InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Raven Powell Rocks!"

neuhallidae (neuhallidae) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-30 15:37:00

Entry tags:

char: immortus/kang the conqueror, char: thor, char: wasp/janet van dyne, char: wonder man/simon williams, creator: kieron dwyer, creator: kurt busiek, group: avengers, publisher: marvel comics, title: avengers

"There Are No Words"
Or, silent movies in comic form.

Seven scans from Avengers vol. 3, #49.

Kang has once again launched an offensive against Earth, after weakening the Avengers by putting them through battle against old enemies. In an attempt at retaliation, a group lead by Captain America and Iron Man launch a space attack against Kang's fortress and another entity called the Triple Evil, but wind up stranded in space after the fight against the latter. Kang, claiming that by attacking his fortress, the Avengers have removed the fight from "fair battlefields", decides to stop being benevolent and start eliminating civilian targets. One of his forcefield rings has enveloped Washington D.C., keeping all civilians and politicians from escaping as Kang attacks with Sentinels he commandeered from the US military. A small team of Avengers made up of Thor, Wasp, Wonder Man, and Firebird make it into the shield to take out the Sentinels, only to find out that while Kang's image is holographic enough that they can't hurt him, the reverse definitely isn't true. Wasp comes across a downed helicopter full of Secret Service and the President, and Thor uses Mjolnir to open a portal to get them out. He can't open one big enough for the entire populace, though, so their only chance is to stop Kang. Thor orders Wasp and Firebird through the portal, since he and Wonder Man can survive anything Kang might throw at them.

They still weren't expecting this.

Faced with the prospect of Kang doing this to every other major city on Earth, and having run out of defenses, the governments have no choice but to surrender.

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	icon_uk 2009-08-30 08:56 pm UTC (link)
	Considering that this was part of the editorially mandated "Nuff Said" silent month, Busiek really took the idea and ran with it. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	neuhallidae 2009-08-30 09:08 pm UTC (link)
	I gotta give big props to the scripting and art on this issue. They really did a fabulous job of telling the story (and keeping it completely in line with the rest of the arc) without a single speech bubble. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	cityfumes 2009-08-30 10:01 pm UTC (link)
	I loved the 'Nuff Said concept. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	btravage.livejournal.com 2009-08-30 10:30 pm UTC (link)
	What is this like a September 11 thing or something? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	colonel_green 2009-08-30 10:52 pm UTC (link)
	This issue came out in January 2002, but the story leading up to it predates 9/11. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	jlroberson 2009-08-30 11:28 pm UTC (link)
	With Marvel, trying to read foretellings of 9/11 is not really relevant because Marvel's NY has already had about 100 9/11s. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	arbre_rieur 2009-08-31 12:06 am UTC (link)
	"'Nuff Said" month? No, I don't believe so. It was just a gimmick where all the Marvel comics for one month were wordless. (Reply to this) (Parent)

zippthorn
2009-08-31 05:07 am UTC (link)

Ah, no. In the 80s, an early issue of the GI*Joe comic published by Marvel, "Silent Interlude" was published apparently by accident without word balloons or narrative captions (one of the creators was going on vacation and the script wasn't handed to the right person before they left, so the editors, feeling--correctly--that the art itself sufficiently told the story, published the comic as-is). I think it was even sans sound effects, but I could be misremembering. Anyway. It was told silently. Such a happy accident quickly became one of the best regarded comics, well-liked and well remembered by many. Every so often, following in the success of that accident, others have tried their own hands at "silent comics," usually as one-offs or gimmicks, usually with less success. Even the Joe comic tried it again. Eventually, Marvel decided to have a gimmick month, a whole month of "silent comics." This was one of the good ones. I think the New X-Men and Spider-Man comics that came out that month were the only other "good ones," though the former had spoken dialogue at the end (Grant Morrison's wonderfully meta "We need to talk,") and the latter "cheated" a little bit with written words carrying a little bit of what one character was doing (which would have otherwise just been an old lady sitting at a computer, reading or making a list).

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