Customer Reviews

Alias Vol. 2: Come Home

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

 

 

My friend tried to explain to me the tenets of deconstruction. The best I could get my head around it was using the theme of American Beauty, "look deeper". In this story Bendis takes small town America and puts it under the microscope revealing the ugliness inside. This is not a heartwarming story to give to the kids, but it is quite good.

Jessica Jones, former super hero turned private detective, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a 16 year old girl. The mother suspects the father harbored impure thoughts and is the culprit. Other suspects include her high school classmates or the always pleasant hate crime. What appears to be an easy case takes a quick turn to the messy by the end.

Fans of Bendis' work on Powers will like this story. Also the art features the unique style of main artist Michael Gaydos and contributions by David Mack and Mark Bagley. Alias "Come Home" is a tightly written and well executed detective story told in the back alleys of the Marvel Universe.

This volume, containing Alias issues 11-15, takes Jessica out of NYC and to a small town, in search of a runaway who may or may not be a mutant. It isn't about the mystery, though, so much as an opportunity for Bendis to explore Jessica's personality in a new environment. Throughout, we get glimpses of the runaway's journals, which have been lavishly illustrated by David Mack, and development of Jessica's potential boyfriend, Scott Lang (the second Ant-Man).
These aren't the best issues of Alias, or Bendis' best work, but they're still far better than most comics out there.

My friend tried to explain to me the tenets of deconstruction. The best I could get my head around it was using the theme of American Beauty, "look deeper". In this story Bendis takes small town America and puts it under the microscope revealing the ugliness inside. This is not a heartwarming story to give to the kids, but it is quite good.

Jessica Jones, former super hero turned private detective, is hired to investigate the disappearance of a 16 year old girl. The mother suspects the father harbored impure thoughts and is the culprit. Other suspects include her high school classmates or the always pleasant hate crime. What appears to be an easy case takes a quick turn to the messy by the end.

Fans of Bendis' work on Powers will like this story. Also the art features the unique style of main artist Michael Gaydos and contributions by David Mack and Mark Bagley. Alias "Come Home" is a tightly written and well executed detective story told in the back alleys of the Marvel Universe.

From everything Bendis has written, Alias remains my favorite work by him. The dialogue is uncannily realistic, the plots are always filled to the brim with unbelievable suspense, and the characterization of the protagonist (P.I. Jessica Jones) is probably the strongest in comic book history. 'Come Home' marks the low-point in the series, telling the so-so story of a missing girl from a small conservative town. The premise starts out really strong, but gets weaker with each issue until the resolution hits with minimal impact. The only thing that really bothered me was that some things in this volume are extremely similar to Daredevil: Redemption, where Daredevil tries to solve the case of a murdered child. Even though DD: Redemption was written after Alias, it plays out a lot better than what happens in this volume.

This story's still pretty good, it just isn't up to par with the other collected volumes of Alias.

writing: [7/10]
art: [8/10]

This is one case where I was attracted to a title because of its creators--primarily the writer, Brian Michael Bendis--but became less enthused after experiencing the actual work. Alias is decent, but this volume in particular seemed rather self-indulgent and more about Big Important Issues than actual story. I don't deny that the Issues addressed are Big and Important, but the presentation here just didn't work for me. YMMV.

More of the meltdown of Jessica Jones. This is definitely more of your Sex and the City type tale. Neurotic, messed up, needy, can't relate to anyone, and her super hero wannabe days are over. Are things spiralling out of control for the ex-Avenger? This is more of what happens in this book.

It is true tht Jessica Jones works best when she's in New York city; but even so, Bendis understands Jessica Jones so thoroughly, an she, herself, is such a compelling character that this is a non-issue.

This is a fairly short volume. Incidentally, there's an issue missing between the last trade paperback and this one. It's a stand-alone issue, and it has no effect on this issue. If this is an issue, I reccomend purchasing volumes two and three at the same time, as Alias #10 is the first issue in the "Underneath" trade paperback.

The artwork, of course, is as wonderful as ever. Gaydos' caracters, facial expressions, backgrounds, and inks are very perfectly suited to this book, and the coloring is great, as well.