote this, because those three guys would be perfect bloggers. Bourne actually wrote at least one comic (with a young Mike Allred on art), but I don't know what happened to the other two. They were always fun to read - just another reason why letter columns need to return (and are, sporadically, in Marvel books, but not, sadly, in DC books). Morrison's run is available in three trade paperbacks, so if you're interested, buy them - you won't be disappointed. Milligan's run has not been collected (DC continues their awful policy of not collecting good comics), but the individual issues aren't that dear, and you get the letter columns with them. I have not read Tom Veitch's take on the character, but Jamie Delano's stuff was okay, if trying too hard to be "Vertigo." No one has really done a good job with Buddy Baker since the series ended, although he is back in the "real" DCU these days. There's a new mini-series coming out soon - I probably won't get it, but it might be a renaissance for Animal Man.

Hey! Comics You Should Own archives! Who doesn't love archives?

19 Comments

• At April 20, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  Hmmm... Did Ambush Bug meet his creators? I know he met Julie Schwartz and got a call from Al, but ...

• At April 20, 2009, James Moar wrote:

  "I don’t like the shadowy government body, since it’s too clichéd"

  Mirror Master's "See me? Full of tricks" speech does add ...

• At April 20, 2009, Randy wrote:

  @ mutt

  They were off panel.

• At April 20, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I'm usually not a big fan of Morrison. I don't hate his stuff, just not crazy about it. But Animal ...

• At April 20, 2009, Graeme Pollock wrote:

  First TPB I ever read. Nearly broke me, mentally. I had no idea what was going on.

  The ...

• At April 20, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Hmm..Wheras my only problem with Truog's art is that it wasn't Bolland. You need true comic art to tell ...

• At April 20, 2009, rwe1138 wrote:

  DC really needs to reprint the Morrison trades and finally collect Milligan's run. Both are fantastic.

• At April 21, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  I agree on the cartoony art really fitting the style of the book.

  THIS is the Morrison I love.

  There are ...

• At April 21, 2009, bloomberg wrote:

  Thanks Mr. Burgas, a really great article. Morrison's Animal Man is why i still read comics today. It's ...

• At April 21, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I know you don't agree Greg, but I might like this run even more than Morrison's Doom Patrol, simply because ...

• At April 21, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  I finally read Morrison's Animal Man last year, and I think it may very well be my favourite run. That's ...

• At April 21, 2009, danjack wrote:

  the panel of Buddy in iss #19 IS the single most disturbing panel in comis history! The build-up to it ...

• At April 21, 2009, The Cosh wrote:

  I finally got round to reading all of Animal Man last year and I found the metafictional ending pretty dull. ...

• At April 22, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  The “I can see you!” splash page is really something and the ending is just beautiful. It’s a Deus Ex ...

• At April 22, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan: Foxy is the fox that Morrison signals with his flashlight ("torch"). He's the imaginary creature that Morrison, when ...

• At April 23, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Ah - I'd forgotten that bit

• At April 29, 2009, Tuomas wrote:

  It's worth mentioning that the "Hell" where Crazy Jane ends up in the final issue of Morrison's Doom Patrol has ...

• At May 4, 2009, Ta wrote:

  How do you read the whole darn comic i am looking every where on google for animal man comics it ...

• At May 9, 2009, Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources » Comics You Should Own Archive wrote:

  [...] Animal Man #1-32 by Grant Morrison and (mostly) Chas Truog, with Peter Milligan’s weird six-issue story added on, because ...

The Incredible Hulk by Peter David (writer), Todd McFarlane (penciler, issues #331-334, 336-345; inker, issues #340-343; layouts, issue #346), John Ridgway (artist, issue #335), Erik Larsen (penciler, issue #346), Kim DeMulder (inker, issue #331), Fred Fredericks (inker, issue #332), Pablo Marcos (inker, issue #333), Jim Sanders III (inker, issues #334, 336-339, 345-346), Bob Wiacek (inker, issue #344), Chris Ivy (ink assist, issue #345), Rick Parker (letterer, issues #331, 333-343), John Workman (letterer, issue #332), Joe Rosen (letterer, issue #344-346), and Petra Scotese (colorist).

Marvel, 16 issues (#331-346 of "volume 1"), cover dated May 1987-August 1988.

It's twenty years old, but there still may be SPOILERS lurking below! I can guarantee that I'm going to give away what happens in issues #345-46, as they lay the foundation for a lot of David's run!

Issue #331 of The Incredible Hulk might seem like an arbitrary place to begin these Comics You Should Own. It is not, interestingly enough, Peter David's first issue on the title (he wrote issue #328). It's also not Todd McFarlane's first issue. McFarlane pencilled issue #330, the final Al Milgrom-scripted issue. Issue #331, in fact, follows issue #330 by mere minutes. In the tradition of Marvel back in those days, the creative team wasn't as important as the general plot, and David dutifully follows General Ross's death in issue #330 by easing us into his grand scheme. He wraps up Ross's death, continues with the Hulkbuster subplot, doesn't alter the fact that Rick Jones is now the Hulk (he does this extremely quickly, but not in the first issue!), and makes the transition smooth. So why do I choose to start here? Issue #330 might work a bit better, as Milgrom ushers General Ross off the stage (he, of course, returned) and McFarlane debuts. It's not a terribly good issue, however, and the only lasting impact it has is Ross's death, which David deals with quickly before moving on. Issue #331 shows that David had grand plans for the book, as we see a fairly diabolical-looking person on page 4 named "Sterns." David also begins his important sub-plot in this issue: What is the Hulk, and who is in charge of Banner's mind? Bruce turns back into the gray Hulk in this issue, and we learn that the gray Hulk manipulated Banner into it. So for those reasons, issue #331 is a good place to start.

David, of course, wrote The Incredible Hulk for over a decade, and while not all of those are Comics You Should Own, the quality of the book for such an extended time is remarkable. The nice thing about David's run is that he built on what came before (Middletown's residents become very important later, for instance), but at the same time, each section of the run has a clear beginning and end point (usually when the artist changed). So McFarlane's work on the book can be seen as a discrete whole, as can the runs of the artists that followed (only late in David's run does this break down). David seemed to alter his writing style slightly for each artist to suit their strengths, and that's evident with McFarlane. Even this early in his career, McFarlane was good at action, and David wrote that in spades. McFarlane's characterization and anatomy isn't great - his faces are too round, his hair styles are ridiculous, some of his poses are silly, and even this early he drew too many lines - but he has a manic energy, can draw some great grotesqueries, and his style is different enough from what you usually saw in mainstream comics that it's not surprising he became a big star. McFarlane draws an odd Hulk, too. On the one hand, he does a nice job making him intimidating. For most of the run, he's drawing the intelligent gray Hulk, and he gives him a nice thuggishness that fits in with the way David is writing him and also sets the stage for the next phase of the Hulk's life. His Hulk isn't a monster, he's a punk. An extra-large and very tough punk, but a punk nonetheless. McFarlane also makes the Hulk downright scary in some issues, having him come out of shadows with hands ready to bash someone, eyes bright with menace. On the other hand, his over-rendering, especially when he inks himself, makes the Hulk look like an old man in some panels. Earlier inkers smoothed out and (possibly) erased some of his more egregious rendering, but the few issues he inked as well as drew show a marked increase in line work, and it's strange to see. When Wiacek inks him in issue #344, the change back is obvious, although it's also clear that by this time, McFarlane had become a big enough name that he could exert some influence over the inkers (unless it was the Marvel editors), and the extra lines remain. It's really fascinating watching the evolution of McFarlane's style over the course of the year-and-a-half he was on the book, because it really is the case of someone seemingly learning on the job. Of course, if you hate McFarlane's art, you're thinking he's not learning at all, just becoming worse and worse, but it's still fascinating. It also appears to be a case of someone becoming too big for their britches, to the point where no one could edit his work (I'm speculating, of course, but bear with me). When he left The Incredible Hulk, he went off to Amazing Spider-Man and then out on his own. As he became more popular, people wanted to see the "McFarlane style," and it appears, as the art on this comic evolved, the inkers were less and less likely to mess with that. I don't know how accurate that reading is, but it seems to happen to popular creators (not only in comics), where their egos don't allow them to see that they might not be putting together their best work. But by that time, they're so powerful editors don't dare question them.

All right, enough editorializing! What about David's writing? Well, on page 7 of issue #332, he sums up the next decade of The Incredible Hulk: Leonard Samson says, "It's as if the Hulk's evil and rage are contagious. The Hulk is the personification of everything that we deny we have inside ourselves. Struggling with him means confronting the dark side in all of us. Some people become overwhelmed as Thunderbolt Ross did. A typical blustering general until the Hulk entered his life and eventually turned him into something as monstrous as the Hulk himself." David takes the Jeckyll-and-Hyde theme that has always been present in stories about the Hulk and goes nuts with it. However, he doesn't delve too much into the psychological aspects of the character as much as he does in later stories (as much as you can delve in a mainstream "superhero" comic book). Instead, he sets up the idea of the Hulk as monster and exactly how monstrous he really is compared to those around him. In most of the stories, the Hulk fights a "monster" and David, through his main character, points out that "normal" people can be as horrible as he's supposed to be. This is, of course, far from an original idea, even for the Hulk comic, but David does a nice job with it, not simply contrasting the Hulk with, say, the Leader (the main bad guy throughout this portion of the run), but with other "deformed" creatures like him as well as regular humans. In succession, he fights Rick Jones (as the green Hulk); an abusive husband who happens to be a town's sheriff; a gamma-radiated man called Half-Life who dies during the day and comes to life at night; a creature who springs from the subconscious of a drunken slacker; X-Factor; S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Hulkbusters; a beautiful alien called Mercy who "grants" death to those she thinks desire it; more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents; some guy named Wolverine; Man-Bull; Half-Life again; the Leader's mandroids; Rock and Redeemer (the ex-Hulkbusters turned horrific monsters by the Leader); and finally, the Leader himself. In each case, David manages to make it not only an exciting fight, as befits a Mighty Marvel Magazine, but also gets into the subtext of the Hulk's existence; namely, that he is far less horrible than many of the people who want to kill him. The gray Hulk, of course, wants to be left alone, but he's given a purpose by Clay Quartermain and Rick Jones, who need his help to destroy the stockpile of gamma bombs that the government has created. This is the overarching story, as the Leader steals a gamma bomb so he can run an experiment that will recreate what happened to the Hulk, and he helps Quartermain and Rick because he doesn't want more like him running around. Just this story shows the contrast between the monster that the Hulk appears to be and the monsters that "normal" humans are - the government has been stockpiling gamma bombs for years, despite the potential "Hulkifying" effects it has. They hate and fear the Hulk and try to kill him, but they have no problem creating more. David never makes this point explicitly, but he does a nice job implying it throughout the latter half of the run.

