|
THE ORDER #1
"The Best Defense..."
Neutral (3/10)
|
Marvel Comics
Writers: Kurt Busiek & Jo Duffy
Pencils: Matt Haley
Inks: Dan Panosian
Colors: Color Arts
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.25 US/$3.65 CAN |
I'm a fan of all the creators on this book, and even though I don't have a particular interest in most of the characters, I still expected to enjoy it a lot more than I did. The idea of super-heroes taking a more pro-active role has been examined in everything from Squadron Supreme to The Authority, but it has rarely been done with
well-known characters, so I thought we might get something kind of exciting,
examining the gray areas of being a hero and operating outside the boundaries of
the law. Instead, what we get is an obvious and fairly dull exercise in mind
control, featuring characters who bear little resemblance to their past
incarnations, with artwork that is disappointing and garishly colored to boot.
This is a story that suffers
from being in the Marvel Universe. I'm all for the loose continuity that has
become prevalent in Marvel, but forgiving gross continuity errors requires a
really great story, and this isn't up to that level. Leaving aside the basic
question of why no other heroes respond to The Order's aggressive actions, I'm
left wondering how I can reconcile these versions of the characters against the
ones I've seen in other comics. This is particularly true of the Hulk, whose
personality and powers are completely inconsistent with the character as we've
seen in his own book. This may be down to an interpretation based on Paul
Jenkins's version of the character from recently, but at any rate, it looks a
little uninspired compared to Bruce Jones's work on the character.
This book, like the Defenders book it is replacing, begins with the
supposition that you are interested in these characters, and I have to admit
that I don't find much intrinsic value in any of them. I've seen everyone in
this book, from Namor to Sub-Mariner to Hulk to Doctor Strange on to the
supporting cast members, written well, and I know they can be enjoyable, but I
don't have any nostalgic attachment to them as a team, and that seems to work
against my enjoyment of the book. We're expected to sort of accept that these
characters are massively powerful and dangerous, some of the most powerful
heroes on the Earth, and this doesn't really fit the B-class status most of them
have occupied in the Marvel Universe throughout the years. It also doesn't
really come across in the story, as the action is boring for the most part,
cutting to the end results rather than showing us the power in action.
It's only fair to mention that
a lot of the problems with the power level and acceptance there comes from the
artwork. Rather than focusing on impressive uses of the power these characters
have at their command, Haley delivers fairly lifeless images of the characters
in combat. The fight between the team doesn't really get the emotions across,
and the strongest segments of the book actually come during the quiet sequence
with Valkyrie and her family, which shows off the strength of Haley's work
better than the action which is so important to the concept of the book.
The book is also let down on the production side, with clumsy coloring for the most part that lacks any kind of subtlety and the introduction of mixed-case lettering which was first seen in the Ultimate books. The mixed-case lettering, with the help of Chris Eliopoulos, is becoming at least passable in the Ultimate books, but on a book like The Order which is aimed more at old school comic fans,
the attempt to shift to a more new style of lettering is ill-advised, especially
when it doesn't even work on the experimental books.
It is possible that the
uncharacteristic, obviously mind-controlled behavior of The Order will come with
an interesting explanation, and that the story of their attempt to take over the
shared universe will be equally interesting despite the reader knowing that they
can't possibly succeed. However, this first issue isn't enough to hook me, and
I'm not sure I'll be back to see how it turns out.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
