Matthew: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to MC2! We apologize for being silent for as long as we have, but March produced a conundrum: 10 new #1 comics. Marvel is kicking the door down to provide jumping on points and new titles, and we had to figure out how we wanted to handle it.
The answer, as it turns out, is pretty simple: just talk about the new #1s. So that’s what we’re going to do.
David: Oh White Batman.
Now, unlike you, Mr. Moon Knight super fan #1, I’m not actually a fan of Marc Spector and his uber crazy ways. Besides once upon a time in an Avengers/West Coast Avengers and in Warren Ellis’ “Secret Avengers” run, I’ve never really enjoyed his appearances. He’s just kind of there.
So I’m happy to say this is my favorite Moon Knight I’ve ever read! With that said, I didn’t love this comic. I liked it a lot, and the art was tremendous – I went over that in great detail with artist Declan Shalvey in an Artist Alley, but he and colorist Jordie Bellaire did a phenomenal job of making this book both flow better and just look gorgeous – but there were some wonky dialogue bits and an overall slight nature that made this more of a strong like than a love.
What did you think?
Matthew: Well, as the resident Moon Knight expert… *pushes glasses up from brim of nose, pulls out dusty, leather-bound book* I kid, I kid.
Honestly? I thought the book was decent. I agree entirely with you about the art: Declan and Jordie did an amazing job. The book was moody, murky, snazzy, jazzy and totally sweet. I miss the large flowing cape and hood, but for a guy in a suit, they totally rocked it. And, not to lean too much on you here, but your Artist Alley nailed it; pretty much everything I liked about the book rests on Declan and Jordie’s shoulders. If we took out all the words and released it as an over-sized Artists Edition, I’d give the book a 10.0.
My problem with this book is all on Ellis, strangely enough. I know to some he is one of the supergods of modern comics, and that’s fair, but I just didn’t find this book to be as inspired as others did. I was thinking about this the other day, and I think we’re in an era where people don’t want superheroes to just be superheroes anymore, especially at Marvel, and that’s fine; I don’t mind revamps and relaunches that much if they’re done well. But with this book, it just didn’t click for me — I am a huge fan of Ellis’ general body of work, but I found this book to be pretty overrated. Which is tough to say, but ah well.
It reminded me of Waid’s “Daredevil,” right? LOVED the art — loved, loved, loved! — but I just wasn’t feeling the story. And yes, I’ll relent that part of it is because Moon Knight is “wrong” (fangeek speak for “different now”) and didn’t “feel” “right” or whatever, but the story in this instance didn’t click for me. I found it to be esoteric at times and just… well, style over substance at others. Is that overly critical?
David: It’s certainly critical, but not overly so. It’s not like you’re being unnecessary, you’re just stating your opinion. I do think it’s rather entertaining that you label this comic as “esoteric” when literally everything in comics fits that description, while this comic I would actually say did a good job of being a comic you can read with no background on the character. It’s actually less esoteric than your average bear in my opinion, but i think it’s more of a case where – and I don’t mean this as an insult – this isn’t how you wanted the character to be represented, as a character you highly value.
Continued belowI love Ellis. He’s one of my absolute favorite writers. I just felt, for me, this issue didn’t have a tremendous hook. It was a good one-and-done story that will build the world of Marc Spector, but it kind of had a strangely anti-climactic vibe to it. There were some trademark Ellis one-liners – I liked the line about him being crazy right before the title page – and I liked the reformatting of how his interactivity with Khonshu works – but it wasn’t revolutionary from a writing standpoint. Instead of being a landmark in their line, it was a very good comic that will keep me going.
But I do want to emphasize again, I loved the art. The way the layouts controlled the pace shows that, regardless of my positive but not hugely so take on the issue, that this is a team that knows what they want to do and how they’re going to do it, and it gave it a driving intensity that other more splashy page designs couldn’t have. It’s cinematic, but not in a way that is calling for attention. It’s a book that feels truly unique in its look and feel, achieving a level of restraint in its visual storytelling that really underlines how capable this character is. He’s not a punchline, he’s a grand detective and the man you want on your side. I thought that was really well done.
