Written by Kurt Busiek
Art by Yildiray Cinar
Published by Marvel Comics
It feels as if Kurt Busiek is attempting to do his own Grant Morrison with The Marvels: to wed his deep knowledge and experience with Marvel heroes to some larger philosophical ideas, while drawing unseen connections across the decades of lore.
I mean, what else would be the point of doing a story that’s being billed as an omnivorous saga in which damn near everyone in Earth-616 will play a role.
From the sidewalks to the cosmos, we’re being told.
So far, so good.
The story jumps across time, first to 1947, then to the 1930s, to 10 days from now, the actual right now, last night, and 30 minutes past the previous right now.
We meet 1970s-style Thor and Iron Man, 1930s Reed Richards and Ben Grimm before their fateful spaceflight, Flash Thompson serving overseas, Daredevil performing for the USO, Captain America jumping from low orbit, The Punisher scoping out gangsters, Spider-Man tumbling with Vulture.
The one thing tying them all together is a place: Sin-Cong, a fictional location within French Indochina that becomes its own communist country akin to Vietnam.
It’s a place beset by empires, whether France and America from the west or China from the north.
We see old characters few Marvel fans have thought of in, such as retrofitted Lady Lotus. (Another Morrison hallmark, reviving thrown-away characters.)
And we meet new characters, such as Kevin Schumer, who leads superhero sightseeing tours in an old Fantasti-Car model.
And amid the action – and there’s plenty of it – we see an unknown man on a motorcycle, and our presumed narrator.
The art, by Yildiray Cinar, is exquisite. One of those guys who can draw basically anything, and can shift from character to character, mood to mood. In some ways, his art reminds me of Rags Morales for its draftsmanship plus distinct faces for characters.
And Busiek has thrown a lot of chips into the air. I hope it’s interesting to see where they fall – hopefully in a way lights a path of method amid the madness.
