Event Battle 2017: DC’s DARK NIGHTS: METAL vs MARVEL’s SECRET EMPIRE

I know I said that this would be an annual thing, and I’ll try to keep this on schedule, and I’ll try to post these on time, and I know I’m posting the one for 2017 as 2018 comes to an end… but writing this took a backseat as I had to finish some projects and write a thesis. C'est la vie, as the French say.

So, since I obviously can't keep this on schedule, and this doesn't deserve to get stuck in limbo, welcome to the final edition of EVENT BATTLE, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for sticking around.

Last time we had what I called a Triple Threat Match: DC vs Marvel vs Valiant. While I was hoping this would be a trend going forward, Valiant Comics took a break from publishing big summer crossover events this year. (Side note: I absolutely adore Valiant’s quality over quantity strategy, and I hope it continues despite the recent setbacks.)

So, back to the heavyweights, then?

2017 saw DC Comics handing over their universe to the most successful team off their New 52 experiment, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (of the Batman fame), in the form of METAL, or Dark Nights: Metal. While Metal is indeed a continuation of Snyder and Capullo’s run on Batman, it does build itself up on the shoulders of giants. Peter Milligan and Kieron Dwyer’s “Dark Knight, Dark City” being one, Grant Morrison’s seminal run on Batman, Final Crisis, his The Multiversity stuff, and pretty much the entirety of his DC output is some of the few important stories from the past that the creators wove into theirs. However, although Metal leans on and borrows from a lot of stories (like most modern superhero stories do), it does not make them a required reading. You will easily find your way if you have never read “Dark Knight, Dark City” (you should, though) and don’t know who or what Barbathos is. Metal is that accessible to new readers. If you are a long-time reader and know your comics, however, it is oddly satisfying when you catch a reference.

Like I mentioned earlier, Metal brings back Barbathos, the bat daemon occultists in 1776 (including the third President of the UnitedStates of America!) tried summoning with their “Ceremony of the Bat”. Bruce Wayne, because of his connection to both the Wayne family and, well, I guess, bats in general, is revealed to be the host for Barbathos’ return. To act as the portal/host for the daemon, Wayne needs to be exposed to five divine metals. It is revealed later that Batman already has been exposed to most of them in previous storylines (Electrum in “Court of Owls”, Dionesium in “Endgame”, Promethium in “Superheavy”, Nth Metal in the prologue of the event with Dark Nights: Casting and Dark Nights: Forge, and finally, Batmanium during the course of this story). The daemon, of course, has evil intentions. It is bringing with itself the “dark multiverse”. It literally wants to sink the Earth and flip the scales.

Oh, and also, it is bringing with itself the twisted versions of Batman… who kinda do look awfully similar to Dark Judges from Judge Dredd?

As you can imagine, much of the story then follows Batman and the Justice League’s attempt at stopping Barbathos and his horde of mercenaries. Metal is filled to the brim with ridiculously absurd and deliciously fun moments throughout. While I did stick with my rule of not reading the tie-ins for events, I did read those that Snyder co-wrote, and they work quite well with the main story. They offer details to the story as you would expect from a tie-in but if you do choose to follow the main book only, you would be good.

While bigger, louder, more ridiculous seems to Snyder’s modus operandi for every story after “Zero Year”, it just kinda works here. Rarely does the story pauses and the characters get a chance to breathe. Even the dialogues are written in such a way that they service the plot forward and not add any depth to the characters themselves. While this does seem to continue on his Justice League run, what I do appreciate here is how he managed to adapt and extend previous stories and add more layers to the cosmic side of the DC Universe, which I have always felt falls a bit short when compared to Marvel. Apart from Darkseid and the New Gods, there’s not much else to it, is there? (Cue fans telling me off in 3… 2… 1…)

Greg Capullo draws every issue of Metal, front to back. This in itself is unheard of for modern superhero crossover events, but that’s not all. The man knocks it out of the park throughout. From huge action splash pages to an eight panel page of a tightly choreographed fight scene, Capullo works his magic throughout. Joining him on the tie-ins are John Romita Jr., Andy Kubert, Jim Lee, Doug Mahnke, Yanick Paquette, Jorge Jiménez, Riley Rossmo, Howard Porter, Bryan Hitch, Mikel Janín, and a host of talented inkers and colourists. While on some scenes in the tie-ins, the transitions between the artists is not subtle and it feels a bit off, the books are a sight to behold. If Jorge Jiménez’s work on Superman, Super-Sons, etc. didn’t inform you, the guy is a superstar.

Marvel, on the other hand, had a rough year. I’m talking about the comic book side of the business, of course. They seem to be doing just fine everywhere else.

SECRET EMPIRE is the continuation of Nick Spencer’s Captain America run, specifically his ‘Hydra Cap’ storyline. You know, the one that caused so much outrage. I wasn’t following his run then, but reading this event now, I learnt that (spoiler alert:) that man is that controversial panel actually is Steve Rogers. While the story very firmly establishes that it is not an LMD, not a clone, not a shape-shifter, etc., that man is still not our Captain America. Something is a bit off – specifically, Rogers gets his history rewritten by a sentient cosmic cube – and this leads to an interesting “What If?” storyline, almost.

Yes, Captain America is a Hydra agent. The bad guys have won. America is under Nazi rule (Which, is not that different from the current state of things, is it?). Spencer’s plays with this idea throughout the story, drawing parallels between the two. For example, the persecution of the Inhumans in the make-believe world is drawn from the persecution of the Jews in the real, and so on. While the story is not that epic in scale as Metal perhaps is, it does work as a summer blockbuster crossover event story regardless. Spencer also smartly limits the active cast. New York is put under a blackout, so half the Marvel superheroes are off the table and a shield around Earth has locked out heavy-hitters like Captain Marvel and such. This makes it easier to follow the action. Not that I doubt Spencer’s ability to write a large cast (he does exactly that so expertly here) or that I doubt the reader’s ability to read a book with a large cast. A smaller cast works here, because unlike Metal, for example, this is not a story about the heroes trying to stop the bad guys from winning. They have won already. It is up to a handful of rebels to overthrow the regime Reich.

The first and the last issue of the story is drawn by Steve McNiven, and rest of the work is divided among Rod Reis, Daniel Acuña, Andrea Sorrentino, Joshua Cassara, Leinil Francis Yu, Sean Izaakse, Joe Bennett, Ron Lim, Paco Medina, …holy shit that’s a lot of artists. To their credit though, the editorial team does manage to avoid any art inconsistencies. The story follows the one artist per issue rule to the dot, or a specific artist(s) sticks with a particular plotline. Steve McNiven hyper-detailed art sets up the mood perfectly in the beginning and that exposition is perfect for the end. Andrea Sorrentino, I think, handles a major portion of the book. His panel structure and innovative use of the borders and the gutters is fantastic.

THE VERDICT

To be honest, this was the hardest it has been in quite some time to pick one of the two. Usually, I like one book over the other a lot. Infinity over Forever Evil, Original Sin over Futures End, Secret Wars over Convergence, Rebirth over Civil War II and 4001 A.D. This year, I thought both worked quite well in their own regard. Neither of them is perfect by any means. There are some gaping holes in the plot of both stories. Dream appearing in Metal to add a convenient layer of exposition to an ‘oh my god, how are they ever going to do it?’ plot, The Punisher and Thor kinda turning Nazis with little to no conviction in Secret Empire, and so on. Nonetheless, I had a good time reading them, and that’s all that matters on some days.

While both Metal and Secret Empire had some lasting impact in their respective universe, most of what was caused by Secret Empire has been hushed over. This is partially, I think, because of all the (unnecessary) outrage it caused. Metal, on the other hand, boosted sales, launched new series, spun new tales. I had so much fun reading that book. And oh, how could I ever forget baby Darkseid doing the devil’s horns?

Event Battle 2016: VALIANT’s 4001 A.D. vs MARVEL’s CIVIL WAR II vs DC’s REBIRTH

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.

Event Battle 2015: MARVEL’s SECRET WARS vs DC’s CONVERGENCE

When I started this, I had hoped I would somehow turn this into an (almost) annual sort of thing. And now posting the third edition to this, I think I’ve done that, haven’t I?

Welcome to EVENT BATTLE 2015.

