Marvel Zombies 3 #4
This review written by James Hunt on Jan.08, 2009.
Marvel Zombies 3 has been an unexpected success, re-injecting some direction and energy into a concept that many feel had run its course. Machine Man has had one of Marvel’s most successful makeovers, and functions as an entertaining protagonist with the added bonus that he’s not vulnerable to infection. His presence gives the series a tinge of ridiculousness that, combined with the horror-elements, mean we’re left with a comic that reads like the Marvel Universe’s own Evil Dead (perhaps for those of us who didn’t read the Marvel Zombies Vs. Army of Darkness limited series.)
Jocasta, soon to be a Mighty Avenger, also gets a good moment in the spotlight here. Whether this foreshadows further interaction with Stack, or simply stands alone, it makes for good material that future writers could build off – and most importantly, it’s material that they might actually want to build off, too. Lente’s gift surely lies in making old, forgotten characters into viable concerns again, and given how this issue of Marvel Zombies ends, that’s probably a good thing…
The ending leaves me with an odd feeling of curiosity and dissatisfaction. On one hand, I’m glad we’re getting another Marvel Zombies series, because if Van Lente can make this one so good, the concept clearly has mileage left in it. On the other hand… if anything can exhaust that mileage, it’s the Midnight Sons. MZ4 is due to star all your favourites: Morbius! Man-Thing! And three other guys! It’s surely going one of two ways – either they’re being set up as dispensible cannon-fodder, or someone – perhaps Van Lente – is trying to get a Midnight Sons revival off the ground. I’m not sure which option I prefer.
Even so, compared to the last Marvel Zombies series, which left everyone saying “okay, now stop.” the ending of this one does convince me that the joke isn’t too old yet – assuming you’ve got the right writer. At this stage it looks like the zombies are passed being an “Aunt May/Franklin Richards team-up”-esque piece of absurdist Marvel lore and are instead going to be a permanent fixture. Make of that what you will, but to be honest, I can live with it.download rocky online
January 9th, 2009 on 4:24 am
Many times in series, whether at the end of the series or the end of a specific issue, there’s always some kind of statement or prescience that usually involves some kind of a reaction from the readers. The final page of Secret Invasion #8 is a pretty good example, as it really set the scene for what Dark Reign is in it’s purest sense.
“…but the Midnight Sons must return!,” complete with fancy team logo and background consisting of a bunch of characters shown in a faded fashion barely made me yawn. The only real reaction I got from that page was re-remembering what a waste this week’s asinine Spider-Man/Man-Thing crossover was. Otherwise it basically confirmed that Machine Man has once again jumped into a series only as a temporary character, to once again be whisked away to (hopefully) some other book.
Of course, with that said, that may not actually be a bad thing. Between the end pages of this book, and the general state of the Avengers book (specifically in regards to Hank and Jan) this could lead to some interesting stories. It’s not very often you hear about a man competing with a robot for the love of another robot whose brain patterns were based off of the man’s wife. Or maybe it has, but it’s certainly not something seen recently. Of course, Hank hasn’t fully fallen for her as of yet, but it hardly seems impossible.
“My name is Aaron –
No. You know what?
My name is MACHINE MAN. And I just saved the ☠☠☠☠ world.”
Gotta love him.
January 10th, 2009 on 12:44 am
I do hope Machine Man gets a more permanent place somewhere. I think this series especially proved that there’s potential for him to front a title as well, Lente didn’t tone down the absurdity, but he did add other dimensions that made the character more than simply comic relief. I’d probably buy it.
Return of the Midnight Sons, on the other hand? Frankly, I’ll believe that when I see it ;-)
January 11th, 2009 on 3:39 pm
Kinda confused with the whole Midnight Sons thing. Did I miss out on something back in the 90’s? Man-Thing, Daimon H, Jeniffer Kale, Werewolf? Since when did they become the MS? What happened to the original lineup? Or is this a complete retcon?
January 11th, 2009 on 8:33 pm
I think Morbius is the only connection to the original group, and the other characters were peripherally features in the Midnight Sons line, I suppose. Personally, I don’t think you can really have Midnight Sons without Blade or a Ghost Rider, but then again, it’s not like they’ve got a million MS fans waiting in the wings for a revival, so they can pretty much do what they want…