Longbox Special: Under Siege: The Finale

Here we are at the end my friends.  The end of Marvel’s latest super hero epic.  No longer will we be

I’m going to break with my usual format this time around and just go ahead and talk about this weeks final five books interchangeably.  Where to start though?  Let’s start with how much of a fizzle I felt Siege #4 was.  Up until this point, Bendis had been ratcheting things up with each issue and giving us a little bit of pay off each time.  This issue should have been the big pay off, the last boss battle, the part of the story that should have hit us hard in the face and make us want more after.  It didn’t really deliver that feeling, it felt more like a disjointed sequence of events that didn’t really mesh well.

Opening with Loki’s plea to his dead father to help the heroes overcome the Void seemed to play against what Loki had been working towards all this time.  The argument can be made that he didn’t think it would get as bad as all this but I have to ask just why would it matter to him?  From what we’ve seen in the Siege: Loki one shot, he wanted to be free from all that Asgard represented.  Doesn’t its fall mark the biggest freedom he could get from it?  I can understand a desire to save his fellow Asgardians but he decides to power up the assembled heroes, leaving his brothers and sisters to simply stand by and watch.

Once the heroes are powered up, things really don’t improve much, mainly because there isn’t much difference in how they appear.  We get little snippets of pretty cliche dialogue telling us things like Iron Man’s batteries are charged and his systems are online.  Great.  Iron Man is on par with my car.  The battle itself is underwhelming with the heroes taking shots at the Void until the Void destroys the Norn stones and Loki along with them.  Then a non-suped up Thor proceeds to essentially hit the Void until it doesn’t move anymore.  Why didn’t he just do this in the first place when he had more power at his disposal?  Finally, he kills Bob and whisks his body off to a burial in the sun which lacks any kind of emotional weight.

This lack of emotional weight carries over in The Sentry: Fallen Sun where heroes gather to remember The Sentry.  The book plods along and is fairly unremarkable as a memorial or farewell to the character.  Of course there are the hints that he’ll be back.  Also, apparently he and rogue hooked up.  Great.

Siege: Embedded also managed to fall flat for me.  It was a lot of Ben Urich just watching stuff happen and reminding us how small normal people are in the face of an event of this magnitude.  The problem was that the book just didn’t feel big enough and I wasn’t sold on Ben’s sense of awe.  It does give us a bit more Volstaag, which has always been enjoyable in this book.

Finally, there are two books that wrap up their runs along side the final installment of Siege; Dark Avengers and Avengers: The Initiative.  Of the two, Avengers: The Initiative is arguable the weakest.  It attempts to tie up all of the loose ends of the three stories it’s been weaving throughout the past few months.  It also tries to set things up for the book set to replace it, Avengers Academy (or whatever they’re calling it).  I really liked this book when it was focused on Taskmaster simply because he seemed like such an unlikely protagonist for the story.  Things got bogged down when they started putting focus on fairly uninteresting side stories.

Dark Avengers was the one book that gave a really good send off to itself.  It’s also been the only book to really portray Norman Osborn in something that resembles a sympathetic light.  The coda that Osborn gets at the end of the book is some really fantastic writing from Bendis.  I wonder where that kind of writing was for the last issue of Siege?  If I haven’t mentioned it before, Victoria Hand was also an up point of this book.  I’m happy to see that she made it through this and will be around for what follows.

So that’s it, the end, fin, I’ve got no more to say really.  I had considered throwing The New Avengers Finale into this week’s article but it technically isn’t part of Siege.  Also, it was pretty lacking too.  Siege built itself up pretty nicely as did some of the tie-in books but in the end it didn’t feel like it delivered the goods.  Sure, things are set up for Marvel’s Heroic Age and all that, but it would have been nice to have a better end to Osborn’s Dark Reign.  In any case, it was fun doing these pieces even though it pulled me away from doing proper comic book reviews (if one can call my reviews proper).  Maybe we’ll do this again sometime.  Maybe I’ll just drink myself into a stupor instead.  Take care and be well...

The Longbox

S.H.I.E.L.D.

issue: 1

writer: Jonathan Hickman

artist: Dustin Weaver

publisher: Marvel

I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Hickman’s work since I was introduced to Pax Romana a few years back by fellow LBM contributor Jon.  He has a way of working together text heavy segments with visual storytelling to produce a dense piece of graphic literature.  S.H.I.E.L.D. is another departure from that style, one that he started moving away from with Marvel in the pages of Secret Warriors.

