NICK FURY/BLACK WIDOW CYBERCOMIC - 1998

Jungle Warfare - Chapter One

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Nick Fury is informed that the government’s Gamega Bomb has been hidden away in South America since the 1970s. He travels with Black Widow and a crew of young SHIELD agents to retrieve it. Using Black Widow’s sex appeal, the team easily recovers the bomb from the local authorities. However, an unknown villain has targeted Black Widow and Fury.

Continuity Note: As explained by Fury, the Gamega Bomb is a combination gamma bomb and nuke designed during the Cold War and planted near the Panama Canal.

Review: Hey, Casey Jones drew one of the cybercomics! While I’m glad to see him on the assignment, I doubt he drew the extremely crude aircraft we see in this chapter. The panels that feature the Helicarrier and SHIELD jets are the kind of amateur work you might expect in an on-line exclusive comic; a very low standard I haven’t seen the cybercomics sink to yet. In a world that still had Ron Wagner and Herb Trimpe actively drawing comics (or at least looking for work), it’s a shame that these childish drawings of aircraft were used. However, I’m dwelling on a handful of panels; the rest of this work looks fine. Casey Jones’ interpretations of Black Widow and Fury are on par with the solid artwork he was doing for Marvel at the time, and Chichester seems to be having fun with the story’s simple premise. Opening the chapter with a cartoony flashback to the ‘70s was also a cute surprise.

Jungle Warfare - Chapter Two

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: The SHIELD craft is struck down by a group known as the Tyrannicals. They demand Fury give up the Gamega Bomb, and he refuses. A SHIELD agent notices that the crash has armed the bomb. In a less than a day, it will detonate and destroy the rainforest.

Continuity Notes: The Tyrannicals consist of Scarrific (the large, strong one), Paingiver (a female with electric whip), and their leader, Torcher (a pyrokinetic; apparently, the flames generate from the top of his head).

Review: Ugh, more crude vehicles. Not just aircraft, but now we’re treated to sloppy renditions of the Tyrannicals’ ATVs. I have no idea why the vehicles in this story are so poorly rendered; I realize that the art in the cybercomics wasn’t done in a wholly traditional manner (notice that no one’s been credited as an inker so far), but I don’t understand why this requires the vehicles to look like something drawn in MS Paint. Anyway, this is an action chapter, introducing the reader to a throwaway group of villains called the Tyrannicals. They apparently want the Gamega Bomb right this second, even though they’ve had decades to easily dig it out of the ground without facing heavily armed SHIELD agents. Okay, fine. Now, have I mentioned that all of the vehicles in this story look like crap?

Jungle Warfare - Chapter Three

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Fury, Black Widow, and the last surviving SHIELD agent, Kyle Fleming, try to find some way to contact headquarters and receive information on disarming the bomb. They’re ambushed by the Tyrannicals, who combine their powers to box Fury and the others into a fire.

Review: This is the only installment so far that actually brings any of the standard “stranded in the jungle” tropes into the story, as Fleming is attacked by an anaconda and rescued by Black Widow. Surprisingly, this isn’t used as an opportunity to reference a certain cinema classic that starred Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, and Ice Cube. (Actually, that’s another movie I’ve never seen.) The scene’s apparently just here to justify setting the story in the jungle, since it doesn’t advance the main plot in any way. At the end of the chapter, the characters are essentially in the same place they were last installment.

Jungle Warfare - Chapter Four

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Casey Jones (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Fury, Black Widow, and Fleming escape from the Tyrannicals and hide inside an abandoned smuggler’s den. Fleming uses his technological expertise to send information on the antique bomb through the home’s satellite to SHIELD’s headquarters. Meanwhile, Black Widow and Fury defeat the Tyrannicals. Fleming receives the proper information and the bomb is disarmed.

Review: Okay, Fury believes in agent Fleming even when Fleming doubts himself, Fleming rises to the challenge, and the day is saved. This clearly isn’t deep, but it’s a reasonable amount of character work given the format. Chichester actually bothered to give Fleming a defined role in the plot, which is more than you can say for most writers who use throwaway SHIELD agents in their stories. Jungle Warfare is probably the most entertaining of the cybercomic serials I’ve read so far. The material still hasn’t risen past the level of an annual backup, but it’s fun to read and the art is nice. Except for, you know, those things…

BLADE CYBERCOMIC - 1998

Blade

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors),  Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: A young vampire attempts to recruit a new bloodsucker by describing the excessive lifestyle they live thanks to Deacon Frost. The only downside is the vampire hunter Blade, who suddenly appears and kills the vampire and his female companions.