This idea of "normal" humans being as or more monstrous than the Hulk himself comes to a fore with the Leader's grand scheme to explode a gamma bomb in a town just to see what happens to the inhabitants. As is David's wont, this story arc doesn't fill six issues of decompressed storytelling - even these days, David doesn't do that, and this was long before that became trendy - as it only begins to take shape in issue #343, when the Leader turns two Hulkbusters, Craig Saunders and Samuel John LaRoquette, into Redeemer and Rock, two weirdly-powered creations. In issue #344, Rock and Redeemer steal the gamma bombs, and in issue #345, the Leader sets them off. Granted, the last issue is 38 pages of story, but it's still a quick arc. David does a good job with his grand theme, however. Saunders and LaRoquette begin as regular folk, but their experience as Hulkbusters change them. LaRoquette blames Leonard Samson and the Hulk for the death of the woman he loves, even though it was no one's fault. When the Leader gives them the power to get their revenge, they take it almost gleefully, even though they are hopelessly naïve in thinking the Leader will return their true humanity when their job is done. They willingly give up that humanity to gain the Hulk's power, showing how like the monster they've become. The Leader, too, is willing to kill hundreds of people simply to conduct an experiment. Issue #345 is a breathtaking issue, because we're not completely sure if David will go through with it. When the bomb explodes, McFarlane gives us a wonderful two-page spread of the explosion, contained within a force field so that it stays within the town's limits. (It's ironic, given that McFarlane lives in Arizona, that he places Middletown, which is also in Arizona, in the middle of verdant farmland. I haven't been all over the state, but I very much doubt that landscape exists anywhere here.) The brilliant Leader proves to be much more of a monster than the Hulk, perhaps not surprisingly.

David, interestingly enough, doesn't let Bruce Banner off the hook either. Bruce is not the Hulk at the beginning of the run, but he quickly becomes the gray one, and he does it to himself. David points out that this is because the gray Hulk influenced him, but with what we learn later, it's clear that Banner has a hand in it. Bruce's relationship with Betty becomes more and more strained throughout this story arc, even though the Leader abducts Betty and she's absent for a good deal of it. Early on, Betty's ex-husband, Ramon, reappears, and although Betty never cheats on Bruce, she makes it clear that she likes the attention Ramon gives to her. After she escapes the Leader (who, to be fair, allowed her to), David writes a wonderful issue, #344, in which Betty finally has it out with the Hulk. At this point, she's pregnant, but she doesn't feel like she can tell Bruce. Bruce is the rational part of the Banner Mind, and therefore, as Betty points out, he locks up all his emotions, even those of love. He married her because he felt obligated to do so, and if she tells him that she's pregnant, he'll feel obligated to help her raise the child. She needs to talk to the emotional part of the Banner Mind, and for that she needs to talk to the Hulk. Interestingly enough, she tells the Hulk that she's pregnant, mainly to shame him, but the fact remains that she can tell him, but she can't tell Bruce. She knows that even though the Hulk is rage personified, he's also Bruce's wild side, the side that expresses passion. She doesn't quite get through to the Hulk, but David has set the stage for Bruce and the Hulk becoming more like each other.

And then the Hulk dies. Right? I mean, he's standing next to a gamma bomb when it goes off, and he's nowhere to be found in issue #346. He must be dead? Well, of course he's not, but David does a good job ending this particular arc but still making sure there are plenty of threads to continue. The Leader has a plan for the gamma-radiated survivors of Middletown, and of course, there's Betty's pregnancy to remember. David is very good at keeping things simmering for years, and it's obvious he has a lot more planned after this issue. However, this arc works on its own. What we get in this arc is a lot of excitement, of course, but we also see the foundation for what would soon become a fascinating psychological drama. Banner isn't quite as fractured in this story as he would later become, but it's interesting to see how David is setting the stage. The juxtaposition of "monsters" - whether those inside society or those ostracized by society - is also fun to read, if somewhat obvious. As a single story arc, this is more shallow than later David arcs on The Incredible Hulk, but it's still an exciting tale, and in the context of the longer run, it's a good beginning.

(I love how the Leader's "to-do" list includes "detonate bomb prematurely." Check! On to the groceries!)

This run has been collected in at least two different trade paperbacks (issues #331-339 in one, #340-346 in the other; these have been rebranded as "Visionaries" trades, it appears). They still seem to be in print, too, although why Marvel would let them go out of print makes no sense to me (of course, they allowed some of the Simonson Thor trades to go out of print, so what the hell do I know?). The trades might be nice to check out, because I'm sure the pages are cleaned up nicely. And I know you're dying to check out the Comics You Should Own archives! Aren't you?

18 Comments

• At April 8, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  I pretty much loved David's run on Hulk—at least up through the end of Gary Frank's run. This McFarlane stuff ...

• At April 8, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Oh, snap, Peter David Hulk!!

  This was my first foray into comics--it is still near and dear to me. Did ...

• At April 8, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  David did have a very strong run on this title. Good pick, Greg!

• At April 8, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I've just gotten into the Hulk in the last few years, but I've been a big fan of both the ...

• At April 9, 2009, Philip Ayres wrote:

  I bought these initially (waaay back when) for the X-Factor issues, then for the Wolverine appearance (back when you could ...

• At April 9, 2009, Bernard the Poet wrote:

  I've got a lot of respect for Peter David - and this run in particular.

  The Incredible Hulk must be a ...

• At April 9, 2009, Adam wrote:

  PAD gets credit for a lot of things on this run: making the grey Hulk a scary anti-hero; making the ...

• At April 9, 2009, Carl wrote:

  I actually like this method of transition between writers. At the time, I wasn't one to pay much attention ...

• At April 9, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  As I was coming back to read PAD latest Hulk run, they changed to that awful Planet Hulk crapoola. So ...

• At April 9, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  While I discovered comics at a young age through titles like X-Men and Batman, the two books which made me ...

• At April 9, 2009, AnthonyX wrote:

  Later on in Davids run , we see the Hulk back in Green with all of his faculties in check. ...

• At April 9, 2009, ThatGuy wrote:

  Meh. I really prefer my Hulk green and dumb with a conscience beneath the rage. So much of Peters David ...

• At April 9, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  I tried out the Hulk title during the Mantlo/Buscema years, then Byrne's aborted run. It wasn't until I took a ...

• At April 9, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Keown's art hooked me, but David's stories kept me reading and seeking out back issues. Thankfully, Marvel released the "Ground ...

• At April 9, 2009, John Trumbull wrote:

  I liked the gray Hulk, but the book kind of lost me with the "Mr. Fixit" twist. It was ...

• At April 9, 2009, stephen cade wrote:

  I started picking up the Hulk during the latter part of Milgrom's run--I had just missed a bus that ran ...

• At April 12, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Bernard the Poet said:

  "John Byrne had walked off the series in mid-story,"

  Shouldn't that "walked" really be "flounced?"

• At October 7, 2009, Michael Mikulovsky wrote:

  COOL! I had a letter printed in this issue. One of my 1st letters, if not my 1st? In the ...

I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly (writer) and JM Ken Niimura (artist/letterer).

Image, 7 issues (#1-7), cover dated July 2008-January 2009.

I'm really going to try not to SPOIL anything below, because this is so recent, but I might have to give away a few things. I can say that I will not give away the major plot points. So swear I!

I called this book the second-best mini-series of 2008, so it's not surprising it ends up on this list, but I still had to re-read it to make sure I wasn't deluding myself. I wasn't. It's as good on a second read-through as it was reading it in serial format, as re-reading it lets us look at some of the more interesting things Kelly and Niimura do to bring Barbara Thorson's world to life.

One of the big problems I have with coming-of-age stories is that they're so similar. There's always a precocious protagonist who's too smart for school (and whose teachers just don't get); a perilous situation at home; a non-existent social life unless it's true geek stuff; some awkward fumblings with sex at an entirely inappropriate age; some recreational drug use; and finally, some kind of epiphany by which the protagonist accepts who he or she is. Usually there's a patina of pop culture, so that the protagonist comes of age with whatever "cool" music happened to be the thing when it occurred. It's fairly dull, to be honest. Not all coming-of-age stories are like this, of course, and those are the ones that rise above the sludge and become truly noteworthy. I Kill Giants is one of those. On the one hand, Kelly makes his protagonist typically precocious - she's a fifth-grader who reads taxonomy textbooks in class - and the teachers and administrators at her school typically uncaring (the only real problem I have with the book is that her teacher and principal are complete caricatures). She plays Dungeons & Dragons, avoids the perilous situation at home, and has a non-existent social life. Kelly, however, quickly subverts those clichés and takes this to places most coming-of-age stories don't. He does this by introducing the giants.

Barbara hunts and kills giants, as she tells us early in issue #1. Of course, the adults in the book don't believe her, or believe she's using the giants to cover up her real problems (this is the view of the sympathetic school counselor, Mrs. Molle). Of course, the kids don't believe her either, except for Sophia, a new kid who desperately wants to be Barbara's friend. Sophia is necessary, of course, as a way for Barbara to explain herself to the reader, and this she does. There is also a bully, of course, who leads a posse around school and torments both Barbara (who fights back) and Sophia (who doesn't). Kelly does a nice job setting up the story in the first two issues before everything goes sideways in issue #3 and the comic really takes off. As we are comic book readers, we're conditioned to accept fantastical elements in our fiction far more than the characters are (this is a problem even in superhero comics, where people who can burst into flame or fire lasers from their hands are always doubting alien invasions or demonic possessions), so we accept that Barbara really does fight giants, even if the setting of the book is remarkably mundane (the story takes place in an unnamed town on Long Island). In issue #3, however, we begin to question our judgment and Barbara's sanity, and the turn in the book's tone is stunning. Barbara is no longer a petulant fifth-grader who doesn't suffer fools because she's engaged in a noble pursuit. Suddenly, she becomes someone with real problems, from what happens when she opens the purse in which her giant-killing hammer is stored to her treatment of both Mrs. Molle and Sophia. It's in this issue that we get confirmation that something is seriously wrong with her home life (we had only suspicions before). Kelly brings this up by a clever device that is usually annoying. When Mrs. Molle speaks to Barbara about her situation at home, some of the words - the ones that would give it away - are blacked out. On the one hand, this is an annoying dodge by Kelly - he knows what's going on with Barbara's family, but is deliberately withholding that information from the reader. But it fits in with how Barbara perceives the world. The blacked-out words become, ingeniously, static. Barbara simply doesn't hear them - they are black holes into which coherence disappears and all that comes out is dissonance. It's part of what's disturbing about the issue - is Barbara truly insane? we wonder, because after being quirky in the first two issues, she becomes dangerous in this one. We believe that if giants exist, she would be capable of slaying them.

Kelly keeps this tension throughout the comic. It's not a spoiler to write that a giant (actually a titan, and Barbara explains the difference between them) does show up, but Kelly does a nice job putting doubt in our mind - is it really a giant, or something that springs from Barbara's tortured mind? We assume, when the story begins, that Barbara is going to fight a giant, and so this doubt deepens the confrontation and makes it more than just a battle between an 11-year-old girl and a monster - it becomes a battle for a soul; whose soul it is, however, also makes this a more interesting story than it originally appears. The giant is the least of Barbara's worries, as it turns out.

