Review: The Twelve #9

Written by J. Michael Straczynski
Illustrated by Chris Weston

The time-stranded heroes of World War II are back and one of the Twelve shall fall! Who’s behind the mysterious killings?

It’s been quite some time, but it is truly, finally here — I have, in fact, touched The Twelve #9. It is a comic I never thought I would see, but now I currently do. It is here, in front of me, and I can flip through it, read words and see pictures.

Then again, so few things are truly worth the wait. Maybe this is one of them, but maybe it isn’t. I don’t know. The answer assuredly lies behind the cut, however.

Spoiler alert: I do actually know.

Late comics are a funny thing. On the one hand, they are an incredibly frustrating example of lax habits in our industry; it never feels appropriate to do so, but sometimes hearing about a late comic like this just leads to circular dialogue about why some people can turn in super late work and not be admonished for it, but instead praised (“Oh! It’s finally out! I’ve been waiting for so long, I can’t wait to read it now!”) On the other hand, there is that aforementioned hypothetical quote I made up — Oh! It’s finally out! I’ve been waiting for so long, I can’t wait to read it now!

The Twelve, when it first hit stands, was a very interesting little endeavor on Marvel’s behalf. Here was an incredibly prolific writer and artist team taking their time out from doing the “regular” superhero stuff to do a high-profile title spotlighting characters many had assumedly never heard of before. Sure, Electro and Mastermind Excello are familiar names for modern characters, but many World War II/Golden Age superheroes were lost to time, being replaced by icons who were more icon-y like Captain America, or Namor. The Twelve‘s main goal was simply to prove that there were many characters whose stories could still be told, to the same extent that Cap or Namor have stood the test of time, and opening with a murder certainly threw in (an admittedly borrowed) hook to keep readers along for the ride.

Of course, with a wait time between issues lasting three years and almost four months, steam has most certainly been lost. I suppose this is why the book feels the need to be so self-referential, (Laughing Mask, on the second page, remarks “Seems like ages since we were all under the same roof.”) but some of the emotional resonance has certainly been lost in between now and then. Many of the issues that the characters went through are certainly diminished, and only scant memories remain. Admittedly a re-read of the issues certainly would’ve helped, but that would diminish the underlying point I want to make: delays hurt books.

Yet, as the curtain draws and The Twelve #9 begins, various things become readily apparent. For example, it is fairly obvious that this issue was written somewhat recently. Straczynski attempts to play up the joke with more wink and nudge references (“Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like things happen faster in 2008 than they did in 1940”), but it also fails to remember that the heavy cultural assimilation of devices like the iPhone, including the bluetooth capabilities between security systems and a detectives personal device is a post-2008 wonder. As much as there was a jump between when the issue was supposed to have been released and the here and now, it is felt in the pages as much as it is in anyone who read the book when first released.

Additionally, Straczynski’s writing has admittedly changed a great deal. No longer does he rely on subtext to convey his thoughts, but instead brings everything to the surface with a one-page illustrated rant about how much better things were when he was a kid. The previous formula issue to issue formula has also been thrown to the wind, no longer primarily focusing on a single character’s life per issue and instead plugging away at the story that has long sought resolution. The issue doesn’t so much “star” the Blue Blade as it does just show off the scene we knew was coming since the first issue, answering the mystery that has been looming in the distance since the first issue. Now it’s all about “what comes next.”

That element, though, is arguably what makes the issue suffer. Since #8 hit the stands, Straczysnki had famously abandoned single issue storytelling in favor of the graphic novel medium, claiming it made for better storytelling (and lets ignore his Before Watchmen involvement for now, which includes two books released in single issue format), and it shows in the pages of The Twelve. Issue #9 isn’t so much “the ninth issue” as it is “the amount of pages that would fit into a standard-sized floppy” (22), with a final three page story that completely diverts from the main thread to tell a story completely out of context.

It’s a shame, really. The Twelve had great promise. The Rockman issue (#6) was particularly moving, remaining one of the issues of the series that really stuck with me after reading it. Coming back to the series now feels like looking at a self-fulfilling prophecy: a book frozen in time, unearthed again here in 2012 that is confused and doesn’t know what to do with itself.

At least the art by Chris Weston is still great. I have absolutely zero complaints about that.

Final Verdict: 5.0 – Chris Weston, you are a champ