Review: Confession -- I’ve never seen any of the Blade films. I have no good reason for never seeing them, either. (And I realize that Blade is significant for being the first Marvel movie that didn’t look embarrassing and actually turned a profit.) I’m sure I had an opportunity to see the first one, but didn’t feel like it at the time and never bothered to go back to it. Every few years, a new sequel or TV series would continue the franchise, and I ignored them because I never saw the first movie. For some reason, the sequels are rerun continuously on various cable channels, but the first movie always seems to be ignored. Of course, if I really wanted to see the movie, I know I could at any time, but I’ve never felt any real motivation to do so.

As you might’ve guessed this was a short created to promote the 1998 Blade movie. There are a few vague references to the Book of Erebus, which I’m assuming is a plot device in the film, but aside from this brief diversion, this could easily be read as a standalone story. Chichester has a clever premise for the short; a bratty young vampire recruits you, the reader, into the world of vampirism. Apparently, you rule the city, “recruiting” all of the women you want, with a compliant police force that’s too cowardly to stand in the way of your fun. The only snag is someone called Blade, though, who conveniently arrives to kill all of the characters in the final few panels. And, as crude as this animation can be, the sequence of Blade’s stakes and shuriken (?) hitting the vampires does look pretty cool. I wasn’t expecting much from a quickie move tie-in, but it’s actually worth reading.

DAREDEVIL CYBERCOMIC - PROTECTION RACKET 1998

Chapter One

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Daredevil meets with Federal Prosecutor Malper, who informs him that a Southwestern racketeer named Badlands is moving into New York. He seeks to make a name for himself by killing the Kingpin. Meanwhile, Badlands hires Bullseye for the job.

I Love the '90s: Daredevil asks Malper if the Justice Department has gotten tired of going after Microsoft.

Review: I have mixed feelings about D. G. Chichester’s Daredevil run, but I’ll readily admit that I enjoyed several of his issues. The cybercomic format doesn’t exactly indulge his propensity for overly complicated plotlines narrated by stream of consciousness rambling, so hopefully we’ll get a simple, clean Daredevil story out of this. The opening chapter mainly serves to introduce the concept of Daredevil and his alter ego. The conflict that’s created has a lot of potential, though; a part of Daredevil absolutely wants Kingpin dead, making this a mission he’d rather not take. Bullseye’s relationship with his former employer is another avenue Chichester can explore. I seem to recall Bullseye still trying to win Kingpin’s favor back in the ‘90s, so I’m interested to see where Chichester goes with this.

Chapter Two

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Daredevil sneaks into the Kingpin’s office, warning him of Badlands. Kingpin ignores his warning and leaves his skyscraper. On his way out, Bullseye strikes his limo with a rocket. Daredevil attacks Bullseye as Kingpin tries to escape the car.

“Huh?” Moment: Police Commissioner Tanner appears on the news, openly calling the Kingpin a criminal and stating that the police won’t protect him from Badlands. If the police are so confident in Wilson Fisk’s guilt, why are they putting no effort into arresting him?

Review: Well, Bullseye certainly got to the Kingpin fast. There isn’t a great confrontation between the pair in this installment, and the acknowledgment of their past together consists of Kingpin calmly telling Bullseye he’s chosen the wrong side of the fight this time. No great surprises in the Daredevil/Kingpin confrontation, either. On a very basic level this is fine, but I wish Chichester was getting more depth out of the material. (And some of the corny dialogue is cropping up again: “Just ‘cause you dress like a devil doesn’t mean you can stand the heat, red!” “Let’s see who gets burned…”) I did enjoy Daerick Gross’s artwork in this chapter, though. Since this was originally posted in 1998, I’m assuming that the Joe Quesada rendition of Daredevil was considered the “official” one; it’s a style Gross handles quite well.

Chapter Three

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Daredevil rescues Kingpin from Bullseye, but is maimed by one of Bullseye’s projectiles. Later, Bullseye assures an annoyed Badlands that Kingpin will die.