I Kill Giants is deeper than it appears in several places, not just with Barbara's dilemma with the giant. Names, for instance, are very important in the comic. Obviously, Barbara's last name, Thorson, speaks volumes. She carries a hammer, like Thor, and kills giants, which Thor was known to do as well. But her first name, Barbara, is interesting as well. "Barbara" means "foreign" or "strange" - "barbarian" is derived from the same root, obviously - and our heroine is certainly that, at least according to those around her. She is The Other, the girl who doesn't like girly things, the girl who's a rigid Dungeon Master, the girl who knows baseball lore. Nobody knows quite what to do with her, not her older sister, not her friend, not even her guidance counselor. Barbara, as the foreigner in a relatively "normal" suburban world, must navigate the problems of the world alone, with only one thing to guide her (I'll get to that). She is beyond the pale, so to speak, in the wilderness where naked fairies play and weird creatures abound and titans rise from restless waters. She names her hammer "Coveleski" after Harry Coveleski, a pitcher for the Phillies who, at the age of 22, defeated the New York Giants three times in five days late in 1908, costing the New Yorkers the pennant (which went to the Cubs, who then won the World Series - currently, the last one they've won) and earning the nickname "Giant-Killer." It's a clever name but also shows that Barbara remains an outsider - she not only knows baseball, but ancient baseball as well. Her guide as she attempts to decipher what's going on in her life is wisdom, which she slowly gains over the course of the series, and of course, her only friend is named Sophia, which means "wisdom." Sophia acts as Barbara's foil to a certain degree, getting her to explain all about giants (which helps the audience, of course), betraying her when she thinks Barbara has done the same to her, and gaining the courage she needs to stand up to the bully and put herself clearly on Barbara's side. Sophia is the unwitting catalyst in Barbara's transformation - when she betrays Barbara, Barbara wants revenge, and Coveleski fails her. It is a sacred weapon, and Barbara needs to see that before she can fight the titan. Sophia helps Barbara by showing her that hiding everything about yourself from your friends ultimately leads to despair and loneliness. Even the minor characters get interesting names. The ridiculous principal is named Marx, a comment less on the philosopher than the comedy troupe, while Barbara's older sister (and caregiver) is named Karen. "Karen" means "pure," and although I'm not sure if Kelly intended to give her a meaningful name as much as he did Barbara and Sophia (and I'm not even sure how much he did with them, but there's no doubt they're more intentional than the others), it's interesting that Karen, although not exactly "pure," is a beacon in Barbara's life and a rock for her, if only her younger sister would see it. In the aftermath of Barbara's fight with the titan, Karen shows how important she's been in our heroine's life, and although the reader hasn't hated her before this, after the fight she becomes more lovable.

Atmosphere is very important in the book, and Niimura is magnificent at that. I Kill Giants is a mythological story to some degree, so Kelly steeps the book in mythic symbolizers and counts on Niimura to bring them to life. Despite the cartoonish style that Niimura brings to the art, it's very disturbing in places, clashing nicely with the normalcy of the suburbs. Barbara herself, with her rabbit (or other animal ears) sticking from the top of her head, is slightly out-of-sync visually as well as emotionally with the world. Niimura makes her a bridge between the normal world and the world of giants, as she stands on the edge, watching the harbingers of the giant's arrival stroll unhindered through the world, invisible to others, and bears witness. Barbara's fear of what's going on at home is brought to life well, and when Sophia unwittingly stumbles across it, the terror Barbara feels is palpable, mostly because of the way Niimura sets the scene and leads to a big reveal. By tapping into this myth, Kelly gives Niimura fertile ground. Water and weather are very important in this book, as Barbara reads the signs in the skies and Niimura makes cloud formations terrifying omens and creates a bay that seethes with life as the titan approaches. The battle with the titan in issue #6 is one of the best fights I've seen in a comic in a long time, as Barbara grapples with the giant and the elements, and Niimura gives it a kinetic insanity that leaves the reader breathless. It's a terrifying fight, because we know what Barbara's fighting for (or at least we think we do) and when the giant speaks, we realize that Kelly has been leading us on, and now we have to reconsider what we thought about Barbara and her obsession. The titan takes on even more mythic attributes, as it represents not a thing to be defeated, necessarily, but a thing that cannot be defeated. Kelly gets to this through the writing, but Niimura does a marvelous job turning the giant from a creature to fear to something different in just a few panels. In the aftermath of the battle, Niimura shines in the quieter aspects of the book too, including a beautiful page that shows Barbara finally coming to terms with her chosen profession.

As a sheer adventure comic, I Kill Giants works well. As a coming-of-age story, it rises above others because of the way Kelly chooses to write the dilemma of growing up. These two elements make it a worthy book, but what makes it brilliant is the way Kelly digs deeper into the psyche of Barbara and shows us how close to the edge she, and by extension all of us, are. Is Barbara fantasizing? Others in the comic would say no, but perhaps they've tapped into the same psychosis that she has. If she is fantasizing, then Kelly gives us a perfectly good reason why. But at the same time, he reveals that perhaps there are dark things out there in the night, and we need someone like Barbara to stand at the threshold keeping them back. It's important to note that Kelly never definitively says if Barbara is fantasizing or insane or really fighting giants. Ultimately, it doesn't matter. What matters is that she has a battle to fight. How she fights that battle makes her who she is, and makes this, truly, a Comic You Should Own.

As I mentioned, the serial just finished in January, so a trade is not out yet. It has been solicited, however, and according to Image, it will be out on 13 May. Put it on your shopping list! Or just dig up the back issues! Or just peruse the archives for more stuff you really ought to own!

14 Comments

• At March 26, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  I'll have to read the entire writeup later (I'm *supposed* to be working), but I simply want to second the ...

• At March 26, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  Looking forward to the TPB of this one....

• At March 26, 2009, BDaly wrote:

  I often like Kelly, and I like the look of the art. Plus, you usually get it right with your ...

• At March 26, 2009, gerg wrote:

  I enjoyed this series as well. I may be tempted to buy it again when its collected...plus the ...

• At March 26, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Four Eyes is good, but only two issues have come out, so it's too soon to tell. The art ...

• At March 26, 2009, fanboy d wrote:

  LOVED i kill giants

• At March 26, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Another one for the list, I suppose.

  It's a long list. Egads...

• At March 26, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  I live to make you spend money, Bill!!!!

• At March 26, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Really like Joe Kelly!

  will be on the lookout for a discounted copy of this someday...

• At March 26, 2009, Kirk Warren wrote:

  I also highly recommend I Kill Giants. Easily one of the best comics from last year.

• At March 27, 2009, Rick Jones, really wrote:

  Joe Kelly has done some good work in the past, but nothing he has done is better than this mini-series. ...

• At November 3, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Okay, so this is REALLY late, but I just read I Kill Giants today and loved it. I only have ...

• At November 8, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dane: I'm not sure about the hammer insignia. Only Kelly and Niimura know!!!!

  That's an interesting point about Tyler. ...

• At November 9, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  @Greg - Oh, cool. Being so late to the party, I didn't know if anyone would ever see my comment. ...

Human Target by Peter Milligan (writer), Edvin Biuković (artist, mini-series), Javier Pulido (artist, graphic novel; issues #1-5, 11-13, 18), Cliff Chiang (artist, issues #6-10, 14-16, 19-21), Cameron Stewart (artist, issue #17), Lee Loughridge (colorist, mini-series; issues #1-3, 6-10, 14-17, 19-21), Dave Stewart (colorist, graphic novel), Javier Rodriguez (colorist, issues #4-5, 12-13), Javier Pulido (colorist, issue #11, 18), Robert Solanović (letterer, mini-series), Todd Klein (letterer, graphic novel), and Clem Robins (letterer, issues #1-21).

DC/Vertigo, 25 issues (4-issue mini-series, 21-issue ongoing) + 1 graphic novel (Human Target: Final Cut), cover dated April-July 1999 (mini-series), 2002 (Final Cut), October 2003-June 2005 (ongoing).

In response to a comment or two from the last post, I am going to try to keep the spoilers to a minimum. As Christopher Chance is a DC property and not a Milligan one, I will reveal that he doesn't die at the end of this series. Sorry, bloodthirsty people! I'm sure you'll let me know if I do a poor job with this. That's why I love you guys!

I've written about quite a few Peter Milligan comics in this series, mainly because he's very good (unless he's writing Elektra or X-Men) and also because it just happens that a lot of his titles have come up in the alphabet so far. As we've seen, Milligan is extremely interested with identity in his comics, and this series, obviously, gave him a venue to pursue that theme. More than perhaps any comic he's written (yes, even Shade, the Changing Man), Human Target is about identity. What's most impressive is how Milligan manages to write so much about identity without becoming boring.

Before 1999, I had never read a Human Target comic. I have still never read anything but Milligan's work on the character. Therefore, I know only vaguely that the character, created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino, was somewhat of an action star/private investigator. Milligan kept that aspect - the action in these comics is fast and furious - but added the identity crisis (actually, I can't say he added it, but he explored it more thoroughly). Throughout the series, Christopher Chance is tortured by the fact that he's not sure who he is anymore. He has become so many people over the years that he's gotten lost and no longer has a foundation. This becomes even more evident in the ongoing, which comes after Final Cut. At the beginning of that series, he no longer has his own face, and needs to "become" Christopher Chance through his usual process just to walk around. On top of that, he continues with his "work," meaning he adds another layer of deceit. At the end of the series, he's confronted by the ultimate problem - is he even Christopher Chance? In the mini-series, we're introduced to Tom McFadden, Chance's assistant, who goes further into the roles he plays than even Christopher. Tom returns at the end of the ongoing series, desperate to become someone else, and that someone is Christopher Chance. One of the failings of the series is that at the end of the mini-series, it seems like Tom McFadden will be okay, but the next time we see him, he's at the end of his rope again. We can fill in the blanks, but it would have been more interesting to see how Milligan would get him to that point. In the final story, "The Stealer," Chance and McFadden fight, not over a woman (although one is involved), but over who gets to live Chance's life (something I'll get back to). Milligan does a nice job keeping us guessing about whether Chance will retain even his identity.

However, just toying with Chance's identity doesn't make this a great comic. Milligan, interestingly enough, is terribly unsubtle about Chance's crisis. He's constantly doubting whether he can get back to "who he is," even though he's not even sure anymore. In Final Cut, he falls in love with Mary White, the wife of a Hollywood producer who hires him to find his kidnapped son, and when, in the ongoing, he has another chance with Mary, he always worries how he can be with her when he doesn't even know who he is. Milligan has shown an interest in psychiatry and how therapy can affect people in ways not intended, and he gets into this a bit in the ongoing. What makes the comic great, therefore, is not Christopher Chance's identity crisis - it's everyone else's. Milligan creates a number of wonderful characters, all of them with some kind of identity problem or other. It begins and ends, of course, with Tom McFadden, who has issues throughout the mini-series and then in the final arc. But Milligan creates characters almost off-hand who become facets of the identity problem - some obvious, some not. Emerald, the assassin in the mini-series who has been hired to kill Christopher Chance, is a quiet housewife when she's not on the job, helping her husband write a novel about a female assassin named Emerald. Milligan, interestingly, doesn't tell us if she was inspired by the novel or if she inspired her husband (who doesn't know about her double life). The "target" of the mini-series, the reverend Earl James, has also led a double life, although his simply involves a sexual indiscretion with a choir girl years earlier, a girl who ends up a crack whore. Milligan's look at identity extends even to D-Noyz, the drug dealer who wants the reverend dead. His arc, ironically, is one of the more interesting in the series, as he begins, seemingly, as a minor character, but who gradually morphs into just the kind of character who shows what Milligan is doing in this series. D-Noyz wants to kill the reverend because he's taking a stand against dealing. However, in issue #3, he speaks to a Hollywood agent about getting a television show, because he's "street." At the end of the issue, Rhea, the ex-choir girl who told D-Noyz about Reverend James' infidelity, shows up at his meeting with his agent and slits her wrists. She calls him "Dennis," his real name, and her act transforms him. He saves her by getting her to a hospital, but we see his former identity come out - Dennis knew Rhea in fifth grade, and her act brings out that innocent boy. D-Noyz still exists, but Dennis is also there, and he has to make a decision about where his life is going.

