Resurrection Man (vol.2) #1 (November, 2011)
"Pronounced Dead"
Writers - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist - Fernando Dagnino
Colorist - Santi Arcas
Letterer - Rob Leigh
Editors - Eddie Berganza & Rex Ogle
Cover Price: $2.99
We took a look at the first volume of Resurrection Man yesterday... and, as luck would have it... I was able to procure the first issue of the second volume last night in a 40-cent bin!
Let's do that compare and contrast thang.
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We open with our friend Mitch waking up at the morgue... that is, waking up from being dead of course. This doesn't seem to surprise him, so we might assume this isn't the first time he's experienced the sensation. He mentions that he has the taste of metal in his mouth as he breaks into a doctor's locker and steals his identification and credit cards.
Next we know Mitch is at the airport and he's headed to Portland. Why? Well, he doesn't know... it's just a compulsion. It would seem that with each resurrection our man is given, in addition to a new power... a "mission". He observes his fellow travelers before boarding the plane.
As they take off, he is joined by a "hot in a Gaga kind of way" woman (with a teardrop tattoo). He didn't even see her get on the plane... but, here she sits.
She tells him all about the other passengers... what is compelling them to Portland. Thinking it's just a flirty game, Mitch plays along. Things then turn deadly serious when Gaga informs him that his soul is "overdue". Oh yeah, she also transforms into a crazy half-demon/half-angel thing... so there's that too.
Mitch takes the fight outside as to keep the other passengers "safe". I mean, the roof of the plane is torn off... so, unless Superman's in the area... or Mitch's new power is being Superman, these poor folks are about to wind up on that island with the smoke monster.
Remember how I said that Mitch mentioned that metal taste? Well, that's about to come home to roost. Mitch grabs the Angel/Demon, and his newfound magnetic field gets them both zapped by lightning.
Then... he gets sucked into one of the planes engines, and he... along with everyone on board... dies.
He wakes up in a forest... maybe the did land on LOST island! Nah, these woods are on fire... and as he runs we see one of the lazier "New-52 Number Ones" Pandora cameos.
He notices a group of fire fighters... and engages in his new power, uhhh... turning into water?
Back in the city we started in, the new-look Body Doubles have arrived at the Coroner's Office in search of their "John"... that is, "John Doe", not sure that was clear. They're pretty crazy... questioning people while they're gagged. And when they don't spill the beans (because, ya know... they're gagged) they kill 'em.
Back in the woods, we see that one of the firefighters has that same "Gaga" teardrop tattoo... so, the chase will continue. It's also alluded to that this might turn into a war between Heaven and Hell for Mitch Shelley's soul... at the very least, a "bidding" war.
We close out with a look at Madame Xanadu as she flips through her tarot deck... which, is pretty much all she ever does. She is puzzled that no matter how many times she shuffles, the Resurrection Man always comes back.
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This take, while a bit different (at least as far as I've read), is still really good. I definitely dug this.
This time around Mitch is used to the resurrecting routine... and has a grasp on everything that comes with it. It's sort of like a Quantum Leap approach, wherein every time he "leaps" into a new life, he has a mission he must complete. Here, he was given his metal/magnetic powers... likely with the express purpose of facing off against that teardrop Angel/Demon entity.
During the brouhaha, the Gaga-gal tells Mitch a thing or two about fate. She informs him that none of the passengers were ever supposed to arrive in Portland anyway. The plane was always going to crash... which, I suppose might assuage Mitch's "guilt" in the situation.
Just like in the first volume, we do get more than one resurrections, which I wouldn't expect to be the norm. Though, this title does unfortunately get canned pretty quickly, so perhaps they are able to rack up the body count throughout.
Art here was really good. Definitely suiting the tone of this "darker" DC book... I really dug it. Really liked the coloring too. Just like the pencils, it went from kinda muted (but not in a Vertigo sort of way) to bombastic and back again.
It's a shame this book couldn't find an audience either time, as it's a pretty interesting concept, and an overall fun read. Including the "missions" and a potential war between Heaven and Hell really ups the urgency here... adding to the mythos of the Resurrection Man character without really contradicting what's come before.
I'd say this is definitely worth a glance. It's a short run (13 issues), and it's very likely sitting in your local cheap-o bin. If you want it, and need it right this very second... it is available digitally (for a buck).
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Resurrection Man #1 (May, 1997)
Writers - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist - Butch Guice
Colorist - Carla Feeny
Letterer - Ken Lopez
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Back in the long ago, we discussed Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1. What a lot of folks might remember best about that book is that it had a crazy gem glued to it... which could cause some havoc for whatever book that sits before it in your longbox.
Today we've got something a bit less heinous... it's a lenticular POG. Were POGs still a fad in 1997, or is this just another example of DC being "with" the times?
Either way... let's get to it!
