Comic talk: more HoM and Ms.Marvel

Catching up on Marvel Comics... Life kinda distracted me for a little while.

As I was saying to The Walrus Himself in one of my previous comment lists, the Fantastic Four/Iron Man House of M specials weren't anything to write home about. Or as I like to put it, "for fans only." Go ahead and give the main HoM limited series a read and then decide if you're interested in this alternate universe. Here's a quick rundown:

**Warning: may contain spoilers**

Fantastic Four/Iron Man: House of M
Both titles were given 3-part mini-series during to tie-into the big House of M event at Marvel Comics in the summer of 2005. What does that mean for guys who took the "wait for the trade" attitude? It means neither of the stories are thick enough to make itself into a collected edition. Marvel solves that problem by including all 6 issues into this volume.

The F4 are hardly recognizable in their HoM incarnation and instead of being Richards et al, it's Dr.Doom and several characters that sort of touch on versions of supporting cast from the regular Marvel Universe. For instance Kristoff is back - this time as a version of Human Torch. The only character who's pretty much the same guy (except uglier, if that's possible) was the Thing. And Doom himself, in a twist of irony, actually has a metallic body taken right out of the live-action Fanstic Four movie of the same year. Ugh.

Now considering all the "alternate universe" stories I've read in my lifetime (and I've been a comics fan for most of that life time), I'm prepare to let a bit of ridiculousness slide. What I cannot tolerate is a comic that talks down to me. It seems to me that the script intentionally set to allow for upwards of a month to pass by between each issue. Character dialogue practically introduced every character repetively every 22 pages. It made me feel extremely stupid. Worse: the proof of how dull this story was - despite being constantly reminded of who everyone was, I still can't remember what their names were.

The Iron Man half was slightly better. It deals with Tony Stark and how he is known as the most HoM world's most successful human. He's got money and basically runs around being the same guy he is in the normal Marvel Universe: but with a lot less responsibility. You like big mecha battles? You guessed it, Pat Lee of the short-lived Transformers comics revival is back and does a stellar job on the crazy redesigns for the Iron Man tech. I still have a problem with his anime-wannabe humans, but nobody can touch his 'bots.

As for the story itself - it rather ties-in nicely... you feel like it actually contributes something to the HoM world (since it does introduce their version of Iron Man) whereas the Fantastic Four tie-in seemed to go nowhere fast. That is, the ending leaves Doom pretty much in the same place he was (powerless against Magneto) as when the story started. It's a damn shame that Marvel didn't capitalize on this fact: Tony is one of those Avengers who doesn't remember the alternate reality. A little bit of editorial coordination could've changed that dramatically.


Bonus review:
Ms Marvel #1
She's been a second stringer in the Marvel Universe for an eternity. Most people could've even tell you who she was. In general, think of her as Marvel's version of Supergirl... even though it seeems they can't even seem to get that right thanks to all the revamps she's gotten over the years.

Well, during House of M, our heroine gets a taste of the big time. She's pretty much the only non-mutant hero operatining in HoM New York. Coming back to normal Marvel Universe, and being one of the few who remember the "other" world, Carol Danvers decides it's high time that she "be all she be." Cue Marvel to publish her first solo book in decades.

The first issue is spent fleshing out her character. It rehashes a bit of older material but it's all concise and fairly quick even for older readers. Carol is having coffee with Jessica Drew (the original Spider-Woman from the 70's) and moaning over how inadequate she's been feeling. Flashbacks include a battle with Stiltman (I'm not kidding) and a visit with a prospective publicist (I'm still not kidding). And it tops off with a great cliffhanger featuring a new threat to Earth we haven't seen in quite some time - it involves a certain alien race we've seen before... very cool.

Y'know - in my younger years I would've bitched a little about the artwork. Ms.Marvel's costume just screams sexy to the fanboy crowd (if not for Jim Lee's current exclusive with DC, I'd complain to Marvel for not signing him for this title). But in all honesty, I've gotten beyond that and Roberto de la Torre has a decent way with montage work suitable for quiet scenes like the coffee shop talk. His action scenes are a little on the blocky side but that might be the inking more than the actual pencils. I don't know. It's not ugly, and that's all that really matters at the moment. We'll see if issue 2 can lighten it up a little. I give this one a thumbs up - has lots of potential for a new series starting up.