So a strong start, but maybe not a monumental one. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
Matthew: In defense of my esoteric remark, I will say this: it’s not so much that the character didn’t line up with my exact thoughts, but rather that I think certain things felt extremely out of place. Obviously there’s a Cosmopolis riff going on, but, well, take the ending, right? I like “weird” things (however we want to describe that), but it felt pretty out of place with the rest of the book to me; it felt like the dictionary definition of esoteric, and sure it’ll make more sense over time, but it just felt jarring in comparison with the rest of the book, which was basically just a procedural.
And that to me was the biggest drawback. I think Ellis is doing what he does on a lot of his books, and that’s to take a character and find new avenues to explore older ideas and fit them into a more futurist perspective. And one-and-done issues? That’s, like, my favorite thing about his work, for sure. But like you said, “Moon Knight” doesn’t have a hook to me. It’s just a guy in a suit who solves a weird crime, and maybe we’re going to get something neat like True Detective down the line (it’s certainly probable with Ellis), but at the onset I don’t really know why I’m reading outside of my affection for the character.
I don’t want to compare this debut to other “Moon Knights” of the past, especially when you don’t know them, but I’ll at least note that I think other runs had more of a big superhero-y flair to kick things off. This just felt a touch passive, I guess? At the very least, maybe a bit confused or indirect with its identity.
But, yes, I can not say anything negative about the art. I’ve been a fan of Declan’s work for a few years now, he’s definitely an artist to be reckoned with, and Jordie’s colors perfectly compliment the tone of the book that they’re trying to establish. If you took away all the dialogue and made it a silent issue, I think it’d still be an excellent example of sequential storytelling; there’s a bit of Mazzuchelli in there, I got kind of an old school “Daredevil” vibe, and if nothing else this series will definitely one to check out issue-to-issue just to see how Shalvey and Jordie absolutely deliver where it counts.
David: I was! I very much loved Jason Aaron and his cadre of artists work on the book, and it’s by far my favorite X-Men book of Marvel Now! And what Jason Latour and Mahmud Asrar did on this first issue certainly doesn’t hit the heights of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s previous #1 – not that it’s really fair to compare the two – I think it does a great job of both continuing the story from the previous book and pushing it in a direction that befits a cast that just graduated.
Asrar’s work was strong, particularly in the Patch/Fantomex bits, and I love the idea that Uncle Cluster could become a teacher, even if he may end up seducing literally everyone at the school, regardless of gender or species. In short, I enjoyed it, equally for what it did to continue the feel of the last run, and what it did to strike out on its own.
Now, I know you had more negative thoughts. Let’s hear it.
Matthew: Well, here’s the thing about that. When I first read the issue, you’re right, it didn’t really do much for me. I thought it was fine, but nothing more than that. What came before certainly set a high bar, and there was no way that this new book was going to hit that same mark, fair comparison or not. So, no, the first time I read the issue it didn’t really work for me.
But then they announced that Aaron was leaving “Amazing X-Men,” and I was like, “Oh, damn!” Because before, I thought it would be OK that he left “Wolverine and the X-Men”; there was still this other book, I hadn’t really lost anything, you know? But on that announcement, I reconsidered. So I went back and I re-read “Wolverine and the X-Men,” a bit more slowly, a bit less judge-y, and you know what? I think I’m going to stick around for a bit. Latour and Aaron are obviously close and I think there’s some things in Latour’s writing that is similar to Aaron in a very subtle fashion. There’s lots of seeds here, and I’m curious to see how they grow.
So, maybe I was too hasty. I like these kids, I like the team, I think this book is pretty fair. Give it a few more issues and I might be sold without any hesitation, you know?
That said, I do have one complaint, and I don’t know how it will be perceived — but I don’t like the coloring over Asrar’s art. I like Asrar a LOT; I think Marvel getting him to come over from DC was a phenomenally great get on their part. Asrar does great characters, wonderfully emotive and dynamic people, and I think he’s a great fit for these young characters. But, take a look at his work with Dave McCaig on “Supergirl” #1 from 2011 and then compare it to Israel Silva’s in “Wolverine and the X-Men” #1. I much prefer McCaig’s work with Asrar; I think it makes Asrar’s artwork standout more, whereas Silva’s just makes it look… I kinda hate to say this, but just kind of like everything else. It lacks real definition, I think.