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We open with a man who just realized he could fly. He found out as he dove in front of some children to stop them from being riddled with holes from a drive-by shooting. This, as you might imagine, causes our man to take the incoming fire himself. He falls from the overpass and into the junkyard below... as he plummets, his life flashes before his eyes. When he lands, however... he's alive?!
Without much of a clue as to who he is... our man checks his surroundings. Around him are the first issues of (Tales Calculated to Drive You) MAD and Action Comics... but he's not interested in any of that... what catches his attention is a Betty Boop snow globe. Now, Betty Boop has always kinda freaked me out... so, if it were me... I'd already be in the next county. Our man however, has another flashback triggered.
He enters into nearby Crucible City... and tries to find a library. He's summarily kicked out for being a transient. A librarian named Irma pulls him aside and tells him to come back that evening... and he does! Together, they learn that he was a lawyer named Mitchell Shelley... and he'd been reported dead, victim of a gas main explosion. He also finds out that he's married, which puts a crimp in whatever plans he might've had for lovely Ms. Irma.
Nearby, we meet a man with painted nails as he washes up in a rest stop bathroom. He's hitchhiking toward Crucible City... and, oh yeah, he's killing everybody who gives him a ride.
Back in the city, Irma has taken Mitch to her night job... lucky for him, she works at the Eisner/Igor Mission... or something. Mitch gets cleaned up and fed... and learns why Irma has been so kind to him. Turns out her son went missing a few years back, and she'd like to think that somebody out there has shown him kindness.
Then... the Body Doubles show up! They ride over in a cringe-tasticly gaudy SUV... and they're on the hunt for their "John". The blonde Body Double looks to be quite the Shawn Michaels fan. The brunette exits the day-glo boogievan, and heads inside the Mission.
They are, of course, looking for Mitch. He and Irma split out the back door... while the brunette starts slaughtering everyone who gets in her way. Outside, the blonde wastes no time in filling Irma full'a holes. She's dead... and Mitch (guilty conscience and all) takes off into the night... well, not before exhibiting some new "hardened air" powers. But, then... he takes off.
Going all the way to Scooters Gas Farm... where stories of the "Resurrection Man" who saved those kids from the drive-by shooting are being shared. Just then, a fuel hauling truck careens into the gas pumps outside.
Without thinking, Mitch rushes outside... and holds his hand up to the truck... and, it stops!
He nyoinks the driver out of the seat and carries him to safety, before...
Days later, we return to Scooters... and people are being questioned about the strange hero. We learn that it's the Body Doubles asking the questions... and they're eventually taken to the morgue, where they discover... nothing! Three days later, and the tomb is empty!
We wrap up by rejoining Mitch... now exhibiting some fire-related powers, as he exits Crucible City.
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This was pretty great! Maybe I'm just a sucker for "on the run" stories... and amnesia stories... but, I thought this was a lot of fun.
The action is pretty hot and heavy here... as we see our man "die" twice... with mention of a third time. I don't think this will (or should) be the pace going forward... but it serves its purpose here in establishing just what this Resurrection Man is all about. Each time he "dies" he receives a new power. The first time, in the gas main explosion... he got, flight. After the drive-by, he got that hardened-air gimmick... and after the tanker explosion, he got one'a those Stan Laurel thumb-lighters.
Can't go wrong with that!
We meet Mitch's main (as far as we know) baddies in the Body Doubles... but we don't really know what they're all about just yet. That's all fair enough... at this point, all we need to know is that they're bad... and they're on his tail. There's also the hitchhiker with the weird voice balloons... but, we know even less about him.
Irma's death kinda came out of nowhere... though, he did split before we got any sort of confirmation that she did, in fact, die. Also, since she mentioned her son Robbie, who had disappeared years earlier... it's not out of the realm of possibility that he and Mitch might eventually cross paths.
Art here was excellent. I feel like I have this odd reaction whenever I see Guice's name on a project, and I'm not sure why... I always imagine it'll look like a kinda ho-hum 1980's fill-in... but, this was really anything but. Really good stuff here, I thought.
Overall... I'd say this is definitely worth a gander. Unfortunately, this is one of those books that doesn't show up all that often in my neck of the woods... and my collection is, as far as I can remember, only this issue... and I nabbed it like a decade ago! Never tried The New-52! version either... though, I might need to. This issue (and series) is available digitally... just be warned, the only way to get that bad-ass lenticular POG is by grabbing the actual issue!
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Lenticular Pog Action!
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Superman (vol.2) #201 (March, 2004)
"Strange New Visitor, Part Three"
Writers - Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist - Karl Kerschl
Colorists - Tanya & Richard Horie
Letterer - Nick J. Leighpez
Associate Editor - Tom Palmer, Jr.
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.25
Whatever Happened to the City of Tomorrow?
Let's find out...
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We open with a bit of history for Mr. Majestic (Lord Majestros if you're nasty)... and, whoa... is that Grifter? And a Wildcats mention? Wow, wasn't expecting that. Not sure why I wasn't... considering our guest-star, but still! Back in the present, Majestic is cleaning house... seems he was rather peeved to have been exiled to the Phantom Zone. Kitty Faulkner runs in to try and keep the peace, and winds up going into full-on Rampage mode!
She bee-lines it to Majestic... and with a single left hook, is put down. John Henry and Lois are off to the side arguing... John's irritated that she let him out, however, she is still steadfast in her position that he is here to help. Majestic tells the former-Steel that the Emboitement bomb will actually embolden the Time Storm and trigger the collapse of Metropolis. Sooo, I guess it didn't go off last issue? Could'a fooled me! Anyhoo... he heads off to stop the Eradicator.
It isn't long before Majestic catches up. Natasha Irons attempts to stop him, and catches a bellyful of eye-beams before plummeting to the ground. Superboy has to chose whether or not he will stay and fight, or catch Steel before she goes splat. Majestic continues on and catches up with Eradicator, who has just released the C.V.E. bomb into the Time Storm's vortex.
Majestic attempts to head it off before it goes boom, but the Eradicator catches him in a headlock. After a brief skirmish, Majestic breaks free... and fires an eye-beam at the C.V.E. causing it to blow before reaching its intended target.
Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, John and the white-coats are frantic. Their only hope of survival has just been yanked away. A guilt-striken (and oddly chubby-cheeked) Lois runs outside, just in time to see a giant explosion. Her City, Metropolis, has gone boom... and it's all because she let Mr. Majestic do his thing.
We bounce around Metropolis and see how the explosion has rocked the Daily Planet, Jimmy and Lena, and also Lana Lang. Lois, in tears, drops to her knees... the last thing she says is "Clark, I love you..."
Just then she is swept up by... Mr. Majestic!
He takes her high into the sky to show her... Metropolis?! Like, the old Metropolis... before the B-13 Virus stuff.
Ya see, Majestic was right all along! He realized that the Time Storm, though violent, just needed to pass. The B-13 Virus was a temporal anomaly... the technology wasn't for this world/time, and was being purged. The people of Metropolis celebrate the fact that, ya know, they're still alive... though the Eradicator still smells a rat. Majestic drops Lois off atop a building and gives her the old Superman speech of "If you ever need me, just look up" before abandoning her on some random building.
We close out the story with an epilogue... revealing that Mr. Majestic wasn't the only being that popped through from the WildStorm Universe...
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Well, there we have it... after about four-years (our time), Metropolis is no longer a literal "City of Tomorrow". While I definitely enjoyed the futuristic aesthetic, and sorta miss having it in the background, it was was probably about time for it to go.
This issue really illustrated the use of "inaction" as a means of getting something done. I think that so often in superhero comics, the characters are preoccupied with "being the change" that they sometimes lose sight of the potentially detrimental result of their actions. Bringing in an outsider like Mr. Majestic is a really good way of playing with that notion.
An outsider who nobody can truly vouch for suggests the heroes do... nothing... while a horrendous Time Storm rages above the city. You can see how "off" that sounds. Would it make any sense to simply trust Mr. Majestic and take him at his word? Probably not. Just because he sorta sounds like Superman, doesn't mean that he's got the same moral code. Hell, he doesn't even really explain his theory either... not in any fleshed-out kinda way, anyway.
It's hard to imagine the white-coats at S.T.A.R. just standing back and letting this "happen". It's like, streets, overpasses, buildings, and tram stations are just vanishing... how much sense does it make to just let this go down? That's probably the key strength of this arc. Nobody is "wrong" in their position... except maybe Lois, who is basing Mr. Majestic's "goodness" on a severe bout of projection. Luckily it all works out... but, consider this... it just as easily might not have. What if Majestic was a terrible villain? What if he was a messenger from the WildStorm Universe with designs on/orders to destroying the DC Universe?
I know we have him acting heroically when we meet him... but it could be argued (or at least posited) that, at that point, Majestic didn't realize he was on an alternate Earth. It isn't until he notices the "smell" of the air halfway through the story that he realizes he's not "home" anymore. All's I'm saying is... this could've gone badly, and all because he reminded Lois of her husband.
At our conclusion, I thought it was pretty cool that Majestic would be remaining in the "real" DC Universe for a spell. I pictured him joining up with a team or something... but it really wasn't to be. This came out in 2004, not too far before Infinite Crisis which reestablished the Multiverse, where WildStorm would be designated as Earth-50. By then, Majestic would have already had his miniseries and had made his return "home".
The art here is still kind of a mixed bag. I really don't like the way many of the characters look... like, especially Lois... however, I will say that as far as backgrounds and architecture are concerned, they knocked it out of the park! We get several one-and-two page spreads here, however unlike Part One, they actually felt necessary here... and they were great!
Overall, this was a really good little three-parter, and a fun month of Superman comics (which don't actually feature Superman!). Well worth a read, especially if you were turned off by the "City of Tomorrow" era of Metropolis and wanted to know how and when that all went away!
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Homage "Lenticular":
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