Today, Patrick, Drew, Mark and Michael discuss Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde 1, Weirdworld 2, Old Man Logan 3, E is for Extinction 2, Loki, Agent of Asgard 16 and Marvel Zombies 2.

Patrick: We can argue about the merits of “Battleworld” as an engine for compelling narratives until we are blue in the collective face. (I assume we keep that face on Reddit, and its has seen some shit.) This week’s crop demonstrates that, no matter what stories are coming out of Marvel these days, the pages themselves are looking absolutely gorgeous. Andrea Sorrentino, Ramon Villalobos, Michael del Mundo, Kev Walker and Lee Garbett all in one week? Plus, relative new-comer Alti Firmansyah rounds out a beautiful line-up. Maybe there’s something about the freedom that Secret Wars offers that attracts this kind of amazing talent.

Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde 1

Patrick: When Secret Wars started, I got that hot, uncomfortable feeling in my stomach — the feeling that the stories and characters I was enjoying were simply disappearing. Since Secret Wars 2, I’ve been sort of frantically looking for any semblance of that old world, while admittedly finding a whole lot to like in Battleworld itself. In Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde 1, writer Sam Humphries casts Earth 616 Peter Quill in this same role. We don’t know why exactly he’s been separated from the rest of the survivors from Reed’s raft, but he’s carved out a weirdly effortless niche for himself in New Atillan singing Disney songs for a enraptured audience at Black Bolt’s Quiet Room club. (God Doom in his infinite wisdom did not re-create Disney in Battleworld, which raises a bunch of questions about what other cultural artifacts he wasn’t able to carry over to his very own planet.) It’s a goofy premise which is accentuated by Alti Firmansyah’s cartoony art work, with a hint of nuanced sadness, as accentuated by Jessica Kohlinne’s rich shading and coloring. It really is neat to see these simpler character designs rounded out with dynamic lighting effects – it’s the perfect mix of joy and melancholy. And speaking of mixes, I love that Humphries introduces a character that’s a hybrid between Gambit and the Collector, effectively mashing up the two disparate components of Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde. It’s a bummer that the Kitty we’re eventually introduced to isn’t the one that fell in love with Peter during the Trial of Jean Grey. Aw, hell, even if she’s definitely not the right girl, I’m still a sucker for this moment.

Her dress is a fucking star-field, and she represents everything about the life Peter has been unable to get back to. It invites the reader to pretend that we’re back in a time we understand, reading a comic we remember. Of course, that’s not the whole of it: Peter’s advances get this Kitty in trouble, which subsequently gets him in trouble. Maybe the lesson is comfort is nice, but seeking comfort where it doesn’t exist can be dangerous. Drew, how did you like this not-really-a-reunion-reunion?

Drew: You know, I think I might actually like this pairing better than the all-616 version we’re familiar with. I can’t deny that there was a lot to be charmed by in Kitty and Peter’s long-distance courtship, but I never felt particularly invested in it — their relationship was never central to either of their stories, and only vaguely played out in the background. Perhaps more importantly, that relationship felt devoid of any real emotion. What is it that they like about each other? What do they dislike? What makes them work? What do they struggle with? Those questions have never really been addressed, which leaves their relationship with a generic kind of blandness.

This issue replaces that relationship with a unique conflict: Peter recognizes and loves Kitty, but Kitty is only interested in finding exotic matter. That Peter is made of exotic matter guarantees that they’ll be spending a lot of time together, but that their interests aren’t in line guarantees that there will be something to their relationship beyond blissful harmony. Maybe I’m fetishizing love/hate stories a bit too much, but I appreciate the change of pace from this relationship as we know it.

Weirdworld 2

Drew: I don’t always love camp — it often feels overly sarcastic and too self-aware for its own good — but when done well, it can be one of the most charming tones for a narrative to strike. That’s precisely what makes The Princess Bride or Flash Gordon so enduring; they’re silly, sure, but they’re also sweet and thrilling in ways that more straight-laced adventures never allow themselves to be. I feel the same way about Weirdword 2, which captures all of the madcap absurdity of the first issue, but channels it into concrete story beats.

