Wednesday is Comic Day!

When Marvel announced The Twelve they said it would be a 12 issue mini-series. I promptly forgot and bought the hardback with the first six issues in it. I therefore have what feels like the beginning of a story - but it is a beginning that I’ve quite enjoyed. (Note: I’ve since learned that both the writer and artist are so busy with Hollywood projects that the ending is delayed).

Readers have long commented on Marvel’s inability to capitalize on their early work (well, that of their predecessor, Timely Comics, to be more accurate). DC has many heroes from pre-WWII, while Marvel only has a handful of WWII heroes (i.e. Captain America). This work addresses those comments. The story tells the tale of 12 heroes, fighting against Hitler, in WWII, that get trapped and cryogenically frozen for 60 years. They are awoken in the modern Marvel Universe. Each of these characters actually appeared in books in the early 1940s. It isn’t at all necessary to know this to enjoy the book, but it adds something special once you have learned this. The Twelve are: The Blue Blade, the Black Widow, Captain Wonder, Dynamic Man, Electro, the Fiery Mask, the Laughing Mask, Master Mind Excello, Mister E, the Phantom Reporter, Rockman, and the Witness. The predominant narrator is, appropriately, the Phantom Reporter - although the story does branch off into storylines for which the Phantom Reporter is not there - those tend to stay in third person. Chris Weston was the perfect choice for this book. As he demonstrated in Red Menace; he has the ability to capture the time period. I look forward to the second volume, with issues 7-12.