Written by: Kelly Sue DeConnick (back-up by Warren Ellis)
Illustrated by: Emma Rios (back-up by Jamie McKelvie)The world’s most dangerous felon is in the world’s top supermax-security prison — an institution so secret even the vice president doesn’t know it exists. But can any cell contain Norman Osborn? After the events of SIEGE, the former Green Goblin, Iron Patriot and power-mad director of worldwide security isn’t allowed to have a toothbrush…and he’s surrounded by the deadliest criminals in the world. Lucky for Osborn, they’re fans. Rising stars Kelly Sue DeConnick (SIF) and Emma Rios (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) throw Osborn in the darkest hole the public’s never seen! Featuring an all-new bonus story written by Warren Ellis (THUNDERBOLTS)!
This is it – this is my instinct book of the year. For some reason, I’ve been expecting greatness from this book ever since it was announced. Did it live up to my personal hype?
Find out after the jump.
Outside of an arc in Avengers Academy, since Siege, Norman Osborn has been completely absent from the Marvel universe. This has been a huge change after Dark Reign, in which Osborn was as prevalent as pictures were in comics. Osborn’s existence should probably land somewhere in between those two polar opposites, and that’s where Kelly Sue DeConnick takes us in the first issue of this mini-series. Osborn – removed from his power, yet still influential…the world doesn’t know what to do with him, yet DeConnick places him in a situation in which we still can’t tell if he’s not a highly intelligent pawn or the player himself.
It’s exciting to see this world DeConnick creates within the Marvel universe (and Spidey one in particular), as almost no regular characters (save Peter Parker and Norah Winters) are featured yet we’re greeted to a story that is exciting, engaging and feels like it deeply matters for the world of Marvel as a whole.
I love the layers of bureaucracy the powers that be have to go through with Osborn. It ties incredibly well into the world we live in today – a world in which right and wrong changes depending on who is looking at a situation. You have a group of people trying to find a way to dispose of Osborn without drawing attention, yet somehow, the group seemingly most likely to blow the whole gig open and lead to his release is Frontline, the newspaper that is quite possibly Osborn’s greatest enemy. With the powers that be dismissing Osborn to a gray area that has no real destiny (save indefinite imprisonment), it’s a stellar real life spin on places like Guantanamo Bay that fit perfectly for a despot like Osborn.
That he’s paired there with the creations that DeConnick and Rios feature, such as the utterly terrifying June Covington (who is featured in an incredible back-up by the dream team of Warren Ellis and Jamie McKelvie) only makes this book all the more intriguing. Even better? The fact that we know the priest who frequents this special section of prison that features the worst of the worst is actually a disciple of the growing Osborn gang that has developed in recent issues of Amazing Spider-Man (yes!).
Everything about the plot and the characters dovetails perfectly with current events in Marvel books while also existing really well on their own. It’s kind of everything I wanted for this book, and it just makes me all the more excited about seeing where DeConnick is going to take the book.
Emma Rios first came to my attention with her work supporting Chris Bachalo on the Amazing Spider-Man arc “Shed,” and she continues the strong work she did in that arc here. There are a lot of sections that are really exceptional – in particular, the introduction to the cell that Osborn eventually is put into, as well as her design of those characters – and at the very worst, her work is very solid. It’s a standout moment for an artist who has a lot of potential and has been waiting on something to really hang her hat on. I can’t wait to read the rest of this book, if only to see the visuals from here.
My expectations were really, really high for this book, seemingly inexplicably. It’s not something that had a ton of hype behind it, but at this point, I can’t wait to read the rest of the mini. DeConnick has proven herself very quickly as one of the elite up-and-coming talents of Marvel, while Rios also proves that she belongs. Throw in an exceptional back-up from Ellis and McKelvie, and you’ve got a book that is the buy of the week for me.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy
