Tuesday, December 28, 2010

"The End" Week: Uncanny Origins #14!


Not a dramatic cancellation, but a book I'm sorry didn't stay for longer. GCD describes Uncanny Origins as "Marvel origin series done in animated style; 99 cent cover price." That pretty much sums it up; although there is something to be said for the hero selection: while opening with what I have to figure was the incredibly boring origin of Cyclops, later issues would feature more unusual characters like Firelord, Quicksilver, and the Black Cat. They were great, and I believe they were all closer to continuity than the recent Origins stuff Marvel's been doing. And I was positive I had scanned some from the Nightcrawler issue...

Anyway, this issue is a straight retelling of Iron Fist's origin; complete with second-person narrative captions. Didn't the old Iron Fist stories have a lot of that? A lot of 70's stuff did...While fighting the entire Wrecking Crew, Iron Fist has time to recollect his origin, before he gets around to kicking their asses. (Something to that effect happened in Iron Fist #11, but the Crew took hostages that time, which worked out a little better for them.)

A coherent, single-issue, under a buck comic anyone could enjoy, and it only made it fourteen issues? Oh, comics. This was from 1997, and I think it was around the time of Marvel's bankruptcy; when they would try something new and just as quickly back away from it. Also, some readers may have been put off by the animated style; which seems like something DC has always been able to sell better than Marvel.

From Uncanny Origins #14, "Fist of Iron, Heart of Fire!" Written by Len Wein, pencils by M.C. Wyman, and inks by Ralph Cabrera.

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