(I originally read these comics in mid/late April 2016)
Re-read 'Marvels', last week. In what is often derided as Marvel's worst decade both creatively and economically, there's no doubt it was a '90s highpoint - even the highpoint - and Alex Ross' photorealistic painted artwork made a huge splash the likes of which it's hard to appreciate in the wake of legions of imitators swamping the market with inferior product. I don't know if Kurt Busiek's written anything this good since.
The story follows Daily Bugle photojournalist Phil Sheldon as he documents the brave new world of the "Marvels": larger than life figures exhibiting incredible powers, or what we take for granted as super-heroes, and how the world, specifically New York, reacts to them. It alights on the touchstones of the first wave of Golden Age heroes, sixties' anti-mutant hysteria, the coming of Galactus and finally the death of Gwen Stacy. 'Marvels' makes these characters and events seem fresh and wondrous again and though I'm by no means a proponent of painted comics (the speech balloons float on top of, rather than integrate with, Ross' art), I can't deny its magic. It's a tale of fantastic events from a human perspective and it still has the power to move.
...And then there's 'Ruins'.
Whereas 'Marvels' inspires hope and condemns a society that wishes to drag its heroes down, 'Ruins' is a two-part twist on the concept where everything that came about to birth a world of super-heroes in Marvel's 616 universe went wrong to create a dystopian hell full of diseased mutant freaks and concentration camps.
Writer Warren Ellis' appeal is lost on me. 'Ruins' is repulsive. It's the meanest-spirited, most cynical, most depressing piece of garbage from Marvel that I've ever had the displeasure of reading. It's also boring as hell, despite its brevity. If you must see a cannibal Nick Fury being propositioned by an underage prostitute Jean Grey only to blow her brains out two panels later, this is the comic for you.
Sample dialogue:
Rick Jones (to wife, Marlo): "You cheap slut! I warned you! I'm gonna break every bone in your smackhead face!"
Utter trash. I'd have thrown it in the bin except I might be able to recoup a few quid from some unsuspecting sap on eBay.
As an extra (or even a palate cleanser), here's Alex Ross' cover art for the first edition of the 'Marvels' trade paperback.
Marvels (1994) # 0-4 are collected in:
Hardcover:
Softcover:
Ruins (1995) # 1/2 are collected in:
Softcover:
