First of all, the thing I liked about the Sketchbook, is that it's filled with lots of character sketches . . hence the title . . by Alex Ross. Although Alex is a huge part of the creative process of the book, we don't get graced with his art. Well . . except for the cover. Also we get a little insight into Alex's and Jim Krueger's thought process on putting this series together. And we get a preview of Steve Sadowski's pencils. I usually like seeing the pages in this style better, because, to me, they just seem more raw and creative. Once they're inked and colored and finished, they look more professional, but, to me, the pencilled art just shows more style. Sometimes the finished art doesn't actually help it as much as they think. I'm not say that that's the case here. This book looks wonderful. That's just an observation I've made from looking at alot of unfinished work. It's just my opinion. The first issue was about what you'd expect. The Invaders are fighting back in WWII when, somehow, on the battlefield, the green gas appears. Obviously they shouldn't just run in to it, not knowing what it is, but it appears in their path and then seems to envelope them. When they come out the other side they're right in the middle of downtown Manhattan. Coincidentally, at the same time they appear, there is a government team of "super-baddies" after Spider-man because, technically, he is still an outlaw. You know . . not having registered. Anyways, their obvious leap in logic is that this is a Nazi trick. And they fight the "seemed" villains accordingly. Since they've been fighting together as a team for years . . they promptly kick their butts. Well . . except for Spider-man. He stays out of the way. And Tony is in SHEILD headquarters when he gets news of the skirmish. He's looking at lots of images, but he's stuck on the iconic picture of Captain America standing among the debris. His heads hung low, and he's just muttering . . "Steve." Like I said, it's about what you'd expect for the first issue. We see the old team in action in WWII, and then . . magically, they're brought to the future. We don't know why, how, or who's behind it . . yet. But . . it should be epic. Just give it time. I'd like to say, if Alex and Jim weren't associated with this title . . I probably wouldn't have picked it up. I like the 2 new Avengers books, but, I'm not like a die-hard fan or anything. So the creative team is the real reason I'm buying it. Also, because of the same logic, I'm not participating in the variant covers. Well . . for 2 reasons. That being the first, and . . they're 1 in 25 and 1 in 50, so I can't see shelling out that much every month for 1 title for the next 12 months. Between the variant and the regular, you're talking at least $30 a month for the next 12. That costs more than something from the Danbury Mint. However, I will say, overall I liked the book. It'll be interesting to see how it all unfolds, and the impact these heroes from another age have upon the current Marvel Universe.
I picked up that Invaders/Avengers sketchbook on FCBD. I too like the B&W art. To me, it makes the characters seem more alive. As if they're actually standing in front of the artist as they were being sketched. In particular, I liked the sketch of The Black Widow with Electro and a few other heros. I've been loving The Twelve, and both BW and Electro are featured in that series. Have you read any of The Twelve?
ReplyDeleteI have not picked up the Twelve. I've seen it, been intrigued, but haven't actually read it. I've heard good things though. Maybe next time I'm in the shop, I'll see what he has on hand, and maybe pick up an issue or 2. I'm always open to new things. But, I also have to watch my budget . . what with the price of gas and all. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind TPBs, and don't mind waiting, you might just want to save your cash for the collected issues in a single volume. Next month the series will be half over, so you don't have that long to wait. BTW, I found a great source for picking up back issues cheaply. It's called comiccollectorlive.com. I tried it this past week, and was able to pick up a bunch of issues I was missing for less than the cover price including shipping. Some even arrived before the weekend. If you can find a vendor on that site selling a bunch of books you need, sometimes you can get a decent shipping rate, and make out pretty well.
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