Scouring out the weekly singles scene … in comics!
My main problem with THE TALISMAN #0, based upon the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel, was that it didn’t make a lick of sense. Lucky for upstart Del Rey Comics, THE TALISMAN: THE ROAD OF TRIALS #1 does. A prequel to the book, the series starter checks in with fatherless teenager Jack Sawyer as his uncle is squashed by a van, as he meets a kindly arcade janitor, as he flees town with his mom, and as he learns how to flip in and out of other worlds, i.e. “the Territories.” The story ends on a cliffhanger that actually leaves you wanting to see where it goes, so things appear to be in good hands with scripter Robin Furth and illustrator Tony Shasteen. I have a feeling the weirder it’s going to get, the better.
Two important chapters in Iron Man’s superheroic career are retold via reprints in IRON MAN: REQUIEM #1, with an all-new wraparound story by Matt Fraction and artist Kano that ties to the writer’s current series dealing with Tony Stark’s memory loss. First, you get 1963′s TALES OF SUSPENSE #39, which marked Iron Man’s first-ever appearance, created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Don Heck. (The movie closely follows this tale, only substituting Middle Eastern terrorists for the Vietnamese enemies.) Second is 1981′s IRON MAN #144, which recalls Stark’s first meeting with future best pal/War Machine James Rhodes. Then you get nearly two dozen needless pages of text-based files, blueprints and other fanboy miscellany.
David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, whose weird Western HIGH MOON is worth reading, reteam for HULK: WINTER GUARD #1, wrapping an original story around a 1992 issue of THE INCREDIBLE HULK. Why? I don’t know, but it’s cool in theory. The wraparound deals with the titular Winter Guard, which is some sort of Russian version of The Avengers, as far as I can tell, including a big ol’ bear. One of the members — not the bear — is implanted with the memories of someone else, which leads into the old issue, reprinted in complete and also Ruskie-oriented. But there must be something I’m missing, because it lost me. Could it be because I’ve never seen these characters before? Может быть. —Rod Lott
Related posts:
- LOUIS’ SERIOUS ISSUES >> 1.31.07
- Iron Man/Hulk/Fury #1
- LOUIS’ SERIOUS ISSUES >> 11.22.06
- LOUIS’ SERIOUS ISSUES >> 9.21.06
- LOUIS’ SERIOUS ISSUES >> 10.13.06
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
>> Could it be because I’ve never seen these characters before? >>
As the WINTER GUARD they’ve been around since 1998, where they appeared with that name in an issue of IRON MAN. They made several re-appearances since then in HULK, WAR-MACHINE, SHE-HULK, & MIGHTY AVENGERS within the last 16 months or so.
Before that, however – Darkstar – which is the character you are talking appeared as a member of the X-Men, Champions, & Soviet Super Soldiers in titles like Captain America, X-Men vs. Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, New X-Men, Contest of Champions, Rom, Quasar, Thunderbolts, Daredevil, Spider-Man, X-Force, and Marvel Team-Up.
Maybe you haven’t been looking hard enough?
http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=4830
Wait … and you’ve NEVER heard of Crimson Dynamo before? Ever?
Really?
Really! I read a lot of comics as a kid, into the mid-’80s, then stopped until, oh, the past few years. That said, I rarely read singles. I’m a wait-for-the-trade person, generally, and even then, I don’t read everything … like the titles you mentioned above.
>> I read a lot of comics as a kid, into the mid-’80s >>
That’s fine. I was born in Russia – only lived there for a few months- so these characters have a special place in my heart. Many of the titles I mentioned came out in the 80s.
The Crimson Dynamo – one of the ones I mentioned in particular – was one of IRON MAN’s main foes – and was even mentions in the Paul McCartney song MAGNETO VS THE TITANIUM MAN [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHz_7e7yluM]
Darkstar’s history I mentioned before. Ursa Major is a were-bear. And, Red Guardian has been around since the 60s. The first one was married to Black Widow [http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/avengers/43-4.jpg].
With the exception of Ursa Major, all of them have died over the last several decades – and been replaced over and over again with new people.
In general, I enjoyed the issue quite a bit. Though, I felt the middle story (the reprint) made everything feel a little *off*. That part of it was jarring. It’s like the whole thing is three separate stories bundled together to make one. But that is my only gripe.
If you thought it was jarring, and you have familiarity with its characters, imagine how “huh?” I found it!
When I mean jarring, I could have done with out the re-print, which seems sort of added to sell more HULK books, I guess. It doesn’t help that the first part of the story was originally online either. I can see the frustration there.
But, like I said, aside from that I quite enjoyed it. In particular the concept of replaceable heroes – and I haven’t seen a comic fight like that in some time.
Thanks for checking out the Winter Guard!
Glad you like the Fight scene Sean!