42 comments on “OUT THIS WEEK: FNSM #20, WONDER MAN #5, DARK TOWER #4, HULK: WORLD BREAKER 1-SHOT”
enjoyed hulk,good to see you back
Bill
I really really liked FNSM. The conversation between Peter and Betty was really urgently needed. (though I have a hard time seeing Betty as still having a crush on Peter, it just feels wrong for her)
I was wondering though, does this happen before or after the Sensational 37? Because one of the kids in Flash’s bowling team look a lot like that student of Peter’s that Hyde kidnapped and possibly experimented on.
I did enjoy WWH Prologue, especially the sections with Lee Weeks artwork. It did good job of setting up the coming conflict.
Now for my point of contention. I am very tired of writers using the 10% of the brain crap. It’s an overused cliché and it’s simply not true. Not even close. It’s a fallacy that should have been put to rest a long time ago.
Peter, a writer of your caliber, who has written an otherwise well crafted script, does not need to fall back on this BS.
Wow, has anyone seen the sales for Wonder Man?
No offense, but that link you supplied took me to a page with a lot of words but not much more being said than, “It’s not true because it’s not. Here are a bunch of words that pretend to prove it.”
Most of it was talking about how the myth is out there and very little did he actually attempt to prove why the myth was false.
I’m not saying I believe or disbelieve, I’m just saying that link didn’t do much to push my belief one way or the other, just wasted my time.
Here is a quote from the article
“Brain imaging research techniques such as PET scans (positron emission tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) clearly show that the vast majority of the brain does not lie fallow. Indeed, although certain minor functions may use only a small part of the brain at one time, any sufficiently complex set of activities or thought patterns will indeed use many parts of the brain. Just as people don’t use all of their muscle groups at one time, they also don’t use all of their brain at once. For any given activity, such as eating, watching television, making love, or reading, you may use a few specific parts of your brain. Over the course of a whole day, however, just about all of the brain is used at one time or another. “
This is the scientific explanation of why the 10% brain is a myth. It is not “a bunch of words”.
Perhaps a better explanation, one that I’ve used in my writing several times, is that people only use 10% of their brain’s potential.
As for where PAD gets the time–anybody else getting a Multiplicity flashback?
Isn’t it that we only use 10% of the brain at any one time?
Oh, and Hulk was awesome. I’m waiting on the trade of FNSM, but I might pick up the next one, so I can find out more about the sinister motivations of Ms. Arrow.
I hate reading anything you do on Hulk…because then I get angry that you aren’t doing any more issues 🙂
I liked FNSM alot, but the artwork is bleh to me.
Two Spidey-thorns up for FNSM#20 and WW:Hulk. I’m glad my suspicions about Ero were true, and it looks like that subplot is close to being resolved.
I have to admit I may have enjoyed the 2 side-stories in WWH authored by Giarrusso and Pak a bit more than yours. Those made me feel like a kid again. But yours was still good, and I ended up extremely satisfied with the issue, and looking forward to the xover. (My only complaint is that in reading the issue, the middle pages came loose. They shouldn’t come loose that easily.)
FNSM #20: Oh great, a follow up to the Other? Well, if anyone can make it work, its PAD. And can we see more of Deb Whitman?
WONDER MAN #5: The series ends pretty much as expected given the tone of future Wonder Man’s musings. I think it might have worked better without these interludes in the earlier issues. Beast has some nice quips in there too. “Uncanny!”
DARK TOWER #4: I dropped this title. Having not read the novel(s), I felt like I didn’t know enough about what’s going on. This has gotten worse with each issue.
HULK: WORLD BREAKER 1-SHOT: Saving the beast for last. PAD, you did a wonderful job setting things up for WWH! My only complaint is that there should have been a note at the begining saying this title takes place AFTER Incredible Hulk #106 (which in turn takes place AFTER an as of yet unreleased issue of She-Hulk). However is in charge in coordinating WWH really dropped the ball here.
I really enjoyed the conclusion to the WONDER MAN mini, although the continuity apparently got mixed up. In issue #1, Simon and Neal have a talk about Wanda’s breakdown in “Avengers Disassembled”, but this issue apparently takes place before Disassembled, since Thor is still around, and Avengers Mansion hasn’t been destroyed yet.
Aside from that somewhat jarring break in continuity, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I know Wondy is rather busy these days in Mighty Avengers and Ms Marvel, but I hope PAD gets to revisit the character sometime soon!
OUT THIS WEEK: FNSM #20, WONDER MAN #5, DARK TOWER #4, HULK: WORLD BREAKER 1-SHOT
Holy crow. Where do I get the time?
Whad’ja think?
PAD
GASP! Now it makes sense!
PETER DAVID IS THE LAST CYLON!
That’s why he is able to write comic books, novelizations, columns and be a husband and father!
— Ken from Chicago (the one and only–and the universe is grateful for small favors)
Let me put this as plainly as possible. The whole 10% of the brain thing is a myth. We don’t only use only 10% of our brain’s potential, whatever new age garbage that means. We don’t only use 10% of our brain at one time. We use all our brain for many functions. Even asleep, we use a large part of our brain. This stuff dates back over 100 years when there was little understanding of the brain. Modern neuroscience has completely dispelled any validity to this absurd idea.
Using this myth is tantamont to talking about a 5000 year old Earth.
It simply is not true in anyway.
Ken-
If Peter is a Cylon that would make Caroline 1/2 cylon and half elf which would be an odd mix indeed.
Kath
“Using this myth is tantamont to talking about a 5000 year old Earth.
It simply is not true in anyway.”
Yeah, okay, Ed, you’ve really got to let this go. It’s not enough that with so much of my material to discuss, you’re obsessing on a couple of captions in a single title. But you’re galloping around like Paul Revere to other sites as well and making the exact same post. It’s enough already.
PAD
I really enjoyed the HULK one-shot, as I’m looking forward to the series. I just hope, in spite of what Hulk was saying about the DEFENDERS, that he has a chance to discover that Namor stood up for him, to the point that Sub-Mariner nearly killed Tony Stark. I think it’s as important that Hulk know who his friends on Earth as his enemies on same.
I’ve also realized something: Way back in the ’60s, when Marvel began to appear, I liked them more than DC. In the ’70s to mid-80s, they were sort of tied, with Marvel having a slight edge. In the 90s, especially the DeFalco era, DC had definitely pulled ahead. Now, I find myself looking forward more to Marvel again, with Marvel’s’ recent really major changes in the status quo with CIVIL WAR and DECIMATION. DC’s stuff is good, too. But I’m not enjoying it as much as I am Marvel’s right now.
