A smooth new world of intrigue

Two first issues caught my eye this week, the first eagerly awaited and the second a total surprise.

Some months ago I promised the esteemed J. T. Krul a review for Captain Atom #1, and the day has now arrived. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it. I like it, but there are a number of factors that make me question the whole ‘soft-reboot’ business, to which I need to go into further detail.

Firstly, I love the Captain’s new look. If anything based on a masterful use of colouring, his illuminated form simply exudes power. Thing is, I loved his old look as well, the chrome skin (the fabled alien metal that granted his previous two incarnations their power) is gone. Or at least obscured by the internal furnace of his power.

I fear that he seems even more generic in appearance than previously. Reminding me of the Acclaim incarnation of Solar, Man Of The Atom, or numerous Marvel characters as they achieve cosmic power. Remember the Ethicals from Machine Man? Or maybe he is Nova Frankie Raye with a small mohecan hairstyle.

As his appearance tends more to the ephemeral angelic being, so to has his personality shifted. No longer the brash, confident military man, he seems somewhat humbled. Of course, if his recent experiences in Action Comics and previously as Monarch are still valid, this is only to be expected.

To the latter half of the issue, this can be explained by some news he receives, yet this insecurity is apparent from the first page.

Dr Megala has returned, not as a little red-haired cyborg trolley this time, but more as a balding Stephen Hawkings. Again, I love the new look, it adds a degree of realism. (Yeah, realism. That why we read comics. For the realism.) I will miss Megala the shopping cart, but I applaud his return.

But what does this do to the story of Invasion!? Both the Captain and the original, (well, second) incarnation of Megala were essential in that story. We have seen that the Crisis On Infinite Earths still happened, but has the Invasion? Maybe the new Hawkman will let that cat out of the bag.

No sign yet of General Eiling. Does this mean he was the monstrous General seen in the pages of JLA? Or did that never happen now? Where does that leave the good Captain’s stint with the JLE?

I almost wish we had seen a full reboot. Or at least have a character or two who recalls the previous timeline, so we can identify the differences. For example, since when can the Captain perform molecular re-arrangement? Since this issue it seems.

Who does he think he is? Firestorm? My thoughts wander back to Solar again.

There, that’s the gripes out of the way. If the Captain was a totally new character however, I would love this. If you are new to Nathaniel’s adventures, this is an ideal title. Having some prior knowledge only helped me to jump to conclusions or at shadows.

My other treat has to be Vescell #1 from Image. By Enrique Carrion and John Upchurch. There’s no being burdened by years of history with this title, nor any lengthy exposition; nothing more than one paragraph on the inside cover.

Setting the scene: there’s another dimension that scientists broke into that contains scary demonic things, and a company that markets personality transfers between bodies. Got that?

Then in true cinematic style, we dive straight into the tale of one guy, a bodyguard who has a gun in which lives a fairy and a girlfriend who can only enter this world by possessing others. His tale is told against a backdrop of corporate intrigue and political corruption and has to be the best thirty-four pages I have read in a long time. This is a title of which I want to see a lot more of, as the tale leaves a lot of plot threads lying around as mere decoration, in a fashion that does not overload the reader. At the end of the first issue, I was satisfied. Hungry for more, but satisfied at the same time. A rare occurance these days, I normally find either one or the another, but both is a treasure.

Think Pulp Fiction with fairies and demons. Or maybe what would happen if Disney fell under the control of Tarantino, with a smidgeon of Clive Barker thrown in for good measure.

Please sir? Can I have some more?

Action Comics #886

I’ve mentioned before how much I am enjoying the current direction of the Superman titles, especially Action Comics, and this weeks offering of #886 is no exception. In fact for a continuity cop for myself, this issue has raised the bar somewhat.

The main story featuring Chris (Lor-Zod) and Thara as the latest incarnations of Nightwing and Flamebird, is a telling of the Kryptonian creation myth and the tale of love and betrayal of the original divine duo. It a beautiful tale, full of the standard mythic archetypes and nicely illustrated. Okay, it’s not Alex Ross, but it suits.

What has really fired me up is the back-up story featuring Captain Atom. He seemed to have rather easily deflected criticism and retribution from the other heroes regarding his time as Monarch, and now with the assistance of the Shadowpact, he aims to take on Mirabai. The land here he and Natasha were trapped in, the kingdom of Mirabai has been revealed to be Sorcerers’ World.

Prior to the Final Crisis, erm, Infinite Crisis, erm possibly even Zero Hour back in 1995, Sorcerers’ World in the thirtieth century was what the Gemworld would one day become. This new view of the DC mulitiverse now states Gemworld is but one path to the Sorcerers’ World. I wonder if the old silver age tale of the offshoot of humanity, the Homo Magi remains in continuity? I do believe that there has been some mention of them in the past couple of years.

What I really liked about this is how the writer obviously knows his continuity, not only mentioning Myrra the home of Nightmaster, and the Land of Nightshades; also the Green of the Swamp Thing, the Grey of Matango, the Red of Animal Man (the Vertigo series at least) and even the Jejune realm of Vext!

It was nice to see the tip of the hat to those Vertigo series that featured characters that have returned to the all-ages DCU, as one thing I have been a little frustrated with was the total absence of reference to the old Animal Man series. After all, shouldn’t young Maxine Baker be practically a god nowadays?

That very feature, of retro-continuity and revamp is the only thing that detracts from the first story in this issue. How long will it remain in continuity this time? The DC Multiverse seems to reboot itself every ten years or so. I would hate to think that all this current crop of stories will be wiped away the next time a writer turns their attention to Krypton. The continuity originally lasted say thirty years, taking the pre-Crisis Silver Age as the longest lived example. Lets have the continuity remain in place for at least another thirty years this time.

Else what was the point in the title FINAL Crisis?

Action Comics #882

It’s been a good week this week.

I plugged REBELS in my last column, so I will say little more that pick up #9, where we learn what R.E.B.E.L.S stood for the first time round, Adam Strange, Captain Comet and Kanjar Ro join the fight, and the Omega Men travel to one of Starros home galaxies.

What really caught my attention was Action Comics #882. While the hunt for Supergirl, Chris and Thara heats up after they have been framed by General Sam Lane (always been such a lovable guy) and his agents Reactron and Metallo, it is the back up strip starring Captain Atom that has started to reveal its secrets. Trapped in a world of magic, a former enchanted slave of Mirabai The Forlorn, an ally of Lane’s, and it looks maybe responsible for his time as Monarch during Countdown. I had rather thought there was a lot more to Monarchs tale than had been revealed so far. Just being put in armour did not seem enough to send him so completely over the edge.

Now this is just a guess, but I assume she is tied in with the Lords of Chaos and Order if they still exist, considering Monarchs first incarnation was Hank Hall, carrying the powers of both Order and Chaos within him after the first death of Dawn granger – Dove.

Of course this is before he absorbed the powers of Waverider, became Extant, who was merely a pawn of the yellow fear demon Parallax possessing Hal Jordan. An unwitting agent of Parallax, Extant was also responsible for the creation of the Team Titans timeline, the Time Trappers interference in creating the second Terra, Mirage and Deathwing not withstanding.

Extant met his end in an arc of the JSA in a little universe he had created himself. Then again, Hank Hall has just returned as a Black Lantern, so depending on what the fates of these undead Lanterns will be, there may be more to add there. After all, is Hawkman dead again?

So Mirabai was responsible for Monarch II, erm make that III. In fact it’s IV, considering prior to Infinite Crisis in the pages of Extreme Justice, it was revealed that Monarch was the original Captain Nathaniel Adam (only in Action Comics it’s now Allen), and that Captain Atom was only the alien metal imprinted with Adam’s, erm, Allen’s personality and memories.

That’s what I like about Captain Atom/Monarch. He’s always been such a straightforward, simple character.

Considering this is being written by James Robinson, I am hoping that many of these plot threads will be touched upon, after all it is not like Mr Robinson to ignore the slightest detail, you only have to look at Justice League: Cry For Justice to know that.. And lets face it, there’s a minefield full of them here.

Oh, and if you want to know who the Black Beetle is, pick up Booster Gold #25. I hope this one is a lie. Oh, and for the most hilarious Thor/Hercules fight ever, read the Incredible Hercules #136