Fantastic Four Vol. 3: Doomed (Marvel NOW!) Review

It's... prophetic... I'll give it that.

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artists: Mark Bagely, Raffaele Ienco, Mark Famer and Joe Rubinstien.

Collects: Fantastic Four (2012) #9-16

Background Information:

For the last two volumes, the Fantastic Four have been trying to figure out what has been messing with their powers.

Oh yeah, it's been killing them, too.

Trying to find a way to fix their problem has involved them travelling through time and space because comics. The family have been to a lot of strange places and found out completely nothing.

Doesn't that just make you desperate for more?

Review:

I don't get it. I just don't get it.

I swear, you'd think Marvel were trying to
tell us something...

You ever read those books that has plenty of what you like and then ended up forgetting about it?

That's Doomed  in a nutshell. At face value, there's nothing to hate- there's even a lot to like- yet, somehow the whole thing is a bore. It's disappointing because as the final volume of Matt Fraction's run, this should have been the best book of the three-volume stint. As it is, it's only the second. It's better by far than Road Trip, but not as good as New Departures, New Arrivals.

So Reed Richards now has to fix his family's powers before everyone dies. On the side, Ben Grimm is worried that his actions resulted in Dr Doom existing, so he and Reed go back in time to witness the beginning of Marvel's greatest villain. There's also an alternate universe that's ruled by Kang the Conqueror, Annihilus and Doom himself, and that takes us to the book's climax. If that sounds overly complicated, it's because it is.

This is one of those volumes that was made after the series was cancelled and, like all comics that suffer the same fate, every remaining issue gets crammed into one volume that makes for a rather cluttered story. The result is that there's really too much here. Or at least it feels that way. Fraction somehow puts that much into a story without ever giving the feeling that something has actually happened.

I'll give it this, where Road Trip felt like nothing more than a transition point, Doomed actually feels like it's about something, but each part of Doomed feels like it's being squeezed out of a pipe (don't make that a poo joke... don't make it a poo joke... DAMMIT, you made it a poo joke). Each moment feels like Fraction was saying to himself "Just one more page, and then I can get back to writing Hawkeye, which I actually like doing" and because of this, I found myself checking how much more of the book I had to read before I could move on to something else.

And at this point, it really is hard for me to believe that Marvel didn't have a plan to destroy the Fantastic Four for no other reason than it couldn't make movies about them. Scream "conspiracy theorist" all you want, but at the end of the day, Matt Fraction is a far better writer than this. Like I said, his Hawkeye is proof enough of this. It really does seem like Marvel was telling him to make this book as boring as he could, and if that was the case, pat yourself on the back, Matty ol' boy because you certainly succeeded- even when you had a million and one exciting things going on, you still pushed out a stinker (you're making a poo joke again, aren't you?!).

Even the black suits didn't help...

The art is the strongest feature of this book. It's really the reverse of the writing. Where the writing had all the hallmarks of a great book and still failed to deliver, the art uses colours that usually would only go together if you wanted to incite madness and somehow still comes off as pretty pleasing. A large part of the credit goes to the pencillers Mark Bagley, Raffaele Ienco, Mark Farmer and Joe Rubinstein, who draw these incredibly exotic, out-there environments. Even so, colourists Paul Mounts and Guru-eFX (who must have drawn a LOT of sympathy out of the maternity ward for that name) need to be praised. Like I said, this book shouldn't look good, but it does, which makes all the more a pity that the writing is so bland!

I make it sound like I hated this book and I really didn't. The heart-felt epilogue issue at the end draws together both this and Fractions FF for a warm-and-fuzzy goodbye and I found myself treating it like a teacher does a naughty kid who give her a thank-you card at the end of the term. I was unimpressed by it's performance, but it left me feeling good at the end. It gets a two out of five poo jokes.

**
+ The end issue.
+ Art.
- Cluttered story...
- That feels like nothing is happening.

Hawkeye Vol. 3: L.A. Woman (Marvel NOW!) Review

Hawkeye Volume 3: L.A. Woman

Hawk-not-guy!

