Friday, April 10, 2009

Marvel Apes: Speedball Special #1


I'm disappointed. After reading the Marvel Apes books a few months ago, I'd hoped that Ape X, the gorilla luchador teased at the end of that series would be a super-powered luchadore. Instead, he's still a super-ape, just like he is in the ape-verse. I'm not sure I entirely understand how that works, but he does still seem like a fun character. The special follows the ape Speedball as he tries to become a hero in the Marvel U, even signing up with the Initiative. I suppose the idea is ok. Most of the ideas here are decent, like Gorilla Girl and SB having an "ape alliance" while together in trainging, and the use of Red Ghost and the super-apes makes perfect sense. I'm a little blurry on how exactly Red Ghost can travel thorugh dimensions now, but it isn't that big a deal. I'm also just a bit unclear on where the story leaves the Ghost and SB. Are they back in the monkey-verse? I do think that the Gibbon was a tad more entertaining as the POV of the previous series, the monkey-Speedball just makes me miss the real Speedball.

Ramon Bachs brings a very cartoony style to the special, and it looks fine, but I think he's certainly good enough to be drawing a higher profile book. Seeing Reilly Brown, another of my favorites doing the next issue surprises me too. I'd think these guys (and writer Karl Kesel too, for that matter) could and should be working on more mainstream books.

Fair

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