1985 #01-06
Marvel Comics
Writer- Mark Millar
Artist- Tommy Lee Edwards
Released- July-December 2008

Scottish scribe Mark Millar must undoubtedly now be considered as an a-list comic book superstar author thanks to a succession of hits for Marvel, DC and Image Comics over the past five years, but his brand of balls-to-the-wall, no compromise and altogether darker superhero stories have picked up almost as many detractors as admirers. This hasn’t been helped by a definite inconsistency in quality in his work; compare the sublime, even groundbreaking modern super heroics of The Ultimates I & II, where Millar smartly recreates Marvel’s biggest super-team in a style so effectively contemporary that Marvel’s spent the last seven years trying to match it, with Image Comics’ Wanted, a miniseries so laughably mature and edgy that it reads like an unintentional parody of the medium (and publisher) itself; a Rob Liefeld comic for the twentieth century. Meanwhile, there was the universe-changing Civil War, in which the landscape of the Marvel universe was legitimately redefined, with Marvel’s current Dark Reign comic event a direct descendant. In summary, Millar isn’t a writer who does anything by halves, and he isn’t known for his subtlety; all of which makes last year’s 1985 miniseries a very pleasant surprise.

1985 just isn’t what you’d expect of a Mark Millar comic, and that’s immediate from the series’ start, as readers are introduced to mild-mannered Toby Goodman; an unpopular Peter Parker-like boy who lives in the ‘real world’ where Marvel superheroes are (we’re led to believe) fictional characters. Stylistic differences between 1985 and Millar’s typical previous work are apparant from the first few pages, where we see Toby discussing Marvel’s hot new series Secret Wars (this series, if you hadn’t guessed, is set in 1985) with a snarky comic shop assistant. The tone immediately seem calm and down-to-earth, with the comic fan dialogue coming across as realistic, yet somewhat charming. Within the course of the first issue, Millar continues to set the small-town USA tone, while establishing a plot of developing mysteriousness. In perhaps a homage to the start of a million children’s stories, it’s when Toby takes too much of an interest in a scary looking broken down old mansion that things begin to develop; from the outside looking up at a window, Toby see’s The Red Skull. Logically he dismisses the figure as a crazy in a costume, but when Toby returns he runs right into Dr. Doom, followed by the Hulk.

Without giving too much away of the plot (which isn’t overly complicated), Toby’s hometown is quickly overrun by a myriad of classic 80’s supervillains ranging from Stilt-Man to the Juggernaut to name just two of many, all of whom have transported from the Marvel Universe to the real world, somehow thanks to the mysterious Clyde Wyncham; a former schoolmate of Toby’s fathers. With the real world in danger of destruction, it comes down to Toby to save it; if he can gain the help of some familiar heroic faces. As I said it’s a fairly simple plot with a basic premise, but it’s been composed so carefully and stylistically well that I think it’s one of the best things Marvel’s released in recent years. Rather than relying on his usual overabundance of edgy, cynical characters, Millar focus’ the events of 1985 through the perspective of his likable and innocent young lead, and by extension allows the reader to take a look at these classic/tired-old (delete as appropriate) characters from a refreshingly different perspective, and injecting a real sense of wonder into things. Almost as crucially, Millar doesn’t spend too much time on any one invading villain, nor does he use them to insert any unnecessary early exposition.

Just as important as the writing in this book is the art, which is all beautiful. Artist Tommy Lee Edwards isn’t someone I really know all that much about, and who, on paper (wiki-paper, to be more accurate) doesn’t have the greatest bibliography, but his work here is constantly superb, and it’s a fantastic stylistic match to the tone of the writing. Each frame of the series seems lovingly hand-drawn with an expressive detailed sketch-like style evoking an imaginative, mythical feeling, with carefully-considered pastel-like colours expressing both the normality of a small-town setting and then the vivid powerfulness of the brightly-costumed Marvel villains like Electro and Fin Fang Foom (who, upon proofreading, is actually a talking dragon and thus doesn’t wear a costume).

Though elements from 1985 crop up in Millar’s more recent work in the main Marvel universe (his run with Bryan Hitch on Fantastic Four, if you’re interested), 1985 is best read as a lovingly-crafted miniseries where the author reigns in his past tendencies of epic shock and awe for an expansive character tale that’s a refreshingly imaginative look at iconic Marvel characters from the eyes of a lead character who represents generation after generation of young readers fascinated by the magic and majesty of this over-the-top genre of fiction. Millar and Edwards hit, in my opinion, career highs here, and they do so through resisting current trends in super heroics that were much defined by Millar himself. Highly recommended for both hardcore comic fans and those looking for a continuity-less imaginative intro to the potential magic of superheroes.

9/10