Planetary Vol. 3: Leaving the 20th Century

So what happens in Volume 3? In a word... stuff. Stuff happens. I'm going to compare this to Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen only because Ellis seems to be begging the reader to do so. As if having mentions of Nemo's Nautilus, the Invisible Man and an appearance by Sherlock Holmes weren't enough Holmes actually refers to the super team he was a member of as `We the Extraordinary'. Moore took famous fictional characters from literature and created a compelling narrative around them. Ellis creates his own fictional characters and has them interact with famous fictional characters from the late 19th and 20th century and just has them do.... stuff.In the first comic in this volume Elijah Snow recalls a conversation he had years earlier with Sherlock Holmes. After some back and forth conversation Dracula shows up to attack Snow only to get frozen and have his groin shattered. What did any of this have to do with the overall narrative? No idea. Ellis just thought it would be a cool visual. Planetary feels like the end result of Ellis trying to use the ideas of Moore and the writing style of Grant Morrison. Not the Morrison of All-Star Superman but the Morrison of Final Crisis. Ellis includes all sorts of pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo, quantum theory, string theory etc. He talks about `The Bleed' and Dreamtime yadda yadda yadda. I have no idea what it all means and Ellis probably doesn't either. He read a bunch of pop science books and books on mysticism and pulled out as many phrases as possible, mixing them together in a pot and pouring them out onto a page. It is possible to weave advanced theoretic science into a story but you need to do more than just vomit it onto the reader.In the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume 2 our heroes visit Dr. Moreau but for a very good reason. They needed a virus that could help repel an alien invasion. In this volume Planetary discovers that the capsule from Jules Verne "From the Earth to the Moon' is scheduled to reenter the Earth's atmosphere following 150 years of orbiting the two celestial bodies. Verne only concerned himself with the physics involved in launching the capsule with no regard for how it might return to Earth and the irony is not lost on Ellis but the inclusion in this volume does nothing to advance the overall story. It's just stuff. We discover who the parents of Jakita Wagner are and naturally it involves a famous literary character but so what. We still don't know why she is inhumanly strong and fast. In fact we don't know how ANY of the members of Planetary got their powers.The biggest problem I have with the series is that I have absolutely no investment in the characters or the story. There is a ten page battle between an Asian man who I have no idea who he is an Asian woman who has only had brief mentions in the past. Why would I care about the outcome of the fight? Planetary is trying to stop The Four (Fantastic Four homage) from doing SOMETHING. I don't know what. I know almost nothing about the main characters and Ellis has done nothing to endear them to the reader. I'm mildly interested in how this series will complete but my expectations are very low. I imagine it will be more stuff.

Volume three of Planetary focuses on the past. After the stunning revelation at the end of Volume 2, we are treated to a look back on Elijah snow's history, taking us through the legacy of 19th century heroes and other adventures. The artwork in this volume is stunning as ever, and Ellis' pastiche's almost feel like showing off. Unfortunately, we don't get much in the way of advancing the plot, so this volume doesn't earn a full 5 stars.

Elijah's awareness of his past and the background of the Four take up most of the focus of this comic. Unlike Ellis's satire, his work here can be read largely as an allegory for the development of comics in the 20th. The touch-as-nails, near omniscience of Snow paired with Ellis's penchant for cynicism make it all the more enjoyable. Cassaday's art and the color design often really pop. This remains a great read even a decade and a half out.

The product came to me today, and I couldn't be happier with it. Great condition.

I happened upon Planetary mostly by accident, buying the first two graphic novels for 1/2 price at a convention. Once I started reading it, i couldn't put it down and had to have the 3rd part of the story ASAP. I got it on Amazon for a great price and it arrived very quickly!

And that's a very good thing. I would say this is the best volume so far. The creators have such a fantastic process of reveal.

Planetary is simply comic book in its finest form. Ellis constructed a complex and engaging tale that is a metaphor for the story of the media. I urge you guys to not make the same mistake that I did: don't waste your time and read it now.

The story of the planetary organisation and its actions to keep the world safe (or strange!), is a journey through the unique imagination of Warren Ellis and the sublime art of John Cassaday. You just have to buy this one!

This book is definitely worth a try, the storyline is great, very enjoyable, the characters are likable and funny when needed, the art of John Cassaday is fantastic, it’s good to look at. I recommend this book to anyone who loves comics or just interested in getting to know the genre.

purchased as a gift so not read it

Zusammen mit Authority ist Planetary wohl eine der anspruchsvollsten und originellsten "Superhelden"-Serien. Ähnlich wie bei Moore's "Leage of exraordinary Gentlemen" werden hier bekannte Figuren aus Film, Comic und Popkultur hart an der Plagiatsgrenze vorbei genüßlich zitiert und quasi wissenschaftlich von den Archeologen der geheimen Geschichte der Welt unter die Lupe genommen. An Spannung, interessanten Charakteren und Ideen enthält jede Ausgabe mehr Stoff als ein ganzer Jahrgang beliebiger Marvel-Serien dieser Tage (die immer wieder mal von der DC-Serie Planetary liebevoll vorgeführt werden). Die Geschichten sind großartig geschrieben, stylish gezeichnet und schließlich gekonnt zurückhaltend coloriert. Ein echtes Lesevergnügen für etwas anspruchsvollere Comicleser.

Sono di parte, ma adoro Planetary, una meravigliosa rivisitazione dei miti del ventesimo secolo e del fumetto mainstream.Una storia complessa e ben narrata, che non può non appassionare. Naturalmente è impossibile leggerlo da solo ma va collegato ai precedenti (e successivi). Inoltre, non rovinatevi la vita con la traduzione italiana, leggetelo in inglese!

Planetary ist wohl einer der besten Comic Serien überhaupt - hier als Tradepaperback zum fairen Preis. Besser gehts kaum - klarer Kauftipp.