DC's gearing up for its Infinite Crisis, and many of the titles leading up to it are steeped in continuity, even obscure little bits. Marvel's big event, House of M, gets under way this week, and it will include tie-ins to some of its regular titles and even a host of spinoff limited series. The crossovers seem clearly designed to get readers to buy, buy, buy, and I get it. These are businesses; their primary goal is profit, with storytelling coming after. With such event comics dominating the stands this summer, Last Hero Standing is a breath of fresh air, a crossover that's not only limited to a single title, and to a single month, but one that's thoroughly accessible. The plot lacks the complexity that longtime readers would enjoy, but its action and divrse array of characters will no doubt capture the imaginations of younger and newer readers.
In an alternature future a couple of decades from now, heroes have begun to go missing, apparently plucked from the face of the Earth and dragged down into mysterious tunnels below. Wolverine is the first, and one of the Ladyhawks was the second to go, but they'll be far from the last. As three others are abducted under similar circumstances, three different factions of heroes -- the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and Spider-Girl's ragtag band of crimefighters -- go in search of lost friends and family. Meanwhile, some of the senior heroes begin to feel the weight of their years, while the younger crowd's inexperience can prove to be a liability as well.
After a strong debut years ago on Untold Tales of Spider-Man and consistently strong work on Spider-Girl, I'm honestly surprised that Pat Olliffe's career in comics hasn't been one that's drawn more attention. He had a brief dalliance with higher-profile projects -- a DC/Marvel Access project comes to mind -- but his rep hasn't shot up while other artists whose work is more exaggerated (but not as strong, in my opinion) have seen their stars rise. It's too bad, as Olliffe's softer, more grounded style really allows the humanity of these superhuman figures to shine through. He handles the expansive cast of characters here quite readily, as h's done in the past as well.
I see why this story wasn't told in Spider-Girl. It's not a Spider-Girl story. It's one that makes use of the shared continuity, and it does it pretty well. Of course, when it comes to this future vision of the Marvel Universe, Tom DeFalco's storytelling in Spider-Girl has ensured a strong interconnectivity among the various super-heroes. Spider-Girl -- and by extension, Last Hero -- celebrates the relationships and dynamics that a shared super-hero universe offers. DeFalco is careful to provide plenty of exposition for new readers, no doubt aware that the title and larger cast of characters could easily attract a wider audience than just the Spider-Girl faithful.
The script isn't without its problems. The Watcher's stoic, disconnected speech, designed for accessibility, is actually quite cumbersome and annoying. Furthermore, the plot itself is awkward. The generic nature of the characters responsible for the abductions makes one wonder why these dynamic heroes would fall victim to them. The mechanics of the abductions seem to ask the audience to buy into the idea that the abductees just happened to walk over an area accessible to the subterranean kidnappers. I realize DeFalco's aiming for an air of mystery here, but things just don't make a lot of sense at this point. 6/10
