Written by: Bruce Jones
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Warren Simons
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Amazing what difference a few months can make. Originally, Kingpin was meant to be a six-issue mini-series about the early years of Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin of Crime. Sometime along the way, it was decided to turn the series into a full-length retro-series (ala Emma Frost) and to add an issue to the mini-series turned opening story arc. Now, sometime later again… the regular series is now a mini-series and is ending with this issue. And sadly, this issue looks like what it is… an editorially-mandated extension onto what was a done-deal story.
This is not to say that the issue is bad or bad reading. It just has a lot of scenes which are clearly filler and have no directing bearing upon the events at the start of the issue or indeed some of the events of the whole series.
I cannot say enough good things about the art. The covers by Tony Harris, while portraying the classic Kingpin, are gorgeous and I think any fault in the depiction probably lies with the editorial staff and not Mr. Harris, who likely painted the covers months ago. The interior artwork is just as gorgeous, with Janson’s inks giving Phillips pencils an appropriately dark aura not unlike that of a more gritty Steve Ditko.
Showing posts with label Kingpin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingpin. Show all posts
Monday, January 5, 2004
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Kingpin #5 - A Review
Written by: Bruce Jones
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Call me old-fashioned, but I long for the days when the cover of a comic gave you some idea of what was going to happen inside the book. Maybe not to the extremes of such “talk to the readers” covers like the recent cover of Outsiders #3, but I do like an idea of what I am getting into. I like to see a depiction of the battle that is going to take place in the issue or the character upon whom the issue centers. And by that same token, under no circumstances should you show characters that aren’t in the issue or things that never happen.
I bring this up because for the last four months, Spider-Man has prominently appeared on the cover of this book and for four months, we’ve been luck to get so much as a cameo appearance of old Spidey, much less a speaking role. Well, rejoice True Believers for our favorite wall-crawler finally gets to take action in this issue! Sadly, he doesn’t get into a slugfest against The Big One as per the cover… but then again, we have yet to see Wilson Fisk in a suit in this book either… or seen him with the famous cane that makes up the “I” of the book’s title logo.
In fact, the biggest problem with this book is that it is fighting against the past images of these characters while trying to give us something new and different. And you know what? That’s just fine by me. Sure, a part of me wishes they had left Spider-Man out of this story as (until this issue) he didn’t really add anything to the story. And his presence as a “newbie hero” here drives a rather thick stake into the heart of continuity that had Wilson Fisk established as a major crime lord. Not to mention a decade or two older than he seems to be depicted here and old enough to have a son who had finished college… or are Brian Michael Bendis and I the only ones who remember Richard “The Rose” Fisk?
Still, these are all rather petty complaints. Yes, the covers have been rather shameless about pushing the fact that Spider-Man is in the book, if barely. Yes, this book does violate so many points of Marvel history it is hard to track them all without having religiously reread the original Stan Lee issues of Amazing Spider-Man. All of these points are ultimately irrelevant to the question of whether or not the book is well written, has interesting characters and is drawn well.
The answer to all three of those points is a resounding YES!
The story thus far, dealing with the rise of Wilson Fisk among the gangs as he manipulates the mayoral election of New York City for his own means is as complex and involving as any episode of Sopranos or Law and Order. The action follows the mixing and mingling of four respective sides... if they can be considered sides in a battle where everyone is fighting for themselves.
On the one side, we have Fisk, who has allied himself with Senator Myles Clennon; candidate for mayor of NYC. They have a very simple “scratch my back, I scratch yours” partnership. In the other corner, is Clennon’s main opponent; Senator Bianco, who is closely affiliated with the five big families of the Mafia (no longer the Magia, eh?). And then there’s Portia; Senator Clennon’s ex-wife, who is working on a book that will expose the corruption of the man who abandoned her as well as the street crime problems And finally there is Spider-Man, who is trying to sort through who is a bad guy… or at the very least who is the biggest threat.
