Written by Matt Agosta
One of the things that set comics books apart from many other mediums out there is the epic event. Events are when the characters of a certain comic book series come face to face with a epic conflict they must over come, or in Marvel and DC’s case, when the entire universe comes together to face a global threat. Some of the most memorable issues and battles have taken place within these events and are seriously classic.
Being very much a Marvel guy, Secret Wars, Infinity Gauntlet, and House of M easily come to mind as some of my most memorial reads. Marvel has definitely noticed events captivate readers and has now made it very regular, but is that really a good thing? For Marvel, once one event ends, another one immediately starts up and it takes away the fun and excitement that comes with it. Going along with Marvel now charging $3.99 instead of $2.99 for comics, it is clear that these overload of events correlates with the fact that die hard fans will almost always buy each issue of an event series, so why not keep churning them out? As much as I learned to love a lot of these events such as Civil War or Avengers vs. X-Men, I do wish Marvel would keep these events to a yearly or bi-yearly thing.
With that being said, if you do have the time and money, events in comics are still pretty exciting and there are some very awesome events that have come out recently, and some soon to come that sound very exciting. The one’s listed here are some of my personal favorites that I will definitely be going back to over and over again. Events are suppose to totally change the world that these characters live in and these definitely do. I also listed some that are completely self-contained and do not effect the universe at large, so you could enjoy them without feeling like you’re missing something. I know that events for me were easy jumping points to get started reading and loving Marvel comics so hopefully some of these could do the same for you!
The Walking Dead: ALL OUT WAR
Before I start to babble about how awesome this twelve-issue event is I have to mention that The Walking Dead was the sole reason I started reading comics. I flew through one hundred comics in two weeks and now race to comic shops on Wednesdays when they are released. With that, ALL OUT WAR is damn good. It puts Rick and his survivors against a serious asshole in Negan and his saviors in a world defining war. Serious shit went down in these twelve issues and if you’re not already reading The Walking Dead, I strongly suggest you do. Stuff explodes, zombies are killed, and Rick shows just how much of a badass leader is he. At the end of this arc everything changes within the series and I love that. All too often in events, stuff goes down and then we go back to normal; but not in this arc. Robert Kirkman really hits it out of the park with this one and whether you agree with the decisions made or not, you wont be able to put it down. So seriously, if your not already reading The Walking Dead, what’s wrong with you?! Get on it.
Marvel’s Civil War
Marvel’s greatest heroes split apart because of a certain government issue and are engulfed in a giant civil war. Need I say more? The whole premise behind this event is that the government is seriously sick of dealing with super heroes and all their bullshit they bring, so they decide to enact a law that makes it mandatory for super heroes to register with the government, and (here’s the kicker) reveal their identities. A lot of heroes have a serious problem with this, mainly Captain America, and decide to not comply with the law. Well, Iron Man has decided to be the leader of the government movement and take down any hero that won’t comply. So the entire Marvel universe takes either the hero’s rights side with Captain America, or the government side with Iron Man. This all builds up to an epic battle that is seriously super fun and exciting to read. Honestly if that whole description doesn’t spark your interest, I don’t know what will.
THIS WEEK’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
COMIC OF THE WEEK:
Wolverine #8 “3 Months To Die”
So this is one of those events that I wish Marvel would not do. A while back Wolverine had lost his healing factor, but it has given readers some really compelling reads and a new look at the characters. I compare a healing factor-less Wolverine to the Superior Spiderman because Logan has to totally change the way he lives and fights to adjust to this situation. He can’t just hack and lash and go wild, but instead he must be smart about every fight that he’s in. What is even more interesting is how this affects Wolverine emotionally knowing that without his healing factor, death will eventually find him. That being said, Marvel is going to kill him now. I know it sucks. We all know that super heroes never stay dead, especially someone as popular as Wolverine, but I’m still very interested to see how Marvel is going to go about this. For someone as awesome as Wolverine is, it better is epic, violent, and heroic. Ultimately I hope Logan does not stay dead for long.
GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE WEEK:
Batman Vol. 3 Death of the Family
Okay, so I’m going to cheat a little bit since this volume came out months ago, but since there isn’t much on the novel end coming out this week and we were talking about events, I thought it is worth mentioning. Throughout Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s run on DC’s The New 52 Batman series, every issue has been stellar. This volume in particular is extraordinarily chilling and just seriously f**ked up. The first issue in this series ends with The Joker having someone cut off his face. Yes you read that right. This Batman event entitled Death of the Family has The Joker return but this time he is wearing his face. Yes, The Joker takes his sick mind to another level and wears his own face as a mask. Not only is he visually insane, he is haunting Batman and his entire team in the most personal and horrible ways he possibly could. The end of this storyline had me looking down at the page with a stank face being seriously concerned with what the hell I was reading. But as a horror fan, I loved it and really enjoyed seeing Batman taken to the end of his rope with his most horrifying archenemy. If you love horror, or just love Batman (who doesn’t), this event is for you.
That’s all for this week folks. Enjoy reading!
Related Articles:
Review: The Walking Dead, ‘All Out War’ (Luke Kalamar)
Comics Are For Lovers: The Right Story for the Right Price (Al Mannarino)
Comics Are For Lovers: A Grown-Up’s Guide to Sex in Comics (Jonathan Elliott)
