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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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Do Good Movies Make Good Comics? Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier Prelude

Cover image of Captain America prelude to Winter Soldier movie


Review:

The titular Prelude tale of this collection rightly earns top billing, despite its shameless and blatant movie tie-in opportunism. Peter David's story is taut and well-paced, with well-timed dramatic twists. No small feat, as it must be tucked neatly between the end of The Avengers film and the follow-up Captain America: Winter Soldier.

Rock-He Kim's art is also a gorgeous series of painted pages, that blend a softness of character with the rock-hard seriousness of the threat posed by our villains. Well worth a reader's time and attention.

The rest of the collection, however, feels slapped together, a mish-mash whose primary purpose seems to be to ensure the volume becomes thick enough to merit the $15 USD / $17 CDN price tag.

One is a two-part movie adaptation of Captain America: the First Avenger. It is a classic example of the challenges of storytelling in different media. The movie was fast-paced and well balanced in tension, drama, romance and character development. The comic adaptation, on the other hand, falls flat, jumping from one scene to another, disjointed and confusing. Peter David is a well-established name in comics writing, but this is far from his finest work. Wellinton Alves' art looks like cartoonified stills from the big screen.

Rounding out the collection are several truly odd choices. While the origins of Hawkeye, starting as an Iron Man villain in this Tales of Suspense extract, is indeed fascinating, given his eventual evolution in the Marvel universe, why is it in this collection? Rumor has it some Hawkeye scenes were filmed but cut from the movie, but other than that tenuous connection this story has no place in the theme of this collection.

The Ultimates #2 is also included. While it is a key moment in Captain America's history it still feels an odd inclusion given that the Hulk, Ant Man, the Wasp and Iron Man have much more panel time in the tale than Cap. Still, Mark Millar weaves an intriguing story that begs for the next chapter, and Bryan Hitch's art is compelling and engrossing.

The origin of the Falcon from 1968 has its own curiosity, although Stan Lee's story is a strange one. A body swap between Captain America and Red Skull leads to layers of confusion, until the true captain realizes he is just wearing a mask. Huh?

Finally the Out Of Time story line from Captain America (2005) #6 is frustrating, with some out of character choices and large plot holes tearing at the integrity of the tale. I'd come to expect better of Ed Brubaker, who made a name for himself a few years earlier with his Batman and Catwoman work. This was his first Marvel assignment, perhaps he was just warming up.

This is a hodge-podge collection, claiming very tenuously to be wrapped around a single story, trying to benefit from movie tie-in hype. It ultimately turns incoherent and falls flat. 1.5 stars out of 5.



Description:

Prepare for Marvel Studios' newest big-screen blockbuster by boning up with this essential collection of classics! First, relive Steve Rogers' transformation from 98-pound weakling into the living legend of World War II...and the tragic loss of his best friend Bucky! Next, thrill to an all-new Infinite-style adventure set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! And experience the dynamic debut of Cap's partner the Falcon, the Black Widow's first encounter with the Amazing Spider-Man, the startling revelations that lurk behind the mask of the Winter Soldier, and the ultimate introduction of Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Collects: Marvel's Captain America: the First Avenger Adaptation #1-2, Marvel's Captain America: Winter Soldier Infinite Comic #1, Captain America (1968) #117, Captain America (2005) #6, The Ultimates #2, material from Tales of Suspense (1959) #57

Authors: Stan Lee, Ed Brubaker, Mark Millar, Peter David
Artists: Gene Colan, John Romita Jr., Brian Hitch, More
Published By: Marvel 
Published When: April 1 2014
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN-10: 0785188770
ISBN-13: 978-0785188773
Language: English
Pages: 152 pages



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