Writer: Darko Macan; Pencils & Inks: Danijel Zezelj; Covers: Derek Hess
Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars
"We are dead."
So goes the refrain of Dead Men Running. The sentiment of which is, death is our final fate. Whatever the lives we lead, whatever the choices we make, sooner or later we die. Whatever we do, good or bad, doesn't matter because death is our ultimate, unavoidable fate.
Such is the reasoning of Sergeant Robert Solo, member of a United States military squad engaged in extralegal activities. Specifically, drug smuggling, kidnapping, and murder. By Solo's interpretation, it is a futile, useless exercise to attempt to do good, to act moral, since we all end up pushing up daises, and our choices & actions are forgotten. "Whatever we achieve, ultimately it means nothing."
Running smack dab into Solo's world view is Captain America. For Cap, the future, whatever it holds, does not matter. What does matter is the here and now. That is what we exist in, the present, and that is what we should base our choices and decisions on. And we must make our own individual choices, follow our conscience. It is not an easy path, by any measure. But it should be done.
Ostensibly in Columbia to aid in the drug war, Sgt. Solo's squad is in fact working for a corrupt army major. Sent to snatch the drug money from the country's main drug dealer, the squad instead end up kidnapping the drug lord's children. Fleeing through the jungle with the kids in hand, the drug lord's private army on their tail, the squad encounters Cap. The supersoldier had learned of the squad's predicament, but not the reasons for it, or of their illegal actions. Parachuting in to help them, Cap instead soon finds himself their prisoner rather than their savior.
Contrasting the seemingly black & white morality of Captain America's character with the multiple shades of gray that exist within the real world is old hat by now. It's a plotline that creators predictably trot out every few years, to show that Cap isn't an antiquated boy scout from the 1940s, but someone with a world view that is relevant to today's times. Surprisingly, Darko Macan's script is one of the best of these type I've seen in a long time. That's because Macan writes Cap not as a wide-eyed, naive optimist who unexpectedly stumbles upon government corruption, but a realist who has a solid understanding of the world he lives in. It's certainly the most believable treatment of this sort of storyline since the D.G. Chichester-penned Cap/Punisher team-up that was published nearly a decade ago.
The reason why Cap's arguments to Solo and the other squad members are palatable here, why they don't just come across as moralistic lectures, is that they are not based on an absolutist moral view. Cap is not arguing that everyone should be a hero; instead, he is urging people not to choose evil. It's a subtle, but significant, distinction.
Macan articulates the argument perfectly in a heated exchange between squad member Sore and Cap. In issue #2, Sore, angrily beating up on a drugged Cap, demands "So you just wake up one day and decide to be a hero? Is that it? Let me tell you, it doesn't work!" And Cap answers "No. But you can wake up and decide that, no matter what, you will not be scum."
Macan also dispenses with the nostalgic view of World War II as an era when the good guys were easily distinguished from the bad, when it was easy to know right from wrong. As Cap comments in issue #3, "It's never been easy. Always pressures, always choices. The world has always been hard." Cap goes on to acknowledge that things were definitely not clear-cut in the era of his creation.
As a long-time follower of the character, it's a breath of fresh air to see a writer depict Captain America as an individual who possesses an actual awareness of the moral ambiguities of World War II. Yes, Cap fought against the genocidal Nazi forces. But he is no idiot. He would have recognized the glaring irony that one of the United States' main allies in the war was Josef Stalin, a dictator just as brutal and oppressive as Hitler. Cap would have been aware that we were fighting for liberty and freedom in Europe & Asia while back home segregation was in full effect, and Japanese Americans were being interred. Cap is not a mindless patriot, and he would admit to the injustices on both sides of the conflict.
Another reason why Dead Men Running works well is that Macan pretty much relegates Cap to the role of a supporting cast member. The main focus is on Solo and his comrades. We get into their heads and see the events of the story through their eyes. This is their story, and how they are affected by the presence of Captain America, how he causes them to re-examine their believes.
That is not to say that Macan's writing is flawless. There is, perhaps inevitably, some degree of awkwardness to the soldiers coming around to Cap's viewpoint in the final issue. It does seem a bit too sudden, a speed necessitated by the events of the plot.
