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Wednesday Comic Reviews: FF 3 And Hellboy: Being Human

Published Wed, 11 May 2011 13:38:55 -0500

Last updated Wed, 11 May 2011 13:48:31 -0500

I can't take The Watcher seriously anymore. I mean I'm not sure I used to anyway, but I definitely don't now. I can't even take the ones in Fringe seriously. And it's all because of the Red Hulk. Because he punched Uatu in the face and knocked him on his arse. It was hilarious, a high point in Jeph Loeb's run on the Hulk book. And it ruined the character for me.

So when he turns up in FF #3, at a table where the Fantastic Four's greatest enemies have been gathered to discuss how to deafeat Mr Fantastic – while he is present in the room itself, it's meant to symbolise the importance of this moment, the serious nature of what is being discussed and to be ominous for the future. Instead I just picture the Red Hulk going KER-POW.

That's the one.

Anyway it's all part of a big plan involving the Council of Reed Richards and the need for Richards to defeat himself, allied with those who have failed to do so all these long decades. And recruited by members of the FF, all of which have some history or aIllegiance with the antagonists in question. It's a marvellous game of chess where the white kings are multiplying and the original white king needs to ally with the black knights and bishops to take the pretender white kings down.All the time while those white kings are allying themselves with the black rooks and the black pawns.

It's also reflective of the long form plotting that Jonathan Hickman has introduced to the book. I've called him the new Alan Moore of comics and here's where he shows it most, with something as complex as Big Numbers promised to be. Fractal, the microscopic reflecting the form of the macroscopic. The characters plots just as the author does. And now we have so many groups and individuals pursuing their own desires, in concordance, however briely, with their compatriots. It's a large web, and pulling on one strand will affect to many others. It's a fascinating and engaging read. Steve Epting's art still seems stiff with characters but his monsters are superb, especially the Dire Wraiths and his environments and grounded and real , even when they are at their most fantastic.

Hellboy: Being Human is…not like that. Mike Mignola is not one for long extended plots, his Hellboy tends to live in the moment. And this time he's being drawn by one Richard Corben. And considering this is a story concerning Roger The Homunculus, I couldn't think of a better artistic choice. All of Richard Corben's characters look like they've been carved out of granite, it's refreshing to see him portraying a character struggling with his… it's humanity. And is a fan of the work of John Steinbeck. Oh and the book also takes place in a old graveyard full of catacombs and gravestones, with bodies dragged from the graves, dark sinister shadows and ancient witchcraft. So it's all good.

And we have the homunculus not just going on the Data journy, finding humanity but finding his own purpose, his own moral code and his own ability to kill, something that surprises him as much as it does the reader. Of Mice And Men, indeed.

Thje execution plot is so very separate from the way FF is being planned. Based on previous stories, this is more of an exquisite corpse with one writer, Mike Mignola basing the work on previous stories, but when those stories were written this plt wasn;t intended. He sees where the cards lie, creating a more organic natural progression than Hickman's cards slotting into a preordained place. It's like we're seeing two different universe, two different ways of existence in two very different comic books.

Both damn fine comics. Both set and referencing their respective continuity. But which do you prefer? And what does that say about you?

FF #3 and Hellboy: Being Human are published today.