Binary #1 // Review
Jean Grey is dead. The Phoenix Force has been passed along to Carol Danvers. She’s a natural with it, bt that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be al that easy for her . Wielding that kind of power is going to be a challenge for anyone. If anyone can do it, though, it might just be the most recent woman to take-up the mantle of Captain Marvel. She embraces the challenges of the Age of Revelation crossover event in Binary #1. Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Giada Belviso explore a whole new angle on the Phoenix Force with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg.
It’s a town hall meeting of a sort. Carol is trying to level with everyone. SHe has made the community safe...prtotected them from the X-Virus that has killed so many others. They;re referring to her as a dictator, which isn’t particularly helpful, but she IS understanding their frustration with existing in a prison of a bubble of safety. Things aren’t exactly civil, but when a thrown tomato prompts the Phoenix Force to emerge from Carol, things get pretty ugly. What had started-off as an honest attempt to connect-up with people collapses into disaster.
Claremont and Byrne had a really solid idea of the scope and intensity of the Phoenix Force when they created over 40 years ago. Claremont never allowed more than a couple of characters to handle the force: Jean Grey and her daughter from a dark future. It’s interesting seeing how its power impacts someone else altogether. Philips does remarkably delicate work of showing exactly what it would be like for Carol to have this kind of power in this kind of setting. She's still a hero, but there's something darker about her personality. And it's a very clever and cleverly rendered and nuance approach to how things would be different for her and the world in general as a result.
The drama explodes off the page with quite a bit of finesse. Belviso allows for a gradual increase in intensity as things progress. And then it all explodes at key moments. The progression of tension is particularly well rendered in the hand of the artist. All too often it's easy to throw things way over the top with respect to any drama that includes superpowers. And it is easy to make an impact with that sort of thing. However, it's important to be able to modulate and win there is that nuanced modulation it can be kind of breathtaking. This is exactly what Belviso is bringing to the page here. Belviso is brilliant.
It's really difficult to see anyone else with the Phoenix force. Anyone other than Jean Grey or Rachel Summers. They really did define that power. And there have been attempts to show the power in others hands subsequent to Claremont. However, none of them quite have the intensity of Jean or Rachel. Phillips find a sharp fusion of power and personality in the first issue of a promising new story.
