It's mighty wordy, and it doesn't dig as deep into the characters as it could.
Beyond those nitpicks, though, it's next door to flawless. Plot developments by the bucket load, and most of them are tied tightly to character relationships. This feels like critical groundwork for a tragedy to come--and it's supremely entertaining in its own right.
LISTEN CLOSELY. Time is running out. Fall is here. Doug Ramsey is the voice of Krakoa. It's time for Krakoa to speak.
Rated T+
The creators make a terrific meal out of the big stack of bonus pages. The extra space suits their preferred style for MK action, and expanding the flashback to full-issue length works well.
This isn't a big character moment for the protagonist--but it is a spotlight turn for 8-Ball, hooray! And on the plot side of things, an incredible number of puzzle pieces lock tightly together. The more
MOON KNIGHT'S PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE, LEADING INTO HIS FIRST EVENT SERIES!
The past comes back to bedevil Moon Knight as he pursues his latest enemy, someone once familiar and new. From grim New York nights to the blazing sun of Alexandria days, Moon Knight hunts for answers among the graves of Hart Island while haunted by the last mission o...
It's another fast-paced serving of ridiculous action. I've been enjoying Paul Davidson's art all along, but this is something special. He pulls out all the stops when he has the opportunity to do dystopian world-building, and the results are fantastic.
The arc-plot winds down to a satisfying conclusion, and there are some good character beats (comedy for Deadpool, tragedy for Colossus) more
THE GHOST CALENDARS! BEAST's epic long game plays out in the only way it could - with NIMROD'S ultimate plan successful, HANK McCOY survives and thrives! But what will this mean for mutantkind, and does X-FORCE still have time to stop it?
Rated T+
It's a nice, solid continuation of the sci-fi fun. If the plot doesn't really advance that far, the ground it does cover is made exciting with some cool, well-drawn action. I'm not sure Yondar's "secret" lands as hard as the author wants it to, though.
Mar-Vell and Yondar have been captured by the monstrous Agz! But there's more to this deadly creature than Groot and his friends realize. Who is he? And why has he razed Groot's homeworld? Find out here!
Rated T
It's always fun to see a breakout character break out well, and this Candra fits the bill. She gets the lion's share of narrative attention here, but there's still plenty of insight and development for Normie. It's all drawn well, there's a solid dose of action, and the dialogue has a bit of sparkle to it. This is a thoroughly satisfying return to form after the dubious detour through Carnage Reigmore
"NATURE VS. NURTURE" BEGINS! CARNAGE REIGNS may be over, but Normie Osborn and the Rascal symbiote's problems are only just beginning! For weeks, Normie's pacified the symbiote and managed to keep the rabid killing machine inside it under control. But in this issue, Normie learns that you can't fight nature...
Rated T+
It looks just about as beautiful as ever. The core space-vengeance story is a little rushed and clunky, but I'm OK with that. It means the other major scenes--the introduction of Ganymede and the heart-to-heart with Wiccan--come out slower and more enjoyable.
Of course, the biggest possible strike is that this one-off is not what we've all been waiting for since the end of #5.
FAMILY MATTERS! Wanda's loyalties are tested when an enemy of the Kree/Skrull Empire falls through the Last Door desperate for help avenging their fallen comrades. Will Wanda honor the commitment she made to helping those in need - whoever they are - or will her love for her son Wiccan and his husband, Hulkling, triumph over all? PLUS: A familiar f...
To me, it's a good comic. It's just as slow as the last issue, though, and it's not as funny or intriguing. It should be fine as a chapter in a bigger story. By itself, though…it's giving me a case of dwarf fatigue. The art is pretty formidable throughout, which helps.
The past can never just stay buried, can it? Loki's turn at playing "good guy" has been interrupted by the resurgence of relics from his nefarious past. Now that he's set sail on his ship made of fingernails, he tracks the first of these to the destroyed Nidavellir - where the relic has been crafted into a devastatingly powerful weapon that the dwa...
This issue employs the standard tricks of the volume to the best possible effect. The big plot developments are finally revealed, allowing the story to chug towards a confrontation. It pauses along the way for funny or cool moments; in this instance, these pay off better in the art than the words.
It's cathartic to be in motion. But even in motion, there are frustrating hints of deeper more
eaten and bloody, with his back against the wall, has Spider-Man finally met his match?
Rated T
The new arc has a hook in me, though I found this first issue a little slow and repetitive (we get it, Miles could use a therapist!). The dynamic art helped. The action scenes look terrific, but I also liked the street fair visuals. I'm much less enthused about the Hobgoblin, but maybe he'll get some interesting motivation soon?
MILES BATTLES THE HOBGOBLIN! SPIDER-MAN, A.K.A. MILES MORALES, has a target on his spider-symbol'd back. The most dangerous super-villains in NYC keep coming at him - hard. First RABBLE, then CLETUS KASADY and now...THE HOBGOBLIN is back and more dangerous than ever, and he's got his glider aimed squarely at Miles! How could this get any worse for ...
There's a certain amount of fun in watching this grim proposition play out to its obvious end. And it's satisfying to see that even in victory, Loki gets his comeuppance. This comic would rise a lot higher if Marvel had persuaded Mr. Simonson to draw it, though.
Walter Simonson returns to his illustrious run on THOR...but this time, Loki's in charge! A tale of one of Asgard's worst days - and one of Loki's best.
Rated T+
At times (like Magneto's speech), this is quite powerful. At other times (like the Spider-Man scene), this feels like reading fan fiction or a Wiki summary. The art and prose are always solid, never spectacular; overall, this is a mixed bag.
Prequels are always hard to justify, and this one hasn't quite done the job yet.
THE CATACLYSM THAT LEADS TO THE X-MEN'S DYSTOPIC FUTURE! Return to the future in a tale that reveals the events leading up to the timeless original DAYS OF FUTURE PAST story that's inspired spin-offs, films and more! In a world where mutants are more than simply hated and feared, but not yet SLAIN and APPREHENDED, the assassination of Senator Kelly...
Sadly the scene that's most critical to plot and character development also seems to be the weakest one. I think the developments are generally workable, though, and the art's strong throughout. This makes a fitting lid to close the last volume of Carnage and pivot toward the future.
CARNAGE SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH! As Cletus Kasady exacts his vengeance on an unsuspecting city and CARNAGE REIGNS across the Marvel Universe, THE CARNAGE SYMBIOTE remains left to its own devices, adrift among the stars. With its purpose renewed after the DEATH OF THE VENOMVERSE, Carnage has scant few hurdles between it and a glorious ascension to t...
The art and pace both reach a high-water mark here, and the story is finally interesting. The initial comic relief scene is golden.
It's Warlock vs. Warlock! But will Adam emerge victorious? Or will Eve reign supreme as the new Warlock of the cosmos!
Rated T+
Count the number of "Hrn!"s in the dialogue. (And throw in Destiny's "hrm" for good measure.)
THE POWERS THAT BREAK! The Power Broker emerges from the shadows to make the deal of a lifetime! Selling was always risky business, but with an asset like Rogue in his Rolodex, the payoff is worth it. Only, Anna Marie isn't one who can be controlled. And while Gambit knows her sweet side...the rest of her can be mighty mean. Rogue crosses a line sh...
The cause-and-effect mechanics of the plot go slightly wonky at the climax, but the art is even stronger than the last issue.
And there's Alicia's voice, which is insanely lovable even by this title's high lovability standards. This is a great finish to a great story.
Appreciate that the way Alicia interacts with Sue's powers is a subtle nod toward her step-father, the Puppet more
Alicia, Sue and Johnny face off against Ben and Reed - as they battle for the survival of their minds themselves against an alien that can wipe their memories clean! But can they survive this brutal onslaught from their friends and lovers, the very people who know them - and their powers - better than anyone else in the universe? We'll all find out...
This latest plot twist owes a lot to Doctor Who. Like, enough to criticize it for the similarity, if you want to.
Me? I like Doctor Who and I like this comic.
The art is gorgeous and magical, the pace is good, and the dialogue is full of wit and snark. Stephen and Clea come across as smart, insightful people, even as the plot catches them flat-footed.
(Speaking of more
DARK WEDDING BELLS RINGING! Strange and Clea have been invited to an interdimensional wedding. But when the bride is Clea's own mother, Umar the Unrelenting, it's not exactly the family event the Stranges want to attend. Especially when the guests are mysteriously being murdered!