S.H.I.E.L.D. opens with the enlistment of an ordinary yet strange young man named Leonid by a pair of agents we are led to assume are Howard Stark and Nathaniel Richards in 1953.  Leonid is led to The Immortal City, an ancient city buried beyond deep underneath Rome.  Here Leonid is brought before the High Council of the Shield where he learns a secret history of the world and its secret protectors.

Leonid is told that it all started with Imhotep at the dawn of civilization when he repelled a Brood invasion that threatened to take the Earth.  He was the first and from him the organization and its eagle crest are taken from his shield.  It is then that the council reveals to Leonid that he, like other great minds before him, will stand in the gap to defend humanity.  However, Leonid’s father, the Night Machine, intervenes and sets Leonid on the path of finding his own destiny.  A destiny that seems to be tied to that of Leonardo Da Vinci: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

While I love Hickman for his wordy books, this one does not suffer for the shift away from text heavy pages.  This book does benefit greatly from what seems to be a fascination Hickman has for secret societies, history, and Rome.  He skillfully puts together an issue that teases and satisfies at the same time.  Questions are answered that only open up larger questions that you need to know the answers to.  Who is this Leonid?  Agents Stark and Richards? Night Machine?  How is it then that the world ends?

Hickman’s story is deftly illustrated by Dustin Weaver whose lines and sense of pacing and action are spot on.  He creates iconic panels and splash pages that punctuate and resonate with Hickman’s words.  The image of Galileo preparing to divert a certain devourer of worlds is just fantastic.

While this is supposed to be an ongoing series, I sadly don’t see this going beyond five issues like other well done series of late (Doctor Voodoo, I’m looking in your direction).  I can only hope to be proven wrong and that this title will at least see a year with this creative team.  This book works in so many ways for me.

Longbox Special: Under Siege

It does seem like forever since I last posted something here, don’t it?  It’s been a busy few weeks and things had been a bit quiet on the Siege front, which seems to have changed for this week.  Also, there was the Pittsburgh ComiCon last weekend and I’ve been busy with federal job testing and buying a new car.  I completely spaced on the God Of War III/Clash Of The Titans reviews that didn’t get much further than a sentence, something I’d like to remedy here in the next few days.  Anyway, without any further ado, here is this week’s

This time around I’ll be looking at six, that’s right six, books covering pre-siege, siege, and post-siege stories.  One book wraps itself up, another gets ready for its last issue, while another is set to have its status quo shaken up... again.  First, let’s tackle the one shots.

Siege: Spider-Man #1 is a brawl book that takes place during the siege before Sentry knocks Asgard out of the sky.  The action focuses around Spider-Man musing about his place in the Avengers while taking down Venom on the streets of Broxton.  Also, Ms. Marvel of the Carol Danvers variety shows up to lend a hand.  Oh, and of course a secret is revealed.

For the past few months, Mac Gargan has been posing as Spider-Man on Osborn’s team of Avengers and Peter Parker has been wanting to have a crack at him.  He gets his chance as the two engage in Asgard only to have their fight make its way out of the Norse city and into the human one.  Ms. Marvel shows up to lend  hand by pulling Mac out of the symbiote and winding up an inadvertent host.

In typical good-guy-absorbed-by-bad-guy tradition, Spider-Man must now try to smack the holy hell out of Venom while trying not to do any damage to Marvel.  And of course, a way is found to free her only to have Mac Gargan become Venom again to continue the fight.  Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel are able to send Venom flying back to Asgard to continue the fight away from civilians.

While it’s a pretty straight up action piece, the best parts of this book are the humor.  Brian Reed delivers great dialogue and pulls from some Dark Reign material without making the story dependent  on having full knowledge of what Venom has been up to.  Also, he opens up Spider-Man’s doubts as he questions what a street level hero like him is doing in a situation like this.  Ms. Marvel lets him know that she appreciates him on the team and that it’s entirely possible she has a super hero crush on him.  Great.

Siege: Secret Warriors #1 puts its focus mostly on Phobos and how he reacts to the death of his father, Ares.  We also get to see Nick Fury let Osborn know that is minutes are numbered as he and the Steve Rogers Captain America prep their counteroffensive.

Following news reports of the death of Ares at the hands of Sentry, Phobos moves to carry out what could be considered his father’s last wishes should he ever be killed.  These wishes carry the young god of fear to the White House where he cuts through a seemingly endless supply of Secret Service officers in an attempt to get to the president.  A target he ultimately doesn’t reach but leaves a clear message for.  Meanwhile in Asgard, there is some flavor bits as Nick gets chummy with Cap in the middle of a fight.

