Stephanie Kay
Oct 11, 2007, 05:33 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=10082" target="_blank"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/ujv2-1t.jpg" alt="Astonishing X-Men #14" hspace=10 align=left></a> Reviewer: Zach Ayotte, zachzealand@gmail.com
Story Title: Enemies of the Crown
The People Who Run the World
Writer: Christos N. Gage
Artist: Mike Perkins
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Inker: Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Laura Villari
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Editor in Chief:Joe Quesada
Publisher:Dan Buckley
Published By: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
Let’s face it, if you’re a flag waving, personification-of-your-country type super hero, now is your time to shine. Thanks to writers like Mark Millar and Brian K. Vaughan, the politically charged comic book is the new black. So if you’re Union Jack, a gun-toting Englishman who paints houses by day, then it might be time to put the vampires behind you and try to tackle a foe that is more rampant in this day and age: terrorism. This is exactly what writer Christos N. Gage does in the first issue of the limited series Union Jack.
As our story opens, we get a brief glimpse of Union Jack’s life on the other side of the mask. It is barely surface scratching as far as characterization goes, but it quickly establishes that Union Jack is not Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t even come close. When Joey Chapman isn’t being Union Jack, he’s a guy who has a job, a few friends, and a few pints. He’s your neighbour, or your brother, or you. Chapman’s position as one of the common people is an important part of the story and plays a key role in the ending of this issue. As a result, Gage’s decision to open the story with Chapman as himself rather than as Union Jack is a good one. It gives the reader a sense of follow through and makes the last pages more poignant.
For the rest of the book, with the exception of a few maskless panels, Joey Chapman is Union Jack. We get into the thick of things quite quickly, as Jack is introduced to his supporting cast of B and C-listers, the various gadgets that are required for any spy story (including the obligatory flying car), and the mission that will keep him busy for the next four issues. One of those supporting characters is Sabra, who I have always found to be an interesting and underused character and her appearance in this book was a nice surprise. She allows Gage to further sharpen the edge of current-day realism that he giving this book. Pairing an Israeli super-soldier with a Saudi operative gives Gage the opportunity to play with current issues and make it clear to the reader that this mini-series is not about vampires. As a reader, though, I found the pairing a bit too contrived. Gage does his best to make the addition of both characters seem natural but it still feels like a combination generated purely for the conflict and the political relevance rather than the actual relevance it has to the story.
Gage makes it clear over the course of this book that the magnitude and the stakes of this situation are not equivalent to what Jack is used to. Jack makes a point of saying that the Avengers or the Fantastic Four should be called in to handle this. As a result, when Jack makes the mistake that he makes at the end, it feels supported. Union Jack is not a member of the Avengers and as a result may be more prone to making a few mistakes (although the Avengers sure have their share of mistakes). It was nice to see Gage acknowledge this, rather than make Jack’s mission relatively flawless.
The biggest issue I had with this book was its lack of characterization. By the end of this issue, it is clear that this story is character driven. The characters themselves, though, feel somewhat two-dimensional and as a result, some of the key moments in this story lack the punch that they would otherwise have. Had there been more development of Navid Hashim and Sabra, their conflict might have had greater tensions and felt less manufactured. Having said that, I recognize that this is a four-issue mini-series and that Gage likely did not have a lot of room to play with. Using more easily recognizable archetypal characters allows him to save time while still giving the reader some sense of the players in the story.
Mike Perkins provides the pencils for this story and his work companions Gage’s story nicely. He does an excellent job of telling this story and gives us some very strong pages. To me, Perkins’ strength in this book is the way he handles exterior settings. His various panels with London in the background are beautifully done. He also has a knack for giving his character’s very distinguishable, very distinctive faces. Some artists draw all of their characters the same way, making slight changes only to the hair and the eyes. Perkins’ is clearly no such artist. His characters are not replicas of each other and are easily discernible from each other.
