Marvel 1985 Review

So I Recently read Marvel 1985, and I liked it quite a bit. Mark Millar tends to write stuff that's good. Some of it is fantastic, and then others aren't as much. But I will say that I've only ever had a problem with two books he's written, and that's The Unfunnies which is one of his way earlier works, and Superman: Red Son. Unfunnies I didn't care for at all but Red Son was okay, it just wasn't great. But back to my point, Millar, other than those two books, tends to write stuff that's pretty awesome. So I checked this out on that notion, not really knowing anything more than the basic premise. When I read this I was in a bit of a slump as far as comics go, and i really just couldn't get into anything, and then as soon as I read the first chapter, i breezed through the rest of it in one sitting.

The idea here is that in the year 1985 the "Real" world and the Marvel universe start blending together. So this thirteen year old boy slacker kid who reads comics starts noticing Marvel villains popping up all over his hometown. The rest of the story is basically him trying to convince people he's not crazy, and then him and his dad hanging out and trying to find a way to stop all this crazy shit. If that sounds like a cool idea to you, you'll probably dig this book, if not then maybe you won't. It's not like there's some hidden plot, and twist endings and stuff... it's transparent as far as plot goes, but it is pretty solid throughout. The first few issues are build, and then everything starts really kicking into high gear once you get into the ladder half of the book, especially the last two issues. The dialogue is great throughout and everyone sounds like normal people sound. The way this kid and his dad talk is almost exactly how my dad and I have talked since I was thirteen. And it's even more immersive when the main character is narrating. The way he describes certain characters is probably my favorite part. I will say that the one thing that makes this a little lower on the list as far as things Millar has written, while still being considerably high otherwise, is the fact that the main characters aren't really given a lot to do for a while. Basically while Toby, the main character, is trying to convince people he's right and look for a way to stop it all he's kind of just wandering around and arguing with people. Once the action does kick in it's kind of viewed from a third person perspective. There are some cool moments, just none that made me jump out of my seat. And he keeps making references throughout the book like: "Back then they didn't know just quite what my dad was capable of." And when it's revealed what role he played in it all, i thought it was a little lack luster. Not saying it was bad, just not as big as Toby made it out to be is all. Also, a mister Tommy Lee Edwards did the art, and I have to say that I wasn't really blown away by it. I didn't dislike it, and it never pulled me out of the book, but there was really nothing particularly to praise. Although there were some times when the Marvel characters would be standing in the same panel with the "Real" characters, and he did a good job making it so you could tell them apart, but other than that it was mostly "meh".

I'd definitely recommend reading it, and I'll probably even keep it to throw on the bookshelf and pick up from time to time. If you want to check it out, you can take a look on Amazon over to the right, or your local comic shop works too!


Thanks for reading!
James

Sci-Fi City, Orlando FL

This is actually the first shop I started buying comics from regularly. I had been buying them from whatever bookstore i could here and there, but not on a monthly basis or anything. But i used to go to Sci-Fi to buy Dungeons & Dragons books when i was younger, and it had never occurred to me to check out the comics there for whatever reason. This store is pretty cool. When you walk in there's a middle section with all kinds of sword and medieval weaponry hanging up. Off to the right there are aisles with a bunch of different table top games and such. If you go off to the left from the entrance there's a big open area where people can come on the weekends to rent a table and play D&D, Magic the Gathering, Warhammer 40K or the dozens of other tabletop games they've got there. And against the far left wall there's a bunch of TV screens where you can pay to play Xbox 360 games and there's also a long row of computers to do the same with PC Games. There are racks with t-shirts, and against the back wall from the entrance is where all the comics are at. This is a pretty open store, so i will say that while there is a lot to do and look at while you're there, but the open space tends to make the place look pretty empty no matter how many people are in there. Other than that everything looks pretty nice, very clean and orderly. The arrangement of the comics is fine enough, i've never had a problem with it, they put the new ones on the shelf that's right across from the entrance, and then a few back issues of each series off to the left, and all the older back issues off to the right. Every issue comes with bags and boards, so if that's your thing you don't need to purchase any. Also if you come in on wednesdays, then all comics are like 40% off. Which is a pretty sweet deal, especially if you include the bags and boards. Hell i'm not even sure how they make money off of that deal.

So i started buying comics from this store and i liked it a lot at first because i didn't really have anything to compare it to, but over time i can say i've developed a few gripes. So after i started reading regularly i set up a pull list here and i'd get my comics before they put them on the shelf. But there were a few times that when i'd get home and be reading my comics and i'd be in the middle of a book, and the center page would just pop out. I don't know how common this is in comics, but i can honestly say i've never had it happen to new comics, or used for that matter, at any other store. This wouldn't have been that big a deal, until it happened for the third time and i took them back and they treated me like i had done it myself, or bought them somewhere else or something. I had a pull list at the store and they told me i needed a receipt to exchange comics that had been damaged before i read them… Even though they had the list saying which comics i was getting there. Needless to say i was a bit aggravated about that, and since then my tastes of this store have been lessened. The choice in the store of more indie or underground books is a bit slim. Also, the last few times i've been in there my friends and i were trying to get a head start on the day and went early so we could hit a few different shops, and when we stopped in there they didn't even have the new comics on the shelf yet. I feel like that's something that you should either do the night before, or come in early that morning to take care of. Then a friend of mine asked if they had any copies of an indie book and the gentleman working there said he had no idea how many they received, and that they needed to distribute the comics through the pull lists first. So not only were the books not on the shelf, they weren't even dealt out to people's pull list boxes. I get that you didn't order a lot of an indie book, and not having it is one thing, but telling me you don't know, because you haven't yet set everything up for the day, half an hour into the store being open? that's something else all together. Customer service is another big issue. I don't think i've ever met the owner, or even seen him there for that matter, but most of the people i do see there look bored as shit. There's one guy who has been there the past few Wednesdays and he's pretty cool, but all of the other employees i've seen just kind of hang out there more so than try and lend a hand to the customers. The one guy is chill, he'll chat with you, and try and hook you up with whatever you're looking for, and he seems to know his stuff too. My problem isn't with this guy, he's pretty cool, it's with most of the other employees i've seen working there over the years i've gone. they kind of just do their own thing, and when you ask them a question they either don't know the answer, or kind of don't care. You'd think in a niche store such as this it wouldn't be hard to find some nerdy ass people who are excited to chat with everyone they can about this stuff, but the problem is when your store is so buckshot about it's product (i.e. video games, table top games, figurine games, comics, anime, manga, medieval weaponry, busts and statues, action figures ) these people may not actually know about everything there. It's practically a department store, so on some days you might be able to find a guy to chat you up about comics, but fall to the wayside on the D&D stuff, or vice versa.

Don't get me wrong, i think this is a fine store. I think what i'm trying to get at is that it could be really great, because the product and the selection is there. They have something that sells, all they'd need to do to be a great store in my opinion is to pump up their staff a bit. Whether that means motivating them more, or just not hiring people who don't want to work there, i'm not sure. I do know that when i go into a comic shop i want people to be friendly and kind of chat me up a bit. Maybe tell me what's good, what they're liking a lot right now, instead of just cut and dry answering my questions and going back to staring into space and listening to your ipod...

You can check out the store's website here, or if you'd like to visit them and see for yourself you could probably find them here:

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James