Customer Reviews

Planetary VOL 01: All Over the World and Other Stories

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like the premise behind this book, which I won't get into since 22 other people have already fleshed that out, as I usually like Ellis' ideas. Yet plans and their executions are two different things entirely (think episode 1). Now I will admit that most of the classic characters encountered in "All over the world and other Stories" were lost to me and I had to look them up online after reading, but that doesn't change my opinion upon reading them with this knowledge. The fact remains that the dialogue is poor, character development ZERO (minus a bit by Elijah Snow), and stories only brushed over instead of developed. This treatment of the individual plots made them seem so cheap.

As for the idea that Ellis has good ideas but poor(er) execution, check out Mek where the central idea is cool but it comes off as cheap and cliché. Also to be noted here is the fact that Planetary was already done by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The subjects differeent, basic idea the same though. Approach this book with a taste for fairly shallow, quick, entertainment, not a taste for high adventure, stellar writing, or deep character and other development.

Alan Moore's introduction promises more than this collection delivers. However, there's enough here to suggest the series will develop and it would be premature to dismiss "Planetary" entirely on the basis on this one book. These first six issues (collected) establish the formula for the series, but neglect to develop the three main characters. Try "Planetary" only after you've exhausted Moore's own work.

If Ellis manages to finish this series and pulls off what he's hinting at in this book and its sequel, this series will be equal to Talbot's Adventures of Luther Arkwright. (Some wag named Don Ersperm said Talbot wrote the pinnacle.) This is top-notch insanity by one of the most focused brains in comics.

The art is science fiction Art Nouveau, which makes it utterly unlike anything else in comics. Nobody comes close to Cassaday in illustration in comics.

I really hope DC publishes the final package in one of those oversized hard cover volumes that Marvel's making now.

Planetary: All over the World and Other Stories is O.K. This book is a series of (mostly) unconnected vignettes about a team of investigators looking into strange phenomena. It's basically X-Files meets superhero comics. The plots are decent and the art is nice. On the whole, though, it feels a little flat. Very little character development is present in these stories.

The subsequent volume "The Fourth Man," however, really picks up the pace in terms of a continuing storyline and character development. I would recommend getting both of them together, since this first volume is a little weak on its own.

Also (and this is a little nit-picky), for "mystery archaeologists" they don't seem to do very much archaeology.

Perfection must take time. Warren Ellis' "Planetary" series are certainly the best comic books I've read in a long time(and that's saying something). And John Cassaday's art is simply superb. If only they could produce issues more regularly. Not since Alan Moore's Swamp Thing have I seen majesty and claustrophobic conspiracies dealt with so marvelously. Ellis has created three wonderful main characters - but it's not really ABOUT the characters (not yet, anyway...). It's about mining the depths of popular culture for the mysteries that underlie some of our great 20th century icons. These people are archeologists of mystery. What if Godzilla and Mothra were real? Wouldn't someone want to cover it up? What if Superman really came to Earth? Wouldn't our long distance space tracking stations have detected his spaceship and sent someone there to grab the Kryptonian infant when he landed? What is it turned out that John Woo actually based his characters on real Hong Kong cops? And the pop-culture references go on: Wonder Woman, Little Nemo in Slumberland, the giant ants from "Them", the Hulk, Doc Savage, the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Captain Marvel, Hellblazer, the Fantastic Four...
"Superheroes in the real world" is a cliche. But make no mistake, this is not the real world. And it ain't X-Files for superheroes either (well, not really). Instead it is a world as much full of wonder and majesty as it is full of darkness and danger. Hey, if Buffy's Joss Wheedon and the amazing Alan Moore both like this book enough to write introductions for it - WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!! Buy it already.

Planetary,planetary. What more shall I say. Warren Ellis has honed in on the blueprints to pay homage to past historical events of fiction, whether from graphic literature or films and does it with his creative excellence that he is so well respected for. Furthermore his scripts are accompanied by phenomonal art executed by the great John Cassaday. Their work compliments each other graciously. As the first six issues of a series that will only seem to get better,start the ride here and enjoy cloud 9 til the very end. I did,so join in on the fun or be left missing out.