David: I could see that. I have to say, I think Asrar himself is capable of more. It’s really good work, don’t get me wrong, but I think some of the pages felt a little overly busy. Like the pages were overwhelmed with activity that took away from both the storytelling and the figure work. But like with any book, it may take a couple issues to get it fully figured out, and I think it’s hard to say this wasn’t a good start.
And Dave McCaig? That guy is a beast. It’s hard to compare anyone to him and not find them a bit weaker for it. I think Silva did a fine job. Perhaps nothing stood out, but to me, nothing was noticeably weak in his work.
Glad to hear you’re staying onboard though.
Matthew: Ok, well, like with Moon Knight, I am a HUGE Magneto fan! I think obviously, too; not for nothing, but being a Jewish kid and growing up knowing that there’s this totally bad ass Jewish mutant who kicked Nazi ass, can beat all the X-Men but it still maybe a good guy sometimes? Totally got into that as a youngster, always had a fondness for him as an adult.
But, unfortunately, this book didn’t really do anything for me. It’s weird, actually — with the other two books, I was able to leave them somewhat cold but still find enough there to be interested in wanting to keep going. But with this, I just didn’t really particularly feel… well, anything. The story? It was OK; I like the scene where he makes his suit out of metal in a building. The writing? It was alright; nothing stand-out in it, but nothing that I hated. The art? I like Walta a lot, he did a decent job with the book, but nothing more than a, “Oh, yeah, that’s pretty cool.”
And I feel like that’s a really weird stance to have on the book. By all accounts, it’s fine enough, but whereas I can forgive and want to see more of the other two, I just don’t feel the same here. I wanted to be hooked right off the bat, and since I wasn’t, I don’t really feel there’s anything in here that is worth coming back to. I think I’d rather see Magneto just end up back in “Uncanny.”
Did I miss something? What did you think?
David: You know, I’m going to share an unpopular opinion: I enjoyed this book. It certainly wasn’t spectacular, and it – if you’re the type to say this about comics – was “pointless” in the scheme of continuity and the Marvel universe. But it had some killer art from Gabriel Hernandez Walta, and I thought it was a solid concept by Bunn that could be even more interesting down the line. It kind of fits that Magneto would do something like this – he may be in a system now that isn’t his own, but he’s still someone who marches to the beat of his own drummer – and I like the internal struggle Bunn gives him, while also depicting Magneto as someone who is really his own worst enemy. I mean, he’s a guy who causes a lot of his own problems because his own overconfidence. I thought that was conveyed well.
So sure, it doesn’t really stand out or anything, but I’m certainly enjoying it more than I liked Uncanny, so that’s good for me!
Matthew: I don’t disagree that it’s an interesting concept. It definitely is; there’s that scene in X-Men First Class where Magneto is out doing his big worldwide Nazi hunt, right? And you know what, if there was a movie about Michael Fassbender (as Magneto or not, really) doing a global Nazi hunt, I’d watch the heck out of it. So giving Magneto in the comics his own stuff to do along those lines, that’s neat.
But, where I do disagree is that it was done in any particularly compelling way. It all just kind of was there on the page, and then it stayed there — it didn’t come out and demand your attention, it didn’t really draw me in into this other world where mutants are a thing and there are ramifications for living in a place so special. Everything was just average, or fine, or alright, or whatever word you want to use there.
To put a pun on it, the book had no magnetism. It’s more like Magneto after M-Day than it is Magneto in his prime. And I don’t have the same faith in this book as I do the other two releases we’ve talked about.
David: I’m not trying to say this is going to sweep the Eisners or anything, but unlike you, I went in with no expectations and no overt connection to Magneto – I strongly prefer him as a villain – and came out thinking this was an interesting and effective Magneto story. There’s the foundational issue of “why isn’t this a mini-series?” for me still, but one issue in, and I like the book. The odds for that in Vegas pre-release were not favorable on that.
Continued belowStill, it’s my least favorite of the three in what can be called a “good, not great” opening salvo.
| Book | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Knight | |||||
| Wolverine and the X-Men | |||||
| Magneto | |||||
