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Main Junction: Hickman & Weaver's SHIELD

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  1.  (8049.1)
    It's not often you'll catch me making special pleading for a Marvel comic. But just fucking look at this. From the b/w variant edition of Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver's wonderfully mad and expansively beautiful first issue of SHIELD:







  2.  (8049.2)
    I picked up the 1st issue last week and was pleasantly surprised by it. The artwork is gorgeous — I'm really pleased to see such attention to detail on backgrounds and settings.
    And the logo isn't bad either :P
  3.  (8049.3)
    I'm really blown away by the art and some of the concepts in it. Unfortunately, I felt like that was all there really was in the first issue. I didn't feel like there was much in the way of characters or plot.

    Still, pretty art, pretty ideas — and Hickman's writing has impressed me elsewhere. I'll definitely keep reading.

    And man. That Dustin Weaver. It's nice to see someone from Alaska making it big in comics — there aren't that many of us about, on the creative end of things anyway.
    •  
      CommentAuthorPaul Sizer
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.4)
    Agreed; this is one of the most interesting and solid debuts I've seen in a long time. I've read some reviews that say there's too much to digest and it moves too fast, but I say "keep up, dorks". This is how a comic book needs to be done, much much more often.
    I will agree also that this gives me the same sense of connection with a universe I thought I knew as the first issue of PLANETARY did.
    •  
      CommentAuthorTwobyfour
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.5)
    This is big concept stuff, thinking man's comics as though an intricate tapestry unfurls before you. Very surprising to see this out of Marvel, but Leonardo DaVinci as Super-Action scientist is fucking brilliant. This is not how the world ends.
  6.  (8049.6)
    Wonderful comic. I really enjoyed how it sort of figured out a new way to play with old toys, tying in the history of the order with the above celestial and other elements I won't mention for spoiler issues. I think that tying in with the mythology of the marvel universe like that not only works in favor of the book but also speaks to the power of the marvel mythology when it is used correctly.

    I cannot remember the last time I gave a shit about the Celestials, but as soon as I flipped the page I almost shouted out OH MY GOD fucking Celestial!!

    But if issue two has Da Vinci punching the Watcher in the face, I fucking walk.
  7.  (8049.7)
    I'm really blown away by the art and some of the concepts in it. Unfortunately, I felt like that was all there really was in the first issue. I didn't feel like there was much in the way of characters or plot.

    Fuck me, were you only really blown away by the art and concepts? Is that all? I can clearly see why you wanted more fully-explored characters and a complete plot, if all the rest of it did was really blow you away...
    •  
      CommentAuthorLokiZero
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.8)
    Well, I can say that I'm really blown away by all of it. "This is not how the world ends" should be on a banner in Times Square, or at the very least on a t-shirt.
    • CommentAuthorPablo
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.9)
    I thought it was really wonderful. And MAD. I get the feeling it's going to be one of those series where you'll be able to find something new in each subsequent reread.

    I understand Hickman's conceived it as a finite series, with a planned ending in mind. I just hope sales support it enough that he can reach that destination as he intends to.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJon Wake
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.10)
    Anyone who picked up The Nightly News or Pax Romana and *didn't* realize they were watching pure genius is a chump from chumptown. I hope Marvel gives him as much freedom as they can afford.

    What did Hickman do before comics?
  11.  (8049.11)
    @Jon Wake
    Hickman was a professional graphic artist before he got into comics, which explains his superior design sensibilities.
    How he comes up with the stories he does - the world may never know.
    •  
      CommentAuthorchris g
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010
     (8049.12)
    Can't wait to get it. From the reviews I've seen this sounds like Planetary meets Marvel's secret history. I don't know whether to get the regular or b&w version!
  13.  (8049.13)
    Fuck me, were you only really blown away by the art and concepts? Is that all? I can clearly see why you wanted more fully-explored characters and a complete plot, if all the rest of it did was really blow you away...
    I feel like Hickman gave us a real shock & awe opening, at the expense of introducing the cast to a point where I could emotionally connect with any of them. The first issue felt, to me, like a summer blockbuster with some neat ideas and great visuals — but still a summer blockbuster.

    BUT it's Hickman. I know he can deliver on the characters and plot, as well as the big clever ideas. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series, but there wasn't much in the first issue that stuck with me for very long, apart from the fact that it was very pretty, and OH LOOK, Galactus!

    (As a testament to my reaction, the two books I bought last week were SHIELD and KING CITY. And by the weekend, although I could remember buying two comics, I couldn't for the life of me remember what the second one was. When I finally opened my bag and pulled them out, I was rather startled.)
    • CommentAuthorSteadyUP
    • CommentTimeApr 13th 2010 edited
     (8049.14)
    I would have Hickman's baby if he so chose, but Secret Warriors, honestly, has gotten less interesting each issue. SHIELD is off to an amazing start, but as excellent as Nightly News and Pax Romana are, I'm still not quite convinced he can keep up that kind of quality in an ongoing series. I'm certainly giving him the benefit of the doubt, though, and Dustin Weaver will help a lot if he sticks around.
  15.  (8049.15)
    I've read some reviews that say there's too much to digest and it moves too fast, but I say "keep up, dorks".
    I felt like it was less a matter of "too much too fast" than a matter of breadth, but no depth. It touched on five discreet time periods in 34 pages, but I would've rather it had pared down to, say, three or four time periods and gone into more detail on some or all of them.

    Someone up-thread compared it to PLANETARY, and I think what I responded to more favorably PLANETARY than I did in this issue was that PLANETARY always put a good balance on the plot, the concepts, and the characters — we got a little of each in every issue.

    (Also, by the fourth time we got someone saying "This is not how the world ends" in the story — which was the fifth time I read it in the issue, since I'd read the title page — I went "I know already!")
  16.  (8049.16)
    I bought the first issue after reading on Mr. Fraction's twitter that he liked it.

    Yep, it's good. I mean, it's great. Fuck. I mean, if like, creators (not just Mr. Hickman or Mr. Weaver, but creators generally) can see this, I feel like I should have something to say other than, man, I love the double page layouts and SHIELD has this sense about it, maybe it's from all the different incarnations of the s.h.i.e.l.d. (to differentiate between the fictional organization and the comic) bird on the armor of the different historical figures, or that the historical characters have a glint in their eye when they say "This is not how the world ends" or how comfortably mysterious the dad of the protagonist is that it feels EPIC. Should I? I'm impressed by the issue and I haven't read anything else by Mr. Hickman or Mr. Weaver than a couple issues of Secret Warriors.

    That two page spread of Imnhotep standing on top of the pile of human and Brood bodies is wow. I am impressed by the composition and construction of the pages. Case in point: I didn't even notice the little squares on the top left of the panels on the image posted, and now that I noticed it, I like that little touch.

    It feels like the start of a wild adventure. Count me in.
  17.  (8049.17)
    Man, Nightly News was the most terrifying miniseries I've read in the last decade, easily. It was a story that simply unnerved me at a very basic level. I'm really pleased Hickman is getting more exposure, he's got a brain like clockworks.

    His Fantastic Four "Solve Everything" run looks seriously mental, and I'm definitely on board for this.
  18.  (8049.18)
    I'll give it a go, but I dropped Fantastic Four because it just wasn't grabbing me at all. Shield is a different series without the FF baggage, though, and that preview looks more than worth a few issues trial.

    I wonder if I can track down the B&W variant. That art looks simply phenomenal as-is.
  19.  (8049.19)
    Pretty much everything Hickman touches is gold and Weaver's work is fantastic. After I sat down and read it in colour I immediately started kicking myself for not getting the B/W version as well. Perhaps there's still some at my local...
  20.  (8049.20)
    I agree that there was more skipping through time periods than getting to know the main character, but with as much madness as was packed in, I'm hooked. That Night Machine (I think that was his name... the guy blonde guy's dad...) dude was nuts, the fathers (I'm assuming) of Reed Richards and Tony Stark, and all the other crazy stuff going on... A main character who may have ties to Infinity, Quasar, or Captain Universe (because of the outer space shadow stuff...)? I can't barely tell what's happening, but in the best way possible, like when they let Mark Millar loose in the Ultimate U. (or Grant Morrison anywhere...). And beautiful artwork. I don't know if I've seen that artist before (if I have, I guess I didn't really notice), but those backgrounds are amazing.

    I've seen some complaints on CBR that it plays a bit loose with Marvel continuity (the Galactus appearance...), but I guess I don't care. Just call it an alternate universe and proceed with the mind blowing.

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