Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Mary Jane

Silver Surfer 13-14

I remember reading this whole Dan Slott/Mike & Laura Allred collaboration at a Barnes & Noble.  I remember enjoying it, but only bought the last two issues of the run for my collection.

Reading them again, I’m strongly tempted to get the rest of the trades, but I’m going to trust past me’s judgment and avoid the trap.  If I thought it was good enough, I would have purchased it back then.

That said, this is a beautiful, lovely story.  A time-travelling romance that spans the lifetime of this universe and part of the one that came before.  Mike Allred doesn’t always do it for me, but when he’s matched with a story like this, he’s the absolutely perfect choice.  This is fun and poignant and trippy and wonderful.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Spider-Man 1-3

My initial assessment stands - This went from really promising to complete trainwreck in such a short span of time.  Cadaverous is a horrible villain who I’m sure will turn out to be someone we know in the act three twist.  Peter Parker’s the worst parent here, his emotional neglect of Ben is downright abominable, even if it’s driven by understandable fear and crushing tragedy.  

I rarely give up on a miniseries when I’m over halfway through (see Shang-Chi for a recent example), but this was just too unfun to continue.  (It’s Sara Pichelli’s sweet art that gives this such a relatively high rating.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Mary Jane 1-4

Mary Jane: Homecoming 1-4

Sean McKeever writes the Spider-Man movies that I want - High school drama where the stakes don’t rise above “does he like me?” and “will she go to the dance with me?”  Throw in just a smattering of superheroes and you’ve got the perfect MCU teenybopper film.  Put Tom Holland and Zendaya in it, and it’s a guaranteed hit.

He just blows in and out of her life.

Heh, "nice dress."

Anyway, this is as good as I remember, even if this is the first time I’m revisiting it.  Even more impressive is that McKeever’s accomplished this without Peter Parker, who only appears in a handful of pages over the first eight issues.  It’s Liz Allen, Flash Thompson, and Harry Osborn who pull the main supporting role duties.  

Looking forward to reading the rest of this.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer 4

A classic cover by John Buscema.

The issue itself is full of much Stan Lee ado about nothing.  Loki constructs the most byzantine plot he can to kill Thor, eventually tricking Surfer into attacking the Thunder God.  Loki Iago’s his dupes into conflict, magically whispering his poisons into their ears. When Surfer realizes he’s been manipulated, Loki teleports him back to Earth.  End of issue. Sooooo after all that, everybody ends up as they started, none the wiser. While most comics end with the status quo maintained, this one feels egregiously pointless.  If the goal was to show a Thor/Surfer fight with no consequences, why waste all that time on setup? Why leave only 6 pages for the fight? Good thing it was so pretty.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Silver Surfer 1-2

Moebius draws the Silver Surfer, thus providing the impetus for this classic scene.  

I have very little exposure to Moebius’ work.  This might actually be the only thing of his that I have in my collection.  From what I’ve seen, I’m a fan. His reputation might, in fact, be well earned. In defiance of Denzel, I prefer him to Kirby on this character. 

Moebius

Moebius

Kirby.  

As I read these two issues, I could not believe that Stan Lee wrote it.  It lacks his signature flair, and there was an economy and elegance to his words that I had not seen from him before.  On top of that, his story about blindly following leaders still rings true thirty years later. Even if it is a bit too on the nose.  It have been too much to expect Stan to change completely.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Silver Surfer 75

A very early addition to my comic collection.  This one gets a Major Feels rating, I can’t measure it objectively.  This issue’s a well executed fight sequence with beautiful art by Ron Lim.  He was at his best on this title. Tom Vincent’s colors have a lot to do with it too.  

A kaleidoscope of colors, perfect for a cosmic title.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Major Feels

Silver Surfer 123

I think I bought this because it was Ron Garney’s next stop after his first stint with Mark Waid on Captain America.  He does an amazing Surfer, very reminiscent of Moebius’. But the plot bores, and I’m not sorry that I stopped with this issue.

So smooth, so graceful.

Not from the issue, but I find it gorgeous.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine

Elektra: Glimpse and Echo, Doomsday Clock, Silver Surfer

Elektra: Glimpse and Echo 1-4

Scott Morse, randomly enough, writes and paints this four-issue mini-series.  Elektra deals with ghosts, cats, and The Hand, and Morse’s children-storybook painted style works well with the ethereal subject matters.  I wouldn’t like to see it all over the place, but it’s beautiful when applied to the proper projects.  

Again, Elektra’s actions are reactionary, dictated by outside forces and rarely proactive; A ninja tells her to meet a guy, who tells her to kill another guy.  A cat leads her to a ghost, who tells her to kill his son.  She goes along with the flow, doing what she’s told.  The only time she acts on her own is to kill the original hit contractors when she decided she didn’t like the hit.  Of course, she decides this after carrying out the assassination.  Couldn’t be bothered beforehand, I guess.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Doomsday Clock 3

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank continue their quest to mirror Moore/Gibbons to the best of their abilities.  They succeed pretty darn well.  Are the old black and white movies going to play the same role as Tales of the Black Freighter?

Even though the new Rorschach, Mime, and Marionette weren’t in the original Watchmen, they really read as if they come from that world, and I’m fascinated by all of them.  Mime’s schtick is enthralling, and I just want to see more of him.  Can’t wait to see him and Marionette meet the Joker.  Batman’s handling of Rorschach is completely in character and well handled.  Enjoying the heck out of this.  

Silver Surfer 13, 14

One of the local comic shops in my area is closing in a couple of days, and I picked these up on sale.  I had read them as part of the Silver Surfer trade the last time I was at Barnes and Noble, which I liked well enough, but not enough to buy trade full price.  These two issues, the last of the Slott/Allred run, were the highlights, so the opportunity to buy them at half price was too good.  

This is a time travel love story, and it’s beautifully told.  It hits the science fiction and romance elements perfectly, and the string of reveals that come at the end are hugely heartwarming, with only the slightest tinge of sadness.  I’m tempted to buy the whole run in trade, but I suspect that having read a bunch of the issues already, these are the only ones that I’d re-read.  They’ll go on the shelf, and I’ll see how I feel when I get back to them.