Dynamite Entertainment 2015
Written by Cullen Bunn
Illustrated by Eman Casallos
Coloured by Adriano Augusto
I’m a huge fan of epic crossovers if they work and Cullen certainly is a man who can make such a crossover like this work. Heroes and heroines old and new have been drafted to come together to face a mutual enemy in the Red Death. As if on cue the assembled heroes have been separated each team going to a different point in time and each unaware of how they got there or how to stop what’s coming.
Two Miss Fury’s, Peter Cannon and the Green Lama have gone to the distant past where they face dinosaurs. I have to admit Cullen’s writing of this story through dialogue and orchestrating the action sequences for Eman to illustrate really just keep us as readers on our toes and the mix of who is with whom really goes a long way in the characterization we see.
That the Green Hornet’s and Kato’s are together with the Spider then Black Terror’s group being assembled of the remaining heroes who are unique and form up the Black, or dark, team each facing their own difficulties only serve to strengthen a few things, such as the groupings from Cullen really are some of the more complex decisions and each scenario is intended to cause each group to feel helpless and out of sorts. This makes it harder for them to get their bearings and effectively find a way out of all this
That the original Miss Fury is familiar with the Green Lama and his legend and power set just reaffirms that I miss seeing her in action, not that we’ve had a chance to see the new one in a solo adventure yet, to my knowledge anyway. These guys however being in their own version of Jurassic Park is by far and away the most fun, interesting and challenging of what the groups have to go through. I mean from an Allosaurus to getting the attention of a group of Raptors it couldn’t be any more interesting and showcase Eman’s talents in drawing because these dinosaurs are awesome!
I love that something as obscure, by today’s standards, of Poe’s party is being used. You really have to have studied and listened to understand his story of the Red Death. This group is rather interesting to me and the fact that the Spider who seems to know an awful lot of what’s going on at this stage is at a loss as to what’s happening while those around him were obviously very well schooled and the intelligent ones when it comes to this story and how it was told. Still that what happens at the end of the segment doesn’t bode well for them and their sheer power levels leave them the weakest.
In a future scenario the Black Terror’s team faces a group of near zombie like citizens of a ruined and decrepit New York City. Even though these the most mystical of the teams, Green Lama being with the others while mystical isn’t as dark, they seem to also be at a loss as to how they arrived here and why. Though the person that rescues them makes this a whole lot more interesting. It ties directly into what Peter said about someone playing games with them and that couldn’t be more evident than how this book ends.
I’m really blown away at the sheer scope of this story how many heroes are involved and the different era’s in which they find themselves in. Obviously this Red Death has been around for a very long time and knows a lot more about them than they do it making for such entertaining reading. That mixed in with some absolutely fantastic artwork that also encompasses so many different styles and brings out so much emotion make this such a classic hero story that just happens to have a huge Legion-esque cast.
Dynamite really knows how to use these characters effectively what with this and Blackcross going on at the same time showcasing polar opposite type of stories with many of the same characters. I’m all gung ho for more limited or monthly series for many if not all of these “forgotten” characters.