Customer Reviews

Agents of Atlas: Dark Reign (Marvel Premiere Edition)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jeff Parker's 2006 miniseries "Agents of Atlas" was a cult hit for Marvel Comics. Sales were objectively pretty terrible, but it struck a chord with a very vocal part of the audience, and, more importantly, was obviously well-liked by editorial staff. When the miniseries concluded, the characters popped up in a few other minor titles written by Parker, while editorial assessed what could be further done with them. The result was this series, spinning out of Marvel's 2009 "Dark Reign" event. Parker does a generally good job here, though I've never been as enamoured with the Agents as many fans have (it often seems to amount to proclaiming how inherently cool the idea of a gorilla toting machineguns is). Some spoilers follow.

The original miniseries ended with Jimmy Woo accepting the appointment to Khan of the Atlas Foundation, an ancient conspiracy with roots in Old Mongolia. His goal is to take the organization's vast resources for good, while rooting out the harmful elements employed by the previous Khan, Master Plan (aka the Yellow Claw). Along for the ride are the rest of the group, as the new inner circle: Gorilla-Man; M-11, the Human Robot; Princess Namora of Atlantis; Venus, a siren with love powers; and Marvel Boy (now calling himself the Uranian in order to avoid confusion with the Dark Avenger using the same name). The conceit is that everyone in the hero community thinks they are villains, and everyone in the villain community (such as Norman Osborn, the MU's current overlord) thinks of them as potential allies (the better to undermine them).

If nothing else, Parker's series works as an interesting alternative take on how a story would normally be told. You would expect a series about a group of heroes taking over a traditionally-villainous organization would be gritty and full of long nights and the soul and wrestlings with difficult moral choices. While there is a smidge of the latter, Parker's writing style is the same as it usually is: fairly light with a retro-cool sensibility (appropriate for characters from the 1950s), a lot of humour, and the title characters getting along and acting in an unquestionably heroic manner. It's never less than pleasant, but I don't think that there's ever anything especially revelatory about it either. Of the main cast, Namora probably gets the most substantive material here, as she mourns the death of her daughter Namorita (who was killed in the first issue of "Civil War" in 2006, at more or less the same time that her mother was returning for a 30+ year stretch in the grave).

The new direction for the property leads to a bunch of prominent guest stars, including Wolverine (who the Agents encounter in both the 1950s and the modern age, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes), and the rest of the New Avengers (sans Spider-Woman and Mockingbird, for whatever reason). Parker does a good job with the latter groups; Bucky, in particular, gets a very moving mindscape sequence. He writes an intelligent and amusing Spider-Man as well. Parker has a rather immature need to beat up Wolverine, who commits the cardinal sin of being much more popular than the sorts of characters Parker favours. Norman Osborn and the Sentry (the latter the star of another of Parker's miniseries, the enjoyable retro "Age of the Sentry"), the main guest villains, are handled well. The other significant addition is Temugin, the son the Iron Man foe the Mandarin, who is initially played for laughs as Woo's #2 (he gets more complex characterisation later on).

One of the consequences of the time lapse between 2006 and 2009 was the loss of the miniseries' original artist, Leonard Kirk, who moved on to draw "Captain Britain and MI13". However, the replacements in this volume, Carlo Pagulayan and Clayton Henry, are both excellent choices for the material. They render the characters in lush and detailed tones, and do a great job of giving the series a pulp vibe and conveying the humour in Parker's writing.

Overall, I'd call this a four-star collection.

Jeff Parker's 2006 miniseries "Agents of Atlas" was a cult hit for Marvel Comics. Sales were objectively pretty terrible, but it struck a chord with a very vocal part of the audience, and, more importantly, was obviously well-liked by editorial staff. When the miniseries concluded, the characters popped up in a few other minor titles written by Parker, while editorial assessed what could be further done with them. The result was this series, spinning out of Marvel's 2009 "Dark Reign" event. Parker does a generally good job here, though I've never been as enamoured with the Agents as many fans have (it often seems to amount to proclaiming how inherently cool the idea of a gorilla toting machineguns is). Some spoilers follow.

