Writer: Dan Jolley
Artists: Pat Broderick (p), Andrew Pepoy (i)
Publisher: Devil's Due Comics
The Plot:
As the Micronauts perform some clean up on Earth in the aftermath of Baron karza's attempted invasion of the planet, we see they return to the Microverse where they find themselves under attack by a vessel. As their ship is pulled inside this other vessel, we see the team does battle with a host of killer robots before they are approached by a character by the name of King Atlas, who offers to finance the Micronauts bid to overthrow Karza's rule, an offer that the team warily accepts.
The Good:
This is the second kick at the can for Devil's Due, as I made it nine issues into their last effort to launch this series before I came to the realization that the only reason why I was picking up the title was my devotion to the old Marvel series. However this second attempt does look to have addressed most of the problems that I had with their previous effort, as the action has a greater sense of urgency to it, and while the story is more concerned with introducing reader to all the various elements of the series, with its artificial feeling exchanges that act to sell the readers the personalities of the players involved, there's also some ideas brought into the picture that I have to say I found pretty clever, such as the easy access entry point from Earth into the Microverse. Now I'll concede that having them able to hop back and forth between dimensions does rob the voyage of its sense of importance, but I'll gladly trade in this sense of grandeur for more frequent trips to Earth, which has always been my favorite environment for Micronaut adventures. I also rather enjoyed the idea that even before the first issue is done with, the Micronauts have encountered what looks to be their first threat as they are pulled inside a ship and pitted against a host of giant killer robots. This is than followed by an intriguing exchange where we see the Micronauts are made an offer to join in an alliance with a person who claims he's also opposing Karza's rule, but in a clever twist we see this character is likely another evil entity who would be looking to take Karza's place, if the Micronauts were able to take Karza down.
I know this isn't going to sound good, especially if he's been busy turning out work since that point, but the last time I remember seeing Pat Broderick's name of a project was back in the early 1980s on the "Fury of Firestorm". Now the fact that his name has stuck in the back of my mind more than twenty years after the fact does act as a solid reminder of how much I enjoyed his work back than, and while Butch Guice stands up as my favorite Micronauts artist, I have to confess I enjoyed Pat Broderick's run on the original series more than Michael Golden's often mentioned run on the title. As for his work on this first issue, all I have to say is that it's great to have him back, as he brings a sense of stability to the art that was missing from Devil Due's previous effort. Pat Broderick is a very solid artist with a firm grasp on how to tell the story is a visually engaging manner. The ideas are clearly presented from the scene where the Micronauts make the jump back to the Microverse to the battle sequence later in the issue where the entire team in action, as one has to love the scene where Biotron makes his arrival at the battle.
The Bad:
I recognize the fact that Knave is suppose to act as the comedic relief in these pages but the jokes that are offered up to sell readers on the character's ability to generate humor have a desperate quality to them. It also doesn't help that his amusing observations are downright obvious, though I will concede that I did enjoy the scene where we see he's already accepted King Atlas' offer and is enjoying the rewards that come with this acceptance, while the others were debating the issue. This issue also suffers from the simple fact that there's a few too many moments where the dialogue of the characters doesn't feel natural, as King Atlas' opening comments to the Micronauts after they've defeated the killer robots read more like the writer introducing the cast to the readers, than a villain revealing he had taken the time to study the back-story of his opponents. I also have to say I'm a bit disappointed to see Baron Karza's daughter has moved into replace her father, as one of the problems I had with the Marvel series is that it never quite managed to develop a rogues gallery for the Micronauts, as except for Acroyear's people, Baron Karza and the various people who took over the role served as the big, bad villains that the Micronauts were forever facing off against in the Microverse. I also have to say I'm not exactly won over by the idea of making the Micronauts into the lackeys of another villain, but it's a little too early in the game to be forming much of an opinion on the idea, so I'll bite my tongue for a few issues to see how well this idea plays out.
The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Boss:
It's clear that this second first issue has learned from the mistakes of the first series, as it's started out of the gates running, and while it's a little obvious in its bid to deliver the information that newer readers would need to enjoy this series, I have to say this more action intensive issue is likely to grab and hold on to more fans. All the important information is clearly spelled out, as all the various characters that make up the Micronauts are introduced, and we also see the key elements of the series are also neatly laid out. We open on Earth, where we are treated to the idea that out heroes are diminutive when compared to the native population, and than after establishing this idea, the book jumps back to the Microverse where the cosmic elements of this environment are put on display. The idea of the Micronauts forming an alliance with one of the villains that have been making an active bid to take over the reigns of power that Karza current holds makes for an interesting situation and while I'm a bit wary about the idea of the Micronauts acting as a villainous lackeys, it is a situation that I don't believe I've seen done before, so it does have the advantage of being a novel twist.
What did you think of this book?
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