Reading, Dark Reign: Underside

By Jake Weatherill from Lewisham Branch

 

This week I am about to go down the 'Jake loves a baddy' and 'Jake loves a comic' rabbit holes as far as possible. Today I will be looking at Dark Reign: The Underside.

 

 

 

Jake's Copy of Dark Reign

 

Before I get into what it is, I just want to give you some personal background. At the time of The Dark Reign crossover by Marvel, I was actually fully back into reading the bulk of my comics by the issue rather than waiting for the trade collections.
I had literally jumped back on board three months before Dark Reign started because I had noticed two new comics about some of the lesser Marvel characters I loved. This was in the old Forbidden Planet by West Croydon station where I had spent many an afternoon, and gotten to know the staff really well.
In a strange way that shop plays a big role in turning me into an avid reader. Anyway I digress, after asking their opinion and judging that it was worth a punt, I bought them. So, I kinda very quickly after becoming a regular purchaser of comics got whipped up in the ads for the coming Dark Reign. What is Dark Reign?

 

 

 

 

This question is a bit more in-depth so here's a condensed comic timeline to explain how we got there. It all kind of starts with Avengers Disassembled, an event dedicated to the break up of Marvel's premier super hero team after being betrayed by a member, while at some point both before and after this we see how Director of Global Security Agency SHIELD had recruited superheroes to perform an unsanctioned attack on a world leader funding super terrorism, before wiping the participants memories and leaving them vulnerable to the reprisals. Fury knowing he has betrayed those who trusted him most while becoming a wanted man quits as top dog of SHIELD and goes underground.

 

 

 

Jake's Copy of Dark Reign

 

But wait, there's more! There always is with comics, eventually a New Avengers team forms in the aftermath of a prison break at The Raft, a super prison for super villains. Elsewhere Maria Hill, head of a backwater SHIELD outpost is made acting Director in Fury's absence/removal. Events like a rogue element within SHIELD as well as the event House of M that temporarily leads to reality being rewritten lead to a mutual distrust between superheroes and SHIELD.The tension is palpable, but just as we start to see the shoots of co-operation a young team of superheroes gets in over their head in Stamford, Connecticut causing untold collateral damage, including blowing up a school. The US government decides enough is enough, any person who has powers and wishes to use them must register and become part of The Initiative, essentially government sponsored and regulated super heroes.

 

 

 

 

Anyway Tony picks a new team of registered Avengers and sets about trying to work in the new normal, but the revelation that the powered community is being infiltrated by shape shifting aliens called Skrulls gives him a new headache. Keeping this information to himself, as well as heavily integrating vast amounts of Stark Tech with SHIELD software leaves him vulnerable come Secret Invasion, when the Skrulls finally strike.

Although he makes it back for the final fight it's the former Spider-Man arch-nemesis Green Goblin, and current director of the Thunderbolts program, AKA Norman Osborn who gets the kill shot on the Skrull Queen, helpfully caught on camera and broadcast around the world. As Tony faces his downfall Osborn ascends to the roll of new Top Cop, folds a highly compromised SHIELD and creates HAMMER. He even picks his own Avengers teams of Criminals and the manipulated as the Dark Reign begins.

 

Entry for The Avengers from the Encyclopedia Brittanica

 

 

 

So Dark Reign is essentially the bad guys being in charge in Marvel. The Green Goblin as top cop? Everybody is happy, right? The real heroes are driven further underground so Norman can further the agenda for the baddies. As an event it's very interesting, and certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to our current climate.

 

 

 

Entry for The Grim Reaper from the Credo Reference

 

But what if you're a bad guy who doesn't like Norman being 'The Man'? Or you don't buy into his vision? What if your interests are different to Osborn?
Well let me introduce you to Dark Reign: The Underside. Here's where we get three stories about the criminals who don't sit at the same table as Osborn. First we get the story of The Lethal Legion. Formed by resurrected mass murderer The Grim Reaper we start with the team in prison.

 

 

 

 

They have already attempted to unseat Osborn unsuccessfully and been betrayed by one of their own in the process. This is a whodunnit presented through flashbacks as we see every team member has their reasons to betray the team, even Reaper's brother, ex-Avenger and prominent anti-Osborn critic Simon Williams AKA Wonder Man.
This is not only a great whodunnit, but also shows how far Osborn has woven himself into the world since becoming top dog, even showing how it's as much about his political mastery as being the right man at the right time.

 

Jake's Copy of Dark Reign

 

 

 

Our second is about Zodiac, a crazed super villain who has gained the name of the super villain collective by killing them all. Zodiac recruits a crew of misfits and d-list super villains. He also has an axe to grind with Osborn. He doesn't necessarily resent Norman being 'The Man' like Reaper does. Instead he finds it highly disingenuous of the ex Green Goblin to now pretend to be a reformed character and having the gall to tell him what to do. So like Reaper he is going to try and bring down Osborn.

 

 

 

Entry from The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms in Oxford Reference Online

 

This is my favourite of the three because you don't root for Zodiac, but you find him incredibly compelling to watch. There's more than a whiff of the Heath Ledger Joker to him. You see him push Osborn to the edge, almost breaking him before Norman gets lucky. You are left with the impression that it won't take much for Zodiac to bring down Osborn. In fact you get the sense he probably stands a better chance than the capes at ousting Osborn. It makes you uncomfortable, and it should.

 

 

 

 

Finally we get something a bit different. Mr Negative had become an incredibly popular Spider-Man villain as he and his gang attempt to take control of New York. Mr Negative himself is seemingly ambivalent towards Osborn and his new role. However he is in competition with Osborn's ally The Hood, a small-time gangster who hit the big time. This inevitably brings him to Osborn's attention. Mr Negative has the power to corrupt but his alter ego Martin Li is a charitable philanthropist who happens to work with Aunt May.

 

 

Entry from The Oxford Dictionary of Word Meanings in Oxford Reference Online

 

 After hearing about trouble in China Town she calls Peter Parker and asks her Amazing nephew to check it out. Spidey swings into action, thinking he has found Li offers to take him to safety, but Mr Negative corrupts with a touch and sets Spider-Man on his enemies. This is interesting for a few reasons. Firstly for people like me that aren't massive Spider-Man fans it's a nice way to get a non-committal glimpse into the world, but also strange to see a much darker Spidey. Also, it shows us that no matter how sure Osborn is in his own mind of his position, it's actually all built on sand. Sooner or later it will be washed away.

 

 

 

 

The Underside is a fun read, short but with well written stories. It gives you a glimpse of the seedy underbelly of The Marvel world. Plus you get bad guys beating on bad guys, and who doesn't love that?
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