EVAN: I keep on coming back to the way Odin was written. While he did come off as uncharacteristically petulant and jerky based on past interpretations of Odin, there was some spice to it. But even that was undercut by the nagging sensation that this Odin was meant to ping back to the way Anthony Hopkins is going to play him in the movie. So it makes you wonder about the, I dunno, provenance of the story. As in why does it exist? Fraction’s talked about the psychological underpinnings of Fear Itself–daddy issues, generational gaps, etc.–and it’s all there. But the execution of that stuff is so blunt that it leaves me cold.
And, again, this just feels weird coming from Fraction, a writer who I mostly like. Casanova‘s a meta-aware stew of genre staples, trippy LSD personas and fluid character relationships. It’s fun. On Iron Man, Fraction’s dug so deep in Tony Stark’s character construction that he can turn canonical behaviors into something fresh and compelling. Like Graeme, I didn’t hate this comic, but it underwhelmed me in terms of plot.
Briefly on Immonen: the guy’s a god. By my count, he’s had three distinct styles, and he’s brilliant in each idiom. It’s always clean, with great character acting and excellent composition. Long may he reign.
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DOUGLAS: Evan, what are the three styles you’re counting? There’s the one here, the one from Moving Pictures, and…? (Arguably, there are two others on the cover of the forthcoming Centifolia!)
EVAN: I feel like his early Legion stuff was a bit different (lighter in line eight and showing some Kevin Maguire influence) than his mainstream superhero fare, where the Fear Itself look descends from. Nextwave was filled with skinnier body types and super-heavy figure outlines; it felt… punkier? And there’s a bit more cartooniness to his Ultimate Spidey art, to my eye. Maybe other folks see them as the same thing, but I feel like he’s bringing different stuff to each project.
DOUGLAS: True–he’s really good at developing a new look-and-feel for every project–and I actually also see him adopting some of this series’ look from the last few years’ worth of event comics here. This has a bit of a Siege vibe to it, in some ways
MATT: Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I’ll play the role of the guy who hasn’t paid attention to mainstream continuity since Messiah Complex. So far, not really getting it. Okay, wait, I get it: Another mildly cosmic crossover event that name-checks and pulls in a bit of bubblegum social commentary. It’s like a superhero Venn diagram skewed Norse-ward.
I’m trying to decide whether I agree with Graeme that it’s some mutant Johns-by-way-of-Beck thing. It’s obviously culture-checking with the financial crisis and the so-called Ground Zero mosque riot, but it’s kind of taking the Michael Lewis (The Big Short) Wall Street screwed Main Street angle, not the fringe conspiracy-theory blame-government-for-everything one (that, and mobs seem to be mobs in any culture–what do you do?). I’m also not sure–yet–that it’s tapping into the series-eponymous idea that we often box at shadows. We surely do, but I see none of that registering in the storytelling here.
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Much as I’ve liked Immonen’s work in past books–his Ultimate FF stuff is still my favorite–his heroes look.. off (Tony “Lenin” Stark atop Avengers Tower, for instance), and I’m just not into the slightly squashed heads thing–as if I’m watching a full-screen video feed on a widescreen panel. I have to admire the fine background detail (no lazy scribbler is Immonen) and the general symmetric consistency of everything, but nothing about his style leaps out here and says “this is who I am.” I know, sacrilege (or just “mainstream for mainstream’s sake”).
My favorite moment–the only really clever one in the book–was the top panel intro to Broxton. Your eyes first snag on the city text, then the fanboy-tour guide who almost seems to inhale, before the bullhorn bellows out the word balloon. Three lovely moments in a single panel, celebrating an effect that only works in this medium.
DOUGLAS: I’ve read this issue a few times now, and in some ways I’m still trying to come to grips with it. I get that Matt Fraction’s trying to do some kind of grand Norse-theological cosmic epic in the Mighty Marvel Manner that also speaks to America As We Know It; he’s a very ambitious and very talented writer, but I don’t think this particular ambition and his particular talents are clicking together yet. And there are moments of tone-deaf bombast in here: “I now summon… THE WORTHY.” “Behold: I am… resurrected…” “I only pray I am not too late.”