What a ride. I just finished this hefty volume, and I have to say it was great fun.
The task of describing its plot, however, is daunting.
You remember Crisis on Infinite Earths? The multiverse? OK, Planetary in some ways goes back to that. Instead of infinite Earths, however, there are a limited number, which makes a kind of sense given that some alternate universes would collapse in upon themselves before the present time, while some other Earths would never come to be. We're limited by the laws of physics, and not every Earth will exist over the same span of time.
In Planetary the nature of the multiverse is also more interesting. In Planetary a Doc Savage clone and his cohorts create a quantum computer back in the 40s, and this quantum computer, intended to calculate the best possible end to WWII, renders several other alternate realities extinct in the course of its calculations.
That, by the way, is just one of many fun ideas in this collection. There's also a weird, alternate "Superman," a time travel loop that brings a dead man back to life, and a bizarre conspiracy involving a group of supervillains who seek to hoard forbidden knowledge for themselves.
Planetary and its "archaeologists of the impossible" could have easily been a science fiction novel, but in Ellis' hands it becomes something more, it becomes a comic book that's aware of itself, and which is aware of its readers. It's also a really BIG, ambitious tale, and I admire the scope of its ambition.
At the back end of this sizeable omnibus are two bonus features: a comic featuring both The Authority and Planetary, and another comic featuring Planetary and Batman. The first of these comics is the weakest part of the omnibus, while the second, bouncing as it does between different versions of the Dark Knight, is a lot of fun.
I highly recommend this story of multiverses, not-so-superheroes and monsters. Its episodic nature can feel somewhat disjointed at times -- especially in the first half -- but once it gathers enough momentum it's something to behold.
Which makes me think... there's an Authority movie coming, isn't there? Could Planetary be part of that film?
Related Entries:
