Marauders #19 (April 7): The Marauders respect the letter, if not the spirit, of the law when they send in the Morlocks - technically not Krakoans - to save Lowtown. Of course, they don't exactly respect the letter of the law, as Kate sneaks into Lowtown to plant the Krakoan gate that allows the Morlocks to enter and Bishop blows up Frankenstein's laboratory. But, they don't get caught so it counts. I have to say that I'm totally down with this series occasionally focusing on Lowtown - now Mutietown - stories featuring the Morlocks. In sad news, the Reavers kill Lockheed's friend's (Ai Tran's) dad, but the Morlocks offer Ai a job running the Princess Bar.
Darkhawk: Heart of the Hawk #1 (April 14): If you've read this blog for a while, you'll know that Darkhawk is right up there with Nova and Spider-Man 2099 on my list of favorites. He was a teenage '90s heroes roughly my age, and I always clicked with him the most. He wasn't a nerdy genius like Peter Parker or a handsome dude like Rich Rider. He was a normal teenager who felt overwhelmed with the responsibilities unfolding before him. His story sang to me. Marvel does a spectacular job of creating the perfect introduction to Chris for new readers with enough to get us committed fans excited.
Danny Fingeroth somehow summarizes the original "Darkhawk" series in just a few pages as Chris accidentally finds himself on a date with the daughter of the mobster who corrupted his father. It made me want to dig out my old back issues and remember all the twists and turns that those issues had when it came to Chris' father. I had definitely forgotten that he was Savage Steel.
Then, Dan Abnett gives the same treatment to Chris' cosmic years, portraying him as a lonely figure trying to help where he can in the aftermath of the War of Kings. Darkhawk's cosmic adventures often put Chris's story on the back burner as Darkhawk's armor's increasingly complicated and contradictory back story became most stories' focus. This story puts Chris firmly in the story's center, thankfully, as he grieves the loss of heroes like Nova and Star-Lord and tries to do his best to bring justice to a broken galaxy.
Higgins seemingly shows us Chris' death. At a breach point, Chris has spent the last three weeks trying to prevent "what's on the other side from coming through." But, he can't prevent the "Shadow War" that he sees coming from happening anymore, as the ship has expended all its energy. Before the ship explodes, he sends the amulet through Null Space with all his memories - his datasong - in the hope that someone will find it and learn from his mistakes. Ramírez's Chris is my preferred one here, once again a handsome yet normal guy who just happens to be a superhero.
All in all, I'm excited that Marvel seems ready to bring back Chris. He seems a perfect fit for joining the new Guardians, and I hope we go in that direction.
Guardians of the Galaxy #13 (April 14): This issue is great. It's exactly what a "Guardians of the Galaxy" issue should be and yet somehow is still rare. In a template that works well for future issues and stories, Ewing splits up the Guardians into two squads to address separate threats.
Nova leads the first squad to Throneworld 2, where an extra-galactic civilization called the Progenitors are attacking. As a civilization willing to experiment on "lesser species," they're exposing the Kree to a mutagenic mist to study the results. Nova, Gamora, Groot, Moondragon, (a shirtless) Peter Quill, and Rocket arrive to help Hulkling and Wiccan take out the Progenitors.
Meanwhile, Phylla-Vell leads Drax, Marvel Boy, and Quasar to a newly discovered rimworld where a survey team vanished. It turns out a Skrull cult - the Brethren of the Forgotten Flame - waiting for the return of "He-Who-Waits" has taken over the planet (and killed the survey team). Let's just say that they're not thrilled that a pacifist Earther child is running the Empire.
Ewing also includes some surprises here. First, Wendell Vaughn is now sharing the quantum bands with Avril Kincaid, like Captain Marvel used to do with Rick Jones. Second, when Gamora complains about how distant Peter is, he confesses that he had a son in Morinus. Finally, the Throneworld team sends away the Progenitors only to get its ass kicked by...Doctor Doom!
Also Read: Amazing Spider-Man #63 (April 7); Spider-Man: Spider's Shadow #1 (April 14)
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