Last year, in my possibly-too-long post about Darkhawk, I mentioned the Marvel Unlimited service. I hadn't read many comics through Marvel Unlimited since that post, which made me wonder if I should just cancel my subscription. Around the middle of February, though, I opened the weekly email they send out about newly-added comics, and noticed that one of the additions that week was a 4-issue Iceman mini-series originally published in 1984.
If I was going to get back into reading Marvel Unlimited, a nice and short series seemed like a good place to start. So one evening, after all my chores were done, I started reading Iceman. And to my surprise, I really enjoyed it! I thought it had more depth than the typical comic book story. It was written by Marc DeMatteis, so I looked up what else he had written that was also available through Marvel Unlimited, and I found nothing. Bummer! How could there be nothing else from him among the 17,000+ comics that were available?
I turned to Wikipedia instead, and there I discovered that Marc DeMatteis is really John Marc DeMatteis, who is better known as J.M. DeMatteis, who is a well-known comic book writer. In fact, when I originally saw that Marc wrote Iceman, I briefly wondered if he was J.M.'s brother. Turns out they are the same person.
There were many comics written by J.M. in Marvel Unlimited, so I had lots of options of what to read next. Over the next several days I read a few annuals he wrote. They were decent. Then, one night right before bed, I read Defenders #110.
It left me shocked and stunned at how fantastic it was! The story centered on some guy named Devil-Slayer, who I'd never heard of before. Was he a super-hero? A super-villain? Just some guy with a magic cape? I didn't know. All I knew is that he was on the brink of suicide, consumed with guilt because his actions caused the death of an innocent man. As he struggled with his guilt, he kept trying to annihilate himself in the depths of outer space, but kept teleporting to safety at the last second. The ending was very touching, as he found salvation of a sort, with the help of his estranged wife. It was one of the best comics I'd ever read!
I did a quick internet search and found that #110 was right in the middle of the issues J.M. wrote for Defenders. Marvel Unlimited did not have anything earlier than #110, but all of J.M.'s issues up to that point were collected in a graphic novel, which Amazon had for $25. I almost ordered it on impulse right then, but decided to wait.
Over the next few days I did more research and found that J.M. had written a lot of comics. As I scrolled through the long list of them, I did a double-take when I saw he wrote Moonshadow:
I read Moonshadow years ago, probably during our Colorado days. I must have checked it out of the library. I don't remember much about it, but the experience of reading it has haunted me ever since. After all these years, I still think about it from time to time, and marvel at how strange it was. I think I liked it, but to be honest I'm not totally sure. I vaguely recall not knowing what to think about it. Regardless, reading it was quite an experience. When I learned that J.M. wrote Moonshadow, it felt like all the pieces of a puzzle finally fell into place, but it was a puzzle I didn't realize I was trying to solve!
A few days later, out of the blue, I received a $25 Amazon gift card. After a couple of microseconds of consideration, I immediately ordered the Defenders graphic novel that collected issues #92 through #109. I started reading it as soon as it arrived, and as if I needed any further validation that I enjoy J.M.'s writing, the very first issue he wrote, #92, is titled:
This instantly struck a deep chord for me, because way back in 9th grade English class, we had to write our autobiography. I titled mine:ETERNITY... HUMANITY... OBLIVION!
Great minds think alike?
I'm almost done reading the Defenders graphic novel, and it has not disappointed. I've found parts of it to be remarkably sophisticated.
With more internet research, I learned that J.M. is also a long-time blogger. In one blog post, he ranked some of the comics he's written, and he listed his Iceman mini-series as one of his worst! He says it started out promising but, by the end, had "shattered into a thousand pathetic pieces." I find it funny, and telling, that one of his worst stories was good enough to get me hooked on his writing! Many of his other works look fascinating, and I'm excited at the thought of reading them.
And finally, perhaps needless to say, I'm not cancelling my Marvel Unlimited subscription!