Typhoid Mary is very much Ann Nocenti’s own character. She embodies all of the feminist commentary that Nocenti usually injects into her work. As a result, Typhoid has tagged along with Nocenti around the Marvel Universe, interacting with a variety of characters, such as Daredevil and Spider-Man. In this short graphic novel, she begins a love/hate relationship with another prominent Marvel male, Wolverine, and the results are mixed.
Typhoid’s Kiss goes deeper into the past of Typhoid Mary. As she searches for the people responsible for her mentally deranged state, she encounters Wolverine, who is on a similar search. Convinced that they are after the same people, they decide to look for answers together, while Wolverine tries to understand what kind of woman he has gotten himself involved with. As is typical in a relationship with any male for Typhoid, she shows affection for Wolverine one moment and attacks him the next as her two personalities battle for control.
Nocenti is an excellent writer while writing both Wolverine and her own character, Typhoid. Of all the Typhoid Mary material I’ve read, this book focuses more on her past than any other, rather than dwelling in her own psychosis. While this is a nice change of pace, and helps add depth to the character, the character works much better in an atmosphere of complete insanity, such as in the 1996 Typhoid limited series.
What really detracts from the book is the artwork. While it is not inherently bad, I don’t think it works for this kind of book. It may, in fact, be suited to one of Typhoid’s more incoherent, psychotic stories. The use of panels is often abandoned for a pattern of figures and illustrations that float free-form instead. While I can see the application for this kind of style, it doesn’t work in a story that is so heavily focused on character exposition and story. I think this book could have used a more traditional style. Also, the art looks like old-fashioned horror comic art– which isn’t bad, just not my taste.
While it is one of the lesser Typhoid Mary stories I’ve read, due mainly to the art, Typhoid’s Kiss is worth reading as either a Typhoid or a Wolverine fan. It explores the backgrounds of both characters and provides a solid story in the process.
Wolverine Comic - Typhoid Kiss by Ann Nocenti
Download link for the comics:
http://rapidshare.de/files/1499728/Wolverine_TyphiodKiss.zip.html
Found in the ProjectW.org forum, thanks to scorpi0n.
Simpsons Super Spectacular Comics
