Marvel Comics Presents #175 (New Genix & Steel Raven)Issue(s): Marvel Comics Presents #175 (New Genix & Steel Raven stories only) Review/plot: There are two stories here. Technically one is about New Genix and the other is about Steel Raven, but both stories feature the New Genix kids and actually feature the same event from different perspectives. In the Steel Raven story, a SHIELD agent has infiltrated the Fortress. But he's quickly taken out by Steel Raven. Then, while Dr. Zachary Hoffner talks to a head in a jar... ...Steel Raven takes over a robot intended for use against the New Genix kids. And it turns out the SHIELD agent was trapped inside the robot. That story doesn't really introduce New Genix, and their previous appearance didn't really do so either. We get a little more about them in the other story. The key point is that they are kids with cybernetically enhanced powers who have been raised to believe that they are living in a post-apocalyptic future after all of Marvel's super-heroes have been killed. We then see them in the training sequence that Steel Raven is controlling. Nothing further ever comes of Steel Raven or New Genix (aside from a mention in the Civil War Battle Report). These stories don't really cause them to stand out, but they also didn't really get a fair shot debuting as solo characters in the final issue of a canceled anthology series. Looking back at what i wrote when i began reviewing this series with Marvel Comics Presents #1, things pretty much tracked with my expectations. I really did try to re-approach the series with an open mind, and the initial salvo with Gerber and Moench doing Man-Thing and Master of Kung Fu kept me hopeful. But if anything the grind of reading through all of these made me hate the series more than i did initially. One major problem with an anthology title is that low expectations actually works the opposite of the way it normally does. Usually, if you have low expectations about a book, you find yourself going, "Eh, it wasn't that bad!" once you've read it. But when you read three horrible 8 page filler stories in a row, by the time you get to the fourth, you are just skimming it in a brain-dead haze and missing out on the possibility that this one might really have something going for it. It's hard to repeatedly come in fresh and get your hopes dashed so many times. Probably the most significant serial in this title was the Weapon X story. The first Wolverine arc also established the Madripoor setting for Wolverine's solo book. This series did introduce a few characters (Cyber, Black Panther's mother Ramonda, Coldblood, Salome, Lunatik II, Skreet, and, er, Fear-Eater) and it was the debut of a number of creators (Scott Lobdell and several artists). And beyond what was "important" it was nice to see lesser known characters like Shamrock and It the Living Colossus and Red Wolf getting some scattered attention. In my opinion, the book didn't do enough of that. Even accepting that the series had to have a popular headliner like Wolverine or Ghost Rider, too many of the stories were about characters who were already featured in other books, and those stories very rarely had anything worthwhile to say. In general, most of the stories felt like filler, especially when we stopped getting special creators like Gerber and Moench and instead got streams of stories written by assistant editors. It was said in issue #170 that this series would be canceled due to "sagging sales". It was also said that the editorial team would be "carrying on with some special projects related to MCP", which i interpret as "we have some garbage inventory that we'll be putting out as oneshots or jamming into the back of anniversary issues". Nothing specific is mentioned, but the Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty and Inhumans: The Great Refuge oneshots were put out by this editorial team. The Giant-Man Double-Feature story was, too; maybe that (and the Code Blue?) started as Marvel Comics Presents projects but got repurposed when it became known that this book was being canceled. In any event, we won't have Marvel Comics Presents to slog through any more (please don't tell me about the 2007 series). Quality Rating: D Chronological Placement Considerations: Steel Raven went against orders in her last appearance, so seeing her back with the Fortress with no explanation might suggest that this takes place prior to that. On the other hand, she might just have kept her disobedience a secret or otherwise managed to work her way back in. References: N/A Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A
CommentsYou made it, buddy! Even Alpha Flight wasn't this long or disjointed. Posted by: Mortificator | April 26, 2018 3:01 PM God bless you, fnord. Have a good break. Posted by: Andrew | April 26, 2018 5:17 PM BTW, in that fourth scan... What. The. Hell. Is Steel Raven sitting in? Posted by: Andrew | April 26, 2018 5:20 PM It's ironic that the feature that was included to anchor the book to goose sales for the stories that were its real purpose would produce by far the two most consequential stories. Posted by: Morgan Wick | April 26, 2018 6:21 PM Comments are now closed. |
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