Alias, or Where Was I Sleeping When All this Went On?

I've heard about a series called Alias, (apparantly not affiliated with the TV show of the same name),

but I've never read any of it.

Apparantly it is well known, and many of the characters featured in it (or guest-stars) followed right along with Bendis into the New Avengers and the Secret Invasion master story arc. I hear it used Captain America, Purple Man, Luck Cage, Ant-Man, Ms. Marvel, Sue Storm Richards, Daredevil and Spider-Woman.

Just when did this series come about, and why wasn't it referenced in any of the mainstream Marvel Universe marquee books?

I don't recall anyone at the comic book shop talking about this, but it surely would have been the talk of the college crowd who used to hang out at the geek shop (before they all graduated and moved onto real life.)

(Unlike now, when they are all gamers, or card players, and the comics have taken a back seat to the players, and will likely be phased out in another year or so...)

I hear it was graphic, and so, appealed to the adult audience who might have been "more experienced" than traditional teen and "I Live in My Parent's Basement" fans.

How graphic a comic was this?

Replies

Richard Willis October 30, 2012 at 11:03pm

Here's the Wikipedia info on the book. I have heard of it but not read it. It was part of Marvels MAX imprint.

Wikipedia Listing - Alias Comic
Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod) October 31, 2012 at 12:59am

I read it for the first year or so. I liked the art, and the not-quite-superhero approach. Bendis lost me when he started to bring it into the mainstream Marvel universe. But I imagine that appealed to a lot more Marvel fans.
ClarkKent_DC October 31, 2012 at 7:02am

I have the entire run, and enjoyed it very much. One can think of it as a Vertigo-esque take on the Marvel Universe, with the lead, Jessica Jones, as our guide. As such, the characters do dirty, nasty things they would never be seen doing in mainstream Marvel titles. For example, that Wikipedia entry tells you that Bendis' proposal begins with a certain word, but not that Jessica Jones and Luke Cage are engaging in that very activity on that first page . . . and, as Bendis tells it, in a way not approved by the Comics Code.

One thing that mars the book for me is that Bendis puts his Bendis-speak in every character's mouth, even those who are more articulate. Captain America comes off like a dope, and Carol Danvers and Sue Storm go to lunch that's just wrong -- the woman we are told is Sue simply isn't her.

Overall, it's a good series. Jessica is a damaged personality who you watch in a train-wreck way, but Bendis delivers a solid payoff when he answers the mystery of why she's like that.
Rich Steeves October 31, 2012 at 12:09pm

Ah. I thought this was going to be about the TV show -- one of my all-time favorites. I never cared for the comic Alias...
Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) October 31, 2012 at 12:30pm

I agree 100% with what Clark says regarding the series and the Bendis-speak. Overall I thought it was pretty great.
Randy Jackson October 31, 2012 at 1:00pm

Ditto Clark and Travis. At the same time, I don't know if I could read it again as I'm very, very tired of Bendis.
Captain Comics October 31, 2012 at 1:19pm

I agree with much of what's been said here. I enjoyed it at the time, and I had no trouble overlooking the Bendis-speak coming out of characters like Sue Storm, because it was a MAX book. I imagined that was like Vertigo, where characters could go from the mainstream DCU but not the other way, and be used in ways that were incompatible with their mainstream personae because it was, in effect, a parallel Earth. I mean, after all, Jessica was established as having been an early (I read that as "Silver Age"), if failed, Marvel hero, and since I'd never heard of her, ipso facto this was a parallel world.

But then Jessica moved into the mainstream Marvel U, and all that baggage came with her. Yikes! I got over it, but I doubt I'd read the series the same way now, nor would I enjoy it as much.

Another factor that set Alias apart is that Jessica was, in fact, a train wreck. She was an alcoholic and frequent drunk, every other word out of her mouth was the "f" word, she slept around carelessly, she encouraged Luke to have a kind of sex with her that's painful because she was filled with such self-loathing that she felt she deserved to be hurt. This was all pretty shocking for a Marvel comic book -- I imagine some still is -- so I had a morbid interest watching this woman self-destruct in slow motion.

Then she moved to the MU, cleaned up her act and her language, and everything's cool. Sheesh.
Kirk G October 31, 2012 at 3:55pm

I saw this was featured as a Marvel Omnibus, and so, I thought of picking it up.

However, the price was too steep...

So then I saw t hat it was collected in two trades, and I started to think that might be more affordable.

So, I've got an order pending right now...and wanted to know if I should invest in $50. total, shipping included.
Kirk G November 9, 2012 at 11:37am

H0LY CRAP! I just got the two volumes collecting Alias from the mailman yesterday.

I sat and read the second volume cover to cover at 1am to 3 a.m. last night, and then read most of the first half from 10:30 a.m. to noon today.

What a series!
Who knew! Who knew that Luke Cage was a cape-chaser??!!!

And if he's such a dog, can you imagine what the women are saying about Clint!!???!!
Kirk G November 30, 2012 at 12:05am

I'm interested in locating a copy of Weird Wonder Tales #4, that contains the reprint of "Secret of the Black Planet" by Steve Ditko. I'm most interested to see if the final panel has altered artwork, or just how it has been colored...if there is any variation from the original printed in Strange tales #28.

I believe I have at least one issue of Weird Wonder Tales in my quarter box (cut outs that I don't want) and I am willing to trade it either for this particular issue #4, or a scan of the final page. Please contact me if you can assist. Thanks!

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