PAD,
Absolutely loved “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”. From the humor to using another celebrity to the talk between Betty and Peter to the revelation of Ms. Arrow, this was simply a great, satisfying read.
I really like that you get these characters and are respectful of their history. Also, I was one of those who actually liked “The Other” and was disappointed the changes and ramifications were never fully explored. Thank you so much.
“Hulk: Worldbreaker” was agreat issue and really has enough to get those who had not read Planet Hulk up to speed, while at the same time moving forward. While I have felt that you pretty much have said all you can about the Hulk and I enjoy your working on other characters now, this is you at the top of your game.
Can’t comment on “Wonder Man” or “Dark Tower” yet, since am behind in reading both titles. Am trying to get to them ASAP. As you well know, there are only so many hours in the day.
Keep up the great work!
PAD. Yeah, got a little carried away. To defend myself though, I did post this on one other site, but that was a few days ago, before you had this thread up. (I did mention I was going to say something about WWH on the FNSM thread.)
i didn’t think this would get more than a comment back from you. When others chimed in, I felt I needed to respond (Well, I didn’t need to, I just wanted to). Which of course is a sure way to sidetrack a thread.
So, no more on the 10% brain. I had my say and let’s get back to complaining about Bush.
I was kind of sad to see you use the “humans only use 10% of their brain” line, since I’m sure you know that isn’t true. I guess you saved it by saying “Some say humans only use…” Still, I’d like to see the whole “10% of brain” thing completely disappear.
I loved the rest of the Hulk comic! (And I liked FNSM, too!)
Maybe humans in the Marvel Universe only use 10%…could explain why they’re so slow to pick up on secret identities.
Next thing you know, someone’s gonna complain that adamantium doesn’t really exist.
I managed to grab FNSM #20 and Dark Tower #4 off the shelves at my favorite LCS on Thursday. They’d sold out of Hulk: World Breaker already; worse still, I thought I’d put Wonder Man #5 in my pile but when I got home, no Wondy. I went back on Saturday to participate in Free Comic Book Day, but by then they’d sold out of WM #5 as well!
Your stuff is moving, at least where I shop. Good for you, not so much for me. Ah, well, when my pay raise kicks in I can get on a pull list again in good conscience.
I must be one of the few… but I’m not in love with Todd Nauck’s artwork on FNSM. His rendition of Spidey is too muscular and stiff-looking for my tastes.
One other thing bugged me a bit about the issue: the last panel was too small given the dramatic weight of the scene. Not knowing whether you worked plot-first or handed Mr. Nauck a full script, I obviously don’t know who was responsible ultimately for the breakdown of the page.
With my gripes out of the way, let me say that on the balance FNSM #20 was another success. I thought the scene between Peter and Betty was pure gold. Given her feelings for Peter, and that she’s gone through her own personal kinds of hëll over the years, of course she’d understand and empathize. Beneath those few deftly written lines of dialogue was the resonance of what both characters have been through, both separately and apart, over the years. Well done.
I guess I should’ve seen the ending from a mile off as you gave us all the clues, but I must confess that you surprised me. In my defense, you are a master of misdirection. After all, “Marrow” is an anagram of “Ms. Arrow.” And the whole romantic subplot with Flash made it seem as though her motivations were more… human.
I haven’t had the chance to read the latest Dark Tower yet. It’s the first issue I’ve purchased of the series, and I haven’t read the Stephen King novel on which it is based, so I may be a bit lost. But I thought it would be enough to give me the flavor of the series, and if I dig it I can chase down the back issues.
Regarding the 10 percent issue: Peter got something wrong. Big deal! Think about how many books he’s juggling. Think about how much information he has to keep track of. Think about what else is going on in his life: a wife, kids, and all the adult responsibilities that go with them. He’s got to make time for his friends, and for recreation as well.
Don’tcha think it’s understandable if here or there he messes up a fact or two? I mean, I worked in journalism for 8 years. I was paid NOT to make things up, to get things right every time. And y’know what? Despite my best efforts, despite all the due diligence in the world, sometimes I messed up too. IT HAPPENS.
I can understand politely pointing out an error like this, in order to help stop the spread of misinformation. But then you just, y’know, let it go! It’s not a symptom of a good writer “falling back on BS.” It’s a natural consequence of people being fallible. Everyone’s allowed to mess up from time to time, including successful fiction writers.
Loved both, PAD. Especially World-Breaker. What’s your opinion of Pak’s Planet Hulk storyline anyway?
Maybe it IS true in the Marvel Universe. After all, in the Marvel Universe Lysenko’s views on evolution by acquired characteristics, psychic powers, faster than light travel, God and Satan frequently manifesting themselves, and the supernatural as much a part of reality as chemistry and physics are all true.
Yeah, it’s a dopey myth with a surprisingly long life–most people who get shot in the head lose a lot less than 90% of their brain but the results are usually pretty poor anyway–but at least it’s one that could lead to positive results. If people think that they can “unlock” the “dormant” parts of their brains by thinking really hard, well, good. It’s better than them thinking that they can get superpowers by injecting mongoose blood or building rocket ships with poor cosmic ray shielding.
Bill Mulligan, thank God you posted what you did when you did. I was all set to drink a bottle of mongoose blood thinking it would give me super-powers. But then I read your post and adjusted my expectations. I instead drank the mongoose blood merely expecting it to taste good.
Unfortunately, it tasted like šhìŧ. Why didn’t you also warn me about THAT?
I don’t know that PAD has ever claimed to be a neurological scientist or a medical reporter. However, judging by some of the reactions around here, I’d expect to see a lot more moaning about the way lightning is portrayed in most visual media, IE, coming from clouds and hitting the ground. When lightning “strikes,” it actually begins on the ground and goes skyward. But, as artists, writers, painters, video geeks like me, and anybody else that could take certain liberties for dramatic emphasis. Haven’t gotten to Wade’s for a while, so I haven’t seen the issue in question myself, but knowing comics, writing, and PAD’s work as I do, I’m pretty sure that the scene in question would lose a lot of it’s impact if the panel said something like “Well, people use all of their brains, but here’s how Spidey’s using his in THIS panel!” And, while I’m all for realism and accuracy and all that, there’s something that I think adds an extra layer of the sillies on top of the chocolate frosting and peanut butter chips.
“What, you overly locquacious freak?” you may ask.
