WONDER WOMAN ANNUAL #1

“AMAZONS”
Written by: George Pérez
Lettered by: Todd Klein | Colored by: Carl Gafford
Assistant Editor: Ken Young | Editor: Karen Berger

Artists: Brian Bolland & Mark Farmer, Chris Marrinan & Will Blyberg, Arthur Adams,
John Bolton, José Luis Garcia-Lopéz, Curt Swan & Bob McLeod, Ross Andru & George Pérez

The Plot: Princess Diana brings Julia and Vanessa Kapatellis to Paradise Island, where they meet the Amazons and learn of their history. Eventually, a few days later, Diana and her guests return to Man’s World.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: This story is composed of a series of vignettes, each illustrated by a different art team as outlined above. First up, with the help of Arthur Adams, the Amazons demonstrate their sacred diving ceremony to the Kapatellises, and we learn of how Diana, as a young girl, got over her fear of diving.

Next, John Bolton draws Hippolyte’s tale of her younger days, explaining how the Amazons’ prior leader, Antiope, met and adopted a girl named Pythia, who eventually left with her to seek revenge on the men who had enslaved the Amazons under Heracles. (This feels like setup for an upcoming storyline, but as we only have two more issues of WONDER WOMAN to look at, I doubt we’ll see a payoff before we’re done.)

José Luis Garcia Lopéz draws Phillipus’s story of the Amazons’ first captain of the guards, Egeria, and her heroic sacrifice to seal the doorway to the realm beneath Paradise Island.

SAVAGE HULK #1 - 4

"THE MAN WITHIN"
Writer & Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Mark Farmer
colorist: Matt Hollingsworth | Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Assistant Editor: Jon Moisan | Editors: Mark Paniccia with Wil Ross
Editor in Chief: Axel Alonso | Chief Creative Officer: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley | Executive Producer: Alan Fine

(You know you're writing about a modern marvel comic when it takes ten minutes just to type out the stupid credits. Anywho...)

As far as I know, this 2014 story arc is, to date, Alan Davis's most recent work for Marvel in the writing capacity. And it's about what you'd expect of Davis the writer: some good old-fashioned classic Marvel action and adventure. Note that of the Davis works I covered over the past few weeks, FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END, while set in the future, presented the most iconic versions of the various Marvel heroes within its pages. THOR: TRUTH OF HISTORY was set in the distant past and featured the characters' original Jack Kirby looks. It's pretty evident that, given his choice, Davis will always go for the most classic visuals he can, and it's a shame that Marvel has drifted so, so very far from the best visual representations of their characters that in order for him to do so, he must set his stories in the past or in alternate worlds/timelines.

But! Much as I love to comment on the myriad failings of current Marvel comics, I'd rather spend the next few paragraphs singing the praises of Alan Davis. As noted above, this tale is set in the past; around this time, Marvel launched SAVAGE WOLVERINE and SAVAGE HULK, a pair of out-of-continuity series intended to chronicle untold adventures from their title characters' pasts, and each series received an opening arc by a well-known writer/artist (see my look at Frank Cho's opening SAVAGE WOLVERINE arc here).

THOR: THE TRUTH OF HISTORY

Writer & Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer | Colorist: Rob Schwager | Letterer: VC's Joe Carmagna
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona | Editor: Warren Simons | Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley

I'm not sure what I make of this story. Written and drawn by Alan Davis in 2008, it begins with a pair of scholars drawn and named to resemble Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy as they debate the nature of the Sphinx in Egypt. Stanley believes the fabled statue originally had a different head, which was resculpted into the visage we know today. "Olivier", meanwhile, stands by conventional wisdom which says the entire thing was created at the same time.

This leads into the main story, set "less than 4,000 years ago," as Thor and his allies, Balder, Sif, and the Warriors Three, fight off a clandestine incursion into Asgard by agents of Nedra, Queen of the Frost Giants. The heroes learn that Nedra has, in violation of Odin's law, opened a portal to the Earth which leads to Egypt. Volstagg of the Warriors Three falls through the portal, so Thor and Volstagg's partners, Fandral and Hogun, go after him. In Egypt, the Asgardians battle a half-animal slavemaster and travel to Giza in time to save Volstagg from being sacrificed to a fire-breathing griffin at the order of a mad pharaoh. But the pharaoh is slain when the griffin gets loose, then Thor defeats the beast and brings rain to Egypt.

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE END

Story and Pencils: Alan Davis | Inks: Mark Farmer
Color Art: John Kalisz | Letters: Dave Lanphear | Production: Anthony Dial
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson | Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | Publisher: Dan Buckley

At some point, Alan Davis somehow became linked with the Fantastic Four. In recent years he provided regular covers for the series. Back in 1998, he was to be the FF's ongoing artist following the "Heroes Reborn" event, before dropping out after the third issue of their relaunched title. Around that time, he was tapped to provide cover art for the first printings of ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR volumes 1 and 2, as well.

