And then there has been the last month, full of death and the approaching rumbles of war. Originally I did not plan on commenting on the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I felt that anything I had to say would, at best, have already been said more eloquently by others and, at worst, trite and irrelevant. But I unexpectedly did find something that I wanted to discuss, that made me want to put pen to paper (metaphorically speaking, of course).
What follows is as much an editorial as it is a review column. As always, please remember that the views I express are merely my own opinions, nothing more.
Avengers volume 3 #46, $2.25 US, published by Marvel Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek; Pencils: Manuel Garcia; Inks: Bob Layton; Cover: Ariel Olivetti
Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars
Those who have read my previous review of Avengers might think I have something against Kurt Busiek's work on the title. I really don't. And, in fact, I have found the last four or five issues to be very good, some of the best in his entire stint on this series. While I feel that #46 was not nearly up to the standards of recent months, it was still a good issue.
First, a note on the artwork: pencils are provided by newcomer Manuel Garcia. I see definite potential in Garcia's work, although I do think that he stands to improve. But what new artist doesn't? In the meantime, Garcia's pencils are definitely given much-appreciated strength from veteran Bob Layton's quality inks. The cover isn't the most impressive piece I have seen from Ariel Olivetti. The computer coloring & effects detract from Olivetti's work. I much prefer to see him do fully painted pieces than work with digital colors.
As for the story itself, Avengers #46 finds us in the midst of a long story arc involving a full-scale assault on the entire Earth by futuristic tyrant Kang the Conqueror and his mysterious son, the Scarlet Centurion. Their plan is massive in scope, using the services of a high-tech army from the future, while at the same time stirring up warlike factions of the present-day, such as the Deviants and Atlanteans, to sow the seeds of chaos. The result has seen the Avengers calling in as many reserve members as they can reach, along with a number of other heroes, and racing across the globe in a desperate effort to stop the disparate threats poised against them.
Events become even more hectic in this latest issue, as the villain known as the Master of the World joins the fray. The Master is not interested in aiding Kang's conquest, though. Instead, the Master is determined to stop someone else from taking over the world, since he believes that he deserves to rule it. This is an interesting development. The Marvel universe has seen so many attempts to conquer the Earth by numerous supervillains. And yet those villains seldom cross each other's paths. So it is both novel and refreshing to see a villain step up to the plate and say the equivalent of "Oh no you don't! You're not taking over the Earth! I am!"
Adding to the chaos is the seemingly never-ending subplot of the sinister Triune Understanding, which has been developing since, oh, around issue #14 or so. It finally appears to be coming closer to some sort of resolution, as the so called "triple evil" the Triune has predicted would come from space is at last declared to be approaching Earth (my first thought was that Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster was paying a visit).
It's nice to finally see some advancement of the Triune plotline. However, it comes at an unusual time, when there is already so much going on in this book. As a result, this issue is rather cluttered, with numerous characters and plots vying for space. We shall have to see how this storyline develops in upcoming issues.
While I found Avengers #46 to be a good issue, my reaction to it was (perhaps inevitably) altered by the last month's events, as #46 was the first issue of the Kang invasion storyline to be released since the tragedies last month. The terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, and their unfolding aftermath, gave me a different perspective on the current story arc.
At the start of #46, Kang's future army invades France, and a European military coalition assembles to defend the country. Aiding them are several Avengers. It is a war, pure and simple. Although the art isn't graphic or bloody, it is pretty obvious that people are dying in this battle. And yet the Avengers make their way through the battle pretty much unscathed. It really doesn't seem to affect them. After the horrific tragedies of all those people who died in NYC and Washington, I found it disconcerting to see a group of superhumans being unharmed while scores of regular soldiers were dying around them.
Knowing that, in the real world, a military confrontation in Afghanistan is probably approaching rapidly, is another reason I was unsettled by the opening battle. From all accounts, an invasion of Afghanistan, or even just a mission to hunt down Osama Bin Laden's terrorist organization, is going to be an incredibly difficult task that will likely result in a horrendous number of casualties for U.S. forces. With this in the back of my mind, the scene in #46 of soldiers fighting and dying made me uncomfortable. It just struck to close to reality for me.
Now, I fully realize that Kurt Busiek wrote this issue long months ago, and that he had absolutely no way of knowing what would be taking place when it was actually published and released. But the timing caused me to think not just about this series, but about superhero comic books in general, and what sort of relevance they might have to readers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the United States.
I started wondering how this current story will eventually end. What will happen to Kang? Oh, I am certain that he will be defeated. But then what? Will he slip through the Avengers' fingers at the last moment, escape to fight another day, with the Avengers promising that they'll be there to fight him when he strikes again? I expect so. That's how these things normally go.
If this is not how the storyline ends, then I hope I will be forgiven for making such a premature judgment. But the reason why such an ending seems probable to me is because this is the typical course of action in most superhero stories. A supervillain embarks on a grandiose scheme to conquer the world, causes billions of dollars in property damage, no doubt killing a large number of people along the way, and then gets defeated by the heroes, only to quickly makes his escape so he can be used again in another story in six months time.
But after September 11, is this the type of "resolution" we really want to see? Will the readership be able to accept these types of stories from this point on? I don't know if I will be able to.
Let me clarify. Six thousand innocent people have been murdered by terrorists, and the government has vowed to do everything in its power to hunt down those responsible and strike back in the name of justice. After such real world events, will it be palatable to read a fictional story where a supervillain like Kang attempts to conquer the entire world, murders scores of people, and then gets away, to the seeming indifference of the heroes, who just figure they'll capture him some other day? Can we regard this with any sort of credulity? Wouldn't the Avengers be vowing to bring Kang to justice, even if they have to hunt him down through all of time and space? Isn't that what we would expect of them? After seeing so much horrible carnage in the real world, will we be able to accept a group of fictional characters who call themselves "heroes" and claim to represent "justice," but who seem unable, even unwilling, to live up to their name and avenge the lives of those who have been murdered?
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, video rentals of such films as the Die Hard series jumped tremendously. Members of a horrified, angry public found release in films that have definite resolutions, that see terrorist villains receiving their just desserts. While I am not keen on mindless action flicks, at times like these I can understand their appeal, with their swift, decisive justice that is impossible to achieve in the real world. Bearing that in mind, I don't know if superhero comics, with their recurring villains who constantly elude punishment, can be regarded as fun and entertaining. To me, right now, they seem all to close to cold reality.
I am not advocating that characters such as the Avengers should suddenly start packing automatic weapons and blowing away their enemies. But I do think Marvel and DC need to recognize the modern sensibilities of the American public. At the same time, this presents yet another compelling argument for moving away from the monthly serial format towards self-contained story arcs and miniseries, to stories that have more definite closure to them.
I don't know if I've been talking out of my ass in this column, or if I have actually managed to raise a few relevant points. Hopefully the later! Whatever the case, I've been attempting to give voice to thoughts that have been churning through my mind since September 11. So I hope you will forgive the rambling nature of the second half of this column. I appreciate your indulgence. Take care, and be good to one another.