The Comic Grab Bag Review Part 1: Nightwatch #7
As a preface to this series, a friend of mine sent me 52 random DC and Marvel comics for my birthday. I thought it would be a fun writing exercise to read them and write about them. So I present to you the Comic Grab Bag! Enjoy!
Nightwatch #7 (1994)
"Through mysterious means, Doctor Kevin Trench acquired a sophisticated battle suit of immense power. Failing to use the power adeptly his first time out, he withdrew from the world. But now he has come to realize that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good to give up and do nothing. Thus, Trench has become a grim crusader, poised to battle high-tech terror wherever and whenever it rears its head! Stan Lee presents...Nightwatch!"
Backstory:
Nightwatch was introduced into the Marvel universe back in 1993 in issue #99 of Web of Spider-Man. He inherited the suit from watching a man die fighting terrorists. To his own surprise, that man was himself. Like the blurb says, Trench took the suit and decided never to wear it. If he didn't wear it, he wouldn't die. But fate conspired against him and in no time he was using the suit to stop a criminal from stealing one of the suits' gloves. Afterwards, seeing that the suit was very sought after and powerful, Trench journeyed to find out more about the suit.
Nightwatch's own story spans about 12 issues and was designed as a closed loop comic book series. But just recently, he has been resurrected in the new She-Hulk comics. I might have to check them out.
Plot:
In this issue, Kevin Trench re-connects with his good friend, Dr. Eli Wirtham. Eli originally thought that Kevin was dead but to his surprise, Kevin phases into the building. I don't know what powers Nightwatch has, but this phasing through lightning is a pretty awesome ability. Yet it seemed pretty normal to Eli. Anyways, Eli senses that Kevin needs help with something (the suit he's been investigating) and lets him use the facility while he goes on a date with his girlfriend. Kevin summarizes that his uncle was able to help determine that nanites are what power the suits (and his own) of something called Project Sharkskin. Kevin tries to investigate who is involved in the making of these suits.
Meanwhile, the villain of this comic, Cardiaxe (not to be confused with Cardiac...who is a good guy?) ,taps into the power of the building Trench is in and cuts the power to the entire building. Kevin finds that there is still a light in Eli's office and goes to investigate when Cardiaxe stops him. In the dark, Kevin puts on the Nightwatch suit and does battle with Cardiaxe.
When Eli sees that the building has gone dark, he hastily leaves his date and investigates. In the next panels, Cardiac jumps into the fight between Nightwatch and Cardiaxe. At this point, I made the connection that Eli is Cardiac and that the light in Eli's office is his "secret lab."
This is also made clear by Damon. Damon is, or who I presume to be, the main villain in this series and was the one who sent Cardiaxe to find Eli's "synthetic research data." They specifically make it clear that Eli has a lab in his office. And somehow this data is instrumental in Project Sharkskin.
Anyways, Nightwatch and Cardiac make quick work of Cardiaxe. In an attempt of desperation, Cardiaxe tries to kill two cops who come to investigate but Cardiac jumps in the way of his axe and gets wounded. Due to Cardiaxe's actions, Cardiac wants revenge and tries to kill Cardiaxe. Cardiac tries to drop Cardiaxe from the sky but Nightwatch swoops in and saves the day. Despite not allowing Cardiaxe to die, Nightwatch doesn't get any information from him. Cardiac gets mad at Nightwatch but they both leave because the cops show up.
Apparently, when Cardiaxe fails at retrieving the data, Damon goes to New York with his crazily bandaged son. There's also some girl who is shocked that Kevin Trench is still alive. These events all have backstory that I am unaware of.
Review:
From what I can make of it, Nightwatch's run has a pretty brisk pace. Despite jumping into the series at issue #7, I feel like I've grown to understand every one of the characters. I know Eli and Kevin's motives and ideals. I understand Cardiaxe is trying to have his own goals for accepting Damon's proposal. I also know that both heroes in the comic have significant others and have something to protect and strive for.
I like how the comic focuses on one battle with Cardiaxe and keeps it that way. You get little scenes of the series overarching plot here and there, but the fight takes center stage. Flaming axes, laser beams, and cool suit peripherals and gadgets give the issue a real Batman or Spiderman feel to it.
The art is pretty good. Roy Burdine and Grant Miehm do an excellent job with the detailing of the suits. They also know how to make villains look sinister and even give villains weight to show that they can't easily be taken care of. However, the art for women seems to be off. They seem to be lacking any definition what so ever and end up looking like stick figures. These were 90's comics so the quality of the ink isn't too good which doesn't really detract from anything. It's just something I noticed.
But lastly, Kevin Trench as Nightwatch doesn't seem like a great superhero which is probably why the series only lasted the amount of issues it did. He's just a man who found an awesome suit. He chooses to accept his destiny (which is dying fighting terrorists) which is a cool idea but kind of makes Kevin's journey predictable. But being a Batman fan, I can't help but like the idea of the suit taking center stage of the plot.
I still would read the whole series if I could find it. It's short and I like time travel.
