EDITOR’S NOTE: Before October is over, it seems appropriate that I review some horror-themed books in the month of Halloween. Let’s start it off with this one-shot zinger.
I was super-excited when I spotted this book at my local comic shop (Maroon Hornet, Oxford PA). A one-shot story, a throwback to the monster stories of the early ’60’s that Marvel used to feature before the advent of the Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man. In addition, it features a return appearance of Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos in their original glory (and not some modernized or monstrous version with howling werewolves) If that’s enough for you, don’t read further as I spoil the whole story. However, caveat emptor, my friend . . . . . .
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY: THE BIRTH OF KRAKOA one-shot (Marvel Comics, November 2018) Dennis Hopeless, writer. Djibril Morissette-Phan, artist. Rachelle Rosenberg, color artist. VC’s Travis Lanham, letterer.
The story suggests that Krakoa, the living island featured in the mid-1970’s X-Men revival, was birthed during World War II. And, now told for the first time, its’ existence was hidden from humanity until then with the assistance of that specially-trained WWII squad, Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos.
Following a mission completion, Fury is flying the squad to their next destination when they encounter an electrical storm, take a detour, and the plane gets caught in the backlash of an explosion, catches fire, and has to crash land on the island targeted by the bomb. Apparently, the island was part of the U.S.’s testing of atomic weapons, although that is only implied. And, it must have been a small dose because the island is not destroyed, as it would have been if it was the same strength of bomb as the one dropped on Hiroshima.
The result is the birth of the living island, which attacks Fury as he falls into a pit, and causes moss and glowing vegetative growth to spread on the bodies of various commandos. Fury gets to the heart of the matter, finds a way to communicate with the island, and strikes a deal so that they are unharmed and can await rescue by U.S. forces. It’s a fun story, but only works if you are willing to suspend your belief more than usual.
Why did I tell you everything you need to know? Why buy the book now? That’s my point. I’m not sure this story is going to really satisfy fans of both Fury and the classic Marvel monster tales. I don’t fault the story, which flows well, or the art, which is decent. It just doesn’t seem plausible and that ruined it for me. I guess I should have just read it, chuckled, and not thought about it.
If this was an atomic bomb, and the commandos land on the island just minutes after the explosion, they wouldn’t have survived to see sunrise. The radiation poisoning would have been enough to kill them. Yet, the island makes the glowing growth go away and conceals its presence even from radiation detectors when the rescue team arrives. How did it become that powerful?
Ok, Godzilla was birthed when atomic testing in the ocean woke the behemoth from deep sleep. But it didn’t create Godzilla. The Birth Of Krakoa would have seemed more plausible if the atomic test woke it up. It could have been a surviving creature from the early days. I would have preferred this version.
On the plus side, the depiction of the various commandos seems totally in character, the way I remember them. So, it’s a nice nostalgic visit with some old friends. But $4.99 for this book, a 31 page story? It could easily have been pared down to a size where the cover price could have been $3.99.
Not enough value for the money. I’m NEUTRAL on this one. ONLY FOR THE DEDICATED OR COMPLETISTS.
No comments:
Post a Comment