Marvelous Possibilities

by Brandon

Marvel's announcement that they own Marvelman at the San Diego Comic Con in late July 2009 was a welcome surprise for many fans. Why? Because Marvelman has been in legal purgatory for many, many years. That is the Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman version. Though it's still not clear whether that paramount work or not remains under Marvel's publishing purview or not, it is clear that Marvel can does plan on publishing new Marvelman material. I can just see the line queuing up outside Joe Quesada's office in New York with writers chomping at his heels to get a chance to write this character. But who are these writers?

I submit to you my humble list of writers who I think should, could, and probably would tackle Marvel's newly minted Marvelman.


Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman comes to mind immediately. I think that it is highly probable that Marvel will get Gaiman for an arc or two, maybe even a miniseries. They wouldn't get him for longer, but he's been involved in this whole legal process for a while. He also wrote Marvel's 1602 in the hopes of funding said legal battle. It would have been fruitless of him to have spent such time and effort in this process to not get a shot at writing Marvelman in any form. It would be great if he could continue and finish the story he started, but it would also be awesome if he did anything with the material. I think Marvel would at least give him the initial stab at writing Marvelman, perhaps by launching with a miniseries.They have a good working relationship that I don't see hindering Gaiman's inclusion.
Vegas Odds: Marvel publishing books with an "X" on the front cover.

Mark Millar
Though he's pretty busy these days, Mark Millar can bring a crowd to pretty much anything. I think Millar could do a good job with the Marvelman character, but he has to realize sensationalizing this character just doesn't seem right. He has a penchant to make things be a bit too dramatic. Millar can definitely bring pizazz, for better or worse, when it comes to writing comic books. He's a staple around Marvel and one of two jewels (along with Bendis) in modern Marvel's crown.
Vegas Odds: Ultimate Captain America insults France again.

Grant Morrison
Wishful thinking on my part, but damn it could be cool to see Grant Morrison on this title. However, Morrison seems to be content at Dc doing whatever the hell it is he is doing this month. I don't think Marvel would give Morrison the total freedom to be as deliciously weird as he could be with Marvelman.
Vegas Odds: Final Crisis becoming readable.


Brian Michael Bendis
Bendis would be the safe bet for Marvel since he's kind of their "go to guy" for all things big, but I doubt anything of interest would happen due to his allergy to adding immediacy to his comics. He's a good writer, but I just don't think he gets characters like this. Like I said of Millar, he's a staple of modern Marvel. Chances are he gets a crack at this character, but that's only after Gaiman passes on the job or moves on after completion of his story.
Vegas Odds: Already writing 83% of Marvel books.

Jeph Loeb
Oy. Marvel's been giving this guy a ton of work lately. I'm only familiar with the Ultimatum side of the equation, but man, that book sucks badly. Yet... Marvel seem to be very keen on him now. If you read anything coming out from the house of ideas, they just love this guy! I don't even think that's P.R. They seem to be genuinely pleased with his current output even though it's late and many fans deride it as being on par with watching a Michael Bay movie. But he sales comic books.
Vegas Odds: Blob eating Wasp's guts out with chocolate syrup on top. And sprinkles!

Mike Carey
Carey is kind of a pick from left field on this property, but he's a solid writer. He's proven himself with numerous titles, but may be too busy for a turn at Marvelman between X-Men: Legacy and The Unwritten. However, his style seems like it would fit in perfectly with at least the Moore and Gaiman run.
Vegas Odds: Emma Frost starts wearing sensible, frumpish clothes.


Brian K. Vaughn
Vaughn is another "out there" pick since he seems to be more on the way out of the comic book medium in lieu of television and movies. However, with the recent announcement that he would not be on this season of Lost, Vaughn might have some free time in the future to pursue a comic book comeback. This probably would never happen, but I would love to see more from Vaughn and this would be a great chance for a double return; Marvelman's back, and so is Brian K. Vaughn.
Vegas Odds: Y the Last Man movie shot as a porn.

Matt Fraction
Matt Fraction is another guy who is getting a ton of work at Marvel these days. His work at Marvel thus far has been good, but not great. I just don't think Fraction has enough clout in the industry yet to pull off an assignment like this. His rise to prominence seems too fast. There's been absolutely nothing in his previous work that I think would even put him in the same league as Alan Moore or Ne4il Gaiman. I think he could pull the Marvel fans in, but that's pretty much the extent of his drawing power. Yet... hes gotten some pretty high profile assignments as of late. Matt Fraction is someone to watch in all of this.
Vegas Odds: Spider-Man appearing by issue three.

