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Comic Review by:
"Sweet" Dan Sweet |
Writer:
Brian Bendis |
Artist's:
Siege #1-Oliver Coipel
Siege Embedded #1-Chris Samnee |
Shipped on:
010610 |
Publisher:
Marvel Comics |
MSRP:
$3.99 each
(15% OFF during it's 1st Week of release only at Alternate Reality!) |
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“I believe (Marvel's) intention is to wash away the dark thematic elements that
have been plaguing their titles for a while now.”
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The event Marvel Comics claims has been “seven years
in the making” is finally upon us! Is this the epic conclusion to Brian Bendis’
landscape changing, and franchise making run on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes? Or, is
it simply his segue to the next chapter? The writer claims that he and artist
Stuart Immomen are sticking with “New Avengers” for the foreseeable future, and
Marvel is already touting the end of Osborn’s ‘Dark Reign’ and the dawn of a
“Heroic Age”. Seeing as how every major game-changing event of the last several
years has grown organically out of the previous set of stories one may imagine
that this is just another stepping stone in what will surely, down the line a
bit, be considered a rich tapestry of tales, truly representative of the turmoil
and paranoia felt by everyday men and women, whom the company has always modeled
its characters, and universe, after.
“Siege” is a few different things, all at the same time: It’s Norman Osborn’s
endgame. He’s working against Presidential authority at this point, so even if
he wins the battle against Asgard, he’s going to lose his job. It serves to
reunite the ‘holy trinity’ of Avengers (Cap, Iron Man, and Thor) whom haven’t
been seen in the same book at the same time as part of the same team since
before “Disassembled”. It’s Brian Bendis compressing his traditional narrative
style into a mere four issues, which if you’ve picked up any Marvel Universe
event-book in the last ten years (hell, any event comic by any publisher) is
only about half of the standard number of issues. And, if one wants to get
technical about it, it’s the reason J. Michael Straczynski signed with DC comics
(supposedly).
After recreating a “Civil War”-esque disaster in which Asgard is made to look
like a potential terror threat, Norman Osborn rallies his Dark Avengers and the
Initiative, as well as the Hood’s army of super-villains, and, not to mention,
the entirety of Osborn’s H.A.M.M.E.R. organization. Lashing out in a temper
tantrum of legendary scale, the legions of lunatic lackeys at the former Green
Goblin’s direction make way to Broxton, Oklahoma, where the mythical land of
Asgard resides, floating a mere twelve inches above the Earth. Did I forget to
mention that everyone who resides within the walls of Asgard is actually a Norse
god? OH? Bendis is quick to let readers know that even Osborn’s men find the
mission frightening, but what they lack in Godliness they make up for in sheer
numbers. There’s some great $#!t here, that’s for sure. We finally find out what
would happen if the power of ten million exploding suns was shrunk down into the
shape of a man, stuck in a yellow suit, given multiple personality disorder, and
hit with Thor’s hammer…that was cool. That’s before the golden-locked god of
thunder is taken down by the U-Foes, a group of Hulk-level villains, off-panel,
which just begs for controversy (and the internet is ripe with responses to it).
Another constantly reliable Marvel Comics sales tactic is to release a whole,
wet, whopping $#!t-load of tie-in titles that usually bear little relevance to
what’s going on in the main mini, and as such, I’ve avoided a majority of these
books like they were looking to shiv me in a crowded prison yard. With that
said, I picked up a copy of “Siege: Embedded” and found it to be tremendously
insightful, especially considering the lack of space Bendis is going to have
(other than “Siege: The Cabal”, the main four-issue mini, four issues of “New
Avengers”, and four issues of “Dark Avengers”) in this newer, sleeker, and more
streamlined event. Instead of jumping on the capes and tights bandwagon, the
“Frontline” series of series’ have focused on Ben Urich, the ‘Frontline’
newspaper, and the reporters and writers who view the world-shattering events
from the street level. Did I let the cat out of the bag? That’s right folks,
“Siege: Embedded” is nothing more than “Siege: Frontline”, only because the
‘frontline’ referred to in the story isn’t set in New York City the reporters
had to ‘embed’ (see what I did right there?) themselves in the action down in
Broxton, Oklahoma.
Brian Reed and Brian Bendis have worked together before, first on the
“Spider-Woman: Origin” mini-series, then later on the “New Avengers: Illuminati”
mini. Reed wrote three titles under the ‘Secret Invasion’ banner, and two that
fell under the ‘Dark Reign’ banner. Seeing as how Bendis has shown the guy some
love, and obviously has faith in his work, I didn’t think there’d be anything
wrong with picking up a book that promises very little action (and there was
VERY LITTLE action) but offers a fresh perspective than the ones I’ve been used
to reading for the longest time.
Ben Urich’s passionate press-man attitude is endearing and grating at the same
time. This is the guy who figured out Daredevil is a blind, lawyer from Hell’s
Kitchen, but hires Peter Parker as a photographer for his newspaper, all the
while blind to the fact that the kid is actually Spider-Man. In “Siege:
Embedded” his reputation, while never called into question by readers, is the
basis for his being detained by federal police while attempting to reach the
recently decimated Soldier’s Field. It’s by luck that a former colleague happens
by, manages to spring Ben from the icy grasp of 26th and California, then gets
him all the way inside in order to get a first-hand view of the wreckage (in one
of the more haunting two-page spreads ever: The Iron Patriot and his Avengers
helping clear the dead/wounded as Bullseye as Hawkeye lingers in the background,
refusing to lend a hand). It’s through another turn of luck and a mutual love of
cheeseburgers that Urich’s journey is able to really get started, and really, if
that’s the only complaint I have then I don’t really have any. I’ll chalk it up
to coincidence.
Chris Samnee has a great style; it’s Darwyn Cooke, and Sean Phillips, and yet
it’s all his own, without ever coming off as a second rate imitation. He inks
his own work, so there’s a consistency throughout that doesn’t feel like an
added layer between the pencils and the colors. I’ve noticed that there’s a
great deal of illustrators who’ve chosen to ink their own pencils, and while I’m
not a subscriber to that line of thinking all the time, Samnee gets it done
without coming off looking amateurish.
Overall, seven years in the making or not, I think that Marvel has another
winner on their hands. By bringing an end to the event cycle of the last ten or
so years, the publisher is looking to regain the trust of the average consumer,
for whom it is impossible to keep up with the never ending wave of tie-ins,
spin-offs, and over-priced/under-paged ‘landscape-altering’ titles. They’re
looking to put an end to cries from detractors that without the ‘holy trinity’
Bendis’ Avengers are nothing more than street-level stand-ins. Most importantly,
I believe, is their intention to wash away the dark thematic elements that have
been plaguing their titles for a while now. I understand the need for art to
imitate life, and as such, I’ve been on the bandwagon for a while now, but I
also understand the need for escapist fantasy to not be bogged down with a
constant influx of dark imagery. Or, Joey Q. could just be throwing us another
curveball; better stay on your toes.. |
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All Books/Characters pictured herein are © Copyright 2010 by their respective
owners. No rights given or implied by Alternate Reality, Incorporated.
Reviews © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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