Planetary – Absolute Edition Volume 1 for $47.25
A Warren Ellis story about the mysteries of the world? Don’t mind if I do!
This finished up a few months ago, it’s being released again soon in Absolute Edition format, what better time to read it again? The series was written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by John Cassaday.
This comic is all about the hidden mysteries of the world. What everyone sees has little to do with the truth of what’s going on and the Planetary organization is investigating each and every mystery. The Planetary group consists of three primary members, with each member having super powers. Though the powers aren’t terribly unique, the powers aren’t the central part of the story.
The best thing about this series is it constantly finds a way to show how imaginative it is. While there are many references to archtypes of comic characters and even individual recognizable characters, the series is far more clever than just that. It works because of the great mystery. You start to realize that every major character ties into the questions of the world. These villains you might have considered Fantastic Four ripoff characters are actually rather interesting, this guy that has powers like Iceman actually has depth, and so on. Think of it less about superheroes and more X-Files with powers, if the grand conspiracy in X-Files hadn’t been a disappointment.
The art, while slightly rough earlier on, consistently delivers after a few issues in. I’m not the biggest fan of Cassaday, but I felt he was a good choice here. No doubt his art will look gorgeous on the larger format Absolute edition.
4.5/5. A great read all around, especially since it weighs in at just 27 issues and has a satisfying conclusion. It’s completely worth it to get both volumes of the Absolute edition. It’s also worth noting that the last time they released this, it sold out fairly quickly and was going for double to triple retail price.
Planetary – Absolute Edition Volume 2 for $47.25
