BATTLEWORLD BATTLEWORLD
BATTLEWORLDBATTLEWORLD
ROUND 1, BATTLE 6
MODOK: ASSASSIN #1
VS
OLD MAN LOGAN #1
In the early 2000s, when comic book companies realized that the only people reading their books were 40 year olds, the methods of storytelling began to change. They didn’t need to follow Stan Lee’s adage of remembering every comic is somebody’s first comic anymore, and could spend less time on the thousands of words of constant exposition that Stan Lee was enamored with. This made the narrator box and thought bubbles unnecessary, as the writers didn’t feel the need to cover eight issues worth of story in 22 pages.
Look at the panel on the right, without reading what’s in the yellow box. Can you tell that the Hulk is turning back into Bruce Banner? You can? Now read the yellow box, which lets you know the transformation is awesome.
And then there’s the thought bubble. The solid circle on the left is dialogue, while the cloudy one on the right is Spider-Man’s internal monologue. Why would he say one of these out loud, and not the other? Why would either be said out loud? Does Peter Parker think that normal people say one sentence, and then think one sentence, whereas people who say two sentences in a row out loud are crazy? We can only assume that probably.
Once we hit the 2000s, and comics became G-Rated things for adults, these two techniques went away, and are now occasionally replaced with a combination of the two. Now, the character’s thoughts appear in a box that looks similar to the one that used to contain the omniscient narration. Like so:
See, that’s not Stan Lee’s exuberant loquaciousness making the story easier to understand (and harder to read), that’s the thoughts of the main character. No more thought bubbles, no more narrative boxes, but an amalgamation of the two. It still might feel like cheating, as narration often feels, especially in such a visual medium where not enough of the storytelling is given to the artists. But after two weeks of Battleworld Battleworld, I’m starting to think that the winners of these battles might be the ones who figure out a way to handle the narrative boxes the best.
M.O.D.O.K.: Assassin and Old Man Logan both tell the story of killers forced to be brutal because of the worlds they live in. Logan’s is brutal because it’s a post-apocalyptic western that takes place after a mob of Hulks took control of the world. MODOK’s world is brutal because he’s a giant head that thinks he should be the supreme ruler, but no one can take him seriously because they are too busy being disgusted at his appearance. MODOK has always been one of the more successful comedic characters. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to yell out Dr. Doom-like dialogue unless you’re wearing a kick ass green hood. Maybe it’s because he’s not overused, or doesn’t rely on pop culture references. And M.O.D.O.K.: Assassin is about the best you can hope for with MODOK as a main character. It’s violent and funny, and for once we get to see MODOK somewhat competent. Unfortunately for him, Old Man Logan is back, mother fucker.
Brian Michael Bendis is probably my favorite writer of all time. He’s easy to make fun of now, but there was a time when he could set an entire issue in the Avengers cafeteria, and it would be the best thing you read that week. That being said, Bendis does not seem like he would be a good fit for OML. It stars Wolverine as William Munny, and characters based on iconic Clint Eastwood roles probably don’t have a lot of time for lightning fast banter. But Bendis’ Wolverine doesn’t mess around. He’s not jumping from quippy conversation to quippy conversation, giving characters a mix of their previous personalities with the usual Bendis tone. It’s an important moment for Bendis, now that he’s wrapped up his X-Men run and staring out at a post-Secret Wars world. It’s a bit of proof that we too quickly slap a label on these writers. But it’s a bigger moment for Secret Wars spinoffs in general, as it reminds us that we should kickback and enjoy all of these crazy stories on their own, as opposed to being overly concerned about how each one fits into the current world, or whatever we’ll have when it’s all over.
M.O.D.O.K.: Assassin used little narrative boxes to let us know who this MODOK is, and what his world is like. It never feels like a cheat – in fact, in might be necessary in this crazy world of battles and secrets. But Bendis sets the boxes down for a minute and lets artist Andrea Sorrentino take over. Bendis gives us a little scene with Logan and the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, and he gets Logan out to the Shield, which sets-up the rest of the arc. But when you’re dealing with a man who talks little and punches often, it’s up to Sorrentino to lead the way. The action is quiet, and brutal, and there’s a distinct lack of quipping during the fight. Now that Bendis has gotten Logan over the wall, we’re going to get to see Sorrentino’s vision of Wolverine vs. Zombies and Wolverine vs. Ultrons. And we’ll get to see all of that in Round 2.