Thunderbolts (2006) #147

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Poor Parker… they stuck him with an Avengers Academy crossover. It’s set up like a “scared straight” thing for superheroes and it’s an idiotic idea. The story shows all the reasons it’s totally unbelievable anyone would willy-nilly stroll around the Raft.

And having Hank Pym as a tour guide doesn’t sound safe.

Parker uses John Walker’s situational report as the narration and it kind of works… Parker can’t do the badass Luke Cage scenes though. He has one here and it flops.

The cliffhanger gets a quick resolution (at least it feels quick) and there’s some hints Crossbones will be in for some trouble soon. But the Thunderbolts really aren’t part of this issue after that resolution. Instead, it’s Luke and Walker. Maybe one other guy, but I don’t even remember who… Juggernaut?

It’s like Parker surrendered the issue to the crossover without even trying to make it work.

Thunderbolts (2006) #146

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Once again with the Walker art… he does fine during the battle scene, but when he’s doing anything else, it’s absolutely rancid. I’m not sure why, but during regular scenes, he draws Luke as mildly deformed, like one of the Un-Men.

This issue again has the Thunderbolts fighting monsters. I wasn’t aware they were the Ghostbusters of the Marvel Universe, but so far… it seems like it. Probably because putting them up again human villains, one might have to consider Crossbones is a neo-Nazi. It makes it a little hard to believe he’s taking orders from Luke Cage. I guess the Marvel Universe is post-racial.

Parker does all right—the fight scene is better than the rest of the book. It often reads like Man-Thing is the only character Parker really enjoys writing. Maybe if it were a MAX title (it should be), it’d be better.

Thunderbolts (2006) #145

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Okay, Parker’s getting the series on course here. It’s not perfect—Thunderbolts is still kind of a stupid idea (doesn’t DC have their own Thunderbolts series now too—or is it Suicide Squad again, which Thunderbolts ripped off)—but it’s a lot better.

Walker continues to annoy, at least until they get to the big action sequence in the second half and then he’s an asset. Just two pages before, during the briefing, he’s weak on talking heads. And when he has John Walker (U.S. Agent) show up as Luke’s supervisor… wow, does Walker draw buff blond guys bad (he drew Steve Rogers identically in the first issue).

The previous issue’s cliffhanger turns out to be a stupid ruse; if they’d just done a double-sized issue, combining this one and the previous, it’d have started the arc out on good footing. Instead, this issue feels Parker’s playing catch-up.

Thunderbolts (2006) #144

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Wow, if Thunderbolts is so unbelievably stupid with a good writer like Jeff Parker on it, what’s it like when it’s got some regular Marvel hack writing?

It’s actually a good example of how a comic book has to visually flow together. When Baron Zemo shows up at the end, it just looks stupid. Sure, some of it is Kev Walker’s artwork—which I’d never seen before and it reminds me a little of Ed McGuinness but without any enthusiasm for superheroes. Walker’s style is a mix between McGuinness and a misanthropic Sam Kieth. It’s not just a matter of taste—Walker’s clearly incapable of putting Parker’s script on the page.

Parker’s got this big movie moment of Luke Cage jumping out of a plane to make an entrance and it just flops.

Then there’s the visually awkward prison tour.

It’s not all Walker’s fault, he just makes it worse.

Atlas (2010) #5

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So, either Parker wanted the story to go six issues or eight. It’s hard to tell. I imagine if it had gone at least six, he wouldn’t have needed the three pages of text he uses in this one to move the story along. As a prose writer… Parker should stick to comic scripting.

As for the final issue… it’s a little defeatist. I imagine Marvel’s unsympathetic to another Atlas series, but Parker kind of throws in the towel for the final few pages.

Nice work all around though—Rosanas and Hardman do well—so does Parker one a story he pencils and inks. Actually, I think Hardman has the most problems, but he’s got the most compressed part of the story.

There are some really good moments in here for the team (Bob’s very non-traditional superhero is a surprise).

