| Posted: 23 October 2011 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | 8
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There are a few problems with this book.
One is the story itself, with all these incomprehensible cosmic beings and implications. It’s just too vast to make sense of. The whole of book three I just leafed through, understanding nothing. At some point I guess Galactus “died”. That’s a bad idea right there.
Two: There are just so many characters it would take a thousand pages (a serious estimate) to do everything justice. As it is, it’s full of missed opportunities. It’s very touching how Batman and Captain America get along; it’s touching how Captain America notes their similarities (“You lost a partner?”); it’s great that Batman admits that Captain America could beat him – but there are so many characters that open to equally powerful writing, and there just isn’t room to do anything with them. Each of these characters is (roughly the equivalent of) a human being. This is a world of missed opportunities.
Some specifics:
I loved to see Thor’s hammer draw blood on Superman. That’s how powerful I imagine Thor to be. Perhaps it is because I’m Nordic – but in routine Marvel stuff the Thunder God often seems a pushover.
Later, however, Superman was simply being a jerk to Thor. Superman can be a lot of things, in my mind, but never an outright jerk.
I don’t mind that he beats Thor, seeing how overpowered he is. And I see what they tried to do when Superman says Thor “may be my single toughest opponent ever”. But it doesn’t work – the books are too crammed, the fight has to be kept too short. Superman has fought opponents that took more than eleven panels to vanquish, and when Thor needs to be beaten so quickly, he doesn’t seem so tough, regardless of what words they put in Clark’s mouth.
On the positive side, Superman lifting Mjölnir was nothing short of awesome – especially as he could only do it as long as Thor allowed it. And, it’s great that Superman puts Captain America in command. But I feel moments like these are always underplayed in this book, because it’s so damn crammed that everything has to be kept short to make way for something cosmic and incomprehensible. If someone lifts Thor’s hammer, it deserves a spread.
Last but not least, what’s up with the women? They get almost no bubble space at all. It’s like they’re not really there. It’s almost perverse. It’s not hard to see why so few girls read this stuff. (Harder to see why boys read it at all – don’t boys like girls?)
In fact, I have scrutinized all four books in search of what female characters actually say to each other. This is the full and entire extent of women’s interaction with other women in this whole comic.
Book one:
Wasp: “Calamari is squid.” She-Hulk: “Who cares!?”
Civilian woman to Scarlet Witch: “You with the JSA? You’re too old to be Titans!” (No response.)
Book two:
Nothing. (The closest you get is two people on Paradise Island (where everyone’s a woman) exclaiming stuff like ”Great Hera!” into the air in the same panel.)
The incomprehensible book three:
Nothing. Two whole books in a row of nothing!
Book four:
Lana Lang hands over to Lois Lane on some news broadcast. (Lois doesn’t say anything.)
Scarlet Witch: “Green on Alpa Quadrant. Green on Beta Quadrant ... New readings ...” Wonder Woman: “You’re very focused, Wanda.” Scarlet Witch: “Yes. I’ll be fine as long as I have something to do.”
Wonder Woman: “We’ve got them on the run.” Someone whom I can’t even make out who she is: “Yes, and –” Wasp: “Wait! At the Citadel! What’s –”
Wasp: “Wanda, does what I’m seeing mean what I fear it does?” Scarlet Witch: “It’s ... bad. I’m trying to reach into the chaos-field – bring more of us through. Keep more of them out – but Jan, I can tell ... we’re almost out of time ...!”
She-Hulk: “Hey, Star-Shorts! Thought I might hang, in case you get bored. We could talk girl talk – you know, ass-kicking, name-taking, like that.” Wonder Woman: “Aye, and I stand with you as well, daughter. I ... am honered. And I thank you. Forward, then – for the glory of Gaea!”
Wasp: “Sho how’re we doing, Wanda?” Scarlet Witch: “It’s hard ... hard to tell! I think ... we’re blocking Krona from bringing more reinforcements, but ... there may only be seconds left ...”
This is downright unreal. This is four books crammed to the brim with men talking to each other – not just drawing up battle lines, but male bonding as much as space permits. The only instance of female bonding (or normal human interaction between women) has to be some kind of meta-talk about “girl talk”!
Damn, I must have spent too much time in the real world, where women actually talk to each other.
Edited by Johan Vikberg on 23 October 2011 at 5:50pm
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