In order to weaken Bianco’s position, Fisk arranges to kidnap his son, showing that the man cannot manage his own family, much less a city. This in turn will aggrevate the Mafia, whom Fisk has already made some daring attacks against, having arranged for his own second-in-command to kill the nephew of Don Sanguino. Said second-in-command, Rocko, was stabbed and left for dead back in Kingpin #1, but was found and rescued by Portia, who is using Rocko as her “in” to the world of Fisk and the JV crimes she is investigating.
All of this is neatly explained in this issue, either on the “previously on” Title Page or to a still-confused Spidey as he questions a detective Portia hired in the past. So don’t worry about not knowing anything about the characters or having missed the first few issues- it will all get explained without being too wordy.
I cannot say enough good things about the art. The covers by Tony Harris, while portraying the classic Kingpin, are gorgeous and I think any fault in the depiction probably lies with the editorial staff and not Mr. Harris, who likely painted the covers months ago. The interior artwork is just as gorgeous, with Janson’s inks giving Phillips pencils an appropriately dark aura not unlike that of a more gritty Steve Ditko.
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Call me old-fashioned, but I long for the days when the cover of a comic gave you some idea of what was going to happen inside the book. Maybe not to the extremes of such “talk to the readers” covers like the recent cover of Outsiders #3, but I do like an idea of what I am getting into. I like to see a depiction of the battle that is going to take place in the issue or the character upon whom the issue centers. And by that same token, under no circumstances should you show characters that aren’t in the issue or things that never happen.
I bring this up because for the last four months, Spider-Man has prominently appeared on the cover of this book and for four months, we’ve been luck to get so much as a cameo appearance of old Spidey, much less a speaking role. Well, rejoice True Believers for our favorite wall-crawler finally gets to take action in this issue! Sadly, he doesn’t get into a slugfest against The Big One as per the cover… but then again, we have yet to see Wilson Fisk in a suit in this book either… or seen him with the famous cane that makes up the “I” of the book’s title logo.
In fact, the biggest problem with this book is that it is fighting against the past images of these characters while trying to give us something new and different. And you know what? That’s just fine by me. Sure, a part of me wishes they had left Spider-Man out of this story as (until this issue) he didn’t really add anything to the story. And his presence as a “newbie hero” here drives a rather thick stake into the heart of continuity that had Wilson Fisk established as a major crime lord. Not to mention a decade or two older than he seems to be depicted here and old enough to have a son who had finished college… or are Brian Michael Bendis and I the only ones who remember Richard “The Rose” Fisk?
Still, these are all rather petty complaints. Yes, the covers have been rather shameless about pushing the fact that Spider-Man is in the book, if barely. Yes, this book does violate so many points of Marvel history it is hard to track them all without having religiously reread the original Stan Lee issues of Amazing Spider-Man. All of these points are ultimately irrelevant to the question of whether or not the book is well written, has interesting characters and is drawn well.
The answer to all three of those points is a resounding YES!
The story thus far, dealing with the rise of Wilson Fisk among the gangs as he manipulates the mayoral election of New York City for his own means is as complex and involving as any episode of Sopranos or Law and Order. The action follows the mixing and mingling of four respective sides... if they can be considered sides in a battle where everyone is fighting for themselves.
On the one side, we have Fisk, who has allied himself with Senator Myles Clennon; candidate for mayor of NYC. They have a very simple “scratch my back, I scratch yours” partnership. In the other corner, is Clennon’s main opponent; Senator Bianco, who is closely affiliated with the five big families of the Mafia (no longer the Magia, eh?). And then there’s Portia; Senator Clennon’s ex-wife, who is working on a book that will expose the corruption of the man who abandoned her as well as the street crime problems And finally there is Spider-Man, who is trying to sort through who is a bad guy… or at the very least who is the biggest threat.
In order to weaken Bianco’s position, Fisk arranges to kidnap his son, showing that the man cannot manage his own family, much less a city. This in turn will aggrevate the Mafia, whom Fisk has already made some daring attacks against, having arranged for his own second-in-command to kill the nephew of Don Sanguino. Said second-in-command, Rocko, was stabbed and left for dead back in Kingpin #1, but was found and rescued by Portia, who is using Rocko as her “in” to the world of Fisk and the JV crimes she is investigating.