Jonathan Hickman delivers the kind of dialogue that makes his stuff a joy to read.  His characterizations are pretty spot on and while he doesn’t get to draw on history too much, his love of it does pop in here and there.  I’m hoping some of this stuff carries over into the regular Secret Warriors title.

Thunderbolts #143 brings a conclusion to this book’s involvement with the event to a close and sets it up for what’s going to be coming after Siege.  The issue picks up with Iron Man taking down Norman Osborn and Osborn’s attempt to get the Spear of Odin to hopefully win the day.  Turns in the loyalties of team members are made and the Mighty Avengers continue in their attempt to stop the Thunderbolts.

Scourge, leader of the Thunderbolts, has possession of the Spear of Odin and is ready to deliver it to Norman in a last ditch effort to turn the battle.  However, it seems that Paladin has had a change of loyalty in an extreme, shoot you in the face, sort of fashion.  He pits himself and Ant Man against the remaining loyal Thunderbolts.  Also, the Mighty Avengers are there to add more to the mix and ultimately provide the conclusion to the fight when Quicksilver shows up and reminds us just how badass he can be.  In the end, the current team, minus Paladin and Ant Man, are taken into custody and those that aren’t are left to move their lives in new directions.  The issue wraps up with the book pointing itself in a new direction as well as Luke Cage is shown preparing to take the helm of the Thunderbolts.

While the first part of these tie-ins was weak, the last two issues really pulled things up.  It became less about the mission for the spear and more about the characters setting their own directions.  Even though I’m still not so familiar with the characters, I found them to be humanized pretty well.  Hopefully the book will carry on in a strong way with its new direction.

New Avengers #64 is another side piece that offers insight into the events in the main book.  This time, Bendis focuses on The Hood and where he’s headed in the aftermath of the event.

The issue starts with a flashback to Avengers Tower and a meeting between Osborn and Parker.  Osborn is interested in how Loki assisted Parker with the Norn stones.  It’s the kind of back-room dealing that cost Osborn his initial cabal, but that he sees as a way of maintaining control of the situation.  Things move back to the siege itself and Parker’s loss of power as Loki takes the stones back to power the heroes in their effort against Void.  This leaves The Hood and Madame Masque in need to get as far away as possible.  The fate of Mockingbird is also resolved as the fight shifts after the fall of Asgard.

This issue felt a bit like a hodge-podge of background material and last minute resolutions.  I have to wonder at just how Bendis is going to wrap up this title next month.  Maybe I’ll tackle that one even though it’s not a Siege tie-in.

Thor #609 continues to follow the Asgardians as opposed to the titular character, which doesn’t really harm the book much.  I’m just glad that they left the Ragnarok character behind for now.

The issue opens with Kelda prepared to turn herself over to H.A.M.M.E.R until Asgard falls from the sky at which time the agents open fire on her.  In Asgard, the troops begin to rally as Tyr is shown to be very much alive and Loki does his thing in an attempt to save his own hide.  Back in Broxton, Bill’s family acts to protect Kelda by putting themselves in the line of fire.  Kelda acts to protect them all and Volstagg cleans up the troops that decided to make a run for it before heading off to Asgard himself to deliver justice.  Balder and Loki have words and Loki is exiled from Asgard.

This was another book that was sort of all over the place but not in a bad way.  It’s been progressing the three stories of Volstagg, Kelda, and the Asgardians fairly well in during the tie-in without becoming too lost.  I’m just glad that the book’s role is done and can hopefully get back to focusing on Thor.

Mighty Avengers #36 sees an end to the book and the current storyline, which is still somewhat confusing as to what it has to do with the event book.  It’s Pym vs. Ultron Pym and his army of brides.  There are flashes to the Mighty Avengers and what’s going on in Asgard but it’s mostly material transplanted from Thunderbolts #143.

Hank explains to Ace and One-Eyed Jacquie (agents of G.R.A.M.P.A) that the infinite mansion was constructed as a harness to maintain Jan’s form in Underspace and the Jocasta bodies were used to maintain her brain functions.  This doesn’t sit well with Jocasta but the conflict with Ultron, now calling himself Ultron Pym, takes priority.  Okay, things really start to break down as the whole situation is dealt with by Jocasta marrying Ultron and Hank using a ploy from an issue back to fool Ultron.

This book lost me at that point and the rest of it just seemed like a tacked on ending that felt uncomfortable.  I can’t say this is the best way for a book to end but at least it’s over.  I still can’t see why they bothered to include this title in the tie-in other than for the last few pages where the Mighty Avengers finally come back together in the eleventh hour of the conflict.  I’m just glad the book is over.

