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U.S. WAR MACHINE #3
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics/MAX Comics
Writer: Chuck Austen
Artist: Chuck Austen, Wild and Wooly Press, and NIC Entertainment
Layouts: Victor Lopez
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Price: $1.50 US |
U.S. War Machine is not a super-hero title. It has a lot of elements that would point in that direction, yes, but Austen is developing a high-tech military story. It reminds me a bit of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, albeit with a more thought-provoking theme at its core: racial issues. Though the visuals could be stronger, the script continues to entertain.
Rhodes and Parnell, the two men who have worn the War Machine armor, are brought to SHIELD's airborne headquarters. Rhodes learns of the crimes Parnell has committed, and why SHIELD needs them both. They also meet someone being held captive aboard the sky-carrier, and his words and deeds strike both men at their cores.
Given the darkness of the story and script, the characters strike me as being a shade too cartoony in appearance. As I noted in my review of the second issue last week, the figures have an Archie-like quality, and that conflicts with the overall tone of the book. I'm afraid I must also add my voice to the choir that finds the lettering to be intrusive. Mind you, the art does convey the technological aspects of the book -- of which there are many -- quite well.
There are moments in this book when the mature-readers label strikes me as unnecessary, when the blue language seems gratuitous. And then Austen hits the reader with a moment of intense violence -- so intense as to merit the mature-readers label -- that's shocking, but not unnecessarily so. It slaps the reader in the face, as if to say, "Wake up, this ain't no hero-in-tights tale!" The line between the good guys and bad guys blurs in that moment.
Some of the scenes exploring racism are way over the top, but they make their point effectively nonetheless. But the truly impressive examiantion of the theme comes in a much quieter, subtle scene, in which Nick Fury and James Rhodes discuss the latter's killing of black terrorists. Austen isn't just taking the easy way out and portraying all instances of racism as extremism. Racism has many faces, and we see more than just one in this book.
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