It’s been a while, but I’m back with another article all about comics! As I said in my last comic book article (here if you need a refresher), I’m getting back into my long-lost love and branching out from the typical Marvel and DC trade paperbacks for a bit of variety. In scientific terms, there is a metric shitload of comics out there, and I’ve been on a rollercoaster of incredible moments and thought I’d share some of them because my plan to convert the world into comics lovers has hit a bit of a lull as of late.
Kingdom Come is the 1996 comic that brings together comics stalwart Mark Waid and Alex Ross in the writing and art duties, respectively. Set in an alternate DC universe future where the (at the time) current lineup of DC heroes had been retired in the face of a new brand of heroes with influence being pulled from the “extreme” type of heroes comics were introducing at the time.
The comic is a clear critique of the wave of comic characters in the mid-nineties that were… ‘morally flexible’, shall we say. The plot depicts a new generation of metahumans that engage in destructive battles that claim innocent lives, with the line between heroes and villains becoming blurrier day by day. The inciting incident for the previous generation of heroes that we are familiar with to recede into the background is when the superhero Magog kills the Joker after he murders the entire Daily Planet staff (including one Lois Lane). The public support for his actions leads Superman to retire, with his fellow heroes following suit soon after.
Now, I’m not a big fan of Superman. I find his stories to always be a bit one-note and predictable, and his status as “the big blue boy scout” makes him a bit boring to read for me. However, when I first read this comic, and it got to the splash page in the first chapter showing Superman in the sky, it was just stunning, owing mainly to Ross’ incredible art. The next page shows that the day is not saved, but his return heralds the beginning of the end. It is a great juxtaposition and rug pull for the audience and is such a great moment of writing and art coming together.
The last time I was in Melbourne covering PAX Aus 2024, I stumbled across a lovely little comics book store – All-Star Comics. Wandering around, I got recommended the first Fables volume, Legends in Exile, by one of the staff. It was pitched as fairy tales in the modern world, and, to be honest, I was sold off that premise alone. When I started to read the comic, I was greeted by amazing artwork that felt like I was looking at an old-school comic strip. It kept the pages turning as I was enthralled by the story of a fairy tale murder mystery.
Fables is a world where all the classic fairy tales have left the pages, and all moved to the peak of high society… New York, New York! The fairy tale community (or fable community as they refer to it) has been forced from their lands. They are now living underground, separate from the normal people of New York and struggling to keep the community together. Toss in the murder of Snow White‘s sister, Rose Red, and we’ve got ourselves a few tasty breadcrumbs to follow.
Seeing how Bill Willingham expertly pulls out these old, somewhat irrelevant characters and plops them into the present day, keeping them true to the source material while modernising them to an extent to make them engaging and fully fleshed-out characters. I enjoyed how the mystery played out and didn’t see the ending coming. I’m looking forward to reading the next volume in this saga.
Fear Agent was one of the most surprising finds for me over the past couple of years. On the surface, it looks like your average early 60s retro-futuristic science fiction about space travel, aliens and laser guns blazing. By the time I’d gotten onto volume two of the series, we’d been introduced to Heath Huston, a space bounty hunter traveling the galaxy surviving off wit, guile, and alcohol. So far, so standard, but I loved the art and enjoy myself some pulpy sci-fi, so I picked up volume two.
This volume fills out the backstory of Heath and tells a story of an alien invasion on Earth and the heroic resistance fighting off their alien oppressors. Again, so far, so standard, but the moment that got me comes right after Heath has transported the equivalent of a nuclear arsenal and killed an entire alien population… only to then learn that the planet he nuked was peaceful and the aliens attacking Earth were acting of their own volition. Heath Huston committed genocide against an innocent population.
From this moment on, the reader has to wrestle, much like Heath himself, with what the protagonist of this series has done and that informs so much of his actions in the future and redefines what we have previously read. It’s such a good moment that turned my entire understanding of the character and the situation on its head. It forced me to confront the morality of war and actions undertaken “for the greater good” that most sci-fi of this ilk hand wave away while maintaining a swashbuckling vibe to it all.
There are not a lot of times when the first page of a comic will entrap me. Most first pages can whet my appetite, excite me, dazzle me… but not entrap me. Transformers #1, published by Image Comics, is one of the rare exceptions. As you may have read in my previous article about this comic (check it out here), I love the artwork in this comic, especially compared to the cleaner lines of the IDW-published books.
The first page of this issue opens up with five landscape panels. Choppers flying in formation at sunset reminiscent of Vietnam War imagery. The Ark hurtling toward the planet Earth. A soldier kneeling over the bloodied body of his comrade. Optimus Prime‘s face damaged and lifeless. A rocket blasting off towards the stars. Five panels in, and I knew that this was going to be a vastly different deal from the first issue of The Transformers back when they were under Marvel in the 80s.
As you can read in the review, I love this comic, and that is in no small part thanks to the amazing first page, which set the tone for the entire issue.
Spider-Man has a long and varied history of comics, so there are plenty of moments I could have picked for this last entry. Kraven’s Last Hunt, The Night Gwen Stacy Died, Clone Saga… One More Day… oh god, One More Day.
Spider-Man has always been one of my favourite heroes since I first started reading for one simple reason: He’s an ordinary guy when you get right down to it. He has fears, anxieties, and doubts that plague him constantly, yet he rises above them through sheer strength of will. As someone who’s got some issues like that knocking around in my head, I have to admit there’s some wish fulfillment wrapped up in my enjoyment of Spiderman comics.
However, being the big romantic softie that I am, it has to be the wedding storyline where the famous wall-crawler and the red-headed party girl, Mary Jane, tie the knot in spectacular fashion. The storyline follows the engagement and wedding of the two characters, who had been on and off again for years at this stage after the death of Gwen Stacy. This storyline also gives us an insight into Mary Jane’s past and the reason for her initial refusal of Spider-Man’s proposal. It gives an extra layer of depth to her character and, for me at least, helps solidify her as the perfect match for the wall-crawler.
What are some comic book moments that hold a special place in your head? Have I missed any out? Let us know in the comments down below.
