No time for a snappy prologue, we have serious issues to discuss concerning this week’s issues.
Fantastic Four 588: In which the life of Johnny Storm is commemorated through 18-somelthing pages of silence. When you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all, eh, Mr. Hickman? All right, I’m kidding, but only partially. This is an oddly unsatisfying issue. We get a mute wake starring a bunch of superheroes, we get Reed wordlessly confronting Annihilus (who’s kept a souvenir of the late Mr. Storm), we get Val assembling the future foundation for the purpose of planning the murder of Annihilus, we get Sue collapsing in grief and then snubbing Reed (the one time he attempts to be compassionate and she freezes him out), and we get Ben holding a pity party/punch-out party with Hulk and Thor. I get that this is supposed to be more meaningful because it all happens in silence, but this Quiet Storm for Johnny is upended by the tacked-on scene — WITH DIALOGUE — between Peter Parker and Franklin. Pete and Franklin share a hot dog atop a very tall building while Pete discusses the death of Uncle Ben and relates to Franklin on a very human level. This shared experience and Pete’s words of hard-won wisdom concerning the death of loved ones and how to deal with it work so much more effectively and are more satisfying than anything that precedes it that I have to wonder why an editor didn’t just advise Hickman to, you know, write some more pages like this. Hickman has shown an ability to write powerfully about the human lives of these characters, so I’m let down that this issue of mourning is 80% gimmick and 20% story. You’re telling me Reed Richards isn’t gonna have something profound to say about life going on and the great cosmic wheel and how science doesn’t provide answers to problems like this — that’s what I came here to see, Hickman. This was also a golden opportunity for Reed to attempt to undo some of his absentee fathering by helping his son through this rough time, and instead — once again — Reed has no contact with Franklin. He didn’t even have to succeed, just be a father and make the effort; that would have been something between these two strangers who happen to be related.
Anyway, this little scene between Pete and Franklin does make me feel better about Pete joining the team, if only because Reed’s review of current threats against his family includes Franklin’s “power set.” I can see Reed wanting the humanizing influence of genuine nice guy Peter Parker around his son. Especially since Reed’s own absentee father returns at the end of the issue. Last time we saw him, Franklin was kicking him in the face through time and space.
In short: Should have had more dialogue that illuminated the unique relationships of the all-family team mourning the loss of their brother/brother-in-law/uncle/compadre, especially with a boss like Hickman at the typewriter.
Amazing Spider-Man 655: See, this is how you deal with death. Marla Jameson is dead (fine, comic book “dead”) and J. Jonah is the silent one this time around. It’s more effective here, because the silence is used sparingly. Jonah is so stone-faced, so solitary throughout the funeral that you feel his pain. He’s lost the spark that animates him, and so he’s emotionless and silent. Pete, wracked with self-inflicted guilt because he believes he should have saved Marla, takes a wild journey into his psyche and confronts all the dead people he’s known, from Uncle Ben to Marla. Dan Slott covers the entirety of Spider-Man continuity in this one (I did not know he killed a woman, for instance), while poking fun at the impermanence of death in a superhero’s life, and addressing the casual attitude towards killing some superheroes now have.
In short: It’s a thought provoking and nuanced examination of who Peter Parker is, who he thinks he is, and who he fears becoming. And it’s a good story well told.
Having said all that, how excited are you that Marvel’s going to kill a superhero every 20 minutes financial quarter in 2011? Just think about all the mourning issues we’re going to wade through in the next nine months. Some of ‘em are even gonna have dialogue. Awesome.
All right, settle down, Conesy. We’ll get to you in a minute.
Also of interest this week is Power Man and Iron Fist 2, which continues Iron Fist’s mentorship of young Power Man and their pursuit of proof that will absolve former Heroes for Hire secretary Jennie Royce of murder. This is actually less interesting than the developments in Danny Rand’s personal life, as his current girl Friday, Joy Meachum, calls him out for being an insensitive lout in the name of Misty Knight. I will see Misty and Danny not just reunited, but also starring in their own team book (called Heroes for Hire, natch) if I get my way. Writer Fred van Lente may be leaning a bit too heavily on the theatrical symbolism in his story, but at least it’s different from all the “ggrrrr, dark/depressed/maniac” stuff that passes for secondary plot in a lot of other books.
In short: I’m enjoying this one much more than I feared I would.
Now, you know what book I expected to love and then had it exceed even my high expectations? King Conan 1. Admittedly, Tim Truman and Tomas Giorello are adapting another Robert E. Howard story, The Scarlet Citadel, and not giving us a completely new tale, but it is one we haven’t seen adapted multiple times already since it comes so late in Conan’s life. I would still prefer original stories from Tim Truman, but compared to the weak art of Conan’s monthly title, this feels like a huge stride forward in terms of originality and readability. King Conan relates to a scribe the time he had to lead Aquilonia in battle against King Strabonus of Koth and a wizard (the evile Tsotha-Lanti) and ends up a prisoner of the wizard in a creepy dungeon. Giorello draws an absolutely fantastic old King Conan, and this grizzled and self-aware Conan Truman has crafted is a delight.
I missed these guys. I know this is slated for a mere four issues, and I know exactly how this story ends, but I’m still excited about the return of King Conan. I harbor a not-so-secret hope that sales justify a monthly title, or at least regular miniseries detailing the adventures of an older Conan and his son, Conn. See, Reed Richards, even the barbarian spends time with his kid.
In short: King Conan is totally the best thing I read this week.
-Paul
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