Picking up from Part I of this week's reviews, found at:
http://www.statueforum.com/showthrea...662#post152662
Classic Trade Reviews: George Perez
As we’ve been doing these reviews over the last several weeks, we’ve indulged in a few themes. Our first set of reviews focused on DC’s Challengers of the Unknown. Two weeks ago we pursued an Avengers theme by reviewing comics titles of Avengers characters. Today, we’ve picked two classic trades that exemplify the talents of the supremely gifted and famous artist, George Perez.
Wktf’s Classic Trade Review
Avengers Visionaries: George Perez
Marvel Comics
Written by: Various
Drawn by: George Perez
In the summer of 1974 I was in high school and picked up a copy of Avengers #141 because, after a painfully long absence from this title, Captain America appeared on the cover. Yes, this issue marked Cap’s return to the Avengers. I’d given up on the book since Cap left but was faithfully reading his own title, then crafted by the exceptionally creative team of Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema. Well, Englehart was writing this issue of the Avengers so I figured there’d be some good Cap continuity. It turned out this issue also was George Perez’s inaugural issue of the Avengers, where the credits introduced him as “our new avengin’ ace.” Perez had made a bit of a name for himself already on Fantastic Four (see
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance), on which he’d started as a guest artist with #166 a few months prior, and on a few other Marvel titles like the Inhumans, Sons of the Tiger and Man-Wolf. But with this issue, Perez had found his calling and we Avengers fans were in for the ride of our lives!
Perez’s first Avengers run is currently being packaged for publication in a few months (see
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance). It’s outstanding and a must-read: The (pre-Supreme) Squadron Sinister, Marvel’s western cowboy heroes, the Serpent Crown and Kang are all in that first story! This trade, however, picks up a couple of years later with 1976’s Avengers Annual #6 (sporting one of my favorite Jack Kirby covers, by the way), two critical story arcs marking several milestones in Avengers’ history, and a couple of other interesting tales as well. All these stories have something for everyone. There’s Wonder Man’s return to the living and evolution into his new role as a hero on the team, as well as the genesis of the Beast/Wonder Man friendship (the Abbott & Costello of the comics world…sadly, a comics friendship today’s writers have either forgotten or choose not to exploit). This book also contains the birth of Jocasta, as our heroes savagely battle Ultron who taps deep into Hank Pym’s storied psychosis and convinces a deeply disturbed Pym to drain Jan’s life force into what was meant to be Ultron’s bride. Fans of the Taskmaster also will be delighted that the 3-part story introducing this cool villain is in here, as well.
But this book rightly focuses on Perez’s art, and it’s stunning. Even the early, slightly cruder stuff. Here we see fantastic mutli-character battle scenes where each Avenger is optimized based on his or her strengths. Whether it’s the raw power of Thor, Wonder Man, or Iron Man, the agility and hand-to-hand combat skills of the Black Panther, Beast or Cap, the speed and grace of Quicksilver and Ms. Marvel, the skill and stealth of the Vision and Scarlet Witch, or some nifty uses of Ant-Man (both of them), Wasp and Yellow Jacket, Perez treats each character as an individual while choreographing the team’s fights wonderfully. And the battles are something, with the Avengers going up against Ultron, the Taskmaster and his army hordes, the Living Lazer, Nuklo the radioactive mutant son of the Whizzer (who reappears in the Best of Wolverine HC, reviewed by Sam Wilson last week), Dr. Spectrum, and even the US Army! In addition to his fantastic action scenes Perez demonstrates great creativity, for example with some new uses of Iron Man’s repulsor beams, as well as great comedic talents with the Beast, Two-Gun Kid (who had been transported to the future in a prior arc and shoots a telephone for disturbing his read of the Rawhide Kid comic book while remarking, “That Kirby hombre draws Rawhide pretty good!”) and in a brief solo story of Jarvis, the Avengers’ faithful butler.
What else can I say? A book called “Avengers Visionaries: George Perez” is kind of a no-brainer. There is no other artist, even the legendary John Buscema, who is so closely associated with this title. And that’s for good reason. If you love the Avengers or George Perez’s art, you must own this book!
Sam Wilson’s Classic Trade Review
The Incredible Hulk: Future Imperfect
Marvel Comics
Written By: Peter David
Drawn By: George Perez
The early 1990’s were the golden age of the Hulk for me. We had the Hulk in his most powerful form, but with the brain of Bruce Banner. All was well. He was a member of a world saving organization called the Pantheon and was hanging out with Rick Jones again. David was handling the writing chores and hotshot artist Dale Keown was doing the art. Happy day happy day. I asked myself back then, could Marvel possibly do anything better to the Hulk? How can you improve on perfection? Simple, come out with a two-issue prestige format (does anyone else miss that format?) series called “Future Imperfect”, have George Perez do the art, and make it have a lasting impact on the Hulk mythos.
Future Imperfect starts out in a post apocalyptic future where we meet Janis and her band of rebels, who have just recruited a new “studly” to combat the sinister regime of the “Maestro”, the evil dictator of all that is. We quickly find out that this studly is none other than Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, and Janis is really Rick Jones’s great-great granddaughter. They brought Banner to the future using Dr. Doom’s time machine. We then find out the world as we know it has been destroyed by two world wars. All the heroes are dead (but their remains are in a nifty trophy room that would put the batcave to shame). Only one hero has survived, one strong enough to have survived two nuclear wars. Not only did he survive, he got stronger. Stronger, and crazier. He took over the world and now rules it with an iron fist, a Saddam like dictator who takes what he pleases from the populace and lets his people live in absolute poverty. Who of all the marvel hero’s would be strong enough to outlast them all? The Hulk of course.
This story is David’s take on one of the three classic models of conflict in fiction (man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. himself, this one obviously being man vs. himself). David tells a deep story here, with many themes (inner conflict, honor, loyalty). George Perez brings it to life, his fine detailing skills serving him well, especially in a scene where he does a two page spread of the fallen hero’s trophy room. I can say nothing more but pick up this book. The original issues are still cheap and available, there is a trade paperback, or you can get the fancy marvel selects limited hardcover version if you feel like tracking one down on eBay and paying a hefty price. Whatever format you choose, this is a story worth having in your comic library.
