THE HOOD #1 (of 6)

By: Tony Whitt
Review Date: Saturday, June 01, 2002

After nearly a year, Marvel's MAX line is finally becoming a rival for DC's Vertigo line, and titles like THE HOOD that prove it. Brian K. Vaughn and Kyle Hotz have started a miniseries that looks every inch a Vertigo book - for good or for ill - apart from a few references to Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four, and the brilliant unmasked cameo by Electro. Ever wonder what life is like for the real-life, small-fry criminals in the Marvel Universe? This series should answer some of your questions.

Parker Robbins is a small-time criminal trying to get by in the world with a wife at home, a mother in a state psychiatric hospital, and a baby on the way. His biggest concern is getting his mom into a better facility, but there's no money to bankroll such a move...until his friend John suggests a heist that may solve all their financial problems. Even a job offer from Hydra pales in comparison to that - not that he'd work for terrorists, anyway. When there's nothing at the site of the hit but a bunch of candles and some signs scrawled into the pavement - as well as a really ugly creature from some other plane - Parker figures that shooting the monster and taking its cape and boots is all he can hope for from this gig. This time, however, he gets more than he bargained for.

We've occasionally seen stories from the criminals' point of view in the Marvel Universe, but they usually focus on the costumed types, and typically they end up being somewhat comic as the baddies get together - in costume, no less - to bitch about Spidey or some other hero who's trounced them one too many times. Here, Brian K. Vaughn focuses in on "the little people," those other criminals that are too minor for superheroes to fiddle with. These are the folks that look up to Max Dillon, aka Electro, not because of his abilities but because the costume is a babe magnet. (Ok, maybe not Electro's costume, but you get the idea.) Parker Robbins is a thoroughly credible character. He's compassionate enough to care for his mother and for his pregnant wife, but he's not so angelic that he can't beat the ever-living crap out of a Hydra agent who offers him a job or sleep with a prostitute on a regular basis. He's neither evil nor good - he's simply a product of his environment, and if anything, it's amazing he hasn't turned out worse. This is the sort of character we've always wanted to see get access to some superpowers, just to see what he'd do with them. In the past, most characters in his position have immediately turned over a new leaf and turned superhero - but this is a MAX series. Such fairy tale endings are not likely in an environment like this.


Kyle Hotz, assisted by Eric Powell on inks, does an interesting job of reproducing that environment and subtly changing the focus of his art depending on the background. When Parker is on the job, beating up the Hydra agent, or visiting his mother in the mental hospital, for instance, the artwork takes on the same horror comic features that made Hotz's gruesome work on THE AGENCY so hard to look at. When Parker visits the prostitute and his wife (in that order, by the way), the artwork subtly becomes less caricatured, more easy on the eyes. While Hotz may not draw the prettiest images out there, he does draw the most appropriate ones for the story.

In many respects, THE HOOD looks a lot like some lost issue of THE SANDMAN, only without the literary references and appearances by Death. Luckily, there's every chance that it'll be just as accomplished as that series was, and finally MAX will give Vertigo a run for its money.

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