And in 2007, Davis was commissioned for an entry into Marvel's series of "The End" mini-series and one-shots, for a six-issue saga describing the final adventure of the Fantastic Four.

The story is set some decades in the future, after Earth was nearly destroyed in something called the "Mutant War". Reed Richards has developed a "Methuselah Treatment" which allows the members of humanity to live in their prime long past their natural lifespans. Earth has been restored as a utopia and the solar system has been terraformed.

But all is not well. Years earlier, Franklin and Valeria Richards, children of Reed and his wife Sue, were killed in the Fantastic Four's final battle with Doctor Doom. Reed now lives as a hermit aboard an asteroid lab, estranged from Sue, working on a mysterious matter transferral experiment, while Sue spends her days on an archaeological quest on Earth. Meanwhile, John Storm is now a lead member of the Avengers, who battle villains throughout known space, while Ben Grimm, his wife Alicia, and their children live on Mars among the Inhumans.

KILLRAVEN BY ALAN DAVIS

Story/Art: Alan Davis
Inks: Mark Farmer | Colors: Gregory Wright | Letters: Pat Prentice
Assistant Editors: Marc Sumerak & Andy Schmidt | Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada | President: Bill Jemas

I had become a fan of Alan Davis by the time his KILLRAVEN limited series was first published in 2002, but I did not know who or what a "Killraven" was, so I passed on it at the time. But thanks to Marvel Digital Unlimited, I finally took some time to read the six-issue limited series earlier this year. As noted, I was totally unfamiliar with the Killraven character when the series came out, but I had since learned that he debuted in Marvel's adaptaion of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. I've still never read another comic with him, though, so I have no idea if Davis's story is a sequel, a reboot, or a reimagining -- but I can confirm that it's a very fun read.

I like post apocalyptic stories about small groups traveling the land in search of something, and that's precisely what this is. When the tale begins, it is the "not-so-distant future" and Earth is enslaved by Martians. Our main characters are Raven (a.k.a. Killraven), M'Shulla, Carmilla, Hawk, and Skull. The former four are gladiators from the Martian slave pens, while Skull, older than the rest, was one of their attendants, who essentially raised and trained them. The group quickly takes on a boy named John, and this group forms the core of the story's cast.

BATMAN BY MIKE W. BARR & ALAN DAVIS: DETECTIVE COMICS # 572, 573, 574

"THE DOOMSDAY BOOK"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Pencilers: Alan Davis, Terry Beatty, Carmine Infantino
Inkers: Paul Neary, Dick Giordano, Al Vey | Colorists: Adrienne Roy, Carl Gafford
Letterers: John Workman, Todd Klein, Romeo Francisco | Editor: Denny O'Neil

"THE MAD HATTER FLIPS HIS LIDS" | "...MY BEGINNING...AND MY PROBABLE END"
Writer: Mike W. Barr | Penciler: Alan Davis | Inker: Paul Neary
Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Letterer: Richard Starkings
Editor: Denny O'Neil

Art by Mike Kaluta

DETECTIVE COMICS #572 is a "jam" issue, celebrating the title's fiftieth anniversary, and starring three of the book's regular featured characters of decades past: Batman (of course), the Elongated Man, and Slam Bradley, who I had never heard of before. Upon looking him up, I've learned that he starred in DETECTIVE #1, and has appeared sporadically in the DC Universe since.

Beyond the above group, the story also stars Sherlock Holmes, who, it seems, is a real person in the DC world. Watson's chronicles of Holmes' cases are treated here as works of non-fiction, and everyone views Holmes as a well-known historical figure. It's a conceit I enjoyed, and it fits just fine into a shared universe like this one. However, Barr goes overboard with the idea here, revealing in the story's finale that Holmes is still alive and fairly spry at well over a hundred years of age, due essentially to nothing more than clean living.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN PART TEN - PAVING THE WAY FOR EXCALIBUR

Presenting a special extra-length post to close out the Classic Captain Britain era!

When last we saw Captain Britain, he was on his way home from Sat-Yr-9's parallel Earth.  He arrives in time to console his sister, Betsy, following her murder -- in self-defense -- of Kaptain Briton.  Shortly thereafter, Mastermind reveals to Brian and Betsy that their father was not a human being as they had always believed, but a citizen of Otherworld and a chief adviser to Merlyn.  Mastermind then takes on the holographic appearance of a human butler, to better serve Brian and his family.

Meanwhile, Garbriel and Michael, agents of the Resources Control Executive ("RCX"), the agency which has replaced STRIKE, have tracked down Linda McQuillan, Captain U.K., who is living in peace on our Earth.  They introduce her to the Warpies, mutated children created by the Jaspers' warp.  They want Linda to help them coerce Captain Britain into serving them as a symbol, hopefully preventing a coup of the British government due to civil unrest created by the reality warp.