With a single word, Billy Batson transforms from boy reporter into the world’s Mightiest Mortal: Captain Marvel! Now, his greatest foe has attacked the Rock of Eternity—the source of the Marvel Family’s power—and it could mean the end of reality as we know it!
Grant Morrison has been working with DC Comics for twenty five years, after beginning their American comics career with acclaimed runs on ANIMAL MAN and DOOM PATROL. Since then they have written such best-selling series as JLA, BATMAN and New X-Men, as well as such creator-owned works as THE INVISIBLES, SEAGUY, THE FILTH, WE3 and JOE THE BARBARIAN. In addition to expanding the DC Universe through titles ranging from the Eisner Award-winning SEVEN SOLDIERS and ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to the reality-shattering epic of FINAL CRISIS, they have also reinvented the worlds of the Dark Knight Detective in BATMAN AND ROBIN and BATMAN, INCORPORATED and the Man of Steel in The New 52 ACTION COMICS.
In their secret identity, Morrison is a "counterculture" spokesperson, a musician, an award-winning playwright and a chaos magician. They are also the author of the New York Times bestseller Supergods, a groundbreaking psycho-historic mapping of the superhero as a cultural organism. They divide their time between their homes in Los Angeles and Scotland.
This might be the weirdest ending of all Multiversity issues so far. It's a good ending!!! Pax Americana was weird for me, I couldn't make out what most of the mystery points of the issue meant or even the ending where a son shot his father right between the eye, just who the fuck is that kid or his father lol Here we had Shazam all by himself and they actually beat the diabolical plan to kill them. Also even after reading this, I still have no desire to watch the movie Shazam, also why the hell did they decide to call him captain marvel too! That's weird usually they try to not to have similar names between marvel and dc, specially that his name is marvel.
Morrison has a brief love affair with Innocence and the results are surprisingly pleasant and positive. the adventures of the Marvel Family shouldn't fit comfortably in the meta world of postmodern constructions, destructions, and reconstructions that is The Multiversity... but it works! the relevance to the overarching story only becomes apparent in the next installment (The Multiversity: Guidebook) with the centralization of the villainous Dr. Sivanas of 52 worlds, but that doesn't take away from the appeal of this basically standalone adventure. the art by Cameron Stewart is colorful and vibrant and pretty much perfect for these sorts of cheerful Gee Whiz! adventures. who doesn't like the Marvel Family? only cynics! (and Dr. Sivana.)
Even though legally Marvel own the name Captain Marvel (and their character is a woman) and DC’s old Captain Marvel is now called Shazam, I guess DC and Marvel must’ve come to an agreement for this one issue because Billy Batson’s alter ego is called by his original name: Captain Marvel. Which is neat.
In Thunderworld Adventures #1, the latest instalment of Grant Morrison’s Multiversity, Dr Sivana has mined time from other universes to create a new eighth day of the week: Sivanaday! And on that day… Captain Marvel dies!
I’ve been reading Multiversity now since the start and I think I’ve figured it out: it’s a smart way of telling dumb stories. Thunderworld Adventures #1 is the average - almost archetypal - superhero story where the villain wants to do Bad Things like take over the world and make tons of money over peoples’ suffering, and the smiling hero stops him and saves the day. All very rote and predictable.
Reading through this issue, there’s nothing technically wrong with it. Morrison’s script is perfectly serviceable, even slightly entertaining at times, and Cameron Stewart’s art is very pretty - clean lines, interesting visuals, some great splash pages, and plenty of style.
But the story is so… blah. Here’s the bad guys - they’ve got monsters! Better call the good guy monster squad! The bad guys have a pair of evil sidekicks - call the good guy and his good sidekicks! Everyone fight! It’s so simplistic.
Maybe that’s the idea? This issue takes place on Earth-5 - I’m not even gonna pretend I know what the various Earths mean in the DCU, but perhaps this is the older comics world where Golden/Silver Age-type comics stories play out all the time. That’s really the audience for this comic: fans of older DC comics.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s an elegance to the structure and an almost innocent tone to the story which is refreshing to see in a mainstream superhero comic today. It’s also good to see Captain Marvel being called Captain Marvel and not Shazam (which was the Wizard’s name anyway), and that final panel is very winning with the heroes flying off with big smiles on their faces. It’s the superhero comic of yesteryear and nostalgia rules this issue.
It’s just not for me. I’m not saying I need dark and gritty, miserable and angry, which is the stock that DC trades in these days under their New 52 banner. But I do need a more engaging story than this played out, overused template of a superhero comic.
Once again this issue is only just barely tied in to the series with the appearance of an earlier Multiversity issue being read by the characters. Where did Dr Sivana get that comic in the middle of space? It’s so contrived and silly.
