The Twelve

The Twelve #1-3

by J. Michael Straczynski, Chris Weston (Illustrator)

Yesterday's men of tomorrow - today! The Phantom Reporter. Electro. The Black Widow. The Laughing Mask. The Blue Blade. Dynamic Man. Master Mind Excello. Mister E. The Fiery Mask. The Witness. Rockman. Captain Wonder. Laying dormant for sixty years, they awaken in a tormented world that needs them more than ever. But has the world grown beyond their brand of old-fashioned heroism? Writer J. Michael Stracyzynski (Babylon 5, The Amazing Spider-Man) and artist Chris Weston (The Invisibles, Fantastic Four: The First Family) present a post-modernist tale of sacrifice, betrayal, and human nature. Plus: Journey into the past to follow the death-defying exploits of the Phantom Reporter on the front lines of World War II - and witness his first encounter with history's greatest super heroes!

COLLECTING: The Twelve 1-12, The Twelve: Spearhead

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book

328 pages, Hardcover

First published April 16, 2013

About the author

Joseph Michael Straczynski is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series Babylon 5 (1993–1998) and its spinoff Crusade (1999), as well as the series Jeremiah (2002–2004) and Sense8 (2015–2018). He is the executor of the estate of Harlan Ellison.
Straczynski wrote the psychological drama film Changeling (2008) and was co-writer on the martial arts thriller Ninja Assassin (2009), was one of the key writers for (and had a cameo in) Marvel's Thor (2011), as well as the horror film Underworld: Awakening (2012), and the apocalyptic horror film World War Z (2013). From 2001 to 2007, Straczynski wrote Marvel Comics' The Amazing Spider-Man, followed by runs on Thor and Fantastic Four. He is the author of the Superman: Earth One trilogy of graphic novels, and he has written Superman, Wonder Woman, and Before Watchmen for DC Comics. Straczynski is the creator and writer of several original comic book series such as Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Dream Police, and Ten Grand through Joe's Comics.
A prolific writer across a variety of media and former journalist, Straczynski is the author of the autobiography Becoming Superman (2019) for HarperVoyager, the novel Together We Will Go (2021) for Simon & Schuster, and Becoming a Writer, Staying a Writer (2021) for Benbella Books. In 2020 he was named Head of the Creative Council for the comics publishing company Artists, Writers and Artisans.
Straczynski is a long-time participant in Usenet and other early computer networks, interacting with fans through various online forums (including GEnie, CompuServe, and America Online) since 1984. He is credited as being the first TV producer to directly engage with fans on the Internet and to allow viewer viewpoints to influence the look and feel of his show. Two prominent areas where he had a presence were GEnie and the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 1 out of 5]

vibrantly-hued shit on a stick.

so a bunch of superheroes from World War II are discovered buried in a secret Nazi bunker. they are decanted and brought into the modern world. tedious shenanigans ensue, involving a secret killer amongst them and the various trials and tribulations of being an old salt water fish thrust into a pool of fresh water. I hope I never again have to experience Straczynski's tired, ham-handed attempts to engage with race and sexual orientation and Jewish identity - while simultaneously ignoring the plentiful issues his story has around gender. not to mention the buckets of mawkish, masturbatory nostalgia slopped all over the place. the whole thing is an ugly mess. and it's set during Marvel's asinine Civil War, making matters even more eye-rolling.

the art certainly fits the story. all the bright colors in the world (courtesy of Digikore Studios) can't disguise the fact that Chris Weston can only make characters who convey one of four expressions: blandly impassive, over-the-top insane, rat-like, and most commonly, constipated. he doesn't know how to draw characters standing or fighting or flying or talking to each other or even waking up. his favorite details to focus on: hairy legs. seriously, wtf.

what happened to Straczynski? did he bust all of his creative nut when pumping out Babylon-5 and Squadron Supreme? is he just going through the motions, churning out pseudo-intellectual drivel for DC and Marvel and makin' money? I dunno. but his vision is currently as exciting and stimulating as your average, anonymous run of the mill hack, with an obnoxious sheen of pretentiousness and queasy sentimentality to make it glossy. ugh, what a waste of my time and money.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of superheroes, frozen in stasis since World War II, must come to grips with the modern world. It becomes a murder mystery when one of their number is found dead, and it seems that one of the others is responsible ...