The original miniseries ended with Jimmy Woo accepting the appointment to Khan of the Atlas Foundation, an ancient conspiracy with roots in Old Mongolia. His goal is to take the organization's vast resources for good, while rooting out the harmful elements employed by the previous Khan, Master Plan (aka the Yellow Claw). Along for the ride are the rest of the group, as the new inner circle: Gorilla-Man; M-11, the Human Robot; Princess Namora of Atlantis; Venus, a siren with love powers; and Marvel Boy (now calling himself the Uranian in order to avoid confusion with the Dark Avenger using the same name). The conceit is that everyone in the hero community thinks they are villains, and everyone in the villain community (such as Norman Osborn, the MU's current overlord) thinks of them as potential allies (the better to undermine them).

If nothing else, Parker's series works as an interesting alternative take on how a story would normally be told. You would expect a series about a group of heroes taking over a traditionally-villainous organization would be gritty and full of long nights and the soul and wrestlings with difficult moral choices. While there is a smidge of the latter, Parker's writing style is the same as it usually is: fairly light with a retro-cool sensibility (appropriate for characters from the 1950s), a lot of humour, and the title characters getting along and acting in an unquestionably heroic manner. It's never less than pleasant, but I don't think that there's ever anything especially revelatory about it either. Of the main cast, Namora probably gets the most substantive material here, as she mourns the death of her daughter Namorita (who was killed in the first issue of "Civil War" in 2006, at more or less the same time that her mother was returning for a 30+ year stretch in the grave).

The new direction for the property leads to a bunch of prominent guest stars, including Wolverine (who the Agents encounter in both the 1950s and the modern age, the new Captain America (Bucky Barnes), and the rest of the New Avengers (sans Spider-Woman and Mockingbird, for whatever reason). Parker does a good job with the latter groups; Bucky, in particular, gets a very moving mindscape sequence. He writes an intelligent and amusing Spider-Man as well. Parker has a rather immature need to beat up Wolverine, who commits the cardinal sin of being much more popular than the sorts of characters Parker favours. Norman Osborn and the Sentry (the latter the star of another of Parker's miniseries, the enjoyable retro "Age of the Sentry"), the main guest villains, are handled well. The other significant addition is Temugin, the son the Iron Man foe the Mandarin, who is initially played for laughs as Woo's #2 (he gets more complex characterisation later on).

One of the consequences of the time lapse between 2006 and 2009 was the loss of the miniseries' original artist, Leonard Kirk, who moved on to draw "Captain Britain and MI13". However, the replacements in this volume, Carlo Pagulayan and Clayton Henry, are both excellent choices for the material. They render the characters in lush and detailed tones, and do a great job of giving the series a pulp vibe and conveying the humour in Parker's writing.

More than ever, I guess it's cool to be an anti-hero. The New Avengers are outlaws. Daredevil has just taken over control of the Hand. SECRET SIX is one of the best comics over in DC. And then we get the Agents of Atlas. This is according to Jeff Parker's bible which retcons his corner of the Marvel Universe: For decades society was menaced by the vast criminal organization of Yellow Claw, that Oriental mastermind bent on world domination. Back in the late 1950s young Jimmy Woo of the FBI became the Claw's staunchest enemy. Under the auspices of Department Zero, a peculiar subdivision of the FBI, Jimmy Woo tirelessly worked in concert with a tiny group of super-powered allies to stymie the Claw's acts of terror. But they only operated for six months before the FBI shut them down, believing the world not ready for the very strange Department Zero. But that was a long time ago, and as we cut to the present, some things have changed and certain truths have become malleable.