Rated T+
Ben's not wrong when he derides Ogdu as basic; that guy and his scheme aren't going to show up on anybody's list of "top 10 cosmic threats." The heroes subject him to an off-the-shelf defeat.
Fortunately, the WAY the story's told does a lot to overcome any shortcomings in the plot and antagonist. The art is still scrupulously, gloriously grotesque, and the dialogue really rises to a ser more
OGDU FRAIZE's plan is almost complete, he has reverse engineered every item of power across the Marvel Universe's timestream to create the PSYCHOPOMP machine, a device that will steal the creation energy of the nascent GALACTUS and the SENTIENCE of the UNIVERSE at the moment of the BIG BANG. The THING, DOCTOR DOOM and TUVAH TU are an unwilling audi...
It feels like we're cooking with gas here. The art is generally strong, though ironically, Venom's look might be my least favorite part of the visuals (Not bad by any means, just strangely, vaguely "off"). The author's struck a good balance between mysterious foreshadowing and immediate action--and there's a nice dose of solid humor to bind it all together and make the reading experience fun.more
BLAST IN THE PAST! For months, Eddie Brock's consciousness has been displaced in time! You've seen what happens when he's flung himself to the far future of the Marvel Universe - now see what happens when he tries to traverse its past! Face to face with the mysterious FLEXO in the past, the part symbiotes have played in the Marvel U will take a sur...
The anthology strips tacked on the end are the usual anniversary fare: heartfelt but pretty forgettable. The art is pretty strong all the way through, though, and the Simone/Acuña strip is excellent.
The first two strips are more important, being essentially full issues of the Truth and Liberty series. The first is an excellent epilogue for Symbol of Truth, filling in a key piece of ba more
SPECIAL ISSUE #750! THE CAPTAINS AMERICA MOURN THEIR FALLEN!
After the harrowing events of CAPTAIN AMERICA: COLD WAR, the Captains America return home to mourn their fallen - and strive to honor the power of legacy. Plus: The secret origin of Sam Wilson's new shield revealed, and a bold new direction for Sharon Carter!
In honor of 750 iss...
I suppose this is all important background info about Righteous and Stasis, and it's written and drawn in a suitably entertaining fashion. I dunno, it didn't wow me. The artist seems stretched a little thin, and I'm not sure this really needed to be a big bonus-sized issue.
I pretty much fell in love with Mother Righteous at first sight, but it seems like every further revelation about more
FALL OF X IS COMING! As the nineteenth century drew to a close, the dying Nathaniel Essex unleashed four clones of himself into the world. They've been haunting it ever since, while lurking in the shadows. We know what Sinister has been up to. What about the others? In this issue, we delve into their past...and discover their latest atrocity. When ...
The surprise last-minute antagonist came so far out of left field that it threw me utterly out of the story. At first I thought I was missing some piece of established Daredevil lore, but nope, this is apparently the first/last/only appearance of that baddy. In retrospect, this whole arc is riddled with supporting characters with unclear motivations (looking at you again, Goldie), and this final omore
DAREDEVIL IN HELL! Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto are on the last leg of their tour de force through Matt Murdock's life...and afterlife.
Rated T+
There's a solid premise in there, and the authors wring about three good scenes out of it. But that doesn't fill the entire page count, and the clumsy way they set up the playing field at the start gets everything off on the wrong foot. The art's pretty outstanding throughout, though.
The teaser strip for the upcoming volume is rough for me. I love Al Ewing, but this fills me with the o more
Enter...MYTHOS! When M.O.D.O.K. - fueled by revenge and a refusal to ever again be someone else's pawn - seizes control of all of the Ten Realms but Asgard, Thor the All-Father must step in and regain control of the Ten Realms and the World Tree. But M.O.D.O.K.'s new, cosmic power proves to be a greater threat than Thor could imagine, and he'll nee...
Panel by panel and line by line, there's still some stiffness in both the art and the words. It's pretty good work on the strategic scale, though: The script is complex and tense and the layouts are powerful.
