Hi all. Just thought I'd be the one to write this month's thoughts and spoilers on 1872. Overall, it was a very good issue and I enjoyed it a lot. The mix of Marvel characters and Old West storytelling was pretty good. Needless to say, there was a HUGE event that occurred in the story, which definitely changes things from here on out. Needless to say, the series would not be a good Western if there wasn't a little bit of tragedy.
In any case, on to my deeper thoughts. Be warned, there be spoilers ahead!:
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
- What I really dug about this story was the characterization. Indeed, I think we mentioned in the previous 1872 thread that though the characters of Timely didn't possess the superhero powers of their 616 counterparts, they did share a fair number of their characteristics. Indeed, readers got to see that with this issue. Stark isn't flying around in his Iron Man armor (at least not yet), but he's an ingenious weapons maker who turns to the bottle after seeing his tech used to commit horrible atrocities (love the way that the Civil War was used for this.) Steve may not have his super-soldier serum or indestructible shield, but he's still willing put up a good fight and deliver a rousing speech on how freedom and democracy can take down tyranny. The speech he gave in the middle of Timely reminded me of that time he stood up to Thanos back during the Infinity Gauntlet.
At the same time, much like the Infinity Gauntlet, Steve's words ultimately couldn't save him from his fate. Yep, seeing Steve shot through the chest by Bullseye was pretty awful. Fisk tossing Steve's carcass to a bunch of hungry pigs made the sheriff's end all the more ignominious. I must admit, I had an inkling that Steve would die, but wasn't too sure. This tension really made the scene exciting.
Still, Steve's death wasn't totally in vain. One can see that the people of Timely have been inspired, Stark most prominently. I can't wait to see what steampunk inspired armor Stark will invent. Moreover, Steve got a couple of solid hits back in during that fight. I both winced and cheered seeing him shoot a bullet right through Otto's head!
- I do like this rendition of Natasha. In the beginning of the story, she seems willing to accept the lies of Barnes' death and not fight back, but then helps Red Wolf escape capture. That's pretty interesting.
- Nice to see the other characters of Timely, like Banner, Nelson, and Misty Knight. There were some other women depicted in the series, but I couldn't place who they were based on. Perhaps they were totally new?
- Was the artist different this time around? Wasn't there supposed to be a change with artists in this series? I ask because there were some scenes were the art was a little iffy, mainly the scenes involving Elektra and Red Wolf.
In any case, these were the moments that I liked in this issue. I'm sure I missed a lot of things, so feel free to talk amongst yourselves. How did you guys feel about this story?