Welcome to second edition of EVENT BATTLE, ladies and
gentlemen. Miss me?
(In case you do not know what this is, follow this link.)
I'll assume you already know what comic book events are,
considering you came back (thank you!). I'll also assume you have tremendous
patience, considering you waited this long for this post. It's partly my fault.
I'll admit I am a bit lazy (okay, a lot but still) but DC Comics' 2014 event
was fourty-nine weekly issues that started in 2014 and ended only a couple of
months back.
Let's begin with DC Comics' FUTURES END...
DC's 2014 event takes us thirty-five years into the future
where the satellite AI Brother Eye has virtually eradicated humanity by
converting everybody, or rather everything, into hive mind cyborgs. Brother Eye
was created by Mr. Terrific with the help of Batman years ago, but with much
better intentions. Batman (Bruce Wayne) realises his folly and sends his
protégé Batman Beyond (Terry McGuiness) back in time to stop the AI's creation.
However, things do not go exactly as planned as Batman Beyond misses his
time-jump landing point off by five years where Brother Eye's creation has
already started, which is why the event is set five years in to the future of
the current DC Universe.
Even five years in the future, the DC Universe is a grim
place. The world is recovering from a war between the superpowered factions of
Earth-Prime and Earth 2. Both sides have suffered heavy losses, and apparently,
Superman had to make the biggest sacrifice or he suffered the most or... something
happened.
If that sounds a bit vague, it's because it is. The war and
its details are revealed almost midway through the series with little to no
buildup or gradual reveals in the previous issues, except inexplicable mentions
thrown here and there.
Written by Brian Azzarello, Keith Giffen, Dan Jurgens and
Jeff Lemire, the series follows multiple plotlines that converge into and
around one another. A large cast is used to tell the story and it's clear which
writer brought in which character. Structurally, this series is reminiscent of
52, a year long weekly series that DC did in 2006, however Futures End does not
have the same level of cohesiveness that made 52 work. There are inconsistencies
in the storytelling and in the writing itself. Example: Constantine's dialogues
are written sometimes in neutral accent and sometimes in a way to highlight his
British accent.
The weekly comic book format is unusual for the North
American comic book industry. Sure, you have new comics releasing every week
but almost every individual comic book follows the monthly schedule. Doing a
weekly comic book is no easy thing. A large art team is brought in to keep
Futures End on schedule. Take a look: Aaron Lopresti, Alberto Ponticelli, Allan
Goldman, Andy MacDonald, Art Thibert, Cam Smith, Cully Hamner, Dan Green, Dan
Jurgens, Dexter Vines, Drew Geraci, Ethan Van Sciver, Freddie Williams II,
Georges Jeanty, Jack Herbert, Jesus Merino, Karl Story, Mark Irwin, Patrick
Zircher, Scot Eaton, Scott Hanna, Scott Kolins, Stephen Thompson, Tom Raney,
Vincente Cifuentes, Wayne Faucher, with Hi-Fi colouring every issue.
That's a lot of people.
There are obvious artwork inconsistencies because every
artist has his own style, however all the artists involved follow the "DC
House Style" so the event does looks like one big cohesive beast. Ryan Sook did the cover for every issue of the series and
they are absolutely stunning.
Oh and yes, the stabbing and maiming that has become the
staple of The New 52 is very much alive in the series.
Now, let's take a look at what Marvel had to offer in 2014...
Written by Jason Aaron with Mike Deodato doing the art,
ORIGINAL SIN is basically a superhero murder mystery.
Somebody has murdered The Watcher, an immensely powerful
cosmic being whose job is to witness everything that occurs in the Marvel
Universe. Witness everything, mind you, and not interfere. The Watcher is one of
the many crazy ideas introduced way back in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic
Four. (Like Galactus. A cosmic being that eats planets! Take a moment and think
about it. That is absolutely bonkers.)
A panicked Thor brings the Watcher's murder to the Avengers'
notice and considering that there aren't many who know of the Watcher's
existence (the Watcher appears to only those whose actions affect the fate of
humanity) and that there aren't many who can pull something like that off, Nick
Fury warns Captain America that the investigation into the murder could lead to
some "dark places."
While the Avengers continue their own investigation, a
mystery man recruits Black Panther to take a different path. Three teams are
formed and are sent to different locations in the Marvel Universe. Black
Panther, Emma Frost and Ant-Man (Scott Lang) journey to the center of Earth, as
Moon Knight, Winter Soldier and Gamora head to deep space, while Doctor Strange
and the Punisher travel to "somewhere far beyond the realm of man."
Jason Aaron is a fantastic writer but writing a big comic
book event is different. You may be able to do any character justice with your
writing, you may be able to do justice to every supporting character of
his/hers, but handling multiple characters at the same time, handling multiple
teams, multiple villains at the same time is tough. There aren't many writers
who can do that. Jim Shooter is the absolute master around those parts, and
it's great to see Aaron leave a mark. The fact that he is able to build
intrigue and suspense is an added bonus.
I could write paragraphs and paragraphs of appreciation for
the art on this book but it still won't do it any justice. Mike Deodato draws
every issue of the eight-part event and still manages to keep the book on schedule
which, quite frankly, is unheard of these days. But that's not all. Never is
the artwork rushed. Every page is utterly gorgeous. If you were to buy a
superhero comic book based on the artwork alone, Original Sin is a pretty
strong contender.
THE VERDICT
Fortunately, Original Sin does not have the same flaw as Marvel's
last year's event Infinity had. Things are shaken up, characters are killed, but
when the dust settles and all's set and done, we are not back to square one. Sure,
new characters take place of the old and to some, the entire event may look like
an excuse to do away with the version of Nick Fury moviegoers are not accustomed
to, but the three main characters – Nick Fury, Winter Soldier, Thor – who are most
affected by the events of the story actually have their status quo changed. Infact,
Thor has been one of my favourite books since (like it wasn't already) and Bucky
Barnes: The Winter Soldier has been a trip.
On the other hand, Futures End was set thirty-five years in
to the future of DC Universe. Anything that happens in that book is not going
to stay because judging by what the Big 2 are doing these days, we can get a
reboot/relaunch anytime. This makes Futures End an Elseworlds story essentially.
Unfortunately, it's not a good one. And I love Elseworlds stories!