I suppose this book does invite comparisons to Watchmen. There are some superficial similarities, sure, but Straczynski has learned the most important lesson of post-Watchmen comics, and that is to not attempt to be the next Watchmen. He nods to it now and then, but is content to tell his own story in his own way rather than attempt to outdo Alan Moore.

As far as I know, none of these characters have appeared before, though comics fans will recognize various tropes (the masked crimefighter with no powers, the Superman type, the Ditko-esque masked avenger, etc.) Considering the sheer size of the cast, they all come across as distinct characters with their own wants and ambitions. The tale progresses well and ends on a satisfying note.

Although technically set in the Marvel Universe, recognizable Marvel characters don't show up much (except for the final chapter, which serves as a sort of prequel to the entire book.) This gives the story a nice, distinctive feel. All in all, this is an impressive book, definitely above average. Recommended!

[Rich Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was extremely happy to see this series collected and given the Marvel hardcover treatment. I personally think this is Marvel's best limited series from the past decade, at least out of those that were intended to be limited. This one almost went the Sonic Disruptors/All Winners Squad: Band of Heroes route and didn't get finished, which would've been a damned shame.

The Twelve is the story of ten World War II-era mystery men, one mystery woman, and a robot who ended up in suspended animation during the fall of Berlin, only to be discovered and awoken in the present day. The tale follows the group's attempts to try and get back into society, in a world that has drastically changed in sixty-five years.

Most of these characters only appeared once or twice in the old Timely/Marvel golden age comics, so anyone outside of a comic book expert has a blank slate to experience. I think the character with the most page time before this series was Electro, the robot who plays a pivotal role in several subplots in the story.

The art is by Chris Weston, who is never afraid to make people look like, well, people. I enjoyed his work on Grant Morrison's The Filth series, and he shines here. J. Michael Straczynski, one of the pop sensations of the current crop of comic book writers, provides a masterful script that has pretty much everything a comic book reader would want.

I would really like to see these characters brought into the Marvel NOW Universe, since they've all gone back into stagnation since the series ended. I suppose that's a pipe dream, since unless the character's slinging a shield today, the Golden Age is a long forgotten memory for the average comic book fan. Again, it's a damned shame, since The Twelve are great characters - fully-realized and believable.

I would give this volume, or the two trade paperbacks that it is also available as, my highest recommendation.

[Efe Sarıtunalı · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geoff Johns'un efsanevi Justice Society of America serisinin, Straczynski'nin şiirsel anlatımının veya Watchmen'in hayranıysanız bu çizgi romanı kaçırmazsınız :)

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Previous appearances of the characters (in chronological order):

The Fiery Mask (Jack Castle) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Daring Mystery vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Human Torch vol. 1 (January 1940; June 1940; September 1940; Fall 1940)
Mr. E (Victor Jay) Golden Age Daring Mystery vol 1. (February 1940)
The Laughing Mask/The Purple Mask (Dennis Burton) Golden Age Daring Mystery vol. 1 (February 1940-May 1940)
Electro, the Marvel of the Age Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 1, Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 2, Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 3, Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 4 Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Marvel Comics vol. 5 (February 1940-May 1941)
The Dynamic Man (Curt Cowan) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Mystic Comics vol. 1 (March 1940-August 1940)
The Phantom Reporter (Mr. Van Engen/Dick Jones) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Daring Mystery vol. 1 (April 1940)
The Master Mind Excello (Earl Everett) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Mystic Comics vol. 1 (April 1940-June 1940)
The Black Widow (Claire Voyant) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Mystic Comics vol. 1 (August 1940); Mystic Comics #6-7, (October 1941, December 1941) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age U.S.A. Comics vol. 2 (Summer 1942), All Select Comics #1 (Fall 1943)
Rockman: Underground Secret Agent (Daniel Rose?) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age U.S.A. Comics vol. 1 (August 1941-May 1942)
The Witness (unknown) Mystic Comics #7-9 (December 1941, March 1942, May 1942). Amazing Mysteries #32 (May 1949)
The Blue Blade (Roy Chambers) Marvel Masterworks Golden Age U.S.A. Comics vol. 2 (Summer 1942), Comedy Comics #10 (June 1942)
Captain Wonder (Jeff Jordan) Kid Komics #1-2 (February 1943, Summer 1943)