Review: Wow, if the previous chapters didn’t make the Quesada influence obvious, you’d have to be blind not to see it here. Regarding the story, this is the fight chapter, and it’s executed well enough. Chichester actually does manage to work in some of his stream of consciousness ramblings in this chapter, but it works as an effective dramatization of Daredevils’ wound.

Chapter Four

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (penciler), Atomic Paintbrush (colors), Comicraft’s Liz Agraphiotis (letters)

Summary: Bullseye kills the hospital’s power, sneaking into the Kingpin’s room as Daredevil has his wound examined. Daredevil reaches the Kingpin in time to save him from Bullseye, and afterward threatens to make Kingpin pay his debt at a later date.

Review: Oddly enough, Chichester throws out an idea in the final chapter that could’ve carried its own story. A doctor informs Daredevil that he has “synesthesia” following the hit on his head in the previous chapter. The temporary condition causes his senses to become cross-wired, causing him to “feel” shapes, “see” colors, etc. Why Chichester introduces this idea and does nothing with it, I don’t know, but it could make for a great Daredevil story (for all I know, someone might’ve already used the idea in the past.) Regarding the conclusion of the story, there’s not much here. Daredevil defeats Bullseye with barely any effort, tells Kingpin that he now has a marker against him, and that’s the end. I wasn’t honestly expecting a full Frank Miller angst parade regarding Daredevil’s decision to protect the man who’s previously destroyed his life, but a little more depth would’ve been nice.

CAPTAIN AMERICA/IRON MAN - INVASION FORCE

Chapter One

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Comicraft’s Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

Summary: A mysterious spacecraft has landed on Earth. Captain America interrupts Tony Stark’s date and asks for Iron Man’s help investigating it. The duo locates the craft, unaware of a shadowy figure nearby.

Approved By The Comics Code Authority: Actually, this isn’t a published comic, so it was never CCA approved. However, I’m assuming Marvel wanted this to be all-ages friendly, so I was slightly surprised to see Captain America making what appear to be veiled references to Tony Stark’s erection, and Tony promising to show Cap a video of what he’s about to do with his date.

Review: This is closer to the D. G. Chichester I remember from Daredevil. A lot of snarky dialogue and world weary heroes, with a few lines thrown in to assure us that the old friends are just giving each other a hard time. Reading this today, it’s easy to hear Robert Downey, Jr.’s Iron Man speaking this dialogue. It doesn’t quite match up with Kurt Busiek’s interpretation from this era, though, and it’s slightly disappointing to see Rumiko Fujikawa ignored in favor of an interchangeable bimbo. Anyway, the dialogue is pretty clever and the mystery is quickly set up for the next installment, so it’s a perfectly okay opening chapter.

Chapter Two

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Comicraft’s Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

Summary: Captain America and Iron Man are attacked by gas when they open the spacecraft. After Iron Man shuts it down, Cap overhears a cry for help. They rescue the alien Mendak, who’s trapped under heavy debris. He explains that his race of traders crashed on Earth after passing through a wormhole. As the heroes help repair the alien ship, Mendak plots their death.

I Love the '90s: During the opening, the narrative captions advise the heroes to follow a politician’s advice and “don’t inhale.”

Review: D. G. Chichester does use Iron Man’s various weaponry in a clever way during the opening, but the rest of the chapter is rather dull. At least the heroes are smart enough to be suspicious of Mendak, but this is starting to read like a lesser Stan Lee story from the Silver Age. Heroes find aliens, heroes help aliens, heroes learn aliens are evil…not very inspiring, is it?

Chapter Three

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Comicraft’s Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

Summary: As Iron Man and Captain America help repair the ship, Mendak distracts them with offers to travel into space with the aliens. Later, contaminated elements underneath the ship explode. The heroes confront Mendak, who turns a weapon on them.

Review: Some character drama is introduced into the story, as Captain America and Iron Man are given the option of abandoning Earth and joining this mysterious alien civilization in space. Iron Man has a more compelling reason than Cap, since leaving Earth would release him from his numerous business and philanthropic responsibilities and enable him to explore science in a way he’s never been able to before. Cap’s dilemma is simply that his value system is increasingly viewed as outdated in his own country, so perhaps an alien culture would be a better place to fight for his ideals. Chichester handles Iron Man’s quandary quite well, but understandably, it’s hard to come up with a believable rationale for why Captain America would not only leave his country, but the entire planet. At any rate, this chapter has the strongest character work of the serial and it’s nice to see the storyline diverge a bit from a predictable formula.

Chapter Four

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Comicraft’s Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

Summary: Mendak reveals that the “crashed” ship is actually a mechanical parasite that’s turning Earth’s elements into poison. Iron Man develops a plan that sends Cap into the ship’s maintenance hatch, where he struggles to trigger the emergency override of the star drive. Cap succeeds, sending the spacecraft and the Ravelians back into space.

Review: And now we’re back to predictable formula. The aliens are evil, the heroes struggle really hard to defeat the aliens, and the aliens are kicked off Earth. I realize that the standards for a free webcomic on a company’s official website are already pretty low, but that doesn’t mean the serial has to actively live down to the expectations. When Chichester makes an effort to flesh out the heroes, the story feels like an authentic Cap/Iron Man team-up, but unfortunately the bulk of the story is wasted on a goofy, yet humorless, alien invasion story. Taskmaster wasn’t available? The visuals are also disappointing, as Daerick Gross’ art is covered in simplified inking and coloring that wouldn’t pass muster in a published comic.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN CYBERCOMIC

Sandblasted - Chapter One

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

The Plot: Peter Parker is sent to cover a sandcastle building contest on Coney Island, judged by J. Jonah Jameson. Meanwhile, Sandman’s mole Skratchetti informs him that a local freakshow is being shipped a priceless mirror. Sandman steals the mirror from the freaks, but is confronted by Spider-Man.

The Subplots: Peter initially plans to spend his paycheck on a date with Betty, but realizes that he must help Aunt May with the bills.

Web of Continuity: Peter is still wearing glasses, living with Aunt May, and pursuing Betty during this story. Clearly, this is another “Untold Tale” even if it’s not officially labeled that way.

Review: I used to wonder why Marvel never reprinted these Cybercomics, but now I can understand why. Although each page initially looks like a standard comic book page (with most of the panels grayed out), I’ve discovered that hitting the space bar doesn’t automatically unlock the next panel. Instead, new word balloons often pop up in the existing panel. If Marvel did reprint this on paper, each individual panel would probably have to be blown up to almost a full page to make room for all of the dialogue. Plus, there’s the cheap “animation” that has new characters occasionally popping into existing panels after hitting the space bar. The reader would be stuck with a “repeating images” page of a static Peter and Betty having a mundane conversation that ends with a final panel with the same image, only now Jonah is leaning over the wall, telling them to get back to work.

In regards to content, this might not be worth reprinting anyway. At this point in the story, we’re still on the level of an annual backup, or a Fruity Peebles free comic giveaway. Perhaps Chichester has more planned, but right now all we have is a freakshow that’s somehow received a priceless picture frame, which makes them targets of the Sandman. As for the subplots, Peter must help Aunt May with the bills yet again, and he has to endure Flash kicking sand in his face while on his Daily Bugle assignment. This…isn’t riveting. Some of the jokes are amusing, though, and Daerick Gross’ artwork isn’t bad. (Although I question his decision to clad teenage Flash in a very tiny speed-o).

Sandblasted - Chapter Two

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

The Plot: The supernatural mirror rips Sandman into numerous pieces. He takes advantage of his multiple bodies and proceeds to attack Spider-Man. When mini-Sandmen clog his webshooters, Spider-Man is forced to crash into a rollercoaster car. The Sandmen destroy a portion of the tracks, sending Spider-Man’s car racing towards the crowd below.

Review: Wait, now the mirror’s supernatural? Like it wasn’t odd enough that a freakshow ended up with a jewel and diamond-encrusted mirror in the first place? Anyway, this is a half-way decent action chapter, which benefits a lot by the tiny Sandman clones. Having Spider-Man fight Sandman on the beach is just a painfully obvious idea, but the tiny Sandmen help to add another element to the story. The cliffhanger isn’t bad, either.

Sandblasted - Chapter Three

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

The Plot: Spider-Man escapes the car and uses his webbing to throw it away from the crowd. He grabs a mallet from one of the attractions and uses it to bat the Sandmen into the beach. The Sandmen realize that they can now absorb more of the sand, and each other, to form a giant Sandman.

