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One of the best series of 2012 that several of us are reading is The Massive, and its high enough quality where I think it definitely deserves its own thread. Continuing the trend of totally fantastic creator-owned comics these days, not to mention the obvious sci-fi Renaissance occurring in comic books, The Massive is definitely one of the first of several new Dark Horse series that firmly remind fans that the publisher can stand by Image Comics as a source of truly great comic books in an era where DC and Marvel suck pretty bad.
The Massive is post-Apocalyptic series in the tradition of "hard science-fiction", meaning it is totally realistic in every way possible. It does not dwell on how the world got to tihs point too much, but rather introduces a world post-Collapse and the danger, anxiety and tension that ensues. This makes it both fascinating and alarming at all times; it's not scary in the horror sense, but in the ongoing "something terrible can happen at any moment" sense.
Writer Brian Wood is really making 2012 his year. Previously he has been praised for several excellent works but now after a mini falling out with DC, he's really raising his game and producing some of the best work in comics. He's the writer of Conan the Barbarian, which is utterly terrific, and has another creator-owned series coming from Image entitled Mara. His work here on the Massive, and on Conan, are so good that I am automatically going to pick up anything he does from now on his name alone. That includes an upcoming "Star Wars" launch by Dark Horse that takes place between 'A New Hope' and 'Empire Strikes Back', even though I've never bought a single Star Wars comic in my life.
The artists seem to be rotating with story-arcs, which works very well on Conan. The first arc was by Kristian Donaldson and the latest is by Garry Brown. Both employ a similar style that provides a nice, gritty aethestic that is heavy on character moments. It's very much in the tradition of Jock (and of course where this aethestic really became popular, Bill Sienckenwicz). Colorist Dave Stewart, truly legendary at this point in his career, provides a vibrant palate of colors which also keeps a level of consistentcy.
The protagonists are the crew of the Kapital, an aggressive environmental group whose major members have origins in international spy games, black ops and possibly terrorism. They are currently searching for their sister ship, the Massive. Thus far, learning about the history of the group and its main characters is the best part of the series. Callum Isreal, the lead, is a complex and fascinating character; Mag, his #2 man is also complex and even more mysterious; and Mary, the third major member of the Kapital is a strong character who already provides some direction to the cast with her motivations and personality made clear. There are additional cast members that we've caught bits and pieces of that are fascinating.
This is really a terrific series so far and I recommend anyone who loves sci-fi or post-Apocalyptic genres to check it out while you can do so on the ground floor. It feels epic in its scope and could run quite awhile. It's a very intelligent series that is richly complex.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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