Marvel Legacy #1

I bought this sometime this past summer. I think it was a special discount deal at a comic shop somewhere.

Title: Marvel Legacy
Issue: 1
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: November 2017
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Esad Ribic, Steve McNiven, Chris Samnee, Russell Dauterman, Alex Maleev, Ed McGuiness, Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Peppe Larraz, Jim Cheung, Daniel Acuna, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Mike Deodato Jr., David Marquez
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Cover: Joe Quesada
Editor:Tom Brevoort, Alanna Smith

This is the introductory special for Marvel's Legacy crossover event/soft reboot. The direction that it's heading in seems to be aimed at bringing some classic Marvel heroes who have been in the background (or "dead in the Marvel Universe") back into the major storylines.

The story opens one million years in Earth's past, and features a kind of Pleistocene superhero crossover between some of the Marvel Universe's best known immortal beings. It was cute, but perhaps played a bit too much for laughs as they tried to get a bunch of personalities across quickly.

Shifting to modern times, the book then goes into prologue mode for a whole bunch of different Legacy plotlines. There isn't much in the way of a common thread. There is a big cosmic threat inbound, and another one awakening on Earth. And several different villains are on quests to seek out sources of power and other mysterious McGuffins.

It was nice to get a quick look at Ironheart and Jane Foster Thor. I hadn't had a chance to read their books and they both seem like a lot of fun.

But the whole thing was terribly disjointed, failing to give more than a few characters any real chance to capture the reader's attention. By the time I was done, I had no idea what this  crossover was about or why it was happening (other than to sell books with lenticular covers), and I can't name a single title in Marvel Legacy that I am interested in reading as a result of having read this.

Rating: 4/10

The Mis-Adventures of Adam West / Things To Come

Title: The Mis-Adventures of Adam West / Things To Come
Date: 2011
Publisher: Blue Water Comics
Writer: Walter Koenig, Adam West, Darren G. Davis, Russell Dautermen
Penciler: J.C. Baez, Reed Lackey
Colorist: Jon Lyons, Kamui Ayami
Letterer: Bernie Lee, Jaymes Reed
Cover: Matt Bellisle
Editor: Scott Davis

Flip book for 2011 Free Comic Book Day. Actor Walter Koenig scripts Things To Come, a post-apocalyptic tale of humans living in caves for generations after fleeing the polluted and uninhabitable surface of the earth. The story opens with several pages of vampire imagery which appear to be a dream sequence and a hint of things to come. The art is striking and gritty, and works well for the "new stone age" setting. This teaser ends with humanity about to venture out to the surface for the first time in centuries, so there seems to be plenty of story potential here.

Flip the book over for The Mis-Adventures of Adam West, featuring actor Adam West bemoaning the lack of real heroes on today's media while his agent tries to convince him to abandon his principles to take some paying work. Things get stranger soon thereafter, and it appears that this time Mr. West won't just be playing a hero on TV. I must admit that I cringed a bit when I saw the cover to this, but I was pleasantly surprised to find well-written dialogue, a genuine and honest discussion of the nature of heroes, and an enjoyable, fast-paced story. Holy priceless collection of Etruscan swords! This was way better than it had any right to be.

Rating: 7.5/10