Planetary Vol 02: The Fourth Man

With Warren Ellis, you never know what you're gonna get. It could be a great thing...or it could be ultimate fantastic four:doom. Planetary is excellent, i find no faults in it...the dialogue is very witty and the sotries are really good, i almost choked on volume 2's Magic and Loss i have never been more entertained by a Warren Ellis comic in such a long time. Long story short Planetary is about archaeologists who look for the secret history and weird stuff that makes up our world...so far we have discovered a villanous group called the four voyagers who are kinda like the evil fantastic four and has plunged the world into madness...killing superheroes, concentration camps etc...it is a very fun read and the art is simply amazing....john cassaday does a very good drawing convincing characters.

I was somewhat disappointed with the previous volume of Planetary. I felt that Ellis just kind of dropped us into the action without much set up, especially in character development. The Fourth Man really improves upon the earlier premise. Ellis starts to unwind a much larger plot, while Cassaday's skills mature into true excellence.Some of the essentially single issue tales presented here are stronger than others, but each one, while still a distinctly separate story, winds in threads of intriguing future developments. Ellis also effortlessly manipulates time, seamlessly showing us past events while leading up to future revelations. Elijah Snow is a captivating character, deeply enigmatic, charasmatic, yet conflcted. His search for his missing blocks of memory is extremely well handled and really has me hooked and looking forward to the next volume of the TPB series.Cassaday's art, and the rich colors supporting it, is magnificent throughout. His detailed, stylish illustration pairs very nicely with the vibrant, stylish colors. He is one of the very best artists in comics, and this is a perfect example of his best work.Ultimately, Planetary succeeds in updating traditional Science Fiction themes and melding it with Superheros. The result is a fresh exciting look and feel for modern comics. Because of the way the bigger story develops, you don't necessarily have to start with the prior TPB volume. It's certainly worth your while, but if you can only get one of the two volumes right now, get this one. After reading it, you can get the first volume, while you anxiously await the arrival of future Planetary releases. This is some of Ellis' and Cassaday's best work, and great stuff over all from one of the most talented teams in the business.

The other reviewers on this page are right. This is a great collection of stories that just bubble over with imagination and originality. It goes without saying that you must read the first volume before reading this one, but it is here that you start to see a much larger tapestry being woven from the stories in the first set. These tales continue to fascinate the reader with pop culture references (comic super heroes, 50's science fiction, many more), and the way in which art imitates life, and vice versa. After reading the fourth man, I am also excited to get my hands on the third volume, and continue travelling all over the world with Planetary. If you liked Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, then these stories will also entertain you. If you like to be introduced to something completely new when reading a graphic novel, then this is for you. I cannot praise this enough.

I have often been asked by many of my friends about why a man of my age would even bother to spend time reading a comic book. Usually, my response is to lend them a copy of something by Warren Ellis.In my opinion, this book and the one that precedes it are great examples of the very best that western adventure comics have to offer. Ellis skilfully constructs a hidden history and slowly draws the reader along, often leaving us gasping for more. He satisfies the comic lover with his exploration of some of the genre stereotypes, while, At the same time, giving us a great thriller/mystery that the not-so-comic-versed can also enjoy.All this and great art too. Cassaday really adds immeasurably to the words on the page.This is a strong piece of work that you should really look into.

I have to admit...as a follower of Warren Ellis' work on titles like Stormwatch, The Authority, and Transmetropolitan, I think I'm predisposed to liking his work. However, when people ask me what I like about Planetary in particular, it usually boils down to imagination. Which Ellis apparently has in spades.This second collection of Planetary takes up where the first collection left off, by answering some questions that had been posed in the earlier work and laying the foundation for possible future arcs. Once again, Ellis' trio of mystery archaeologists set about uncovering some of the secret history of the twentieth century. This time, however, a lot of the discovery involves personal quests...particularly in the case of Elijah Snow, who learns more about himself, and in the process uncovers some of the secrets behind the Planetary organization itself.Entitled "The Fourth Man," after the anonymous benefactor whose money funds Planetary, most of the stories in the collection are tautly woven tales that are at once revelatory and enticing. A highlight is the unsettling "Magic and Loss," which is an excellent example of the holding-a-warped-mirror-to-reality motif that powers the Planetary series. Anyone who's ever read and enjoyed comic books (or sequential art) will quite possibly feel mixed feelings of recognition and dread upon reading this story. Ellis works hard to sustain that feeling throughout the collection - and for the most part succeeds. That he does so by utilizing the comics of the past and the socio-historical contexts in which they arose only serves to heighten the effect. It IS a strange world - and here's your chance to see it through some observant eyes.Just read it.