|
JUST IMAGINE STAN LEE WITH JIM LEE CREATING WONDER WOMAN
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
|
DC Comics
"Just Imagine..."
Writer: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jim Lee
Inks: Scott Williams
Colors: Alex Sinclair
"On The Street"
Writers: Stan Lee & Michael Uslan
Pencils: Gene Colan
Inks: Tom Palmer
Colors: Lovern Kindzierski
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Mike Carlin
Price: $5.95 US/$9.95 CAN |
I'll say up front that I
had expected this to be excruciatingly bad, and I wound up enjoying it. I'll say
that up front because I'm going to be saying some bad things about the book, and
I don't want to give the impression that I didn't enjoy it, at least as a sort
of goofy throwback bit of fun. Because aside from some groaner dialogue and a
character who really isn't all that original or interesting, I did enjoy reading
through the book. I'm not sure it's worth the six bucks for any but the most
devoted of Jim Lee or Stan Lee fans, but neither is it the trainwreck I half
expected from the man who gave us Ravage 2099.
In the end, the biggest problem with the book isn't the goofy dialogue, but the character concept. When re-inventing or re-imagining, you need something wild and out there, like the spin Alan Moore or Warren Ellis have been putting on various characters in America's Best Comics or Planetary. Lee was one of the original wild idea men
in the 1960s, but his stuff looks a bit tired now, and this read more like a
pale imitation of Promethea than a bold re-invention of Wonder Woman. The most
boring segments of the book actually come at the climax, when Wonder Woman faces
a demonically-powered villain.
Fortunately, and surprisingly, this is a
fairly extended origin sequence, not what I would expect from the man who gave
us single issue and lasting origins for the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man and many
others. Lee makes use of the room given to him here to establish Maria Mendoza
and the country she has been born into, to flesh out the villainous Armando
Guitez and to set up the corrupt nature of government and business in the
setting. Everything is black and white, over-the-top of course, with Mendoza so
pure she might as well be wearing the "I'm the hero" sign, and Guitez just as
purely evil and slimy. Don't look for much complexity of character here... this
a throwback to black and white mentality as much as it is a throwback to
over-expository and clunky dialogue. But if you can enjoy that sort of
old-fashioned approach, you have to at least give the nod to Lee for knowing how
to establish his characters and setting well for any new reader, a trick that
quite a few of the modern writers haven't figured out yet (or don't care about).
As for the art, I have mixed feelings about
Jim Lee as an artist. Sometimes he'll just blow me away, and I love that he
experiments with different styles for different projects, and sometimes his work
leaves me cold. This artwork leans toward his more conventional style, which
contains a bit more cross-hatching than I generally like, but it's some really
nice work from him and his long-time inker Scott Williams, more impressive when
he's tackling the normal goings-on of the first 18 pages than when the
super-hero action starts. Although his action work is certainly enjoyable as
well.
The backup feature was the big treat for
me, as it features art by Gene Colan, whose work always impresses me, whether
it's his modern work or his past work on various titles. The story itself is
pure fluff, a tease that doesn't really resolve itself in any way, but the
artwork is gorgeous.
In the end, this is a gimmick more than a
story. It's not far different from DC's "Our Worlds At War" or any of the other
fifth-week events or crossovers they're running, where the equivalent of stunt
casting or media hype substitutes for a strong concept. But if you're interested
in the spectacle, or you're a fan of any of the considerable talents working on
the series, you probably won't be let down by the final product.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
