Now that we're current on the top-shelf series, it's time to enter superhero-comic land!
Amazing Spider-Man: Full Circle #1 (October 23): I don't have a lot to say about this issue because it's impossible to make sense of it. It features seven of Marvel's top writers engaging in a round-robin approach to storytelling, and it's just a fucking mess. Is it a fun fucking mess? At times, yes, it is. The problem for me, though, is that I started wondering what type of amazing (heh) story these authors could put together under less ridiculous circumstances. I guess we'll never know. If you like your comics Dadist and expensive, this comic is for you. (The Bacahlo art was nice.)
Captain America #17 (December 11): OK, so, Scourge is killing the "cops" that the Kingpin put on the force, and the Power Elite and the Watchdogs are killing the cops trying to get rid of these "cops." In theory, it aligns the Kingpin with the Watchdogs, but he's dead, so are they now just working for Lukin and the Power Elite? At any rate, Cap and the Daughters identify the only non-rookie cop on the anti-terrorism squad who left shortly after he started working with them. Does he just happen to be an expert marksman? Yes, yes, he does.
New Mutants #3 (December 11): With Armor and Glob visiting Angel and Beak, Brisson runs into two of the inevitable challenges that the new status quo raises. First, Angel and Beak haven't joined the other mutants on Krakoa because Beak's father is suffering from a rare disease. Since humans can't live on Krakoa (challenge #1), they remained on his parents' farm in Nebraska. But, Armor using Krakoa's resources to cure Beak's father leads to a group of thugs appearing on the farm to "negotiate" for the medicines (challenge #2). It isn't clear yet how these thugs knew that it was the right time to invade the farm, with Armor and Blob there. Brisson seems to imply that it's just coincidence, but I hope he doesn't go that route. After all, the thugs came with power-dampening weapons, so they're not taking an unsophisticated approach to achieving their goal.
Amazing Spider-Man #36 (December 18): I'm happy to report Pete doesn't screw up Clairvoyant! Hurrah!
Peter successfully uses Clairvoyant to realize that the best approach to defusing the Doom situation is telling him the truth: someone is trying to goad him into inciting a war while the world watches. (Sound familiar?) Doom realizes that Spidey is right, but his Doombots destroy billions of dollars worth of cultural institutions and infrastructure as they depart New York.
In the epilogue, a gloating Countess Karkov tells a bedridden Silver Sable that the point of the assassination attempt wasn't just goading Doom into attacking New York: Hitman used a smart bullet that allowed Karkov to infiltrate Doom's system. She ordered the Doombots to attack New York as Doom left, and Doom had to accept the outcome since he couldn't publicly admit that someone hacked him. Doom is now a pariah, and Karkov is lining up offers from Western powers to hold the line against Latveria. (Again, sound familiar?) As she mentions to Silver Sable, she's given Symkarians an enemy to unite them and they rally behind her. Karkov criticizes Silver Sable for caring so little about Symkarian poverty while galavanting around the world as a mercenary, and it's hard to argue with her, to be honest. Am I Team Karkov? Maybe?
The only terrible part of this issue is that it doesn't resolve any of the loose ends from the Marvel 2099 event. Miguel appears on a tropical island where Tempest and his baby are, though we get no information how that happens. If I'm going to guess, both the original 2099 timeline and the new 2099 timeline (that Karkov would've created if Peter hadn't convince Doom not to destroy New York) no longer exist. Miguel is a man outside time but happy with that fate because he finds his wife and kid. I think? It's a mess, but it's been so long since I read these comics that I'm just going with it.
New Mutants #4 (December 18): Oof, this issue is fucking intense.
It turns out the gang's ringleader is from a country called Costa Perdita. A few years ago, the chemicals that "white men and their industry" dumped into the Perdita river created a disease that killed thousands. Martin Shk...a pharma bro extorted the government for the cure when the infected population rose from 8,000 to 65,000. By the time the government agreed to pay $100 million, 20,000 people had died. This dude isn't looking for revenge; he's looking to profit, so he wants to negotiate with Krakoa directly rather than his government getting the drugs for free. Brisson answers my question from last issue about how the gang knew about Angel and Beak, because websites - both supporting and hating mutants - keep track of mutants.
In the end, Angel convinces one of the guards to free her so she can use her powers to digest her food. She then uses her acid-spit power to free Manon, who turns the guards on each other. Also, a drunk Boomer arrives, so next issue is going to be a doozy.
Beyond the action, as a dad, Angel's panic over her children hit me hard. I found myself almost paralyzed thinking about finding myself in this situation. As I said, it's intense.
Also Read: Marauders #4 (December 18)
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