Marvel Firsts: Wwii Super Heroes reprints the first appearance of The Witness for the first time, along with those of The Fiery Mask, Electro, The Laughing Mask, The Dynamic Man, The Black Widow, Rockman, and 33 other characters.

While Spearhead comes first chronologically, I don't recommend reading it first because it gives away something important to the plot of the main story in an off-handed way. Despite being called The Complete Series, issues #0 and #1/2 are excluded. the former contains the first Rockman story and the only Golden Age Laughing Mask and Phantom Reporter stories, though Dennis Burton would return as the slightly less violent Purple Mask for several issues. 1/2 features The Fiery Mask stories from Daring Mystery #1 and Human Torch #1, the only Golden Age appearance of Mr. E, and two Stan Lee text stories, one of which includes Rockman and other GA characters who are not of the Twelve.

[Vicente Ribes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho. Tiene un toque a lo Watchmen genial y el dibujo de Chris Weston es maravilloso. La trama nos cuenta sobre 12 superheroes que al liberar Berlín durante los últimos dias de la segunda guerra mundial caen en una trampa urdida por los nazis y quedan enterrados en animación suspendida durante años.
Al despertarse el mundo ha cambiado mucho, los que tenian família la han perdido para siempre y algunos poderes no sirven de mucho en la actualidad. Para empeorar las cosas un peligro les acecha y deberán calzarse las mallas una vez más. Muy entretenido.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW, this is a good story!
Take your time and enjoy the story. No spoilers here. But good stuff!!!!

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some dude at Marvel said, “Hey, why didn’t we do Watchmen?” Another dude answered, “Yeah, we ought to do one of those.”

Meh.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints The Twelve #1-12 and The Twelve: Spearhead #1 (March 2008-June 2012). The Nazis and the Third Reich are falling. When a team of twelve superheroes are secretly overpowered, they are placed in cryogenic sleep where they spent decades before being rediscovered. Now, the Twelve are trapped in a world they no longer recognize or understand and are trying to readjust to society. Unfortunately, someone within the Twelve is hiding a deadly secret that could destroy them all!

Written by J. Michael Straczynski (and with Chris Weston on The Twelve: Spearhead #1), The Twelve—The Complete Series reprints the full run of The Twelve but does not include the reprint issues The Twelve #0 (January 2008) and The Twelve #1/2 (September 2008) which featured the first appearances of members of the team. The collection features art by Chris Weston and Garry Leach.

The Twelve started out kind of interesting. It was a team of Golden Age heroes that fell into obscurity and has them returning to life…and then there was a problem. The comic book quit being released after The Twelve #8 (December 2008) allegedly due Straczynski’s screenwriting time demands. The comic resumed with The Twelve #9 (April 2012), but by then any momentum the series had was lost.

The next problem with The Twelve is the problem with much of Straczynski���s writing…it feels very derivative. The time-jumping aspect of the Twelve, the murderer picking the team off one-by-one, and the general writing style feels a lot like Alan Moore’s Watchmen. It feels like the story has potential to grow into its own thing, but the characters and storyline never seem to evolve past a rip-off of a better series.

The other part of the comic that is less than satisfactory is the fact that the guy you think is the murderer from the beginning is revealed to be the murderer. There are some basic twists and turns with the plot, but there is essentially one person among the Twelve that you really suspect…and it is him. That doesn’t really make for a good mystery and often leaves you questioning if the series actually is a mystery at all.