Well, I’ll tell you. Someone is arguing for scientific and neurological accuracy in a book that regularly has a normal guy hanging from walls, swinging through the city, and hooking up with a hot redhead. Now, all those are pretty improbable except for the last one, (I’m proof, considering I’m a clear example of either the Peter-Parker-or-Charlie-Brown-in-reality and my wife’s a hot redhead) and yet PAD puts this 10 per cent thing in and it causes an uproar. Can your disbelief only be suspended so far until it snaps like one of Larry King’s suspenders if they were being used like a STABO rig to get him out of Manhattan?
Idiot. You have to inject the blood.
And you call yourself a scientist!
Interestingly, there was a kid in my 3rd grade class who was known as “The Whizzer” but he couldn’t run very fast at all.
Bill, are you saying I’ve been taking my biweekly mongoose blood injections for the last fifteen years for NOTHING? Is that why no one will call me Riki Tiki Scully and all the cobras I meet just snicker?
That was no cobra, that was Dirk Benedict!
He’s just laughing about your treatments to become Rikki-Tikki-Scully. You think that you’re being turned into a super-powered young mongoose that kicks evil’s butt, but you’re actually being injected with the blood of a really smart, red-headed FBI agent and it, er… It’s starting to show.
Back to the topic at hand: I forgot to mention — I loved the “slippery rental shoes” gag. It’s just so… Peter David. 🙂
Wonder Man first…as I mentioned in the ESPN comments, I grew attached to Huan and wish she could’ve stuck around to join a super-team. It was clear from Simon’s thoughts in the future that things wouldn’t work out, but I didn’t know whether it would mean she would die, or become a bad guy again, or disappear somehow, or what. So when she died it didn’t come as a surprise or anything, but I had still been holding out hope for her continued existence in the Marvel U.
The ending of this story actually had me a little misty-eyed.
Very often, when a character dies and dies for good, it’s because that character was considered expendable. Sometimes, in part, it’s because readers don’t care about that character. To use just one example, when the All New, All Different X-Men debuted, Len Wein and Chris Claremont knew they were gonna kill Thunderbird off in fewer than five issues, so they didn’t really seem to put much effort into making him into the kind of interesting and likable character who would be missed by readers.
Huan, on the other hand, pretty much shared the spotlight with Simon. Some people might whether there’s any point of developing a character who’s just going to be gone four issues after he debut, why a writer would make her into a character most fans would *not* consider expendable when the plan from the start was for her to die. Why she was kept around long enough for us to get attached and then taken away for good (and we pretty much know it’s for good, since future-Simon makes no mention of her being resurrected). If a character is loved by the fans, they’re almost inevitably brought back (Jean Grey and Cap are undoubtedly going to reappear sooner or later, and Simon himself has come back at least twice, right?) sooner or later, and if nobody cares about them then they stay dead.
After thinking about that, my feeling is that there’s no reason to neglect the development of a character, or make them less appealing, just because their time is short. On the contrary. In order for their death to mean anything, to not only the readers but to the other characters as well, the character has to matter. Again, take Thunderbird. He stuck around for a few issues, acted like a jerk, and then “boom. Dead.” His teammates were shook up because his death made it clear that this wasn’t a game or anything, but did it make sense for them to grieve? None of them had been close to him, they’d merely worked alongside him. None of them had actually gotten along with him that well. Banshee’s guilt over not being able to convince him to get clear of the plane made sense, but he was disposable from the start and had been written that way.
Huan did not want her death to be meaningless. I and readers like me cared about her for all the same reasons that Simon did. If we were given no reason to care about her, then her death wouldn’t really have mattered very much and would, in fact, have been meaningless. Plus, the story wouldn’t have been as good if the second-most important character in it were written in a way similar to Thunderbird. So even though I don’t like getting attached to a character who’s doomed from the get-go, I think it was the right call in this case to put as much time into developing her as you would have if the story had a happier ending and she’d gone on to join some super-team. Kudos.
Saroyan, on the other hand, was totally expendable, due to the fact that we have plenty of characters with similar powers already. But he was nevertheless interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention, particularly since his treachery was unexpected to many of us.
I do, however, think Huan deserved a better name than “Ladyfair.” I know that this story is patterned after “My Fair Lady” but still, “Ladyfair”?? With a codename like that, she could’ve bumped into the Trapster and truthfully told him that compared to her, he used to have it good with a name like “Paste Pot Pete.” I’ll also ask if we have any medical professionals here, as I’m curious to know whether DD could’ve been able to accurately tell whether Huan was truthful in her dying moments. Polygraphs, even if they are accurate all the time, monitor a person’s vital signs and I imagine that Huan’s vitals would be all over the place since she’d just stabbed herself in the stomach. Regardless, WE know she was telling the truth and even without Murdock there Simon probably would’ve believed her anyway, so it’s not a big deal. I’m skeptical that the poison could’ve taken out guys like Wolverine or Thor and if the punch was alcoholic Stark probably wouldn’t have touched it, but it’s a safe bet that Neal’s plan would’ve dealt with a “sizable portion” of the Avengers at least. Also, Murdock’s blindness puns were cringe-worthy (sorry, they just were). Anyway that concludes my criticism.
Thor’s invitation to touch his hammer almost made me fall off my chair. The use of “Amazing, Spectacular, Uncanny” etc. made me laugh, moreso since Hank started it up again with “Invincible” after Simon told Huan she looked Fantastic. Plus, *I* chuckled at Huan’s comment about how wonderful it was that she knew eighteen different ways to kill a man and could also accessorize. Simon and Carol need to get senses of humor! :p
Saroyan’s observations about how willing the so-called “heroes” were to simply brainwash Huan, and Hank pointing out that Simon had wanted Huan to become emotionally dependent on him from the start, were surprising and disturbing. I honestly had not considered that, and I hope that Simon wasn’t conscious of what he was trying to do here. I hope that instead he just thought he could get Huan to give the super hero thing a try through showing her kindness, showing her that there was a better way, giving her an incentive to act differently…instead of through emotional manipulation and, as Neal said, “brainwashing.” I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then he wound up on Stark’s side in “Civil War” so…
Couple questions: will the remaining three Nobility members resurfance? Does Lord Thunder hold Simon as responsible for his sweetheart’s death as he did Neal, and will he try to make sure Simon suffers a similar fate?
This post is long enough as it is so I’ll end it here and get to FNSM later.
I liked the Hulk story very much. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read WWH, but now I want to.
I’m only sad that Doc Samson supports the Illuminati, but that’s not PAD’s fault, of course.