This kind of shifting between identities is present throughout. Ronan White, the kidnapped son of the Hollywood producer in Final Cut, is damaged almost beyond recognition (figuratively). As the ongoing series begins, Christopher Chance is trying to lead a "normal" life with Mary White, but even she is leading a double life, as we learn in issues #11-13. Milligan does a nice thing with the secondary characters - they're all leading double lives, but for different reasons, each which helps illuminate the human condition. Earl James is a good minister who can't quite come to terms with his mistakes, while Father Mike, another good minister, can't move past his mistakes. John Matthews, who was supposed to have died on 11 September 2001, creates a new identity so that his wife can collect insurance money. Larry McGee is a baseball player on a downward trend who's hiding a secret that comes back to haunt him when Christopher Chance comes into his life. Charlie Rivers also creates a new identity to escape his past in a radical revolutionary cell. In one of the best issues in the series, the stand-alone issue #10, Jim Grace escapes from prison, calls up Christopher Chance, and asks him for a favor before he returns to prison. It's a lively story that completely turns our expectations about what an escaped convict might actually want. In issue #17, another single-issue story, a woman asks Christopher to help her change her identity, but she doesn't realize the cost of that request. It's astonishing that even as Chance is internally narrating about his identity crisis, Milligan is nicely paralleling this through all the characters in the book. Chance might not know who he is, but neither does anyone else. Chance embraces his lack of identity (reluctantly), and Milligan implies that he's more stable than most of the people with whom he interacts, even as he's changing his face and becoming different people, often more than once in an issue.

Milligan explores this idea of identity being linked to sanity a bit, although not as much as he might have. Milligan, interestingly enough, is a rare writer in that he shows comic book characters seeking therapy, and it's more than just a scene - the sessions actually have a continuity. He seems to be going in this direction more, as the recently-cancelled Infinity Inc. had therapy as an important plot point. In Human Target, he puts Chance in marriage therapy with Mary White, which becomes important in the final story arc. Tom McFadden, who becomes more of the person he's impersonating than Chance ever did, cannot live his own life, so he must steal Chance's. At the end of the mini-series, Chance gives Tom a very interesting send-off, but obviously it didn't stick, and by issues #19-21, he needs something different. What's fascinating about the arc is that Milligan shows Tom being a better "Christopher Chance" than Chance himself. Milligan wants us to ask if Tom is better because he's a better man, or if he's a better actor. Does Tom love Mary, or does he just want to destroy Christopher? And does Christopher really love Mary, or is he also impersonating a "normal" person? Milligan once again makes the point that perhaps no one is normal. Christopher and Tom have complex feelings for Mary, while Mary has complex feelings for them. As we might expect from Milligan, he doesn't give us easy answers about this odd triangle.

The love triangle in the final arc is just another facet in another large theme in Human Target: sex. Milligan's comics have always been drenched in sex, even more so than a lot of creators, and what's always interesting about Milligan's sex is that it's so much more complex than most portrayed in comics. Sex in comics is often adolescent, with people reacting like teenagers to situations. Obviously, some writers are much better at it, and Milligan belongs in that company, as his relationships feature mature people wrestling with difficult parts of sex and love. It's uncomfortable to read, but never ridiculous, as it often is in some other comics, even comics that strive for "maturity." This examination of sex begins in issue #1 of the mini-series, when Christopher picks up a woman in a bar (who turns out to be Emerald, the assassin), and when they go back to the bedroom, Chance tells her that he simply wants to watch, because he's unable to perform sexually. This is interesting for two reasons: it's not actually Christopher Chance, but Tom McFadden, and Chance is disturbed that Tom actually knows that about him; and this problem of Chance's comes up again and again in the series. Chance, of course, has to impersonate different people throughout the series, but what's fascinating is that he doesn't have this problem when he's someone else. His impersonations get so deep (he often points out that he's not "pretending" to be others, he actually becomes them) that he no longer has Christopher Chance's hang-ups. He has plenty of sex, of course, and Milligan wants us to consider what each sex act means. Is Chance cheating on Mary? Does he even love her? If he doesn't love her, why does he remake Maggie Stains into Mary White in a Vertigo-like move? Chance is haunted by the way his association with Emerald ended, and then he becomes haunted by Mary and what happened to put them together. When Tom McFadden returns, one of the things that draws Mary to him is that he's a more attentive lover. She believes that Christopher has changed because he loves her, but ultimately, does it matter if she loves Christopher Chance or someone who is pretending to be Christopher Chance? As she points out in the final issue, "I know you're not really fighting over me. You're fighting over Christopher Chance." Milligan forces us to consider crucial questions: Does identity matter if you're with someone you love? Can someone love if they don't know who they are? How much can love overcome other problems? Throughout the series, we see love twisted into something different - not necessarily ugly, just different - and by the end of the series, Milligan has put the characters through the wringer as they attempt to figure these important questions out. In the end, they may remain unanswered, but we have a better understanding of why people wrestle with them.

Sex has an ugly side in the book, too. There are men of God abusing their positions, horrifying stories of young girls brought over from Central America to be used in sex games, lying lovers who simply dig their own graves with those fabrications, and the inevitable linking of violence with sex (both Christopher and Tom get off on the violence). And it's not just sex - love is under the microscope as well. The love triangle of the final arc is one, but Frank White's love for his son fuels Final Cut, but it's love that has gone somewhat awry and leads to dark places, while Earl James' love for his family drives him to take drastic measures in the mini-series. Milligan wants us to consider how love takes over our lives, and therefore, the final arc is simply a culmination of people consumed by love and willing to do horrible things to save it. If it all goes wrong, it's not because of bad intentions (it usually isn't, of course), but because people are so desperate. The amazing thing about Human Target is that pretty much every character is desperate, yet Milligan allows them to react to their desperation in many different and fascinating ways.

Other aspects of the book aren't quite as successful, not because Milligan writes them poorly, but because they're less subtle and therefore a bit more obvious and even obnoxious. The plots range from timely and fascinating (the illegal immigrant sex trade) to timely and a bit silly (the reaction of some of the baseball players to being caught using steroids in issues #4-5 seem a bit extreme, given the way real-world players and the fans have reacted). The plots are a bit beside the point, because Milligan is far more interested in examining how life affects the characters, not the other way around. That's not to say they're not fun comics to read, as there's plenty of subterfuge, hot women, and flying bullets. But this is a more psychodrama than anything else, and the plots don't matter as much. They're still fun to read, though.

The art chores are interesting, because what Milligan wants his artists to do is create a man who has a shifting identity, and therefore we're always trying to spot the "fake." The technical aspects of Chance becoming someone else is ridiculous, because they're just too difficult to overcome, but on the surface, it's fun to watch the art and try to discover who's who. The tone set by the artists helps the stories, as well. Biuković, frankly, would have been the perfect artist for the ongoing series, but his death took that option away, of course. His art is wonderful for the stylish pseudo-espionage vibe that imbues the book. Chang has that kind of sensibility, too. Pulido's work is a bit less suitable, but what he brings to the book is a kind of bleakness, which works well for the Hollywood setting. Pulido and colorists Stewart (in Final Cut) and Rodriguez (issues #12-13) turn the deserts of California and Mexico into bleak wastelands populated by morally suspect characters, contrasting the horrors that occur there with the savage beauty of the surroundings. In issue #18, Pulido colors his art himself, and does a fine job showing the isolation of immigrants in an increasingly anti-foreigner America. Pulido's art doesn't work as well on the series as Biuković's and Chiang's, but in some instances, it's stunning.

Human Target could have easily lasted much longer, but I suppose sales just weren't there. What's nice about the issues (and graphic novel) we do have is that they're quite dense - Milligan gets the most out of the space allotted. It's impressive how thoughtful the book is, given the copious numbers of people getting their heads blown off and such. It's also the kind of book that rewards re-reading - once you get the violence out of the way, you can concentrate more on what Milligan is really saying with this comic. As is the case with far too many excellent books, the series is not completely collected in trade. You can find the mini-series, the graphic novel (I don't think it's out of print), and the first ten issues of the ongoing in trade format, but after that, I guess the sales didn't even warrant that. But that shouldn't deter you from tracking it down!

And hey, check out the archives for more suggestions of comics that are worthy of your time!

14 Comments

• At March 8, 2009, E.D. wrote:

  I really wish DC would finish collecting this series. I waited for the trades and was really disappointed when ...

• At March 8, 2009, comb & razor wrote:

  "Good Milligan"? I'd say this is GREAT Milligan!

  I'm amazed that Human Target isn't one of the DC properties being developed ...

• At March 8, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, Good Milligan usually means Great Milligan. So yeah, I'll accept that.

  It would be nice if they did the ...

• At March 8, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  Seriously GOOD Milligan.

  I loved each issue from the mini, the OGN and the ongoing. Nothing short of wonderful. ...

• At March 8, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I've always thought the first 4-issue mini was the best of the entire series. Maybe I'm biased because I ...

• At March 8, 2009, karl wrote:

  great series, it was my favorite coming out at the time it was being published

  peter milligan is definately one of ...

• At March 8, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Man, I picked the ongoing up on a whim and it became my favorite comic at the time. Very nice ...

• At March 8, 2009, Zack Smith wrote:

  Another great profile!

  I had a chance to read the HUMAN TARGET pilot script. It's...a decent show, but it's ...

• At March 9, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  I've yet to read this one but after reading the entire run of Shade, The Changing Man I'll definitely give ...

• At March 9, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Fantastic Book!

• At March 9, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dude: Elektra is the supreme example of Bad Milligan. I'd throw X-Men in there as well, although that's more ...

• At March 9, 2009, Scott wrote:

  Great work, Greg.

  I was lucky enough to pick up the entire run for a good price a few years back ...

• At March 9, 2009, Ken Raining wrote:

  God, I loved this book. Peter Milligan is easily the most underrated writer in comics. His problem is ...

• At March 10, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  I wouldn't say that he completely has no feel for superheroes. He's done X-Force/X-Statix, JLA: Kid Amazo and a ...

DC, 64 issues (Demon Annual #2; #1-60 + #1,000,000; JLA/Hitman #1-2), cover dated 1993 (Demon Annual #2), April 1996-April 2001, November-December 2007 (JLA/Hitman #1-2).

As usual, MAJOR SPOILERS abound in this post. That's just how I roll!

Of course, Dogwelder isn't the only reason these are Comics You Should Own. Dogwelder comes from Steve Dillon's twisted imagination, which gave us a man ... who welds dead dogs to bad guys' faces. What the hell, indeed. But Hitman is so much more than twisted jokes. Hitman, more than Preacher, more than The Punisher, is Garth Ennis's masterpiece. He has never been as good, and he might never be as good again. That's kind of a shame, but we can still re-read this and marvel at just how good it is.

What makes this comic Ennis's masterpiece? Preacher, with its Vertigo sensibility, its marketing push, and its lofty themes, is often cited as a comic non-comics readers would like. Preacher, as good as it is (and it's quite good), is ultimately somewhat of an immature work. Throughout, it feels as if Ennis is rebelling against a Christian upbringing, and while there's nothing wrong with that, it limits the comic somewhat. Ennis also screws up the ending, which lessens the impact of the book. But this isn't about Preacher, it's about Hitman!

