Planetary is exciting, funny and full of mystery. I thought the set up of the story was like a TV show in that each smaller story was episode but that they are all interconnected. Like Mr. Snow, we are thrown into Planetary's world with not much information but we quickly get caught up in it and want to know where all of this is leading. Like Dr. Brass says on page 22 of Chapter 5, "You want to know everything at once, five seconds after taking your first look at it." And the fact that Planetary gives you just enough to bite into and be hooked makes it genius.
The characters are also interesting, unique, and shrouded in their own questions. All of them seem to be morally ambiguous in subtle ways. There seems to be many untapped layers of each character. Ellis gives you just enough to get a small sense of who Mr. Snow, Jakita, Dr. Brass, and the Drummer are but nothing really substantial, which makes you feel like you are apart of the group. Working with these people, knowing some of their abilities, but not who they really are. My instincts tell me there is much more to Dr. Brass and his story. Not all of the pieces fit. His story was probably my favorite mostly because I like the idea of the snowflake and a group of men in a cave trying to save the world during WWII.
Cassaday's art is flawless. It's sharp, clear and full of emotion. The moments betweent the characters without dialogue work because he is able to convey these emotions through small details and pacing (For example, the third panel of the last page of chapter 40.
All in all, this is a fantastic first issue filled with great ideas, mystery, and characters. I look forward to reading volume two soon!
I actually found that wink panel in ch.4 to be one of my least favorite of Cassaday's drawings...I understood that there was some kind of secret recognition going on between Jakita and the drummer, but I couldn't read their expressions at all. For all Cassaday's talents, I don't think subtle facial expressions are his strong suit. On p.13 of that issue, for example, the one where the first panel has Jakita sitting on Wilder's bed, look at the faces. Every face on the page, regardless of character, has the same blank expression!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm with you on the rest. I am excited to finish this series.
I didn't pick up on that subtle moral ambiguity of each character, but now that you've pointed it out I completely agree. Ellis sets us up to question the position of each character, adding a sense of suspense to the story, and making us guess who's on what side.
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