The late nineties of superhero comics have always been such a fascinating wild west to me. I know so little about this period that is building off the industry’s most significant recession. With so few eyes drawn to it, it’s ripe for uncovering fascinating hidden gems or unreadable stinkers. This year I’ve dug up the series and burgeoning franchise “A-Next” to sink my teeth into. Which category will this spinoff-of-a-spinoff fall in? Let’s find out together, dear readers!
A-Next #12
Scripted by Tom DeFalco
Plotted and Illustrated by Ron Frenz
Finished by Al Milgrom
Colored by Bob Sharen
Lettered by Jim Novak
Well, folks, we’ve hit that point! The grand finale of Marvel’s “A-Next”. My initial thoughts on this issue had me feeling like this was a premature cancellation. I tried to do some research into interviews from DeFalco or any of the team but could not find anything definitive on this matter. As much as DeFalco does a great job tying up all of his plot threads in this issue, the narrative has the weightier pacing that other cases of this series have. It feels like DeFalco is actively trying not to seed future plot points, and as a result, the issue can feel like it has chunks of the story missing because of this lack of organic narrative growth. The fact that the anti-A-Next team, the Revengers, are introduced in this final issue also gives the impression that at the very least, this final arc was meant to last a few more issues. If anyone has any extra information on why this series ended when it did, please reach out!
With that out of the way, let’s dig into the meat and bones of the comic itself. With the last issue wrapping up the alternate Earth arc, I thought that DeFalco had tied up all loose threads. It would seem that both I and the Avengers forgot about the impending threat of Hope Pym, Hank’s scorned and orphaned daughter. Hope, revealed a few issues ago as the benefactor of Ion Man, assembles a team of baddies all introduced in earlier issues of this series, or other M2 titles like “Spider-Girl” or “J2”. These Revengers tied up Jarvis and Tony Stark in the mansion and cornered the Avengers upon their triumphant return from the alternate Earth, which is all explained in some dense recap pages chock full of narration. The splash page that introduces the Revengers is a tonne of fun and shows how stylized Frenz and Milgrom’s art has become since the series’ inception. Each member of the evil team is a collection of bulging muscles that are contained by these razor-sharp inks, feeling like a more Image Comics-inspired Bruce Timm cartoon. Killerwatt might be my favorite of the bunch, and even though he was created by Pat Olliffe, Frenz and Milgrom make him look so aloof and uncaring. Plus, I just like his little Vincent price goatee.
DeFalco is an old hand at superhero narratives, showing this by how quickly he’s able to get readers acquainted with this team. The members from other books, like Sabreclaw, make a little comment like “I’m only here for J2” whilst showing off their flavor of evil with another little quip. The newer elements, Hope and the hilariously titled “Big Man”, Hope’s twin brother, are established as having some moral conflicts. Hope, AKA Red Queen, is clearly the most hung up on her father’s death and moves to make some violence, whilst Big Man holds her back, refusing to commit further even for the sake of family. It’s a good way to make these characters feel human and quickly introduce us to what each one holds dear. Frenz and Milgrom render Red Queen with more of that razor-sharp inking that serves to make her absolutely terrifying, her clawed hands extending inhumanly long and distinctly bony.
Here’s where some of DeFalco’s long-form storytelling hits like a bullet train. Remember all those times in previous recaps where I mentioned it was a shame that DeFalco was introducing all these disparate characters only to have them not join the team at the end of the issue? turns out our boy was holding out on us folks! A reconstituted Mainframe busts down the door of the headquarters with the newly assembled team of Captain Marvel, Coal Tiger, Argo, and Blacklight, a fantastic team that has some choice POC representation. Frenz and Milgrom frame this half-page splash with all the majesty it deserves, with Mainframe standing triumphant at the center of the panel and the rest of the team shooting into the room around him, all looking delighted to have stumbled in at the perfect time.
From here, it’s an all-out battle against the Revengers with emotional interactions and developments peppered throughout in a perfect Tom DeFalco manner. Mainframe gets a rip-roaring moment of independence as Tony Stark tries to reign his creation in, whilst our favorite armor-robot pal doubles down on the fact that his creator should trust him more. Cassie gets approval from her father about her superheroics (which is nice but I do feel like he always encouraged this aspect of her life?). DeFalco, Frenz, and Milgrom all make some fun battle scenarios, too. Mainframe gives Bluestreak a reflector shield to ricochet Ion Man’s blast all around the room at superspeed and eventually back to him. DeFalco makes Bluestreak as infectiously fun as always, and Frenz and Milgrom have a blast with the superspeed, blending Bluestreak’s form into the speed lines and jetstreams. J2 also gets a great moment (as he always deserves! My sweet boy!) as he topples Big Man. DeFalco’s dialogue for this character is pitch-perfect as he acknowledges all the bizarre nonsense he’s had to deal with this week and attempts to use Big Man as a punching bag to vent his rage. Big Man expresses his hesitation at his sister’s plot, however, and J2 celebrates a successful side-turn. DeFalco understands that J2 is a great audience surrogate and uses him just enough that he comes off as earnest and delightful every moment on the page.
Red Queen spins her villain wheels for a while, feeling a little lackluster in the light of everyone else getting a moment but DeFalco pens her emotions as raw and palpable. She’s put down a bit prematurely, I suspect due to the nature of this arc once being multiple issues, but I can’t comment for sure on that. The new team gets a heartwarming final splash page as they all announce Avengers Assemble, with Frenz and Milgrom giving them all jovial grins and beaming positivity in a way that embodies the best of silver-age superheroics. And folks, that’s it! That’s the end of our “A-Next” coverage because that’s all there – oh, hold on a second! You’re telling me there’s a sequel to “A-Next” miniseries in 2006 that’s still written by Tom DeFalco, with art from Ron Lim? AND covers by THE Mike Wieringo?? That settles it then! Come back next week, dear readers, as we venture seven years into the future of Marvel’s future to dive into “Avengers Next”!