Alan Moore
I know. Yeah, right. This would probably never happen, but damn it would sweet, wouldn't it. Alan Moore doesn't strike me as someone who revisits the past much if ever, and Marvelman seems like the distant past for him.
Vegas Odds: Quasar becomes first book in years to sell over a million units.
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Trades Wait For Me...Y: The Last Man

by Doug Smith

One of the benefits of falling behind – way, way behind – on reading the big stack of trade paperbacks on my shelf is that I can read multiple volumes of a series in a row. Since I knew that Vertigo’s Y: The Last Man series was coming to a close with issue 60, I elected to hold off on reading the series until it was done. The tenth and final trade paperback of the series came out a few weeks ago, so I finally sat down and read all ten volumes over the course of one week (I had read the first three volumes as they were released). And wow, what a reading experience it turned out to be! By this time I’m sure you’ve all heard what an amazing series writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra gave us, but in case you’re not sold, let me offer you this:

“Soldiers and spacemen, cowboys and ninjas, pirates and robots.”

That’s right, this series has all of the above. I didn’t even realize it until Yorick Brown, the star of the series, reminisced about his adventures. He encountered all of the above, and it’s to Vaughan’s credit that he skillfully wove all of those disparate elements into one brilliant series. All of the things we loved to play at as children; I’m just amazed he didn’t find a way to mix some dinosaur action in there as well.

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Over the course of sixty issues, Y: The Last Man follows Yorick, the last man on Earth thanks to a mysterious plague (referred to as the “gendercide”) that kills every other man. Humans aren’t the only ones affected though; the only other male mammal to survive is Yorick’s pet monkey, Ampersand. What kept these two alive? That’s the answer that Yorick and his female companions, Dr. Mann and Agent 355, must find if the human race is to have any hope of surviving past the current generation

Their journey takes them from America’s east coast to its west coast, and then on to Japan, Australia, and finally France. There are echoes of The Odyssey, as they have to overcome one obstacle after another along the way. Since the series progresses in a semblance of real time, there is also a huge passage of time; the first 59 issues cover five years in the lives of our heroes, as they struggle (much like Odysseus) to travel in a world where mass transportation has collapsed. It’s a nice thematic element in a work that features a supporting character named Hero, and a lead named after one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters.


Vaughan very effectively puts an end to the old “if the world was run by women, there would be no wars” argument; given the chance to run the world, women prove themselves to be just as power-hungry and paranoid as their male counterparts. Society completely breaks down in the days following the gendercide; the early issues have a sense of horror about them as the survivors try to make sense of what has happened. Some women join the ultra-militaristic Amazons, while some others try to salvage what’s left of the world’s governments. With no men left, most of the world’s infrastructure collapses It’s not that women aren’t capable of doing the jobs that were performed by men, but it was an infrastructure designed, implemented, and staffed by men; women simply weren’t in the positions and given the training to step in and replace the fallen men. How many women are currently in the U.S. government, or working as police officers, or airline pilots? To Vaughan’s credit, society fares better where women had been given equal opportunity to serve alongside men (as seen with the arrival of the Australian navy).


Along with the three lead characters, there is a large cast of supporting characters who play roles of varying importance; everybody is given a distinct personality and you find yourself caring deeply for people who only appear in a handful of issues. The dialogue is sharp and real, and there is a rich vein of humor throughout the book’s run; the Russian agent Natalya and her mangling of English are particularly amusing.

Pia Guerra was a new name to me when this series launched; she handles the majority of the penciling duties over sixty issues, with an early fill-in from Paul Chadwick, and regular fill-ins from Goran Sudzuka later in the run. Jose Marzan Jr. inks all sixty issues, giving a consistency to the series that may have been lacking otherwise. But the real artistic star is Guerra; her work reminds me of Steve Dillon in that it is deceptively simple. There’s not a lot of “flash” here, very little that will knock you out and make you say “wow” at first glance, but her storytelling sense is exceptional, and that’s what I want from an artist, more than anything else: tell the damn story! And she does, and she excels at conveying emotion in her characters. And yes, she can do stunning, highly-detailed work too, as a two-page spread of Paris in the final issue breathtakingly proves.


I won’t give away any more information for fear of spoilers; I will say, however, that when we recently had a roundtable discussion about comics that made you cry, I didn’t have a ready answer. After reading the final issue of this remarkable series, I have to admit…I was a little choked up. Vaughan brings all of his characters and plot threads home with some really clever storytelling tricks and one of the most heartbreaking goodbyes I’ve ever seen, and this issue really puts the “plus” in this book’s final grade: A+

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