This week in comics: Marvel flushes seven years of Spiderman down the drain, the Fantastic Four takes a vacation, and "when in Rome..."
The Amazing Spiderman #545: J. Michael Straczynski (script), Joe Quesada (art)
After three oversized books released sporadically over the past two months, the Spiderman mini-saga “One More Day…” finally comes to an end. Peter Parker has made a deal with the devil: hanging in the balance is his marriage to Mary Jane or his beloved Aunt May’s life. In issue #545, he makes the tough choice and the course of Marvel’s web-slinger is shifted to drastic effect.
It is no big secret that Straczynski and Marvel’s editing team has not seen eye to eye on the direction he has taken their biggest star. In fact, Straczynski so disagreed with the ending Marvel mandated for the “One More Day…” saga that he allegedly demanded Joe Quesada, Marvel’s editor in chief, share the story credit. In light of the shake-up this issue causes the Spider-family as well as the larger Marvel universe, one can see why the writer of all things Spiderman for the past 74 issues is up in arms and quitting the book. The reveals and changes littering the last few pages are huge in impact but come across as too neatly packaged to make sense.
This issue wraps up nearly seven years of Spiderman continuity and undoes decades of established story. Despite the controversy that will no doubt arise from Marvel’s big move, expect issue #546 to be an interesting jumping-on point for the Amazing Spiderman.
Fantastic Four: Isla de la Muerte: Tom Beland (script), Juan Doe (art)
Much to the chagrin of his teammates, the Thing sets off for his mysterious once-a-year vacation. His nosy crime-fighting family follows to find him in Puerto Rico surrounded by a big party and a dangerous secret in this fun, throwback-style Fantastic Four one-shot story.
Beland does a wonderful job boiling the Fantastic Four down to its basic essence: Johnny and Ben bicker, Sue has everyone’s number, and Reed can’t help but to be distracted by the world around him. In this story in particular, he takes readers on a vacation from McDuffie’s serious, science-fiction drama of the regular series to show how the Fantastic Four is more family than superhero team. Marvel even does its Hispanic fan base the solid of releasing a Spanish variant edition.
Keeping in tone with the book’s tropical setting, Doe’s art is bold and colorful. Isla de la Muerte is one of those stories that remind you why comics began as the ultimate escape from reality years ago: it’s just good, clean fun.
Pax Romana #1: Jonathan Hickman (script, art)
Seeking to forge a better world by altering the past, Pope Pius XIII, his top cardinals, and a team of mercenaries prepare to time travel back to ancient Rome. The ambitious first issue of Pax Romana offers an intelligent and involved read.
Nearly everything about Pax Romana seems purposely convoluted. The format and paneling more closely resembles a website than a comic book with snippets of dialogue, dossier entries, and transcripts of conversations thrown across each page. The plot is told from the future to the past to the deeper past, a narration mechanism commonly seen in time travel stories that nicely foreshadow things to come for the series.
Hickman does deliver an immersive universe and touches on some intriguing characters all in the span of 22 pages. His art, however, leaves much to be desired. The characters do not portray any form of emotion and scenes are never any larger than three characters or so standing around in blank or red space. So far, Pax Romana seems as if it would be better off as a novel than a comic.
Regardless of the underwhelming art and confusing format, Pax Romana is a worthy pick-up for science fiction fans and history buffs alike.
