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guppyur's review against another edition
3.0
Still on this comics kick. This is a Warren Ellis joint, which puts it in the company of Transmetropolitan and The Authority.
Let me put this upfront: I liked this one a lot. I'm going to continue the series.
I think Planetary is a bit tricky to define, at least so far. Is it a superhero series? It's hard to say, although I've heard it described as a modern update of one. It isn't your customary superheroes-in-spandex-fight-crime deal. It isn't a black-and-white, 1950s good-versus-evil series either. The primary character -- so far, anyway -- seems to be basically an all right guy, but he isn't very friendly or charismatic, and neither are his colleagues. They all definitely have extrahuman abilities and are larger than life.
That primary character is Elijah Snow, who can do some temperature-related things as far as I've seen -- that's one thing about at least this volume, there isn't actually all that much superpowering through things. His colleagues are Jakita Wagner, who does I don't know what apart from packing a punch and being very hard to hurt, and a guy known as "The Drummer," who has some kind of weird electrical... thing going on. I don't know exactly what his deal is but it does seem to be percussion-based. All three are members of an organization called Planetary, who do a sort of clandestine traveling around the world keeping the stuff on the borders of human awareness on the right side of those borders. Motivations are as yet unclear, other than getting paid a bunch of money.
Speaking of Jakita, one gripe, and I know this is kind of a cliché complaint at this point. Elijah Snow typically wears all white: suit, shirt, tie, hair, you get the idea. The Drummer wears casualwear of some description. Jakita wears... close-fitting vinyl. The book doesn't generally feel like T&A, but come on, guys. You're continuing to perpetuate the reputation of the genre and of the community.
Issue #3 was my favorite section writing-wise. A lot of this volume is monster-of-the-week type stuff, but you can see the foundations for bigger stories being laid.
Reading others' reviews, it's clear that a lot of what's going on in Planetary is an examination of the history and tropes of past comics. For someone like me, with only a passing familiarity with the medium, the experience will necessarily be different than for a long-time comics reader who's better equipped to know what themes and references Ellis is playing on.
Let me put this upfront: I liked this one a lot. I'm going to continue the series.
I think Planetary is a bit tricky to define, at least so far. Is it a superhero series? It's hard to say, although I've heard it described as a modern update of one. It isn't your customary superheroes-in-spandex-fight-crime deal. It isn't a black-and-white, 1950s good-versus-evil series either. The primary character -- so far, anyway -- seems to be basically an all right guy, but he isn't very friendly or charismatic, and neither are his colleagues. They all definitely have extrahuman abilities and are larger than life.
That primary character is Elijah Snow, who can do some temperature-related things as far as I've seen -- that's one thing about at least this volume, there isn't actually all that much superpowering through things. His colleagues are Jakita Wagner, who does I don't know what apart from packing a punch and being very hard to hurt, and a guy known as "The Drummer," who has some kind of weird electrical... thing going on. I don't know exactly what his deal is but it does seem to be percussion-based. All three are members of an organization called Planetary, who do a sort of clandestine traveling around the world keeping the stuff on the borders of human awareness on the right side of those borders. Motivations are as yet unclear, other than getting paid a bunch of money.
Speaking of Jakita, one gripe, and I know this is kind of a cliché complaint at this point. Elijah Snow typically wears all white: suit, shirt, tie, hair, you get the idea. The Drummer wears casualwear of some description. Jakita wears... close-fitting vinyl. The book doesn't generally feel like T&A, but come on, guys. You're continuing to perpetuate the reputation of the genre and of the community.
Issue #3 was my favorite section writing-wise. A lot of this volume is monster-of-the-week type stuff, but you can see the foundations for bigger stories being laid.
Reading others' reviews, it's clear that a lot of what's going on in Planetary is an examination of the history and tropes of past comics. For someone like me, with only a passing familiarity with the medium, the experience will necessarily be different than for a long-time comics reader who's better equipped to know what themes and references Ellis is playing on.
mariabacterium's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
megadeathvsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
This was good, but not what I expected. It didn't seem to live up to the rave reviews I typically read. I'm not sure, though, why it just didn't impress me much. I'll keep reading.
hknb43c's review against another edition
4.0
A comic book that actually makes sense and is well written. It doesn't require an leaps of faith, or reading blindly with the hope that things will one day be explained. But it only gets 4 stars because it's still a comic book. I'm prejudice.
librarimans's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic blend of superhero tropes and pulp culture references with amazing writing by Ellis and Cassaday's always stunning art.
tmwebb3's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastical and fantastic. Looks amazing. Story is great.
megancm's review against another edition
5.0
Oh man, as far as comic books go, this is the best I've read so far. Mystery! Adventure! Intrigue!
woodwost's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
5.0
Read this a couple years ago and just read it again because I wanted to be ready to read volume two. It still holds up to the 5 stars I gave it then. This is some amazing shit - Ellis possibly at his best (haven't read everything he's read). Each comic is a separate story with the same main characters and each one is incredibly original. The art is also absolutely fabulous. Can't wait to see what happens in volume 2 when the big picture starts coming together.
angelikareadsavariciously's review against another edition
3.0
Couldn't really get into it. Probably because I had no chance to grow to feel anything for the main characters.