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artists: Annie Wu and Javier Pulido

Collects: Hawkeye #14, #16, #18, #20 and Annual #1

Background Information:

For the past two volumes, Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye), has been defending his aparment complex from a gang of Russians dressed in tracksuits. At the end of the last volume, however, Clint decided he was going to "bail" as young Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, puts it. Kate didn't like that, so she up and left to L.A, taking the pizza dog Lucky with her.

Review:

You hear a lot of calls for female-led books in the comic industry. You hear a lot of calls for more light-hearted fun in comics. If there was ever a solid argument for both, though, it's L.A. Woman.

Hawk-not-guy on computers!

So upon entering L.A., Kate is promplty robbed and left broke. Only having her skills as an archer/superhero at hand, she sets herself up as a hero for hire. All the while, Madam Masque lurks in every mission she takes. I think what I love about this particular format of storytelling is that it tells a complete story like the previous volume, without sacrificing the done-in-one episodic format that made me love the first Hawkeye volume. Each mission feels like it's own thing, but somehow it links back to Madam Masque. It allows for a light-hearted comic where the stakes feel high. That's a difficult thing to accomplish, and massive kudos goes to Matt Fraction for pulling it off.

Kate's character has always been well-written by Fraction, but gving her a chance to shine in what could easily classify as her own solo book is golden. Kate's got a very different voice to Clint. She feels younger and more energetic. Fraction even gives Kate her own slang; with liberal use of the word "futzing" and he catchprase "Momma like" being the standouts.

It's actually amazing how "un-Clint" this book feels withot feeling like a seperate series altogether. The basic elements of the Hawkeye comic up til now are retained; a gang of bellboys suitably replaces the tracksuit draculas, a scruffy-looking man with a dark past fills the void left by the redhead in previous volumes better than she initially filled it, and the ground-level, almost trivial threats are basically retained. Unlike other series that have made major changes (here's looking at you, Batgirl), this change feels natural. It's masterful.

This is the first time I've had to talk about art using two paragraphs, but here goes. Most issues here
are drawn by Annie Wu and while I miss the rough pencils of David Aja, Wu  makes a decent, albeit not equal substitute. She captures Kate's body language brilliantly. With the costume that Kate wears for most of the book, it would also be tempting for writers to draw the character so that the holes in her costume were emphasised. Thankfully, that's not a temptation that Wu succombs to. The holes at her waist, rather than being the focus, seem to just be there to break up the solid purple that otherwise dominates her costume. That's appreciated, and it's something that I want to see more of in the next volume.

Hawk-not-guy in a comic... somewhere...

Javier Pulido's art is another matter. Puido draws the art in the Annual and for a large chunk of the book, it feels like the guy wasn't all that interested in actually drawing anything. Black silouettes take up places where characters shold be in many panels and while this would be clever and nice-looking in small doses, Pulido spams pages with it. Eventually you just want to shake the book and yell "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! ACTUALLY DRAW SOMETHING, WILL YA?". He partially makes up for it, though, by putting Kate's facial expression in text boxes. That was a nice touch and something I was sad to see absent in other issues.

L.A. Woman is a near-perfect book. It gets a four and a half out of five silloute costume holes.

**** 1/2

Fantastic Four Vol. 1: New Departure, New Arrivals (Marvel NOW!) Review

Fantastic Four Vol. 1: New Departure, New Arrivals (Marvel NOW!)

There's a lot of confidence in that caption
up the top.

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artists: Mark Bagley and Micheal Allred

Collects: Fantastic Four #1-3 and FF #1-3

Background Information:

I don’t think there was a single comic more significant to Marvel’s history than Fantastic Four. They’ve been called Marvel’s First Family for a reason after all, and they were, to my knowledge, Stan Lee’s big debut to comics.

In terms of their history, Reed Richards, his buddy Ben Grimm, his love interest Susan Storm and his love interest’s brother Johnny were on a space adventure when hit by a strange power source- it did crazy things to the molecules in their bodies giving them each a very distinctive power. Now Reed is Mr Fantastic, able to stretch his… everything, Susan, now married to Reed, can turn invisible and create forcefields as the Invisible Woman, Ben, the Thing is a walking, talking, clobberin’ rock and Johnny calls himself The Human Torch when he lights himself on fire.

