Big day tomorrow, as
Civil War #7 is released and we are either satisfied or wholly underwhelmed with the results. I have unabashedly enjoyed the series thus far, and am looking forward to it. I'm no longer naive enough to think that "The Marvel Universe will
NEVER be the same" - there will be a return to the status quo at some point; it's just a matter of how they get there and how long it takes them to get there.
To hold myself over, I will address a classic, and a favorite of mine
UNCANNY X-MEN #186
“Lifedeath”
Story by Chris Claremont (script) and Barry-Windsor Smith (pencils)
Inks: Terry Austin
Editor: Ann Nocenti
Interestingly enough, I own this story in three different versions, none of which are the actual issue of Uncanny X-Men. I own Classic X-Men #90, I own the “coloring book” version from
"Essential X-Men Vol. 5" and I own it in .PDF format from the
"40 Years of X-Men" DVD-ROM. Because of restrictions on the DVD-ROM (probably to keep pesky bloggers from posting images all over the internet!), all images in this post are taken from the issue of Classic X-Men.
In a prior issue, Ororo lost her elemental powers after being hit by a blast from a weapon that was meant for Rogue. Forge, suffering from guilt stemming from being the creator of the weapon, has taken Ororo in and begun to care for her. She is unwittingly a guest of the very man who destroyed her, as she does not know that Forge created the gun.
The first image we see is Storm in her Mohawk/Morlock phase, crumpled on the bed, with the perfect caption - not heavy-handed, not underdone either.
Forge enters, attempting to rouse her, to no avail. Ororo remains, limp and lifeless. He offers her food and tea, but she won’t even acknowledge him. He storms out. Because this is vintage Claremont, we even get a little bit of expository angst from Forge.
Through Forge’s virtual reality house, we get a quick rundown of who Storm is, and how she has changed. I personally have always preferred the
"Goddess" incarnation of Ororo – she is a great character who deserves to be regal and stately. I particularly enjoy her current portrayal in
Black Panther. She has the temperament befitting a queen, but is unafraid to act.
In a VR flashback, we see what transpired the night Storm lost her powers, as well as Forge’s own doubts about the efficacy of his invention.
Forge saves Ororo’s life, but she wishes he hadn’t.
There is a brief interlude featuring Nightcrawler and Professor X., highlighting that Xavier’s Cerebro cannot locate Storm.
This is the perfect example of a comic I was unable to appreciate until I was much older. When I began my third stage of reading comic books,
Mark Waid was just beginning to take over writing chores on the adjectiveless version of X-Men, and I was excited, because so much of what I had seen of the X-Men had felt like various incarnations of the team sitting around the mansion drinking coffee and talking about their problems. In one of Waid’s first issues, Beast, Bishop and Gambit went to stop a runaway subway car full of monsters – finally, the X-Men were off having adventures.
The reason I make this digression, is because this issue, for the most part, is two characters drinking coffee (or champagne) and talking about their problems. When I was a kid (four years old when this came out, and sixteen or so when I read the reprint), I would have flipped through this book and thrown it on the pile after realizing there was no brawl – character development and longterm-plotting be damned!
Now, at 27, I can appreciate a well-written story that focuses on characters. However, it’s not terribly exciting to blog about. There are a few interesting exchanges:
Ororo outlines her problems.
Ororo learns about Forge.
This leads us to another interlude, this one highlighting bureaucrat and Sharon Carter-wannabe Val Cooper, and her suit-wearing colleague’s encounter with a Dire Wraith (must have been when ROM was getting a big push). Honestly, the whole sequence feels like a throw in, almost as if to include *some* action amidst the dialogue.
Val’s pal gets his brain drained, literally, and the wraith attempts to kill Val in the same way, but Val is saved by Rogue, in her original short-haired incarnation [SIDEBAR: It wasn’t until Rogue had long hair that I knew she was a “she”. I don’t think I’d have the same problem now].
Rogue is only saving Val to find out about Storm. In the process, she learns the truth about Forge’s connection to Storm losing her powers.
Meanwhile, Storm and Forge grow more and more comfortable with one another. She dresses for dinner, but feels awkward and comes back dressed like a housepainter. He, in turn, tries to booze her up.
After chitchat about Storm’s past, the wheels come off!
Some unnecessary exposition by Storm – isn’t it obvious how small she feels against the storm? She could once control it, now she is at its mercy – do we need that explained?