All of this is neatly explained in this issue, either on the “previously on” Title Page or to a still-confused Spidey as he questions a detective Portia hired in the past. So don’t worry about not knowing anything about the characters or having missed the first few issues- it will all get explained without being too wordy.
I cannot say enough good things about the art. The covers by Tony Harris, while portraying the classic Kingpin, are gorgeous and I think any fault in the depiction probably lies with the editorial staff and not Mr. Harris, who likely painted the covers months ago. The interior artwork is just as gorgeous, with Janson’s inks giving Phillips pencils an appropriately dark aura not unlike that of a more gritty Steve Ditko.
Thursday, July 17, 2003
Kingpin #2 - A Review
Written by: Bruce Jones
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
No jibber-jabber from me this time, folks. Just the pure 411 on what this book, which I highly praised last time it came out, is like this time. And in case you missed it last time (which seems likely as I recall Kingpin #1 selling out at my shop in hours), this issue helpfully comes with a summary of the last issue at the very start.
Wilson Fisk now commands two of the biggest gangs in New York City, having had to crush a few heads to do so. But he has his eyes on a bigger prize and spends most of the issue explaining his plans to an assembly of other gang members right under the noses of the heads of the biggest Mafia crime families in the city. Unbeknown to Wilson, at the same time his former lieutenant has been discovered not quite dead. More importantly, the woman who found him also has a grudge on her shoulder which could bring even more trouble upon the rising star of the criminal world.
The dialogue and plotting is dead perfect. Fisk’s main narrative at the beginning, where he speaks of the lessons to be learned by the early Christians fighting the Romans, can easily stand alongside the best speeches the character gave under the pen of Frank Miller. Phillips’ style, while a bit stylized, is neither distracting nor offputting. Rather it is beginning to grow on me and reminds me a bit of Steve Ditko’s early Marvel works in an odd way.
After reading this issue, I only have two quibbles. First, Spider-Man is on the cover of the magazine, despite appearing only briefly and not in any way relating to the Kingpin. I can understand wanting to bring in new readers to this title… but with a quality writer like Jones and a “love to hate him” bad guy like Wilson Fisk, such marketing-scheming hardly seems necessary. Secondly, is that the mysterious Portia who comes to the rescue of Rocko, is drawn much younger than the forty she claims as her age. The first time I saw her and Rocko together, I thought I had stumbled on a wounded Peter Parker waking up on Mary Jane ne Daphne from Scooby Doo’s couch.
Still, with the possible exception of the amazing Fantastic Four #500 (which is an excellent exercise in alliteration as well as an all-out amazing read), you won’t find a better look into the criminal mind this month.
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
No jibber-jabber from me this time, folks. Just the pure 411 on what this book, which I highly praised last time it came out, is like this time. And in case you missed it last time (which seems likely as I recall Kingpin #1 selling out at my shop in hours), this issue helpfully comes with a summary of the last issue at the very start.
Wilson Fisk now commands two of the biggest gangs in New York City, having had to crush a few heads to do so. But he has his eyes on a bigger prize and spends most of the issue explaining his plans to an assembly of other gang members right under the noses of the heads of the biggest Mafia crime families in the city. Unbeknown to Wilson, at the same time his former lieutenant has been discovered not quite dead. More importantly, the woman who found him also has a grudge on her shoulder which could bring even more trouble upon the rising star of the criminal world.
The dialogue and plotting is dead perfect. Fisk’s main narrative at the beginning, where he speaks of the lessons to be learned by the early Christians fighting the Romans, can easily stand alongside the best speeches the character gave under the pen of Frank Miller. Phillips’ style, while a bit stylized, is neither distracting nor offputting. Rather it is beginning to grow on me and reminds me a bit of Steve Ditko’s early Marvel works in an odd way.
