by Don MacPherson

Marvel's WHAT IF comics Marvel released six What If one-shot comics in the last week of 2004, and Don MacPherson read them all. Here are this thoughts. WHAT IF JESSICA JONES HAD JOINED THE AVENGERS? #1 by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Gaydos WHAT IF KAREN PAGE HAD LIVED? #1 by Brian Michael Bendis & Michael Lark Brian Michael Bendis provides two of the six scripts for the What If "event," and the ones for which he is responsibly make sense, given the characters and events that are explored. As for the Jessica Jones one-shot, forget the title and forget the fact that Alias artist Michael Gaydos provides the line art. This book is not an Alias spinoff; this is an Avengers Disassembled spinoff in disguise. Bendis tries to bring a happy ending to an unhappy story, but it ultimately falls flat, because it has to ignore the characters and logic to work. Jessica Jones is transformed into a sensitive and well-adjusted individual here, and it flies in the face of the character. Furthermore, Bendis tries to get the reader to buy into a notion that someone who doesn't know the Scarlet Witch that well would be more aware of her emotional crisis that her closest friends and ex-lovers. It just doesn't wash. The Daredevil story is far more compelling, exploring a different downfall for the hero than the one Bendis just spent more than a year writing about. The tragedy that unfolds in the Karen Page one-shot is far more interesting. Of course, this book and Bendis's other contribution are hindered by the fact that the writer takes half of each one-shot to cover the backstories leading up to the points of divergence. For new readers, it serves as important information, but Bendis goes too far with exposition here. By failing to sum up more succinctly, he bores the readers at whom these comics are targeted: those who reader the original material. I like the motif, especially Bendis incorporation of himself and the artists as the framing sequence, but he lets it drag on far too long. The art on both books is strong. It's a pleasure to see Gaydos's dark work and his depiction of natural human movement and shapes. The story's more hopeful leanings toward the end really don't fit with the more sullen tone of his style, but it's solid work overall. Michael Lark's first work for Marvel boasts the same sort of urban grit that he brought to DC's Gotham Central. Lark seems to strive to capture the same atmosphere and tone that Alex Maleev has brought to Bendis's Daredevil. Lark's own style still shines through, but Maleev's work is definitely influencing him here. 6/10 WHAT IF MAGNETO HAD FORMED THE X-MEN WITH PROFESSOR X? #1 by Chris Claremont, Tom Raney & Scott Hanna Chris Claremont's premise for his contribution to Marvel's What If week seems like a natural concept. But it's completely unclear what the title has to do with the plot that unfolds here. Of course, I'm being rather generous, suggesting there's anything resembling a plot to be found in this comic book. Overall, the suggestion is that had Magneto not turned to more brutal methods to protect mutantkind, the X-Men wouldn't have arisen at all. That doesn't stop Charles Xavier from having a Danger Room, though, or dispatching mutant agents such as Wolverine and Mystique to risk their lives on missions. What really hurts this book, aside from clear lack of plot direction, is the arbitrary nature of the changes Claremont has made in the characters. Kitty Pryde's proclivity for wearing unnaturally colored wigs is something we never see in her character today, and Mystique's transformation into one of the good guys doesn't follow naturally here either. It's not clear if Xavier is trying to gather mutants around him or not. In fact, the nature of his and Magneto's goals remain completely unexplored. Raney's artwork seems rushed at times, and at others, boasts the sort of edge we've come to expect from the Outsiders artist. The art is as unclear as the script in terms of Kitty's age; sometimes, she looks like a teenager, and at others, she seems more adult. Jim Cheung's cover is lovely, but it bears little resemblance to the events of the story itself. 1/10 WHAT IF AUNT MAY HAD DIED INSTEAD OF UNCLE BEN? #1 by Ed Brubaker, Andrea Di Vito & Laura Villari It's not so much the premise I enjoyed in Ed Brubaker alternative Spider-Man story, but his tale of a lone teenager that gets lost in the system. Brubaker doesn't just eliminate one parental figure in this alternate origin story, but both, and therein lies the strength of the plot. Peter's desperation and lack of a moral center really ring true here, and they bring a darker tone to the usually energetic and jovial super-hero. Where Brubaker goes astray is with his script, or to be more precise, the narration. Making the story the supposition of two super-hero fanboys in the real world robs the story of its drama, of its importance. The comic-shop guys remind us of the trivial nature of the characters. The casual tone of the narration and the detachment of the conversation work against the emotions that are at the heart of the story. Furthermore, Di Vito was just the wrong choice for penciller for this story. His style works wonderfully for Thor, for example, or the barbarian-type fare he brought to life in CrossGen's Brath. But when it comes to the everyday elements that are so important in this book, his art just doesn't work. Di Vito is a fantasy artist, and he just doesn't handle real people and real places convincingly. 5/10 WHAT IF DOCTOR DOOM HAD BECOME THE THING? #1 by Karl Kesel & Paul Smith WHAT IF GENERAL ROSS HAD BECOME THE HULK? #1 by Peter David, Pat Olliffe & Sal Buscema The two strongest one-shots in the line also boast similar premises (as the titles suggest), throwing the antagonists into the same circumstances as the heroes. The writers approach this idea with radically different moods and messages in mind. Karl Kesel's alternate origin for the Fantastic Four is a delightful celebration of the original source material. This tribute to the Silver Age of comics is wonderfully charming, and tying this story into the origin of another Marvel Comics icon was wonderfully clever and entertaining. Kesel transforms Doom into an even more horrific figure and adds greater drama to his hatred for the Fantastic Four. Paul Smith's simple style suits the Silver Age tone of the script incredibly well, but he fleshes the characters and settings out a little more than the art on the 1960s stories that introduced them. Peter David's vision of a different kind of Hulk makes for a much darker story, though. The comic isn't without its problems. The characters' failure to recognize General Ross in his hulked-out form just doesn't hold water, and Olliffe's depiction of a middle-aged, moustached monster looks more laughable than menacing. David's plot and script, though, do convey the sheer power of the Ross-Hulk, and the overall atmosphere looming over the story successfully communicates the critical nature of the events. David shows the Ross-Hulk's as being far more random and devastating than what we've seen from the in-continuity vision of the character. My favorite aspect of the book is the simple and tragic ending. It's interesting that a completely human Banner finds the strength to end the threat of the Hulk in a direct manner. Given the darker tone of the story here, I think Sal Buscema was the wrong choice as inker. His more traditional leanings and exaggerated style work against the writer's efforts to present a truly sad story. 8/10 Note: These comic books were not among this week's new releases. Email Don MacPherson with your comments about this review.