Planetary: Leaving The 20th Century

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

So this is all the issues we should have gotten two volumes ago! Better late than never?

Finally Ellis manages to do some decent plot and story construction. This is all pretty good stuff. Of course planetary is like Lost or the X-Files with so many layers of mysteries piled on top of each other that even when things are 'explained' you are still left with many, many unanswered questions.

I still have several quibbles even with these issues
* such as Snow sounding distinctly Spider Jeruselm-esque at times
* some characters being shown in very classic film-version style while others are updated creating a feeling of inconsistency
* the lack of themes or overarcing messages, except for 'hey look at this thing i did which is like a thing i show more read once' etc.

but overall this is far more competent than the previous 2 volumes so grading on a curve, i settled on 4 stars.

PS: The french guy mentioned in the first issue, who's been to mars, is probably a reference to [b:The Nyctalope|5810724|The Nyctalope on Mars|Jean de La Hire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348004016l/5810724._SX50_.jpg|5982729] . show less

Despite being mostly dedicated to further explaining the conflict between Planetary and the Four Voyagers, I feel that this volume is at its strongest in the moments that have little to do with that plotline. My favorite is the Gun Club and the idea of the three explorers slowly dying in their sealed capsule after missing their target and becoming trapped in 150-year orbit. Opak-re and the birth of Jakita Wagner made for an excellent story, and the idea of Dracula being a member of Ellis' version of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen alongside Holmes is delightfully wicked.

This is one of the few examples that made me think that maybe, just maybe, there's still hope for the superhero genre. It feels somehow constrained in graphic-novel form, as its original nature as series is intrinsically exploited by the authors. Divided in small, self-contained units, and leaving the reader to fill in much of the details between one instalment and the other, this is almost a lesson on how one should approach the genre in the XXI century, and an act of love for pop-literary culture (and what a coincidence that Ellis and Alan Moore went back to the well of XIX-century pop-lit more or less at the same time!). The only problem is that it can appear like the writer is just being lazy, unnaturally dilating time units, using show more very little dialog, concentrating on lovely layouts and poses, with very little actually happening. Ellis overplays his hand at times, leaving Cassaday to show off his meticulous style, but overall this is probably the only "superhero" series you should have bought in the last 5 years. show less

Volume three of the collected Planetary comic series, set in a world whose secret history is shaped by vast conspiracies, bizarre events, and weird technologies. Plot-wise, this one feels like a bit of connective tissue between the revelations of the previous volume and what will no doubt be an interesting finale in the next one, with bits of backstory being filled in and our heroes working against nemeses who are, for the moment, largely unseen. But even so, it's still a wild ride. I'm still not sure exactly what the hell is going on, but, what the heck, it's fun just holding on and enjoying the view. Hey, there's monsters, famous literary characters, superpowers, creation myths, weird science, alternate dimensions, kung fu, lost show more jungle cities and Victorian spaceships. Stir all that stuff together and how can the result not be fun? show less

So this is the kind of series that you don't read one and then come back 6 months later to read the next one. There's just too much going on. So I had to go back and read some of the 2nd one to get it. I'm still a little shaky on exactly who "The 4" are but at least I wasn't totally lost.

This was probably my least favorite of the Planetary graphic novels but that still puts it in the "pretty dang good" area. I need to get the fourth one now before I forget what happened in this one.

Great series of comics, but not for everyone. Can be a little elliptical. Blends pop culture with superheroes.