And that’s it for this week!  That was more tiring than I thought it would be.  There’s only five more books in the Siege Checklist so soon I’ll be done with this and might be able to get back to talking about other stuff.  Till the next...

Longbox Special: Under Siege

Instead of book tie-ins this week Marvel graced comic stands with three one shot books, each focusing on different players in the siege on Asgard.

Siege: Loki #1 was the most story expanding book of the three this week.  From the beginning it was known that Loki was pulling the strings, pushing Osborn to take down Asgard.  However, there was always the questions of how and why he would see it through.

We see Loki speaking to Osborn through the Goblin mask, creating the initial cracks in Norman’s already tenuous hold on his sanity.  Loki then moves on to secure the service of the Disir, monsters just recently seen in New Mutants.  With proof of the Disir, Loki moves to strike a deal with Hela, which he seals in a three-way agreement between the two two gods and Mephisto.  To what end?  Why, absolute freedom from destiny of course.

Siege: Captain America #1 dealt with Bucky and Steve and just how long it takes to resolve the Captain America issue.  Ever since Steve Rogers came back there’s been some argument over who should wear the mantle of Captain America.

The thing I had to keep reminding myself of was that Steve has only been back for a short amount of time relative to the whole Siege event, but it just feels like Bucky has been going on and on about the whole thing for forever.  However, this time around it is all internal dialogue as Bucky and Steve are called to help a man whose family is trapped in the rubble of Asgard.  Both Captains and their points of view are juxtaposed by their responses to the crisis at hand and how they handle the addition of a super villain to the situation.

Siege: Young Avengers #1 takes a look at a group of unseasoned heroes and how they’re reacting in the dust of Asgard’s fall.  In the wake of the destruction, the team of Young Avengers has been separated and a rescue effort has begun.  Two are trapped, two face off against the Wrecking Crew, and another is working his ass off to be a hero.

Wiccan and Hulkling survey the destruction and Wiccan opens up a bit to his alien boyfriend about his Norse fanboy history and why it is the siege has wounded him a bit deeper than one would think.  While searching the ruins come across the Wrecking Crew looting the place and the obligatory beat down begins.  Elsewhere, Patriot and Hawkeye (the non-Bullseye, female version) are trapped under tons of rubble with little air and lots of hormones.  Finally, Speed is out and about trying to rescue as many as he can while looking for his buried teammates.  His efforts are only hindered by his own need to overdo himself.  In the end, he receives some encouraging words from Ronin.

I was surprised that I enjoyed these three books as much as I did.  However, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the books are well written, pulling the talents of some good writers.  These feel like they could have been easy, throw away chapters written over a weekend by a staff intern.  Mind you, they weren’t excellent works of staggering genius, but they certainly add to the Siege experience.  I’ll just be happy when the whole Captains America thing gets resolved.

Longbox Special: Under Siege

Hey everyone!  Miss me?  I took a bit of a holiday last week what with Easter and the light reading week that it was for Siege.  All the same, I started working on an entry for this thread but it never came to fruition.  So here I am to assault your eyes and good sense with an abuse of the English language.  It’s almost like it’s..

Last week’s entries were both of the indirect tie-in nature and were both of the character piece trends.

New Mutants #11 is kind of a confusing entry into the fray of this event simply because it really is only serving as a filler book to go between the Necrosha event and Second Coming.  It’s another character piece that doesn’t much advance the story of the book itself and plays as a stand alone episode.

Way back during the Dark Reign/Utopia fiascos, Dani Moonstar went to Hela, the Norse goddess of death, to regain her powers as a Valkyrie to fight off Norman Osborn’s forces that were threatening the new mutant homeland.  Well, this issue, Hela calls in the favor owed her and sends Dani out to gather the dead at the siege of Asgard.  What Dani doesn’t know is that Hela is sending her there for a reason; to protect the fallen from Disir, Norse demons that feast on the souls of the dead.  During the conflict, we learn that Tyr isn’t as dead as we were lead to believe and that Hela isn’t the bad guy she’s usually portrayed to be.

All in all, this was a nice stand alone piece but still one that is not essential to the larger picture of the Siege event.  Dani is the only one of the New Mutants that sees any action here and so it might have just served them to do a Moonstar one shot book but this was probably more cost effective and didn’t burden the writer with having to come up with something for just one issue with Second Coming set to occupy the X-Books for a bit.

