Marvel’s gearing up for their big Marvel Legacy relaunch, which promises to bring a bit of cohesion to the Marvel Universe, and recenter the House of Ideas’ focus back on its core characters like Iron Man, Captain Marvel and Captain America. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic will kick the initiative off in September with Marvel Legacy #1. But before that hits, we'll be treated to Generations, a series of time-bending, one-shot stories that see classic characters meet those who will eventually take up their mantles.
Comixology is offering a hugely discounted price on some digital titles featuring the characters that will be most prominently affected by Generations and Marvel Legacy. In short, if you want to be up to snuff on Marvel’s next big move, you should be taking advantage of this sale.
Here are some of the best bangs for your buck.
The X-Men have a lot of historic, defining runs. There’s “Days of Future Past,” “Age of Apocalypse” and Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s excellent Astonishing X-Men run. But the untouchable benchmark for great X-Men comics remains the Dark Phoenix Saga: John Byrne and Chris Claremont’s 1980 epic that took superhero comics in general and X-Men comics in particular to highs that had never been seen before and only rarely matched since. Claremont and Byrne wove together a sprawling tale of a mega-powerful intergalactic force and a distant alien race, but never lost focus of the intimate relationship between Cyclops and Jean Grey that was the heart of the story.
Chris Claremont and John Byrne are both titans of the comic book industry, and their enthusiasm for the X-Men title that made them stars is well-known today but, at the time, people weren’t quite sure what to make of it. Claremont and Byrne gave the X-Men real drama and angst, with emotional turmoil that could be just as gripping as their crime fighting capers. The Dark Phoenix Saga found the team’s skill for deft characterization at its absolute height, while matching it with the sort of galaxy-spanning operatics that superhero comics had become known for. It was then, and remains today, a gripping read.
There’s a reason Fox is prepping another adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga for 2018, just 15 years after the last Phoenix-inspired X-movie failed to wow fans. It’s because this is one of the best superhero stories of all time.
Ideally, you’d just spring for writer Jason Aaron and artist Esad Ribic’s entire run on Thor (and you can! It’s all on sale.) But you’ve gotta start somewhere and The God Butcher is as good a place as any; possibly the best story in the history of a character who has had some doozies. The God Butcher follows Thor’s eons-long match with Gor, one of the most fearsome foes the thunder god has ever faced. Aaron has a terrific respect for Norse mythology, and infuses his thunder god with Tolkienesque sense of grandeur while still invoking the humor that has always been vital to Thor’s tales. You’ll be torn between breathlessly flipping from page to page to see what happens next and lingering to savor every detail of Ribic’s mesmerizing artwork, every panel of which is worthy of being framed for your living room wall.
The followup to The God Butcher is called The God Bomb — it’s closely linked to the events of the first volume and it’s just as good. The point is, you should be reading any Thor title being written by Jason Aaron and drawn by Ribic. You won’t regret it.
Poor Hawkeye. Whether he’s getting the short end of the bow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or dragged on Saturday Night Live by Jeremy Renner, it’s hard for one of Marvel’s most enduring characters to catch a break. Matt Fraction and David Aja’s stroke of genius in their Hawkeye series was not to run from this depiction, but rather, to lean into it. In “My Life as a Weapon,” Hawkeye is something of a super loser — forever running into battle with his bow and trick arrows, only to get the worst of it. But it’s in just this unflattering characterization that Clint Barton’s true heroism and indomitable spirit shines.
Aja has long honed a distinctive art style that feels pulled equal parts Jack Kirby and Sam Spade, so he was well-suited to crafting the world of Hawkeye, who’s a normal guy frequently caught up in a world of superheroics he can’t relate to. That’s where Fraction’s writing delivers, in which Barton’s bravado and haplessness meet, in which nearly every issue opens with Barton in hot water, musing “Okay ...this looks bad.” “My Life as a Weapon” follows Hawkeye’s off days, where he can’t help but stick his nose wherever it least belongs, and he usually end up paying a price — though not quite as dearly as whoever’s on the receiving end of his boomerang arrow.
Brooding loner. Hardened soldier. Tortured father. Wolverine’s been a lot of things over the years, but it took Jason Aaron and Duncan Rouleau to find a fresh angle: mentoring schoolteacher.
The world of education doesn’t seem like a natural fit for Logan, who is the best he is at what he does, so long as what he does doesn’t involve much in the way of offering nurturing care to impressionable children. But that’s where Aaron and Rouleau find room for a lot of fun, by giving putting Logan in charge of Charles Xavier’s dream (the new school is christened “The Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters”) after feeling a need to give back after years of benefitting from his association with the X-Men. Logan’s heart is in the right place, but he’s not exactly a natural for the job. Fortunately, he’s got Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) and Hank Pym (the Beast) on hand to help him out. Unfortunately, he’s run afoul of Cyclops. Logan’s old ruby-visored frenemy has adopted an isolationist attitude against humanity, abandoning Xavier’s dream of integrating mutants and humans. He doesn’t much approve of Logan’s attempts to stay true to Professor X’s legacy.
Beyond placing Wolverine in a fresh and hugely entertaining role, some of Aaron and Rouleau’s finest work here is in their introduction of new mutant students, and original spins on classic characters. There’s plenty of day-saving and crime fighting to be done, but some of the best adventures simply lie in the X-Men’s attempts to keep a brand new school filled with volatile, superpowered students afloat.
The second Thor title and third Jason Aaron-penned work on this list, but in terms of comics worth splurging on, this one is certainly worthy.
This Thor follows the events of Original Sin, a Marvel crossover event in which Thor, the god of thunder who has been wielding the hammer Mjolnir with very few interruptions in the pages of Marvel Comics since 1962, suddenly found himself unable to lift the hammer. The reason for this Sudden Onset Unworthiness has yet to be disclosed, but even as Thor (now just called Odinson) slunk off to wage his own, hammer-less adventures, a new adventurer was found worthy and claimed the title of Thor, goddess of thunder.
More than a few fans cried foul, suggesting this new development was just Marvel Comics’ attempt to check off some politically correct box, as if diversity was an anathema to Marvel (maybe you saw the milkshake incident this past week) but Aaron immediately set about making sure this particular Marvel story was way more than just a token nod to female representation. Though the identity of this new Thor remained a mystery for some time (you’ll have to read beyond the first volume if you want to learn who the new Thor truly is), Aaron wasted no time in making her a compelling character, every bit as fearless and cocky as Mjonir’s previous owner. And words could not do justice to Russell Dauterman and Jorge Molina’s artwork, which ranks among some of the most intricate and dazzling you could hope to find on a comic book stand today.
Continues
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire