Although perfectly aware that the current expansion of the multiverse in the form of exponential crossovers cynically reflects IP exploitation by new corporate quasi-monopolies, I admit I continue to derive a visceral pleasure from the concept, at least when there is the good sense of giving leeway to creators who actually understand the source material. What can I say, as a geek I’ve always found joy in forging oddball connections – I remember reading Italo Calvino’s The Cloven Viscount and The Nonexistent Knight back in the day and deciding that in my headcanon those allegorical novels were set in the same ‘continuity’ as Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It seemed right!
To be fair, at their best, talented writers can bring together highly disparate works and find that sweet spot where the allure of the two sensibilities overlap, fusing them in a way that is gratifying for fans of both worlds. Comics, in particular, have been pulling off this sort of stuff for ages. Classics like Batman versus Predator and RoboCop versus the Terminator don’t even bother with the reluctant team-up cliché and just give you a cathartic clash of titans. Here are a few recent projects about slaughtering monsters that prove there’s still much fun to be had with this approach:
RED SONJA ATTACKS MARS
Although this doesn’t come up very often in Gotham Calling, Red Sonja is one of my go-to franchises whenever I just need a quick fix of pretty, entertaining, pulse-pounding comics. This is probably a Pavlovian impulse given its obvious affinity with Xena, the Warrior Princess, which is a show that consumed many of my teenage years, along with Due South (replacing my previous obsessions with MacGyver, Mission: Impossible, and The Twilight Zone). Plus, like with Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja’s pulpy adventures in the Hyborian Age tend to stay clear of convoluted continuity and just approach this mythological time and place as a loose springboard for wild sword & sorcery, striking visuals, and deadpan comedy, so I know I can easily pick up a trade or a short run full of gory images of this ginger warrior mowing down – and outsmarting – all sorts of fantastic creatures and evil wizards.
That’s how I found myself having a blast, a few years ago, with John Layman’s and Fran Strukan’s Mars Attacks Red Sonja, which is the sort of trashy pop culture product (a crossover between a spin-off of a comic-book literary adaptation and a silly trading card series from the ‘60s) that sounds creatively bankrupt but, in the right hands, can satisfyingly push my most basic instincts.
The same applies even more to last year’s sequel. Once again, the frantic narrative (now written by Jay Stephens) doesn’t take itself very seriously – or seriously at all, really – and it’s mostly in the service of Strukan’s lovely artwork, which delivers the goods in the form of a slew of bloody, bodacious fight scenes. Combined with some of Miroslav Mrva’s gaudy color choices and Carlos M. Mangual’s occasionally stylized lettering, many of the splashes could indeed belong on nifty trading cards.
That said, what ultimately earns Red Sonja Attacks Mars a spot in this list is that the amusement doesn’t just rely on goofy violence, but also on neat dialogue and characterization…
As the punchline above indicates, there is some trans and gender-related humor, which feels refreshingly devoid of either preachiness or mean-spiritedness. A scene at a harem may be too tasteless for certain readers, but it struck just the right level for me to chuckle and appreciate the surprising plot turn (if you’re actually looking for a sensitive literary take on the toxic relationships of wizards’ concubines, though, go read Alan Moore’s short story ‘The Hypothetical Lizard’ instead). This angle also belongs quite comfortably in a Red Sonja tale, since the character’s appeal has always ridden on a quirky blend of kickass feminism and sleazy exploitation.
Indeed, Stephens clearly knows the material he’s working with. Besides callbacks to Layman’s mini-series, he works in a couple of guest appearances of concepts from the Conan/Sonja universe, along with different types of nods to the original Mars Attacks! cards. The result doesn’t have a lot of fat on the bone, but it’s nevertheless a damn fine meal.
ALIENS VS. AVENGERS
At first sight, Aliens vs. Avengers may seem like a more straightforward – and even serious – approach to the same high concept as Red Sonja Attacks Mars, pitting less campy heroes against a less madcap horde of invading extraterrestrials (which, I suppose, would do justice to their respective filmic incarnations, as the Alien series has been dark as hell while 1996’s Mars Attacks! movie is a bonkers comedy). Sure enough, Esad Ribić’s no-nonsense, anatomically elegant artwork and Ive Svorcina’s textured colors generate the flair of epic paintings chronicling a legendary saga.
