If you read comics, chances are, you probably know all those "alternate universes" stories, those What if... or Elseworlds books Marvel or DC like to put out from time to time, exploring alternate turn of events, other worlds and whatnots....
Well, here's something similar...yet totally different.
This isn't your classic What ifs, this is...
Comic title: Wha...HUH? Art by Jim Mahfood
Story by Mark Millar &Brian Bendis
Published by Marvel
From 2005
Lineup What the...
Format:One shot.
I know what you're thinking out loud now..
Wha..HUH???
What is this about, what's this book?
First a little background.
Marvel comics has for a very long time now used to publish little "alternate universe" stories, different takes on regular Marvel events and/or world-changing decisions in self-contained one-shot stories called "What if..."
What ifs are usual in fiction, lots of science fiction stories explore these kind of stories. But for Marvel it has always been a long time tradition.
Then in 1988, a parodic series, mocking the comic book industry, Marvel and even DC comics was launched.
What The--?!
"What the.." was a riff on the same concept, only, not making any sense, playing with comics' concepts, parodies, satires, references, etc...
A lot of big names participated and wrote some "What the...", including cult authors like Stan Lee, John Byrne, etc..
It ran for 26 issues. Then the ride was over and it sort of disappear from everyone's mind, though one of its creations, the funny Spider-ham character lived on through other allusions and guest-starrings.
Wha..HUH is a sort of spiritual successor and revival of the same concept.
The men behind the book.
"What the.." might have been an on-going with various authors playing with concepts, different spotlights and some recurring characters (the Pulverizer, Spider-ham...), but "Wha...huh" is a different animal entirely in its execution.
It's a one-shot released in the middle of 2005. It was conceived mostly as a means of evasion and playing more freely than in the regular Marvel books for its authors Mark Millar &Brian Bendis.
Both are well-known for their, often, violent and mature books. Used to depict a gritty reality and an harsh comic book vision of the world.
Here? None of that.
Nothing "angsty" (apart if it's voluntary in-story, a parody).
The book is constructed with little one-pages jokes, some splash-pages parodies, one or two multiple pages stories and fake message boards fanboy rant (what if we had the internet in the 40s, the 70s, etc..), all that across about ~40 pages.
It's something for those who like to laugh and don't take stuff to seriously. (specially comics, which are supposed to be "entertainment" afterall)
It's not all Bendis (Ultimate Spider-man, House of M,..) and Millar (Wanted, Kickass,...).
They also got some "guest" authors such as Ed Brubaker, Brian K. Vaughan, Marc Andreyko, Nick Thompson, Mark Waid, Tom Peyer and even Stan Lee himself! All well-known popular writers, playing like kids, some for the very time, offering all top-notch humour and not taking this experience too seriously.
The whole book is all drawn by Jim Mahfood, who's done some amazing work, contributing for half of this book's worth of work.
It's cartoony, super-deformed and works perfectly here!
Overall, I'd recommend you give this book a try!
Well worth its 4 dollars of admission (and probably less if you find it amongst old books).
A book for fans, probably not for fanboys.
(hey, those guys take a lot of "shots" in this one-shot)
It's cleared meant for Marvel fans, but even DC fans should give this one a try ;)
(though the "Daredevil vs. Batman" joke is kinda a miss since there's actually been a DD vs. Bats book already!)
A fun book, quite funny. You might not like every single joke, but the overall stories is worth checking it!
I give it:
