Thursday, January 08, 2009

GoodReads: Beyond! HC

Beyond! HC (Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars) Beyond! HC by Dwayne McDuffie


My review


rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of those forgotten gems of recent years, as Dwayne McDuffie takes a crew of B- and C-listers (including newcomers like Gravity and The Hood), drops them onto an alien planet in an updated spin on Secret Wars and serves up plenty of fun character interaction and a twisty, interesting plot.

I wasn't thrilled by what McDuffie did with one of the main characters, but he fixed it in his brief Fantastic Four run (which I'd also buy in hardcover, if Marvel did one), but I loved his use of the '90s Deathlok. I also liked his work on Al Kraven, which is to say I was able to read the book without constantly wishing that the character would be stabbed in the eyes. One up on his original creator, Ron Zimmerman, on that score.

In addition, this was one of my favorite projects by artist Scott Kolins, who had a great take on the science-gadgety Dr. Hank Pym, the Mike Norton-designed Gravity and Deathlok, among others.

View all my reviews.

2 comments:

Jim B. said...

Another book I'll get around to... someday.
Questions:
1. Why did you choose to review the hardcover? Some advantage over the trade, or is that what's listed in Goodreads?
2. On the subject of Scott Kolins: Did you read last week's Solomon Grundy one-shot? What did you think, and will you be reading the Kolins-penned Grundy series? My two cents: While it was not what I expected, I found the art strong, the Croc fight gratuitous, and the ending intriguing enough to want to see what comes next. The Shane Davis cover was arresting; wonder why Kolins didn't do the cover art?

Randy Lander said...

1. I've got the hardcover, so I reviewed that. There is an advantage over the trade in that it's oversized, and I love the oversized hardcovers, but as far as the story itself goes, the trade serves just fine.

2. I haven't read the Grundy one-shot yet. I mean to, but haven't had a chance... but honestly, I'm so uninterested in DC right now, none of their books are really a priority for me at the moment. I'm reading it because I like Scott's art and I'm interested in his writing.