It’s a vibe that suits Jonathan Hickman’s script, which mercilessly escalates the stakes every handful of pages. Although less misanthropic – and less aggressively anti-capitalist – than other Aliens comics (like Mark Verheiden’s amazing initial trilogy), this is a vicious work that keeps pulling the rug from underneath readers expecting a safe superhero adventure with respect for sacred cows. And to give things an even more massive scale, Hickman builds on the mythology of both franchises, from Prometheus’s Engineers to a plethora of Marvel characters stretching way beyond the usual Avengers. This does more than fan service: it keeps us on the edge about who – if anyone – could actually save the day.
And yet…
I suppose you can take Jonathan Hickman’s typically portentous dialogue at face value, but I think he’s having – and providing – plenty of gleeful fun. The whole thing is packed with ridiculously cool moments. It’s not just the milk-bleeding android quoting The Merchant of Venice… At one point, Mister Sinister comes up with a goddamn gun that fires xenomorphs!
Ultimately, the sheer ruthlessness of eviscerating beloved characters in the apocalyptic mayhem and ending up with an offbeat status quo has a darkly humorous quality. Hickman being Hickman, he can’t resist laying it out in a cheeky opening: ‘It’s disappointing, isn’t it? To expect one thing and instead get another entirely.’ Still, given the Elseworlds approach, the result is never as shocking as 1998’s WildC.A.T.S/Aliens, the rare consequential intercompany crossover, where aliens actually killed off notable heroes in continuity (even if they eventually came back, decades later, because comics).
GODZILLA’S MONSTERPIECE THEATRE PRESENTS
ROMEO & JULIET AND GODZILLA
The gloriously bizarre high concept behind the irresistible 2024 mini-series Godzilla’s Monsterpiece Theatre was that the titular giant creature attacked the world of the classic Jazz Age novel The Great Gatsby. The comic then combined prose lifted from – or mimicking – F. Scott Fitzgerald with reworked shots from the Japanese film series, rendered by Tom Scioli through trippy colors and cartoony drawings (reminiscent of old strips), a fusion that reached its peak in scenes with highly inventive depictions of urban destruction narrated with a pastiche voice paraphrasing familiar lines: ‘For a transitory enchanted moment, I held my breath in the presence of this monster, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation I neither understood nor desired, face to face for the first time with something commensurate with my capacity for wonder.’
Although the awesomeness derived from the glaring clash of cultural references, it was only a starting point, as Gatsby then teamed up with Thomas Edison, Sherlock Holmes, and other historical and fictional figures (mostly related to turn-of-the-century adventure and fantastic literature and cinema), including some truly surprising cameos, making this a major multiverse crossover… or, better yet, the childlike fantasy of an artist playing with a lot of disparate toys laying around, displaying varying degrees of familiarity with the source material.
The result was such a hoot that it’s no wonder it has already spawned a follow-up…
Romeo & Juliet and Godzilla is a variation of the same joke, now retelling William Shakespeare’s famous play during a massive kaiju battle. Tom Scioli is no longer the main creator (he only does a backup featuring Robin Hood), with Adam Tierney taking over as writer and Sean Peacock doing the art. Although lacking Scioli’s vibrancy, they acquit themselves well. Once again, recreating Godzilla back in time empties the creature of its powerful origin as an allegory of the nuclear age, but the Shakespearean juxtaposition actually works thematically to some degree, with the two lovers caught between yet another fight they don’t fully comprehend or care about beyond its impact on their romance.
Shakespeare, of course, has a rare cultural status – taught in school, amply quoted, repeatedly adapted to the screen, staged by amateurs and professionals alike, his plays are both challenging works of art and recognizable enough to transition into popular culture. In comics, The Tempest seems to be a favorite, having been memorably riffed in The Sandman and in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen… and reimagined as an exploitation thriller in Jennifer Blood presents: Giulietta Romeo Hitwoman. There is even a crossover series entirely devoted to the Bard’s sandbox: Kill Shakespeare.
I suppose it was only a matter of time until Juliet shared a stage with Mothra (‘Stay calm, wing’d one’). And Godzilla’s The Odyssey is on the way!