The Twelve: The Spearhead #1 (May 2010) is an adventure into the World War II fights of the characters (and also served to keep the title in stores during the hiatus). It is a nice, solid standalone. I do wish that the collection had contained the two reprint issues simply because it was interesting to see characters from the Golden Age that never made the transition (until this series). Often you think of comics, you just think of the big guns, but there were tons of imitators trying to copy the success of the DC and Timely Comics.

The Twelve—The Complete Series is a rather “meh” collection. The art is solid, and the story has its moments, but overall, it is a letdown. With similar “great” series (like Watchmen), it might leave you wishing you just had reread that classic instead. I would like to see the characters return sometime, but with few anthology books, I don’t see that happening…but you never know when an old hero might rise again.

[A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this read. It is a mature comic that kept me intrigued throughout. The creators have a brilliant idea of reviving superheroes from the early years of Marvel and continuing their stories in the early 21st century. Reading each hero’s backstory and struggles with adapting to a new world (they were frozen in time and revived—in 2009?—much like Captain America following WWII) is fun and interesting. What is more, it turns into a who-dunnit murder mystery as people start dying including one of the superheroes. Evidence suggests that it is one of the heroes who are responsible. The premise kept me entertained and I thought the twist was satisfying.

It is also cool seeing how other Marvel heroes pop up here and there in brief cameos, giving the sense that this is definitely within a connected Marvel universe. As a mature comic, there is a certain degree of gore (but not overwhelmingly so), action, drama, and romance all packed into the story. This was a fun read and I would recommend to anyone seeking to read a mature comic book story. As a frame of reference, I hear other people say that this is like the Watchmen, but I’ve never personally read that comic so I couldn’t confirm whether that assessment is true. Anyways, this was a fun read (especially for a history nerd like myself, as this includes a number of historical references pertaining to the US).

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, this book is very J. Michael Straczynski, and if you're a fan of J.M.S., you'll know what I mean by that, I think. This is a Marvel story, and so set in some version of the Marvel Universe, and features a set of 12 "super heroes" frozen in time in Berlin at the end of WWII (y'know, when Captain America, along with Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, helped defeat the Nazis). They are discovered and awakened in 2008, and so have some similarities to Cap's arc as a man out of time, from a simpler time, fighting for old-time values in the modern day. But this is a J.M.S. story, so it is much more about the all-too-human failings and weaknesses of the 12 and how their group dynamics threaten to tear them apart, even as they are tied together by their shared experience of jumping from 1945 to 2008. It is a very good story, and I am happy to say that I think J.M.S. is improving his craft over time; I've always loved his stuff, but he used to repeat himself and use his own personal cliches a bit too much, and this story has none of that. It's very smooth storytelling.

[Trico Lutkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Golden Age superheroes and the weirder the origins or powers the better. These characters all had weird origins and great powers. Also, I enjoyed the modern way of making them more human than superhuman. The chapters delve deep into the characters so if you like a lot of action it's pretty sparce in here (once a chapter).

The ending of the "who dunnit?" mystery was surprising. I liked that I didn't have it figured out ahead of time, but I felt the story could have used a couple red herrings. Many mystery writers make the mistake of thinking a red herring shoudl tip off the reader to who the murdering is. It's not. Red herring are more there so when the murderer is revealed the reader kciks themselves for having not noticed it and solved the mystery.

Overall I would highly recommend. It was very riveting and even people who don't like comics would enjoy it.

[Christian Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent homage to Golden Age comics written in a modern (or perhaps post-modern) context.

This story follows 12 obscure early Timely and Marvel superheroes as they are forced to deal with the 21st Century.

It’s a riveting “novel” in comic form, and really consists of 12 separate issues and a one-shot that would have been even better as a graphic novel. The story focuses on each individual character, but I found the Black Widow (not related to Natasha Romanov) and Rockman to be the most interesting.

Part pulp and part-noir with the underpinnings of Kurt Busiek’s “Marvels” and “Astro City,” I found this entirely riveting and far better than most of what Marvel puts out nowadays. It’s a true masterpiece by Straczynski and Weston and far better than the majority of what Marvel puts out nowadays.

