shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 18, 2014 22:22:36 GMT -5
Magnus Robot Fighter #5 (Dynamite)  (untitled) writer: Fred Van Lente pencils: Cory Smith inks: Joseph Cooper colors: Mauricio Wallace letters: Marshall Dillon editor: Nate Cosby grade: B+ "You just been Mangus'd, fool!" - H8R There's a lot working here. Some questions are answered, others hinted at, and still other new questions are asked for the first time, all while action remains top notch and the comedy is always inserted tastefully. Generally speaking, things are going well, and yet I'm feeling a bit disappointed at this point for two reasons. First off, while it once looked like we were moving towards some familiar ground with the Magnus franchise, it now feels that we're moving further and further from familiar territory with each issue, and while I respect originality, don't call it "Magnus" if there's nothing "Magnus" about it beyond a few names and tasteful nods to the past. Yes, he smashes robots with his bare hands, but this is otherwise pretty different stuff, especially with the introduction of a love interest who isn't Leeja in this issue. Second, my old gripe about modern comics is beginning to rear its head here. Half a year into this series, and $24 spent, yet the story has barely progressed. I'd like to see Magnus make some progress by this point or at least have a clear mission in his head. He's just now beginning to figure out what we learned in issue #1 -- that his back story was a fantasy. Things need to start picking up pace a bit because, inevitably, Van Lente will leave the title, or the title will be cancelled, before we actually get somewhere substantial. Are we going to have to wait five more issues for Magnus to find 1A's backup files and then finally arrive at a goal for himself in this series? So, the important details: - Magnus now suspects his life up to this point was not real - His fantasy wife, Moira, is the leader of the goph cell he meets up with in this issue. Neither seems to know why she was in his fantasy (and, for those of you willing to admit you've seen it, doesn't this feel a little too much like Shrek Ever After??) - Magnus delays in aiding Moira's husband, due entirely to his jealousy of the man. It's surprising and authentic to see this everyman thrown into a fantastic role approaching it with some significant character flaws. - Moira might know where 1A's backup files are and is willing to tell Magnus if he helps rescue her husband. - Clane is in danger of losing power and is manipulating Leeja to take down his political rival - Strongly suggested that Clane is a robot (we were told here and in issue #0 that robots take on the role of parents to humans, and Smith keeps depicting Clane with a subtly demonic/inhuman face, further supported by skin coloring that is overly red and both demonic and artificial looking). - I'm confused by the precursor swarm unleashed in the previous issue, now. How is that related to the swarm of nanites and biological matter that peacefully left for space, as depicted in Magnus #0? Maybe the story we learned in that issue was a false one; propaganda spread by Clane and his church. Maybe this really is going back to Malev 6 after all. I'd like to see that. It would be a great way t continue to take this series in a new direction while also maintaining a tight connection to the past. plot synopsis in one sentence: Magnus meets a goph cell led by the real Moira, is told his memories were not real, tries to prove his loyalty, exposes a robot in their membership, fends off an invasion force sent by Clane, fails to prevent Moira's husband from being kidnapped, and agrees to help Moira rescue him in exchange for information as to where 1A's backup files may be hidden. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 18, 2014 23:44:35 GMT -5
Also worth noting at this point is that Magnus makes an important appearance in Doctor Spektor #2 in the same month that Magnus #4 hit stands. In this issue, Spektor appears to be involuntarily shifting through alternate realities and determines, with some help, that he has a mysterious "particle level umbilicus" connecting him to some other place. When an assistant sends a vibration down the umbilicus to see what happens, Magnus leaps out, claiming to have come in order to save "everyone who's alive! Or will be! Or was! I came here to save reality itself!...From you!"
The preview for the next issue (coming out on Wednesday) suggests that Gail from the Doctor Solar series is also involved in whatever this reality shifting is. Sounds like the beginning of an inter-company crossover.