Both DC and Marvel had earth universe shattering blockbuster events this year, and frankly, on different levels, I enjoyed them both. Agreed, both events seemed similar, some would even say “recycled” (more on this later), however, they were fun comics, and you know what? Comics should fun.

Let’s take a look at Marvel’s SECRET WARS… 

Written by Jonathan Hickman, Secret Wars is the culmination of his two year run on Avengers and New Avengers. The Avengers, or more appropriately, the Illuminati, are faced with the threat of world destruction by planetary collision. I didn’t really follow Hickman’s run (I know, I know. I’m an idiot.), but from what I recall, the only way for the Illuminati to save their world seems to be the destruction of the other, and this obviously, causes friction among the group members.

To its credit, Secret Wars does not make Hickman’s New Avengers stuff a required reading. The story opens directly with the heroes of Earth 616 (regular Marvel universe) making a life raft to save a handful of people, because, well, saving seven billion turns out to be impossible. On the other hand, the Cabal (Thanos and his group) have already travelled to Earth 1060 (Ultimate Marvel universe)to influence the smartest man there: Reed Richards, aka the Master.

The Master convinces the Nick Fury of the Ultimate Marvel universe that the only way to save Earth 1060 is by the destruction of Earth 616. But the only thing war has ever led to is the ruination of both sides.

Miraculously, Earth is saved by our lord and saviour, Doctor Doom. Wielding the powers of the Beyonders, he almost single-handedly recreates our planet with patchworks from different universes, each territory a domain onto itself under the iron rule of Doom. This, however, is not Earth. This is Battleworld.

The story really kicks off when Doom’s forces discover the two life rafts that had escaped from Earth 1060 and Earth 616, respectively. Learning what Doom has done, how wrong, how broken it really is, the survivors of both earths form a temporary alliance to take down Doom and fix everything. This, however, won’t be easy. You see, if Doom has the power to create a world, doesn’t that make him a god?

I have already spoken about my admiration for Hickman’s ability to write great dialogues. In a book like this, where the antagonist is basically a god king, and territories of his realm are ruled over by royal families, Hickman really takes it to the next level. Maybe it’s the Game of Thrones-esque subplot that forms. Also, Hickman is a clever writer that respects the reader’s intelligence. He does not waste pages on flashback sequences or action scenes. Sure, there are action scenes, but anything that is not so important to main plot, which is of course, Reed Richards (the Earth 1060 one) vs Doctor Doom, is left to the reader’s imagination. Example: he does not explicitly specify exactly what does the Thor of Earth 1060 say to influence the other Thors against Doom. (Yes, you read that right. Thors.)

The story is filled with jaw-dropping, epic moments. I will not spoil them for you, but, um… Thors! Groot! Hulks! Thanos! Black Panther!

Coming to the art on the book, well, it’s gorgeous. Ive Svorcina’s colours over Esad Ribic’s pencils make a fantastic combination.They illustrate the complete nine issues saga without missing a beat.I’ve been a fan of Ribic since the God-Butcher saga he did with Jason Aaron on Thor: God of Thunder, and was saddened to learn he would leaving the book after just one more arc. I guess I didn’t knew he was gearing up to illustrate one of Marvel’s best events in years.

Now let’s take look at what DC had to offer in 2015… 

DC also did a nine issue company wide crossover event. They called it CONVERGENCE.

Brainiac, who over the last few years has been turned into DC Comics’ Galactus, creates a planet to keep his bottled cities, (Brainiac travels the multiverse to capture and collect cultures so that he can study them in their natural environment.), and for some reason, thinks it would be a good idea to make the planet sentinel. The sentinel planet calls itself Telos.

Telos decides that the best way to serve its master would be to do a survival of the fittest type tournament to determine the best of the lot. And thus, everybody… FIGHT!

If you are unfamiliar with the current happenings of Earth-2 in the DC Universe, it got destroyed. Yeah. Anyways, the heroes of that earth did manage to send a couple of spaceships filled with survivors off into the wild before the planet went kaboom. In a twist of fate, the heroes are pulled from certain death to not-so-certain-but-pretty-probable death when they are pulled in to this battle royal by Telos.

Every city on the planet is busy fighting off their opponent city that Telos has picked for them, the heroes of these cities are engaged in a battle for the survival of their city. Earth-2 heroes, as cruel as this sounds, have nothing to fight for. Their world is already dead.

