Stan Lee Goes BOOM!

Not literally, but BOOM! Studios have announced the names, creative teams, and concepts of the three upcoming Stan Lee-created series they will be publishing in the near future.

BOOM! CCO Mark Waid teams with former Warlord artist on Traveler. Traveler is a mysterious vigilante that seems to appear out of nowhere.

Recent DC exclusive (so how he’s writing this I’m not sure) Paul Cornell teams up with former Manhunter artist Javier Pina to create Soldier Zero. Zero is a wheelchair-bound teacher’s aide who is bonded with an alien creature to become a super-powered warrior. This issue offers some interesting dichotomies, as it revives the old Daredevil formula without making out the disability to be something horrible no one can stand to live with. I consider it by far the most interesting of the three concepts.

iZombie writer Chris Roberson creates the third and final title with New Mutants and Adventures of Spawn artist Khary Randolph. Starborn tells the story of a man who thought he was a human from Earth but actually is a major player in an interstellar attack. He gains powers in the process and learns he’s not from Earth at all (’cuz he’s starborn, get it?)

Image from Robot 6/Comic Book Resources

Three pretty decent looking characters overall, though I think Soldier Zero seems far stronger than the others. Over at Comic Book Resources you can find interviews with Mark Waid, Paul Cornell, and Chris Roberson about their respective books. It sounds like these are still a few months away, but it will be interesting to see if Stan and BOOM!’s line of superheroes can survive in the current marketplace.

The Complete Clone Saga 8: Players & Pawns and Amazing Spider-Man 400

Spectacular Spider-Man 222 starts the 2 part “Players and Pawns”. We get a bunch of mystery builders in this one with Kaine confronting Jackal and the Scrier, Kaine confronting Peter, and Jackal confronting the Scarlet Spider but no real forward saga momentum. This would become a recurring theme during parts of the Clone Saga as villain-of-the-month plots creep in heavily.

Web of Spider-Man 123 concludes “Players and Pawns” and the fights from the last issue while releasing a third Peter Parker (shown briefly in the previous chapter) on the world. Between this and the annoying imp-like clone sidekick the Jackal has, this issue proves rather atrocious. Thankfully the Terry Kavanagh-written disaster (which may be a redundancy after looking back at much of Kavanagh’s writing career) would soon be mercifully put out of its (and our) misery.

These two issues lead in to the first big turning point of the Clone Saga: Amazing Spider-Man 400 (which comes complete with embossed cover). The issue puts its primary focus on none other than Aunt May. While we do get the revelation that Aunt May isn’t an idiot, she has known that Peter is Spidey for quite some time. But when we get to the story’s end and Aunt May’s death, we get the first big insult of the clone saga. Peter is gone when she dies, leaving the Spider-clone to fill in at her bedside. After thirty years of history, Peter Parker can’t even show up for the death. It serves as a prime example of the bad storytelling that would quickly turn off fans for months and years to come. After the funeral, things get even worse, as Peter is arrested for murder. Ben introduces himself to Mary Jane as the issue ends.

Issue 400 does come with two back-ups. The first is by DeMatteis, Romita Jr., and Romita. (Is this the first time Romita inked Romita Jr?) “The Parker Legacy” picks up directly after the events of Amazing Spider-Man 149 and tells the tale of Ben Reilly’s life. The second back-up is by DeMatteis, scripter Stan Lee, and the art team of Tom Grummett and Al Milgrom. This may be Grummett’s first Marvel work. I don’t know if it is Milgrom’s inks or just an attempt to ape Bagley, but his usually fantastic art looks horrible here. The story is basically a retelling of why Peter never told Aunt May, a story which serves little purpose in this issue. It feels mostly like an add-on just to get Stan Lee’s name in the solicitation copy.

Next time we move in to the post-May era with “Aftershocks”.

Super-Powered Comics: Silver Surfer Requiem

As I said in my review of Bullet Points, J. Michael Straczynski is one of those creators who is either great... or terribly off-base. That work was an exceptional example, and Silver Surfer: Requiem is another.

With art by Esad Ribic, Straczynski crafts another of Marvel’s tales of the fall of one of their characters. In Requiem, Norrin Radd falls under the influence of some kind of virus that eats away at his very being. With each subuquent issue he sets out to make even the most minute changes to make his legacy mean something as he moves inexorably to his demise.

The Fantastic Four guest star in issue one, but it is issue two guest-starring Spider-Man where the story starts to shine. We get a look at what the Surfer sees everyday as he soars the cosmic spaceways... and perhaps the world improves for it. Issue three gives us his attempt to stop an intergalactic war, while four takes us back to Zenn-La and his impending demise. And a certain cosmic being known as Galactus...

Though a quick read, Requiem offers an excellent look at the strange enigma known as the Silver Surfer. Ribic’s painted art is gorgeous, and JMS keeps the story flowing along well while channeling the feel of the late sixties Stan Lee issues. All in all, a good solid edition to “The End” line. Recommended.