Comic Books
THE MASSIVE #8
The Kapital stumbles upon a newly declared sovereign nation—a community of hundreds living on oil platforms with dreams of a new utopia. With the world’s governments and economies in shambles, is this new “country” the hope for the future that Callum Israel and Ninth Wave are looking for?
“Provocative, original, and fiercely intelligent in both conception and execution.”—Comic Book Resources
Artist: Garry Brown
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: J.P. Leon
Price: $3.50
iFanboy Community Pick of the Week Percentage: 0.0%
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This series just gets better & better, gonna be a stellar year!
I agree, great stories so far, and I think Wood and Brown are just starting to get things really moving. These JPL covers have all been wonderful, from the color schemes to the overall aesthetic, I want them as posters.
This is the first arc I have really felt engaged in and I am really really enjoying it.
Wow, this cover!
I really like this series, but I liked Kristian Donaldson’s art on the first arc better than Gary Brown’s art on the second arc…
I initially missed Donaldson when he left, too–but Brown has chops, and he feels like a better fit for the series, in my opinion.
Yeah art does come down to opinion. I like Brown, I just liked Donaldson better
Okay, so anyone have any ideas on what’s going on with Mary? Or what’ll happen next issue?
I feel like this series just took a turn for the seriousness, (in a good way) that I didn’t see coming at all… Thoughts, people?
I’d need to reread the series to feel like I’m making an educated guess, but my gut reaction is that she might be pregnant, and wants to be in a (relatively) stable and safe place.
Huh. That could be. My mind went broader, with the rift that’s been forming among the crew. Mary more pacifist-oriented & Mag more militant, with Callum leaning more his direction lately. Like maybe this is her breaking away from Call? It also almost seemed, somewhere early in the series, that she may know more about the location of the Massive than the rest… I dunno.
I’m loving this internal struggle though, which I didn’t see coming at all.
Ah, but then my mind starts racing… Why did Mary disable all the communications? What the hell is Mag doing behind Call’s back, here & in past issues?!
There’s defintely something fishy going on. Mary pulled off another death-defying escape, and I don’t know what to make of the strange underwater Chinese thing. Was it a sub, or just part of the rig? This was a great issue, and I’m enjoying each new installment; though sooner or later there has to be some payoff to all these questions and mysteries, hopefully Wood addresses at least some of them soon.
Yeah, this book hasn’t focused much on the interpersonal relationships so far, so I’m comfortable agreeing that there’s something much bigger going on!
Loved the panel when she’s swimming down through the water just after jumping in. And I agree that the whole communications thing and 100ft dive rules out the pregnancy idea. She’s got something up her sleeve that no one but Brian Wood knows about. And she did that weird mind reading thing again. It’s becoming clear that she is more the leader than Cal, which is hinted at ever since the first issue. Does she have some sort of mind control over him? Next issue looks to packed full of great stuff.
Any chance she knew what was down there? I know she has a history with drilling platforms. Maybe she knew something about this one that the others didn’t. And Ima shut up now…
So according to the script she had no idea what was down there.
@TurdSandwich – Ah so… I was wondering about that thing too. A sub never occurred to me… but lo & behold, next issue’s title is “Sub.”
Also, did anyone know about this site? http://the-massive.net/ It’s official, w/ Wood as the admin.
That site is legit! Good lookin out. I’m gonna download the script to #8 (have you seen it yet?) when I get home. Maybe it has some clues to all the Mary craziness.
Did you look at the pages for #9? Think Lars is on board??? This has been such a good book.
That’s awesome, thanks for the link.
I skimmed the script. Wood definitely makes note of Mary’s uncanny ability to “hold her breath” underwater. Nothing telling necessarily, but it’s definitely on purpose.
And yeah, those #9 pages are crazy. What about the JPL interlocking covers? I am so stoked for the future of this book!
The covers for the next arc look SO DOPE! I normally old care less about overs but with this book it really adds to the whole package. And I read the script and you’re right it doesn’t really give anything away. It’s gonna be a very interesting series. Thanks or the site again too. It’s going to add a lot to the book.
This series has totally come off the rails, there is just no sense of realism whatsoever. None. And here is why:
1) Mary is able to disable “radio, shortwave, satellite, microwave, and radar” by ripping out one set of wires. Just one. Right.
2) She does this is a pouring rain storm, with her bare hands, we see electricity streak out from the power box she is touching, and yet she is not electrocuted.
3) Mary is shot in the shoulder, at fairly close range, and continues running without even missing a step. She is somehow able to shrug off the velocity of the bullet, the pain, and the blood loss as if nothing happened.
4) The storm is described on page 10 as a “super cyclonic” yet neither Mary nor the security guards chasing her seem to be in the least bit effected. If anyone here has ever been outside in even a category 1 hurricane you can attest to how ridiculous that chase scene is. And let’s not forget she is also shot at the time. I guess despite being a “super cyclonic” the wind somehow isn’t all that bad. On the top of an oil platform. With no cover to break the gusts at all.
5) Mary jumps in the water during this “super cyclonic” and despite the fact the Kapital is shown to be tossed around like a bath toy by the waves, Mary is able to just hang out and look at the sub hidden in the water. Not to mention the water would be inky, pitch black. She wouldn’t be able to see even three inches in front of her face underwater, at night, in a storm like that.
6) And then somehow she manages to swim to safety; practically naked, shot, bleeding, in the middle of a “super cyclonic.” Okay, sure.
7) And then to top it all off, despite all the times we have seen her risk her life for Cal and the Kapital, which she does in practically EVER ISSUE starting from issue 1, she’s now defecting and turning over the ship. This better turn out to be some intricate double cross or this series so so fucking dropped.