After reading this issue, I only have two quibbles. First, Spider-Man is on the cover of the magazine, despite appearing only briefly and not in any way relating to the Kingpin. I can understand wanting to bring in new readers to this title… but with a quality writer like Jones and a “love to hate him” bad guy like Wilson Fisk, such marketing-scheming hardly seems necessary. Secondly, is that the mysterious Portia who comes to the rescue of Rocko, is drawn much younger than the forty she claims as her age. The first time I saw her and Rocko together, I thought I had stumbled on a wounded Peter Parker waking up on Mary Jane ne Daphne from Scooby Doo’s couch.
Still, with the possible exception of the amazing Fantastic Four #500 (which is an excellent exercise in alliteration as well as an all-out amazing read), you won’t find a better look into the criminal mind this month.
Monday, June 16, 2003
Kingpin #1 - A Review
Written by: Bruce Jones
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Wazup, peeps? Starman, chillin’ like a villain here. Ready to represent the 411 boyz and give you the beat from the street on a whole new story. It’s a super-fly tale of a brother from the old school of gangsta. Its all about his struggle to….
* RING RING *
Starman : (answering phone) Wazzzzup?
Daron: Uh, Matt? This is Daron.
Starman: “Yo-yo! Wazup my Dark Overlord brother?”
Daron: I’m not your brother. I’m sure my mother would have told me. Why the hell are you talking like that? Did one of those Scott Kurtz fans hit you in the head with a brick again?
Starman: Nah, G-dog. I’m talking streetspeak ‘cause of this new book. It’s all about life on the mean streets of the city and a badass white boy trying to make his way in the world in a tough black neighborhood. It’s about how he fights past all these obstacles and rivals and how he rises to power and wealth.
Daron: Matt, if you wanted to review “8-Mile”, you should have submitted that to the Movies editor….
Starman: Don’t talk crazy, fool! Like I’d waste my words on that jive-sucka honky Eminem! Only “M N M” going anywhere near me melts in my mouth and not in my hand.
Daron: Matt. I am going to tell you this once. You cannot speak Urban slang. You started out okay, but now you’re mixing Luke Cage with Mr. T and… it’s just not funny anymore. So knock it off or I’ll cut your pay in half.
Starman: I don’t get paid anything.
Daron: Allright, then. I’ll assign you to be the sole writer of a new “Image Comics” review column… just think of it, Matt. Every Spawn spin-off…. Every Top Cow title that ignores story in favor of bootylicious artwork…. Waiting in anticipation for the all too rare Rising Stars issues that are actually worth reading…
Starman: * sighs * Thy will be done, Dark One.
Daron: Excellent!
* CLICK *
Right. Anyway, Kingpin is about “The Kingpin”. Wilson Fisk. The Kingpin of Crime. Long time pain in the butt of Daredevil and Spider-Man. Of course this title is geared towards those of us who know and love “Big Willie” (as he is called in this issue) from his time as a villain in those titles. Rest assured though that previous experience with the character or the heroes he has fought is not essential… though we are treated to a quick cameo of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler.
This is, first and foremost, an origin story; a look into the past with Wilson Fisk starting as a minor gang-leader who is working his way up to become the head of all the organized crime in the city. We see “Willie” as he manipulates various other players into an organized team under his command, like the pieces on a chessboard. Indeed, we see him playing chess while planning with is lieutenants. While this kind of story is nothing new (and indeed, is reminiscent of such movies as “The Usual Suspects” and “The Godfather”), Bruce Jones makes it seem like new with sparkling dialogue and the dark sense of humor that Wilson Fisk is famous for.
The art by Phillips and Janson is, in a word, perfect. Phillips has gained fame recently for doing another quirky “true crime” comic: Sleeper. And his disjointed, but not completely disproportionate style, is a good fit for the larger-than-life but still very real character of the Kingpin. It reminds me a bit of Sam Keith without the surrealism or Phil Hester with more detail. Janson is perhaps best known as the preferred inker of Frank Miller on most of his Daredevil projects and he adds a depth of shadow to things that is a perfect match for the partly-hidden yet still open and unavoidable nature of the title character.
