By Kurt Busiek, Roger Stern, Jay Anacleto & Brian Haberlin (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-1386-7
The poignant story of New York photo-journalist Philip Aaron Sheldon, whose career was inextricably intertwined with the rise of meta-humanity, continues in this long-delayed sequel by writers Kurt Busiek & Roger Stern, illustrated by Jay Anacleto and coloured by Brian Haberlin.
Before the generational saga concludes however, this chronicle – collecting the 6-issue miniseries from 2009-2010 – commences with a Stern reflection on the series in ‘Looking Through the Viewfinder’ after which the reportage returns as ‘Just One Little Thing’ finds the independent but aging photo-journalist considering a more sedentary job as photo editor for a great metropolitan newspaper – just as the first reports of the Fantastic Four leak out at the beginning of the 1960s.
In a world filled with reports of alien invasions and atomic monsters like the Hulk, people are far more scared by the prospect of mutants – aberrant evolutionary offshoots of humanity destined to replace us – superseding mankind. Phil’s daughters are plagued with nightmares. So are many adults…
Soon after the X-Men went public and Captain America returned, the world somehow became a constantly accelerating rollercoaster of incredible wonder and constant peril. Now years later, seeking some sense of perspective, Sheldon visits the site of the rocket-launch which took Reed Richards, Ben Grimm and Sue Storm and her little brother Johnny into space and returned them as cosmic-powered Marvels.
For the photo-journalist this is the key event and first page of the new chapter in history, but the visit doesn’t afford him much insight or perspective and he returns home to discover fate has a far more intimate surprise in store. A visit to the doctor reveals that Phil has lung cancer…
In ‘Making Sense of the World’ the prospect of imminent, mundane death shakes Sheldon. Determination to provide for his family galvanises the ailing journalist, and he vigorously pursues a long-delayed sequel to his book Marvels but he’s revolted by his publisher’s suggestion that he should concentrate on the darker aspects of the metahuman phenomenon – rogues, villains and monsters…
In a world peppered with flamboyant champions battling atomic crazies and even supernatural horrors like the Son of Satan, Phil can’t get past the incredible paralysing irony that his own doctors want to shoot him full of chemicals and radiation…
One scary night, after being saved from muggers by Spider-Man, Sheldon decides that this book – if it’s going to be his last – will accentuate the positive and not glorify the worst of the Marvels’ universe. His legacy will be to show the world that there’s nothing to be scared of…
He begins to think twice in ‘Making Sense of the World’ as brutally merciless vigilantes such as the Punisher, Wolverine and Ghost Rider monopolise the news and his illness slowly grinds him down. However after meeting his old assistant Marcia Hardesty working for a TV network his bounce-back begins, especially after the chemotherapy pushes his disease into remission. Prowling the streets of New York however, catching great shots of new guys like Iron Fist, Yellowjacket and a host of new Avengers, Phil can’t help but see how few exploits are clear-cut and simple.
The staggering collateral damage from superhero incidents is increasing: homes destroyed and families traumatised, and one battle involving the X-Men even devastated much of JFK airport. Many new heroes are indistinguishable from actual monsters…
In ‘Shadows Within’ whilst Phil is out carousing, with old reporter pals when Jonah Jameson is kidnapped and the veteran photo-journalist sees with his own eye Spider-Man collaborating with and apparently actively condoning the murderous tactics of wanted felon The Punisher.
Horrified and disgusted, Sheldon collapses…
The disappointment and disillusion continue in ‘Deep Wounds’. Everywhere Sheldon looks he sees his beloved, admired Marvels betraying their principles and even becoming subject to tawdry celebrity scandals. It all comes to a head when Bugle journalist Ben Urich is stabbed by enigmatic warrior Elektra and founding Avenger Henry Pym is indicted for stealing radioactive materials…
The World rolls inexorably on and Phil struggles to complete his book, but when almost every hero and many of the villains vanish for a week, their return is followed by the advent of an unbelievably powerful being called the Beyonder. Huge swathes of the Earth are transformed and the planet is mere days from utter obliteration. When the Bugle’s Now Magazine begs the retired veteran to go and take the last pictures of Armageddon, the consummate professional acquiesces and is present when the Marvels impossibly repair the damage and achieve their greatest triumph…
Inspired anew and surfing a wave of public approval, Phil returns: forging ahead with his much-delayed sequel. Things are going great, and then one day he finds the cancer is back…
In ‘A Whole Lot of Paper’ Phil faces his final deadline, with wife Doris and the girls pitching in, even looking for new material as the metahumans and mutants constantly proliferate. Impatient and dying, Phil is heartened when Marcia turns up offering her services but his determination is fading even as his body succumbs to the mundane horror eating it from within. Dictating his copy from a hospital bed, his strength is failing fast and his thoughts are inextricably drawn to the past.
He wakes to find a stranger in his room and is reunited with a now grown Maggie, the Homo Superior child the Sheldons sheltered during the worst of the early anti-mutant unrest.
As a team of X-Men very publicly sacrifice their lives to save the world in Dallas, Texas, Phil finally discovers how his bravely generous act had not only saved one life but also created a modern-day saint in a forgotten corner of the world. As Doris, Jenny and Beth are joyfully reunited with Maggie, the recorder of Marvels passes away quietly in ‘Closing the Book’, content and secure in the knowledge that his legacies will be carried forward…
Although steeped as ever in the cosy minutiae of mainstream Marvel continuity, Busiek and Stern have performed a canny magician’s trick in generalising moments of comicbook detail until new readers can absorb and accept the events as parts of a greater narrative, whilst for slavish fanboys like me, offhand remarks and references have all the added weight of a shared if distanced history, like the Kennedy Shooting, Live Aid, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Who Shot JR and so much more…
Eye of the Camera also relentlessly trades on the fact that there’s no more sentimental creature than a comics reader and this small sequel, whilst lacking the impact of the original blockbuster, offers a moving and insightful end to the most human and approachable Watcher in the Marvel Universe.
This collection also includes a copious ‘Sources’ section, detailing the assorted comics which are referenced throughout the tale, and Busiek’s extended commentary in ‘Marvels: Eye of the Camera -The Outlines’ recounting the original plot before time, distance and changing fashion evolved the story.
That development is also included in ‘Marvels: Eye of the Camera Revised – the Look Ma, no Flashbacks Edition’ and the book ends with a peek at the ‘Art Process’ from Anacleto’s layouts and full pencils to Haberlin’s finished digital paint colours.
© 2009, 2010 Marvel Characters. Inc. All rights reserved.