Oh, and side note- their book’s officially cancelled.

Review:

Hey, look; it's She Hulk, Medusa, and people who have an
uncertain future in film!

Let’s face it; comics are generally a very fighty medium. The high point of each issue is usually when characters are hitting each other. It speaks a lot about our modern culture, I think, that we often fail to envision adventure without violence or tension without fighting.

Yet that is exactly what New Departure, New Arrival does, and even though this is by no means a great book, it’s more than a little bit fun to read.

Even though this collection contains issues from two different series, FF and Fantastic Four, both written by Matt Fraction (who wrote the awesome Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon and the comparatively underwhelming sequel Little Hits), there’s still a single, coherent story that runs throughout. Reed Richards is dying, the power source that gave him his abilities is finally back to get him and now Reed has no idea how much longer he has to live. Instead of telling anyone about it, he takes the entire Fantastic Four and his two children for what’s billed as a “holiday” in the unknown universes. While they gone, they get other heroes (Ant-Man, She Hulk, Medusa and Johnny’s girlfriend, Darla) to watch over earth for them. Sure, Reed only thinks he’ll be gone for four minutes, but just in case, right?

The only real, this-bothers-me problem is the assumption that earth in the Marvel universe needs to be “watched over” because the Fantastic Four aren’t there. I mean, their home of New York has the Avengers, multiple teams of Avengers; what do they need the Fantastic Four for, exactly? It’s an error that, for me, makes the whole story less credible.

Be that as it may, though, New Departure, New Arrivals does plenty right. For starters, it’s a surprisingly fun book. I can’t remember reading a title that was this light-hearted. Not just in the sense that there’s the occasional joke, but everything is just plain light. There is literally no darkness here. It’s refreshing to see this kind of storytelling, and it’s helped by the fact that there’s very little violence in the whole collection. The Fantastic Four’s journey features no central villain, and really focuses on the escape from a monster rather than killing one. It makes this collection one of those ones that you have no problem showing to the kids.

This is as much stabbing as you're going to see in this book.

That said, the Fantastic Four portions of this collection really get outshined by the FF issues. Fraction is at his best as a writer when writing these issues that actually mirror the feel of his work on Hawkeye, and the art by Allred is so much more distinctive than Bagley’s, which feels too much like it’s playing by Stuart Immomnen’s rules.

New Departures, New Arrivals isn’t going to make you fall head-over-heels in love with the Fantastic Four, but it’s a fair title and recommended for readers who want to get a feel for the first family. It gets a three out of five Avengers who apparently aren’t watching over earth.

+ Actually fun.

+ Accomplishes Excitement without villains.

- One major plot hole.

- FF chapters outshine Fantastic Four ones.

Alternate Option: Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon

Fraction’s best writing to date. Read this.

Hawkeye Vol. 2: Little Hits (Marvel NOW!) Review

Hawkeye Vol. 2: Little Hits (Marvel NOW!)

David Aja makes sure we know where
the title is.

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artists: David Aja, Francesco Francavilla, Jesse Hamm and Steve Lieber

Collects: Hawkeye #6-11

Background Information:

“Clint Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye, became the greatest sharpshooter known to man. He then joined the Avengers. This is what he does when he’s not being an Avenger.”

That’s actual text from the series, and that’s basically all the backstory you need for this character. In the last volume, Clint got in serious trouble with a gang known over the internet as the Tracksuit Draculas. They’re a small, Eastern European gang who use the word “bro” like you and I use commas. While Clint was annoying them, he also met a girl whose name was never mentioned and who also was on the bad side of the “bro”-sayers.

Review:

Hawkeye’s first volume, My Life as a Weapon, was one of the most enjoyable comics I’ve ever read. It’s light-hearted, episodic storytelling didn’t take itself too seriously and the whole thing was jam packed with humour and likable characterisation. What made it a real winner, though, was the art style; minimalist colouring and dirty lines gave it a retro feel and it really looked like nothing else on the market. While visually, Little Hits carries on the previous book’s tradition, it loses a lot in terms of story, and with that loss, goes a lot of the series’ charm.

