Monday, July 12, 2010

Planetary 4 / Warren Ellis et al.

Planetary. Vol. 4, Spacetime Archaeology / Warren Ellis, writer ; John Cassaday, artist. 224. p.

Finally we get the end of the Planetary saga! Begun in 1999, this comic was supposed to come out bimonthly, but it was never, ever on schedule; it took until 2009 for the final issue, number 27, to be released. However, since the creative team stayed the same throughout--writer, artist, and colorist (and the beautiful colors add tremendously to the art)--it's remarkably consistent, and told its story from beginning to end. Planetary is an organization of "archaeologists of the impossible," exploring the strange and amazing. Eventually they realize that a group of superheroes called the Four is blocking human accomplishment, and they decide to fight them. This volume finally brings us to the end of the struggle. Along the way, author Ellis plays with all sorts of popular culture tropes--comic book heroes, martial arts movies, pulp fiction. I found it vastly enjoyable.

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