Dark Wolverine #84 wraps up Daken’s involvement with the Norns and the title’s tie-in with Siege.  Previously we’ve seen that the Norns have been trying to manipulate Daken for their own needs and to lead him to being an engine for Ragnarok.  Most of what’s been at stake has been Daken’s sense of agency, his own free will.

This books plays itself out pretty well within the context of the conflict and puts Daken at odds with another psychopath, Bullseye.  Daken is inserted into a reality where his forces are burning and he plays at being a hero-type to little effectiveness.  The read itself is a little hard to follow but is presented in a brilliant fashion with some well written dialogue and gorgeous art.  I have to admit, I also really liked the scene where Daken gives Bullseye a pretty intense kiss.

Again, this book was a good read albeit a hard one to follow at times.  This issue also wraps up things with the title’s involvement with Siege.  I’m wondering if they’ll be turning the book back over to Wolverine proper once things have settled after Siege of if they’ll continue to follow Daken.  He certainly has enough to carry himself for a bit in a limited series at least.

Longbox Special: Under Siege

After not one but two weeks without any Siege material from Marvel, we get the main book, two tie-ins and all hell breaking loose.

Siege #3 opens with the White House reacting to the assault on Asgard calling for the arrest of Norman Osborn as Captain America and his Avengers show up to launch their counteroffensive.  Thor engages Sentry on the streets of Broxton, which does not look like a fight that will end well for the thunder god.  Meanwhile, with Osborn’s forces on the ropes, backup arrives in the form of The Hood and his gang and Speed of the Young Avengers makes a delivery from Steve Rogers to Tony Stark.

The action moves along a good clip as Cap and his team get an assist from the U.S. government as H.A.M.M.E.R forces are taken down.  Iron Man shows up to neutralize Osborn’s armor and Norman finally makes the snap everyone has been waiting for.  However, this doesn’t happen before he has Sentry disengage Thor and bring Asgard to the ground.  The issue ends with a big cliffhanger and a new threat.

Bendis moves the action along really well in this issue and continues to portray Osborn as a fully dimensional character, not just a psychopath in power.  Coipel’s art brings the action to life in a way I have only seen since Bryan Hitch.  I’m very excited with the question of just how they’re going to wrap this up.  Also, it was good to see Iron Man back in the game.

Siege: Embedded #3 continues Ben Urich’s adventure to the front lines of Asgard as he stows away as an embedded reporter on a H.A.M.M.E.R transport with Todd Keller, the apparent Glenn Beck of the Marvel universe who is on the side of Norman Osborn.  Things go awry when the craft is hit by a thrown Venom and gets worse when it looks like all on board are on the menu for the monster.

A fortunately timed crash seems to save just about everyone on board, save those Venom already ate.  Venom also seems to have taken off to rejoin the battle as Ben and Keller’s nonplused producer manage to dig Keller out of the wreckage only to be forced at gunpoint to set up a broadcast from the streets of Asgard.  Meanwhile, Urich’s friend Will Stern has made his way to Asgard just in time to capture its fall on camera.

I’ve enjoyed how this tie-in book works the press angle and the fight that goes on via the news.  However, I’m still uncomfortable with the Todd Keller character.  He’s seemed very flat from the outset and doesn’t really get much depth.  It would be nice if he at least got one monologue like those given to Osborn to help flesh him out and maybe make a touch more sympathetic as a person.

Finally, Dark Avengers #15 continues to reveal just how it is that Norman Osborn got not only Sentry but The Void into his pocket.  The events of the Cabal meeting where Doom takes himself out of the mix is fully revealed and we see it’s The Void that was Osborn’s secret weapon.  It is in the wake of this even that the problem of Bob’s wife Lindy is taken care of.

During the attack, Avenger’s tower is evacuated giving Hawk/Bullseye the opportunity to take Lindy out to sea and neutralize her.  Upon his return, he relays that she couldn’t take her life anymore and jumped into the ocean sending Sentry off to find her.  There is a follow up scene with Victoria Hand and Osborn as Norman tells her to relay that the attack on Avengers Tower was an act of Latverian terrorism.

This issue works really well with the main event book in that it gives just enough information to allow an understanding why Sentry is behaving as he is.  It will be interesting to see just what they do with the next issue since I’m assuming it will be the last, wrapping things up with the wrap up of the event.

This was a good week for the Siege event and I’m interested in seeing they’ll be able to keep this level of quality through the rest of this month.  I know there were a couple of weak books last month and this month we’re going to see some other titles brought in with Mighty Avengers #35 and New Mutants #11.  I’m not sure what New Mutants is doing in there and it concerns me just a little bit with Second Coming just around the corner for the X-Books.