I just wish it’d been a stronger series overall.

Atlas (2010) #4

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Poor Bob. This issue reveals he’s really a lot more alien than he’s let anyone know, keeping his appearance hidden. Parker hinted at it in the Gorilla-Man series, but it didn’t make sense until this issue.

But that revelation is just another reason to love Agents of Atlas. Parker does a beautiful job on the humanity of his characters, it’s just fabulous.

Once again, he changes gears and Atlas works again. A little action to resolve last issue’s cliffhanger (Mr. Lao helps) and then some thinking and investigating and then Rosanas takes over the next part of the story. It might have worked better if Parker had used that breakdown each issue (Hardman handles one half, Rosanas another).

The story’s moving in an unexpected DC “Crisis on Multiple Earths” direction… it reveals, once again, Atlas is a great DC series at Marvel.

Parker and company produce a fantastic issue.

Atlas (2010) #3

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Huh. It’s hard to say what Parker’s doing or why.

He basically drags a quarter of an issue’s worth of story out to an entire issue—the bad guys infiltrate the Atlas headquarters, nothing else important happens. He ends it on a hard cliffhanger with Venus shot and Namora possessed. There’s some investigation into 3-D Man’s story (I’m still not sold on how good an addition he is for the series) but it’s drawn out.

It does give Hardman a wide variety of things to draw… but that opportunity shouldn’t dictate the narrative.

Parker’s still got the enthusiasm for the characters (3-D Man’s presence aside), but I can’t say the same thing for his plotting. It’s like the Atlas backups in Hercules changed up his pacing style.

Atlas feels off.

The Rosanas illustrated backup about M-11, however, is a lovely little recap of M-11’s origin.

Atlas (2010) #2

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There’s the Atlas I love. Parker brings back everything great about the series (the serious tone with the humor, Mr. Lao having something going on he forgets to tell Jimmy about) and adds 3-D Man to the roster.

The issue’s pretty simple—we get an introduction to the team as 3-D Man tries to escape (including some additional revelations about Venus), an origin recap, then a mission for the team and a set-up for the next issue.

What’s wrong has nothing to do with the content (Hardman gets some beautiful stuff to draw this issue). No, it’s when it’s happening in the series run. This issue is a first issue, not a second. 3-D Man becomes very likable here, not puzzling like he was in the previous issue.

The backup, illustrated by Rosanas, is also very nice. It’s not so much fun as just well-executed.

Atlas (2010) #1

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Parker does something very strange for the first issue of Atlas. He barely features them. There’s a backup with the team in the fifties, which helps, but the primary story belongs to 3-D Man, a character I’m unfamiliar with.

He’s got ties to the fifties too, so I guess he sort of works, but giving him the entire issue doesn’t.

Also, Parker has a very strange narration for it. He narrates with 3-D Man talking to, near as I can tell without going back and checking, a guy in a coma. Except, of course, he’s talking to the guy in his head, not in actuality.

Some of the writing is strong as usual, but it’s as though Parker willfully sucked all the charm out of an Agents of Atlas title. It’s a shocking choice.

As always, lovely art from Hardman… he just doesn’t have anything interesting to draw.

Gorilla-Man (2010) #3

Parker plays fast and loose with the logic for the conclusion. Not for the flashbacks–which is careful not to overlap the previous Gorilla-Man origin–but for the modern stuff. It ends on a strange note, showing Ken to maybe be Parker’s strongest Agent of Atlas. He’s able to make profound statements and tell crude jokes and have it work.

The looseness is to get the story done quickly. The pacing is good, but Parker could have used another issue. The flashback material is compelling and begs for more attention. Some questions frustratingly go unanswered–even in the modern part, a side effect of the loose logic.

There’s a lot of brief action too. Caracuzzo has a great scene with Ken knocking people around with a giant log.

I can’t believe I forgot–it opens with Ken talking to a gorilla. For some reason, it’s a beautiful, quiet scene.

Parker does a fine job.