So they decide to bring down Telos and end this madness.

Interestingly, for this event, DC Comics decided to hand over the control of their universe to someone who didn’t have much experience in writing comics. Now, that is not questioning Jeff King’s abilities as a writer. I’m sure he’s a good writer, and like I mentioned earlier, I enjoyed Convergence at its own level. All I’m saying is, if you want to bring in someone who’s not familiar with comic book writing but is pretty famous and all,you bring them in by letting them co-write or take full control of a modestly selling comic book, let them get the hang of the ropes, and then gradually move them up. That is, I suppose, the traditional way. Bold move by DC letting King write their next big crossover event. And guess what? It paid off. Convergence might not be The Omega Men in terms of writing or anything else, but it was much better than Futures End so all’s well that ends well.

Speaking of Futures End, Convergence also does not follow the monthly comic book schedule. That means a lot of artists, a lot of colourists, working round the clock to keep the book on schedule. However, unlike Futures End, the art on Convergence, as disparate as it may be, gels together to form a cohesive unit. And I really loved the colours on this book, man.

THE VERDICT

I’ve mentioned here earlier how the Big Two hype these events as something that is really going to change the course of their respective universe, but once the story is done, they kind of undo the work towards the end, and the event has little to no impact on the shared universe. For a change, both DC’s and Marvel’s event had major repercussions throughout their books. So much in fact, that the implications were solicited weeks before the actual story responsible for those implications had wrapped up.

Now coming back to what I said we’ll discuss later. Both Secret Wars andConvergence have been criticized for “recycling” plots of previously published comic books. Secret Wars, in fact, reuses the title of the very first Marvel event, and all the tie-ins reuse title and/or plotlines of past events, albeit with a twist. In Convergence, Brainiac forms a patchwork planet. These patches from different universes, although separated from each other, are under “the iron rule” of Telos. Sounds familiar? Hold on, there’s more. Telos starts a battle royal tournament on this planet to determine the strongest city, effectively forming a… Battleworld. Dun dun duhh.

This is not the first time the Big Two have been accused of borrowing from each other. Hawkeye and Green Arrow, Swamp Thing and Man-Thing. See a pattern?

And this is not accusing the creators involved of plagiarism. I have immense respect for comic book creators – they make my favourite books! These sort of things just happen. Because if it worked for them and it sells, surely it will work for us too, right?

(Did you know Batman was created because DC wanted to recreate the success of Superman by introducing a new superhero, but since they already had a superhero for the day, they went with a superhero for the night?)

If I had to pick one of the two, I would, with a doubt, go with Secret Wars. Yes, this year DC did a much better job than their past events, but Secret Wars was on a different level, man.

Contrary to what this blog might suggest, I do not read only superhero comic books. Confession: I do not enjoy superhero comic books anymore. I read these events because they give a general idea of what’s going on with both publisher’s line. But boy oh boy did I enjoy Secret Wars. It had not purpose being that good!

PS: The patchwork planet subplot in both events allowed creators to do a lot of interesting stories free from the confinement of continuity and such. So I broke my rule of never reading tie-ins for big crossover events and tried a few. If you also want to try some,here are some recommendations… 

For Convergence: Shazam! by Jeff Parker, Evan “Doc” Shaner, Jordie Bellaire;Swamp Thing by Len Wein, Kelley Jones, Michelle Madsen; Superman by Dan Jurgens, Lee Weeks, Brad Anderson; The Question by Greg Rucka, Cully Hammer, Dave McCaig

For Secret Wars: Thors by Jason Aaron, Chris Spouse, Goran Sudžuka, Karl Story, Dexter Vines, Marte Gracia; Civil War by Charles Soule, Leinil Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Sunny Gho; Weirdworld by Jason Aaron, Mike del Mundo, Marco D'Alfonso; A-Force by G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett, Jorge Molina, Craig Yeung, Laura Martin, Matt Milla

Event Battle 2014: DC’s FUTURES END vs MARVEL’s ORIGINAL SIN

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!

I really want to write a bit about the ending of Futures End and how awful it is but I would have to spoil it for you so I'll leave you with this: