Brett White
Mar 24, 2008, 10:12 am
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0308/ORDR009_col.jpg"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0308/ORDR009_colt.jpg" alt="The Order #9" hspace=10 align=left></a> Reviewer: Brett White, brett.stephen.white@gmail.com
Story Title: 9: Dennis --or--Bad Moon Rising
”I can’t be the kind of #@$@# you’ll need me to be.”
Writer: Matt Fraction
Breakdowns: Barry Kitson
Pencils: Javier Saltares
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano & Derek Fridolfs
Colors: Sotocolor’s J. Roberts
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Supervising Editor: Warren Simons
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
The Order has been a pleasant surprise since its debut last year. The strong characters and innovative issue structure has caused this to be one of my select few must read comics and a true standout amidst the controversy and crossovers dominating the rest of the Marvel Universe. Where New Warriors fails at characterization through constantly changing and bland character designs, this book has excelled by dedicating each issue to a specific member. Now, by the ninth issue, I feel like I know more about Anthem and Mulholland Black than I know about the character claiming to be Beak over in Warriors. This series has the unique voice, original characters, and skewed take on the Marvel Universe that past greats like Slingers and Runaways had and now, with next issue, it has their premature ending as well. I can’t imagine why more readers didn’t try this book out. Are we so insular a comic buying public that we refuse to pay attention to any of the new offerings Marvel is giving us? Unlike rock bands who continue to release new albums to groans and winces forty years into their career, writers are creating great new characters for this company and these books are selling comparatively about as well as the last Chicago album.
As with last issue, Fraction is continuing his warp speed wrap up of all of his plotlines. The signs were there last month, but I found the quick resolutions to be satisfying and humorous; for once I was glad to see the heroes figure the scheme out at the same time or a step before I did. This month the comic practically has anime-style speed lines shooting out of it. The story is rushed, the signature framing sequence is nearly abandoned, and the art completely falls apart by the last page.
The recap page is quite lengthy and was necessary to read this month. While all of the information was actually shown in the series (something that doesn’t always happen in the New Avengers recaps), the amount of detail and matter of fact tone really leaped out to me as if to say “here’s everything we’ve ever printed because we’re addressing all of it before the plug gets pulled.” After that, we’re launched almost immediately into battle as Zeke Stane goes from a last page cameo to a full-on Dr. Doom wannabe. His plans, or what his henchmen think his plans are, aren’t so clear. One says that Stane is going to give everybody super-powers but Stane later says he wants to use make everyone in Los Angeles kill themselves. I feel like there was probably a bit more information that Fraction would have tossed in this issue had this arc been the four-to-six issues it was probably going to be. There isn’t even any room for transitions. The scenes jump around almost haphazardly without a narration box or framing sequence to guide the way. I was quite confused to go from Stane standing over Mulholland’s body to The Order getting attacked by a whole mess of Softlys.
The transitions would have been aided by the intercutting of the main story with Heavy’s interviews. Now with only two issues left, Fraction ditches one of the most captivating parts of the book to make room for plot and punches. It’s sad, really, because I feel like I could have learned a lot more about Heavy to make the events of the last page even more suspenseful. As it is, I leave the issue feeling like the featured character is a stranger, which is something that hasn’t happened yet in this series.
That being said, the art during the one interview session is surprisingly strong. Guest artist Javier Saltares crams a lot of desperation into Heavy’s last blink, showing that he is capable of decent art. And then it all gets weird. I can’t think of another comic that is such an obvious rush job. The art starts off very much in line with the style Barry Kitson started and maintains it for the first half of the book. I can only assume that this is where the second credited inker takes over, but the art drops so greatly in quality that it might as well be another artist entirely (Saltares is the sole credited penciler while Kitson provided breakdowns, so I assume every page is Saltares’ art). The art looks sloppier and you’ll be hard pressed to find an actual background during any of the fight scenes from this point on. The last page is truly an eyesore since Henry Hellrung, a man easily nearing middle age, looks like three completely different teenagers in three panels.
If Fraction hadn’t been forced to wrap all of the storylines up, I feel like this issue could have been a lot better. Still, the previous issues were strong enough on characterization that this one doesn’t feel completely destroyed by the crunch the creative team is obviously under. This is probably the weakest issue of the series, but it’s still one of the top three best team books currently being published by Marvel. It’s a shame to see it go.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg
Buy The Order online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2746&cat=ORDER)
Story Title: 9: Dennis --or--Bad Moon Rising
”I can’t be the kind of #@$@# you’ll need me to be.”
