Beyond!

Dwayne McDuffie is something of an anomaly amongst contemporary comic book writers in that he wastes no time. At all. His plots move at a breakneck pace, and are largely all the better for it in this age of decompression. That being said, you will kind of wish that he had dwelled slightly longer on a few of the crucial plot points in BEYOND! The resolution, itself, in the confrontation with the mysterious gamesmaster "from Beyond" makes use of a literal slight-of-hand that I found difficult to wrap my mind around. It's the only real stumbling block in what is otherwise a very crisp read. Though I generally like what I've read of McDuffie's recent work, I have qualms about wholeheartedly recommending this book, and might have called it about average based upon the middling level of complexity of the plot and owing to some troublesome characterization. But I give it extra points for the heroes using their brains to achieve victory as opposed to muscle. Hank Pym, in particular, is a great fit for this tale, and McDuffie does well to reestablish him as an old-school science hero of the first degree. Sadly, he also damages Pym's character by pulling back to the forefront some of the more or less forgotten darkness from the character's history (though this may have been by editorial mandate for all I know). As to the artwork by Scott Kolins, it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm not sure whose cup of tea it might be, but I found it to be amateurish in terms of the linework, though the storytelling is competent enough--I never had trouble following the visual narrative.

I bought the first "Secret Wars" mini-series way back in the day. My biggest memories from it are Spider-Man easily thrashing the X-Men and getting his snazzy new black costume (which eventually became Venom). I skipped the sequel, and therefore never really got into the whole Secret Wars mythos. Cut to the present day, where the only comic-book items I purchase are graphic novels and back-issue collections. I saw "Beyond!" on a bookshelf and decided to check it out on a whim (OK, because Spider-Man was on the cover - nice marketing move). I was pleasantly surprised. Here, a motley group of Marvels are snagged by the Beyonder and set against each other. His terms: Whoever kills the others will get whatever they desire. Of course, heroes wouldn't participate in that sort of thing - right? All sorts of mayhem results as temptations arise, backs are stabbed, damage is done, and some unexpected super-heroes and villains pop out of the cosmic ether to make things interesting. The best part of "Beyond!" is the character interaction. For example, I enjoyed the ongoing tension between Henry Pym and the Wasp. I liked their opposites-attract relationship in "The Avengers," and as a teenager I was shocked by his abuse and their subsequent split. He's still trying to win Janet back, but someone else in the group has taken a shining to him (even so, I'm still rooting for Hank and Jan to someday reunite). In addition, the Inhuman Medusa became more of a compelling figure because of her grief-stricken reaction to the "death" of a major Marvel figure (but c'mon - who really dies in Comicdom?). Also, I'm glad that "Beyond!" focused on some less spectacular superfolk in the Marvel universe. Relative newbies like Kraven, Gravity, Firebird, and the Hood are forced to keep up with longtime Marvel heroes, thus providing a nice generational dynamic. It's also cool to see Deathlok, who I first encountered in "Marvel Team-Up," back in action as a key player. Indeed, the events in "Beyond!" attract the attention of a Watcher, so you know that momentous stuff is happening. And what exactly merits his observation? Well, I certainly didn't see it coming. Bottom line, "Beyond!" was better than I thought it would be. It was a fun read, with an unexpectedly touching (and portentous) ending. And the art isn't bad either. Recommended!