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Miserable weather weekend...
2007-07-20 13:33:52
Miserable weekend here in New York—hot, humid, and rainy. My girlfriend and I barely left the apartment…so I spent most of the weekend reading comics.
Loved Casanova—like I told Fraction, I was expecting to like it, but not to love it as much as I did. Watch out for these guys. Eternals didn’t disappoint, either. Great to see Gaiman back on a comic, and hey, that John Romita Jr. is really something, isn’t he? Wow. Aside from Ultimates 2 #11, those were the highlights of my new-comics reading.
But I also spent some time with the mountain of trade paperbacks that’ve been sitting by my couch. I finally made my way through all the WildC.A.T.s trades I came back from Wizardworld Philly with…and, man, I got made fun of mercilessly for that. But plenty of good stuff there—prime Travis Cherest, great Jim Lee, and terrific stories by Alan Moore and Joe Casey…
Next up was a run that (like most of WildC.A.T.s) I’d read as it came out originally—but that read even better in one sitting: the paperbacks of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.’s Wolverine: Enemy of the State. Even before rereading it, this was one of my three favorite Wolverine comics, ever—up there with Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X and the original Chris Claremont/Frank Miller Wolverine limited series.
I loved Millar’s writing on this because it was so relentless…everything was huge and larger-than-life. But it holds together as a story—the characters (even the ones Marvel readers are familiar with) are first introduced, then play actual roles throughout the story. Even the stuff that seemed like cheap (but fun) thrills when the book was coming out monthly, seemed to flow like pieces of a larger (exploding) tapestry in one sitting.
I also think Millar wrote the best Elektra since Frank Miller. The observation that Elektra isn’t Matt Murdoch’s one true love—but Matt is Elektra’s…well, that alone was worth the price of admission for me.
Plus, you know, Wolverine rides a Sentinel into a room filled with a thousand ninjas…
And the ending is classic Marvel. Wolverine wins…but he still loses. Great stuff.
Not to ignore Romita’s brilliant art. Romita manages to take Millar’s script and make it sing. Everything is huge, brutal, and in your face. This is the kind of script that’s simultaneously the best and worst for an artist—the best, because it provides the artist with room to pull off virtuosic flights of artistry, like millions of zombie super-villains attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier…and the worst because the artist has to draw like millions of zombie super-villains attacking a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. And the next page: it’s 2 million…
But Romita pulls it all off, every page, every spread, every panel. They all sizzle with power and the sort of skill most artists will never come close to…not a line is faked, not an expression is phoned in.
And of course Klaus Janson and Paul Mounts did an amazing job on the inking and coloring, respectively…but I’ve rambled on long enough about this comic. Actually, remind me sometime about the practical joke Mark, Sean McKeever, and I pulled on Editor Jenny Lee during this run.
Anyway, finishing Enemy of the State (and the haunting Kaare Andrews issue following it) inspired me to re-read the classic Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown which was as bizarre and mind-twisting now as it was in 1989, when I was reading it as it came out. I’m not sure if we still have this in print, but the wild story by Walt and Louise Simonson and beautiful pained art by Kent Williams and John J. Muth is well-worth digging around for.
Then I went in for Iron Man: The Armor Wars (another half-off trade purchase from Philly) which I’d only ever read one issue of, and that was when comics still cost 75 cents…but enough about what I was reading…
aaah...
nothing's better than kickin' back and ripping out a good comic! ^_^
Posted by kokomo007 on 2006-07-05 11:52:15
Millar's writing
I know I loved millar's writing tooo! It was so good! I loved his Ultimate X-men work! It was the highlight of Ultimate X-men so far even if it was the first six chapters or so!!!!! I also liked Andy Kubert's penciling! It was really good and not over done in detail and brawn on the characters but not tooooo cartoony! It was like the perfect mix! They were a great team!
Posted by KevinUndaho on 2006-07-12 23:20:49
Classic
Cmon John! How many times has wolverine come riding into a room full of a thousand ninjas riding a sentinal? (without guessing ... 4! )
Posted by Sheaman on 2006-07-14 20:54:10
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About this blog:
Associate Editor John Barber gives the inside story on the Ultimate line of comics--plus whatever other comics John edits!
 | About the author:
John Barber has been a web cartoonist, self-publisher, author, and now comic book editor. He lives in New York with his fiancee Alison. |
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