And I also didn’t like the 10% of the brain line. Sure, it’s not so important, but Scientology used that line (saying it to be an Einstein quote) for their propaganda.
FNSM: It was interesting, but I’m finding I really prefer your work on Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, where you don’t have to work in Peter Parker’s secret identity being public, Peter having died and been reborn as a mystic spider-totem, and assorted other continuity gems. FNSM really seems handicapped from its goal of telling newbie-friendly stories by having to be tied into mainstream Marvel continuity.
Hulk: World-Breaker: Very nice stuff here…but it’s unfortunate that you use the “humans use ten percent of their brains” line, when as we all know from Douglas Adams, humans use their brains as little as possible. 🙂 Seriously, I enjoyed it–good use of continuity to recap for new readers as well as entertain older ones. Well-written exposition like that has become a rarity, and I applaud it.
One question: I won’t ask how or when, but is anyone going to be dealing with the looming plot hole of “If Iron Man has something that can just zap She-Hulk back to human, why doesn’t he just use it on the Hulk and end this quick?” Because if that’s not the first thing they try, I’ll be very annoyed.
Sad but true: DT 4 bored me. This is no reflection on the comic, but rather on the source material. I loved the DT books, but the Meijas story in Wizard and Glass ranks as my least favorite part of the books. The story just doesn’t do it for me, and even trimmed down, I want to get on with it.
At least the script was good, the art was nice, and the story by Ms. Furth was very good.
FNSM didn’t let me down. Like other readers, I enjoyed the exchange between Peter and Betty, and then solving the Arrow mystery together. It’s pretty cool that Peter’s old friends are supporting his decision to oppose the SHRA and stay a fugitive instead of turning him in.
Arrow (or Ero–I guess we’ll find out which to call her next issue) is a good villain. Some suspension of disbelief was required when she formed the spider-geyser under the car, of course, since no matter how many spiders you gather together I’m pretty sure they couldn’t support the weight of a pickup truck, let alone shoot it high into the air.
How many spiders is Arrow made up of, anyway? I sort of figured that she was similar to Venom who, as you may recall, was defeated in his debut when Peter got him use too much of the symbiote’s mass to make webbing. Similarly, if Arrow shoots a steam of spiders at somebody, does that deplete the mass of her body? If she throws, let’s say, 50 lbs of spiders at somebody does that mean her remaining mass only consists of 50-70 lbs (assuming she’s the weight she appears)? Or has she somehow got access to an unlimited supply of these pirate spiders…in other words, “Don’t try to make sense of it because it’s magic!” 🙂
Anyway, I’m looking forward to finding out more about Arrow next issue. If her connection to that future version of the Chameleon hasn’t been explained in a prior issue, I’m curious about that as well.
Finally, I’d like to point out that after Peter saves Flash’s ášš here, he’ll owe it to his new roomie to cease and desist with the “puny” cracks forever. Unless he has a spider fetish and a death wish.
I want to know what’s up with Wonder Man coming out on time each month? Where was the 3 month gap between the second to last and final issue?
It’s this kind of thing that’s gonna keep you out of the top tier of comicdom!
Say, PAD, what do you think of the casting for Incredible Hulk?
It was just announced that Tim Roth will be playing KGB agent Emil Blonsky… well, according to Variety that’s the character’s background.
I’m not big on Hulk’s background, even less so with his villains, so it was amusing to read (while I’m actually finally playing Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction no less) that you wrote a mini to rewrite/retcon Blonsky’s history.
But Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, and now Roth who will be playing Abomination, although he may not actually be called Abomination in the film.
I enjoyed WONDER MAN, as I enjoy nearly all of PAD’s writing. But I am glad it’s over just so I don’t have to look at the art anymore.
Ugh.
Beast as a Disney cartoon? Spiderman with a head shaped like a football?
And in the full page “reveal” panel where we see Huan for the first time. There’s a build up with Simon and Hank’s reactions on the previous page, but when we get to see what they are reacting to the panel is dominated by the other character. Seriously, I thought they were reacting to Ms Marvel’s skeletal hips, huge tits and (of course, gotta include those in the picture) prominent nipples.
Bad storytelling and bad draftsmanship on the part of the artist.
Yeah, WHAT was going on with the continuity in Wonder Man? You start with heavy Disassembled references and end with Thor and an intact Avengers Mansion?
If Peter is a Cylon that would make Caroline 1/2 cylon and half elf which would be an odd mix indeed.
I guess you’ll just have to get her a cyborged wolf, then… 🙂
You know what really started to get to me about those “10% of the brain” posts? That Hulk issue featured ol’ Jolly Green standing on the outside of a craft in deep space. It’s been established that the Hulk does indeed need to breathe from time to time, not to mention the problems with decompression, explosive or otherwise, in a fracking vacuum!!! And you got hung up on an inaccuracy about neural efficiency?
Personally, I just try to remember I’m reading a comic book, not a Hal Clement novel, and don’t expect the characters therein to conform to known laws of physics or principles of medicine. (I mean, if we want to start getting nitpicky, where does the Hulk get that extra mass when he goes green? And what happens to it when he turns back into Banner? Shouldn’t he be freezing his environs in the first case, and setting them ablaze in the second?)
Coming late to the party, but if you’re still reading this, Peter, I stuck it all the way through Wonder Man even though I despised the art (except for Nauck’s fill-in work, which still seemed tonally wrong but at least was competent).
A large part of why I stuck it out is because I love seeing you work your magic on an underused character, like the way you would make Geordi far more interesting in print than the “Next Generation” writing staff ever managed. Simon’s one of my favorite superheroes, more out of childhood nostalgia than anything that’s been done with him outside of the first few issues of the Gerard Jones solo series in the early ’90s, so I figured he’d be an ideal puzzle for you to unlock.
But outside of the framing sequences and the way they dealt with Simon’s burden of immorality, it felt a little like he was a bystander in his own book. Obviously, you had to spend a lot of time building up Huan so we would care about what happened to her, but between all her backstory and the presence of Beast (who didn’t so much play off Simon as upstage him), Carol and the stuff with Saroyan, Simon kept fading into the background.
I understand that he’s not the easiest character to make vivid, that he’s too often portrayed as a generic strongman stuck in an endless loop of death, resurrection, and crushes on the Scarlet Witch. But you’ve done more with less in the past (again, see Geordi), and while I kept waiting for the eureka moment where you showed why Simon is much more unique and interesting than he’s generally given credit for, it never materialized for me.