One reason this is superior to Ennis's more lauded work is the supporting cast. Ennis creates a large cast, beginning with the title character, Tommy Monaghan. Tommy is a killer who gains super powers in the Demon Annual #2, which was part of the "Bloodlines" crossover in DC's Annuals back in 1993. Tommy was the only character from the crossover who lasted (the second most successful series to come out of the idea was Anima, which ran 16 issues), which allows Ennis to make a joke about it issue #54 (McAllister mentions that the aliens created a new generation of superpowered beings, and Tommy says, "You mean like whatsizname? An' that other guy?"). But Ennis gave Tommy a much bigger cast than Jesse Custer had. Tommy is part of a neighborhood - the Cauldron in Gotham City, the worst section of a pretty horrible town - and he hangs out at the same bar - Sean Noonan's - so he has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. This allows Ennis to develop one of his favorite themes - that of friendship and sticking by your friends no matter what. In Tommy's world, there's nothing worse than not sticking by your friends. The characters who surround Tommy are as interesting as he is, and therein lies the strength of the book. Sean Noonan is the father figure, a retired soldier and hitman who practically raised Tommy. Pat is Sean's nephew and Tommy's best friend. Hacken is a crazed killer who is definitely not the brightest bulb in the box, a fact that gets him needled by Pat, who, according to Hacken, always runs to Tommy for protection (Pat isn't a hitman, another strike against him). Ringo is a cool Asian assassin, the only one around who's in Tommy's class. Early on in the series, Ennis introduces Natt the Hat, an old friend of Tommy's from Detroit. Natt and Tommy served in the Gulf War together, and Natt comes to Gotham to escape a gang war and becomes Hardy to Tommy's Laurel. There's also Tiegel, a Gotham detective who, through the course of the series, falls in love with Tommy and also gets fired because she's an honest cop in a decidely corrupt department. All of these characters get their own stories at various points in the series, and Ennis does a wonderful job making them real. The characterization in this book is its bedrock.

On the surface, what makes the book so glorious is Ennis's plotting. This book is set firmly in the DC Universe, so there are superheroes galore throughout the run. Tommy himself has super powers, but Ennis does a nifty thing with them - Tommy rarely uses them. He gains X-ray vision and telepathy, both handy for his profession (it's always good to be able to see the bad guys coming when they're hiding behind things), but using them gives him a terrible migraine, so usually, Ennis just ignores them. This can be seen as stemming from Ennis's disdain for superheroes, but it's not really that. "Bloodlines" demanded that the "victims" get super powers, so Ennis went along with it. When Tommy got a series, Ennis obviously wanted to write it as a "regular" guy interacting with superheroes, so he downplayed the fact that Tommy has powers. But the fact that the book is in Gotham, in the DCU, means that superheroes are always showing up, and this is part of what makes the book so brilliant. Ennis doesn't really write superheroes "realistically," but he does make them human. Therefore, in issue #1, in which Tommy is hired to kill the Joker (why not?) and naturally, runs into Batman (DC marketing at work!), he is caught by the Dark Knight and beaten up a bit ... after having eaten curry earlier in the comic. In a brilliant sequence, he vomits all over Batman's boots ... but that's not the great part, as fun as it is. In the next panel, Batman has a look of such disbelief, as if he never contemplated anyone puking on his boots. In the next panel, he lays Tommy out with a huge punch. He's still Batman, but in two panels, Ennis makes him human by showing how angry he is by someone daring to vomit on him. It's hilarious but also perfectly true to form. In "Local Hero," the arc in issues #9-12, Tommy meets Kyle Rayner. Without changing his personality too much and without making him less heroic, Ennis shows how goofy Kyle is and how goofy the entire idea of superheroes is. Issue #11, where Tommy meets Kyle for the first time (after a cliffhanger confrontation at the end of issue #10), is hilarious. Kyle has been told by the government that Tommy intends to assassinate him, so he goes hunting for our hero. Tommy reads Kyle's mind ("a pretty fast read," he assures the audience) and discovers what his ring does. Ennis does a great job showing the power of the ring: "So your ring there, what does it do ... That. That. That. Uh-huh. Holy crap, what doesn't it do." Then he throws a grenade to Kyle and narrates, "It doesn't make you smarter." After they sort out that Kyle was lied to, Tommy takes him to Noonan's. In another very funny scene, Tommy introduces Kyle to Sixpack, the Cauldron's local superhero (we'll get back to Sixpack). He tells Sixpack that "they won't let this guy in the Justice Club. Any chance you could put in a word for him?" Kyle tries to protest that he's never heard of the "Justice Club," but Sixpack ignores him and tells him they don't take just anyone off the street. He asks Kyle what his name is, and Kyle tells him he's Green Lantern. Sixpack says, "Yeah? You don't look too much like him ..." Kyle tells him he's the "new one," but Sixpack tells him, "They only take originals." Then, when Tommy tells Kyle to get the next round of beers, Kyle, logically, tells him he has no money - he "can't carry cash in this outfit, obviously." In just a few scenes, Ennis takes the piss out of superheroes and their ilk - "Green Tightwad" can't even get a shout!

Despite the takedown of Green Lantern and superheroes in general, Ennis still has a soft spot in his heart for the genre. Hence issue #34, "Of Thee I Sing," which is one of the top five Superman stories ever written. Superman happens to land on a roof on which Tommy is hanging out, and Supes tells him that he couldn't rescue an astronaut trapped in a shuttle. Superman isn't upset because the man died, but because he knows what people believe - if Superman is there, they're safe. But at that moment, the astronaut knew Superman was there but he wasn't going to save him. Tommy tells him that Superman is everything that's great about America - he's an immigrant who didn't bring all his culture with him, but decided to simply help people in need without worrying about the past. Ennis does a marvelous job building up to that moment, and it makes so much sense that it's simply brilliant. But it's not the only amazing part of the issue. The way Ennis and McCrea show the scene where Superman can't save the astronaut is devastating, and even the little things - Superman pointing out that Batman's response to his crisis was "typically grim" and Tommy whining that Bats needs to take a vacation - are spot-on. And, hanging over the entire issue like a specter of death, is what Tommy is doing on the roof. On the first page, we see him leaning against a water tower, reading a copy of Newstime (with Superman on the cover, fittingly). Given what we know about Tommy's profession, we wonder if he's up to no good. Then, he begins talking to Superman, and we forget about who he is and what he does for a living. Then, when Superman flies away, Tommy goes back to work and shoots his victim. He even uses the guy in his example of how Superman is all that's good about the country. It's a brilliant piece of writing, and shows how well balanced Ennis makes his comic - Tommy is a great character, a nice guy (usually), but also a cold-blooded killer. He can charm Superman, vomit on Batman, and fall in love with a police woman. In the coda to Tommy's series, the JLA/Hitman mini-series that came out in late 2007, Superman is still able to look beyond Tommy's choice of profession, even if the rest of the Justice League can't. More than any of the heroes, including the younger ones (Kyle and Wally West), Superman can see shades of gray in the moral makeup of people. Perhaps, Ennis is implying, because his great power requires such discipline on his part, he can understand the temptations of the dark side more than someone like Batman, who will never win his war against crime and can therefore allow himself moral certitudes.

Ennis's attitude toward the superhero genre can be seen in Sixpack and Section Eight, the group of absolutely dysfunctional heroes he introduces over the course of the series. Sixpack is a drunk who lives in a fantasy world, spinning his disgusting nights in the gutter into battles with Darkseid and other major DC villains. In issue #18, he decides to gather his comrades in Section Eight together once more, as Tommy, Natt, Tiegel, and Catwoman are holed up in a church that is being attacked by an angry demon. Only Section Eight can win the day! The collection of the heroes is a tour de force of parody, complete with individualized logos for the members: Friendly Fire, who only blasts his own teammates; Shakes, who, well, shakes; the Defenestrator, who chucks people through windows (he's in Arkham, and Ennis pokes fun at the revolving door in the place when the attendant says, "We got pretty strict security procedures here at Arkham ... on the other hand, you seem like a pretty responsible guy. What the hell, huh?" [Needless to say, Sixpack is wearing his completely ill-fitting superhero togs and is obviously drunk]); Jean de Baton-Baton, who hits people with a stick; Dogwelder, who, as I wrote above, welds dead dogs to people's faces; Flemgem, who hocks loogies at the bad guys; and Bueno Excellente, who ... well, he sodomizes with extreme prejudice (he "fights evil with the power of perversion," according to Sixpack). Ennis has always had a twisted and somewhat juvenile sense of humor, but the wonderful thing about Section Eight is that he doesn't overdo it. They appear in issue #18, fight in issue #19, and take off in issue #20. Sixpack remains a supporting character, but Ennis uses him sparingly. They only reappear in issues #51-52, when a demon is about to take over the world. This is when Ennis is wrapping up the series, so several cast members have already died, and he dispatches most of Section Eight is hilarious, gruesome, and even tragic fashion. But Sixpack saves the world because he's a superhero. The demon offers him a chance to fight in hell - "try your strength against us in a battle for your own soul. Win your salvation ... or meet your damnation. do this now, and we shall spare this world." Sixpack doesn't hesitate, but walks straight into the jaws of hell. In a beautiful epilogue, the narration wonders if maybe Sixpack got out. McCrea shows us a man in a suit standing in front of a group, and the narration reads, "Perhaps Sidney Speck, now attending A.A. meetings in New York City, might know a thing or two ... but if he does, he's not saying." This wonderful ending for a joke character is Ennis at his finest - he might not like superheroes, but he shows us that anyone can be one, if they just believe. And Sidney, a.k.a. Sixpack, is one of the few characters who gets a happy ending in the book.

These moments, along with the plots of the story arcs, drive the book and make it such a "fun" read. It veers breathlessly from raucous comedy to dark tragedy, and Ennis does wonders with both extremes. Just to go over them before we come to the major theme of the comic and why it's so good, the arcs are:

Issues #1-3 ("A Rage in Arkham"): Tommy is hired to kill the Joker, but it turns out to be a trap set by demons called the Arkannone, who want Tommy to be their hired gun on Earth. Naturally, he refuses.

Issues #4-7 ("Ten Thousand Bullets"): Mo Dubelz, the gangster from the original Demon Annual, puts a hit out on Tommy. Tommy, you see, killed his brother, Joe - who is Mo's conjoined twin. So half of Mo Dubelz is a rotting corpse. This arc also features Nightfist ("He will hit you with his fist!"), a Batman parody who gets what's coming to him, and Johnny Navarone, the fastest gun in the world, who Tommy luckily kills but whose death has consequences in the future.

Issue #8 ("The Night the Lights Went Out"): A "Final Night" issue, in which Tommy and the gang hang out at Sean's bar and tell stories about times they almost died.

Issues #9-12 ("Local Hero"): The government wants Tommy to assassinate superheroes for them, and when Tommy says no, they sic Green Lantern on him. Tommy ends up blackmailing the government official who tried to hire him.

Issues #13-14 ("Zombie Night at the Gotham Aquarium"): Exactly what it sounds like. A scientist tests a zombie-creating drug (developed to bring soldiers back to life) at the aquarium, and Tommy and his friends need to stop it. This gives Ennis and McCrea an excuse for the gang to slaughter baby seals and penguins and other cute animals.

