I know, it's been a while since my last update. I've been reading a few things I want to review, so I'll get posts on that up soon enough, but until then, here's a double update to make up for it. I'm doubling everything - two chapters of two comics that are both crossovers of two other things. So without wasting time with all sorts of chit-chat, let's begin.
---- Doctor Who / Star Trek: Assimilation2 ----
First off we have the Doctor Who and Star Trek crossover. It's no surprise that two of the biggest and longest-running science fiction series would get a crossover in the comics eventually, and since the Doctor travels through time and space, it's no stretch of the imagination to find him getting there eventually. I know, we all want a Star Trek vs Star Wars crossover, and Doctor Who/Star Wars would be cool as well, but let's face it, those aren't quite as likely to happen... yet.
At any rate, the crossover, "Assimilation2" (or rather, Assimilation Squared, but I can't do the little squared icon while typing this) kicks things off by setting the scale of the events: by taking over a planet. On a smaller scale, villains might take over a kingdom, or a city, or something to demonstrate that the rest of the country or world is at stake. In this case, we've got galaxies at risk, as the Borg and Cybermen team up to take over an entire planet with ease.
It makes perfect sense for the Cybermen and Borg to work together... to a point. Okay, so "perfect" isn't quite the right word, but it's no stretch of the imagination to see them teaming up. The Cybermen have been willing to team up with similarly robotic groups before, although no doubt they find the fleshy parts still sticking out of the Borg to be "inelegant," while the Borg, unable to assimilate the Cybermen, would find their mechanical forms agreeable enough for the time being. Of course, they might disagree over who gets to assimilate the members of the planets they conquer, but I can see them splitting the inhabitants 50-50. Besides that, I do believe that the Cybermen at least played a part in the inspiration for the Borg, although I'd have to double-check to be sure.
The rest of the first chapter focuses solely on the Doctor. In this situation, it's the 11th Doctor, and his companions are, naturally, the Ponds, Amy and Rory. The cover for chapter 3 shows the ever-popular 4th Doctor and Captain Kirk, though, so I'd have to assume that we'll see other Doctors and starship captains interact in the future. (This is reinforced in chapter 2, where the Doctor says "I seem to be remembering things that have never happened to me," hinting that time is being rewritten as the two universes merge.) Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for 8 and 10 to appear.
It's a pretty basic intro for the Doctor. We see his companions doing what they do best, mainly helping out with things like driving a chariot while the Doctor does something clever, and he saves Egypt from an alien before taking off in his TARDIS. There's nothing too remarkable about it, but it sets the scene for those unfamiliar with Doctor Who. We have the Doctor and his companions, time travel and aliens, and his trusty Sonic Screwdriver. It ends with a lead-in to the actual crossover, where they land in what they believe to be San Francisco, but is shown to be the holodeck when they run into the android Data.
Then we get to chapter 2, which is more Star Trek centered. In this case, we have "Star Trek: The Next Generation," with Captain Picard and his Enterprise crew. This cuts back to a little time before the Doctor arrives, showing the crew of the Enterprise going about their business on an alien planet, while having character-revealing conversations on board. It's a slightly more interesting story than "the Doctor saves Egypt," although with less action, but it leads into the meeting with the Doctor.
This is where things start to get interesting.
The meeting goes the same way that most crossovers go. The Doctor goes about being his Doctor-y self, while his companions and the crew of the Enterprise wonder what's going on and how they got there. As one who travels through time and space, it's not the first time that the Doctor has landed on a spaceship with aliens he can easily identify, so it's no surprise that he identifies Worf as a Klingon immediately... until he says to his companions that until that moment, he'd never heard of Klingons before.
That one line is what intrigued me the most. Now we see time beginning to change, as the Doctor remembers things he's never known before, and sees planets he's never seen before ("I've never heard of Delta IV! Which, considering the fact that I know every planet of every star system, is just a tiny bit concerning!") They're not playing the usual crossover card of "these things exist in the same universe, just go with it," they're showing the effects of two universes crossing over.
Seeing the crew of the Enterprise interact with and react to the Doctor is interesting, as is seeing the Doctor's normal reaction to anything unusual (i.e. calling it "brilliant" and analyzing it out loud to anyone who cares to listen) applied to Data and the Holodeck. There are only so many places crossovers like this can go, but the introductions and confusion ends with this chapter, as they see the threat presented by the Borg and Cybermen working together. It seems issue 3 will show the (relative) past beginning to change, for as I mentioned before, we'll be seeing the 4th Doctor and Kirk work together.
Now, there are some minor issues I have with this. The action scenes particularly don't flow that well; it cuts from Point A to Point C without showing the Point B occurring in-between; we have cause and effect, but none of the action leading up to it. The dialogue is decent, but sometimes fails to grasp the character voices quite right, and it suffers the same problem that crossovers tend to: spending time with everyone being confused and introducing themselves.