When this book was originally solicited, it was to be a limited series. Since then, Marvel Editorial has been impressed enough with what they have seen that Kingpin has been made into a regular monthly book. Time will judge the wisdom of this decision, but one thing is certain: I’ll be around for a few more months to see if what follows is as good as this first issue.
Penciled by: Sean Phillips
Inked by: Klaus Janson
Colored by: Lee Loughridge
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Editor: Alex Alonso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Wazup, peeps? Starman, chillin’ like a villain here. Ready to represent the 411 boyz and give you the beat from the street on a whole new story. It’s a super-fly tale of a brother from the old school of gangsta. Its all about his struggle to….
* RING RING *
Starman : (answering phone) Wazzzzup?
Daron: Uh, Matt? This is Daron.
Starman: “Yo-yo! Wazup my Dark Overlord brother?”
Daron: I’m not your brother. I’m sure my mother would have told me. Why the hell are you talking like that? Did one of those Scott Kurtz fans hit you in the head with a brick again?
Starman: Nah, G-dog. I’m talking streetspeak ‘cause of this new book. It’s all about life on the mean streets of the city and a badass white boy trying to make his way in the world in a tough black neighborhood. It’s about how he fights past all these obstacles and rivals and how he rises to power and wealth.
Daron: Matt, if you wanted to review “8-Mile”, you should have submitted that to the Movies editor….
Starman: Don’t talk crazy, fool! Like I’d waste my words on that jive-sucka honky Eminem! Only “M N M” going anywhere near me melts in my mouth and not in my hand.
Daron: Matt. I am going to tell you this once. You cannot speak Urban slang. You started out okay, but now you’re mixing Luke Cage with Mr. T and… it’s just not funny anymore. So knock it off or I’ll cut your pay in half.
Starman: I don’t get paid anything.
Daron: Allright, then. I’ll assign you to be the sole writer of a new “Image Comics” review column… just think of it, Matt. Every Spawn spin-off…. Every Top Cow title that ignores story in favor of bootylicious artwork…. Waiting in anticipation for the all too rare Rising Stars issues that are actually worth reading…
Starman: * sighs * Thy will be done, Dark One.
Daron: Excellent!
* CLICK *
Right. Anyway, Kingpin is about “The Kingpin”. Wilson Fisk. The Kingpin of Crime. Long time pain in the butt of Daredevil and Spider-Man. Of course this title is geared towards those of us who know and love “Big Willie” (as he is called in this issue) from his time as a villain in those titles. Rest assured though that previous experience with the character or the heroes he has fought is not essential… though we are treated to a quick cameo of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler.
This is, first and foremost, an origin story; a look into the past with Wilson Fisk starting as a minor gang-leader who is working his way up to become the head of all the organized crime in the city. We see “Willie” as he manipulates various other players into an organized team under his command, like the pieces on a chessboard. Indeed, we see him playing chess while planning with is lieutenants. While this kind of story is nothing new (and indeed, is reminiscent of such movies as “The Usual Suspects” and “The Godfather”), Bruce Jones makes it seem like new with sparkling dialogue and the dark sense of humor that Wilson Fisk is famous for.
The art by Phillips and Janson is, in a word, perfect. Phillips has gained fame recently for doing another quirky “true crime” comic: Sleeper. And his disjointed, but not completely disproportionate style, is a good fit for the larger-than-life but still very real character of the Kingpin. It reminds me a bit of Sam Keith without the surrealism or Phil Hester with more detail. Janson is perhaps best known as the preferred inker of Frank Miller on most of his Daredevil projects and he adds a depth of shadow to things that is a perfect match for the partly-hidden yet still open and unavoidable nature of the title character.
When this book was originally solicited, it was to be a limited series. Since then, Marvel Editorial has been impressed enough with what they have seen that Kingpin has been made into a regular monthly book. Time will judge the wisdom of this decision, but one thing is certain: I’ll be around for a few more months to see if what follows is as good as this first issue.
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