The last week of the year brings us one DC book! Will I continue to do this in the new year? No man can say!!!!
Metamorpho #1 (“Mister 3, the Triple-State Man!”) by Al Ewing, Steve Lieber, Lee Loughridge, and Ferran Delgado. $3.99 (although my sweet Ian Bertram cover cost $4.99, but I don’t care coz it’s sweet), 20 pgs.
Ewing and Lieber present this as a 1960s comic, sort of, which is a fun choice. It’s not that Metamorpho is totes a “Sixties thing,” but he’s certainly one character who could work pretty well in that era, given the set-up of the weird origin coupled with the odd supporting cast of plutocrat, plutocrat’s daughter who doesn’t really have much of a function beyond pining for the hero, and hero’s rival who happens to work for the plutocrat and is also a revived Neanderthal. I know Metamorpho was created in the 1960s, which is why he works as that kind of character, but some characters created back then have evolved, while Rex and the others really haven’t as much, so Ewing and Lieber can work with that vibe without really messing with the character all that much. (Or, so it seems to me. Die-hard Metamorpho fans – Metamorphmaniacs? – might have a different take.)
Anyway, there’s a title page splash to begin, which floating head introductions down the left side. A title page splash! Holy Throwback, Batman! Ewing writes in a light, jazzy, often rhyming style (“Is the Fab Freak feeling drab and weak?“) with plenty of alliteration and goofy ejaculations (Simon Stagg says “Great Jasper!” when he’s surprised, because why not?). There are thought balloons (not many, but a few), the characters speak in a heightened, “hip” way, but Ewing is a good enough writer that it doesn’t feel too unreal. Simon Stagg is a bit nicer than he usually is (not exactly nice, just nicer), but overall, the characters interact well with each other. Despite the way the dialogue is written, it still feels like a modern comic – Ewing does a nice job keeping things light while hinting at darker things behind the fracas in the book. Urania Blackwell shows up, working for S.H.A.D.E., and the bad guy in the book has a sinister agenda. Ewing stayed awake in basic chemistry, so Rex uses some elements cleverly, which is all I really want in a superhero book – I’ve said before that a reason why Morrison is so good writing superheroes is that they think about how the heroes would use their powers, and Ewing does the same thing here. There’s an intriguing prologue, a teaser at the end, and a decent fight in between: what more could you want from a first issue of a superhero comic?!?!?
Lieber continues to be a terrific artist, and he does nice work here. He’s kind of become the guy you get for a “serious-but-not-too-serious” superhero book, which isn’t a bad niche to be in, I guess. He’s able to do action pretty well, but he’s quite good at character interaction, which is why he’s on these kinds of books, where the action is fine but the success of the book rests on the way the characters deal with each other in a non-violent way. He does a fun thing where he incorporates the chemical symbol into the drawing when Rex uses it, which is a little touch that makes the book a bit more interesting. When Rex is melting, Lieber makes it weird and a bit creepy but not too scary. He also does good work with Urania’s flirtatiousness and Sapphire’s jealousy and worry, as she remains wildly insecure about her romance with Rex. Lieber’s Java is well done, too – he’s not just a “caveman,” but he is less intelligent than the others, and Lieber is able to get across both his relative cluelessness and his devotion to Stagg and Sapphire. I like Lieber personally, so I’m always glad when he gets to draw a higher-profile book, and he does nice work on this one.
I figured this would be a good comic, because Ewing and Lieber are good, but I do like the “Sixties” spin Ewing put on it more than I would have expected. Reading comics from the 1960s can be a bit of a chore (those writers never used one word when five would do!), but in small doses, it can be fun, especially as Ewing understands that it’s not actually the 1960s and you can write a comic like that era while avoiding the excesses of the time. This is a fun, jazzy comic, and I hope it does well for them. I would suggest you go ALL IN with Metamorpho!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
One totally Airwolf panel:
Yeah, my scanner is acting crappy, and I don’t trust the blog to not start being weird again, not letting us publish stuff, so I’m going to skip a panel here. Oh well. If only our blog/my scanner didn’t suck!
We shall see what I’m going to do in January. I’ll probably keep getting these ALL IN books for a while, but we shall see. Have a nice day, everyone!
This is probably my most anticipated of the All-In titles. And if Ewing is going full zany Haney, well, so much the better.
Not on the app yet, darn it.
Stagg did indeed say Great Jasper in the Silver Age IIRC.
I’m not surprised he said it. I’m glad that Ewing incorporated it!
Finally got my hands on a copy (I went with the Erica Henderson cover) and adored it. Love the “voice” it’s written in, love the caption boxes and thought balloons and throwback balloon shapes in the lettering. It’s light, funny, action-packed, and efficient.
I’m a fan of Lieber and he’s a solid draftsman, though I find it interesting he’s given the “wacky” books, since his style is less elastic or cartoony than others (though not over-rendered either). I like the expressiveness of his characters and the clear storytelling.
I hope this book lasts.