The Longbox: Mystic Hands written by Magic Fingers, it only sounds dirty...

The Mystic Hands Of Doctor Strange

issue: 1

writer: Various

artist: Various

publisher: Marvel

Doctor Strange is one of my favorite Marvel Universe characters even though it seems like writers often have a hard time with him.  Most time there is too much of a focus placed on the power and not so much on the man that wields them.  A few years back, Brian K. Vaugn showed us what a Doctor Strange story should be with his miniseries The Oath.  In the time since then, Strange has lost his Sorcerer Supreme title and has gone on to do a bit of soul searching.

While The Mystic Hands Of Doctor Strange sounds like the title of a low budget, high concept porn flick, the book is a fantastic collection of four throwback-type stories written with a modern sensibility and illustrated in “glorious black & white.”  A lot of what these stories do is contextualize Strange’s history, addressing cultural movements of the time as well as addressing just who Stephen Strange is at different stages of his life.

The first story, The Cure by Kieron Gillen and Frazer Irving shows the mystical machinations behind the counter culture of the 70s and how Strange brings it to a close.    Melancholia by Peter Milligan and Frank Brunner tells the story of Strange dealing with the effects of the work he does juxtaposed with the story of a man living with his real world regrets and how he seeks Stephen's magic to fix them.  So This Is How It Feels by writer/artist Ted McKeever gives us a down and out Strange who has hit rock bottom and how a run in with a demon and the counsel of half a floating head turn things around for him.

The best part of this collection for me was the Mike Carey penned Duel In The Dark Dimension with illustrations by the man I feel defined what a Strange book should look like in The Oath, Marcos Martin.  Duel is presented in the form of an entry from one of Strange’s journals and is an illustrated story as opposed to a straight up comic story.  Carey chronicles the adventure of a novice Stephen Strange, still under the tutelage of the Ancient One, as he wanders off on the astral plane and how his arrogance is almost his undoing.

This book is certainly a welcome entry into the canon of Doctor Strange material.  The recent miniseries Strange by Mark Waid was a bit of a let down to me both as a story and in its visual presentation.  The structure of the stories also lends itself well to the casual reader who might not have a knowledge of the character and makes for a collection of fine character stories.  Hopefully we’ll see more Strange stories of this quality in the future.

The Longbox

Stephen King’s N.

issue: 1 of 4

script: Marc Guggenheim

artist: Alex Maleev

publisher: Marvel

I’ve never been a big fan of Stephen King’s in the past.  Oh, I understand he’s the master of modern horror writing all that.  At least, that is what I’m told.  I have enjoyed a lot of his short fiction work and the occasional novel, but nothing has really driven me to his work.

N. is based on a short story written by King and adapted by Marc Guggenheim with direction from King and asks with question, “What if mental illness was communicable on par with the common cold?”  As with all King stories, there is a deep history that gets teased at and trails the story at hand.  This first issue starts off in 1911 as a family is destroyed in a murder suicide.  Flash forward to the present (well, 2008 anyway) where the suicide of a Psychiatrist opens the door to the mystery of the case of patient N. Nash.

Nash is an obsessive compulsive whose OCD is seemingly the result of an encounter with a dark otherworldly force residing in a stone circle in rural Maine.  His story unfolds in typical King fashion of the everyman encountering forces beyond his reckoning and how those forces scar the psyche, not unlike Lovecraft either.  Nash’s concern is that he may have unwittingly released something into the world that he has no ability to put back.  He is haunted by the nightmare of destruction at the hands of a terrible, black monster from beyond.

I’ve never read the short story this book is based on but I can say how much I enjoyed this first issue.  Marc Guggenheim has an excellent command of internal and external dialogue.  Since this is an adaptation of a story I’ve never read, I cannot say how much is his and how much is King’s.  In either case, the writing works well with Alex Maleev’s art.  His images create a darkly beautiful and engaging world.  Maleev has mastered the art of mixing photography and comic art to produce amazing visual storytelling.  This book is one of those that is worth it for the art alone, I’m just glad there is a solid story in place as well.

This is a case of a first issue doing what a first issue in any limited series should do; it generates interest in the story, gives you just enough to whet the appetite, and then promises fantastic follow up courses.  I’ll be interested to see how N. works itself out.

The Longbox: In Which Jon Discusses FABLES

For as long as I can remember, I've had an affinity for fairy tales. Whether they came from Aesop or Disney, I've always been a fan of the ones which were designed for children but could be enjoyed by adults.
Bill Willingham must've felt similarly because he's taken all of the characters from stories we were told in our youth and blended them together into a single universe. The only difference is that most of these stories are written for adults who still have deep affection for their childhood.
Fables is told with grandeur, delicacy to detail and wit. I adore it.