Issues #15-20 ("Ace of Killers"): The return of the Arkannone, the Mawzir (their earthly agent), Jason Blood (and Etrigan), and guest-starring Catwoman. Selina steals the only gun that can kill a demon, and the Arkannone want it for their own. This arc brings the demon Baytor (who showed up in Ennis's Demon run) into the cast, as he eventually becomes a fantastic bartender at Noonan's.

Issue #21 ("Kiss Me"): Tommy and Tiegel do the nasty, and Tommy accidentally stumbles across a drug deal that will have bad consequences in the future.

Issue #22 ("The Santa Contract"): A deranged, radioactive Santa Claus stalks Gotham (the narration is in rhyme, like "How the Grinch Stole Christmas") and Tommy and Natt have to kill him. Very funny and bleak, and a nice Bladerunner reference.

Issues #23-28 ("Who Dares Wins"): An old mistake comes back to haunt Tommy and Natt when the SAS (Special Air Service) comes to kill them. They drag the Brits into a gang war and escape only by luck. Issue #28 is an epilogue in which Tommy, foreshadowing like crazy, wonders if they've gone too far in their professions and there's no turning back.

Issues #29-33 ("Tommy's Heroes"): In order to feel like he's not a complete scumbag, Tommy heads to Africa to fight rebels for a despot. He takes along all his friends, and of course, things aren't what they seem in the desert.

Issue #1,000,000 ("To Hell With the Future"; released between issues #31 and 32): Spoiled rich kids in the 853rd century bring Tommy forward in time because they believes he's a hero; he tells them how screwed up the truth really is and, in the meantime, meets some idiotic superheroes.

Issue #34 ("Of Thee I Sing"): See above.

Issues #35-36 ("Katie"): Tommy learns about his family's past, much to his and everyone else's detriment. Possibly the bleakest story in the run.

Issues #37-38 ("Dead Man's Land"): Using the Gotham earthquake as a backdrop (a bit late, but still), Ennis tells a tale of vampires taking over, and he uses one of the undead from his run on Hellblazer to do it. We also meet a character - Maggie Lorenzo - who will help determine Tommy's ultimate fate. Ennis also has some fun with DC's annual summer events in #37.

Issues #39-42 ("For Tomorrow"): Ringo gets involved with some unsavory characters, Tommy gets dragged into it, and lots of people die.

Issue #43 ("The Morning After, the Night Before"): Tommy cheats on Tiegel and gets caught. Hilarity ensues.

Issues #44-46 ("Fresh Meat"): A time machine malfunctions, bringing dinosaurs back to the present. Tommy and Natt have to figure out how to stop them. Ennis does a nice job showing why dinosaurs might not like it here, despite all the human snacks waiting to be eaten.

Issues #47-50 ("The Old Dog"): The daughter of a gangster who was killed when the SAS guys showed up wants revenge. Needless to say, things don't end well. Issue #50 is an epilogue, showing Noonan's fifty years in the future and featuring one of the most breathtaking and horrific double-page splash pages you're going to see in a DC book (see below).

Issues #51-52 ("Superguy"): See above.

Issues #53-60 ("Closing Time"): The government guy who wanted to hire Tommy is back, experimenting on soldiers using the "Bloodlines" virus. Maggie Lorenzo happened to witness some of it, so she comes to Tommy for protection. Many, many more people die, obviously.

These plots make the book entertaining, as Ennis rarely take the foot off the gas. Tommy's world is filled with violence and death, and it's often done in a wildly humorous manner. Ennis, however, makes sure the humor is balanced by a deep sense of loss when important characters die. It's because of the book's major theme that both the humor and the tragedy work.

Beyond the plots, the theme Ennis wants to explore is loyalty and friendship. This seems very important to him, particularly at this time, as it's a major theme of Preacher as well (and, to a slightly lesser extent, Hellblazer). The reason tragedy stalks all the characters in the book is because they are loyal to their friends. This is clear from the second arc, "Ten Thousand Bullets," which begins with Tommy on a rooftop, bemoaning the loss of his best friend. Ennis introduces Natt the Hat in this issue, and we believe that he'll be the one to die, but instead, Pat does. Pat, Sean's nephew, isn't a killer, and therefore doesn't have the respect of Tommy's peers, especially Hacken, whom he picks on constantly. In issue #5, Hacken calls him out for always hiding behind Tommy and his uncle when things get tough, and so, in issue #6, Pat holds out when Johnny Navarone is looking for Tommy, and pays the price. We see the aftermath of Navarone's "interrogation," as Pat is sitting in his bathtub, which is almost overflowing with his own blood. He tells Tommy he didn't want to tell Navarone anything because he had to stand up for himself, just once. Tommy says, "I wish you'd told him everything. I wish you'd've sung like a freakin' canary. I wouldn't've cared." Pat tells him he wanted to be a tough guy, and Tommy says, "You were the toughest guy of all," before putting a bullet in his brain to put him out of his misery. This leads to issue #7, in which Tommy and Natt kill every gangster they see. It's a horrific issue, but Ennis has set it up beautifully, and we feel Tommy's pain as he slaughters his way through Mo Dubelz's gang.

This establishes a pattern in the book, although none of Tommy's gang dies until Ringo in issue #42. Tommy's world is defined by loyalty to his friends and neighborhood. We see this in "Local Hero," for example, in which the neighbors in the Cauldron cheer when Tommy faces down the Gotham police. In "Who Dares Wins," this theme is twisted to horrible effect. The SAS is after Tommy and Natt because they accidentally killed a couple of British soldiers in Iraq (another humorous anecdote from earlier in the series that takes on deadly implications later). One of the SAS squad, Eddie Baker, doesn't want to take on the mission from the beginning - he knows it's a crock, as he understands that accidents happen in war. But he does his duty, not only because he's a good soldier, but because his mates are on board. The SAS are so much better at killing than Tommy and Natt it's not funny, but our heroes manage to stay alive, mainly through luck (issue #24 features a hilariously gruesome shoot-out in a fast food restaurant during which Tommy and Natt hide behind a ridiculously obese man who suffers a fatal heart attack as the gunfight begins), and they get involved in a gang war with Men's Room Louie, a one-time patron of Tommy who didn't like him accidentally breaking up the drug deal in issue #21. Tommy and Natt distract the SAS by putting the gangsters in front of them, with much mayhem following. One of the SAS men is killed - again, accidentally - and the remaining declare war on Gotham itself. Baker knows his commander, Captain Page, is out of control, but he keeps going along with him, because they're mates. Finally, when he and his commander have Tommy and Natt at their mercy, Baker wants to let them go, but Page shoots him. Before Page can kill Tommy and Natt, Baker manages to get up and snap his neck. Tommy holds out his hand, saying, "Why don't you just let us help you?" and Baker responds, "'Cos all me mates are dead." With that, he drags Page's body into the burning wreckage of a gas station, which explodes. It's loyalty to friends taken to the extreme, but it shows what the characters are willing to do for each other. It also nicely foreshadows the end of the series, when Tommy is faced with a similar choice.

This theme continues in the series. It's most evident in the more tragic arcs, such as "For Tomorrow," which features Ringo's last stand, and "The Old Dog," in which Tommy finally realizes how much of a father Sean has been to him but doesn't tell him because it's not what men do. Of course, Sean is killed before Tommy can say anything about his true feelings. This leads to issue #50, which features a Gotham of 2050, one with skyscrapers reaching to the heavens but one in which Noonan's bar still stands. Some young punks come in talking about how great it is to be in the bar where Tommy and the others sat (Baytor is still tending bar, of course). An old man sitting near them reminisces about the old days, before Pat died, and decides to set the record straight (his reverie features a funny scene in which Sixpack walks in with Batman's cowl and utility belt, saying he came across them during his crimefighting adventures, and Tommy tells him to put them back where he found them). The old man tells the kids the real story about their adventures, explaining that Sean always told them never to quit, not even to their last drop of blood. Hacken (for the old man is the goofy member of the crew) continues with the foreshadowing, "All gone now. Alla them. Years an' years ago. Swept up by somethin' -- Somethin' inside them, that made them step into the valley of the shadow when they coulda got away instead. I never got it. Not 'til years had passed. But there was so much I never understood." It's a wonderful issue, made even more memorable by the two-page spread of what Tommy does after Sean is killed:

Again, Ennis shows the price of friendship and loyalty. Although this act has nothing to do with Tommy's ultimate fate, it shows that he's gone beyond redemption and is simply looking for a way out of the pain of existence. As Hacken says fifty years in the future, he had a chance to get out, but he didn't take it. "'Cos all [his] mates are dead," so what is there to live for?

All of this comes full circle in the final arc, which is where this book separates itself from Preacher, as its ending is much better. Maggie Lorenzo, whose son was taken by the vampires in issues #37 and 38, comes to Tommy for help after she witnesses a government assassination of a rogue soldier. The government is using the "Bloodlines" technology to create new, controllable superhumans, and it's not going well. One of them escapes, and agents track him down and kill him. Maggie is just an innocent bystander. Tommy doesn't have to help her, but of course he does. This brings him into conflict with the government agent who tried to recruit him back in "Local Hero," who has recruited Johnny Navarone's son, Mark, to deal with Tommy. Through the entire arc, Tommy begins to realize he can't get out, and he takes steps to wrap up his affairs - he knows the government (or rogue elements thereof) won't let him go. He convinces Tiegel to leave town because he knows she'll be collateral damage. We get a flashback to his first murder, of a drug dealer who was threatening Pat. Sean reiterates the theme of the book when he tells Tommy, "You always stick by your friends. If it comes to it, you give your life for 'em." We also get the origin of his friendship with Natt. Finally, the government agrees to send a helicopter to get Maggie out of Gotham and into a new identity. They refuse to send any more help, so Tommy, Natt, and Kathryn (the CIA agent who convinced Kyle Rayner to go after Tommy) go into the facility where the experiments are taking place and destroy it. In issue #60, as they go to the helicopter, the government agents attack, and it all goes pear-shaped. Both Natt and Tommy go down as the helicopter leaves, and in one of the most poignant endings to a comic you'll ever see, Tommy tells Natt a dream he had about Noonan's bar. Everyone is there drinking, and Sean says "There ain't no closin' time. But you gotta leave your guns at the door." Natt considers this for a second, and then Ennis and McCrea give us this beautiful final panel:

Of course Tommy couldn't survive. He had gone too far and killed too many people. But he lived honorably and always stood by those he loved. Ennis never drives this point into the ground, because whenever it comes up, it's always in the context of the stories. We know almost from the beginning of the series that it won't end well, but if we look beyond the fact that Tommy and his friends die, it does end well - triumphantly, even. Tommy has almost single-handedly taken down all of Gotham's gangs, stopped demons from taking over the world, saved the city from a vampire infestation, and ended a horrific government experiment. He always stuck by his friends, and he died saving one (Maggie) from death and another (Natt) from a fate worse than death (Natt would have been experimented on by the governmet). The way he lived is brought into focus a bit more in the crossover with the Justice League, in which he once again inspires Superman. Tommy saves not only Superman but the entire League, mainly because he was willing to kill. The superheroes have honor, but Tommy does too, in his way. Superman makes the point that the superheroes can afford to be morally outraged by what Tommy does because they don't need to kill. But when Tommy needs to save people, he needs to be brutal, and that's something superheroes - even Batman - can't do.

