Beyond!

Valhallahan
Well how do fellas and fellerettes? I thought I posted this ages ago, but I, err... didn't. Anyway, here it is.
Beyond! is a Marvel team up book that came out in 2006, but was overshadowed by whatever event they were having that week. I think it was Everyone’s A Bastard Now or Iron Man’s A Dick This Month or The day the Earth Turned Bastard maybe it was All Women Is Bitches . Something like that. Anyway, this series is an old school Marvel Crossover which picks up where 80s crossover Secret Wars left off and It’s the same premise on a slightly smaller scale. A mysterious disembodied entity “From Beyond!” whisks away a random assortment of Marvel heroes and villains to a far off planet and offers them their wildest dreams if they do everyone else in. Of course it’s not just a free for all, there are enough twists, turns and what-have-yous in this to keep us readers entertained. At the beginning of this story it’s revealed that the events of Secret Wars was not a one off, and this Beyonder has been bringing group after group of characters to die fighting on this planet for years and now it’s these guys’ turn. Remarkably they manage to work in this premise, so steeped in Marvel Universe history, but make it totally new reader friendly at the same time. I think this largely stems from the choice of characters.

For Beyond! McDuffie picked a truly eclectic bunch of A-Z listers, I think it’s this mixture of characters everyone knows and characters nobody knows that are essentially clean slates for most of the audience. I was particularly happy to see Deathlok get an outing, it’s not my favourite version of the character, but I’m always happy to see Deathlok get some attention. The version in this story is the one from the series McDuffie wrote in the 90s and he obviously has a fondness for the character, so this Deathlok fan approves. Another character its good to see again is The Wasp who was rather pointlessly killed off by Brian Michael Bendis a few years later in Marvel mega-event Everyone Secretly a Bastard, which looking back on it was a load of cack. Rounding off the cast are Hank Pym (wife beating former Avenger), Firebird (uninspiring former Avenger), Kraven the Hunter (the not such a villain, more like Steve Irwin son of the original), The Hood (the sympathetic pre being written by Bendis version), Venom (the one that used to be The Scorpion), Gravity (I didn’t read it either, he seems a bit like Invincible), Medusa (the incestuous Inhuman) and Spider-Man (never heard of him).

Scott Kolins art suits the tone perfectly, his style has a fantastic mixture of the stylish modern artist, and the classic Marvel method. I do have one gripe about his art namely “what in the hell is Pym wearing?” but other artistic choices like Firebird’s naff Native American themed kit and Venom’s killer Scorpion tail, actually work if you ask me. The Venom tail particularly, which I thought was a nice addition to the character. On that note, it warrants mention that this was written when the Mac Gargan Venom was a fairly new concept, and people were having fun with the new design. Nowadays everyone just draws classic Venom, maybe a bit bigger, but still same old, same old which I think is a wasted opportunity.

The book is created by Dwayne McDuffie and Scot Kollins both of whom made their names chiefly from their work for the Distinguished Competition, McDuffie for his work on Static and his Milestone characters and later with the Justice League in comics and Animation; Kollins known largely for his critically applauded work on The Flash. It’s interesting to see these guys let loose on such unashamedly classic Marvel action, full of obscure cameos and continuity nods, and they do a bloody great job of it too if you ask me.

I wholeheartedly recommend this and it’s not just the hangover talking.

What I Got and Why Last Week!

Valhallahan
Sweet Tooth #14&16 - It’s all kicking off now! And now that I’ve picked up the issue that I didn’t realise I was missing, it makes a lot more %$*&ing sense! There’s a big ol’ showdown a-happening at the compound and a glut of arses are about to get thoroughly kicked! Verily I doth Proper love this series init bruv.

DC Presents Chase - Ash pointed this out to me in Orbital and I had to pick it up for the J.H. Williams III art. It’s his early stuff, but he’s still a total master of the comics page. No Idea what the book is actually about, aside from the fact that it is set in the DC Universe and has that cool skeleton-in-a-suit guy who was in that Justice Society of America book that I got from a bargain bin in one of those warehouse clearance discount book shops, you know the one. You don’t? I don’t know why I even bother with you! Anyway, looks fun!

ASIDE!
As an aside, I want to point out that I’m digging these semi-Trade things that DC are publishing at the minute. It seemed to start with Vertigo Resurrected, but they’re doing them for quite a few mainstream DC titles too now. Essentially they’re three issues’ worth of stories bound as a cross between trade paperback and a comic, reprinting some out of print lesser heard of DC stories that aren’t long enough put into trade paperback format. I think they could do with being a quid or so cheaper, but it’s great to get these obscure stories back in circulation. Which leads me to...

Vertigo Resurrected: The Extremist - I didn’t actually but this, but the upshot of it being released is that the issues I was missing from the original mini series popped up in Orbital’s back issue boxes. I snapped them up for about a quid each. Nice! I’ll not say much about the story now, aside from the fact that it’s about ordinary people and the power of masked anonymity. By Ted McKeever.

V2K: Totems - I picked this up on a whim (it was cheap), it’s a one-shot crossover from 1999/2000 that sees different 90s Vertigo characters meeting up at John Constantine’s Millenium New Year’s Eve bash. Check out the full review what I has done.

Knight and Squire #3 - I don’t know what Action Ash is missing, but I’m loving this series. This issue the Potent Pair take on an evil army of cloned British Monarchs led by Shakespearian villain, Richard III. Sterling.

Jonah Hex - Jonah Hex drawn by Eduardo Risso. EDUARDO ****ING 100BULLETS ****ING RISSO! Yep you know I’m all over that like shit on a blanket (to paraphrase Lord Sugar).

Also I got a bit bored at home and ordered these beauties from Amazon.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol.1 - I know Myspace is like so totally last week yeah? But short comic book stories from a fantastic selection of artists and writers don’t never go out of fashion. Well, maybe fashion was the wrong term, but you get the gist. Featuring bits and pieces from Gabriel Ba, Fabio Moon, Gerrard Way, Joss Whedon, Steve Niles, Guy Davis, Cary Nord, Tony Millionaire, Don Heck, Ron Marz, Rick Remender, Kieron Dwyer and others.

Beyond! - This little Marvel Universe team up mini series slipped under a lot of people’s radars when it came out but seems to be well regarded by those who did actually read it. The creative team is Milestone/Static/Justice League/JLU guru Dwayne McDuffie turning in a rare bit of marvel work and drawn by 2Badguys favourite Scott Kollins, so it should be a treat. Add to that the eclectic cast and the fact that it is a sort of sequel to the original Secret Wars story from the 80s and I’m hoping to find my Marvel Heroes itch well and truly scratched!

Ex Machina Vol.10 - This is it, the final volume of Ex Machina! I have to say that my interest in the series has waned over time but I’m eager to find out how it ends. Written by some guy called Brian K Vaughan, whom I’m led to believe used to be a comics writer?