And even though it’s written a bit artlessly and on the nose, I liked Mary Marvel’s interaction with Sivana Girl. Mary wears a tasteful superhero outfit that’s almost Victorian in comparison to the stripper-esque clothes female superheroes sport these days. When Sivana Girl pushes her balloon tits and micro skirt out to the boys and says “Who needs brains with a body like this?”, Mary rolls her eyes and says “There’s more to me than just how I look”. Is… is this a DC comic?!
I will give Morrison this: it’s not a totally dumb/straightforward comic because his framing story is pretty clever. Sivana’s stealing of time to create a new day and all that is imaginative and the solution is smart too. It’s just a lot of the stuff in the middle that feels pedestrian.
Thunderworld Adventures #1 is a well executed comic but a bit too clean and whitebread for my tastes and therefore boring. Fans of the classic Captain Marvel though will go bananas over it!
[I am reviewing the print edition of this installment of Multiversity.] This was delightful, a sincere evocation of the Fawcett Comics of the 1940s and early 1950s, as revived by DC Comics... after suing the publisher over a tangential similarity to its own Superman. read and enjoy this for the high level of cartooning and craft on display. Highly recommended.
Entre todos los números que componen la miniserie del Multiverso, hay uno que destaca por su tono desenfadado, deudor de las viejas historias de los años 50, donde la inocencia del lector y la de los personajes creaba una atmósfera de algodón de azúcar en la que los villanos eran muy villanos y los héroes muy héroes. Y si hay un personaje que encarne a la perfección toda esa inocencia es el Capitán Marvel, el Gran Queso Rojo, rescatado por Morrison para llevarlo a él y a toda su familia a Tierra 5 y encarar una historia donde la imaginación del guionista vuelve a demostrar que en esto de escribir comics no hay límite alguno. Toca continuar desmenuzando esta serie, compromiso que adquirimos el mes pasado con Paxamericana, y que se refuerza con la llegada de este nuevo texto en el que pretendemos poder diseccionar esta nueva entrega de la miniserie Multiverso. Si en el anterior número Morrison nos mostraba un prisma fractal, ahora entra de lleno a desarrollar una historia donde el tiempo, o mejor dicho su flexibilidad y concepto, es analizado al detalle. El tiempo, ese invento que hemos decidido que existe desde el gran Big Bang que creó el universo, es una manera de medir nuestra propia existencia, de determinar donde empezamos, donde estamos y donde acabamos. Un principio y un fin para todo. Un signo de nuestra obsesión por medirlo todo. El tiempo es fascinante.
Sivana, el villano de la función, crea un nuevo día, uno que añade a los siete de la semana. Algo tan loco, tan estrambótico que funciona a la perfección. Sivana es un científico loco, un megalomaniaco ciego por dominar el mundo y vencer a su eterno enemigo. Sus planes son disparatados y absurdos, pero siempre son capaces de poner contra las cuerdas a nuestro héroe. Sivana retuerce el tiempo y extrae ideas de un cómic. Todo vale. Esa parece ser la premisa de Morrison a la hora de abordar esta historia. Y es precisamente en este punto donde Morrison demuestra su valía. En cada número hemos ido viendo diferentes escenarios, con diferentes personajes y en todos ellos hay algo que los define. En Mundo Trueno Morrison no solo define a la perfección a todos los personajes, sino que es capaz de edulcorarlo todo para que sintamos que entre nuestras manos tenemos un cómic de los años 50. Aquí no hay experimentos narrativos, ni diálogos profundos, ni conceptos metafísicos. Aquí solo hay un villano y un héroe enfrentados en su enésimo combate, en el que el villano demuestra su enorme potencial al ser capaz de enfrentarse a la magia a través de la ciencia. Dos conceptos tan diametralmente opuestos que Morrison decide unirlos para demostrarnos que bajo ciertas circunstancias pueden ser casi lo mismo. El Capitán Marvel se enfrenta con aguerrida pericia a su enemigo, o mejor deberíamos hablar de enemigos, porque no debemos olvidar que estamos en el Multiverso y eso deja la puerta abierta a poder jugar con múltiples versiones de Sivana. Y es lo que Morrison hace al buscar el ingrediente final a este cóctel tan peculiar que huele a nostalgia y modernidad por partes iguales. Y es que todo se reduce a tener tiempo.
