SECRET WAR: BOOK TWO REVIEW
When this book was originally solicited I was beyond excitement. Having grown up with the toys and comics of the first two Secret Wars I couldn’t wait to see Marvel tackle something like this again given the increasing move towards more realistic and human plots.
Add to that the incredible art by Gabrielle Dell’Otto. Even the first couple of pages in this issue featuring Captain America are stunning. The details on his costume, the bullets flying off of his shield and the stunning red horizon all add up to a gorgeous book. Story aside, you can’t help but pick this up and be impressed by it. On the flip side, you can’t really say the same about this cover. It’s an unoriginal and kind of boring pose. Logan just looks a bit shabby.
One of the major things working against this series is its schedule. We’ve all long since known it was going to ship as a quarterly, but after being dazzled by issue #1 I’ve had three long months of waiting for the next installment. By the time it finally came it was overshadowed (if not completely obliterated) by the timing alongside Marvel’s big X-Men Reload event. When you ship a book like this that really needs some promotion on its own to remind fans about it against a book like Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men one of them just isn’t going to work.
And this is a case in point. I forgot this issue was coming out. I headed out to the store early to make sure I had a copy of Astonishing X-Men to review while I was at my day job and I completely overlooked that this book was even coming out. That really shouldn’t happen as it IS a fantastic piece of work and I’m sure many out there feel it’s the best thing this week or even this month to ship.
The story itself is one of Bendis’ trademark build up stories. The only thing I didn’t like was that I really wasn’t aware this was all taking place a year ago. Despite the fact that it said ‘One Year Ago’ at the beginning, the rest of the story seemed to fall into place with what Fury is dealing with now. Christopher Priest mastered the art of the time jump over in Black Panther as did Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction. Here it just doesn’t work as it leads to a confusing end.
Despite this, the story as it IS told flows quite naturally. We have Fury’s selection process which coincidentally unites all the characters that Bendis has written or is familiar with (the real Secret here is that Bendis is writing his own ultimate crossover… just kidding). I would have liked to see him really branch out and pull in some lesser knowns to give it a bit more flavour. At this point we only have the extra character who looks exactly like Angelina Jolie tagging along. I don’t know who she is, but from now on I’ll just call her Tomb Raider.
So, the team consists of Spider-Man, Daredevil, Wolverine, Captain America, Black Widow, Luke Cage and Tomb Raider plus Nick Fury for some advice now and then. It’s an interesting mix, but as Spider-Man points out in the issue it’s hardly a subtle group to have moving around despite Fury’s weak explanation that no one would notice. Hello, it’s Latveria not a tourist spot. Someone is going to pick up on this.
The only thing I really didn’t like was Logan’s characterization. From the start he’s shown to be an aggressive, drunken, lout and sure that’s an aspect to his personality, but never done so fragantly. Besides, Logan can’t really get drunk for very long before his healing factor kicks in and I hardly think he drank his way through the airport. It leads to a few funny scenes and keeps the plot fresh and interesting so I’ll let it go. It was also a nice touch when Daredevil asked him how he got through security with “the plate in his head.”
The only thing missing from this series so far is a clear and present danger. There are no villains, just a government to overthrow. How Bendis uses his characters will ultimately tell how well he’s done his job as a writer. Getting them out of their costumes and into another country is pointless if it descends into a slugfest, so hopefully each one of these characters has a talent and purpose beyond a showcase for superheroics.
One other little detail… the suppliments are an interesting aspect of this series, but if you look at most of the cover mock-ups they say there are six books in this series rather than five. So, which is it? Was it not worth a sixth book, or is Bendis going to need another one soon? Just an early development change? Very curious… I suspect it has something to do with the eventual trade format. With all the additional materials and artwork I suspect it will already be hefty enough without a sixth chapter.
It’s still an amazing series held together by it’s amazing art. Where it goes from here is still up in the air. I have all the faith in the world in Bendis when it comes to ongoing series, but the other recent mini, Ultimate Six, fell a little flat towards the end. Let’s see what he’s got up his sleeve…
Reviewer: Brian Wilkinson, bewilkinson@comixfan.cjb.net
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: Secret War, Book 2
A plane full of superheroes is cool but hardly subtle.
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Painter: Gabriele Dell’Otto
Letterer: Virtual Calligraphy’s Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Nicole Wiley
Consulting Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