I'm a fan of Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan series, so I thought I'd try out Planetary, based on some strong recommendations. The art and the plot are relatively strong: expansive and wildly imaginative. What seems to have been forgotten was character development. With the exception of the enigmatic Elijah Snow, the other two main characters are bland stick figures. I was unable to identify and uninterested in them. Because of this, Planetary comes off as somewhat pedestrian. I'm sure the character development progressed over the course of the series, but this book by itself just isn't all that intriguing. I suggest you try Transmetropolitan if you're looking for someting a bit more innovative.

Planetary, a team of superhuman archelogists, is a uniformly excellent series, and an interesting take on the superhero. Warren Ellis, who has stated on more than one occassion he doesn't care for the superhero genre, weighs in with his take on the field, with vaguely familiar characters dancing in the backgrounds of his stories.

There are a lot of treats to reading Planetary. One is Ellis' sick, twisted imagination, where a group that looks vaguely like Grant Morrison's JLA is suddenly on an emergency mission of genocide, or where the Fantastic Four is re-imagined as a group of Nazis (which does get down to answering the question on why Reed Richards' inventions never seem to help anyone but himself and his family in a rather nasty way). Part of the fun is to try and guess who Ellis is ripping on at any given moment.

Another treat is the story itself. Dealing with the exploits of the Drummer, Jakita Wagner, and the amnesiac Elijah Snow as the three encounter odd phenomena after phenomena. And despite being rather formidably powered, the trio rarely gets physically involved. It's not why they're there. They're there to put together the pieces behind a grand conspiracy, and though most chapters can easily stand alone, the added effect of reading all six at once adds to the whole in ways unseen and unappreciable any other way.

A final treat is artist John Cassaday. This book is clearly as much about his excellent visuals as it is Ellis' writing, and his re-imagining of the looks of classic and recognizable characters adds to the fun, as does his detail work.

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I have been thoroughly bored by super hero comics, with all of the costumes and dull slugfests. This is a great variation on a theme. Ellis takes the reader exploring through the pulp icons of the 20th century - analogues of Doc Savage, Tarzan and the Shadow; the Fantastic Four and the Hulk; Godzilla and Mothra; Hong Kong's ghost cop. We're accompanied by a Shavian curmudgeon (Snow), a mystery woman (Wagner) and a Gen X weirdo (The Drummer). Kudos on the art, too. It arrived yesterday - I've read it twice so far, and I'll read it again tonight.

What makes All Over the World so cool? Warren Ellis is at the top of his game here, with dazzling ideas, deft characterization, and great dialogue all working together. Planetary is the story of the secret history of the twentieth century - or at least, the twentieth century as reflected in our fiction. Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and the Drummer are the field team for the mysterious and extremely wealthy organization called Planetary; they are mystery archaeologists, travelling, well, all over the world to find the hidden wonders in Japanese monster islands, long buried alien spaceships, and the hidden lair of thirties pulp heroes. So what we have is a roaring adventure story that doubles as a commentary on the twentieth century's adventure fiction.

What's important is that Planetary works on both levels. Each chapter of All Over the World seems like a stand alone story, full of wild action and carried by the interplay between Jakita, Drummer, and Elijah. The character interaction and inventive plots would be enough to carry the book, but through each chapter a deeper mystery - largely built around the identity and history of Elijah Snow, but also around the true nature of Planetary and its adversaries - gradually unfolds, and the book ends on a great little cliffhanger that had me eagerly anticipating new chapters.

At the same time, Planetary is Ellis' chance to play with a lot of archetypes. Planetary's main adversaries are clear analogues of Marvel's Fantastic Four; Snow's hatred of them, and the reasons for it, should inspire readers to take another look at the assumptions that allow superhero universes to function. Planetary is a thrill to read, but it's a very intelligent thrill that proves that action stories don't need to check their brains at the door.

Equal credit must go to artist John Cassaday and colorist Laura De Puy. This book looks great. Cassaday's design work is impeccable; the characters' wardrobes, for example, are highly reflective of their personality, and Cassaday makes the wondrous and strange things that Planetary encounters appear wondrous and strange. His faces convey emotion beautifully; there's a two-page conversation could be carried by the art alone. De Puy and her fellow colorists take Cassaday's drawings and make them shine with rich color work that immerses the reader even deeper in the world of Planetary.

Everything about this book works. It's intelligent, accessible, fun, beautiful, and wonderful. Read it.