Little Hits starts off with that same very episodic format in issue 7. We get a look at hurricane sandy through the eyes of Clint and Kate (the other Hawkeye). It’s a thoroughly entertaining issue that serves up the exact same feeling that we got from the first volume in the series, and that is something you end up thankful for.

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn’t really last, as the following six issues start to do something that really detracts from the great feeling of the series. Fraction decides that it’s time to give Hawkeye a proper story arc. Part of the awesomeness of the last volume was that reading each issue felt like watching an episode of a brilliant TV series and in losing that feeling, Little Hits becomes more like an average superhero book and less like the fun snippet into Hawkeyes life outside of superheroing.

That’s not to say the stories are bad though, there are some fantastic moments written by Fraction. One of which includes Clint standing outside his apartment, bow drawn in defiance of the Tracksuit Draculas. Fraction is also more willing to experiment with different storytelling techniques- a highlight of which is the final issue, which is told through the perspective of Hawkeye’s Pizza Dog. Nonetheless, the fact that the whole thing is still one story arc means that these different storytelling styles make reading Little Hits a practice in wading through mud.

The biggest problem here, though, is that Clint becomes less likable by the end of this volume, most of this has to do with the fact that despite his previous romantic liaison with the girl connected to the Tracksuit Draculas, Clint is still dating Spider-Woman Jessica. Call me old-fashioned, but it’s hard for me to barrack for a hero who I know is a cheater. I’m hoping this event causes him to make some life-decisions and ultimately become better, but I came out of Little Hits liking Clint less.

It sounds like I think Little Hits is a bad book, but I don’t. The art here continues to be amazing, and Fraction and Aja in particular have this perfect synergy when it comes to visual storytelling. Again, this comes to a climax in the final issue. Very little text is used here. Instead, the dogs thoughts are told through pictures in a sort of “mind-map” style. It’s brilliant to see a book where writer and artist really understand each other’s strengths and Little Hits doesn’t disappoint in that regard.

Another really great thing about this book is that it lets Kate stand out even more as great character. I ended up liking her more than Clint, which is big considering that Clint is really the title character here. She is shown to be more and more competent and her role as a moral compass for Clint is spot-on. The book also introduces Clint’s first real villain. Sure, there were the Draculas and Madam Masque in the first volume, but Little Hits’ The Clown looks like he could be causing some real trouble for Clint in the next volume- something Fraction really needs if he is going to start using long story arcs. And before you ask- no, the Clown is not just a repurposed Joker- I’ll leave it at that.

Little Hits is passable, but honestly represents a step backwards for Hawkeye. It gets a three and a half out of five “bros”.

*** ½

+ Art continues to be fantastic

+ Kate is fantastic here

+ Some clever storytelling techniques used

- Longer story arcs lessen Hawkeyes charm

- Clint becomes less likable here

Alternate Option: Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon

It’s the winner out of the two Hawkeye volumes out now- you don’t want to pass up on this one!

Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon (Marvel Now)

Hawkeye Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon (Marvel NOW)

Shooting arrows off buildings? Yeah,
that's normal...

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: David Aja and Javier Pulido

Collects: Hawkeye 1-5 and Young Avengers 6

Owned as trade paperback.

Background Info:

Whatever some comic fans may say about DC’s new 52, they have to admit that financially, it’s been a big success. And what publisher wouldn’t want to jump on a financial success, right?

In response to the new 52, Marvel launched its own “new-reader-friendly” approach called Marvel NOW. Unlike DC’s initiative, which involved a soft reboot of the entire franchise, Marvel took a large slab of their characters and put them in situations so unlike anything that would be considered “normal” for them that is would have the same effect as a reboot.

What? Oh yeah, about Hawkeye. Writer Matt Fraction tells us little more than this about Hawkeye:

“Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, became the greatest sharp-shooter known to man. He then joined the Avengers. This is what he does when he’s not being an avenger. That’s all you need to know.”

And, well, it is.

Review:

Sometimes I lament the push for dark and edgy stories. Don’t get me wrong; I loved The Dark Knight as much as the next man, but every time I hear “dark and gritty” get used as an indicator of quality, I die a little inside.