Interesting Note:
The funniest thing I noticed in this comic is that the women are all portrayed as scared or surprise. Below are pieces of evidence straight from the comic book. One other thing that's funny is that I love how Cardiaxe is just Cardiac with red suit and an axe.
Nightwatch #7 (1994)
"Through mysterious means, Doctor Kevin Trench acquired a sophisticated battle suit of immense power. Failing to use the power adeptly his first time out, he withdrew from the world. But now he has come to realize that all it takes for evil to triumph is for good to give up and do nothing. Thus, Trench has become a grim crusader, poised to battle high-tech terror wherever and whenever it rears its head! Stan Lee presents...Nightwatch!"
Backstory:
Nightwatch was introduced into the Marvel universe back in 1993 in issue #99 of Web of Spider-Man. He inherited the suit from watching a man die fighting terrorists. To his own surprise, that man was himself. Like the blurb says, Trench took the suit and decided never to wear it. If he didn't wear it, he wouldn't die. But fate conspired against him and in no time he was using the suit to stop a criminal from stealing one of the suits' gloves. Afterwards, seeing that the suit was very sought after and powerful, Trench journeyed to find out more about the suit.
Nightwatch's own story spans about 12 issues and was designed as a closed loop comic book series. But just recently, he has been resurrected in the new She-Hulk comics. I might have to check them out.
Plot:
In this issue, Kevin Trench re-connects with his good friend, Dr. Eli Wirtham. Eli originally thought that Kevin was dead but to his surprise, Kevin phases into the building. I don't know what powers Nightwatch has, but this phasing through lightning is a pretty awesome ability. Yet it seemed pretty normal to Eli. Anyways, Eli senses that Kevin needs help with something (the suit he's been investigating) and lets him use the facility while he goes on a date with his girlfriend. Kevin summarizes that his uncle was able to help determine that nanites are what power the suits (and his own) of something called Project Sharkskin. Kevin tries to investigate who is involved in the making of these suits.
Meanwhile, the villain of this comic, Cardiaxe (not to be confused with Cardiac...who is a good guy?) ,taps into the power of the building Trench is in and cuts the power to the entire building. Kevin finds that there is still a light in Eli's office and goes to investigate when Cardiaxe stops him. In the dark, Kevin puts on the Nightwatch suit and does battle with Cardiaxe.
When Eli sees that the building has gone dark, he hastily leaves his date and investigates. In the next panels, Cardiac jumps into the fight between Nightwatch and Cardiaxe. At this point, I made the connection that Eli is Cardiac and that the light in Eli's office is his "secret lab."
This is also made clear by Damon. Damon is, or who I presume to be, the main villain in this series and was the one who sent Cardiaxe to find Eli's "synthetic research data." They specifically make it clear that Eli has a lab in his office. And somehow this data is instrumental in Project Sharkskin.
Anyways, Nightwatch and Cardiac make quick work of Cardiaxe. In an attempt of desperation, Cardiaxe tries to kill two cops who come to investigate but Cardiac jumps in the way of his axe and gets wounded. Due to Cardiaxe's actions, Cardiac wants revenge and tries to kill Cardiaxe. Cardiac tries to drop Cardiaxe from the sky but Nightwatch swoops in and saves the day. Despite not allowing Cardiaxe to die, Nightwatch doesn't get any information from him. Cardiac gets mad at Nightwatch but they both leave because the cops show up.
Apparently, when Cardiaxe fails at retrieving the data, Damon goes to New York with his crazily bandaged son. There's also some girl who is shocked that Kevin Trench is still alive. These events all have backstory that I am unaware of.
Review:
From what I can make of it, Nightwatch's run has a pretty brisk pace. Despite jumping into the series at issue #7, I feel like I've grown to understand every one of the characters. I know Eli and Kevin's motives and ideals. I understand Cardiaxe is trying to have his own goals for accepting Damon's proposal. I also know that both heroes in the comic have significant others and have something to protect and strive for.
I like how the comic focuses on one battle with Cardiaxe and keeps it that way. You get little scenes of the series overarching plot here and there, but the fight takes center stage. Flaming axes, laser beams, and cool suit peripherals and gadgets give the issue a real Batman or Spiderman feel to it.
The art is pretty good. Roy Burdine and Grant Miehm do an excellent job with the detailing of the suits. They also know how to make villains look sinister and even give villains weight to show that they can't easily be taken care of. However, the art for women seems to be off. They seem to be lacking any definition what so ever and end up looking like stick figures. These were 90's comics so the quality of the ink isn't too good which doesn't really detract from anything. It's just something I noticed.
I still would read the whole series if I could find it. It's short and I like time travel.
Interesting Note:
The funniest thing I noticed in this comic is that the women are all portrayed as scared or surprise. Below are pieces of evidence straight from the comic book. One other thing that's funny is that I love how Cardiaxe is just Cardiac with red suit and an axe.
(and what's the deal with that bandaged kid? He's like a kid mummy or something...)
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