This issue was a solid read. While there were a few rough edges, there were no loose threads. Gage’s story about a terrorist plot in London feels current and real. He manages to intertwine elements of the super-hero story and the spy story to diversify the world that Union Jack is used to. The plot twists are not overly sharp but they are present. The lack of character depth is noticeable but forgivable given the length of this series. The next issue may also delve a little deeper into Jack’s personality, given the ending of this issue. All we know for sure is that for Union Jack, the vampire hunter turned terror queller, London is falling and it might be his fault.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg
Buy Union Jack online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2444&cat=UNION+JACK)
Story Title: Enemies of the Crown
The People Who Run the World
Writer: Christos N. Gage
Artist: Mike Perkins
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Inker: Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Laura Villari
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Editor in Chief:Joe Quesada
Publisher:Dan Buckley
Published By: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
Let’s face it, if you’re a flag waving, personification-of-your-country type super hero, now is your time to shine. Thanks to writers like Mark Millar and Brian K. Vaughan, the politically charged comic book is the new black. So if you’re Union Jack, a gun-toting Englishman who paints houses by day, then it might be time to put the vampires behind you and try to tackle a foe that is more rampant in this day and age: terrorism. This is exactly what writer Christos N. Gage does in the first issue of the limited series Union Jack.
As our story opens, we get a brief glimpse of Union Jack’s life on the other side of the mask. It is barely surface scratching as far as characterization goes, but it quickly establishes that Union Jack is not Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t even come close. When Joey Chapman isn’t being Union Jack, he’s a guy who has a job, a few friends, and a few pints. He’s your neighbour, or your brother, or you. Chapman’s position as one of the common people is an important part of the story and plays a key role in the ending of this issue. As a result, Gage’s decision to open the story with Chapman as himself rather than as Union Jack is a good one. It gives the reader a sense of follow through and makes the last pages more poignant.
For the rest of the book, with the exception of a few maskless panels, Joey Chapman is Union Jack. We get into the thick of things quite quickly, as Jack is introduced to his supporting cast of B and C-listers, the various gadgets that are required for any spy story (including the obligatory flying car), and the mission that will keep him busy for the next four issues. One of those supporting characters is Sabra, who I have always found to be an interesting and underused character and her appearance in this book was a nice surprise. She allows Gage to further sharpen the edge of current-day realism that he giving this book. Pairing an Israeli super-soldier with a Saudi operative gives Gage the opportunity to play with current issues and make it clear to the reader that this mini-series is not about vampires. As a reader, though, I found the pairing a bit too contrived. Gage does his best to make the addition of both characters seem natural but it still feels like a combination generated purely for the conflict and the political relevance rather than the actual relevance it has to the story.
Gage makes it clear over the course of this book that the magnitude and the stakes of this situation are not equivalent to what Jack is used to. Jack makes a point of saying that the Avengers or the Fantastic Four should be called in to handle this. As a result, when Jack makes the mistake that he makes at the end, it feels supported. Union Jack is not a member of the Avengers and as a result may be more prone to making a few mistakes (although the Avengers sure have their share of mistakes). It was nice to see Gage acknowledge this, rather than make Jack’s mission relatively flawless.
The biggest issue I had with this book was its lack of characterization. By the end of this issue, it is clear that this story is character driven. The characters themselves, though, feel somewhat two-dimensional and as a result, some of the key moments in this story lack the punch that they would otherwise have. Had there been more development of Navid Hashim and Sabra, their conflict might have had greater tensions and felt less manufactured. Having said that, I recognize that this is a four-issue mini-series and that Gage likely did not have a lot of room to play with. Using more easily recognizable archetypal characters allows him to save time while still giving the reader some sense of the players in the story.
Mike Perkins provides the pencils for this story and his work companions Gage’s story nicely. He does an excellent job of telling this story and gives us some very strong pages. To me, Perkins’ strength in this book is the way he handles exterior settings. His various panels with London in the background are beautifully done. He also has a knack for giving his character’s very distinguishable, very distinctive faces. Some artists draw all of their characters the same way, making slight changes only to the hair and the eyes. Perkins’ is clearly no such artist. His characters are not replicas of each other and are easily discernible from each other.
This issue was a solid read. While there were a few rough edges, there were no loose threads. Gage’s story about a terrorist plot in London feels current and real. He manages to intertwine elements of the super-hero story and the spy story to diversify the world that Union Jack is used to. The plot twists are not overly sharp but they are present. The lack of character depth is noticeable but forgivable given the length of this series. The next issue may also delve a little deeper into Jack’s personality, given the ending of this issue. All we know for sure is that for Union Jack, the vampire hunter turned terror queller, London is falling and it might be his fault.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg
Buy Union Jack online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2444&cat=UNION+JACK)