Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine #1 – Review

“All We Want Is The World And Everything In It” by Jason Aaron (Writer), Esad Ribic (Pencils), Tom Palmer (Inks), and Matthew Wilson (Colors)

“A Good Man” by Jason Aaron (Writer) and Udon Studios (Art)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Jason Aaron is easily the best Wolverine writer at the moment, so any comic that features two stories by the guy is an automatic purchase in my book

The Story: The first part of The List – Wolverine is, essentially, a Marvel Boy and Wolverine team-up story that quickly turns into a Marvel Boy and Fantomex team-up story. Both duos try to shut down a sentient facility known as The World before Norman Osborn is able to gain control of it. The second part of The List – Wolverine is a character piece that explores if or how Logan is a “good man” despite his past.

What’s Good: I’m a fan of the buddy comedy. Especially if the buddy comedy I’m enjoying happens to have a healthy dose of action in it as well (…and doesn’t involve Brett Ratner in any way). I mention that because Jason Aaron absolutely nails the action-packed buddy comedy vibe with his first The List – Wolverine story “All We Want Is The World And Everything In It.” It goes a long way towards making up for the fact that the story is really a Wolverine story only in the sense that it features Weapon X/World stuff that Grant Morrison established quite some time ago.

Now normally, I’d be quite disappointed that Wolverine plays second fiddle to a couple of lesser known characters in his own book, I’m not, however, because Jason Aaron’s character work is so damned strong. The banter between Noh-Varr and Fantomex takes advantage of each character’s personality (the arrogant alien and the shady, yet slick weapon) and it makes the odd pairing work far better than you might expect. Add some great Wolverine dialogue, toss in a few scenes featuring a seething, power-hungry Norman Osborn and you’ve got a strange story about a sentient building/emotional brain that is a whole hell of a lot of fun to read.

Esad Ribic’s pencil work is fluid, loaded with emotion, and quite distinct. Ribic handles all the action exceptionally well and adds an extra bit of humor to the script thanks to his knack for drawing just the right expression for the situation. While I was initially disappointed that Ribic’s work wasn’t painted like it was for the cover or the excellent Marvel Knights mini-series Sub-Mariner: The Depths, the pencil work quickly grew on me.

Jason Aaron’s second story, “A Good Man,” isn’t nearly as fun as the first, but it certainly makes an impact thanks to a few nice touches I’d rather not spoil. By having Wolverine stop to help someone in need while trying to stay ahead of a group that’s chasing him, Aaron effectively softens a character that you know is going to have to get his hands bloody before it’s all said and done. In addition, by having a religious theme, “A Good Man” serves as a nice compliment to the ending of the first story, even though it is totally unrelated.

What’s Not So Good: While I can’t consider it to be a negative since it went with the story and the characters, I have to mention that some people are probably going to be a bit sensitive to the pro-atheism dialogue that’s written into “All We Want Is The World And Everything In It.” Also, I have to mention that the religious stuff throughout the book isn’t exactly subtle. The topic of religion tends to be a touchy subject all around and when it’s handled in a heavy-handed way as it is in both stories (“A Good Man” also touches upon religion quite a bit), the audience is bound to be divided by it.

Speaking of “A Good Man,” I’m still trying to figure out why someone thought it’d be a good idea to have Udon Studios handle the artwork for the story. While I like Udon’s work quite a bit, the studio’s style just simply doesn’t fit Jason Aaron’s fairly subdued character study. Disconnect between story and artwork can bring down any comic.

The only other negative left to mention is that Esad Ribic’s work is occasionally a bit too exaggerated. The exaggeration fits the tone of the story in a way, but Ribic goes a little overboard here and there. While the level of emotion on display is impressive at fitting and impressive most of the time, a few panels just look silly.

Conclusion: Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine is worth picking up as long as you don’t mind that Wolverine takes a back seat to others for most of the comic.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

 

Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors

By Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Ed McGuiness (Pencils), Tom Palmer (Inks), and Chris Sotomayor (Colors).

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’m utterly confused by Marvel’s decision to release Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors before the Secret Warriors issue it’s supposed to take place after. I guess I can understand why Marvel would want to release one List book a week, but if there’s another in the pipeline for next week, why not just release that and hold off on the Secret Warriors one-shot until the monthly series is in synch with it? The mind…it boggles.

The Story: Nick Fury and Norman Osborn must put aside their differences for the greater good in order to bring down a federal employee that could cause trouble for them both…and the country.

