S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 (The Fall) and Why Saying Less In Comics Can Be More

Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. series continues to be a prickly little burst of wonderful bi-monthly (although there was a wider gap between volumes one and two) comic book full of big ideas, a smattering of non-linear story telling, and wide screen cinema action movie sequencing that, combined, is an enjoyable read. For chapter three of volume two, titled "The Fall", Hickman and Artist Dustin Weaver let the imagery run wild and drive the show, saving a small bit of dialogue/exposition to segue to chapter four (hopefully coming in December).

Why Saying Less Can Be More
One of the best things Marvel does right now in their monthly series books (both long running and mini-formats) is the re-cap page at the beginning. While some may not care for this, I like to think of it as a good old fashioned (cuing the voice of an old television show omniscient announcer) " Last time, our heroes were..." segment to re-adjust the reader to the headspace of the narrative without having to go back and re-read past issues (which isn't a bad thing depending on the series I might add!). Why it is especially important for this issue (nee chapter) is it is the absolute necessary exposition needed to allow the all action issue to commence.

It is easy to assume that one could think of twenty odd pages of no dialogue and only sequential action as more of a silent movie, but, when you break these panels down , the sound is deafening: A gigantic star child, driven to a ten-foot tall destructive rage by a mathematical equation tears through an entombed city underground, blasting the city and its defenders as necessary; The sound of the star child's footsteps cracking through the foundations bringing centuries old buildings crashing down into piles of rubble; The constant cannon and percussive blasts of energy bouncing around; giant rallying calls and cries of dismay.... Even when it does break through, it comes in the form of a quasi-celestial interpreting an equation! The universal language of math, the "cold equation", breaks space time fabric  in a two page climax. Maybe I am alone in this, but stuff like this makes me create my own soundtrack.

Familiar Territory
This issue is indicative of what Hickman likes to do in his various series (FF, The Red Wing, Fantastic Four, The Ultimates)-- play with the possibilities of telling big ideas through sequential storytelling with the pictures, the backbone of the medium, doing the work. I do not know how detailed his scripts are persay, but I imagine that he lays them out nicely for his rotating cast of wonderful artists (Ribic's work on The Ultimates has been especially spot-on). While there is nothing particularly inventive about the way the sequences are done or the panel movement constructed in S.H.I.E.L.D. (J.H.Williams III it is not), Weaver draws beautiful detailed medium to large panels and striking full and double page spreads. I am willing to opine (and I could totally be wrong here), that Hickman chooses the bigger images for the size of the stories he is telling, which are always, realistically, epics for a large audience. This choice of the "epic" format" suits Hickman. Often complex, often discussed by reviewers as very complicated fractured narratives that require multiple readings, and often championed as a win if you wait for it in a collected trade format, I will say that reading S.H.I.E.L.D. as it comes out on a monthly or bi-monthly schedule has a great satisfaction, specifically as I believe that serialized narrative are exactly best enjoyed...serialized! (SIGH) Whatever happened to loving the mystery and reveling in the anticipation of heading to the LCS on any given Wednesday? But that is another post for another time.   

Slice of life narrative and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Last night, we viewed the Coen Bros. 1998 film "The Big Lebowski", as part of our year long resolution to re-visit the work of filmmakers whom influenced how we watch movies (and how they can just be fun!). I had not watched the film in many years, despite the fact that it sits in my personal collection. The most striking thing to me this time through was the depth of creating characters that exist in a unique and very inviting world. The Dude, Walter and Donny represent the most difficult type of creation in fiction--by the end of the story they seem real, and you almost wish the story would just go on, just like life. You know they will be at that bowling alley tomorrow (except Donny, who is the sacrifice to the laws of nature) "takin her easy" (in the words of the narrator) for the rest of us. The Coens achieve a real slice of life character piece with Lebowski, akin more to Altman more than homage to Noir, and that is what gives it legs all these years later. Next week, its on to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". I will post on Twitter about time and date later this week.

Recently, I began reading the work of Jonathan Hickman (www.pronea.com) , an artist who has taken to creating some very unique worlds and story lines in the comics medium. His unique blend of science fiction and hero narrative are refreshing, especially with such characters as the Future Foundation (formerly the Fantastic Four, although he was the main writer for those books) and the series that has given me the most enjoyment of late: S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1

S.H.I.E.L.D., without going into a bunch of comic book history (you can use wikipedia for that), has been a long running organization within the Marvel universe. But Hickman decides to re-boot this history, to explore the possibility that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been around a very long time ( and I do mean go way back) fighting off those that have attempted to undermine human beings as the dominant species on the planet (yes, that means fighting aliens to a certain degree). It is who has been fighting for us that gives the book its interesting plot- names such as Da Vinci, Galileo, Newton, Tesla. These men of science and reason have been defending the species in order for us to evolve into our potential. What that potential is exactly is part of the mystery, and also part of the conflict within S.H.I.E.L.D. that arises in what Hickman defines the first six issues as part one of his story. To me, as a fan of the medium of comics, this series represents the potential of the types of stories that comics can provide a vehicle for. Unfortunately, these types of series have a very small audience, and are often canceled long before they reach the original ending intended by the author. Fortunately, for now, the book has enough thrust to launch into the second part (or arc) next week.