The Subplots: Spider-Man catches Flash flirting with Betty, which reignites his insecurities that Betty is out of his league.

Review: Oh, that’s just cheap. Spider-Man gets out of the last installment’s cliffhanger by using his webshooters, the same webshooters that the Sandmen had hopelessly clogged up just a few seconds earlier. It’s amusing to see him throw the car into a giant recreation of J. Jonah Jameson’s head, but the scene still feels like a copout. The “Oh no, Flash is makin’ time with my girl!” sequence also feels tired. It’s nice to see a reminder of Peter’s insecurities, even in the middle of a supervillain fight, but I’d like to think Chichester can dream up better dialogue than “It makes sense Betty would go for a ‘hunk’ type like Flash! She’d never want to hook up with a longtime ‘nothing’ like Peter Parker!”

Sandblasted - Chapter Four

Credits: D. G. Chichester (writer), Daerick Gross (artist), Liz Agrophiotis (letterer), Atomic Paintbrush (colors)

The Plot: Spider-Man grabs the mysterious mirror and points it at Sandman again. Sandman is reverted to his normal size and blasted into the ocean. Spider-Man picks up his camera, but discovers his film has melted in the summer heat.

The Subplots: When Peter sees Flash is still talking to Betty, he walks away from their planned date. Unbeknownst to him, Betty is politely trying to get away from Flash.

Review: Well, that’s certainly a very Stan Lee ending. Chichester’s efforts to evoke the Lee/Ditko era of Spidey have largely failed, but the ending does capture a bit of the genuine sadness that permeated those comics. This is still far from Untold Tales of Spider-Man, though. The main plot remains dopey, requiring that unexplained magic mirror to do whatever the story needs it to, and there’s rarely any sense that Sandman is a real threat to Spider-Man. I don’t think Chichester’s sensibilities necessarily fit “classic” Spider-Man, though, so hopefully the other Cybercomics won’t be so disappointing.

Now, in conclusion, please try to keep this image out of your nightmares:

WOLVERINE: INNER FURY - November 1992

Credits: D.G. Chichester (writer), Bill Sienkiewicz (art), Michael Heisler (letters), Sherilyn van Valkenburgh (colors)

Summary: Wolverine learns from Nick Fury that Hydra has targeted him. Soon, Wolverine is attacked by Hydra agents, who slice into his adamantium bones with a nanotech-infested sword. He’s rescued by a bounty hunter named Big, who’s been trailing Hydra. As the nanotech virus infects Wolverine, his healing factor fades away and his body begins to reject the adamantium. Big accompanies him on a mission to find the Whale, a defected Hydra scientist who might be able to help. After finally locating the Whale, Wolverine learns that Big is actually a Hydra agent who’s used him to track down the rogue scientist. Near death, Wolverine thrusts his claws into his own brain, which forces his immune system to reboot. He recovers as Big tries to dispose of his body with a chainsaw. When the chainsaw hits adamantium, Big dies in the ensuing accident.

Production Note: This is a $5.95, forty-eight page prestige format one-shot.

Review: This is what happens when the prestige books get artistic. The summary listed above is a charitable approximation of what appears to be happening in the book, as the creators seem determined to make the entire comic as impenetrable as possible. Along with the basic story of Hydra duping Wolverine into tracking down a turncoat scientist, the creators throw in the shadow of a voluptuous woman assigned to kill the Whale (who turns out to be Big, whose little hovercraft casts a shadow that resembles Christina Hendricks’ figure), dream sequences that cast Wolverine as Captain Ahab, and endless pages of scientists spouting tech-babble at one another. The fight scenes are also nearly impossible to make out, and Whale and Big are given such similar designs (tiny men with big, pointy noses), it’s hard to tell them apart at first. I seem to recall Chichester pulling similar stunts on Daredevil, particularly in the issues Scott McDaniel drew. I can respect the desire to create something higher than an easy read, but confusion for confusion’s sake is just annoying. I also wonder if the byzantine storytelling was partially motivated by a need to cover the lackluster plot. Big’s the one who leads Wolverine on the mission to find Whale, yet the story points out that Wolverine’s enhanced senses aren’t working well due to the nannite infection, so it’s not as if Wolverine’s in a condition to be tracking anyone anyway. Why exactly was Wolverine involved in this mess in the first place?