Monsters Unleashed #1
Written by: Cullen Bunn
Art by: Steve McNiven
Colored by: David Curiel
Publisher: Marvel
Hold onto your hats folks the next Marvel event is upon us and contrary to recent events in the Marvel Universe this one has our beloved spandex heroes teaming up together to fight a common enemy! A whole slew of monsters are attacking earth in a seemingly coordinated assault and it’s up to Marvel’s finest to save the day.
Writer Cullen Bunn starts us off at the very beginning of the action with meteors crashing down to earth and monsters ravaging various cities across the world. The action is furious with various factions of heroes battling these beasts around the globe. Bunn does a great job introducing us to such a huge Marvel assemble without leaving us confused. There isn’t a single point where as a reader I felt lost in the action as to where the events were taking place and as to which group was leading the charge. Bunn gives us all our favorites from the Avengers to the X-Men to the Inumans and so forth and so forth.
The story itself does seem rather familiar with a threat to earth being warded off by a worldly assembly of characters, who are sometimes foes, being brought together for the greater good. But gosh darn it I love it! The issue had a cinematic feel to it with just a ton of fisticuffs and explosions. An area which does need some improvement was the dialogue. If you are going for a re-inventing of a classic storyline it is terribly important to make it your own with original dialogue and narrative. Some of the time the dialogue came off as forced and cliché. There is an amazing exchange between Spider-Man and the Wasp near the beginning of the issue which I want more of! That kind of writing coupled with the monster clashes we would be taking about a perfect opening issue. Hopefully as the series progresses the dialogue picks up to match the explosive storyline.
Artist Steve McNiven handed in a perfect issue. His work throughout is amazing. The action sequences were spot on. The monsters were huge and beastly looking, the destruction was over the top, and the heroes looked daring and courageous. His use of a varied panel layout and by alternating between a close-up of the action and panning away really gave the issue the feel of an epic battle taking place. I can’t say enough about the artwork it really made for a fun ride. Again, considering the amount of characters and locations in this issue McNiven made sure to make everyone and everywhere very distinct so that the reader is never lost.
This issue is not all action no plot like a certain Hollywood producer is known for. No sir! Bunn gives us plenty of action to begin the issue but as it progresses we find out via Elsa Bloodstone of an ancient prophecy which foresaw this potential destruction of Earth. It’s a very cool moment that takes us away from the action for a bit to really lay down some plot and future hooks for the storyline.
This was a very entertaining book. For someone with event fatigue I can say this series looks to bucks the usual event trend and give us a good traditional hero versus bad guys to save the world type story. McNiven’s work was fantastic and Bunn delivers a very entertaining read. I’m onboard for this event and very much looking forward to the next chapter.
Art by: Steve McNiven
Colored by: David Curiel
Publisher: Marvel
Hold onto your hats folks the next Marvel event is upon us and contrary to recent events in the Marvel Universe this one has our beloved spandex heroes teaming up together to fight a common enemy! A whole slew of monsters are attacking earth in a seemingly coordinated assault and it’s up to Marvel’s finest to save the day.
Writer Cullen Bunn starts us off at the very beginning of the action with meteors crashing down to earth and monsters ravaging various cities across the world. The action is furious with various factions of heroes battling these beasts around the globe. Bunn does a great job introducing us to such a huge Marvel assemble without leaving us confused. There isn’t a single point where as a reader I felt lost in the action as to where the events were taking place and as to which group was leading the charge. Bunn gives us all our favorites from the Avengers to the X-Men to the Inumans and so forth and so forth.
The story itself does seem rather familiar with a threat to earth being warded off by a worldly assembly of characters, who are sometimes foes, being brought together for the greater good. But gosh darn it I love it! The issue had a cinematic feel to it with just a ton of fisticuffs and explosions. An area which does need some improvement was the dialogue. If you are going for a re-inventing of a classic storyline it is terribly important to make it your own with original dialogue and narrative. Some of the time the dialogue came off as forced and cliché. There is an amazing exchange between Spider-Man and the Wasp near the beginning of the issue which I want more of! That kind of writing coupled with the monster clashes we would be taking about a perfect opening issue. Hopefully as the series progresses the dialogue picks up to match the explosive storyline.
Artist Steve McNiven handed in a perfect issue. His work throughout is amazing. The action sequences were spot on. The monsters were huge and beastly looking, the destruction was over the top, and the heroes looked daring and courageous. His use of a varied panel layout and by alternating between a close-up of the action and panning away really gave the issue the feel of an epic battle taking place. I can’t say enough about the artwork it really made for a fun ride. Again, considering the amount of characters and locations in this issue McNiven made sure to make everyone and everywhere very distinct so that the reader is never lost.
This issue is not all action no plot like a certain Hollywood producer is known for. No sir! Bunn gives us plenty of action to begin the issue but as it progresses we find out via Elsa Bloodstone of an ancient prophecy which foresaw this potential destruction of Earth. It’s a very cool moment that takes us away from the action for a bit to really lay down some plot and future hooks for the storyline.
This was a very entertaining book. For someone with event fatigue I can say this series looks to bucks the usual event trend and give us a good traditional hero versus bad guys to save the world type story. McNiven’s work was fantastic and Bunn delivers a very entertaining read. I’m onboard for this event and very much looking forward to the next chapter.
A Look Inside