Plotwise, some things I thought would be important fade out, and some of the things this finale focuses on come out of left field. But it all fits together logically in hindsight.
more
KINGPIN WANTS HIS MONEY BACK! LAURA KINNEY has done terrible things in her time as an assassin for the Facility. And now that past comes back to haunt her with a vengeance! With HAYMAKER on one side, KINGPIN on the other and KIMURA orchestrating the nightmare, the woman once known as X-23 will have to bring all her fighting skills and mutant power ...
This is an archetypal example of this title's winning-ish strategy. One Big Dumb Fight™, one Relationship Moment™, some variable-quality foreshadowing, and a bunch of clumsy traffic control trying to make this look like the center of a cohesive story running through all the X-titles.
(Yeah, I'm a little salty about those two Manifold-focused pages that are essentially saying, "No, r more
POGG UR-POGG FOR HIRE! Hired for the dirtiest of jobs, a deadly mercenary comes crashing into the X-Men right at their most vulnerable moment! But not just any mercenary - finally, the breakout fan-favorite from X OF SWORDS, Pogg Ur-Pogg, returns!
Rated T+
At the front and back we have one-note strips that rise into memorability thanks to utter creator commitment and an unusual level of cuteness for Venom.
In between, there's a rock-solid Venom Noir origin. I often criticize anthology strips for presenting less than a full story. This is the refreshing alternative: Not just a complete story including protagonist, antagonist, conflict, and more
Face front, Venomaniacs, because we've got even MORE never-before-seen and ALL-NEW symbiote stories to show you! First, Deadpool scribe ALYSSA WONG and revolutionary artist KEN NIIMURA unite to introduce a symbiotic superstar inspired by anime and manga who's about to take the Multiverse by storm! Then industry superstar PEACH MOMOKO is about to ma...
It's not bad, but that in no way makes it good or memorable.
The art takes a slight up-tick; in my opinion, the quality of the writing heads the other way.
SPIDER-MAN VS. ELECTRO - NO HOLDS BARRED! The web-slinger and the Emperor of Electricity have both leveled up since they last faced each other, and one really wants to kill the other. Plus, Norman Osborn does something that may end his new amicable relationship with Spider-Man.
Rated T
I don't think anybody, even the author, enjoyed this simplistic resolution half as much as the artist did. They fill every panel with insanely over-the-top action, striving to imbue the story with an epic-ness that it doesn't really deserve.
VENOM FACES A DOOMSDAY SCENARIO! VENOM and SILVER SABLE's final battle with the most dangerous foes they've ever fought reaches its climax, and they better win - because the fate of the entire world is on the line. It's a battle that will change them forever, but little do they know that the real fight is about to begin...for DOOM has sprung his ne...
The first and last strips are simple, journeyman stories that confirm the continued existence of Dream-Spider and Araña. They offer some comfort to existing fans of those characters, but I doubt they'll win more.
(Aside caveat: The Araña strip is also pitching pretty hard for an ongoing Web Warriors series starring her. I'm not sure it really got me on board.)
The middle st more
DREAM-SPIDER RETURNS! The new spider-character from the hit DEADLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN miniseries returns in her first solo adventure! ALSO: What if that radioactive spider we all know and love bit...J. JONAH JAMESON?!
Rated T+
Well, I love this. The slow burn pays off with a thoroughly engaging step forward in Jen's love triangle…before superhero business spoils everything. How perfectly appropriate for a She-Hulk comic.
There are plenty of superheroes who get to be romantic, here and there, but few superhero storytellers go all-in on making their stories romances. Rainbow Rowell makes it look deceptively e more
The secret history of THE SCOUNDREL revealed! The coolest new villain of 2023 has been shrouded in mystery, but SHE-HULK is putting on her detective hat and getting to the bottom of it?
Rated T+
As a story standing on its own, this issue falls short of greatness. It's slow and it's stuffed with self-important biblical language. It's illustrated well, but the big art team falls prey to the usual problems of collaboration--the visual style isn't quite consistent.
As groundwork/mythology for the upcoming war, though, this is fascinating and important reading. It's high time we all more
THE ORIGIN OF ARAKKO! In ancient days, Genesis turned back the hordes of Amenth. In ancient days, Genesis forced Annihilationin to a parley. What words were spoken in her mind? Now, finally, Apocalypse will know?and the echoes of those words might destroy him?and Arakko with him.
Rated T+