Saturday Splash Page #120

 

"Call-Out Post," in Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #2, by Michael Avon Oeming and Dan Berman (writers), Andrea Di Vito (artist), Laura Villari (color artist), Chris Eliopoulos (letterer)

Released in 2005, around the time Thor was being shelved for a couple years via a Ragnarok, this mini-series sees Beta Ray Bill return to his duties as protector of the Korbinites, right when they need him the most. Galactus has arrived, though the Korbinites see him as Ashta, a great destroyer god of their religion (Di Vito draws this as sort of giant purple jellyfish or flagellate protozoan), and he's hungry. As usual.

Worse, Big G has himself a new herald, and Stardust might be the worst of the lot. Stardust carries a religious fervor in its devotion to Galactus, so much so it regards beings refusing to be eaten as an affront. Not just those who try to fight Galactus. Even the Korbinites who are trying to flee, Stardust is intent on eradicating.

While it makes sense Galactus finds such devotion desirable in his herald, after all the others were either too self-serving or too moral, it still annoys me. Galactus knows this is happening and does nothing to stop it, which puts a lie to all those, "Galactus only does what he must," and "Galactus takes no pleasure in it," soliloquies. Then tell your herald not to finish off the genocide you start, you purple jackass.

Between Stardust and a Korbinite religious order that dislikes how Bill talks up the Asgardians, Beta Ray can't save the planet. But he puts up enough of a fight - including one bit where he slams Stardust into an asteroid, then uses Stormbreaker to drive Stardust's own spear through its chest - protecting the survivors, transferred into the glowy orb up there, that Stardust ups the ante to the point of endangering the entire universe by releasing some nightmare creature. The creature, called Asteroth, presents itself as a lady with bat wings and a Witchblade-esque costume. Di Vito didn't bring much of an other-dimensional hellbeast energy to that design.

It feels as though the mini-series kind of goes off the rails there. One too many additional elements, as Bill and Stardust team-up to try and fix Stardust's mess, and mostly fail. Asteroth is ultimately defeated, but Bill and his ship Skuttlebutt end up in some white void, thanked by mysterious beings for their efforts, and at Bill's request, sent to Asgard. Which is destroyed. So much for re-settling the surviving Korbinites there. Oh, and Asteroth hid its essence in the orb and feasted on the souls within. So much for there being any Korbinites to re-settle.

The end result is, Bill is reborn on Earth, in the body of a homeless man that's just died. He's still got Stormbreaker, and can transform into his traditional horse-face form (albeit with a new costume that mostly involves a more elaborate helm and no cape.)

I feel like most of this was ignored. I'm not sure Beta Ray Bill appeared in anything until JMS brought Thor back in 2007. Kieron Gillen referenced Galactus eating the Korbinites' home in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter, but Bill describes the bit about nearly dying on Asgard and seeing some mysterious cloaked figure take what was left of the meta-orb as possibly just a hallucination.

Sunday Splash Page #79

"Goin' Cosmic", in Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #2, by Kieron Gillen (writer), Kano (penciler), Alvaro Lopez (inker), Javier Rodriguez (colorist), Nate Piekos (letterer)

Godhunter came out in 2009, and pulls together several developments from other stories and events. The Korbinites (Beta Ray Bill's people), lost their new homeworld (after Surtur's forces destroyed the first back in Simonson's run) to Galactus in Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill. I don't know exactly what all Bill got up to in Secret Invasion, though I know Gillen wrote it, but I suspect encountering a bunch of Skrulls who had come to Earth because they believed it was a prophesied new homeworld after Galactus ate two of their previous ones, and a third was destroyed by the Harvester of Sorrows in Annihilation, convinced Bill it was time to do something about the Devourer of Worlds. And because of what happened in Annihilation, Galactus is at a low ebb, powerwise, which makes him vulnerable, even with two heralds. 

And Bill's determined enough to get desperate. Added to this mix is an alien race that had embraced pacifism, but in the face of being on the menu, has embraced war again, and is more formidable than anyone expected.

There is, of course, the usual issue you have in stories about killing Galactus, where there has to be a reason for us not to want Galactus to die. I never really buy into that crap about how he's of 'cosmic consonance', and the universe needs him. If he dies, the universe will devise something else to fill his role. it doesn't help that for all he bemoans his fate (no wonder he and the Surfer get along so well), Galactus lets Stardust run around like a deranged lunatic. It isn't enough for Stardust to seek out worlds for Big G, they will hunt down and kill even inhabitants who having accepted Galactus is going to eat it, decide to flee. You can't tell me Galactus isn't aware of this, but he does nothing. Neither does the Surfer. So naturally there is a contrivance so that Bill has to end up defending the being he was trying to starve to death.

(I don't understand how Galactus can be so exhausted the I'thans' fleet poses a threat to him, yet when he dies he'll take out everything for 42 light-years around him. That is a huge fucking amount of space! Maybe the Surfer was lying to trick Bill. No doubt the overgrown hood ornament will angst about that later.)

That said, it is an interesting study about balancing what you think has to be done, with what you're willing to do to achieve it. Or maybe it's what you're willing to sacrifice. Gillen writes a good Beta Ray Bill, noble and determined, enough so that his ego isn't off-putting. He mentions a couple of times how only someone truly worthy could wield Stormbreaker as he does, but it isn't (solely) him bragging on himself. It carries the sense that he truly feels a weight of responsibility that comes with that. If he was found worthy of this power, then doesn't he have to use it to stop someone who destroys entire worlds of innocent people? He wants to protect people, and he's willing to fight dirty to make it happen. Ends justifying means.

Kano's pencils are loose enough at times, that characters are almost vague shapes. But when detail is needed, he and Lopez are more than able to provide it. Beta Ray Bill is incredibly broad across the chest, trying to stand up against forces even more powerful than he is. Galactus towers (I almost used a single-page splash from the first issue where he looms as Bill's busy fighting Stardust), a massive figure even on the brink of collapse. He dominates every panel he's in, until the I'thans' final assault, when their fleet starts to loom over him. Rodriguez' color work helps the I'thans go from adorable, fluffy little creatures, to sneering and aggressive, faces partially shrouded in shadow.

Trust Me, The Little Aliens Shift From Cute To Scary

When I reviewed Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #3, I talked a bit about how, as he weakens, Galactus is drawn less and less impressively by Kano. Galactus is less frequently drawn in large panels that dominate the page, and even within the smaller panels he occupies, he can be dwarfed or otherwise overwhelmed by other things (be it Bill, or the I'than armada).

I also wanted to discuss the shift in art with regard to the I'thans themselves. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't want to connect to my computer anymore, so I can't transfer the photos I took of the relevant pages, and the Internet hasn't really helped me in my search. So it's time for the always popular Art Post With No Art! I'm sure it will work, though. After all, you all bought Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter, right? Well, you'll buy it when it's released as a trade, then you can come back, read the post and be like "Oh, Calvin was totally right about that!"

Issue #1, Page 13: We're introduced to the I'thians as one of their ships evacuates I'Than IX. Their ship is a crystalline design, a bit like an oddly shaped diamond. Our first glimpse of an actual I'thian comes in the next two panels, as the pilot describes their attempts to flee the planet without being killed by Stardust*. It's a furry critter, with big purple eyes, and the rings on the neck of its suit suggest an isopod (roly-poly, or pillbug) to me. When the pilot sees that his ship's been caught by Stardust, all he can do is lament that someone has to draw the short straw. If the ship has any defensive capabilities, the pilot doesn't consider them worth trying. Fortunately, Bill arrives, and battles Stardust, enabling the ship to flee to I'than Prime. The brief shots we have of the I'thans in this issue make them look small, and generally sort of helpless. In a panel shared by the ship and Stardust, the Herald takes up more space than the ship, and the two facial shots of the I'than sit above and below a much larger Stardust, as it issues its proclamation of death.

Issue #2 starts with that same ship arriving safely at I'than Prime, which is a lush, green world, with clear blue skies. The I'thans all wear brightly colored clothing, and are rendered as sort of cute, as the pilot describes his savior, making hand gestures to represent Bill's hammer and 'elongated face'. One of the I'thans remarks that thanks to Bill, they've evacuated without a single casualty, and isn't that lucky where Galactus is involved? Then Stardust arrives, and takes up 80% of Page 2 (or Page 3 if we're counting recap pages) with another proclamation: Galactus is on his way. All the I'thans can do is look upward in concern.

On Page 7, the I'thans reappear, sporting odd helmets, which cover one of their eyes with a red lens, as they open the vaults, all the vaults. The skies are orange now, as it's probably sunset, and wherever they are on their planet, it's dirtier, a dead space. By Page 11, the I'thans have a armada in space, driving the Surfer away from their world under the sheer weight of their fire. These ships are very different. An ugly ochre, or beige color, and rounded off, no edges. Oddly, the ships look less threatening than the one we first see, what with the lack of pointy surfaces, but unlike the crystalline ships, these do possess firepower worthy of challenging a Herald.

Bill and Skuttlebutt land on the planet, and the twilight has deepened, and again, the location is not green looking. The I'thans faces are shown in shadows throughout Page 13, and even though Beta Ray Bill should tower over them, they occupy roughly the same space in a panel, and in the final panel of page 13, Bill is a small figure in the background as the I'than walks away. Even their large purple eyes are drawn smaller, beadier, less "Aww, aren't they cute?" When Bill returns to inform them he's struck them with a plague to force them to leave their world, they still don't resemble themselves from earlier in the issue, but the shadows are largely gone, and Bill looms over them again. They've been rendered powerless once more, and the sky still has some orange to it (it's morning now, instead of evening), and the foliage is still an ugly brown, possibly because the planet will be destroyed soon (by Bill, so that Galactus can't feed on it)?

In issue #3, the I'thans make their first appearance on page 9 (not counting the shadowy outline of the armada on Page 6). The insides of their warships are all deep reds, compared to lighter yellows and greens with the crystalline ships. Page 9 has four panels of I'thans inside their ships, set on top of a full-page shot of their amassed forces. In ship design, their fleets remind me of the ships of the Annihilation Wave, though I can't say whether Kano and Gillen are purposefully making a callback to the army that nearly destroyed the universe. In the interior shots, there is at least one I'than with a clenched fist in every panel, save the last one, which is an extreme close-up on the leader's face. That face is almost entirely blacked out, except for that glowing red lens, and his clenched, smiling teeth. There is nothing sweet, friendly, or adorable about that creature.

When they attack Galactus on page 11, Galactus dominates the first panel (which extends vertically the length of the page, covering roughly 40% of the page), but subsequently, the I'thans rule the rest, with the first panel a shot of the I'than leader giving a command, the second showing the Heralds overwhelmed trying to halt the attack, and the third, showing the sheer numbers of ships brought against Galactus as they make it past the Heralds and open fire. In that last panel, the sun is behind them, though whether it's meant to be rising on the I'thans and their renewed militarism, or setting on Galactus, I don't know. Either way, the armada nearly obscures the sky, and takes up considerably more of that panel than Galactus.

The last time we see any individual I'thans is when Bill throws himself between them and Galactus. They'd unleashed some ring-weapon larger than Galactus that put him on the mat, and now that Bill is defying them, the I'than leader is nearly snarling as he orders all missiles fired. Everything falls apart shortly afterwards, as Bill destroys enough missiles that Galactus can feed on this uninhabited world, and get some strength back. At which point (on Page 17) we start with a panel of Galactus announcing he's fed, where he is one relatively small figure, against all those ships. But in panel 2, the status quo is restored with a close-up on Galactus' face, announcing his displeasure. Panel 3 is Galactus firing energy, and while he doesn't fill that panel, he's the only thing of significance in it. Panel 4 shows the aftermath, as the I'than ships are burning to nothingness, and Galactus stands before them, now looking much larger than any individual ship, having reasserted himself.

It's unclear what happened to the I'thans. Not all of them were fighting Galactus, as the Surfer had mentioned refugees at the start of the issue. As for the military, Galactus couldn't have destroyed all of them since Bill ordered Skuttlebutt to save as many as he could, fearing Stardust would kill them for daring to attack Galactus. Whether Skuttlebutt was successful, and whether Stardust did end up hunting them down and killing them, we don't know. On the whole, the I'thans and their world are portrayed as being pretty well off until Stardust arrives, and when they tap into their old ways, they become less friendly looking, and their world stops looking like such a paradise. There's also quite a few scenes set at sunsets or sunrises. I'm guessing these indicate, in order: the end of the I'thans years of seclusion, Bill's willingness to do anything to stop Galactus, and like I mentioned a couple of paragraps ago, either the end of the I'thans or the return of Galactus to prominence.

I'd say that Kano, Alvaro Lopez the inker, and Javier Rodriguez the colorist all do an excellent job, both at showing the wax and wane of Galactus, and the shift of the I'thans back to their old ways, and the destruction that portends.

* Stardust is one of Galactus' two current Heralds. Problem is, where the Silver Surfer is really mopey, Stardust is really nuts. It considers it an honor to be devoured by Galactus, and tends to hunt down and kill any inhabitants of a world Galactus eats that escaped. In the Stormbreaker mini-series, this included the Korbinites, Beta Ray Bill's people.