PLANETARY: LEAVING THE 20th CENTURY
June 23rd 2010 23:31
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Wildstorm Productions
Production Team: Warren Ellis – writer/creator, John Cassaday – artist/creator, Laura Martin – colours, Bill O’Neill & Richard Starkings - letters
Cost: AU$21.95/US$14.99
Payback they say can sometimes be a real pain, in this particular volume of the Planetary series we learn just how much of a pain payback can be. Planetary is a unique series in that it has restored, for my mind, the concept of the superhero as an, intelligent entity involved in unearthing the mysterious, the enigmatic and the dangerous rather than being someone in a pair of torn trousers who goes around belting the living snot out of everything. Co creators Warren Ellis and John Cassaday have breathed life back into the genre in my estimation and have in turn created what I feel is a masterpiece work. Masterpiece I hear you scoff, no doubt you wonder what could possibly prompt me to throw out this descriptor so early on in the piece…
Planetary essentially tells the story of an organisation by the same name which is involved in the investigation and unravelling of the world’s secret history. With substantial wealth and resources at its fingertips the group is able to carry out its mandate with little or no fuss, the field team carrying out the real grunt work of the investigations. The field team is comprised of The Drummer, Jakita Wagner and Elijah Snow with the bulk of the groups day to day running apparently being run by the mysterious Fourth Man. Each of the three team members are endowed with unique abilities that range from the unusual to the straight forward. The Drummer can communicate with machines and also provide a security dampening field preventing the field team from being picked up on monitors and alarms, Jakita has phenomenal speed, strength and intellect whilst Elijah Snow is possessed of the capability of freezing water in the air, in a human body etc.
Each story within Planetary: Leaving the 20th Century is a standalone story, but set against the backdrop of the group’s confrontation against the Four and their various minions. In this volume we find out the origins of the Amazon like Jakita Wagner as well as discovering that Elijah Snow owed much of his impetus to seeking to unravel the mysteries of the world to the great detective Sherlock Holmes and in fact was his student for several years. Like peeling apart an onion or watching a flower bloom in stop motion film we see the various layers and aspects of the team unfold the depth of storytelling and characterisation is increased. Of course at this point in the story Elijah Snow has stepped into the role of the Fourth Man, the leader of Planetary, a role that was originally his until he had his memory wiped by the Four.
As part of the deal he was told to hide by Randall Dowling, leader of the Four, who wanted Planetary to continue to operate but not to pose any significant threat to himself and his comrades, which they were in danger of becoming, if Snow didn’t agree Dowling told him he would kill the team. Snow tells him he better make the memory blocks damn good because if he gets past them at some stage he will personally come and kill the Four off one by one. In this volume we see the beginning of this enterprise, the gauntlet has been thrown down well and truly and Elijah has mobilised his team to engage in a campaign to put an end to the Four and its actions. Of course it’s not all just dealing out righteous smack down and foiling evil plots, it’s also about wooing those who have supported the Four and bringing them into the orbit of Planetary, building bridges that are better for all concerned rather than supporting the selfishness of the Four.
As I said at the start of this review payback can be painful and there is no better indication of potentially how painful it can be in the story “Creation Songs”. Ever wondered why the strata of Uluru (Ayre’s Rock) is on a different level than the rocks around it? In essence according to my old year 7 geography teacher the strata of Uluru is top down rather than left to right which is physically impossible if it was formed from the surrounding landscape via various forms of tectonic and geological activity, “Creation Songs” though shows precisely the origin of Uluru and its very well done. Best use of the Dreamtime I have ever seen so far in a work of fiction and it certain gives the minions of the Four one heck of a surprise as well as trashing their nefarious scheme to enter the Dreamtime in a very suitably dramatic way. Planetary: Leaving the 20th Century and the series as a whole is a true masterpiece, well worth taking the time out to track down at your local comic shop.
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