Comic Review: Marvel Comics (2019-) #1000

Marvel Comics (2019-) #1000

Marvel Comics

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This issue is a bit of a doozy. I mean, it should be, being Marvel Comics #1000. There are 80 one page stories written by an army of different creative teams. If each individual person that makes a contribution to this comic were to gather on the street, they could cause some real damage. If this issue were just a bunch of different one-page stories celebrating Marvel’s 80-year history, I would’ve been fine with that. But it’s not just that. No, true believers, from page one there’s a story weaving its way through this issue and Marvel history.

I’d like to start by talking about the individual one-page stories since they make up most of this issue. They’re all just fun, one-shot pages that have characters ranging from Iron Man to Howard the Duck to Damage Control. For the most part, I enjoy a lot of these. Each page, again, is from a different creative team, so there’s a wide range of stories being told. Some are good, some not so much, but I don’t think there’s any I’d say are outright bad. There’s only one I can think of off the top of my head that I’d say is a little pointless. Speedball is on his way to a new job, and his powers kick in, bouncing him around the city. And that’s pretty much it. It’s a little pointless, but it’s still fun.

There are some pages I like for the story they tell more than the art. There’s a Kelly Thompson Elsa Bloodstone story, featuring Jeff the Shark that I love. Pepe Laraz is the artist, so it’s not a bad looking page either. There’s a Doctor Strange tale early on that I love mostly for the art of Michael Allred. The story is from Joe Hill, so it’s not bad either, but for my money, it’s hard to beat Allred. Throughout the issue, there are also some small editors notes type boxes with Marvel history information in them. Most of them are good and include some big milestones like Fantastic Four #1 being published in 1961. Then there’s some that, while important, I don’t think are the biggest Marvel moments for that year. Is Amadeus Cho siding with the Hulk in World War Hulk really the most important thing that happens in 2007?

There is a story weaving its way through the book one page at a time. The mask of Eternity grants the wearer a virtually unlimited amount of strength and power. We jump through time as it makes its way from King Arthur times, to old west America, to the present a bit. We follow its wearers too, The Operative/The Ferret, The Dark Avenger, The Black Rider, and others. The Mask of Eternity fights against those who would rule for those without power, and throughout its history, they’ve gone from X-Men to the Scientists Guild, to the Enclave. The story culminates in a tease, claiming the new wearer of the mask, the Masked Raider, will be revealed in 2020.

The story running through the comic is from Al Ewing, and I like it for the most part. It brings in a lot of classic characters, going back to Marvel Comics #1 from 1939. The paragraph above covers the gist of it, without really spoiling too much, though there’s not much to spoil. I like the story, Al Ewing is a great storyteller. I think I would’ve preferred the story be told in one chunk, rather than split throughout the book. But that’d mess with the whole theme of each story working its way from the past to the present. I won’t say it’s my least favorite part of this comic, but it’s not really my favorite.

I’ve seen some mixed reactions about this online. But I, pardon my french, enjoyed the crap out of this. I read comics from almost every company, across most genres, but Marvel always holds a special place in my heart. This comic celebrating the history of Marvel Comics hits the spot for me. I mean, page one is a single panel from Marvel Comics #1 from 1939, that kicks off the main Al Ewing story. I think someone would have to be lying if they said there’s nothing they like in this comic. There are so many writers and artists with work in here it’d be impossible. New guys like Donny Cates and Jason Aaron to legends like Chris Claremont and freaking Neil Gaiman. If you’ve ever been a fan of Marvel Comics, I think you should read this comic.

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