I’d give this a zero if I could. Between this and the recent arc of Conan, I’m really starting to dislike Wood’s characterizations. His characters just take stark 180’s in behavior for really no reason.
You make a lot of good points that I’m not going to try and rebut.
The thing I’m wondering in light of Mary’s recent actions is this: was this book every marketed as pure realism?
I know that’s kind of what we’ve been given so far, but I’m not sure we were ever promised a hyper-realistic book. This could be all part of the plan.
Yeah I see your points Uspunx, but I have to agree with Ken. While the initial premise of the book suggests it is a harsh look at the realities of a crazy environmental collapse, there have been some less than realistic situations since the start of the book. I take this to mean that there is more to the story than we might’ve thought at first. Jasonhart brought up the strange nature of Mary like three issues ago, and since then I’ve been suspicious of her and everyone else.
We still don’t know EXACTLY what caused this collapse. We just all assume it was global warming, or solar flares or something. Wood could just be toying with us, maybe the cause is a bit more traditional sci-fi than we were lead to believe. If you don’t want to stick around for the explanation, I can’t make you, but maybe just try to go with the narrative a bit and forgive some of the less believeable aspects, and you could enjoy it more.
Those are both good points. I’m not jumping off quite yet but lets look at the opposite of your points. What if there is no big sci fi payoff and it turns out to just be unbelievable situations with no rational explaination. Then we are stuck with Lost.
I know this wasn’t necessarily marketed as a hyper realistic book but despite the Crash, it is set in the real world and so far there has been no indication that we are dealing with anything other than baseline humans. I’m sticking it out for a little longer but I have to say that my general faith in Wood has been severely shaken with this story arc, the current Conan arc, and the awful Mara issue 1.
1-6) There’s Something About Mary (like the movie…is that funny?). We don’t really know her story yet, but a couple issues ago she swam down and back under ice, far enough to “kill” Ryan, and was all good. Remember this is a comic book. I’ve never seen a real zombie, space man, or flying hero in the real world. These things deserve a little lee-way. 4) The director describes it as a Super Cyclonic, but its not to say that its hyperbole. 7) I highly doubt Mary has actually defected. She did that crazy “brain speech” thing with Cal, and is just trying to get the crew off of Moshka. Brian Wood is a very good writer, and I think the Massive is high on his priority list. Try and give him some time.
My only counters are this: Was the weather at “super-cyclonic” at the time, or was that storm on the way? Also, I took it as Mary had been all over the station, disrupting com devices, & we were only shown this last one. The bullet looked to me like it did the Hollywood just-nicked-the-skin thing. (This is all from first-reading memory, so I could be wrong on all of this.)
As for Mary’s abilities… is this gonna be “Waterworld”? I dunno. I kinda hope there’s a realistic explanation, since the series has been so grounded this far, but we’ll see how it’s handled & what the big reveals are. I think whatever Mary’s motivations are, her actions this issue shouldn’t be taken completely at face value just yet.
Well I am one of those that absolutely loved Lost, ending included, but that’s a whole other can of worms that doesn’t need to be opened.
I agree with you in regards to every character being baseline human, except Mary, I still don’t know about her( admittedly I could be wrong). I’m glad though, that despite your problems with some of the execution, you aren’t giving up on the book yet.
Also on a side note, thanks for keeping this board active. It’s fun to discuss things we like/dislike about books like this. Stories like The Massive are meant to be discussed and debated, and it’s nice to do it with others who understand that, and react accordingly; as opposed to the cliched internet hyperbole and mud-slinging. I’ve seen you on other boards as well and I think we have similar taste in books, but sometimes different opinions. That’s what comment threads are all about, so I’m sure we’ll get to keep this up.
I’m loving all this debate too. I think I’m enjoying The Massive a lot more after reading everyone’s reactions & observations, instead of just reading an issue & then not thinking about it for a month. Definitely heightens the speculation level.
@Turdsandwich: Well I have to admit that you, @jasonhart, and @thewac1 have given me something to think about. I think I potentially need to reread the series up to this point. I never noticed Mary’s “abilities” before so maybe that is why this issue caught me so off guard. I had been approaching this series from a very grounded, real world view point but given the unknown cause, and potential effects, of the Crash that is probably a flawed way of looking at the characters here. Looking back on it, its actually a very skilled way Wood has played with expectations. He presents this as “the real world” and then slowly chips away at that reality to reveal a world underneath it all. Okay, I think you have revived my interest in this series, after a reread I’m hoping I’ll have a different perspective on the events up to this point.
Also, I too have been enjoying this discussion! There are always tons of comments and discussions on the “big books” like Avengers, Batman, and Saga; but its nice to see such a long and thought out back-and-forth on a book like the Massive. Our debate has totally changed my mind and helped to restore my interest in this series.
@theWAC1: Agreed Wood is typically a great writer but as I said in a previous comment, some of his recent work has left me a little cold. Maybe he’s just writing more books than usual or maybe his style is changing in this phase of his career. Either way, it’s great to see him having the success and recognition he deserves.
It has been good. It’s nice to talk about an intelligent book with intelligent people, and no one at my LCS picks it up, so thank you everyone for their 2 cents. @USPUNX I can understand where you’re coming from. I too get nervous when a writer takes on a bunch of books, I saw Scott Snyder’s quality drop this past year and a half, and have been disappointed with some of Woods work in the past. Mara didn’t interest me, but I’ve never been let down by his creator-owned runs, so hopefully this continues that streak.