Marvel Comics 2015
Written by Frank Tieri
Illustrated by Luca Pizzari
Coloured by Antonio Fabela
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino
So yes I know that issue is two is out but I finally got a copy of this and thought what the heck let’s give it a review. Dane’s been an unlikely Avenger from the get go but he’s had a great history and as a character and man he’s been pretty darn interesting. I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of his history came when he and Sersi were bonded and he was leading the Avengers. So I was happy to see the character was getting revived and I look forward to getting to know what Dane’s up to now and how it ties into his past and the present Marvel U.
First I loved the recap of his life and career to date. Frank does a nice job highlighting the important stuff and his emotional state. When we get into the story we find out he’s on some island called Weirdworld, an off the map island. So aside from the fact that I have no idea if that’s well a new location or a repurposed old one we do learn that well it’s a pretty violent place.
Dane and his men, yes has an army and a kingdom called New Avalon, fight these lizard creatures known as the Fangs of the Serpent, fire breathing rock trolls and his well top two lieutenants as it were hate each other and fight like an old married couple. The Ebony Blade is working just as well as ever. Well what i’m really enjoying is seeing Dane be kind of out of place here, he’s in charge and obviously hasn’t been here too too long. He’s exploring the world with his scouts and they find a WWII German U-boat.
By the way the find this amid some really kind gross and haunting and beautiful landscape, full of monstrous versions of birds and bees. Alright so there’s a mystery here and it’s kind of vague in the way that he’s here says he can never go home but we haven’t learned how he got there or why he can’t leave. What we do see and what is revealed is that the ghost of Percy is with him and that it’s quite possible that he’s succumbing to the power of the Ebony Blade. Ya know so he’ll become evil.
Speaking of which we do get to see how Dane rose to power though. I’m kind of surprised by it but intrigued nonetheless. So were the King and his son bad people or just in the way is what I’m curious about and why his eyes were glowing red. Yeah that’s a stand out in the otherwise black and white flashback. It ties into Percy and the Blade even if Dane wants to deny that. So ya know what this issue has done, or specifically Frank has done, he’s made this a very interesting take on Dane and one that’s been peaked at repeatedly but never fully explored.
He’s not the same man he was, his armour being so different kind of testifies to that as well. His comfort in staying there and his fear certain invaders, who show up on the last page, all conspire to draw you into this story. It’s not your typical Marvel fare, which makes me fear for it’s longevity. It’s interesting, has a depth of character and a reason to come back again.
I can’t decide if I’m a fan of the interior artwork yet. Yes there are moments it looks brilliant from the fighting and the fire breathing rock trolls to the two pages when we see the German U-boat and even Percy looks good. Yes the series has a darker tone which doesn’t bother me but adds to the mystery factor. Then there are moments like Dane talking to Percy that made him look odd visually. Maybe it’s just a consistency issue we’ll see.
This was a good issue and it makes me want to come back so we’ll see how that goes and since issue two is out we’ll see how long it’ll take me to be able to pick it up.