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ALIAS #1
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Marvel Comics/MAX Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Comicraft
Editors: Stuart Moore & Nanci Dakesian
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
This stands out as quite the banner week for Marvel Comics. Not only has the long-anticipated (and surprising mainstream-media darling) Wolverine: The Origin hit the shelves, so has Marvel's first comic-book aimed directly at adults in some time. Obviously, with Bendis at the helm, it's a fascinating and well-crafted read. And as expected, his use of more adult language and sexuality isn't at all gratuitous and instead allows the reader to get to know the characters better.
Jessica Jones is a private eye, and she is appropriately jaded. She sees the worst parts of people's lives, and the only thing that really seems to get to her is when people find out she used to be a super-hero. After another rotten day at the office, she looks for an unusual sort of comfort in her friend Luke Cage, also known as Power Man, Hero for Hire. Little does Jessica know that her life is about to get much more interesting thanks to her newest case.
As soon as I saw Gaydos's art, I was put in mind of the work of Charlie Adlard, especially his efforts on such crime-oriented stuff like Nobody and the "Codeflesh" feature in Double Image. There's a greater degree of clarity here, though, and a greater level of detail. Even more impressive are Matt Hollingsworth's colors. There's a reason he's one of the most sought-after colorists in comics, and the dark tone of the protagonist and of the various circumstances are right up his alley.
Alias is very much in keeping with books like Kurt Busiek's Astro City and The Factor. Busiek popularized a whole new way of looking at super-hero comics with Marvels in the early 1990s, when he presented the Marvel Universe through the eyes of an average person. This is another look at that world, filtered through more cynical lenses. Jessica Jones used to be a part of the more colorful, hopeful side of the Marvel Universe, but now she trudges through the quiet but dirty places that are to be found below.
Though the final page reveals the plotline that will be driving the next few issues forward, the real story lies with Jessica. Bendis's focus is a fascinating one, and one to which I can relate. Given the nature of her job, Jessica has come to shut herself off from the ugliness around her, thereby becoming a part of that ugliness. Everything about her says so; she reacts to nothing, not another's personal tragedy nor even personal attacks on herself. But deep inside, there's a part of her that's had enough of being emotionally disconnected. She wants to feel again, but Jessica is so messed up that she'll take any feeling -- even pain -- just to remind herself that she is a human being. Bendis has delved into some amazing territory here, and I can't wait to see how the series develops.
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