I had written a big chunk of a paragraph about how horrible 2016 was, but you and I survived, and how we should look towards 2017 with optimism. But you know what? Fuck that. You’ll hear and read about that enough for the next few days. Let’s talk comics.
Welcome to EVENT BATTLE 2016, ladies and gentlemen.
I usually pit DC’s annual crossover event against Marvel’s annual crossover event for this thing, but as you may have noticed if you follow this blog, I have recently started reading Valiant Comics as well. So, it’s not DC vs Marvel one-on-one this time, dear reader. For the first time ever, it is DC vs Marvel vs Valiant! Triple Threat Match!
(I watch a lot of pro wrestling. Get over it.)
Let us first take a look at what the new guys have to offer.
In 2016, Valiant Comics did their annual “blockbuster crossover event,” 4001 A.D. A little recap: The year 4001 holds a lot of significance to the Valiant universe. The main universe does indeed take place in present times, but 4001 is when the Spirit of New Japan, Rai, operates.
A few thousand years ago (from 4001, that is), the state of Japan rose from the ground to hover in the orbit in order to escape Earth’s relentless wars. This new floating state called itself “New Japan”. It was ruled over and run by a sentient artificial intelligence who, in what I think is a bit too on the nose, calls itself “Father”. Father provides for New Japan, taking care of the people and their needs. But as the years progress the AI gets more and more aggressive. The population is pacified with an all-seeing police and influenced by curated video entertainment. The people live in a dictatorship, but as with most dictatorships, a large section of the population is blissfully unaware. “Father will provide.”
Let’s come back to the Spirit of New Japan, Rai. Not just because I love that designation. Rai, as the tie-ins tell us, was basically an experiment by Father. Father grows one every century. Each has its own characteristics. Some are hard-working builders and creators; others are gentle, and inspire compassion among the citizens; yet there are still others who are ruthless. The 4001 AD version of Rai is the result of a lot of trial and errors. As it turns out, to create the perfect Spirit of New Japan (ha!) a feminine touch was needed. To create the perfect son, Father needed a mother. (No, you don’t have to tell me how weird that sentence sounds.)
However, once this Rai is created, Father casts aside Rai’s mother like another of his used resources. Over time, Rai learns of this and of Father’s other atrocities, and how, unknowingly, he has been enforcing Father’s vision. Determined to make up for his sins, Rai soon bands with the growing number of rebels to bring down Father. But alas, Father casts him down back on Earth. Although, not before the rebels manage to introduce a virus in Father’s core system. Weakened, Father casts away sections of New Japan, dooming millions, in order to remain strong enough to both fight the virus and keep New Japan afloat.
If that sounds a lot for a four-issue miniseries, none of the above happen in the main book. No, seriously. I could have just put in these three pages by David Mack here and you’d be up to speed.
The main book is just Rai making his way back from Earth to New Japan, with help from Lemur, Gilad and a rusty, old X-O Manowar armour to take down Father. It is as straightforward as it sounds.
The writing may be uninspiring, but the art on this book is stunning. Clayton Crain is the perfect artist to bring in the sci-fi, Blade Runner slash Ghost in the Shell vibe, exactly what this story needed. On the tie-ins books as well, Clayton Henry, Doug Braithwaite, Robert Gill, Tomás Giorello, Cafu, along with a whole platoon of inkers and colourists, knock it out of the park.
I know what you’re thinking. What about your rule to not read tie-ins to these crossover events? I hear ya, but come on, cut the new guys some slack, geez. Also, I am not as familiar with the Valiant universe as I am with say, Marvel or DC, so reading the tie-ins helped. More than anything though, one of the tie-ins gave me this glorious page so I am more than willing to let it slide this time.
Let’s take a look at what Marvel had to bring in in 2016.
Marvel’s 2016 event was called CIVIL WAR II, which, I admit, does sound like a little cashing in on the success of their 2016 summer blockbuster movie, Captain America: Civil War, and I suppose it sort of is; but Marvel didn’t disappoint me last year when they chose to reuse a title so I was curious to see what they were up to this time around.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by David Marquez, Oliver Coipel, Andrea Sorrentino, along with fantastic colours by Justin Ponser and Marcelo Maiolo, Civil War II, like the original Civil War of 2006, puts heroes against heroes. If you are unfamiliar with the current happenings of the Marvel universe, a lot of new Inhumans have been popping up all around the globe. Things get really interesting, however, when a new Inhuman, Ulysses, with the ability to foresee the future arrives on the scene.
Captain Marvel (Colonel Carol Danvers), who now leads the Ultimates, thinks using Ulysses’ abilities to prevent threats before they cause massive damage is worth the risks. Iron Man (Tony Stark), a futurist (which is an argument that is thrown at him quite a lot in this series), is a little skeptic in trusting Ulysses so blindly. He argues that Ulysses’ vision show a future and not the future. This obviously leads to some friction between the two, but things get really nasty when Captain Marvel, acting on one of these visions by Ulysses, leads the Ultimates to battle against Thanos, without informing Iron Man or any other Avenger. The mission, as Captain Marvel herself puts it, goes “fubar”. Lives are lost and Tony loses it.
