Dark Reign #1 Impressions
Posted by: Jon Haehnle on December 10, 2008 at 1:40 am
Is this really the same Bendis & Maleev who had that great (some would say classic) run on Daredevil? And more to the point, the Illuminati special I enjoyed?
Plot-wise, the scenario for the Dark Reign one-shot is similar to the Illuminati’s — a peak into the initial meeting of a clandestine group of power players uniting to secretly manipulate the Marvel Universe. Only difference is, the members are a decidedly more villainous mix: Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, Loki, Emma Frost, The Hood and…
…some overweight, stubbly-faced bum who seems to be hitting ineffectually on Emma Frost?
Is that supposed to be Namor?? I’m sorry, but that is probably the fattest, fugliest Sub-Mariner I’ve ever seen. Panel after panel I kept looking at this chubby-faced bozo and wondering if Bendis decided there was one last one Skrull still running around, and he was impersonating Namor. Also unrecognizable: Norman Osborn on Maleev’s cover. I thought that was Pete Wisdom or John Constantine or somebody there in the middle. How are you gonna draw an Osborn, especially Norman, without the trademark crazy-cornrows-coming-to-a-point-in-the-forehead hair??)
Further adding to Namor’s complete lack of regality was the trademark Bendis-speak coming out of his mouth. Not saying this kind of snappy banter doesn’t work for some characters, but when you have the likes of Namor, Doctor Doom and Loki all sitting in the same room talking in the same “um, exactly” voice — that’s just not working for me. (In fact it really takes me out of the book).
But setting aside the aforementioned absurdities, I do think Bendis gave a believable, and interesting, explanation as to why Norman Osborn called this particular “cabal” together, and what each of them has to offer, and gain. There’s even a fairly cool little exchange between Doom & Namor. So despite the fact that parts of this book were cringe-worthy, I am looking forward to seeing how all Dark Reign stuff this plays out — I’m just glad there’s I don’t have to read any more of it by by Bendis & Maleev.
Andre December 10th, 2008
agreed!
Bendis has underwhelmed me tremendously recently, but he usually does his best work when paired with Maleev.
This book seemed not like a counter-point to the first Illuminati book (which I loved), but more like a parody of it.
Huge let-down.
adrian December 13th, 2008
Give me a break…it looks like another ACTS OF VENGEANCE storyline….hope this Doom is not the real Doom but another of his Doombots and it will be soon retconed :) I don’t really like Maleev artwork here (see Namor or Osborn) and Bendis writing here sucks (like always), this ‘one shot’ don’t add anything new, the story here is like I suspected, meeting, talking, leaving…
AriochRIP December 17th, 2008
I’m a Namor collector and bought this solely for his appearance. The cover art may as well be charged with false advertising. What was even the point of this disgusting version of the great Sub-Mariner? Why doesn’t he look more like the cover version (which is still not exactly the greatest Sub-Mariner I’ve ever seen). Completely ruined the book for me.
Marc Kandel December 23rd, 2008
so…. Namor is actually Elvis Costello?
I haven’t picked this up, but tell me, does Doom actually say “um”? You know, that’s worse than calling Carol Danvers a fat whore. At least then you got the sense that Doom, a consummate planner, got caught with his pants down dealing with powerful forces with no contingency plan in place- not a situation where he would be the most level-headed.
draco March 10th, 2009
To me Dark Reign is a rehash of Acts Of Vengaence combined with Final Crisis. It’s like whenever DC comes with an event that gets a lot of attention, Marvel tries to copy it to make sales. Now don’t get me wrong, I think that it is an interesting storyline but there’re some things that don’t make sense:
For starters, why are Namor and the White Queen apart of this Cabal, giving the fact that they aren’t really bad guys? Secondly, why are Loki and Ares who are gods working for and with Norman Osborn? Or better yet, why is Sentry suddenly his goon all of a sudden? Also, why is a street thug like the Hood getting equal billing with these figures? Or better yet, why is the Marvel Universe treating Norman like a hero, despite the fact that he was exposed as the Green Goblin?
Again, while I think this is interesting, I think the setup would have been better if the Cabal lineup were different by having people such as Dr. Doom, Cassandra Nova( Or Exodus), Attuma( Or Llyron), Baron Mordo( Instead of Hood) and General John Ryker or Alexander Luksin( Instead of Norman). Those are my thoughts,