The brilliance of Ennis is matched by John McCrea, who's the perfect artist for the kind of twisted things the script calls for. It calls for horrible violence, emoting from the characters, and all sorts of amazingly weird things. McCrea never flinches, as he gives us wild ten-armed demons, kooky parodies of superheroes (Shadow-Force, Nightfist, Overforce and the Over-Patrol from the One Millionth issue, Skull and Scarlet Rose, Section Eight), cute zombie animals, incredibly realistic war scenes, and glorious gigantic dinosaurs. He also shines on the quieter scenes, like when Sean dies and Tommy can't cry:

McCrea also does a nice job with the people in the book - everyone looks real. Tommy is not necessarily buff, Tiegel looks like a real woman, Natt is fat but not obnoxiously so, and even the goofy characters - the Dubelz twins, Men's Room Louie, Sixpack, the guy with a tesseract in his ass (more childish Ennis humor, but again, he doesn't overdo it) - aren't too wild. It looks like a comic book, to be sure, but that's a big part of its charm. Despite the fine craftsmanship, this isn't a comic that relies on making things look "realistic," and therefore the entire book is more real. McCrea creates a truly wonderful world, a Gotham that is more of a real city than it often is in the Batman books. It's not a pleasant place, but McCrea does a good job showing how these people can carve out small places that feel like home. He adds so many details to each page it's silly to go over them, and the fact that he drew every issue of the run (save one) puts many prima donna artists to shame.

Hitman never garnered the critical or commercial acclaim that Preacher did, and the only reason I can come up with to explain it is that it took place firmly in the DCU but it wasn't a superhero book, so DC didn't quite know what to do with it. Preacher explores many of the same themes (friendship and loyalty is a big part of that book, too), but less subtly than Hitman does, and Ennis, interestingly enough, reins in his more obnoxious tendencies on this comic, probably because it wasn't a Vertigo book. By doing that, he's able to more fully explore the themes without the ultra-violence and creepy sex overwhelming everything. Because he's able to use DC icons, he's able to comment quite a bit on superheroes themselves, both the good and bad of the genre. But because it helps to know something about the heroes Ennis skewers, it's possible (probable?) this was less accessible than Preacher. That's a shame, because the presence of superheroes in the comic are a relatively minor part of the whole. It's really too bad, because Hitman is much better than Preacher. It's deeper, more mature, far funnier, ends better, and has better art. As much as I like Preacher, Hitman deserves much of the praise that goes to that book. It's a crime against the readership of good comics that less than half of this has been released in trade format. Everything through issue #28 (the end of "Who Dares Wins") has been collected, but I have no idea if they're still in print or not. DC apparently has no plans whatsoever to get the entire series out in trade, which is about on par with them not getting Ostrander's Suicide Squad or The Spectre out in trade. The saga of Tommy Monaghan is a magnificent comic book, and shows why Ennis is such a damned fine writer. Forget The Punisher - go find Hitman!

(If you're in the mood, you can peruse the Comics You Should Own archive. And yes, I'm aware that the series had one annual, and Ennis wrote some stories of Tommy that appeared in The Demon and in an issue of Batman Chronicles. Some of those I've read, but none are essential, although the time he was recruited for the Justice League is a pretty damned funny scene.)

40 Comments

• At February 4, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  Excellent piece. More people should be reading this over Ennis' Punisher. You summed it up perfectly. I'm ...

• At February 4, 2009, suedenim wrote:

  Great essay. I re-read the entire series recently, and it's still amazingly good, probably Ennis' best work ever.

  And so ...

• At February 4, 2009, Annoyed Grunt wrote:

  I remember seeing a copy of the original 'Puke on Batman's boots' page somewhere online. Originally Tommy lost his ...

• At February 4, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I was just getting into comics as Hitman was finishing, so I haven't read any of it but the collections ...

• At February 4, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  I used to have the whole run of the book but stupidly sold it a few years ago thinking I ...

• At February 4, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Oops, meant 1/4...

• At February 4, 2009, danjack wrote:

  Always liked this far more than Preacher. i felt that the restraint that Ennis had to have in this series ...

• At February 4, 2009, Rob wrote:

  I re-read the entire series every year or two.

  It's so damn touching at the end that even just reading the ...

• At February 4, 2009, Random Stranger wrote:

  I've been waiting a long time for it to be collected properly. I know it's crazy to think that ...

• At February 4, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Great write up on one of my favorite series. I'll just add:

  -There's a Hitman/ Lobo special, drawn by Doug Mahnke, ...

• At February 4, 2009, Sleestak wrote:

  Zombie Baby Seals.

  The Cat-Signal.

• At February 4, 2009, T. wrote:

  This books always looked interesting, but McCrea's art was always a dealbreaker to me, along with that dingy color palette ...

• At February 4, 2009, Ryan wrote:

  Loved LOVED! This series. This was the fist DC book I read regularly. Sad ending, great moments, great characters.

  Punisher ...

• At February 5, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  My 3rd favourite series by Ennis.

  The Boys and Preacher rounding off the top two.

  Punisher Max is # 4.

• At February 5, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Great series! One of those that always rose to the top of the read pile each month.

  And ...

• At February 5, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  Easily my favorite comic book series ever. Sorry, Herbie.

  "Natt comes to Gotham to escape a gang war and becomes ...

• At February 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That's a good comparison, Mr. The Mutt. They play so well comedically off of each other, I thought I'd ...

• At February 5, 2009, Will wrote:

  Excellent writeup for an amazing series. DC is leaving money on the table with a lot of this work, ...

• At February 5, 2009, stickler wrote:

  The title "Comics You Should Own" seems to imply that if I don't own them, you are going to convince ...

• At February 5, 2009, wil wrote:

  don't normally believe in links to scans, but since so much of this brilliant series is out of print.. http://www.shwiggie.com/hitman/

• At February 5, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  This is one of those books I somehow missed out on that I really should go back and read. ...

• At February 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Stickler: I'm sorry you feel that way! My point with these is to look at what I believe are ...

• At February 5, 2009, Brendan H. wrote:

  Hands down Ennis's best series and easily one of my top five favorite comics ever. This was a great ...

• At February 5, 2009, Matt wrote:

  Greg, thanks for the writeup--you made me head out this afternoon to buy the first trade collection that I'd seen ...

• At February 5, 2009, Omar Karindu, back from an Internet Thogal ritual wrote:

  As a completely random side note, Kathryn in Hitman turns up in Punisher, something made basically explicit by her line ...

• At February 5, 2009, dhole wrote:

  I finally bought one of the trades for this (Ace of Killers) and loved it. And I didn't expect to. ...

• At February 5, 2009, janna wrote:

  Hitman is so good! I read the entire run in about a week and a half after I borrowed it ...

• At February 5, 2009, Rob wrote:

  Janna,

  Yeah, that seemed to be the thing that kept my wife from reading it out of my boxes. But ...

• At February 5, 2009, T. wrote:

  I have to say, there needs to be a happy medium between just enough spoilers to give a good review ...

• At February 5, 2009, John Seavey wrote:

  I swore to myself when issue #50 came out that If I ever become fabulously wealthy, I'm buying the original ...

• At February 5, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  T.: I do try for a happy medium, but in this case, where the fate of the characters is so ...

• At February 6, 2009, Bryan Long wrote:

  Hitman is easily Ennis' finest work, and I suspect the reason is that Ennis was under the constraints of a ...

• At February 8, 2009, Is anti-cute the new cute? | Digg PhotoBlog wrote:

  [...] Comics You Should Own - Hitman Comic Book Resources ,February 05, 2009 a Batman parody who gets what’s coming ...

• At February 8, 2009, Zack Smith wrote:

  Greg, a superior essay about a superior series. One of the greatest moments of my...well, life was getting to ...

• At February 14, 2009, catullus wrote:

  "I am Baytor!"

• At February 21, 2009, Gromyko wrote:

  Nice essay Greg, but I wish Ennis had explained why Bret Hart has a new costume instead of the old ...

• At April 1, 2009, Joe wrote:

  The end of this book made me cry more than any other film, novel, comic or piece of music I ...

• At April 9, 2009, Ciaran wrote:

  An excellent write-up on one of my favourite comic runs, so thanks very much for that, Greg. I've tended to ...

• At August 3, 2009, Sean wrote:

  "They only reappear in issues #51-52, when a demon is about to take over the world."

  Somebody didn't read 'Hitman/Lobo', of ...

• At August 3, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Yeah, Sean, I haven't read it. Even if it's not as good as the regular series, I still have ...

High Roads by Scott Lobdell (writer), Leinil Francis Yu (penciller), Gerry Alanguilan (inker), Edgar Tadeo (colorist), Comicraft (letterers, issues #1-2, 4-6), and Sergio Garcia (letterer, issue #3).

DC/Wildstorm, 6 issues (#1-6), cover dated June-November 2002.

You may think this series of posts highlights the greatest comics ever published. Well, it doesn't. Obviously, I don't own all of the greatest comics ever published, but even some of the books that I have spotlighted here don't fall into that category. High Roads is one of them. It's not one of the greatest comics ever published. So why do I find it worthy to write about?

Well, there's a great deal to be said for comics that delight in the fact that they're comics. There's also a great deal to be said for comics that embrace the lunacy of comics and provide a kind of balls-to-the-wall storytelling ethic, with nothing but sheer entertainment on their mind. If we consider High Roads as a spiritual scion to World War II and/or imperial action adventure movies in the vein of Where Eagles Dare, The Eagle Has Landed, The Man Who Would Be King, The Wind and the Lion, Lawrence of Arabia, or even Raiders of the Lost Ark, we understand its appeal much better. Are all of those movies "great"? Some would say yes. High Roads is old-fashioned adventure like those movies, but it can be a but bolder than the movies because, as with all comics, it doesn't have to worry about a budget.

Lobdell certainly isn't interested in delving too deeply into anyone's psyche here. Like many World War II action movies, the fact that the Nazis were doing truly evil things is glossed over and we're left with the fact that they're bad guys. Hitler is made ridiculous, true (a flashback in issue #3 shows him in a diaper and bib, as that's how he likes his sex games), which is one way to belittle him, but Lobdell isn't interested in telling a story about the Third Reich and why it was such a horrible entity. He wants to tell a story that features Nazi ninjas, and by God, he's going to do it!

Like most of these kinds of stories, the plot is straight-forward. We begin with Sergeant Nicolas Highroad hanging from a Nazi ice cathedral. He's trying to set dynamite to destroy it while fending off German soldiers who are, quite naturally, trying to kill him. Lobdell lets us know right away that this is going to be a wacky, high-spirited adventure, especially when Highroad, at one point, appears to be suspended in the air, Wile E. Coyote-style, before falling to his apparent doom. As he falls, he takes the time to wonder how he got there, which is, of course, a cue for a flashback! This is a classic style of storytelling - begin with a bang, then slowly introduce the characters. On the first 13 pages (until the flashback), Nic kills three Nazis, so we definitely begin with a bang. And, naturally, the fact that Nic is hanging from a Nazi ice cathedral piques our curiosity, which is when Lobdell goes back in time to answer questions.