Unlike the last Civil War however, this time around it’s not Tony Stark who’s an asshole. It’s not Captain Marvel either. Her cause seems just. Her methods are not. Even after Tony points out that Ulysses’ abilities are pretty much guesswork, it is basically profiling, Carol chooses to trust those visions because even if there’s a “ten percent chance” of her being able to stop an extinction level event because she chose to believe Ulysses’ visions, it was worth it.
There are a few moments in the book that are going to split the audience. I am, obviously, not going to spoil them for you, but a lot of people die in this event. I’m interested to read if their deaths will actually mean something as Marvel Comics goes into 2017 or they were simply there for the shock value. Knowing Bendis, and I know everyone likes to shit on him these days, I think he is going to play with one of the deaths in one of the books he is writing. Overall, the writing on the book is as Bendis as it can get. His characters talk a lot, which you would assume would be perfect for a team book or an event like this, but sometimes it feels a little off. For example, I know Tony Stark is the kind of character who will crack a joke to ease the tension in the room, but sometimes it feels forced, even when it is supposed to be. Additionally, and I don’t know if this was intended, Captain Marvel’s for-Ulysses side was a lot underwritten when compared with Iron Man’s against-Ulysses side.
David Marquez shines on the book, illustrating the complete eight issues, with assistance from Oliver Coipel and Andrea Sorrentino. I love how his art ranges from simple straight lines to a lot of crosshatching when the mood changes. What more can I say for Oliver Coipel that hasn’t been said already? He’s a beast. If you have read his Thor stuff you know he can do somber character moments as good as he can do big action sequences. And please, Marvel, let Andrea Sorrentino draw Old Man Logan forever.
DC’s 2016 event was very hush-hush. It came out of nowhere. As far as I can remember there was nothing in the monthly solicitations. After Darksied War wrapped up (which I had assumed was DC’s 2016 event and I would be writing about that here), and as all of DC’s ongoings (that survived cancellation) came close to the #52 issue mark, DC announced a 80-page special by writer Geoff Johns, and artists Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Phil Jimenez, along with Joe Prado and Matt Santorelli on inks, and Brad Anderson, Jason Wright, Hi-Fi, Gabe Eltaeb on colours. It looked very ambitious for a 80-page special. Also, it seemed to be the last thing Geoff Johns would be writing for DC Comics in the foreseeable future as he would move towards overseeing their films and TV.
I not sure how to begin talking about REBIRTH. Even a quick synopsis or a blurb is spoiling it – which is why it was so hush-hush, I guess. Anyways, if you somehow still missed it, you either live under a rock or are a little too depend on this annual thingie that I do. It can’t be the latter because I don’t think anybody reads these things, I kinda do this for my own amusement, so please, get out more, maybe?
Spoilers ahead.
Rebirth brings back a lot of things. It almost feels like DC looked around and saw that some the stuff that they were doing in The New 52 age was not working – and by some, I mean almost all expect Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Batman – so they decided to go back to how things were. Rebirth is all that, but somehow it is not. It is not a reset again.
Rebirth packs quite many punches in its 80 pages. None like the last page, however. It begins with a shocker. Wally West – the original Wally West, the original Kid Flash and then The Flash – is back. Or at least he’s trying to. When Barry Allen tried to correct his mistake towards the end of Flashpoint, he unknowingly set off a reset (which became The New 52). A lot of characters and relationships were gone. Wally West was one of those characters.
As it turns out, this reset should not have happened. Wally is locked out by something or someone, who, it seems, “stole ten years” from the DC timeline. Throughout the issue, Wally attempts to make connections with people who he thinks will pull him back – Batman, Linda Park, Barry Allen, to name a few. It’s a simple premise, but it is very well done. Not only does Geoff Johns does his best work in years on this issue, he manages to pay homage to Watchmen and at the same time write one of the best moments in comics of 2016.
Not to take away credits from the other artists on the issue, but Gary Frank’s work here is fantastic. Overall the art feels and looks a lot retro, yet at the same time has modern sensibilities. This is what The New 52 should have been all along. A refresh, not a reset.
THE VERDICT
To be honest, after last year’s incredible Secret Wars, I was expecting something along the same lines. While none of the three books here are Secret Wars-level good, they were fun in their own regard.
If I had to pick one, I would go with Rebirth. I was stunned when I read that issue. It came out of nowhere and shook things up. And unlike most modern events, it did not went out with little to no consequence. DC’s books post-Rebirth have been fantastic. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Detective Comics, Action Comics, are all worth putting in your weekly pull list – for the first time in years!
I can’t wait to see what they do next. Alan Moore will be pissed, that’s for sure.
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