1001 Nights of Snowfall Cover

By the time I got hooked on the comic, the sixth collection of the series had been put out. Willingham and company have since completed seven additional collections of the Fables proper title, as well as six volumes of the spin-off Jack of Fables, the prequel graphic novel 1001 Nights of Snowfall and Peter & Max: A Fables Novel.
For this post, I will delve into the most recent releases: Fables vol. 13 and the Peter & Max novel.

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Peter & Max: A Fables Novel
One of the most amazing aspects of the series is just how many characters from folklore, mythology and literature Willingham hasn't used yet.
This novel tells us the story of three of the more commonly known characters from children's folklore: Peter Piper, his wife Little Bo Peep and his brother Max.
I know. I know.
"Who the fuck is Max Piper?"
Trust me, you've heard of him. His famous fable reveal is responsible for one of the greatest self-inflicted facepalms I've ever given myself, a gesture I've become all too accustomed with since discovering this series.
This novel sets everything up like a classic children's novel of old, from the classic characters, the style of prose, and the inclusion of some beautifully rendered and placed black-and-white illustrations by Steve Leialoha.
Each chapter alternates between the present (basically up to date with the events of the main Fables title) and the past, where you learn how the three characters arrived at their current predicaments.
It's a story of brothers, of children becoming adults and of the allure and dangers of power, as well as two constantly repeated themes in the Fablesverse: the persistence of evil and the triumph of love.
Although the novel can be read without any knowledge of the Fables comics, the events of it will blend into the series soon. So, I recommend that you comic lovers seek it out. Aside from filling in the gaps for you, you'll get on hell of a story. It really was a fantastic read, and any big Fables fan will want know its story.

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Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
This is a nine-part collection includes three issues each from Fables, Jack of Fables and the miniseries The Literals .
Fables, which tends to have an epic feel to it, is by far my favorite of the two principal series. Jack is outlandish and sophomoric, but has found it's niche on my bookshelf as well.
Jack, who in Willingham's world is the hero of the all the "Jack" stories you've ever heard (Beanstalk, Candlestick, Frost, etc.), splintered off into his own title a few years ago and hasn't been seen in amongst the original Fables since that time. I didn't think I'd like his off-hand a-holery mixing with the main title's characters again, but it was needed with the farm folk and wolf children to take a little gravity out of the darkness Rose Red has found herself in at this point of the series.

Fables' Snow White

The portions featuring the Literals (trust me, these characters fit into the canon just fine but would be too spoilery to even begin to explain for the uninitiated) were also a lot of fun to read for me, as there was an all-powerful figurehead for every major storytelling category you could conjure. Fashioning myself as a writer and genre-freak, this was a big selling point for me in this chapter of the comic.
I suppose my only real complaint was the lack of interaction between some characters. The Page sisters and Rose Red. The Pathetic Fallacy and Pinocchio. Mister Revise and the Adversary. All were ripe with possibility, but I guess there was only so many pages to include everyone, so I shouldn't complain too much.
It wasn't the best collection of the Fablesverse (that honor belongs to the lengthy, but heartbreakingly magnificent Vol. 10: The Good Prince); however, it was yet another very good one.
In all, this was a highly enjoyable crossover and, the best part, things actually changed at the close of it.

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The world of Fables shows no sign of halting its expansion. The Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love miniseries about Cindy going off on things clandestine is in the middle of its six-issue run (I will be waiting for the trade, like all other things Fables), another standalone graphic novel entitled Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland about Bigby finding -- well, that would spoil some things, so we'll just wait and see -- and there's also the possibility that ABC will go forward with a pilot based on the series someday since they've optioned it.

Giant-Sized Longbox Special: Under Siege

So Marvel seemed to give us all a break a few weeks back when there were no Siege books followed by a week with only one.  Well, this past week, they made up for it with not one, or two, or even three, but five total Siege tie-in books.  Most were good, a few, not so much.  In any case, it’s given me a lot to write about and so I’m skipping a normal Longbox review to give you this giant-sized Under Siege. 

Thunderbolts #141 is probably the weakest of the books released this week.  To be honest, I haven’t really been following it since its roster changed after Secret Invasion so I’m only passingly familiar with the characters from their appearances in other books.

The story is a Mission: Impossible-style set-up with Norman Osborn setting the team to locate the spear of Odin stashed away somewhere in the armory of Asgard.  Already down two members (Ghost and Headsman), the Thunderbolts head off on their mission.