Una historia ligera, tal vez la que más hasta ahora, donde recuperamos a toda la familia Marvel en su encarnación más pura, flanqueados por otros personajes secundarios del particular universo del Capitán Marvel. Tanto se retrae Morrison al pasado del personaje que recupera la nomenclatura con la que se le denomina y que actualmente no se usa en DC por temas de derechos. Morrison no se refiere al Capitán como Shazam, dejando este apelativo al mago que reside en la roca de la Eternidad y al grito que desencadena la transformación mágica de Billy en el mortal más poderoso del mundo. Por tanto está claro que el guionista busca y consigue llevarnos a los tiempos primigenios del personaje que llegó a ser más popular que el mismísimo Superman. Mundo Trueno es por tanto un homenaje a aquellos comics de antaño en los que todo podía pasar. Para adornar este guion tenemos a los lápices a Cameron Stewart, conocido por su trabajo en Los Siete Soldados de la Victoria, también con Morrison, en el que su trazo se aligera para recordarnos al dibujo original del dibujante, Clarence Charles Beck. Su dinámica narrativa, composición de página y el lenguaje no verbal que imprime a la historia, refuerzan ese tono dulzón que se pretende conseguir. Stewart consigue dibujar de manera que vemos el pasado pero al mismo tiempo podamos sentir el presente, ya que su dibujo para nada se muestra ajado o carcomido por el intento de evocar aquel estilo parco y rígido tan particular de aquellos comics. En definitiva un número que se queda muy en tierra de nadie, que satisface plenamente, de lectura fácil, en comparación a los números anteriores, pero que sienta conceptos que a posteriori van a regresar en este entramado y complejo tapiz que Morrison ha imaginado en su mente.
Tal vez por su aparente menor complejidad, más viniendo del excelente número anterior, pueda desconcertar al lector en su primea lectura, pero si se le concede una segunda oportunidad demuestra que tras esa primera capa de ingenuidad hay mucho donde rascar y disfrutar. Un paso más hacia la conclusión de una serie que no deja indiferente a nadie.
Guion - 9 Dibujo - 9 Interés - 9 9 Nostálgico. Elegante. Imaginativo. Todo un despliegue de imaginación temporal. Un cómic con todo el sabor de la nostalgia y la inocencia de los años 50, condensados en 40 páginas que merecen de toda nuestra atención y tiempo.
My favorite story out of all the Multiversity stories (me being a Captain Marvel fan notwithstanding).
If you're a huge Captain Marvel fan, this story will be fully satisfying. It's written like a classic, complete with campy dialogue, righteous heroics, and strong bonds between the Marvel Family heroes. To clarify, these elements do not detract/hinder the story AT ALL; these elements actually complement the storyline, which is compellingly strong on its own!
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a break from the heavy or modern (New 52 and beyond) stories of mainstream DC!
Es la primera vez que leo una aventura del Capitán Marvel. En esta ocasión, es la versión de la Tierra 5. Fue muy interesante verlo compartir misión con Frederick Freeman (Capitán Marvel Jr) y Mary Marvel. La aventura se centra en otro loco plan del Dr. Sivana, esta vez es el de conquistar el multiverso, robándole el poder al mago Shazam. Pero nunca el campeón del Mago Shazam lo dejará desamparado.
This was the best in the series yet ! A clear & concise a story that took me back to my childhood A true old fashioned superhero story Bravo Mr Morrison Bravo ! A very very good read
A lot of fun, as Grant pauses in mid-clever, trippy mode to tell an old school, fun comic book story. Big, larger than life menaces, noble heroes and just the right amount of whimsey without getting all 'wink-wink, I'm being post-modern' or whatever BS comic writers do so they don't get accused of 'just writing super heroes'.
While Multi-verisity is so far a huge jumble of ideas, uneven story telling, pretty pictures and most likely huge potential that DC will most likely ignore or misuse five minutes after Grant is done, the fact that some of the one shots are entertaining done in one stories keeps me going when I have my doubts about the whole bigger idea.
This is, for sure, the worst Multiversity story, so far. It's not bad, it's not (totally) boring... But I couldn't enjoy it like the previous 4 issues (being the best, Pax Americana, of course). I feel the story doesn't give us any new clue about where this Multiversity/Convergence thing is leading us. I guess, to the End of the New52 universe, but That's just my feverish imagination. Maybe they tought we just need a break, with a simple, surprise-free style story. Well, thanks. I guess. I'm going to re read Pax Americana. For the 2865th time.
Con este número, casi casi logran recuperar el espíritu plateado y optimista de los viejos comics del Queso Rojo y su familia, pero patina un poco cuando queda a mitad de camino entre ese mundo y el mucho más destructivo y "realista" engranaje del multiverso. Aun así, de lo más disfrutable de la metahistoria.
Ottimo omaggio alla Golden Age dei comics americani e in particolare alla defunta Fawcett Comics, insieme a "Pax Americana" completa il ciclo dedicato al recupero di realtà editoriali ormai scomparse. Interessante più che altro per l'enorme numero di citazioni e dettagli che la collegano ad altre storie di Morrison, ma per il resto è forse il numero più debole di Multiversity.