With Great Stories Comes Great Responsibility
by James Roland
I just did something I never did in my youth – read a comic book. As with all things literary, my childhood was remarkably void of comics. I knew what they were, even had a certain reverence for their awesomeness, but with the exception of a few smuggled issues of Wolverine that I hid in the bottom of a shoe box (such things were latently taboo in my house), I never read more than a few pages via veiled glances over someone else’s shoulder.
But thanks to the flood of comic book adaptations that have flooded local theaters, comics are back in my life. Over the past year I’ve read what are considered to be the artistic classics of the comic medium: Sandman, The Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
But what’s the deal with all the others? Those guys that dress up like bugs and bats and fly around? Cause I love their movies, and I love their origins, but don’t bother picking up their current adventures.
A guy I work with adores comics and picks up every copy that comes from Marvel. He gave me an issue to read the other day, a collection from the main Marvel universe, entitled: Marvel – ZOMBIES!
Now, I know what you’re thinking (cause I thought it too).
BAD ASS!
But no, no it’s not. In just ten installments I was treated to three different sets of the Fantastic Four, two separate universes, magic, science, gods, asteroids, time portals, hell … even H.P. Lovecraft’s Chulu were worked into the story!
By the end, the zombified remains of Iron Man’s torso, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Giant Man (he makes himself giant), and Wolverine have eaten Galactus, assumed his power, and flown around space eating every planet they find.
And this is just the first part out of three.
What has happened!? What happened to Peter Parker’s interpersonal battle and nerdy comic-relief? What happened to Wolverine’s gnarly attitude and personal struggle against responsibility. What happened to Hulk’s … well … Hulk didn’t change that much.
What is going ON?!
If you’re burnt out, turned off, or disillusioned by the state of comics today, I recommend Joe Hill’s Locke and Key, or Omega the Unknown, two excellent indie comics that have come out this past year.
But if superhero zombies are up your alley, you can order the collection from Amazon. Look for the cover that has Cyclops holding his own head in his hands while it shoots lazers at Wolverine.
