Post by jakefury on Jun 12, 2011 17:55:36 GMT -5
Writer: David Liss
Artist: Patrick Zircher
Colorist: Andy Troy
Mystery Men is a Marvel Noir/pulp comic set in 1932. America is in the midst of the Great Depression. Our setting is New York City. The Daily Bugle is mentioned, verifying this takes place in some form of the Marvel Universe.
We see a fellow by the name of Dennis Piper robbing from the rich to help out some of NYC's downtrodden poor. Mr Piper also happens to wear a mask and costume and call himself the Operative. (He's similar in appearance to the Spirit, suit and tie with a fedora and wearing a mask) He's friends with a young lady named Alice Starr, who's an actress on Broadway.
The next night Alice is getting ready for a performance and talking to some of her fellow actresses before the show. A creepy looking fellow named the General pays her and her friends a visit. He whisks Alice away to a boat in NYC harbor and her friends can't remember what happened. (Low level telepathy perhaps) The General then kills Alice with a hook and tosses her overboard.
Dennis discovers that Alice has been murdered when some local cops come calling. Apparently, there's a conspiracy to place the blame on him for her murder. He shows some pretty nice H2H skills and disarms both of the cops. He ties up one the cops and makes him piss his pants by making him think he's going to shoot him.
We then go to the General who's in a meeting with a board of directors in the newly opened Empire State Building. We find out he's searching for an amulet thats been buried somewhere in Turkey. After the meeting he goes to pay a visit to a call girl and the call girl transforms into a zombified/demonic looking creature named Nox. We find out that Alice Starr's murder was an offering so Nox can take her true from. She tells him that she's a God of Fear and she'll need a greater offering from him. She then tells him that what's he's seeking in the ruins in Turkey is an amulet. She also reveals that she's been using her abilities to make him appear appealing to he ladies. His true from looks like a cross between Freddy Krueger and Pinhead.
Dennis Piper is searching for answers and a friend says he has some information for him. He arrives to find his friend murdered and another group of corrupt cops waiting for him. He's in a bit of trouble when a superhuman arrives to give him a hand. The new superhuman takes out the cops in a cloud of fog. The cops call him the Revenant as he's something of an urban legend.
Dennis then takes off to find Alice's sister and finds her living in a hangar. He explains the dilemma he's in to her as the corrupt cops have found him again. Fog descends on their location as the Revenant arrives again to help him. He decimates most of the cops and even catches a bullet in his teeth at short range. He doesn't see a cop about to get the drop on him. Piper finishes him off by impaling him with a piece of construction rebar. The Revenant says he's shown remarkable skill. Piper wants to know what he's after and he tells him that he's after the murderer of Alice Starr. He hands him his Operative mask and says it's time for the two of them to work together.
Thoughts:
This was the best comic I've read this week. I'm a big fan of the Pulp/Noir style comics so this was right up my alley. This had some elements of the Spirit, Watchmen and some of the previous Marvel Noir comics. David Liss ties everything together very well and the art is grand.
GO BUY THIS BOOK!
9/10 Nearly flawless.