On the other hand, you did a great job with Huan. Even with the distorted, cartoony art, I felt for her when she made her sacrifice.
• 
enjoyed hulk,good to see you back
Bill
I really really liked FNSM. The conversation between Peter and Betty was really urgently needed. (though I have a hard time seeing Betty as still having a crush on Peter, it just feels wrong for her)
I was wondering though, does this happen before or after the Sensational 37? Because one of the kids in Flash’s bowling team look a lot like that student of Peter’s that Hyde kidnapped and possibly experimented on.
I did enjoy WWH Prologue, especially the sections with Lee Weeks artwork. It did good job of setting up the coming conflict.
Now for my point of contention. I am very tired of writers using the 10% of the brain crap. It’s an overused cliché and it’s simply not true. Not even close. It’s a fallacy that should have been put to rest a long time ago.
http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm
Peter, a writer of your caliber, who has written an otherwise well crafted script, does not need to fall back on this BS.
Wow, has anyone seen the sales for Wonder Man?
No offense, but that link you supplied took me to a page with a lot of words but not much more being said than, “It’s not true because it’s not. Here are a bunch of words that pretend to prove it.”
Most of it was talking about how the myth is out there and very little did he actually attempt to prove why the myth was false.
I’m not saying I believe or disbelieve, I’m just saying that link didn’t do much to push my belief one way or the other, just wasted my time.
Here is a quote from the article
“Brain imaging research techniques such as PET scans (positron emission tomography) and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) clearly show that the vast majority of the brain does not lie fallow. Indeed, although certain minor functions may use only a small part of the brain at one time, any sufficiently complex set of activities or thought patterns will indeed use many parts of the brain. Just as people don’t use all of their muscle groups at one time, they also don’t use all of their brain at once. For any given activity, such as eating, watching television, making love, or reading, you may use a few specific parts of your brain. Over the course of a whole day, however, just about all of the brain is used at one time or another. “
This is the scientific explanation of why the 10% brain is a myth. It is not “a bunch of words”.
Perhaps a better explanation, one that I’ve used in my writing several times, is that people only use 10% of their brain’s potential.
As for where PAD gets the time–anybody else getting a Multiplicity flashback?
Isn’t it that we only use 10% of the brain at any one time?
Oh, and Hulk was awesome. I’m waiting on the trade of FNSM, but I might pick up the next one, so I can find out more about the sinister motivations of Ms. Arrow.
I hate reading anything you do on Hulk…because then I get angry that you aren’t doing any more issues 🙂
I liked FNSM alot, but the artwork is bleh to me.
Two Spidey-thorns up for FNSM#20 and WW:Hulk. I’m glad my suspicions about Ero were true, and it looks like that subplot is close to being resolved.
I have to admit I may have enjoyed the 2 side-stories in WWH authored by Giarrusso and Pak a bit more than yours. Those made me feel like a kid again. But yours was still good, and I ended up extremely satisfied with the issue, and looking forward to the xover. (My only complaint is that in reading the issue, the middle pages came loose. They shouldn’t come loose that easily.)
FNSM #20: Oh great, a follow up to the Other? Well, if anyone can make it work, its PAD. And can we see more of Deb Whitman?
WONDER MAN #5: The series ends pretty much as expected given the tone of future Wonder Man’s musings. I think it might have worked better without these interludes in the earlier issues. Beast has some nice quips in there too. “Uncanny!”
DARK TOWER #4: I dropped this title. Having not read the novel(s), I felt like I didn’t know enough about what’s going on. This has gotten worse with each issue.
HULK: WORLD BREAKER 1-SHOT: Saving the beast for last. PAD, you did a wonderful job setting things up for WWH! My only complaint is that there should have been a note at the begining saying this title takes place AFTER Incredible Hulk #106 (which in turn takes place AFTER an as of yet unreleased issue of She-Hulk). However is in charge in coordinating WWH really dropped the ball here.
I really enjoyed the conclusion to the WONDER MAN mini, although the continuity apparently got mixed up. In issue #1, Simon and Neal have a talk about Wanda’s breakdown in “Avengers Disassembled”, but this issue apparently takes place before Disassembled, since Thor is still around, and Avengers Mansion hasn’t been destroyed yet.
Aside from that somewhat jarring break in continuity, I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I know Wondy is rather busy these days in Mighty Avengers and Ms Marvel, but I hope PAD gets to revisit the character sometime soon!
OUT THIS WEEK: FNSM #20, WONDER MAN #5, DARK TOWER #4, HULK: WORLD BREAKER 1-SHOT
Holy crow. Where do I get the time?
Whad’ja think?
PAD
GASP! Now it makes sense!
PETER DAVID IS THE LAST CYLON!
That’s why he is able to write comic books, novelizations, columns and be a husband and father!
— Ken from Chicago (the one and only–and the universe is grateful for small favors)
Let me put this as plainly as possible. The whole 10% of the brain thing is a myth. We don’t only use only 10% of our brain’s potential, whatever new age garbage that means. We don’t only use 10% of our brain at one time. We use all our brain for many functions. Even asleep, we use a large part of our brain. This stuff dates back over 100 years when there was little understanding of the brain. Modern neuroscience has completely dispelled any validity to this absurd idea.
Using this myth is tantamont to talking about a 5000 year old Earth.
It simply is not true in anyway.
Ken-
If Peter is a Cylon that would make Caroline 1/2 cylon and half elf which would be an odd mix indeed.
Kath
“Using this myth is tantamont to talking about a 5000 year old Earth.
It simply is not true in anyway.”
Yeah, okay, Ed, you’ve really got to let this go. It’s not enough that with so much of my material to discuss, you’re obsessing on a couple of captions in a single title. But you’re galloping around like Paul Revere to other sites as well and making the exact same post. It’s enough already.
PAD
I really enjoyed the HULK one-shot, as I’m looking forward to the series. I just hope, in spite of what Hulk was saying about the DEFENDERS, that he has a chance to discover that Namor stood up for him, to the point that Sub-Mariner nearly killed Tony Stark. I think it’s as important that Hulk know who his friends on Earth as his enemies on same.
I’ve also realized something: Way back in the ’60s, when Marvel began to appear, I liked them more than DC. In the ’70s to mid-80s, they were sort of tied, with Marvel having a slight edge. In the 90s, especially the DeFalco era, DC had definitely pulled ahead. Now, I find myself looking forward more to Marvel again, with Marvel’s’ recent really major changes in the status quo with CIVIL WAR and DECIMATION. DC’s stuff is good, too. But I’m not enjoying it as much as I am Marvel’s right now.
