Marvel Comics 2020
Written by Jordan Blum & Patton Oswalt
Illustrated by Scott Hepburn
Coloured by Carlos Lopez
Lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham
From Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum, showrunners of the upcoming animated Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. show on Hulu, comes a journey into the mind of one of the biggest heads in the Marvel Universe! M.O.D.O.K. is the ruthless and brilliant leader of the terrorist organization AIM, outsmarting heroes and outmaneuvering his cutthroat colleagues gunning for his position… but when he begins to be haunted by memories of a family he never had, it leaves him unsure if he is losing his freakishly-large mind, or if perhaps there is a lot more to this enormous mind… or if there is something more sinister behind these visions.
I am not sure when or even how M.O.D.O.K. became one of my favourite characters but he did and there’s a damn good reason why. The dude is funny, he might not try to be but with the ridiculous way he looks and his sometimes single minded nature he’s one of the few characters in the Marvel Universe who automatically commands respect be it from heroes or villains alike. So that once more he is in his own limited series should tell you that he really is a fan favourite character.
I love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is impeccably rendered. Just the way this story is set up and how it’s executed is incredibly interesting and as A.I.M. starts to listen to Monica Rappaccini well this is when things start to get interesting. The character development is phenomenal and to see M.O.D.O.K. referencing his previous series and what he’s been through and tying that into what we see happening here. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story as well as twists and turns along the way is setting up one hell of a ride.
How we see this being structured as well as well as the layers within the story being revealed and how it all works together to create the story’s ebb & flow is beyond sensational. Past, present and future are all being tied into the current run is a thing of beauty.
Not so munich a thing of beauty is M.O.D.O.K. himself but he’s not supposed to be. The interiors here are fantastic! I am liking how well we see the linework and how the varying weights are being utilised to create the detail work that is really rather quite nice. This is some really strong comic book style artwork going on within these pages and that we see as much use of backgrounds as we do makes me happy. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong and talented eye for storytelling. The colour work is nicely rendered as well. I like how we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work we see.
Oh I am so thrilled by this, mainly because he’s one of the most unsung characters in the Marvel Universe and he’s getting his own cartoon series. Plus the man is crazy on so many levels that how can anyone not have a ton of fun playing in his sandbox? Some fear him and others jealous of him and as Monica is going to quickly learn she’s in way over her head and totally outclassed, even if that means Tony Stark has to help put him back together again. God I cannot wait for the next chapter!