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ALIAS #8
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics/MAX Comics imprint
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artists: Michael Gaydos & Bill Sienkiewicz
Colors: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Stuart Moore
Price: $2.99 US/$4.75 CAN |
Easily the gem of the MAX line, Alias continues to impress with
its second story arc. I actually felt like this issue was marking time a little
bit, providing a fair bit of amusement but sort of spinning its wheels as far as
the plot goes. However, that's a sin I'm willing to forgive when the story is so
entertaining, and the interaction between Jessica Jones and "Rick Jones" is as
entertaining as Jessica's girl-talk with Carol Danvers a few issues back. In
addition, the contrast between a more mature and profanity-laden method of
speech with the goofy, cartoony staples of the Marvel Universe like Skrulls,
Kree and the Fantastic Four makes for some very funny moments.
There's a big question lurking in the background of this story, and that question is "what is the true nature of Rick Jones?" Although it may not be completely clear to those who are only reading Alias, I think that almost anyone would
spot that Rick Jones is a bit off, not really who he seems to be. I honestly
wish that Gaydos was a little stronger on character design, so that his Rick
Jones was in any way recognizable as Rick Jones, as it would make the nature of
the impersonation going on clearer, but the basics of the situation are clear:
This isn't Rick Jones, but there's no reason Jessica would know that.
While I wish Gaydos's
character designs were a little cleaner and more consistent, I have no
complaints about the art in general. He succeeds in making the outrageous lobby
of the Fantastic Four into a wondrous and yet believable office building, and
he's got a real way with the crowd scene as well. Credit should also go to
Hollingsworth for his colors, particularly on the daytime sequences, which
captures the odd half-daylight to be found in urban sprawl very well.
This issue is the first
meeting of Jessica and Rick, and it's a very funny relationship that the two of
them develop. Rick's paranoia and anger is actually a bit over-the-top, so much
so that it's often funny, and Jessica's attempts to help him, while clearly a
little out of her comfort zone, also results in hilarious dialogue and
situations. Perhaps the best moment of the issue is when the two of them, who
are used to dealing in unusual and hard-to-explain situations, run up against a
hard-programmed robotic receptionist.
Though the premise of this story revolves around Kree, Skrulls and other fantastic elements (not to mention a superstrong former super-heroine turned P.I.), the heart of the tale is a very simple and normal one. A woman seeks her husband, and the husband has some problems that have prevented him from contacting her. Amazingly, the blend of bizarre and normal works, often in very humorous ways, such as Rick's profanity-laden diatribe against the Skrulls, a very human response to a very inhuman problem. In fact, that's sort of what Alias
is all about, the messy and human side of living and working amongst
super-heroes, and that approach suits the skills of the creative team quite
well.
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