PAD,
Absolutely loved “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man”. From the humor to using another celebrity to the talk between Betty and Peter to the revelation of Ms. Arrow, this was simply a great, satisfying read.
I really like that you get these characters and are respectful of their history. Also, I was one of those who actually liked “The Other” and was disappointed the changes and ramifications were never fully explored. Thank you so much.
“Hulk: Worldbreaker” was agreat issue and really has enough to get those who had not read Planet Hulk up to speed, while at the same time moving forward. While I have felt that you pretty much have said all you can about the Hulk and I enjoy your working on other characters now, this is you at the top of your game.
Can’t comment on “Wonder Man” or “Dark Tower” yet, since am behind in reading both titles. Am trying to get to them ASAP. As you well know, there are only so many hours in the day.
Keep up the great work!
PAD. Yeah, got a little carried away. To defend myself though, I did post this on one other site, but that was a few days ago, before you had this thread up. (I did mention I was going to say something about WWH on the FNSM thread.)
i didn’t think this would get more than a comment back from you. When others chimed in, I felt I needed to respond (Well, I didn’t need to, I just wanted to). Which of course is a sure way to sidetrack a thread.
So, no more on the 10% brain. I had my say and let’s get back to complaining about Bush.
I was kind of sad to see you use the “humans only use 10% of their brain” line, since I’m sure you know that isn’t true. I guess you saved it by saying “Some say humans only use…” Still, I’d like to see the whole “10% of brain” thing completely disappear.
I loved the rest of the Hulk comic! (And I liked FNSM, too!)
Maybe humans in the Marvel Universe only use 10%…could explain why they’re so slow to pick up on secret identities.
Next thing you know, someone’s gonna complain that adamantium doesn’t really exist.
I managed to grab FNSM #20 and Dark Tower #4 off the shelves at my favorite LCS on Thursday. They’d sold out of Hulk: World Breaker already; worse still, I thought I’d put Wonder Man #5 in my pile but when I got home, no Wondy. I went back on Saturday to participate in Free Comic Book Day, but by then they’d sold out of WM #5 as well!
Your stuff is moving, at least where I shop. Good for you, not so much for me. Ah, well, when my pay raise kicks in I can get on a pull list again in good conscience.
I must be one of the few… but I’m not in love with Todd Nauck’s artwork on FNSM. His rendition of Spidey is too muscular and stiff-looking for my tastes.
One other thing bugged me a bit about the issue: the last panel was too small given the dramatic weight of the scene. Not knowing whether you worked plot-first or handed Mr. Nauck a full script, I obviously don’t know who was responsible ultimately for the breakdown of the page.
With my gripes out of the way, let me say that on the balance FNSM #20 was another success. I thought the scene between Peter and Betty was pure gold. Given her feelings for Peter, and that she’s gone through her own personal kinds of hëll over the years, of course she’d understand and empathize. Beneath those few deftly written lines of dialogue was the resonance of what both characters have been through, both separately and apart, over the years. Well done.
I guess I should’ve seen the ending from a mile off as you gave us all the clues, but I must confess that you surprised me. In my defense, you are a master of misdirection. After all, “Marrow” is an anagram of “Ms. Arrow.” And the whole romantic subplot with Flash made it seem as though her motivations were more… human.
I haven’t had the chance to read the latest Dark Tower yet. It’s the first issue I’ve purchased of the series, and I haven’t read the Stephen King novel on which it is based, so I may be a bit lost. But I thought it would be enough to give me the flavor of the series, and if I dig it I can chase down the back issues.
Regarding the 10 percent issue: Peter got something wrong. Big deal! Think about how many books he’s juggling. Think about how much information he has to keep track of. Think about what else is going on in his life: a wife, kids, and all the adult responsibilities that go with them. He’s got to make time for his friends, and for recreation as well.
Don’tcha think it’s understandable if here or there he messes up a fact or two? I mean, I worked in journalism for 8 years. I was paid NOT to make things up, to get things right every time. And y’know what? Despite my best efforts, despite all the due diligence in the world, sometimes I messed up too. IT HAPPENS.
I can understand politely pointing out an error like this, in order to help stop the spread of misinformation. But then you just, y’know, let it go! It’s not a symptom of a good writer “falling back on BS.” It’s a natural consequence of people being fallible. Everyone’s allowed to mess up from time to time, including successful fiction writers.
Loved both, PAD. Especially World-Breaker. What’s your opinion of Pak’s Planet Hulk storyline anyway?
Maybe it IS true in the Marvel Universe. After all, in the Marvel Universe Lysenko’s views on evolution by acquired characteristics, psychic powers, faster than light travel, God and Satan frequently manifesting themselves, and the supernatural as much a part of reality as chemistry and physics are all true.
Yeah, it’s a dopey myth with a surprisingly long life–most people who get shot in the head lose a lot less than 90% of their brain but the results are usually pretty poor anyway–but at least it’s one that could lead to positive results. If people think that they can “unlock” the “dormant” parts of their brains by thinking really hard, well, good. It’s better than them thinking that they can get superpowers by injecting mongoose blood or building rocket ships with poor cosmic ray shielding.
Bill Mulligan, thank God you posted what you did when you did. I was all set to drink a bottle of mongoose blood thinking it would give me super-powers. But then I read your post and adjusted my expectations. I instead drank the mongoose blood merely expecting it to taste good.
Unfortunately, it tasted like šhìŧ. Why didn’t you also warn me about THAT?
I don’t know that PAD has ever claimed to be a neurological scientist or a medical reporter. However, judging by some of the reactions around here, I’d expect to see a lot more moaning about the way lightning is portrayed in most visual media, IE, coming from clouds and hitting the ground. When lightning “strikes,” it actually begins on the ground and goes skyward. But, as artists, writers, painters, video geeks like me, and anybody else that could take certain liberties for dramatic emphasis. Haven’t gotten to Wade’s for a while, so I haven’t seen the issue in question myself, but knowing comics, writing, and PAD’s work as I do, I’m pretty sure that the scene in question would lose a lot of it’s impact if the panel said something like “Well, people use all of their brains, but here’s how Spidey’s using his in THIS panel!” And, while I’m all for realism and accuracy and all that, there’s something that I think adds an extra layer of the sillies on top of the chocolate frosting and peanut butter chips.
“What, you overly locquacious freak?” you may ask.