What’s Good: The best thing about Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors is that it delivers all the excellent espionage action and awesome character work you’ve come to expect from the Jonathan Hickman series. Simply put, Hickman doesn’t skimp at all. From the introduction of the Leviathan organization and the dialogue between Osborn and Fury to the brutal interrogation of Seth Waters (the shady federal employee) and the use of Ares, Hickman’s script is top-notch. It successfully drives the Secret Warriors plot forward while functioning as an effective one-shot story at the same time. Now it doesn’t necessarily read like a true one and done (it definitely helps to have some familiarity with the Secret Warriors series), but it tells a satisfying Nick Fury story regardless. And, as you should know by now, nobody writes Nick Fury, or his stories, better than Jonathan Hickman at this point in time.

What’s Not So Good: Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors has two major problems that it never manages to completely overcome. The first problem is that the story, while entertaining and easy enough to follow, gets off on the wrong foot right from the start because it’s supposed to be telling about events that happen after a comic that has yet to come out. While reading the one-shot, the lingering feeling that I missed something never quite went away. Now I realize that I didn’t actually miss anything, but it’s frustrating to feel as though you missed a crucial event that set up whatever it is that you’re reading about.

The second problem is more of an issue than the first. I’m an Ed McGuiness fan, but the second problem with The List – Secret Warriors is that McGuiness’ art style just doesn’t fit the tone of the story Hickman tells. While Tom Palmer’s inks and Chris Sotomayor’s colors are moody enough, McGuiness’ exaggerated, slightly cartoony style just doesn’t feel right at any point. From the goofy, bug-eyed expressions of shock to the ‘roided up characters, the artwork just doesn’t work like it should. With all that said however, if you ignore the style, the artwork does a fine job of telling the story and executing the action of the script. So it’s not all bad.

Conclusion: Art and release schedule issues aside, Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors is worth checking out. Hickman’s script is very cool and the seeds planted for the future will be worth keeping an eye on.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Dark Reign: The List – Avengers One Shot #1- Review

Avengers feature by Brian Michael Bendis (writer) & Marko Djurdjevic (artist); Daredevil preview by Andy Diggle (writer) & Billy Tan (artist)

It seems to be a prerequisite of all mega-maniacal geniuses in the Marvel Universe to carry a list.  Reed Richards has one.  I’m pretty sure Tony Stark’s got one too, although he may no longer be able to remember where he left it.  And now Norman Osborn has compiled his very own list of things to do now that he is the man in charge.  Compiled in part to finally assassinate people he’s had longstanding grudges with, it also contains some strangely logical goals, like dealing once and for all with Hulk’s mindless rampages, arresting Nick Fury for training “youth terrorists,” and apprehending the unregistered New Avengers.  In short, it’s a list that will change the very status quo the Marvel Universe has operated under until now because, as Osborn observes, if the old status quo had actually worked, he wouldn’t be in charge now.

The first eight months of “Dark Reign” have been largely uninspired and unfocused, full of talk and petty spats blown out of proportion by writers. The stories out of “Dark Reign” were made to seem more impressive than they really are. As the year winds down though, Marvel’s latest storyline moves into its second phase with “The List,” in which Osborn seems to be finally ready to take his abuse of power to new heights and let villainy reign supreme. I have to admit, from what I’ve read in this issue, my interest in this storyline is fully renewed, and I’m excited to see if “Dark Reign” can be salvaged.

The feature of this issue involves an incredibly intense, well-executed infiltration of Avengers Tower by Clint Barton, who is dead set on killing Osborn before he can cause any more problems for the superhero community. In a world populated by people who can fly and shoot lasers from their eyes, it’s easy to underestimate a hero like Ronin who has no powers, that is, until you watch him stalk the night and take on the Dark Avengers by himself. To his credit, Bendis has defied my expectations here and set the stage for what seems to be a story full of betrayal, ulterior motives, and lethal action, all qualities I wanted to see more of in “Dark Reign”.

Rounding out this issue is a preview of Daredevil’s role in “The List,” and I enjoyed it every bit as much as the Avengers story, which is mind boggling since I haven’t touched a Daredevil story since Miller left the title. Andy Diggle and Billy Tan seem to have a good handle on the character, and I was so impressed with the title’s new direction, first revealed in Daredevil #500, that I’m now planning on following the comic!  This one shot was a surprisingly entertaining issue and a great jumping on point for anyone that has managed to avoid the baggage of “Dark Reign” until now. I’m convinced that there’s real potential to be found in “The List.” I’m alsomore than willing to stick around and see what happens.

Grade:  B

-Tony Rakittke