REVIEW: THE ORDER #1

BY AJ DAZZY D

            The newest edition to the Marvel Initiative line is as interesting as it is doomed.  The Order is tag lined as the 50 state super-team Initiative’s crown jewel of.  In reality, it is a “high concept”, which is, as Dave’s Long Box explains, a simple, one sentence wicked/cool idea that sums up the plot, for example:  “Hugh great white terrorizes new England beach town,” “Time Cop,” or “Superheroes take over the world.”  It practical writes itself.  In this case, in issue one the book names the high concept by putting the words “super hero American Idol” in the mouth of a reporter badgering Tony Stark.  It is a cool idea, though not great white terrorizing cool.  In the Order, ordinary heroes are trained into a pool of candidates and then nano-tech evolved to super-heroes for a one year stint.  Reality show meets super-team is an interesting concept, but will it cut it?  Probably not.
            Picking up issue one the reader immediately notices some negatives.  First off, in weeks in which the entire Marvel Universe in embroiled in a little, teensy project called World War Hulk the Order has not one mention of the not-so-jolly green giant.  Secondly, they have a giant faceless robot, which is never a good sign if Spitfire and the Troubleshooters are any example.  Further, one of the team members doesn’t appear on the cover.  “Heavy” the group’s aptly named brawn is suspiciously missing, and considering they do have a giant faceless robot what do they really need him for?  Being able to predict a character’s future departure from the cover art isn’t a good sign either.  The cover does have a female character running dead center—running although it is clear she can fly; in fact, she says in the book she wants to fly the most—at such an angle as to put her cleavage at the composition’s focal point.  The alternate cover is midriff city.  Confidence not inspired by this blatant pandering the reader might open up to page one to be confronted by a talky beginning. 
Here’s the short version:  A heretofore never seen best friend and AA sponsor to Tony Stark is being interviewed by some documentary types—he’s the leader of the team.  The interview makes for a nice little bookend, but the main story starts with a classic double page splash and role-call of heroes.  Pepper Potts has the telepathic eye-in-the-sky stuff covered; Stark handles the big picture.  The group saves L.A. and most go drinking only to be hypocritically fired by Stark for the screw-up.  So we get a whole new line up and role call.  This could be boring but the book does a good job of selling it (good thing, too, because if they didn’t get that bit of business right the entire book would collapse).  The gutting of the team plays like some shock disqualification from a reality show. 

cover to The Order #2 from Marvel Comics

            The final team is quickly jammed together and then attacked by baddies for a (not so) nail-biting cliff hanger ending.  Based on the pantheon each team member has unique powers.  Newsflash: the powers are stupid and they don’t matter.  There’s really no introduction.  They all are supposedly heroes or do charity work, or something, but only the wheelchair bound veteran even gets a resume cite.  Who they are doesn’t matter.  Remember:  American Idol.  It is all about the challenges, the backstabbing; the “don’t screw up” factor.  When they go to get “evolved” they literally say were not going to screw this up.  They literally say we’re not going out like the last team.  Its addiction and secret romance and dirty pictures they did in college.  Pepper Potts about jumped the team leader.  At the end of the issue, some crazy, old villains show up from no where and with no apparent motive during a press conference.  Convenient?  Yes.  But that works because this isn’t a superhero story.  We don’t care about the characters yet, we care about the story.  Like an elseworld or a “what if…” the fun is seeing what happens.  Better yet, like a Suicide-Squad or a Villains United type book there’s an aura of new possibilities for this plot.  Nothing is canon, nothing is sacred.  The reader is more interested in if they will “not screw up” than if there’s any real danger from these villains, some of who date back to when having a misshapen head was considered a power.  Is it possible Stark sent these villains to take a fall in front of the cameras?  Sure, that could be.  Anything’s possible in this kind of story.
            The real opportunity is the ending.  The team leader is back on the interview seat and asked if he’s afraid to die.  He gives a regular answer and then jokingly asks, “Should I be?”  Oh, yes; please let the dying begin.  That would be smart.  We as comic readers don’t really get a whole lot of good fictional death.  You have your standard “major villain dies with body never recovered for future resurfacing” death, and then your “third-rate/henchmen death,” and then your “grab all the money you can stuff in your shorts major hero death event.”  But these are supped up regular people, Marvel can’t be hoping against hope for a Mulholland Black spin-off.  Plus, they can only be heroes for one year for safety reasons, so, boom, the have a built-in shelf-life as characters.  Build it up, make it fun, and then kill one of them off.  Blindside the reader.  Will it happen?  Nah, firing the starting line-up and that was an interesting and well played plot, but killing off main characters abruptly like Wash in Serenity (if you haven’t seen it by now it is your own fault)?  Marvel ain’t got the guts.
            Still, this concept has some grit and the format seems predictable:  each issue will have a new member in the confessional—their using the reality show play book step by step.  Ladies and gentlemen we have a decent premise.  Reading this book one might wonder if Marvel will up the ante and squeeze this concept for all the drama it can or if it will just fade out.  At least the issue didn’t consist of a plane ride with Wolverine spouting off like Batman about conspiracies and suspects—I though he mostly killed people and forgot things.  So, while the story isn’t exactly the coming of Galactus nor is the writing beyond compare the smart money is on two, maybe three decent issues before any possible novelty is sucked out of the story and replaced with the rigimortis of predictability sets in.