[Mr. Stick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"HEY, WE'RE JUST TALKING HERE. IT WAS A FRIENDLY PAT, THAT'S ALL. NO OFFENSE MEANT. WE'VE HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND IT'S NICE TO HAVE SOMEBODY WHO PROTECTS EVERYBODY. BESIDES, A GUY WHO WEARS CLOTHES SO TIGHT YOU CAN TELL WHAT RELIGION HE IS--"
- A "friendly" bar patron to a 1945 superhero who doesn't realize he's in a gay pool hall.

What if a bunch of 1940's superheroes were stranded in 2008? I now know why my grandpa would just play solitaire and listen to the weather channel. As we age, the future becomes weird and confusing.
JMS and Chris Weston give us a "whodunnit" with a disturbing view of the present through the lens of the past. Bigotry, tights, neuroses, and some doctored origin stories.
Not fun. Not pleasant. But eye-opening and very well paced. Immaculately drawn. Overall, outstanding. Four stars.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

When this originally came out, it was problematic; the publishing and release schedule was weird, and there was too much distance between chapters for the characters to maintain any emotional relevance and momentum. Collected like this, almost a decade after it came out, this is much better, a solid, slow burn, all human angst and mystery - but not so much mystery. This makes me wish that Marvel would make better use of the continuity here, and use these characters. Enjoyable, adult, good storytelling, great art. Nice background and good use of very different facial characteristics on such a big cast, too.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Twelve was a intriguing thought experiment to see what would happen if older (and forgotten) superheroes were brought into the modern era. The main interest here was that the superheroes were all pretty low-tech compared to the superheroes now, thus many had difficulty adjusting the 60 year leap forward.

Aside from the attempt to revive these characters, the limited series also examined the personal life of characters which were omitted in the earlier incarnations (before Marvel times). It can be a little dull for some to read but if you enjoyed the original issues of DC and Marvel comics then this should be your cup of tea.

[Artur Coelho · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doze super-heróis esquecidos num bunker da II guerra regressam aos dias de hoje, numa história que cruza dois estilos dos comics - a visão simplista dos anos 40, e a complexidade contemporânea. Isso é expresso pela dificuldade dos heróis em adaptar-se aos tempos modernos, a maioria tem modos antiquados de cultura e ideologia tão arreigados que não se conseguem adaptar. Outros conseguem encontrar algum equilíbrio. Uma história entre o revivalismo e o crítico.

[Paul Zelazoski · Rating 2 out of 5]

300+ pages of “meh”. Felt forced, Watchmen ripoff, not nostalgic… bad writing, and art not my style at all…

One rant: the idea that Electro was of interest to ANYONE much less the military in the modern day where Iron Man exists is just ludicrous. I get it, it was the mental control aspect… still ridiculous.

[Sebastian Song · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise is cool, a motley crew of lowly powered super heroes tricked into coma for six decades. A Watchmen meets Captain America, lots of promises but some characters arrived stillborn, some remain adolescents while few blossomed.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my one and only comic purchase at San Diego Comic Con 2018, I'm glad I took the splurge on this. What a great story, with very interesting characters, and a real hard look at what it would be like for superheroes to go to sleep in 1945 and wake up in 2008.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know they wanted this to be Marvel's Watchmen, and it places it reads like that, but its got its flaws, including a predictable "villainous" reveal

[Ondra Král · Rating 5 out of 5]

Závěr mohl být o něco lepší, ale jinak setsakra povedené.

[boofykins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic.

[Jan-Niklas Bersenkowitsch · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last three issues kill the decent story.

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read, though perhaps a couple of fewer characters could have given it a bit more focus. I enjoyed the art.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on the MCU very well written and pretty good story

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a slow-paced, introspective comic written and drawn masterfully. The use of each character was brilliant, as was their interaction with the modern world.

[Chanaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story with great twists and turns ...🤩👌

[Tane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and absorbing, with strong characters. Similar to Watchmen in some ways, though not on that level.
Don't feel obliged to read the prequel - it isn't good.