The story falls together rather easily. Nic Highroad, an American sergeant, ends up in Paris after it was liberated. He's a painfully naïve stereotype of the cornfed Yankee dreamboat, but that characterization only heightens the wackiness of the comic. He visits a stage show where Sir Arthur Bombridge III, "the greatest actor who has ever lived," performs as, well, Hitler. A midget Hitler, even. Nic meets Sir Arthur and offers to buy him a drink, something the pompous actor can't resist. He takes Nic to Madame Eugena's, where the third member of our gang is working. Her name is Sloan Applebee, and she used to be Hitler's mistress, a fact she won't shut up about. Nic and Sir Arthur enter the brothel, find everyone in it dead, and Sloan about to be kidnapped by Nazi ninjas, members of the Brotherhood of the Iron Cross, who dress in fetish gear and have swastikas tattooed to their faces. It's just that kind of comic.

It turns out Sloan wants to steal a prized possession of Hitler's, one that will make her rich. She enlists Sir Arthur and Nic, and they later hook up with Oki, a failed kamikaze pilot who went AWOL ... in France. Oki gets them to the North Pole, where the Nazis have a secret base (of course). There (of course) they discover that the Nazis have a secret weapon to turn the tide of the war, and they have to stop it. They're captured (of course), but they escape and save the world. In the meantime, they get rich. Happy days!

Lobdell writes the whole thing with a ton of energy, which helps elevate the comic above its pedestrian plot. It's the very definition of a non-funny fun comic, because Lobdell puts pedal to the metal from the first page and never lets up. Sure, there are plot holes you can drive a truck through (does Nic go AWOL? how does Oki have enough fuel to make it from Japan to France?) and details that are weirdly wrong (why is the Depression going on in 1923?), but they fall away when we just allow Lobdell's wild script to carry us along. He adds a soupçon of character development, from Nic's bucolic life on the farm to Sir Arthur's scandals in Hollywood to Sloan's odd sexual games with Hitler, but it's all just in the service of the plot. This is furiously fun storytelling with odd jokes (Dutch Reform ninjas?), some not-too-awful violence (plenty of people die, but it's mostly bloodless), femme fatales (Blanche Noir, the traitorous French ex-resistance fighter!), and evil Nazis. Just the kind of old-fashioned stuff we all love!

Ultimately, like a movie of this ilk can rise on the strength of its actors (Harrison Ford elevates Raiders of the Lost Ark in a way that Tom Selleck - who I love, by the way - probably wouldn't have, based on his work in High Road to China and Lassiter), so too can the art on a comic elevate a script, and Yu's certainly does here. Lobdell's script is well-done and frenetic, but Yu makes the book sing. His early work for Marvel was decent but nothing spectacular, but this book and (later) Superman: Birthright really showed what he could do. Yu is as high-profile as he's going to get right now, and this book gives us opportunity to check out what he can do when he's not pressed for time and doesn't have to cram dozens of superheroes into each issue. High Roads allows him to breathe a bit, and it's gorgeous to look at. This book came out during the height of the "decompressed storytelling" fad in comics, so some of the pages are devoted to wide spreads that simply allow Yu to show off, but the attention to detail is so stunning that it's completely forgivable. Yu is influenced by Travis Charest, especially in this book, but his drawings are not as slick and reflect a rough-hewn, war-torn world better. He illustrates the book like a perfect 1940s movie - the hero is blond and square-jawed, and all the women are buxom and curvy and total sex objects. There's a charming innocence to the way Yu draws Sloan and Blanche Noir and the other women in the book - they're sexy without being skanky, and Sloan, especially, is vulnerable without being weak. Everyone is an idealized version of a stereotype, but Yu sells it so well. He helps deepen Lobdell's script by taking time to show how scared Sloan is even though she acts tough, how sad Sir Arthur is that he's not starring in Hollywood anymore, how ashamed Oki is that he can't complete his mission, and how lustful Nic is even though he's an honorable man. There's a beautiful panel showing Oki about to embark on his suicide mission, and the shadows fall over him as he contemplates leaving it behind and dishonoring himself but staying alive. There isn't much that is deep about High Roads, but what depth there is exists because of Yu's art. It's a nice complement to the wild script that Lobdell provides.

High Roads might not be a great comic that will change your life, but it's the kind of comic that makes you happy when you read it. In the best tradition of old-fashioned adventure movies, it grabs you early on and never lets go. Lobdell doesn't get a ton of respect these days, and he doesn't do a ton of work in the industry either, but he pours his heart into this book, and it shows. Yu, meanwhile, shows the chops that have made him such a big-time artist today. High Roads has been collected in a trade, and it's fairly easy to find. It's a wild, completely enjoyable ride.

Many other Comics You Should Own are in the archives! How fun!

16 Comments

• At December 14, 2008, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  I don't know how I managed to miss this, it's so completely my kind of thing, but you sold me. ...

• At December 14, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Well, Greg, I doubt if it will start a run, but I'm glad I inspired you to go get it!

• At December 14, 2008, TimCallahan wrote:

  I just snagged one too.

  Keeping the run alive...

• At December 14, 2008, Joe wrote:

  I'm putting it on my X-mas wish list. If I don't get it then I'll get it not much later ...

• At December 14, 2008, The Eye wrote:

  Looking at it, it really appears to me Yu is influenced just as much by Howard Chaykin around this time ...

• At December 14, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I remember this book, it was a fun book to read.

  Kind of reminds me of Diggle/Yu collaboration, Silent Dragon.

  Another fun ...

• At December 14, 2008, EricR wrote:

  I'll buy this when I get Silent Dragon by Yu and Diggle.

• At December 14, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  ???

  Not really one you 'should own' though is it?

  I knew someone who had the trade, and I never made it ...

• At December 15, 2008, Bat2supe wrote:

  Woow, how Leinil Yu style evolved.

  from fluid and readable to .....

• At December 15, 2008, comb & razor wrote:

  ahhh... This brings back warm memories of the days when I believed Leinil Francis Yu's smooth, elegant and dynamic art ...

• At December 15, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  That's because you're dead inside, FGJ!!!!!!!

• At December 15, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "and they later hook up with Oki, a failed kamikaze pilot who went AWOL … in France."

  SOLD.

• At December 15, 2008, David Norman wrote:

  Greg, I love your Comics You Should Own selections, but High Roads is not for the list. The basic idea ...

• At December 15, 2008, Alvin wrote:

  I really liked this book, I thought the story was great fun and the art was a bit sketchy ...

• At December 15, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  David: I didn't claim it was a GREAT series, but it's the kind of book that you can read over ...

• At March 4, 2009, HIGH ROADS Interlude : Komikero Comics Journal wrote:

  [...] nice that 6 years after it came out, it’s getting a second look, and good reviews like this one ...

Marvel, 14 issues (#238-251), cover dated March 1983-April 1984.

(You know you want the "free Lakeside Skin Tattooz" offered on that cover! Way to mess up a dramatic cover, Marvel!)

These 14 issues are the first part of the mid-1980s Hobgoblin Saga, and begin what I would call the high point of Spider-Man between, let's say, the death of Gwen Stacy and J. Michael Straczynski's renaissance of the past few years [Remember, I wrote this in 2005, when JMS's run hadn't gone off the rails yet]. It's pretty shocking that for ten years (essentially the 1990s) Marvel would treat their flagship character with such disrespect, but that's the way it was, true believers. Let's look at better days, shall we?

The Hobgoblin Saga has been covered, better than I ever could, in these articles. It's highly recommended reading about how the editors of Spider-Man allowed this great villain to descend into stupidity. Since I'm dealing with just stories before he became lousy, I won't get into the whole thing. However, I'm sure I'll repeat some of the things said in those articles.

So: Stern on Amazing Spider-Man. In need of a "Green Goblin" type villain, he creates the Hobgoblin. Here's generally how the issues break down:

#238-239: Introduction of the Hobgoblin. We don't know who he is, but he's scary!
#240-241: A two-part Vulture story. Remember two-part stories?
#242: Spidey fights a robot belonging to the Mad Thinker. Remember one-part stories?
#243: Mary Jane returns to Peter's life! Yippee! And Peter quits graduate school.
#244-245: The Hobgoblin returns, and Spidey is supposed to believe that he dies. Peter's not buying it!
#246: J. Jonah Jameson, Felicia Hardy, Mary Jane, and Peter all daydream about their perfect lives. Holy cow, a one-part story about daydreaming!
#247-248: Thunderball returns. Spidey beats him. The second part of issue #248 "The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man." Many people have a soft spot in their hearts for this story. I am not one of them.
#249-251: A Hobgoblin trilogy! Holy crap - it's decompressed storytelling, 1980s-style! Included in this is the "Special Normal-Sized 250th Issue," as the cover tells us, with Hobgoblin himself in the corner logo telling us to steal the book. Remember when Marvel had a sense of humor?

So those are the stories in this little collection. Stern and Romita, ably assisted by a cast of thousands of inkers (or finishers, as they are usually credited), bring us some brilliant stories. But why should you buy them?

Well, the interesting thing about these stories is how Stern is able to build on the past without wallowing in nostalgia. These days, comics seem to give us nothing but nostalgia (which seemed to start with Busiek's Marvels, a great comic that spawned an annoying trend). There's nothing inherently wrong with nostalgia, but when it gets in the way of the growth of an artistic medium, it tends to strangle anything else in the cradle. I don't mean that all of comics do this, but many do, especially those put out by the Big Two. When a writer tries to break free of the past, he gets excoriated in some circles. Then, to appease the fans, writers who do push the envelope retreat into some extra-special wallowing in past glory. In 1983, Marvel hadn't really developed the cult of Lee/Kirby/Ditko yet, so its talent was free to build on the past without slavishly aping it. This is what we get with the first part of the Hobgoblin Saga - Stern respects the past and uses it, but at no time does the Hobgoblin kidnap Mary Jane and take her to the top of the George Washington Bridge (which apparently is in the contract of every writer who pens a Spider-Man story these days).

I'll get back to this idea. Let's look at what Stern is doing in these stories. The Spider-Man books back then were a ridiculous convoluted soap opera, with all kinds of crossovers, but what was nice was that you could only read one title without worrying about what was happening in the other. Felicia Hardy (the Black Cat) spends all 14 of these issues in the hospital because of injuries she sustained in Spectacular Spider-Man. We don't need to read the other title, because Stern reminds us how it happened more than once. Meanwhile, in Amazing, we get Spidey fighting bad guys while life goes on around him. Aunt May is seeing someone (I don't remember whatever happened to Nathan Lubensky) and turning her home into a boarding house. A bad guy eludes Spidey and then stumbles upon a secret lab of the Green Goblin. The punk tells a shadowy figure about it, and this mysterious man becomes the Hobgoblin. Peter relives the guilt he felt about letting the burglar who killed Uncle Ben go all over again. It sucks to be him, as usual.

The Hobgoblin immediately begins looting all of the old Green Goblin hideouts, and he starts making improvements on the Goblin's weapons and formulae. He experiments on a small-time hood named Lefty Donovan, injecting him with the Goblin's strength serum and sending him out to fight Spider-Man dressed as the Hobgoblin. Donovan dies, but the Hobgoblin gets all the data he needs. Finally, he tries to blackmail Jameson, Harry Osborn, and a group of elite businessmen whose secrets he discovered in Norman's journals, but Spider-Man (with some help from Wilson Fisk) thwarts him. At the end of #251, the Hobgoblin is presumed dead at the bottom of the river, but Spider-Man knows better.

The idea of the past intruding on the p