Well, I’ll tell you. Someone is arguing for scientific and neurological accuracy in a book that regularly has a normal guy hanging from walls, swinging through the city, and hooking up with a hot redhead. Now, all those are pretty improbable except for the last one, (I’m proof, considering I’m a clear example of either the Peter-Parker-or-Charlie-Brown-in-reality and my wife’s a hot redhead) and yet PAD puts this 10 per cent thing in and it causes an uproar. Can your disbelief only be suspended so far until it snaps like one of Larry King’s suspenders if they were being used like a STABO rig to get him out of Manhattan?
Idiot. You have to inject the blood.
And you call yourself a scientist!
Interestingly, there was a kid in my 3rd grade class who was known as “The Whizzer” but he couldn’t run very fast at all.
Bill, are you saying I’ve been taking my biweekly mongoose blood injections for the last fifteen years for NOTHING? Is that why no one will call me Riki Tiki Scully and all the cobras I meet just snicker?
That was no cobra, that was Dirk Benedict!
He’s just laughing about your treatments to become Rikki-Tikki-Scully. You think that you’re being turned into a super-powered young mongoose that kicks evil’s butt, but you’re actually being injected with the blood of a really smart, red-headed FBI agent and it, er… It’s starting to show.
Back to the topic at hand: I forgot to mention — I loved the “slippery rental shoes” gag. It’s just so… Peter David. 🙂
Wonder Man first…as I mentioned in the ESPN comments, I grew attached to Huan and wish she could’ve stuck around to join a super-team. It was clear from Simon’s thoughts in the future that things wouldn’t work out, but I didn’t know whether it would mean she would die, or become a bad guy again, or disappear somehow, or what. So when she died it didn’t come as a surprise or anything, but I had still been holding out hope for her continued existence in the Marvel U.
The ending of this story actually had me a little misty-eyed.
Very often, when a character dies and dies for good, it’s because that character was considered expendable. Sometimes, in part, it’s because readers don’t care about that character. To use just one example, when the All New, All Different X-Men debuted, Len Wein and Chris Claremont knew they were gonna kill Thunderbird off in fewer than five issues, so they didn’t really seem to put much effort into making him into the kind of interesting and likable character who would be missed by readers.
Huan, on the other hand, pretty much shared the spotlight with Simon. Some people might whether there’s any point of developing a character who’s just going to be gone four issues after he debut, why a writer would make her into a character most fans would *not* consider expendable when the plan from the start was for her to die. Why she was kept around long enough for us to get attached and then taken away for good (and we pretty much know it’s for good, since future-Simon makes no mention of her being resurrected). If a character is loved by the fans, they’re almost inevitably brought back (Jean Grey and Cap are undoubtedly going to reappear sooner or later, and Simon himself has come back at least twice, right?) sooner or later, and if nobody cares about them then they stay dead.
After thinking about that, my feeling is that there’s no reason to neglect the development of a character, or make them less appealing, just because their time is short. On the contrary. In order for their death to mean anything, to not only the readers but to the other characters as well, the character has to matter. Again, take Thunderbird. He stuck around for a few issues, acted like a jerk, and then “boom. Dead.” His teammates were shook up because his death made it clear that this wasn’t a game or anything, but did it make sense for them to grieve? None of them had been close to him, they’d merely worked alongside him. None of them had actually gotten along with him that well. Banshee’s guilt over not being able to convince him to get clear of the plane made sense, but he was disposable from the start and had been written that way.
Huan did not want her death to be meaningless. I and readers like me cared about her for all the same reasons that Simon did. If we were given no reason to care about her, then her death wouldn’t really have mattered very much and would, in fact, have been meaningless. Plus, the story wouldn’t have been as good if the second-most important character in it were written in a way similar to Thunderbird. So even though I don’t like getting attached to a character who’s doomed from the get-go, I think it was the right call in this case to put as much time into developing her as you would have if the story had a happier ending and she’d gone on to join some super-team. Kudos.
Saroyan, on the other hand, was totally expendable, due to the fact that we have plenty of characters with similar powers already. But he was nevertheless interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention, particularly since his treachery was unexpected to many of us.
I do, however, think Huan deserved a better name than “Ladyfair.” I know that this story is patterned after “My Fair Lady” but still, “Ladyfair”?? With a codename like that, she could’ve bumped into the Trapster and truthfully told him that compared to her, he used to have it good with a name like “Paste Pot Pete.” I’ll also ask if we have any medical professionals here, as I’m curious to know whether DD could’ve been able to accurately tell whether Huan was truthful in her dying moments. Polygraphs, even if they are accurate all the time, monitor a person’s vital signs and I imagine that Huan’s vitals would be all over the place since she’d just stabbed herself in the stomach. Regardless, WE know she was telling the truth and even without Murdock there Simon probably would’ve believed her anyway, so it’s not a big deal. I’m skeptical that the poison could’ve taken out guys like Wolverine or Thor and if the punch was alcoholic Stark probably wouldn’t have touched it, but it’s a safe bet that Neal’s plan would’ve dealt with a “sizable portion” of the Avengers at least. Also, Murdock’s blindness puns were cringe-worthy (sorry, they just were). Anyway that concludes my criticism.
Thor’s invitation to touch his hammer almost made me fall off my chair. The use of “Amazing, Spectacular, Uncanny” etc. made me laugh, moreso since Hank started it up again with “Invincible” after Simon told Huan she looked Fantastic. Plus, *I* chuckled at Huan’s comment about how wonderful it was that she knew eighteen different ways to kill a man and could also accessorize. Simon and Carol need to get senses of humor! :p
Saroyan’s observations about how willing the so-called “heroes” were to simply brainwash Huan, and Hank pointing out that Simon had wanted Huan to become emotionally dependent on him from the start, were surprising and disturbing. I honestly had not considered that, and I hope that Simon wasn’t conscious of what he was trying to do here. I hope that instead he just thought he could get Huan to give the super hero thing a try through showing her kindness, showing her that there was a better way, giving her an incentive to act differently…instead of through emotional manipulation and, as Neal said, “brainwashing.” I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then he wound up on Stark’s side in “Civil War” so…
Couple questions: will the remaining three Nobility members resurfance? Does Lord Thunder hold Simon as responsible for his sweetheart’s death as he did Neal, and will he try to make sure Simon suffers a similar fate?
This post is long enough as it is so I’ll end it here and get to FNSM later.
I liked the Hulk story very much. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read WWH, but now I want to.
I’m only sad that Doc Samson supports the Illuminati, but that’s not PAD’s fault, of course.