There is little here that really got me interested or invested into any of the characters and Osborn is written in a fairly unremarkable way that doesn’t seem to resonate with his character in the other Siege books.  The only thing this book really does is serve to bring the Mighty Avengers into the battle and that doesn’t happen until the last page.  By that time, I was ready to take a nap.  Here’s hoping the actual Mighty Avengers tie-in book does a better job with this.

Thor #607 improves things a bit for me but really just made me miss Straczynski.  Gillen’s writing on the book so far has been good but this tie-in feels very herky jerky.  It moves all over trying to fill in gaps with the Asgardians leading up to Osborn’s siege.  It also skips ahead in Volstagg’s story, possibly picking it up following the events of the most recent Siege: Embedded.

The Asgardians hear about what has happened in Chicago and Loki takes out the seers Heimdall and Knut so that there is no warning about what is to come.  Meanwhile, Kelda heads off to town to speak with Bill’s family about what has happened to him prior to all of this.  The story catches up with the siege as Osborn’s forces move on Asgard and Volstagg sits in a Broxton prison cell and watches Thor gets taken down on television.

The police of Broxton, feeling sympathy for the Asgardians and their situation release Volstagg and post a video to the internet in an attempt to rally public support.  As Volstagg hits the streets, Ragnarok hits, literally in the form of the Thor clone.  While I enjoyed a lot of the elements that were played with in this issue, I don’t think they were given real room to breathe.  Not bad, but not great.

Dark Wolverine #83 continues to follow Wolverine’s son Daken during Osborn’s assault on Asgard.  In the previous issue it was revealed that the Norns (think Greek fates but in colder weather) have taken an interest in Daken seeing him as the bringer of Ragnarok.  The issue ended with an interesting turn of events and a cliffhanger that seemed to put things at odds with what’s been going on the main Siege book.  Of course it was just an illusion used by the Norns to open a dialogue with Daken.

The action moves back to the real world where Daken is sent out to track down Thor in Braxton, a sequence that is handled very briefly in Siege #2.  The Norns continue to play with Daken’s perceptions and reveal their plans for him as well as expand on a point made for the siege of Asgard.  Asgard’s presence on Earth has set things out of order in the grand scheme of the universe and the Norns need Daken to set things on the right path by bringing about Ragnarok.

Daken beholds the future the Norns speak of and is told he has been chosen as the agent of Earth to bring about the rebirth of Asgard.  Daken is taken in by the promise of destruction and death on such a scale, but of course doesn’t give himself over to the plans of another.  Just as with Osborn, Daken moves contrary to the direct wishes of the Norns claiming his own agency.  Things sync back up with the real world and the post cooking of Daken by Thor.  I’ve been enjoying how well this book has been tying in and telling its own story.

New Avengers #62 picks up from #61 with Spiders -Man and -Woman fighting one another and Captains America dealing with Living Laser.  Bendis brings the words and the action in a way that always seems to make me happy.

While this book serves mainly to fill in the gaps of how Steve Roger’s and his Avengers come together with Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors, it is done in a well thought out way and brings the original Captain America back into the fold of some of his old team mates.

Bendis’s ability to write good action and witty dialogue brings a humanity to his books that I really love to see in a super-hero story.  He also manages to balance it out as a New Avengers story as well as tying into the larger Siege event.

Avengers: The Initiative #33 continues to follow Taskmaster’s and Diamondback’s stories as they are engaged first-hand in the attack on Asgard.  The book opens though with the members of the Avengers Resistance attacking The Initiative’s training facility, now under the control of The Hood.

Taskmaster finds that he’s put himself on the wrong end of Osborn’s temper in his attempt to be a part of taking down Thor.  This leads him to a realization a lot of people have had about Osborn long ago and so Taskmaster is now bringing his own motivations into question.  Diamondback, acting as a double agent, stands ready to try and assist Thor as best she can when Maria Hill shows up and takes the pressure off of her.  Constrictor pulls her out and gets her back to Asgard in time to witness the events of the fight between Sentry and Ares as well as the arrival of a famous shield in flight.

Back at The Initiative training camp, the resistance moves in only to be confronted and immobilized by The Hood.  Penance is being held in his quarters, unable to assist, and Night Thrasher is given an opportunity to see his brother resurrected from the dead.  All he has to do is kill Tigra.

So that’s it for this week Under Siege.  It was a rough one for me and here’s hoping that they don’t drop that many books on us in one week like that again.  Sure, it’s good for revenue but hard on the review.  See you guys next Sunday.