Planetary: The Fourth Man

The second collection of comics featuring Planetary, a team of "mystery archeologists" on a mission to investigate "the secret history of the world." My opinion on the first volume was that I liked the concept, loved the artwork, found the characters potentially interesting, and enjoyed the way it played around with pop culture tropes, but thought the stories were far too slight, making the whole thing a little disappointing. Well, I do not have that problem with this volume. The first two chapters here do have much the same kind of structure as the stories in the first collection, but they seemed more satisfying to me, as they managed to successfully give the impression of offering windows into a much wider world. A weird, wonderful, show more horrible, and fascinating world. And then things suddenly get very, very dense, to the extent that I don't think I understood half of what was going on. But that's OK; I don't think I'm entirely supposed to yet, and if I'm confused, I'm also intrigued. And if I liked the way the first installment played around with the pop culture tropes... Well, this one delights in taking comics and B-movies and pulp fiction and all kinds of other familiar stories and not just playing around with them but warping and distorting them like taffy into freakish and often darkly humorous shapes.

At this point, I have absolutely no idea what to make of it all, or whether any of it will make sense in the end. But I do know I want to see more of it. show less

Issue #27 finally came out, & I dug up my back issues & read the series from start to finish because I wanted to get a sense of the narrative arc since this tale was 10 YEARS in the making.

The Verdict: this is one of the most brilliant extended storylines I've ever encounters. It will stand the test of time, up there with Watchmen and others of the 'hero' genre.

PLANETARY is ultimately a holographic version of the Arabian Nights; it can be read as hero-noir, pastiche/tribute to the history of comic books & pulp & pop culture, delightful space-time science theoretical exploration, or a personal story of redemption and revenge.

I was amazed that Ellis found a way to keep his narrative tone & pacing in tune over the course of 27 issues & 10 show more years-- that in itself is to be lauded. show less

OK, all my uncertainty about volume 1 is laid to rest, the puzzle slowly comes together as it also branches out. Loving this series, and some of these particular episodes are amazing, the first, "To be in England, in the Summertime" is freakin' fantastic!

I'm not sure what I like best about this volume. The Constantine story is, perhaps, a little too obvious for my taste, with its dramatization of the cultural clash between golden age comic book heroics and the darker style of comics in the 90s, but it's still fun. The continuation of the overarching story involving the Four is well-developed, with the revelation of the identity of the Fourth Man proving to be unexpected, while still making perfect sense.

But I think my favorite part of this volume was the rather straight-forward retelling of the Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman stories. Yes, on the one hand, they're almost exactly the same as the usual DC canon, but by changing slight details, Ellis manages to remind us of just show more how alien these all-American heroes really are. show less

This held up to the earlier Planetary episodes but was sometimes frustrating in it's "mysteriousness". There's a great issue which is a kind of what-if homage to a couple DC heroes who are not actually named. It's so creepy that I can't stop thinking about it. It's rare that I read something that powerful. I'm very interested in where this is story is going and can't wait to get the 3rd installment.

I thought I should give this series another chance to impress me. This second installment of the Planetary series was better than the first. I recognised more of the comics in-jokes and references (eg. Sandman, V for Vendetta, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman, John Constantine, Swamp Thing) but this is still one mostly for afficionados. The plot was more focused in this installment, mostly centered around Elijah Snow's missing memories. However the stories still happen to the characters rather than them being actively engaged, and I find this off-putting. In spite of Planetary's willingness to mine all sorts of comics and literary history for material, it still will not cross the forbidden D.C./Marvell line, even by allusion.

Planetary: The Fourth Man
Author: Warren Ellis, John Cassaday
Publisher: Wildstorm Productions / DC Comics
Publishing Date:2001
Edition/Volume: 2
Pgs: 144
Dewey: 741.5973 ELL
Disposition: Irving Public Library - South Campus - Irving, TX
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REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Summary:
The mystery around the Fourth Man plays out. Who is Planetary’s benefactor? A funeral for a friend, superhuman archaeology, and human guinea pigs. The Four are moving behind the scenes to dominate all aspects of human and non-human life on the planet. The hidden past reaches out for Elijah Snow and the Fourth Man, what will stay hidden? Who will know the true past? The true future? The true show more present?
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Genre:
Comics
Graphic Novels
DC Comics
Wildstorm
Science Fiction
Superheroes

Why this book:
Stormwatch was always my favorite. I liked the Authority all right. But I largely missed Planetary, other than recogznizing that Elijah was an asshole.
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Favorite Character:
Jack Carter is so Constantine.

Least Favorite Character:
The Ross Perot-like guy leading the teams capturing the space capsule and sanctioning everything that moves. Not getting his. Part of the Four. Escaping to fight another day.

Favorite Scene / Quote/Concept:
Lots of homage characters throughout. In the graveyard scene specifically, I see Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Poison Ivy, Nightshade, and the Metal Men.

Love the 1980s Herod sent to take the potential first born and instead getting himself trapped in an invisible mime box on Greek Street where he is shown to still be trapped inside the box, skeletal. That’s cool...and vicious.

Hmm Moments:
Love the characterization of the 80s via exposition of Reagan and Thatcher.

Beautiful multiple Superman analogies here. Green Lantern, Wonder Woman too. A lot of Last Son of INSERT NAME OF PLANET HERE going on in these pages.

WTF Moments:
Brutal what Captain Leather and the Four’s henchmen do to the Superman baby analogue in his rocket ship. And the Blue Green Lantern. Woof.

Wisdom:
The scary thing about Science City: Zero is that if our government could have in the 1950s, they would have.

Juxtaposition:
Truth...I like Mindwiped Elijah Snow better than Knows Everything Bully Dickhead Elijah Snow.

The Unexpected:
Sending an interdimensional exploratory spaceship through to a fictional parallel world trying to bring something back to the “real”. That is a helluva 4th wall sentence. But, what could possibly go wrong.
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Last Page Sound:
Love “the Planetary are coming” cliffhanger. It’s a cliffhanger without being a cliffhanger.

Author Assessment:
Love Ellis’s work. I’ll always read something by Warren Ellis.
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