Writer: Matt Fraction
Breakdowns: Barry Kitson
Pencils: Javier Saltares
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano & Derek Fridolfs
Colors: Sotocolor’s J. Roberts
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Supervising Editor: Warren Simons
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
The Order has been a pleasant surprise since its debut last year. The strong characters and innovative issue structure has caused this to be one of my select few must read comics and a true standout amidst the controversy and crossovers dominating the rest of the Marvel Universe. Where New Warriors fails at characterization through constantly changing and bland character designs, this book has excelled by dedicating each issue to a specific member. Now, by the ninth issue, I feel like I know more about Anthem and Mulholland Black than I know about the character claiming to be Beak over in Warriors. This series has the unique voice, original characters, and skewed take on the Marvel Universe that past greats like Slingers and Runaways had and now, with next issue, it has their premature ending as well. I can’t imagine why more readers didn’t try this book out. Are we so insular a comic buying public that we refuse to pay attention to any of the new offerings Marvel is giving us? Unlike rock bands who continue to release new albums to groans and winces forty years into their career, writers are creating great new characters for this company and these books are selling comparatively about as well as the last Chicago album.
As with last issue, Fraction is continuing his warp speed wrap up of all of his plotlines. The signs were there last month, but I found the quick resolutions to be satisfying and humorous; for once I was glad to see the heroes figure the scheme out at the same time or a step before I did. This month the comic practically has anime-style speed lines shooting out of it. The story is rushed, the signature framing sequence is nearly abandoned, and the art completely falls apart by the last page.
The recap page is quite lengthy and was necessary to read this month. While all of the information was actually shown in the series (something that doesn’t always happen in the New Avengers recaps), the amount of detail and matter of fact tone really leaped out to me as if to say “here’s everything we’ve ever printed because we’re addressing all of it before the plug gets pulled.” After that, we’re launched almost immediately into battle as Zeke Stane goes from a last page cameo to a full-on Dr. Doom wannabe. His plans, or what his henchmen think his plans are, aren’t so clear. One says that Stane is going to give everybody super-powers but Stane later says he wants to use make everyone in Los Angeles kill themselves. I feel like there was probably a bit more information that Fraction would have tossed in this issue had this arc been the four-to-six issues it was probably going to be. There isn’t even any room for transitions. The scenes jump around almost haphazardly without a narration box or framing sequence to guide the way. I was quite confused to go from Stane standing over Mulholland’s body to The Order getting attacked by a whole mess of Softlys.
The transitions would have been aided by the intercutting of the main story with Heavy’s interviews. Now with only two issues left, Fraction ditches one of the most captivating parts of the book to make room for plot and punches. It’s sad, really, because I feel like I could have learned a lot more about Heavy to make the events of the last page even more suspenseful. As it is, I leave the issue feeling like the featured character is a stranger, which is something that hasn’t happened yet in this series.
That being said, the art during the one interview session is surprisingly strong. Guest artist Javier Saltares crams a lot of desperation into Heavy’s last blink, showing that he is capable of decent art. And then it all gets weird. I can’t think of another comic that is such an obvious rush job. The art starts off very much in line with the style Barry Kitson started and maintains it for the first half of the book. I can only assume that this is where the second credited inker takes over, but the art drops so greatly in quality that it might as well be another artist entirely (Saltares is the sole credited penciler while Kitson provided breakdowns, so I assume every page is Saltares’ art). The art looks sloppier and you’ll be hard pressed to find an actual background during any of the fight scenes from this point on. The last page is truly an eyesore since Henry Hellrung, a man easily nearing middle age, looks like three completely different teenagers in three panels.
If Fraction hadn’t been forced to wrap all of the storylines up, I feel like this issue could have been a lot better. Still, the previous issues were strong enough on characterization that this one doesn’t feel completely destroyed by the crunch the creative team is obviously under. This is probably the weakest issue of the series, but it’s still one of the top three best team books currently being published by Marvel. It’s a shame to see it go.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mnone.jpg
Buy The Order online now from X-WORLD and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2746&cat=ORDER)