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MARVEL KNIGHTS VOL. 2 #1
"Enter the Brothers Grace"
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: John Figueroa
Artist: Alberto Ponticelli
Colors: Nathan Eyring
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Bronwyn Taggart
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Given that it was the concept of street-level heroes regularly teaming up as much as any creative failures that led the first Marvel Knights
series down the wrong path, I was a bit puzzled as to why Marvel would relaunch
the book. However, Figueroa, a new name in comics who comes from the world of
indie filmmaking, has turned in a pretty sharp script, with some memorably
over-the-top bad guys, and this reads like a street justice action movie.
Alberto Ponticelli helps out with gritty and violent visuals, and though the
concept of loner heroes teaming up in an ongoing book is still a bit hard to
swallow, the story is entertaining enough to make you forget about it for the
most part.
Reading Marvel Knights, I was reminded of nothing so much as Lethal Weapon, Die Hard or Face/Off, the cop and criminal movies where the
criminals get explored as much as the cops. The Brothers Grace are intriguing
villains, and Figueroa has wisely chosen to focus more on the criminals that
cause the heroes to gather instead of the heroes themselves. While we're
watching paramilitary troops attack churches in a religious frenzy, a twisted
henchman bending people into hideous shapes as a form of art or a pair of
brothers who get plastic surgery on whims, it's easy to accept the idea of
Punisher and Daredevil teaming up without killing one another. In addition,
Figueroa includes an interesting new character on the heroes' side, North Korean
detective and SHIELD operative Helen Kim.
Make no mistake, the villains and the story in this book are pretty over-the-top, and given Bendis's focus on the criminal underworld over in Daredevil, the continuity in Marvel Knights isn't that tight.
However, if you look at the series as just outside continuity, an apocryphal
tale more than a story building on the long history of these various characters,
I can't imagine being unhappy with it. Figueroa's take on the characters may not
fit tightly into continuity, but it fits with the general take on the
characters. I particularly enjoyed his work on the Punisher and Daredevil, both
of whom have a professional, no-nonsense attitude that sets them apart from the
general wisecracking hero archetype.
Alberto Ponticelli matches
the gritty street tone of Figueroa's with some fantastic visuals. The attack of
the Shockers, the Graces's ground troops, against churches, are amazing works of
fight choreography, and Daredevil's high-flying entrance into one of the church
attacks was breath-taking. In addition to strong action sequences, Ponticelli
serves up great shadows and darkness, whether it's the Punisher emerging from
the shadows to spook an informant or a silhouetted conversation between
Daredevil and Punisher on the rooftops. Though the darkness of the story comes
from Figueroa's script and imaginative characters, it wouldn't work without
Ponticelli's evocative artwork.
Marvel Knights is less of a super-hero team book and
more of a crime/action movie on paper. It's a tone that works surprisingly well,
and it fits more with what the Marvel Knights imprint is meant to be than the previous
incarnation of the series.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