Which is why I’m so glad that Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon doesn’t play the “hardcore” card. My Life as a Weapon seems to find the perfect ground between being totally accessible to adults and being fun and light-hearted.

As suggested in the background story, this is what Clint Barton, or Hawkeye, does on his time off. And if that sounds like an awful story, you’re going to find yourself pleasantly surprised. Clint, it turns out, gets into a lot of trouble on his time off. He gets takes on nasty landlords, on the wrong side of low-level mafias, busts small-time thieves and tries to get his dog a slice of pizza. It’s all pretty inconsequential-sounding stuff, and if this were written and drawn like a regular superhero book, it would probably be a rather pathetic excuse for a normal superhero book.

Thankfully, this isn’t a normal superhero book, in fact, but for the fact that Hawkeye is kinda a superhero, it’s barely a superhero book at all (okay, let’s make a deal; I am never typing “superhero book” again in this review, starting… now).  In fact, My Life as a Weapon plays out more like a classic cop drama. There are elements here that remind me of Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-O, and other dramas that are difficult to ignore. Regular chase scenes, outfits that look less-than-contemporary and a “partners” dynamic happen again and again in Hawkeye, giving the book this great nostalgia. It’s backed up by artwork that looks like it was from a time when comics weren’t in a financial slump, and as such, looks great.

Matt Fraction does an amazing job writing the two main characters in this trade. If you only read this book, you’d be surprised to find out that Hawkeye was a member of a team like the Avengers. He makes frequent mistakes (one issue is even devoted to mistakes he has made), he’s often out of his comfort zone and talks himself into a hole so regularly that he barely seems like a superhero at all. In the process, he becomes one of the most relatable characters in comics. The real money here, though is the way Fraction writes the relationship between Clint and Kate “Younger Hawkeye” Bishop. Fraction manages to create a dialogue between the two of them that has just enough sexual tension to make it funny, but enough brother-and-sister tropes to stop it from being creepy- Kate is a lot younger than Clint, after all. Kate is a great character in her right, she’s somewhat sarcastic, and enjoys making fun of Clint in ways that actually makes you laugh out loud.

Even the other characters in Hawkeye are handled amazingly. The Russian gang that have become popularly known as the “tracksuit draculas” (even though that’s a name they never give themselves in the trade), speak in hilarious broken English and use the word “bro” where a full stop should be. Clint’s neighbours all ooze personality and even Clint’s dog seems to have life in Fraction’s story.

I have spoken about the art briefly, but it needs to be said again: the art is brilliant. The best way I can describe it is that it’s beautifully understated. Not much bother has been taken with intricate details and lighting, and as a result, it’s one of the boldest-looking comics you’ll ever read. Panelling is also done particularly well, allowing for Fraction’s dialogue to take on extra life. It’s rare that artist and writer work this well together.

I only have two complaints about this collection. Firstly, after the first three issues, the quality does seem to drop in both art and story. Hawkeye reads best when it feels like a collection of short stories; when each issue has its own story to tell and doesn’t need to fit an “arc”. This is something that was nailed in the first three issues, but issues 4 and 5 seem to take a step backwards, telling a two part “arc” that isn’t anywhere near as interesting as the beginning of the book. What’s more, a different artist in this arc is definitely noticeable; it’s comparatively lifeless. Second major complaint is the shoehorned Young Avengers 6 that finishes this volume. It investigates the time that Kate and Clint met, but it feel unnecessary and it’s conventional style of art clashes sharply with the understated work in the previous issues.

That said, My Life as a Weapon is the perfect antidote for those tired of conventional comics’ “dark and gritty” approach, and for that it gets for and a half out of five superhero books.

…Dammit.

**** ½

+ Superbly written.

+ Light-hearted done right.

+ Art is awesome.

- Quality dips slightly toward the end.

- You don’t need to read the Young Avengers tie-in… like, at all.

Alternate Option: Hawkeye: Little Hits

Not one that I’ve read yet, but the only thing on the market form the big that’s anything like Hawkeye is another volume of Hawkeye.