Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #3: Seriously how many times can Marvel ret-con Darkhawk’s origin? We learn here the Gardener, one of the Elders of the Universe, created the Tree of Shadows. He was obsessed with seeing where he could grow life, and he saw the Darkforce Dimension as a challenge. He apparently forgot about the Tree after planting it. However, millennia later, the Shi’ar and Skrulls somehow discovered it and fought over it. A Shi’ar soldier gets to the Tree first and steals a seed, and it somehow transforms him into a set of “living armor.” (I'm definitely not sure how that happened. Did his armor take over his body? If so, how and why did the Tree make that happen?) Moreover, the soldier observes the Skrulls changing shape, which somehow allows him to change shape? I don’t know. At any rate, he seems to be the first Raptor. Chris gets this information from Razor, who was supposedly dead but whose essence is apparently still rattling around wherever Chris’ consciousness/soul is. Along those lines, I think the amulet is Chris' soul now? He mentions how his soul is powering Starhawk; since Robbie became Starhawk when he got his hands on the amulet, the transitive property means Chris' soul is the amulet. At any rate, Razor’s pep talk here means Chris can suddenly alter his armor again. This time, he sheds his former armor like a skin and becomes a new set of armor that can turn into a ship. I don't know. This whole story just feels like a mess.
Multiple Man #1: "Dammit, Jamie! Stuff like this is why everyone finds you so annoying!" Truer words, Beast, truer words. The new New Mutants find one of Jamie's dupes in a sealed-off lab, though we're never told why they're looking for the lab in the first place. It turns out this dupe had all of Jamie's science abilities and was trying to create a serum that would stabilize dupes and let them live independently from Jamie, in cases just like this one, where Jamie Prime is dead. However, he's not as smart as Beast, so the serum only works temporarily. As Beast works to stabilize the serum, Jamie swipes Bishop's time-travel device and heads to the future. He returns almost immediately to stop something (we're not sure what yet) from happening, and he unexpectedly brings back versions of himself who are also Cable, Deadpool, Dr. Strange, and Hulk. Yeah, it's confusing. At this stage, Rosenberg hasn't hinted Jamie Prime survived the Terrigen Mists, so we're left to assume Jamie Prime is really dead. But, that said, if Jamie could travel to the future, why not travel to the past, grab Jamie Prime, travel back to the present (skipping the Terrigen Mists), and have him reabsorb Jamie? Anyone?
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #306: I've said it before and I'll say it again: this title is the Spider-Man title. From his fresh take on JJJ, Jr. to his introduction of new characters (like Teresa), Zdarsky is telling a modern Spider-Man tale, not entangled in all the usual clichés and tropes Spider-Man carries with him after 55 years. But, it's still a Spider-Man story at its heart. In the present, Daredevil leads Peter and the gang to the Resistance's secret base in the Baxter Building. There, T'Challa analyzes the device the Vedomi scout gave Peter and reveals it's a capsule that connects a biological consciousness with the Vedomi's hivemind. The connected person would then be able to override the Vedomi's directive, making them see Earth as an empty planet. Before anyone can react, Peter opens the capsule and absorbs the programming. It allows him full access to his memories, including his parents. He's overwhelmed, but Teresa encourages him to embrace it, a reminder that he needs to save the people who love him. (He sees MJ at one point, and I wonder if the editors would let Zdarsky have Peter remember the deal with Mephisto...) At any rate, these sequences are what makes this story a Spider-Man story, grounded as they are in Peter Parker and his experiences. He tells Teresa he's not going to survive this adventure, since his body is overheating due to the presence of the programming. He makes his way onto the ship, but, before he can merge with the core, the Tinkerer appears. (Earlier he had hacked into Ironheart's armor and used her as a ride to the ship.) Dun-dun-DUN! Zdarsky even manages to upgrade the Tinkerer here into a threat in and of himself. I'll admit I rolled my eyes at the claim that Peter is going to die, but, otherwise, Zdarsky is telling a great story here. Whereas I'm bored of the similarly long "Daredevil" arc about Wilson Fisk as Mayor of New York, Zdarsky has managed to keep this tale fresh as we enter the last act.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #21: Spurrier is clearly writing for the trade, because I had to re-read last issue and this one just to get a basic sense of the plot. But, it's not just because there are twists and turns, because twists and turns are good. It's because it's all lost in a variety of technical mumbo-jumbo that I find hard to understand but is unfortunately key to understanding the plot. Moreover, the technical mumbo-jumbo consists of a string of overly convenient developments that even Aphra seems unlikely to be able to arrange. This title keeps creeping down my list, to be honest.
X-Men: Blue #30: These two issues have just been uncharacteristically terrible. I barely care about Jimmy let alone Jimmy as the central figure in a storyline that continues from a cross-over event I didn't read. It's like a particularly bad hangover. Like last issue, this issue focuses on Jimmy as a Poison, something we're supposed to believe means he's functionally dead. Yet, Bunn has already shown Jean was able to resurrect herself, so it's clear Jimmy will be able to do so, too. As such, I'm not sure why Bunn made the decision to extend this story, when he has much more interesting ones to tell. Whatever. This series ends in six issues anyway.
Also Read: Marvel 2-in-One #7; Ms. Marvel #31; Old Man Hawkeye #6; Star Wars: Lando - Double or Nothing #2; Thor #2
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