Elementals: The Natural Order (1988) by Bill Willingham
I’ve previously read the Elementals series, so I wasn’t going to read this book — it collects the first handful of the Comico issues, but also Justice Machine Annual #1, which included the first Elementals story (which is 20 pages long). But I found reading the start of the Elementals series somewhat befuddling: This first issue drops us into the middle of things, but not in a “we’re cool and gonna start in media res” kind of way, but in a “here’s chapter two, and if you haven’t read chapter one — neener neener” kind of way.
So I was curious as to whether things read any better in context, so here we are.
This was drawn a couple of years before the Elementals series, and Willingham’s artwork changed a bit in the meantime. But his inking is pretty much the same — kinda stark and rather attractive.
Er, OK.
The real beginning of the Elementals story makes a lot more sense than Elementals #1 — we’re introduced to the characters in a pretty traditional way: By having some presumed baddies infodumping at the reader…
… and then most of the rest of the issue is a fight sequence.
Willingham is building character!
I can’t really say that the action is particularly thrilling… it’s just a bit awkward.
And the story does indeed continue straight on to Elementals #1, which I re-read now, and — yes, indeed, it does read a whole lot better in context than when I read it the first time around.
So Comico’s decision to publish it this way doesn’t make much sense to me — why not make the first issue a double sized extravaganza and include the material from Justice Machine Annual #1?
On the other hand, Elementals was a commercial success anyway, so what do I know…
Seeing as though these comics came out several years before Alan Moore’s Watchmen, I believe Willingham deserves a lot more credit for changing the face of comics and this series should be right up there along with Sandman, Dark Knight, V for Vendetta, Marvels, and all the other cornerstones of the industry.
Still, taken on its own, The Natural Order was a surprisingly enjoyable read.
But there isn’t a lot of chatter out there.