Reviewed: Planetary #10 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday; published by DC/Wildstorm.
The Plot: As the Four’s lab is dismantled, Snow ponders 3 familiar artifacts from the Four’s vaults.
It’s tempting to say that not much happens in this issue, but I’d be doing this title a grave disservice if I said that. In fact, this issue is a turning point in the series, although a subtle one.
The bulk of the issue involves the retelling of 3 stories that should be very familiar to most comic fans. They’re all beautifully rendered by John Cassaday and segue into one another gracefully. The first relates the story of two lovers on a doomed and dying planet and the future they try to provide for their offspring. The second story relates the induction of a new member into the ranks of a group of space police. The third tale involves an ambassador from a secluded, invisible island getting ready to visit the outside world.
Of course, this being Planetary, none of these tales end the way one would suspect. Despite the familiarity of these tales and the way they conclude, Ellis and Cassaday manage to get to the core of these very familiar concepts.
Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman. Three very popular characters with decades of history behind them. Three characters who, in the bright light of day, to me, look pretty damn ridiculous. Three stories where I’d forgotten the pure, insane magical potential they held. Ellis and Cassaday reminded me of the beauty of these three concepts, and then use that beauty to further illustrate just what this world has had stolen from it.
This is the revelation that comes to Snow as well and in one bittersweet smile, the focus of the series changes.
If you read super-hero comics and you aren’t reading Planetary, you should be. If you long ago gave up superhero-comics, you have even more reason to read this fantastic title.
