PLANETARY: THE FOURTH MAN
June 14th 2010 00:44
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Wildstorm Productions
Production Team: Warren Ellis – writer, John Cassaday – artist, Laura DePuy & David Baron – colourists, Ryan Cline, Bill O’Neill & Mike Heisler - letterers
Cost: AU$19.95/US$14.99
Not quite the Twelfth Man but obscure comedy references aside Planetary: The Fourth Man is a compelling read in the series, a series that puts the superhero genre back where it should be, captivating the reader’s imagination and entertaining them with tight, taut, story arcs. None of this what existence shattering menace will the heroes deal with this week, no Planetary pitches its drama at just the right note and does it superbly. If you’re sitting in front of your computer going what the heck are you waffling on about this time GL then I shall elucidate presently.
Just like any good superhero comic though their efforts are not appreciated by certain other forces at large within the world, forces that have no desire to see Planetary uncover the various finds and relics of the world’s secret history; that is a treasure that they wish to keep for themselves. Former astronauts of a secret space exploration program that attempted to reach the moon in 1961 this group known as the Four have taken control of the program that sent them to the moon in the first place and have gained amazing abilities as a result of their mission. Sound familiar? Should do, the premise is similar to the Fantastic Four who gained their powers as a result of a space voyage. Unlike that team the Four are not paragons devoted to defending the world or bettering mankind, instead they’re selfish, egotistical entities simply out to explore the human paradigm. As William Leather, one of the Four explains in the final moments of Planetary: All Over the World & Other Stories “We’re adventurers, my cremates and I. On the Human adventure. And you all can’t come along.”
The efforts of this enhanced group of former astronauts thus has prevented the world from achieving its true potential for nearly thirty nine years, technological achievements, alien contact and even the emergence of local grown superhumans has been stepped on by the Four and their numerous minions. Of course even though they may be powerful and frightening they’re not omniscient and thus they are not completely aware of Planetary although they have clashed several times with the end result that the leader of the organisation is captured whilst engaged in a counter operation against the Four.
It seems that the Four find Planetary and amusing diversion to keep them amused, a clever pet so to speak, although they have no desire for the pet to surpass its master and take over. So they decide to take steps and just slightly cripple the organisation, to make it still capable of providing amusement but not to such a point where it will become a serious menace to their own will being and agendas. The classic ego trip of a monomaniacal supervillain, do something to your opponent that will weaken him but still keep him around as a convenient punching bag, it’s a ploy that always comes back to bite the perpetrator in the arse big time. Still the plot element is a skilful plot device that allows the reader and the key protagonist, Elijah Snow realise some key truths about himself and Planetary, namely the identity of the mysterious Fourth Man, the enigmatic individual who formed Planetary and provided the resources which the group draws on to carry out its missions.
As with the first volume this work is a series of one shot stories that are all linked via the common thread of the gradual unfolding of Snow’s discoveries about Planetary and the Fourth Man. As remarked earlier we see the actions of the Four in maintaining their hold over the world, we are given a glimpse into England during the Eighties when the nation was ruled by a female Prime Minister every bit as terrifying as the Four, an expedition into a fictional universe to bring back a fictional character into the real world, giant mutated ants and a host of other interesting stories. Much of it not only draws upon the genre of superhero comics but also upon spy movies of the nineteen sixties, the giant mutant monster films of the fifties and other pop culture references. In fact it could be said that as a work Planetary: The Fourth Man is as much a commentary on pop culture since the nineteen fifties as it is the tale of a confrontation between two opposing groups and ‘ideologies’, which in itself is a commentary on global politics and society. Do yourself a favour, get a hold of Planetary: The Fourth Man, well worth the effort in my book…
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