Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

PLANETARY: ALL OVER THE WORLD AND OTHER STORIES (Book One)

By LJ Doresseau
March 29, 2004 - 10:53

 

I've read the trade book collection PLANETARY: ALL OVER THE WORLD AND OTHER STORIES twice, and I've still come to the same conclusion: good, maybe even very good, but not great. I don't know why I expected great; maybe it's because I took to heart all the jockin' on Warren Ellis his fairly sizeable Net following does.

The book in question collects PLANETARY #1-6 and the Planetary preview story published as an extra in two now-defunct DC/Wildstorm comics, GEN 13 #33 AND C-23 #6, back in 1998. The Planetary teammates (Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, and The Drummer) are mystery archeologists uncovering the secrets of the 20th Century (1900-99), or at least the Wildstorm "universe's" version of those mysteries.

The stories are a seamless interweaving of superhero comic book motifs (pick a company, any company, if you will), pulp fiction archetypes, and post-World War II conspiracy theories, all flavored with cutting edge science and science fiction. It's nicely clever, maybe a bit too much for its own good.

The stories are fun, but except for the preview yarn, they lack emotional resonance. It's cold and glossy, like the kind of comic book filmmaker and "Miami Vice" creator Michael Mann might write. Still, Ellis is always interesting to read; even his car wrecks (which this isn't) are worthy of an autopsy.
[DRECK, DULL, READABLE, PRETTY GOOD, EXCELLENT]

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12