I'm also not particularly fond of the artwork. If I knew more about art I could tell you what style it is, but all I can say is that it looks like it's been water-colored. While that may work for some comics, I'd prefer something more solid and detailed for this kind of crossover.
Still, if you're a fan of Doctor Who and Star Trek, you'll probably enjoy seeing the two interact. For those who aren't a fan of either, it'll undoubtedly seem like a jumbled mess with characters you don't really know or care for, but then, you probably wouldn't have considered buying it in the first place. If you're a fan of just one and not the other, I'd check it out in-store and come to your own conclusion. It's not the best crossover we could have hoped for, but it's working so far.
---- Spider-Men ----
Now we get to another crossover. For those familiar with Marvel Comics, there are a few different "worlds" in their multiverse, mainly the "main" one, Earth-616, and the "Ultimate" one, Earth-1610. Of course, there are many, many more, as well as alternate timelines, pocket universes, and so on, but it's just these two that we're talking about right now.
The Ultimate universe has its own ongoing stories and releases, separate from the others, which allows them to try new and innovative things that they can't try in the "main" universe... in other words, they kill a lot of characters off and see what happens from there. In such an instance was Spider-Man, who lost his life in an epic battle against all his biggest villains, defending his friends and family with everything he had. Out of all the ways Spidey could die, that was a great way to do it; it was sad, but he went down fighting with everything he had, and got a chance to say goodbye to his loved ones. I admit, I teared up a little when I saw Peter walking away with Uncle Ben, who told him "you did good, kid." But I digress.
When the new Spider-Man to replace Peter Parker was found, there was a bit of an outrage in the media. Why? Because the new Spidey, Miles Morales, was a half-black, half-hispanic kid. (Of course, the people ranting about it failed to realize that this was Ultimate Spider-Man, but again, digressing.) Miles hasn't been Spider-Man for that long, but the kid is growing on me. He's trying hard to live up to the legacy of Spider-Man, in spite of negative influences trying to turn him. (There was also an amazing Miles Spidey cosplayer at Fanime, so if you're reading this, props to you.)
So now we have the first full crossover between the Amazing Spider-Man and Ultimate Spider-Man. The crossover is triggered in a way similar to the "Shattered Dimensions" video game, which was actually pretty decent. Mysterio is doing something nasty, Spider-Man comes in to fight him, screws something up, and gets zapped into another dimension.
Though apparently it isn't Peter!Spidey's Mysterio that's doing it, but the Ultimate universe Mysterio, who somehow found a way between dimensions and is controlling some sort of construct... I admit, I don't know much about Ultimate Mysterio, so his powers are unfamiliar to me. As such, I can't say how well this setup works, but frankly, it's just their excuse to send Spider-Man to the Ultimate universe.
So Spidey, who spent his life trying to protect his secret identity (except for when he unmasked himself during Civil War, then re-masked himself when things were retconned in "One More Day") finds himself in a world where everyone knows Peter Parker was Spider-Man. Past-tense "was." So of course, he's confused, runs around a bit, and encounters his replacement. That's where issue 1 ends.
Issue 2 does the same thing that most crossovers tend to do: the characters are confused for a while, then they fight for a bit. In this case, the fight is an interesting way of showing how their powers stack up. Peter has more experience, and can take Miles in a match of skills and strength, but Miles has some powers that Peter doesn't, such as a venom sting and camouflage. It's a decent enough fight, but I think it undersells how much of a beating Peter can take, and seems to forget about his Spider Senses.
We eventually get to a point where the characters talk a bit to figure out what's going on, as Peter encounters more of the differences in the Ultimate universe, such as Nick Fury turning into Samuel L. Jackson. Like with the other crossover, the characters start working together, only for it to end with the setup for a bigger fight, which just might help explain what's causing the crossing-over.
This comic is written by Brian Michael Bendis, who's experienced with writing Spider-Man. He has the snark and side-comments down, and has a good grasp of the characters, although he can be a bit of a divisive writer for some fans. Still, I trust him to treat the Spideys right in this, in spite of the less-than-entirely-impressive first fight.
Speaking of, I find that Peter taking the first shot by shooting web at Miles was a little uncalled for. I know it's the obligatory "let's you and him fight," but the reason seems too flimsy. Not to mention, Peter tells Miles "unmasking is a big super-hero no-no," but then three pages later unmasks Miles and ignores his pleas to give it back. What the hell, Spidey?
As far as crossovers go, it's nothing too impressive yet, but has its moments. I'm hoping things get better, but if you're not as optimistic as me, I'd wait for the trade paperback before deciding whether or not to buy it.
Until next time, this has been whatever I read.