And I also didn’t like the 10% of the brain line. Sure, it’s not so important, but Scientology used that line (saying it to be an Einstein quote) for their propaganda.
FNSM: It was interesting, but I’m finding I really prefer your work on Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, where you don’t have to work in Peter Parker’s secret identity being public, Peter having died and been reborn as a mystic spider-totem, and assorted other continuity gems. FNSM really seems handicapped from its goal of telling newbie-friendly stories by having to be tied into mainstream Marvel continuity.
Hulk: World-Breaker: Very nice stuff here…but it’s unfortunate that you use the “humans use ten percent of their brains” line, when as we all know from Douglas Adams, humans use their brains as little as possible. 🙂 Seriously, I enjoyed it–good use of continuity to recap for new readers as well as entertain older ones. Well-written exposition like that has become a rarity, and I applaud it.
One question: I won’t ask how or when, but is anyone going to be dealing with the looming plot hole of “If Iron Man has something that can just zap She-Hulk back to human, why doesn’t he just use it on the Hulk and end this quick?” Because if that’s not the first thing they try, I’ll be very annoyed.
Sad but true: DT 4 bored me. This is no reflection on the comic, but rather on the source material. I loved the DT books, but the Meijas story in Wizard and Glass ranks as my least favorite part of the books. The story just doesn’t do it for me, and even trimmed down, I want to get on with it.
At least the script was good, the art was nice, and the story by Ms. Furth was very good.
FNSM didn’t let me down. Like other readers, I enjoyed the exchange between Peter and Betty, and then solving the Arrow mystery together. It’s pretty cool that Peter’s old friends are supporting his decision to oppose the SHRA and stay a fugitive instead of turning him in.
Arrow (or Ero–I guess we’ll find out which to call her next issue) is a good villain. Some suspension of disbelief was required when she formed the spider-geyser under the car, of course, since no matter how many spiders you gather together I’m pretty sure they couldn’t support the weight of a pickup truck, let alone shoot it high into the air.
How many spiders is Arrow made up of, anyway? I sort of figured that she was similar to Venom who, as you may recall, was defeated in his debut when Peter got him use too much of the symbiote’s mass to make webbing. Similarly, if Arrow shoots a steam of spiders at somebody, does that deplete the mass of her body? If she throws, let’s say, 50 lbs of spiders at somebody does that mean her remaining mass only consists of 50-70 lbs (assuming she’s the weight she appears)? Or has she somehow got access to an unlimited supply of these pirate spiders…in other words, “Don’t try to make sense of it because it’s magic!” 🙂
Anyway, I’m looking forward to finding out more about Arrow next issue. If her connection to that future version of the Chameleon hasn’t been explained in a prior issue, I’m curious about that as well.
Finally, I’d like to point out that after Peter saves Flash’s ášš here, he’ll owe it to his new roomie to cease and desist with the “puny” cracks forever. Unless he has a spider fetish and a death wish.
I want to know what’s up with Wonder Man coming out on time each month? Where was the 3 month gap between the second to last and final issue?
It’s this kind of thing that’s gonna keep you out of the top tier of comicdom!
Say, PAD, what do you think of the casting for Incredible Hulk?
It was just announced that Tim Roth will be playing KGB agent Emil Blonsky… well, according to Variety that’s the character’s background.
I’m not big on Hulk’s background, even less so with his villains, so it was amusing to read (while I’m actually finally playing Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction no less) that you wrote a mini to rewrite/retcon Blonsky’s history.
But Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, and now Roth who will be playing Abomination, although he may not actually be called Abomination in the film.
I enjoyed WONDER MAN, as I enjoy nearly all of PAD’s writing. But I am glad it’s over just so I don’t have to look at the art anymore.
Ugh.
Beast as a Disney cartoon? Spiderman with a head shaped like a football?
And in the full page “reveal” panel where we see Huan for the first time. There’s a build up with Simon and Hank’s reactions on the previous page, but when we get to see what they are reacting to the panel is dominated by the other character. Seriously, I thought they were reacting to Ms Marvel’s skeletal hips, huge tits and (of course, gotta include those in the picture) prominent nipples.
Bad storytelling and bad draftsmanship on the part of the artist.
Yeah, WHAT was going on with the continuity in Wonder Man? You start with heavy Disassembled references and end with Thor and an intact Avengers Mansion?
If Peter is a Cylon that would make Caroline 1/2 cylon and half elf which would be an odd mix indeed.
I guess you’ll just have to get her a cyborged wolf, then… 🙂
You know what really started to get to me about those “10% of the brain” posts? That Hulk issue featured ol’ Jolly Green standing on the outside of a craft in deep space. It’s been established that the Hulk does indeed need to breathe from time to time, not to mention the problems with decompression, explosive or otherwise, in a fracking vacuum!!! And you got hung up on an inaccuracy about neural efficiency?
Personally, I just try to remember I’m reading a comic book, not a Hal Clement novel, and don’t expect the characters therein to conform to known laws of physics or principles of medicine. (I mean, if we want to start getting nitpicky, where does the Hulk get that extra mass when he goes green? And what happens to it when he turns back into Banner? Shouldn’t he be freezing his environs in the first case, and setting them ablaze in the second?)
Coming late to the party, but if you’re still reading this, Peter, I stuck it all the way through Wonder Man even though I despised the art (except for Nauck’s fill-in work, which still seemed tonally wrong but at least was competent).
A large part of why I stuck it out is because I love seeing you work your magic on an underused character, like the way you would make Geordi far more interesting in print than the “Next Generation” writing staff ever managed. Simon’s one of my favorite superheroes, more out of childhood nostalgia than anything that’s been done with him outside of the first few issues of the Gerard Jones solo series in the early ’90s, so I figured he’d be an ideal puzzle for you to unlock.
But outside of the framing sequences and the way they dealt with Simon’s burden of immorality, it felt a little like he was a bystander in his own book. Obviously, you had to spend a lot of time building up Huan so we would care about what happened to her, but between all her backstory and the presence of Beast (who didn’t so much play off Simon as upstage him), Carol and the stuff with Saroyan, Simon kept fading into the background.
I understand that he’s not the easiest character to make vivid, that he’s too often portrayed as a generic strongman stuck in an endless loop of death, resurrection, and crushes on the Scarlet Witch. But you’ve done more with less in the past (again, see Geordi), and while I kept waiting for the eureka moment where you showed why Simon is much more unique and interesting than he’s generally given credit for, it never materialized for me.
On the other hand, you did a great job with Huan. Even with the distorted, cartoony art, I felt for her when she made her sacrifice.