And then the rumors began. And the stories surrounding this book began to surface. And the buzz began. And thus the heat surrounding TROUBLE was born.
TROUBLE is a five issue mini series written by A list creator Mark Millar and illustrated by Terry and Rachel Dodson whose credits are too numerous to mention but are also two of the most unsung and underrated artists in the business. With photographic covers featuring a pair of scantily clad and provocative looking teen girls on each issue, the book was almost a guaranteed grab for even the most die hard of spandex sucking fanboys.
But honestly...a romance series? In the new millennium? In a male dominated medium?
And that’s where the buzz kicked in. Follow me here.
The tale never really states a time period, but it feels like and looks like the mid Seventies. The cars are classic muscle machines, the clothing styles are loud and gaudy and best of all are the classic pop culture references. Ben complains about having to pay 12 cents for a Superman comic. May wants to buy a van and do it up like the Mystery machine from SCOOBY DOO. And she evens has a package of Reeses Pieces handy. Either way, the tale begins nine years ago and stars two brothers, Ben and Richie, along with two best friends, Mary and May. Now, astute readers may make the connection right away but if not, fear not, because it WILL all become clear.
The four all end up together working at East Hamptons: a fancy resort where they will spent their summer toiling as part of the staff. Mary is the smart and somewhat quiet one while May is the wild one, having no problem shooting back hard liquor and the first to entice the boys into some serious skinny dipping. On the male side, Richie is the self proclaimed womanizer while Ben is more reserved-to the point that he’s still trying to use the box of condoms he carries around.
Following the skinny dipping incident, the couples pair off and head to separate rooms-Richie with Mary and Ben with May. Richie gets shut down early on, as Mary explains that a fortune teller once said that if she had sex out of marriage, she would be a parent before she was 20. May doesn’t have this reservation problem as she vaults into bed with Ben, whips out a condom and utters the classic line: “Face it Tiger...you just hit the jackpot!”
Have we figured this connection out yet? Die hard fans of the most famous wall crawler in comics surely have.
So we quickly learn that May is insatiable and Mary is sweet and saving herself for marriage. But even with that, Richie stays with her while Ben and May engage in wild sexual abandon. And that seems all well and good until May’s hormones and Richie’s desperation get the better of them and a torrid affair begins. A strange affair it is as each one finds the other offensive. Drawn together by pure animal lust, their tale plays out behind the backs of their significant others. Eventually May tells Mary of her affair...but never mentions it’s Richie she’s involved with.
And then there’s the pregnancy. And the sudden discovery that Ben could never be the father.
From here, it’s a downward spiral with a twist. But unfortunately, it was a spin which was really expected by this point. Predicted, anticipated and ultimately resulted in a question which will have fans talking for years. If this tale IS set in the “REAL Marvel Universe”,what does this do to our impressions of some characters near and dear to our hearts? Does this title do for one famous character what ORIGIN and BORN did for Wolverine and The Punisher?
The debate will long rage.
I really like the way this series started, but unfortunately it really ran out of steam by the end. Actually, it more than ran out of steam-it ground to a halt. Millar’s writing is crisp and clever but midway through issue #2, you pretty much knew, even if you hadn’t been exposed to the fan speculation, who was who and what was going on. And by the time the pregnancy is unveiled at the end of issue #3, I really found myself drifting away from the plot and sliding into the concept of how Millar was going to tie up loose ends. I quickly found these characters stepping out of the roles I was accustomed to and spouting some really tepid Soap Opera lines. With that pregnancy revealed, I pretty much had it down to two theories. 1) May would get an abortion and this, coupled with Ben’s sterility, would resulted in a barren married couple down the road. 2). May would have the child only to give it up so Mary and Richie could raise it as their own.
Sure enough: one of those scenarios did play out. And that’s where the speculation both begins and ends.
Terry Dodson’s art throughout the series is his usual great stuff as is Rachel Dodson’s inking. The first three issues are colored by Brian Hollingsworth which really compliments the Dodson’s fine work. But issues #4 and 5 are colored by Brian Reber and the book quickly develops a more cartoony feel that, coupled with the forecasted plot, just made me totally lose interest. A title which had a bang-up opening fizzled by it’s inevitable conclusion.
Die hard Marvel Universe fans should pick up the series, either as back issues of a TPB if and when one becomes available. And male fanboys should float a copy to their female friends and family to show them that comics aren’t all mutants in spandex(although I could think of about 12 really good reads which would accomplish the same goal).
And as far as the debate goes: I found it pretty appropriate that the final panel showed Ben’s partially obscured phone number on a slip of paper.
The last four digits are 1963. You do the math.