Tag Archive for 'Jim Muniz'

The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part Two

Published
by
nick marino
on October 24, 2008
in Comics and The Top 9
. 0 Comments

Last week, I was a big jerk and I only gave you reasons nine thru five of why Marvel Comics’ Last Defenders miniseries didn’t get the proper comic book love. Now, here are the top four reasons… which I will still title “The Top 9″ even though it’s only the top four. Why? Because I’m a lazy bastard and writing these lists can be a bitch so I have to stretch things out.

4. What’s the deal with Mark Millar’s New Defenders? Here’s part of where Marvel went wrong with Last Defenders. Mark Millar’s Fantastic Four has, directly after the completion of Last Defenders, introduced a team of New Defenders. Think about that. Casey writes a book called Last Defenders, detailing the ULTIMATE fated destiny of the team, only to have Millar spin out his time-traveling future Defenders in a book featuring another cast of elemental characters. Plus, Millar’s gearing up for the Lady Liberators, featuring She-Hulk (a member of the fated Last Defenders), and Valkyrie (a classic Defender).

How did that go down? Was FF editorial too scared to say no to Mark Millar? He is, after all, the new golden boy of the intersection between comic books and movies. Meanwhile, Joe Casey has been Marvel’s resident Avengers continuity custodian for the past few years. If Millar is Marvel’s rock star renegade writer, Joe Casey is Marvel’s team book librarian who makes sure that you don’t run down the halls.

3. Did Last Defenders get shorted on promotion from Marvel Comics? Despite his longing to play in the sandbox of continuity nostalgia all day, I saw Joe Casey take a break and go to bat for Last Defenders all over the Internet. And that was nearly all I saw from Marvel regarding this book. There were very few ads for Last Defenders, none of which utilized Jim Muniz’s captivating art. And the book’s promotion was highly obtuse. No one announced Last Defenders as the end-all love note to Defenders history. That angle may have actually attracted more readers.

2. Was Last Defenders unfairly overlooked by reviewers? Despite Casey’s passion for the content and his fairly sophisticated method of storytelling, I saw little-to-no hype on this miniseries from reviewers. I thought it was positively fantastic for most of its issues. And while I concede that the story gets awfully confusing, the final issue wrapped it up nice and neat for me. It created an intriguing blueprint for future Defenders stories.

1. Where are the Last Defenders follow-up stories? Millar obviously had no trouble getting his Defenders approved despite the fact that it blows right past everything that Casey, Giffen, Muniz, Smith, and Fabela just did. The lack of internal Marvel promotion leads me to believe that this book either underwhelmed with sales or simply didn’t lineup with the company’s future plans. I haven’t seen anything suggesting that the Last Defenders lineup will appear anywhere else.

It’s a shame that this is all we’ll get out of Casey’s elegant Last Defenders concept. This story is a smart piece of fallout from Civil War — but it got released too long after the end of the Civil War event to make a splash. So just like Christopher Priest’s The Crew, Dwayne McDuffie’s Fantastic Four, and Scott Lobdell’s Alpha Flight vol. 3, it looks like Last Defenders now sits on Marvel’s list of “to be ignored” superhero stories that took bold steps but never received the recognition they deserved.

Next: The Top 9 Star Wars Characters to Dress Up as for Halloween

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part One

Published
by
nick marino
on October 17, 2008
in Comics and The Top 9
. 1 Comment

Reflecting back on this recent miniseries from Marvel Comics, I’m fascinated by its underwhelming promotion and reception. Last Defenders was a smart, fun, and kinetic story that followed Nighthawk thru an introspective journey into modern superheroics. Kyle Richmond asked a lot of existential questions about his place in the universe and received a lot of answers in the form of temporal tampering via Yandroth, a time traveling superbaddie with a big chip on his quantum shoulder.

So what went wrong? I’m no expert, but I am an asshole. That’s why I’m only giving you reason nine thru five this week.

9. Was the art accessible enough? I found the story both brilliant and confusing. Jim Muniz, Cam Smith, and Antonio Fabela brought this journey to life in a sort of Ed McGuinness meets Duncan Rouleau way. The art was a big selling point for me, mostly because the stylized visuals took what could have been a painfully old school story and made it impossibly fresh. But was the art too stylized for this book’s demographic?

8. Was Last Defenders TOO old school? To say that this could have been “painfully old-school” is not a knock to Joe Casey or Keith Giffen. They both did a great job here, with Giffen co-writing the first few issues and Casey carrying the rest. The story pulls from the Defenders back catalog of adventures in an obsessive way that’s just as disorienting as it is fun. This comic was like a thesis statement on Defenders history, sprinkled with non-team team book irony.

Continue reading ‘The Top 9 Things That May Have Gone Wrong with Last Defenders - Part One’

ComicShocker Week 11 2008

Published
by
nick marino
on March 17, 2008
in Comics
. 0 Comments

It’s baaack. Reads You Need. This has been a busy week for me, but I want to let you know about a few comics that came out last Wednesday that you should be checking out.

The Last Defenders #1: This exceptional first issue is the best book I read from the whole stack of Wednesday, March 12. Joe Casey and Jim Muniz take the notion of an average, if not troubled, superhero team and reinvent it for the post-Civil War Marvel Universe. It’s almost like a superhero sitcom full of sci-fi, big fights, and quirky characters (with Nighthawk at the center of the storm). The writing takes chances but it still provides solid traditional superhero story elements.

The 99 #6: If you follow my weekly posts on here at all, you probably know how much I love The 99. I even emailed scripter Fabian Nicieza to see if he would like to do an interview on the AudioShocker podcast. He graciously declined due to the fact that Stuart Moore is soon to be the new series writer. Still, this issue by Nicieza is terrific and well worth picking up.

Wonder Woman #18: I tried this series earlier in its relaunch and it just didn’t do it for me. But the combination of Gail Simone and Bernard Chang is stupendous in this issue, and I highly recommend you pick it up. Chang’s art is a fantastic blend of Steve Dillon and Aaron Lopresti, bringing both grace and personality to the page. Simone’s story is solid and fun, promising more great future issues.

On a side note, comic fans should keep their eyes glued to the AudioShocker site tomorrow as we release an interview with Gotham Chopra, the creative director behind the upstart comic book publisher, Virgin Comics. Gotham talks about the difficulties of launching a new comic book publisher. He discusses his experiences working with creative talent such as Nic Cage, John Woo, Jenna Jameson, and many more. And at the end of the episode, Gotham makes an exclusive announcement about the next celebrity soon to work with Virgin Comics.