Marvel's still got it!
(But they don't advertise it so much
)
By "The Ace of Knaves"
It's a very weird thing: Marvel Comics still publish great comics, but
for the past few years their promotional activities have tended to focus
on the not quite so good stuff. While marvel was hyping the in my view
disappointing and uninspired "Civil War" and "World War Hulk" they were
doing absolutely great stuff on the other end of the galaxy. Literally
on the other end of the galaxy, because Annihilation and Annihilation
Conquest did an absolutely smashing job of creating a viable storyline
for Marvel's Cosmic Cast.
These guys were often featured as overkill baddies or guest stars, but
they really work best when they're all thrown together. Who cares if you're
cosmically powered if the other characters in the series also are? This
nicely balances out the characters and prevents them being just "all powerfull"
but allows the story to be more about the Person than about the Power.
Other really good stuff produced by Marvel includes Ghost Rider, the Twelve
and "Avengers: Initiative". Hardly the most famous characters in the Marvel
universe. And it's still continuing; you can go for the "Infiltration"
deal, but I would tip you to ignore some of the infiltration spin-offs
and pick up a "Nova" or "Guardians of the galaxy" instead. They feature
some really great work by Dan Abnett (who writes awesome SciFi novels
too!). In my opinion "Guardians of the galaxy #1" is a serious contender
for best comic of the year. Really! Check it out!
However the pick of the litter has to be "Invincible Iron Man #1". After
having tried for a few years to damage Tony Stark (Civil War was a PR
nightmare!) and make Iron Man a tarnished hero they've finally turned
around. Using the momentum of the equally excellent movie, they finally
present Iron Man in a way that we haven't seen since the early eighties.
There's hints of "demon in a bottle" "armor wars" and all the great Iron
man tales from in between. And it features probably the best quote of
the year: "
cotton and spandex.
Three for $9.99. Got 'em at target. 'L-A-M-B-O-R-G-H-I-N-I.' " (You'll
have to read it to get it).
Sterling stuff! This series looks like it's going to have everything that's
been missing from the "director of shield", so as a long time Iron Man
fan, I can only say that I think I'm in love!
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