Planetary, Red, Stormwatch

Planetary 14-27

It occurred to me that Planetary has a lot of similarities with Alan Moore’s Promethea.  Issue-long explorations of whatever the writers want to talk about, a nominal plot to tie it all together, A+ art from John Cassaday and JH Williams respectively.  The difference is that Warren Ellis is careful to keep his comic fun.  Each issue jumps from comic trope to trope, but they’re all so masterfully homaged/built upon that I couldn’t stop reading.  As opposed to the interminable Promethea.  (Just thinking about it makes me want to punch something.)

So, the back half of Planetary.  They include Ellis’ takes on Thor’s hammer, the Lone Ranger, and Tarzan.  The battle against The Four builds up nicely all the way up to the final confrontation, which…kind of falls flat on its face.  (Pun intended when you consider the fates of Mr Fantastic and Invisible Woman…)

I love how Ellis sciences the hammer transformation.

And then extrapolates it to a whole armory.

I thought Snow looked familiar on this cover...

The final issue wraps it all up with some time travel twister and the rescue of Ambrose Chase.  Not bad, but a bit of a letdown.  Typical Ellis :P

None of these nitpicks should take away from the fact that this is a stellar series, definitely in the top echelon of my personal rankings.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Planetary/JLA

Blech.  An Elseworlds JLA battles an Elseworlds evil Planetary.  Pretty much a waste of time.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Didn’t suck

Red 1-3

There’s almost nothing to this comic - A retired CIA hitman comes out of hiding after the CIA tries to kill him.  There are no survivors.  There’s barely a plot here.  But it’s all about the execution, and Ellis pulls it off to perfection.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Red: Preludes 1-4

A series of one-shots providing some backstory to all the characters from the movie.  (Which was actually pretty entertaining.)  Like the source title, none of the stories are particularly original, but the are undoubtedly fun to read.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Stormwatch 37-42

I’m excited for this one.  This is where Warren Ellis became Warren Ellis in my mind.  As with Planetary, he starts off with a bunch of Monster of the Week issues before culminating in a big bad final battle.  

This is also where he introduces Jenny Sparks and John Hawksmoor (who has one of my absolute favorite superhuman abilities ever), two characters with amazing lasting power.  Though I discovered something completely disturbing this time around:

Jenny Sparks is supposed to look nineteen???  That's so wrong.

Tom Raney’s tortured anatomy is perfect for this comic, he truly shines in some places:

A brilliant use of perspective.  "The enemy gate is down."

Perfect first page for setting up an issue.  

Ick.

Except for when he doesn’t:

A truly unfortunate face.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice through Pure Joy (issue 37)

Planetary

Planetary 1-13

Here we go.  This is Warren Ellis at his best.  Here, watching and not doing is a feature, not a flaw.  And the things we get to see along with Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, and The Drummer are simply magnificent. 

A John Woo movie in comic form.  I love it so much.

Ellis' Vertigo commentary.

Ah, the grim and gritty era of superheroes.

I'm a sucker for this kind of action shot.

I love Ambrose Chase's look.

I love his powers.

I love his guns.

Just because it's true doesn't make it any more okay.

Ellis kills the JLA

After this and Apollo/Midnighter's original team, how many more JLA iterations has Ellis written?

Even better, Ellis doesn’t stop there the way he does with most of his series.  Here, he has the time to explore an actual overarching plot, where the dark Fantastic Four are the archnemeses of the Planetary organization.

Props, of course, to John Cassaday, doing apex mountain art here.  This series couldn’t possibly have attained the heights it does without him.

If it weren’t so late, I’d still be reading.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy

Planetary/Authority

The teams never actually meet face to face as they all battle an alien threat, and it’s probably for the best.  But it also makes for a disjointed crossover that doesn’t feel all that substantial.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Planetary/Batman

There’s something about Batman that makes seeing juxtapositions of all his iterations unbelievably cool.  He’s had so many distinctive looks from so many legendary artists over the years, all instantly recognizable.  Seeing Cassaday’s take on them here is the primary reason for this comic’s high rating.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good