The 6-issued mini-series (Agents of Atlas (Marvel Comics, New Avengers)), which preceded this ongoing series, broke it down for us. How an aged, dying, and virtually brain dead Jimmy Woo regained health and youth and how he and his former teammates reunited and picked up where they left off, fighting bad guys. On this go-around, their target was the Atlas Foundation, a shadowy conglomeration which then led Jimmy straight back to the Yellow Claw, that devious mandarin. But the big reveal was that the Claw, this whole time, had been grooming Jimmy Woo to take over his place as head of the evil empire. Woo accepts, with the intent of transforming the sinister Atlas Foundation into a force for good. And Woo starts out by having his team pose as super-villains.

A bit of trivia now (because everyone digs trivia): Marvel Comics wasn't always known as Marvel Comics. The House of Ideas started out as Timely Publications, which morphed into Atlas Comics, which then became Marvel Comics. The Agents of Atlas consist of members who debuted in various comic books during the Atlas Comics era. Jimmy Woo and the Yellow Claw first appeared in YELLOW CLAW #1 (1956); Gorilla-Man, in MEN'S ADVENTURES #26 (1954); Namora, MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #82 (1947); Venus, in VENUS #1 (1948), Marvel Boy a.k.a. the Uranian in MARVEL BOY #1 (1950), and M-11, in MENACE #11 (1954). And, no, these cats were never originally together in a group - at least, not until issue #9 in the original 1970s WHAT IF? title, which featured them as the Secret Avengers. And not until Jeff Parker retconned the team into mainstream Marvel continuity as the Agents of Atlas (which, by the way, is an intentional homage to Atlas Comics).

Parker quickly establishes a tone marked with high adventure, exotic intrigue, and all-out quirk. AGENTS OF ATLAS comes off as a breezier version of DOOM PATROL, but its cast can certainly compete with the Doom Patrol in terms of weirdness: a Chinese-American secret agent, a mouthy gorilla, a sexy fishwoman powerhouse, a goddess (sort of), a reformed killer robot, and an alienated spaceman (complete with a bubble helmet). Tell me that's not an odd ensemble.

Five paragraphs in, we finally get into the plot. The trade opens up with the excerpt from DARK REIGN: NEW NATION as the Agents of Atlas break into Fort Knox and abscond with 5000 tons of gold, this drawing the ire of Norman Osborn, who had his own plans for that gold. Osborn, as Marvelites will know, is now the big noise in the Marvel U, having become the big hero during the recent Skrully Secret Invasion. With S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded, Osborn has established H.A.M.M.E.R. as the most significant peacekeeping force in the country. But the Goblin inside still peeks out, and Norman Osborn still very much has his supervillainy on. AGENTS OF ATLAS is actually a tie-in series to the Dark Reign event currently sweeping Marvel, and the relevant connection is that Jimmy Woo means to worm his way into Osborn's circle and then find out what's really what with the guy and then hopefully expose him. Under Woo's leadership, the Atlas Foundation keeps up a criminal facade and enters into business with Osborn as one of its arms supplier. Along the way, the expected initial posturings have the Agents beating up on low-rent, former Spider-man villains like Man Mountain Marko and the Grizzly, both of whom are now on the government's payroll. If folks still harbored doubts concerning Namora's strength, Marko and the Grizzly ain't two of 'em. I couldn't help being impressed when the Sea Queen PILE-DRIVED an effing helicopter down onto the Grizzly's grill and then casually flings the helicopter over her shoulder.

The AoA's activities soon draw the interest of the New Avengers, and this leads us to one of those face-offs in issue #5, complete with misunderstandings, cool match-ups, and quips by Spidey and Gorilla-Man. I'm thinking that Jeff Parker has a soft spot for Spidey, since the wallcrawler gets prominently featured (but the other New Avengers seem to get the blah treatment). The writer unveils a particularly clever way in which one of Spider-Man's powers could come in handy, and Peter Parker's brains almost, almost resolve the situation. This issue also again demonstrates why Venus may well be the most powerful Agent of Atlas.

This present arc unfolds parallel to a flashback story which takes place in the late '50s, when Department Zero was investigating a phantom plane. And I guess I'll bring up the artwork at this point, because Gabriel Hardman, who handles the flashback sequences, is on point with the visuals. He makes those sequences feel very retro and pulpy. There's a pleasing distinct contrast between his style and that of Filipino artist Carlo Pagulayan (soon to be a superstar). Pagulayan draws the arc set in the present and his stuff is dynamic and very exciting to look at.

Jeff Parker knows how to write these particular characters. Unlike other teams, this bunch doesn't seem to engage in too many spats. These guys all seem to be on the same page with their leader Jimmy Woo. But these characters make for an absorbing read because of their diversity. The idealistic Woo, the taciturn Namora, the enigmatic M-11, the just plain weird Uranian, the sweet Venus, and - maybe, most importantly - the very snarky Gorilla-Man (the easy favorite). It all coalesces into this intriguing team dynamics. It says something about Parker's skills as a storyteller that he makes me very curious about each character, considering that Namora, on the surface, is a ripoff of the Sub-Mariner and that M-11 isn't really one for dialogue and is as inscrutable as an expressionless killer robot can get. I'm even wondering about the recent addition to the crew. Lao, advisor to the lineage of Khans and a frightening power behind the throne (not to mention, a real live DRAGON!), is concerned about Jimmy Woo's disregard for personal safety. As such, he's brought on board Woo's successor should Woo fall. This is none other than Temugin, the arrogant son of the Mandarin. Naturally, dude's got his own agenda, and a rivalry immediately builds between him and Woo.

However, take into consideration that we don't really get into these folks' underlying motivations. On the surface, we know they're the good guys, so there's a certain level of altruism. But we're still waiting on Parker to truly get under their skin and show us what really makes them tick. Having said that, there's a nice hug-it-out moment between Namora, grief-stricken over the recent death of her daughter, and the always empathetic Venus.

AGENTS OF ATLAS: DARK REIGN collects the first five issues of the regular series, including the "Wolverine: Agent of Atlas" backup story (however, Gorilla Man's hilarious recap page is missing), as well as the AGENTS OF ATLAS segments from DARK REIGN: NEW NATION, SECRET INVASION: WHO DO YOU TRUST?, and GIANT-SIZE MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #1. SECRET INVASION: WHO DO YOU TRUST? goes into the Agents of Atlas' involvement during the Skrully Secret Invasion. GIANT-SIZE MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #1 tells of what happened when, instead of the Avengers, it was the Agents, in 1958, who stumbled onto Captain America frozen in the Arctic Sea. It's end bit features the Gorilla-Man's hairy mitt sneaking thru a tiny space/time vortex and slapping Wolverine upside the head. Very much in keeping with the tone of the series.

A new super team, created of oddballs, the familiar mixed with the unfamiliar and a revival of some 50s creations. I wasn't born then so will have to take Marvel's word for this.

Marvel has now created this strategy of various ages, Civil War, Skrull Invasion, Dark Reign, etc into which ALL the Marvel heroes may interact with each other, thus encouraging fans to read other related series etc. It's a clever marketing ploy, similar to DC's alternate universe concepts. Thus, there can be multiple comics of the same superhero/superteam, within these ages or without.

Here we have an unfamiliar new supergroup lined up against Norman Osborn, the key character in Dark Reign. I have seen Osborn in practically every Dark Reign comic and, whilst he appears to wield absolute power, he is powerless to do anything to uphold his authority. The trite and tiresome SHIELD/Avengers Director monicker is a joke.

This comic holds no surprises, and the new team slows the pace as one struggles to identify and empathise with each new character as they go thru the same routine of beating up on other super-villains.

2 stars for decent drawings.

love the book. great writing.this team book actually feels like a TEAM. Nobody stands out and steals the show.
Everyone does their part. I really havent read a book like this in a long long time. Mystery. Action . Suspense. Gorilla-Man is hilarious. it has a great retro-feel.
I wish more comics were like this !!!