We’re closing this block with something highly unusual.For awhile, Marvel started making comics exclusively available in the PX for American Military. And you might think they’d just get reprints or something, but no, they got a Bendis-written Avengers/FF crossover to start. As they were only available on military bases, my procurement of one was not as straightforward as just bopping down to the comic shop, but a vet pal from the message board came through with a copy, so we can take a look at it. My memory is it’s really overstuffed and nothing much happens, which seems like a poor sales pitch to the armed forces, but let’s see. For being a Bendis joint, the art team is remarkably not cutting edge. Dan Jurgens pencils and Sandu Florea inks, with colors that look like they did not get a lot of attention from Frank D’Armata. It’s a lot easier to let a big name writer do a weird side quest like this than an artist. Bendis seemed like he was writing 10 comics a month, but Olivier Coipel can only draw one. Or less! We begin down in de Lou’sana Bayou…
Weird that Jurgens is following David Finch’s wildly incorrect take on that Iron Man mask. Red Zone was an Avengers arc by Geoff Johns and Olivier Coipel. As I mentioned at the end of House of M, Bendis was way into having people talk about comics stories by name, it’s so weird. Reed & Tony find themselves looking at a big spaceship, which has been here so long the rock has formed around it. It resists every scan Iron Man can throw at it. Then we get the credits page.
I just think it’s so interesting how artists have their own way with a character. Like, even though he only drew the book briefly and during the Ben Reilly era, there’s no mistaking that as a Dan Jurgens Spider-Man.
Reed estimates it’s been on Earth since as long ago as 456 BCE, and he and Tony announce their intention to open it. Spider-Woman is concerned about this.
15 or so years from now, Bendis will have gotten to a point where all his team books read like this, but worse. A room full of people incessantly cracking wise at each other, not actually having a conversation. It will become his go-to move for any series starring more than one character. It’s exhausting. In a 2-page spread, Wolverine, Thing and the Sentry slowly pry the big egg open. Dan Jurgens, famously the writer/artist of Superman for many years, the guy who killed Superman in 1993, makes sure his Sentry doesn’t look like Superman at all, and I think that’s cool. Inside, they find nothing but a floating red ball. They can’t tell what it’s made of. Captain America says it reminds him of a Cosmic Cube. There are comedy bits.
Out of the big whatever pours a bunch of Kree soldiers. They obviously don’t speak English, and they attack, causing a big explosion that happens in a long distance shot, so I’m not sure what happened. Not a great choice… Now most or all of the gang are falling to their deaths. There’s 2 pages of slim vertical panels showing the ones who can’t fly being rescued.
There’s another page of fightin’ as Reed gives Tony the password for his server at the Baxter Building, so he can access a universal translator. And then he does.
Bendis loves him a Kree/Skrull War reference.
Not… too eventful. I guess a single issue can only do so much, but… not too eventful. After this, there follows a single cover image each from New Avengers and Fantastic Four without their text and logos, for some reason. I guess they had 2 pages to fill. Well, that’s that. 37 posts in this block and only 12 issues of monthly Spider-Man comics. Real mid-90s hours, forever(-ish). Next up: we return to Ultimate Spider-Man.