Avengers 280 - An Appreciation

[wundagoreborn]

Wow, I just re-read this issue, entitled "To Serve No More," last night. Possibly the most interesting comic book in which so little actually happened?
The actual events of the book consist of Tony Stark having a brief visit with Jarvis in the hospital, Jarvis thinking a while and then calling Tony back.

Not the stuff that makes a gripping read, usually. But I found myself so sucked in again. Years of familiarity and affection for Jarvis make the fact that he has suffered a recent trauma at the hands of Hyde arresting.

When Jarvis begins to run through his memories of his years of service to the Avengers, the book could have easily settled into the rut of being a ‘clip show.’ But Harras writes it so each memory is an opportunity to show something new about a character – a fresh angle on Cap’s isolation, a window into Vision’s emotional life, possibly the most real and believable look we got at the emotional impact of Hank & Jan’s relationship on those who were loyal friends to them both.

Jarvis can talk about the emotional costs of herodom on the heroes in a way they could never do in conversation without sounding whiny or self-pitying. Harras successfully mines years of investment in character development of writers who preceded him and distills it into stand alone gem.

My quibble would be that the title needed a question mark. It sets us up to believe Jarvis makes a decision to quit. The added oomph that gives to the momentum the story itself develops toward his getting out and the added punch it gives to his change of mind are not worth how manipulative it seems after it’s over.

Minor, non-powered character. No action. No exotic setting. Single issue story. Today’s industry has positioned itself in a place where it’s almost impossible to imagine this kind of book getting made.

[ultron69]

Yes, this was a very touching issue, plus we get a nice little recap of the Avengers' history. I give the writing an A- and the art a B-. A nice little aftermath of the Avengers Under Siege issue.

[Marvel Boy]

It's nice that they took the time to do this type of story. Most times after a large shocking story like Under Seige, the status quo is quickly re-established in the next issue, as if nothing serious happened.

In today's industry, I think it's still possible to show repercussions like this, but thanks to decompression-style of storytelling so prevalent now, it would last over three issues instead of one-and-done.

[wundagoreborn]

MB, I agree that this kind of theme can and is worked out in books today. I just think that split into separate vignettes and scattered across another story arc, the effect is weakened.

There are several effects that can be most powerful in a single issue story and I just regret we don't get those much anymore.

[Marvel Boy]

Oh, absolutely. The decompressed style lessens the emotional and dramatic impact by stretching it out over multiple issues. When you also consider the usual month long wait between issues, the impact loses even more value.

Another fine example of this type of story is:





Scripted and penciled by Barry Windsor-Smith, this issue served as an epilogue to the first Armor Wars. It showed the mental and emotional toils suffered by Stark as he went against both friend and foe to achieve his goals. Stark suffered from those effects for quite awhile, but seeing them brought into focus here in one issue right after the event, really helped to strengthen the effects and characterization for the readers.

[wundagoreborn]

Cool. This is in one of the several big gaps in my Iron Man collection. I'll have to check it out. Thanks