As the issue opens, Arkon is trapped in the jails of Apelantis, and it really only gets more absurd from there. Warbow, a crystalline fellow prisoner, helps Arkon escape and introduces a new MacGuffin. I enjoyed that character a great deal, but I’m also charmed by the notion that next month’s adventure will be completely different. That again hearkens back to Flash Gordon, but this time to the Saturday morning serials, where skipping an episode or two wouldn’t really put you at a disadvantage. Arkon may be destined for Polemachus, but first, he’s going to have a bunch of silly adventures.

Patrick: It helps that those silly adventures are being rendered by the absurdly talented Michael del Mundo. There’s so much passive, atmospheric storytelling that goes on between Jason Aaron’s dialogue. A less elegant creative team would have wasted words describing Warbow, but del Mundo’s able to communicate everything we need to know in the character’s first real appearance.

I know he just punched his way through a stone wall, but nothing re-emphasizes his bad-assness like the broken shackles that hang around his neck and shoulders. Every detail is elevated by del Mundo’s attention to detail and the wildly vibrant colors that he and colorist Marco D’Alfonso apply to every page.

Old Man Logan 3

Mark: What’s the point of Old Man Logan 3? I’ve been almost entirely absent from our ongoing discussions about the Secret Wars event, and it’s because, for the most part, I’ve really not been digging it. Sadly, Old Man Logan 3 is a pretty prime example of the things I dislike about Marvel’s event. For one, it’s narratively shapeless. Logan goes from the Domain of Apocalypse to Tony Stark’s Technopolis seemingly for the sole reason of, “Hey, we should have Logan drop by Technopolis.” There is literally no connective tissue, thematic or otherwise, that makes these two segments feel like part of the same whole. And then again at the end there’s a third awkward gear shift when Logan ultimately ends up in The Deadlands. None of it flows organically together, none of it is very satisfying on its own. It’s just, “Well, Logan should go to The Deadlands at some point, right?”

Second, like most of the other Secret Wars tie-ins, it’s not like cool moments don’t happen in the issue. Andrea Sorrentino’s art is, as always, on point and the idea that Logan can fend off Technopolis’ pervasive tech virus thanks to his healing abilities is interesting. Hell, Logan potentially battling the creatures of The Deadlands next time means I’ll definitely be picking up the fourth issue. But it all feels very masturbatory. Look, DC’s Convergence didn’t exactly knock it out of the park, but it at least ultimately led somewhere that opens up possibilities for future stories. Old Man Logan 3 just feels like a waste of a beloved character. It goes through the motions of giving people what they want, but it feels very cynical.

Patrick: Mark, I’d argue that most of those criticisms can be leveled against most of Brian Michael Bendis comics. While the dude does excel at characterization and finding wonderful moments, he’s never the tightest storyteller. But I guess my experience of Secret Wars has been way different from yours in that I’ve been able to find pockets of cool shit out there that I can enjoy largely on its own merits instead of as part of some larger tapestry. The concept of Old Man Logan is undeniable — it’s basically casting Wolverine as a Ronin, forever wandering the countryside, only now that “countryside is Battleworld.” That makes his adventures weirdly episodic, even (as Mark points out) within the issue. So, like, there might not be any connective tissue but man… there’s an experience here that’s hard to ignore.

If all this series is is Bendis telling Sorrentino to draw awesome shit, I might just be okay with that.

E is for Extinction 2

Patrick: Everything you need to know about the second issue of E is for Extinction, we learn in the first two pages. The U-Men guards wonder aloud why they traded the old X-Men for Xorn — admitting that they don’t totally remember why that happened — only to discover that they’ve been tricked into imprisoning themselves and letting their prisoners go. It’s a clear set up, followed by a clever punchline – not a joke in the strictest sense, but all of the story beats in this issue play out in that joke-like rhythm. It makes the grim grim grim business of farming Jean Grey for her Phoenix Powers and makes the whole thing palettable. That’s a good thing too, because some of these reversals — funny though they may be — get pretty dark. Quentin Quire betrays Magneto only to be predictably impaled on a giant metal spike. Or the reversal/double-reversal/triple-reversal of Xorn confronting Magneto only to have his metal helmet smashed, only to have it revealed that his head is a massless ball of energy, ONLY TO REVEAL that both Xorn and Magneto need to be absorbed into the Phoenix Egg. And then it ends with the ultimate non-sequitor punchline: an army of Beasts!

I find all of that so approachable and wonderful – even as there’s a shit-ton of Morrison-ian mythology hanging around that I don’t understand. Another thing that makes this series so welcoming is Ramon Villalobos’ inviting artwork, which makes the heroes just lumpy and ugly enough for me to really love them.

They’re all so old and fragile! Michael, break it down for me, scale of 1 to 10: how gross is Magneto sleeping with one of the Cuckoos?

Michael: Magneto sleeping with Esme is probably an 8 on the gross scale but not all that surprising to me. After all, Esme ended up with Magneto in Morrison’s New X-Men, which Burnham & Co. are trying so very hard to replicated and reference. I can’t help but be taken back to that period in time when Morrison ditched the spandex and embraced the uniformity of the X-Men movies. The Magneto of that era was an out-of-touch villain trying to stay hip and relevant; so too is this Magneto. While Cyclops and Emma represent the old guard, Magneto is still trying to portray himself as the future of mutant kind. As a Morrison fanboy it’s hard for me not to appreciate Chris Burnham’s attention to detail and references to New X-Men such as future/old Beast saying “Magneto was right.” To be a bit snobby I’d say that the Xorn/Magneto fight was not as meta as I’d like it to be, but what can you do? What is very meta is the fact that this book is written by Chris Burnham – a Morrison collaborator whose style emulates New X-Men’s Frank Quitely – and is drawn by another artist who is trying to emulate both styles: Ramon Villalobos. Grant Morrison would be proud.

Loki, Agent of Asgard 16

Patrick: The beautiful thing about stories of gods and superheroes is that there’s never really a kill-date for any of them. They’re compelling characters, and creators will always want to use them to tell their new stories. It’s like the Nintendo model of game development: come up with an interesting new game mechanic and then cram Mario or Link or Donkey Kong into it. That how you guarantee an audience. Loki 16 relishes in this idea, starting off by killing Volstagg on the first page, only to resurrect him (and the rest of the heroes of the realm) three pages later. Al Ewing has always been keenly aware of the meta-tropes of comic book storytelling, and now that Loki has become the God/Goddess of Stories, that awareness has been turned up ridiculously high. What I love about that heightened un-reality is that Ewing and artist Lee Garbet are able to mine it for both pathos and humor. I mean, there’s little else I like more than seeing Freyja, Sigurd and Lorelelei putting on shades like they’re Miami Vice.

And Loki him-/herself is an amazing addition to the battle to save Asgard. Loki is totally indifferent to the battle, not at all interested in whether the old world lives or dies, but is only interested in two things: defeating King Loki and saving himself and Verity. He’s able to do this by literally rewriting King Loki’s experience, taking the scepter out of his hand by simply insisting it was never there in the first place. It’s like a tiny in-universe retcon, which also seems to change Loki back into a man. I mean, we’re fucking with retcons in real time, so why the hell not?

In the end, we don’t get to see how that battle plays out, but never fear, Loki has preserved it has a story. Which, hey, that’s all any of this is anyway.

Marvel Zombies 2

Patrick: It’s not easy for a story about “the place where we keep all the zombies” to surprise me – and even harder for that story to surprise me with its use of gore. But the final splash page of Marvel Zombies 2 might have achieved something truly stomach turning in that final image of Deadpool suspended upside down, his buffet of brains exposed like he’s some kind of soft-serve ice cream machine. I mean, gross, right?

 

But that’s only so effective because it’s been grounded by lot of interesting world building and character work in the proceeding 19 pages. In fact, for all the observations about how the re-animated dead operate (appearing in pairs, surviving having a fall from a mountain top, etc.), Elsa is unable to deal with the un-re-animated dead. Writer Simon Spurrier leans a little heavy on Elsa’s daddy issues, and it’s a little bit absurd how frequently she’s still spouting his hard-taught aphorisms. While we get a lot of the tactical lessons he taught her, the juicy bits are sort of on the margin: the emotional lessons that he either taught her through action or omission of action. That kid is going to need a parental figure, and fortunately/unfortunately for him, the only person available has a ton of baggage in that arena.

Did you read some Secret Wars tie-ins that we didn’t? Sure you did! There are holes in our pull list. Holes that you’re encouraged to fill with your comments. Let’s keep talking about Secret Wars.