World Famous Comics: Planetary Vol. 2: The Fourth Man
Planetary Vol. 2: The Fourth Man
By: Warren Ellis, John Cassaday Publisher: Wildstorm Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Wildstorm Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: December 01, 2001 Release Date: December 01, 2001
Product Description: Warren Ellis improves on his already outstanding stories and characters in the second collection of Planetary: The Fourth Man.While scraping their way through their investigations, the three archaeologists of mystery, enigmatic themselves, deal with their own past and learn more about the creepy metahumans lurking behind practically every oddity on the planet.Ellis seems to take pleasure in turning superheroic icons inside out. Fans will find references and deconstructions from the Golden Age to the post-postmodern comics world.John Cassaday's penciling adapts itself well to the stories, giving intimate barroom chats and epic battles against giant ants equal credibility.While reading Planetary, one gets the sense that superhero comics really do have somewhere to go after being so thoroughly demolished in the '80s and '90s--and that we'd do well to keep reading. --Rob Lightner
Amazon.com: Warren Ellis improves on his already outstanding stories and characters in the second collection of Planetary: The Fourth Man. While scraping their way through their investigations, the three archaeologists of mystery, enigmatic themselves, deal with their own past and learn more about the creepy metahumans lurking behind practically every oddity on the planet. Ellis seems to take pleasure in turning superheroic icons inside out. Fans will find references and deconstructions from the Golden Age to the post-postmodern comics world. John Cassaday's penciling adapts itself well to the stories, giving intimate barroom chats and epic battles against giant ants equal credibility. While reading Planetary, one gets the sense that superhero comics really do have somewhere to go after being so thoroughly demolished in the '80s and '90s--and that we'd do well to keep reading. --Rob Lightner
hater The story is awesome. The art is superb. I, however, have a huge complaint with Ellis's writing. The man cannot write a sentence to save his life. I find myself frustrated and confused more often than not. Part of this might be his work load. He may be stretching himself too thin. Moreover, whoever edits his comics (especially, on Avatar) should focus on the words and the syntax over story and panel directing - or whatever comic-book editors do. I'm not trying to be a jerk, just venting some frustration toward an otherwise fine creator.
Pulp Fiction I don't know why, but for some reason, I just don't find Planetary as awesome as many people claim it is. There are two comic stores I frequent due to the fact that, currently, I am a college student. The guy who owns the one in my college town is constantly singing Planetary's praises, while the shop in my hometown has a section reserved for the cream of the crop, and Planetary is in it. However, I just don't see what everyone else is. I don't think Planetary is bad. In fact, I find the concept to be very cool; a team of para-archaeologists travels the world investigating strange events that parallel events from other comic books as well as science fiction in general. Each issue is, for the most part, stand-alone, and they involve people like a John Constantine parallel, a story about three people similar to Superman, the Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman, as well as an issue that is a send-up of 1950's B-grade sci-fi/monster movies. Planetary is good, but there is just a problem or two that I just can't put my finger on. One thing that I realized is that, with the exception of the three main characters, I can't seem to keep any of the names straight. This is strange, because I can usually keep track of characters very well, but in Planetary, when Elijah Snow refers to William Leather, I know that the name sounds familiar, but I don't know who he is. Still, despite my strange inability to follow this series, I do intend on sticking with it for now.
Excellent comic With Warren Ellis, you never know what you're gonna get. It could be a great thing...or it could be ultimate fantastic four:doom. Planetary is excellent, i find no faults in it...the dialogue is very witty and the sotries are really good, i almost choked on volume 2's Magic and Loss i have never been more entertained by a Warren Ellis comic in such a long time. Long story short Planetary is about archaeologists who look for the secret history and weird stuff that makes up our world...so far we have discovered a villanous group called the four voyagers who are kinda like the evil fantastic four and has plunged the world into madness...killing superheroes, concentration camps etc...it is a very fun read and the art is simply amazing....john cassaday does a very good drawing convincing characters.
Good writing; Excelent Art This is the second work of Ellis I've read. The first was the previous Planetary volume. In this one, aside from crafting a tale of espinoge and intrigue that reads like the X-files meet the X-men, Ellis continues to reinturrpet pop culture archetypes. Here he brings in analogues to John Constantine, James Bond, Marilyn Monroe, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and even Morpheus from the Matrix. Even more than that he explores and developes these ideas and uses them to create a strange and compelling universe. If I have one complaint, it's that Ellis doesn't get into the psyches and background of the characters as much as I'd like to see. We do get into the territory by the end of the book, though,
Planetary kicks in to a whole new gear I was somewhat disappointed with the previous volume of Planetary. I felt that Ellis just kind of dropped us into the action without much set up, especially in character development. The Fourth Man really improves upon the earlier premise. Ellis starts to unwind a much larger plot, while Cassaday's skills mature into true excellence.
Some of the essentially single issue tales presented here are stronger than others, but each one, while still a distinctly separate story, winds in threads of intriguing future developments. Ellis also effortlessly manipulates time, seamlessly showing us past events while leading up to future revelations. Elijah Snow is a captivating character, deeply enigmatic, charasmatic, yet conflcted. His search for his missing blocks of memory is extremely well handled and really has me hooked and looking forward to the next volume of the TPB series.
Cassaday's art, and the rich colors supporting it, is magnificent throughout. His detailed, stylish illustration pairs very nicely with the vibrant, stylish colors. He is one of the very best artists in comics, and this is a perfect example of his best work.
Ultimately, Planetary succeeds in updating traditional Science Fiction themes and melding it with Superheros. The result is a fresh exciting look and feel for modern comics. Because of the way the bigger story develops, you don't necessarily have to start with the prior TPB volume. It's certainly worth your while, but if you can only get one of the two volumes right now, get this one. After reading it, you can get the first volume, while you anxiously await the arrival of future Planetary releases. This is some of Ellis' and Cassaday's best work, and great stuff over all from one of the most talented teams in the business.
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