Customer Reviews

The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability

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Middleman is one of the best comic books ever. Created by Javier Grillo Marxuach (Lost/Medium) Wendy Watson is just a temp at a lab when a monster attacks her. She is rescued by a stranger with a high powered laser gun who then offers Wendy a job saving the earth from threats like gangster apes, or a cabal of mexican wrestlers with a laser cage created by a diamond. Full of adventure and comedy it's also a successful tv series in America this is definitely a must buy.

I bought this after watching the show. My wife and I loooooved the show, so I had high hopes. Apparently this was created before the show, in between the first attempt at making it a show 10 years ago and the current instantiation (I hope hope hope it returns!!), and it basically outlines the plot of the first season of the show (except for a real surprise in the end...wow!!). As a result, I already knew what was going to happen most of the time. But if you haven't seen the show, buy this - it's a great intro to a fabulous concept, and maybe you'll push ABC Family to re-up the show...

I was tipped that I might like The Middleman TV series, and I do, very much. Reading the comic is the logical response and it's good in itself and fascinating to see what changed (Wendy and Noser are Anglos; she reads different comics). The art is good enough to attract my almost-single-minded verbivore's eye. If you like wordplay and the old heroes (The Avengers, The Man from UNCLE) try it.

You can add me to the list of people who were fans of the TV series The Middleman last summer. (Unfortunately, the number wasn't large enough and it got canceled.) Naturally, I was curious enough to pick up a copy of this book. It collects the entire run of the comic books that preceded the TV series. Basically, that's three stories.

Up first is "The Trade Paperback Imperative." In it, we meet Wendy Watson and learn how she came to be the apprentice to The Middleman. The mission in this book is to fight evil apes who watch gangster movies and are plotting to take over the world.

Next is "The Second Volume Inevitability." Wendy is going to get training in martial arts from master Sensei Ping, that is until he is kidnapped by a gang of masked Mexican wrestlers out for revenge.

Finally comes ""The Third Volume Inescapability." While Wendy struggles with balancing her art career and her new job saving the world, The Middleman gears up for a battle with their arch nemesis, F.A.T.B.O.T. (that's Federated Agents of Tyranny, Betrayal, and Oppression's Yoke). This one ends quite differently than anything we saw on the TV show.

And, frankly, that was my biggest disappointment with the book. These stories had already been told on the show, so I remembered where they were going even if there were some changes along the way. Furthermore, the TV series ran 12 episodes, so we got a much richer, deeper, and funnier canvas. Heck, there is hardly any focus on Wendy's home life, which often provided some of the best laughs on the show.

But what is here is still fun. The whit shows up just fine. It's just slightly bizarre enough to still be believable and funny at the same time. The adventures are imaginative.

I'm really not sure if the comic books will continue or not, but I will admit this one left me with a "to be continued" feeling.

This book ends with a fan drawn coda to provide some closure. It also includes all the covers of the various issues included in this book.

For fans of the TV show, this is a nice book to have, but it won't replace your love of the show. If anything, it made me want to watch them again right now. The DVD release can't get here fast enough.

The Middleman: The Collected Series Indispensability was a great read for me. If your a fan of the TV show you will notice that these stories are very similar to events in the show. The author original intended this Comic Book to be a TV show but couldn't get anyone to make it. So if you come from the TV show dont worry you wont feel like this is a waste of your time. The stories are always funny and the references to pop culture never get tired.

This is my first comic book ever (I'm more of a written-word girl), and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. I came to the comics through the series (and if you're a fan of the books, seeing the series is a MUST -- you can pick it up on iTunes until ABC Family gets off its hindquarters and gives us new eps.. or at least reruns, people? Please? Pretty please? Please, sir, may I have some more?), so the first two volumes weren't new to me by any means, but I still enjoyed them enormously.

The premise, for those of you not in the know, revolves around Wendy, an art-school graduate who works a string of temp jobs until something goes wrong at her latest employeer's ("AND laboratories, rescrambling your DNA") and she is attacked by an escaped science experiment ("Hentai tentacle monster" -- her words, not mine) and rescued by a clean-cut square-jawed "superhero" who goes only by the Middleman. Well, Wendy calls him a superhero. He points out that he never wears tights. As the Middleman's new apprentice, Wendy fights ganster apes (Vol 1), a cadre of Mexican wrestlers bent on world domination (Vol 2), and the insidious FATBOY (the Federated Agents of Tyrany, Betrayal, and Oppression's Yoke -- Vol 3, where Wendy posits that they were at the end of the line for good anagrams).

For fans of the series, Volumes One and Two will bring back fond memories, while Three will just plain shock (I'm still not sure how I feel about that ending, to be quite honest). If you've never seen the show before, you'll see how brilliant and funny Javier Grillo-Marxuach can be in any medium.

Fan of the TV show or not, you'll find this some of the most absorbing and interesting comic book fare out there (at least according to both me, the comic newbie, and my friend who's a fan of all things sketched). It's got a quirky sense of humor, more pop-culture references than you can shake a stick at, wacky villians (mobster apes and mexican wrestlers, what's not to love?), a game of Elephant polo, a very improperly-timed phone conversation, illiterate deaf-mute ninjas in kendo armor with six-shooters (you had to be there), and all other kinds of wacky.

In addition to the three main adventures are several short stories about the adventures of previous Middlemen and their sidekicks and a short fan-drawn story about the possible future of Wendy Watson.

I think I said that I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending of Volume Three but, even so, it left me eager for the (hopefully) upcoming Volume Four. Also reminded me how badly I want a second season of the series :)

Bought and read this because I'm a fan of the series. Unfortunately, episodes one and three draw so much from the first two volumes that there's little "new" material until the second half of the book. That said, it's wacky fun and I can't wait for more of the series.

I really enjoyed The Middle Man graphic novel, which is a lot of fun. I want to get more! The dialogue and the asides are funny; and I love Ida's comments, though Wendy and The Middle Man have some great lines too. (I appreciated the similarity to the TV series, though there are differences...) And I hope to see more of Sensei Ping. The Middle Men from times past was a fun idea too. (I'm glad the graphic novels are available since they cancelled the TV series.)

What can I say that hasn't already been said? This is an awesome series that has something for all ages. I gave it to a 12 year old for her birthday, hoping to give her a strong female character she could look up to. I miss the TV series, and this graphic novel has a lot of the first few episodes in it. She loved the series, and had a great time with this book.

This is an excellent book! Highly recommended. The writing is great, and the art is definitely something to write home about. It's different but in a good way. If you watched the TV series and liked it, go to the source you will not regret it.