Kevin Reviews His Weekly Singles #14

2 Comments | Posted: June 25th, 2008 | Filed under: Reviews | Tags: final crisis, grant morrison, no hero, warren ellis

Final Crisis #2

Morrison continues slapping idea after idea onto the mound that’s piling up and starts using them to move his multi-headed beast of a plot forward. It’s interesting to compare the “let’s tell one story as a whole” approach that this title is using versus the crossover-dependent Secret Invasion. The current audience’s demand for slam-bang action in their mainline superhero epics may make them impatient for Morrison’s holistic approach to the complete story unit, especially if the “competition” (really, does it have to be one?) is dropping helicarriers out of the sky and showing your favorite heroes punching Skrulls for plot beats in the main title and letting all of the character change and story take place elsewhere. I know which one I prefer.

No Hero #0

Another metafictional superhero series by Warren Ellis, this time focusing on the toll that getting powers can take on someone? Really? Surprisingly, this one feels fresh. With Avatar, Ellis seems to be applying a more refined approach than previously, honing his clipped, precise scripting on a single target. Black Summer asked “What happens when a superman who wants to make the world better takes it one step too far?” No Hero‘s question is right in its tagline – “How much do you want to be a superhuman?” – with a brutal eight-page visit to the world that counterculture icon Carrick Masterson’s created and some backup material that, typeface aside, manages to fire a few new cylinders and opens up quite a few storytelling possibilities. For a buck, you could do much, much worse.

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