EDIT: It doesn't look like Dynamite is soliciting any major events for the Gold Key imprint over the coming months, so I'm curious where this is heading instead.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 20, 2014 13:20:12 GMT -5
At this point, it's probably necessary to discuss the new Valiant and what importance it may or may not end up having for the Magnus franchise. Last year, Valiant CEO Dinesh Shamdasani went on record as stating that, while he had no intention of ever doing inter-company crossovers with the Gold Key properties that had once been an integral part of the old Valiant Universe, he would be interested in outright owning those properties. You can read the article here. Considering that the Dynamite Gold Key titles are all slumping in sales, with no big plans from Dynamite to combat this trend, as well as the fact that Valiant has been enormously successful thus far and is even looking at movie options at this point, it seems entirely possible that Valiant could end up owning Magnus if/when the Dynamite Gold Key line fails. That desire on the part of Valiant has become more obvious than ever with the new Rai title. The original Valiant Rai was completely intertwined with the Valiant Magnus, introduced in those pages and constantly interconnected with it until the company went under. The third and final Rai even became Magnus' step son, as well as a permanent fixture in the Magnus title when his own was cancelled. So it's not entirely shocking that the very first page of the very first issue of the new rebooted Rai series depicts two futuristic hoodlums stopped by a heroic figure whose face is largely off camera; the focus instead being on his armored red tunic that, on that first page, looks IDENTICAL to that of the classic Magnus' tunic.  The next page reveals this to be a simple cop with a decidedly different look, but the tease was unmistakable. Then there's the fact that Rai lives in 4001 AD, the same year that Magnus was in for the original Valiant run. Clearly, Dynamite is feeling Magnus' absence. They may have him back soon enough. First, Dynamite would have to cancel the Gold Key line (which looks imminent), and then Random House would have to agree to sell the Gold Key franchises rather than just licensing them (unlikely, but, with Valiant's vast resources, it's possible). I'm curious to see what I'll be saying when I go back to quote this post in a year's time or so. Was this just wishful thinking, or did I predict the next major phase in Magnus' publication history? |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 14:24:56 GMT -5
Dreamworks owns Gold Key now and they are the one who licensed to Dynamite to test the waters (And gutted Waid's original plans for Spektor which resulted in it being a mini rather than ongoing. They have plans for the properties and the comics were really just a test of the waters so to speak, a chance to get them back in the spotlight. I wouldn't expect Valiant to get the rights or the license anytime in the foreseeable future, as Dreamworks eyes are on other media not comics.
-M
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 20, 2014 15:40:07 GMT -5
Wasn't aware Dreamworks owned them now. Thanks for that info.
Still, as much as I'd love to see a Magnus movie, I don't see larger audience flocking to these characters without a stable comic book franchise with which to build interest in them. Dreamworks may decide they're better off selling to Valiant, after all, if the price is right.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2014 15:45:42 GMT -5
Wasn't aware Dreamworks owned them now. Thanks for that info. Still, as much as I'd love to see a Magnus movie, I don't see larger audience flocking to these characters without a stable comic book franchise with which to build interest in them. Dreamworks may decide they're better off selling to Valiant, after all, if the price is right. That's from the Wikipedia page, but M**k W**d told me at a con late last year that Dreamworks reviews and has to approve all the scripts much like Lucasfilm did with all the Star Wars comics, so they are taking an active hand in the management of the property even if the sales are fairly low with Dynamite. -M |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 20, 2014 15:49:51 GMT -5
Wasn't aware Dreamworks owned them now. Thanks for that info. Still, as much as I'd love to see a Magnus movie, I don't see larger audience flocking to these characters without a stable comic book franchise with which to build interest in them. Dreamworks may decide they're better off selling to Valiant, after all, if the price is right. That's from the Wikipedia page, but M**k W**d told me at a con late last year that Dreamworks reviews and has to approve all the scripts much like Lucasfilm did with all the Star Wars comics, so they are taking an active hand in the management of the property even if the sales are fairly low with Dynamite. -M Right. That's mentioned repeatedly in the article I linked to, and it was the same deal back when Random House and Western licensed the properties out to Dark Horse and Voyager Communications. They want to make sure the property isn't being sullied in any way in order to protect their asset, but that doesn't necessarily imply that they have big things planned for the property either. If I buy a smart phone, find it doesn't work very well, and keep it around while trying to figure out what the heck to do with a smart phone I'm not going to use, that doesn't mean I'm going to let my three year old play with it unsupervised. I don't have plans for it, but it might still be worth something. |
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Post by wildfire2099 on Aug 20, 2014 20:48:02 GMT -5
Is it just me, or is Magnus' look very Spidey-like now?
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 21, 2014 5:01:13 GMT -5
Is it just me, or is Magnus' look very Spidey-like now? I can see that, but I suspect Cory Smith was thinking of Harbinger, a title with which Magnus was once strongly linked during the first Valiant Era.  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 21, 2014 13:43:29 GMT -5
Just finished Doctor Spektor #3. The plot has spiraled into a highly confusing and likely non-sensical battle to keep unreality from encroaching on reality, and this somehow involves Magnus, Turok, and Solar, even though they're all from different times. I don't pretend to understand any of it.
I still maintain this all sounds like the basis for a company-wide crossover that somehow never materialized. Too bad, as the Dynamite Gold Key imprint desperately needs the attention and sales.
In terms of what it does for Magnus, either as a character or in terms of continuity, it's not doing much of anything yet. Other than being understandably impatient, Magnus is little more than a walking expository tool, good for explaining whatever Spektor needs to know. There's no attempt to connect any of this to what's happening in the regular Magnus title either.
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 21, 2014 14:34:36 GMT -5
Shax, have you seen "Magnus, Robot Biter" in an issue of Not Brand Ecch! (I think #2) in the 1960s? I haven't read it in decades, but I remember it as being a riot. (I think it was Iron Can Meets Magnus, Robot Biter.)
I thought it was funny then, even though I had never heard of Magnus, Robot Fighter. (And I still have never read a Magnus, Robot Fighter comic, though I did read a feature article on the character in Comic Book Marketplace.)
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Post by Hoosier X on Aug 21, 2014 14:43:17 GMT -5
Shax, have you seen "Magnus, Robot Biter" in an issue of Not Brand Ecch! (I think #2) in the 1960s? I haven't read it in decades, but I remember it as being a riot. (I think it was Iron Can Meets Magnus, Robot Biter.) I thought it was funny then, even though I had never heard of Magnus, Robot Fighter. (And I still have never read a Magnus, Robot Fighter comic, though I did read a feature article on the character in Comic Book Marketplace.) I should have done a little research. It was Magnut, Robot Biter fighting The Unrinseable Ironed Man.
Written by Roy Thomas. Art by Don Heck.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Aug 21, 2014 14:43:40 GMT -5
Shax, have you seen "Magnus, Robot Biter" in an issue of Not Brand Ecch! (I think #2) in the 1960s? I haven't read it in decades, but I remember it as being a riot. (I think it was Iron Can Meets Magnus, Robot Biter.) I thought it was funny then, even though I had never heard of Magnus, Robot Fighter. (And I still have never read a Magnus, Robot Fighter comic, though I did read a feature article on the character in Comic Book Marketplace.) I'm aware of it, though I haven't read it. You really need to read some Magnus. Pick any era. Nearly all of them are quality stuff. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Sept 29, 2014 14:44:58 GMT -5
Magnus Robot Fighter #6 (Dynamite)  (untitled) writer: Fred Van Lente pencils: Cory Smith inks: Joseph Cooper and Roberto Castro colors: Mauricio Wallace letters: Deron Bennett editor: Nate Cosby grade: C+ "Really? There's no 'South Am?' 'East AF?' 'Central Euro?' Whatever...uh...an abbreviation for 'Asia' would be..."My concern from last issue, about the property wandering too far from its foundation, continues. While Russell Magnus' story continues, nothing about it resembles anything from the classic Magnus property, and, as Magnus becomes more humanized in this issue (particularly in speaking with the woman he misremembers as having been his wife), even he feels alien to the classic Magnus reader. I guess that begs the question: why pay licensing rights on a franchise if you're not going to cater to fans of that franchise? Perhaps Van Lente assumes he's hooked us in far enough at this point that he doesn't have to keep nodding to the original premise anymore. Anyway, the plot continues, but there isn't anything particularly noteworthy about this story beyond further hints that Senator Clane is indeed a robot. Also, (apparently without H8R's knowledge) the Synod are still able to spy on Magnus through H8R's eyes. plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence: We learn that the Harvesters and the Synod (the robots controlling North Am) have an uneasy alliance and are working together against Magnus, Leeja follows the senator who is trying to undermine Clane, Magnus attempts to infiltrate the Harvesters' compound in search of Moira's abducted husband, and it turns out that the senator is also allied with the Harvesters and that Leeja and Magnus are both walking into the same trap. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Oct 17, 2014 16:30:40 GMT -5
Magnus Robot Fighter #7 (Dynamite)  (untitled) writer: Fred Van Lente pencils: Cory Smith inks: Sandy Jarrell colors: Mauricio Wallace letters: Deron Bennett editor: Nate Cosby grade: D "Where the hell do we have to run to?"
"Looks like nowhere, Leeja. So we have to FIGHT!"This title has not only lost all sense of the original Magnus Robot Fighter premise by this point, but it's also lost all its spark. The writing feels more stilted, the comedy far more forced, and new inker Sandy Jarrell positively destroys the art on many pages, leaving it looking far too awkward and cartoony, completely clashing with the tone of the book. Or did Cory Smith's art just suddenly become terrible? Look at the image above and decide for yourself. It looks like it was made in MS Paint. I could care less about the convoluted intrigues, secret alliances, and uneasy deals at this point. This series has no core, neither in protagonist Russ Magnus nor in the setting of North Am. I'll keep reading because I'm a stupid completist, but this series has utterly lost me as of this issue. |
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