I was also disappointed at how Macan showed Cap getting taken in by the squad's treachery so easily in the first issue. Winged by machine gun fire in a battle with the drug dealer's forces, Cap allows Solo to inject him with what is supposedly a painkiller. Problem is, by this point Cap is already quite suspicious of the squad's cover story and actions. He ought to have been wary of letting Solo inject him with anything! Instead, he just stands there, and seems quite surprised when it turns out to be a knockout drug. Um, perhaps Macan does write Cap as naïve after all, at least in certain respects.
The art by Daniel Zezelj is more of the style of something one might find at Vertigo or Dark Horse, rather than in a "superhero" title. But that's a definite asset to the series, because this is quite obviously not intended to be read as a superhero story. Zezelj's stark, almost austere artwork perfectly suits the jungle setting and the tense atmosphere of the plot. Except for Cap, everyone here is a "normal" person. Well, at least until the rather bizarre climax in the final issue, when the drug dealer's hit squad shows up, all of them dressed up as skeletons. No, I'm not sure what it means, either. Unless, of course, it is a rather clunky attempt by Macan to show Solo and the squad metaphorically confronting the specter of death that has been looming over them. Your guess is as good as mine…
In any case, Zezelj's only failing is in his rendition of Captain America. Unfortunately, the Avenger looks rather cartoony, at least in the first issue (an unusual turn-about, as often comic book artists draw superheroes exceedingly well, but cannot render anything else in a realistic manner). Indeed, the bright red, white, and blue of his outfit are a glaring contrast to the more somber green, orange, and brown Earth tones utilized by colorist Matt Madden.
Actually, the incongruities of art and color for Captain America does have the interesting result of helping to distinguish him from the rest of the characters and the settings. Perhaps it can be regarded as how the soldiers at first perceive him, an unrealistic, iconic figure to whom they cannot relate. Midway through the second issue, Cap has been divested of his mask and chain mail top, and from this point on looks more like a human being. This dovetails with the squad slowly coming to regard the supersoldier in a new light.
Regardless, Zezelj's artwork is impressive, and I'd like to see him do another project for Marvel. Just so long as it isn't a super-hero slugfest. But at least Marvel has slowly been expanding out from that genre since Joe Quesada came on board as editor-in-chief. Indeed, I cannot imagine Dead Men Running being published during the Bob Harras years. In that respect, it is an innovation for Marvel.
I have mixed feelings about the cover art, though. Derek Hess' loose sketches are rather eye-catching, at least in that they're a vivid contrast to most other material out there. It's rather abstract art. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see more diverse artwork appear in comics. But I think editor Andrew Lis may have been going too far by hoping to give Dead Men Running a "sophisticated" packaging via the Hess covers. The promotional blurb for Dead Men Running in issue #50 of Cap's ongoing series referred to Hess as a "Louvre exhibitor." This seems like a none-too-subtle attempt by Marvel to say "Ooh, look, we got a real artist to work for us." Or maybe I'm just reading too much into this, seeing pretensions to sophistication where there actually are none.
Blackmark: 30th Anniversary Edition, $16.95 US, published by Fantagraphics Books
Plot, Pencils, & Inks: Gil Kane; Script: Archie Goodwin
Rating 5 out of 5 stars
Free will versus determinism. Are we the masters of our own fate, or is the course of our lives mapped out by a higher power? The protagonist of Blackmark is faced with this quandary. But it is not God, or fate, or any mystical force that he finds influencing his actions; rather it is science.
In the distant future, the Earth has been ravaged by nuclear war. Civilization has slipped back into a Feudalistic state, with warlords clashing for control of mini-kingdoms while the rest of humanity struggles to eke out an existence under brutal conditions. Strange atomic-spawned monsters roam the vast wastes. Technology, dimly remembered as the cause of the Earth's near-destruction, is now looked upon as demonic, and the pursuit to restore scientific knowledge is an evil goal.
Into this world comes Amarix, a well-intentioned king who recognizes that science must be re-discovered if civilization is ever to be restored and the lives of humanity improved. With the assistance of his advisor Balzamo, Amarix spends long years researching the left-over technologies of humanity's past. On the verge of great scientific breakthroughs, Amarix is driven out of his kingdom after his superstitious subjects are rallied by an ambitious political rival. Wounded, pursued across the desert, Amarix discovers Marnie.
Along with her husband Zeph, Marnie is travelling to a new region in the hope of a better life. The dying king approaches her with a bizarre offer. Amarix is desperate that the scientific knowledge he has rediscovered not be lost again upon his demise. He asks that Marnie allow him to use a complex machine that will transfer his knowledge into her genetic code, to re-emerge again in her unborn child. In exchange, Amarix will give Marnie enough gold to complete her journey. Although very fearful, Marnie nevertheless agrees, for she and Zeph are in dire straits. The exchange is made, as the strange technology, operated by Balzamo, copies into her the experience and goals of Amarix.
Within a few years, Marnie and Zeph have a son. Zeph, believing his son's birth to be cursed by "demon science," names the boy Blackmark, although he eventually warms to his child's existence. Raised by Marnie and Zeph, young Blackmark is intelligent beyond his young age. And, as he grows, he experiences strange visions.
Flashing forward fifteen years, the now-adult Blackmark is at odds with Kargon, Amarix's ruthless successor. Blackmark finds himself compelled to strive for goals he does not understand, and harbors a burning desire to bring order to the Earth once more. Encountering the now-elderly Balzamo, Blackmark discovers his origins. And so he is confronted by an unsettling question: are his actions those of his own free will, or are they being shaped by the wishes of the long-dead Amarix. Throughout the book, as Blackmark pursues the dangerous, complex mission of uniting the disparate kingdoms of the Earth and rediscovering science, he is constantly plagued by that question.
A "science fantasy" adventure tale in the spirit of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, Blackmark is also concerned with one man's quest for his identity, his search for his own path through life.
As publisher Gary Groth informs the reader in his afterword, Blackmark was originally intended to be a series of eight volumes published in regular paperback size by Bantam Books. However, Gil Kane had only completed the first two volumes before Bantam pulled the plug. Simply put, they had no idea how to market Blackmark.
This may seem odd by today's standards, when every Borders and Barnes & Noble has a good-sized section devoted to graphic novels. But this just goes to show how different things were three decades ago. In those days, the format for comic books was the twenty-two page ongoing monthly series, with almost no exception. Gil Kane was one of those creators who recognized the vast potential and versatility of sequential illustration. Like Jack Kirby, Kane was frustrated by the narrow limits placed on him as a creator by the "monthly pamphlet" format. He also sought to break away from the prevalent superhero formula and branch out into other genres. Blackmark was one of his efforts to do so. Although an unfinished vision, it is nevertheless a memorable one. In hindsight, Blackmark is now regarded as one of the first American graphic novels.
Actually, for a work that is only one quarter completed (i.e. the first two out of eight books), Blackmark is remarkably self-contained. The majority of the subplots established in these two stories reach their conclusions. Really, the only major unresolved issue is the overarching theme of Blackmark's quest to rediscover science & unite the Earth once more, and to find a path of his own to walk. Undoubtedly Kane would have further delved into this in future volumes. It is a pity that he passed away a few years ago (as did his story collaborator Archie Goodwin). For at last the publishing and distribution system has begun to take shape that would allow a project such as Blackmark to be completed.
The format of Blackmark is rather interesting. It alternates freely between the traditional illustrated panels containing dialogue in "word balloons" and a more novelistic, straightforward text prose that is accompanied by illustrations above or below. I quite like this, as it allows most of Kane's artwork to be seen unobscured by dialogue and narration.
Speaking of Kane's artwork, it is exquisite. He obviously put a tremendous amount of time and energy into this project. His enthusiasm and devotion to it can be clearly seen. And Goodwin's script, although a bit clunky at times, flows with detailed, melodramatic prose. And I use the term "melodrama" in a positive sense here, as Goodwin's choice of style suits Kane's artwork & plot perfectly.
The production values for Fantagraphics' reprinting of Blackmark are outstanding. The art & text are crystal clear, printed on high-quality paper. The size of the volume is interesting. It isn't published in the original paperback size, or in the typical size of most comics & graphic novels. Rather, it measures somewhere between the two. This retains Kane's intended paperback format while presenting the art at a slightly larger size that enables a greater appreciation of the skill & detail.
The price tag of $16.95 may be a bit off-putting, but it shouldn't be a concern. Considering how a typical monthly comic can cost up to $3.00, Blackmark's 240 pages of high-quality story & artwork are a definite bargain.