Quick reviews: Thor, Iron Man, Hulk
Posted by dailypop on January 18, 2012
The Mighty Thor #9
By Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry
Thor is dead.
Despite his father Odin’s attempts to prevent it, the thunder god has met his end at the hands of the Serpent. So why does no one remember him? What’s more, who is Tanarus, the stand-in Thor whom even the Avengers seem to accept into their ranks? To Loki’s annoyance, he is the only one to not accept Tanarus as his brother, but he can’t figure out why.
In recent months Marvel Comics has taken the concept of death in comics and put a new spin on it. Previously characters were killed to the anger of fans then revived to an even greater expression of spite. With the death and revival of Johnny Storm, Bucky and Thor, however, there’s a new spin. In the case of Thor, he is not only gone, but replaced by a pretender that everyone seems to accept on the spot. It’s very clever and dodges the bullet of spending months moaning the loss of a great hero.
Of course Tanarus is actually Ulik, the enemy of Thor, who is enshrouded by a mystical spell that effects the memories and perceptions of others. Part of a plot to infiltrate and destroy the new Asgardian rule in Odin’s absence, Ulik plays the hero to the pantheon of gods and to the world below. When I first saw Tanarus in the solicitations, I was understandably confused. Now that I back-tracked and read Fear Itself 1.2: Thor, I understand.
While Ulik lives Thor’s life in Asgard, the real Thor is elsewhere, weakened and in the company of other gods waiting to be devoured by the God-Eater (see Chaos War).
Determined to figure out why he cannot accept Tanarus, Loki visits Donald Blake who is back to living the life of a general medical practitioner in NYC. In a huff, he storms out of Blake’s office, stealing the doctor’s walking stick as well. Searching for clues, he finds the Silver Surfer lying on his back in the desert, allowing himself to be devoured by vultures… some people get kicks in the weirdest of ways. The Surfer recognizes the stick for what it is and strikes it on the ground, transforming it into Mjölnir.
Thor has been a knock-out series for years now and continues to be a great read month to month. The artwork is exceptional and the bizarre mixture of drama, sci-fi, fantasy and comedy is so unique that I doubt I’ll ever get bored reading it. With all of the ‘event fatigue’ going on in the comic book world right now, this remains a solid series and I heartily recommend it.
The Invincible Iron Man #510
By Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
Another Marvel Comics icon to go through a remarkable turn of events, transforming what was honestly a dull as dishwater character into a must-read hero is Iron Man. Warren Ellis laid the ground work, the Knauf brothers put down the structure and Matt Fraction has taken the hard work of his predecessors to make Iron Man into the heavy hitter that he was intended to be way back in the day.
Like several other Marvel Comics, Iron Man is set in the wake of Fear Itself where the combined might of all the world’s heroes battled with the mystical threat of the Serpent and the mechanized might of the Red Skull’s army. It took a massive toll on the population of the world and while the heroes ultimately succeeded, it wasn’t without leaving plenty of scars. In Tony Stark’s case he not only conceded that faith was greater than reason but also cashed in his sobriety chip and fell off the wagon.
I’m very impressed how Fraction has chosen to get Tony out of the hole that he’s fallen in. Rather than wallow in self-pity and remorse over his mistake, Stark simply declares it a new day and starts over. Falling out of sobriety may only take one drink but the road back starts with each minute, hour and day he is not drinking. It’s a testament to his strength of character and also speaks to Fraction’s understanding of Iron Man (as shown in the remarkable Point One issue that received rave reviews).
His company Stark Resilient is a shambles, but Tony refuses to go down without a fight… which is fortunate because a fight comes looking for him. The Mandarin is pulling strings in the background of a master plan to destroy his hated enemy and employs the Living Laser to make the first strike. The battle is fierce (and thanks to LaRocca’s artwork amazing) and deeply shatters Stark’s resolve in the face of the public.
Like Thor, I continue to be impressed by this series and doubt I will ever tire of reading it. Some find that not enough happens in a single issue to warrant such glowing praise but I am all for the episodic format that this comic embraces. An excellent blend of action and drama, Iron Man is worthy of being one corner of Marvel’s tent-pole of monthly mega-stars.
Hulk #46
By Jeff Parker and Patrick Zircher
With the loss of Greg Pak as writer of Incredible Hulk and the absurdly poor new ongoing replacement series, the (Red) Hulk has taken up the mantle of the proper Hulk title, even if his color is wrong.
For years, the formula for Hulk comics was rather simple. He just wants to be left alone, he’s friendless and on the run, he encounters an obstacle and carnage ensues. I’m being old-fashioned but I think that the book succeeds best when this formula is honored and I firmly state that it is the secret to Jeff Parker’s Hulk series being as great as it is.
Instead of Banner, we have General Ross as the tortured and lost soul, forever alone and on the run, but in his case Ross is so stoic and stubborn that he can’t admit any of this to himself. Too dangerous to be forgotten and too unreliable to be trusted, Ross is taken in by Steve Rogers and placed on a series of missions to disarm the devious plots of the Intelligencia.
Most recently, Ross has found himself a new enemy in General Fortean, an old army friend from back in the day. Ironically Fortean believes that the Red Hulk is responsible for the death of his dear friend General Ross and is dead set on revenge.
Life’s weird.
While living a relatively quiet life of solitude, Ross learns that another old friend from his military past has died in the middle east at the hands of Dagan Shah, a super-powered warlord who is building a new power base. Rogers attempts to stop Ross with the help of the Secret Avengers but in the end realizes that Ross will not stop no matter who is telling him to. So he sends the Red Hulk back in with Machine Man as an escort.
The conclusion of the Hulk of Arabia honestly couldn’t come soon enough for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent adventure with strong characters, a new villain and outstanding artwork but the pacing seemed unusually slow and awkward somehow. The story feels drawn out and could probably have been wrapped up in four rather than five parts (perhaps cutting out the unnecessary Secret Avengers fight). As a new villain, Dagan Shah is a powerful threat but rather two-dimensional in the end and difficult to get all that invested in as a reader.
The addition of Machine Man was an inspired decision, but I was confused by his behavior as he seemed unusually restrained and quiet. Where was the beer-swilling character who called humans ‘met bags’ in Fred Van Lente’s Marvel Zombies series?
The Red Hulk book is outstanding and should be forced under the nose of anyone ever dreaming of writing the Hulk. I know that there’s a lot of resistance to the Red Hulk as he was forced on readers unnecessarily, but in my opinion those fans should just reverse the colors in their heads and see that this is the Hulk done right.
Next time, I dip back into the DC Comics pile with Animal Man, Thunder Agents and Batman.