While attempting to reach the Professor, Ororo finds Forge on the line with gub’mint stoolie,
Henry Peter Gyrich. As she flees, she activates the virtual reality version of Forge’s past in Vietnam.
The issue ends with a confrontation. Most notable about these pages is the art – Windsor-Smith takes a static story – one with no action, merely conversation – and makes it dynamic. The intense detail of the rain and the scenery, as well as the clean lines of all the backgrounds combine to create a cross-hatched effect, taking Forge’s home and turning it into a confused, wild scene, where Ororo suffers. Much as Storm, with powers, often subconsciously affects her environment in a manner that correlates with her mood, her inner chaos here is reflected in the turmoil which surrounds her.
The issue ends with Ororo’s declaration – a reaffirmation of life. She symbolically turns her back on Forge, and walks out of the rain into a new future.
This story is everything good about Claremont’s X-Men – continuity-heavy (hey, I like what I like), gorgeous characterization, and intensity. The art, while not as synonymous with Claremont as that of John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, or even Jim Lee, tells the story beautifully.
DAREDEVIL #94 - The best cover of the year so far. Also a nice jumping-on point for new readers as Milla fills in the last year-plus of DD. Love what Brubaker's done with this series, and excited for the new Gladiator arc!
GREEN ARROW #71 – Supposed to arrive last week, but it was late. I only noticed because it was on my pull list but not in my pile at the store (NE Comics in Cambridge!) when I showed up, but here it is. A storyline featuring Batman, as GA is fighting the Red Hood (aka Robin II, Jason Todd). Batman, as usual, shows why he is the best hand-to-hand fighter in the DCU. Some good fight scenes, as GA fights the Red Hood and Bats fights some gentleman with red skin and what appear to be gray dreadlocks. Two side stories going on, as Speedy is ambushed by a group of teens working for…someone… in a decrepit building, and in what looks like planting the seeds for the next story, Drakon, Natas, and a Mr. Wilson wreak havoc on Alcatraz. The art is a bit cartoony, but the story is a least fun.
SPIDER MAN FAMILY #1 – appears to be a one-shot, probably aimed at moviegoers; we’ll see this on supermarket newsstands in a month or two. Includes two new stories, as well as reprints featuring – surprise – the Sandman and the Green Goblin. The first story – “Homesick” – is written by Sean McKeever (Spider-Man Loves Mary-Jane) with art by Terrell Bobbett (Blackpool). It’s an In-media-res story, featuring Spidey in the black costume – the symbiote (do we yet know if it’s the symbiote that’s returning?). OK, he’s dating Felicia Hardy. This is not in continuity. The second story is written by Fred Van Lente (Marvel Adventures) with art by Federica Manfredi, who, based on my googling, has worked strictly in Italy. This is a very fun story featuring the Black Cat and Hellcat, with interesting narration. Told primarily through art (only one page of dialogue), this is an enjoyable story that reads a lot like classic Spidey. The reprints are Untold Tales of Spider-Man #3 and Amazing Spider-Man #176 – if you don’t have the ASM story (Len Wein and Russ Andru), this may be worth it! I’m a sucker for anything by Busiek, so I enjoyed the Untold as well!
CATWOMAN #64 – Catwoman is one of those books that I don’t read regularly, but pick up from time to time to see what’s happening with the character. Catwoman in Metropolis! I guess we know where this will inevitably lead. Yup! Supes sighting in the sky, and in invasion of the Lexcorp building. A beautiful cover by Adam Hughes, and a fun Catwoman story, but not much else to yell about.
52 Week 41 - I love love LOVE this cover. It shows Renee Montoya sitting in a meditative pose, with several other characters facing crises both internal and external reflected in the walls around her. This book continues to be worth buying for the covers alone (notice her ponytail), but the story is outstanding as well. This issue features Montoya hitting on Wonder Woman, Ralph Dibny hitting gingold and stealing wheelchair parts, and everyone's favorite planetoid Green Lantern saving Adam Strange and Starfire.
Just as they had done ten years earlier with the Onslaught debacle, Marvel was again gearing up for another mega-event, CIVIL WAR. It was intriguing, so I went out of my way to pick up a few of the prelude issues, and I loved where the story was going. There were so many directions they could go, so many issues they could explore. Of course, they have severely dropped the ball - it's been a decent story, but lacking in cohesion, and has ignored a lot of great potential ideas.
