All right, I've gotten through enough of my superhero-comic backlog that I can finally start reviewing all my comics at the same time. As such, I'll start reviewing the "Star Wars" and other "top-shelf" series with the superhero comics. Onwars and upwards!
Devil's Reign #6 (April 6): It's weird to be happy that Wilson Fisk gets a happy ending, but Zdarksy's brilliance is what makes that possible.
After Luke inspires the freed Purple Child to summon the strength to break the Purple Man's hold on New York City, Wilson's plan is in shambles. He doesn't care, though. He thinks that he's killed Matt Murdoch, when we know that he's really killed Mike Murdoch. When Daredevil hears that Mike is dead, he rushes to kill Fisk. In the end, though, Elektra convinces him not to do it, because he isn't an assassin who strikes in shadows. (Isn't he, though?)
As Wilson is brought to jail, Butch intervenes and brings him to the Stromwyns. Wilson violently rejects their "offer" to make him president, potentially killing them in his rampage through their guards. This entire experience has made him realize that he really just wants to be with Mary. He tells Butch to tell everyone that Kingpin killed Matt Murdoch and Butch killed him.
As such, "Devil's Reign" ends with both Daredevil and Kingpin free of who they were. Daredevil agrees to help Elektra form the Fist, and Kingpin and Mary literally sail into the sunset. Although primarily a Daredevil story, Marvel isn't wrong, for once, that this mini-series will have serious ramifications throughout the New York City-based hero community. Fisk is no longer the mayor, and Luke Cage (!) looks set to become the mayor.
As these events go, Zdarsky did much better than his colleagues before him. He kept the story focused and didn't trying to do too much. The story of Kingpin's fall as Mayor was literally years in the making, and I'm really satisfied with the outcome.
Marauders #1 (April 6): This issue is uneven, but it's a solid enough start for this new team. I feel like Orlando probably needed two full issues to tell the story that he wanted to tell here, first establishing the new team and its dynamic and then sending them on their first mission. Then again, after the time that he had to spend establishing that Krakoa has determined Cassandra Nova is a mutant, maybe it was a good idea to end with a bang.
And a bang it is: Cassandra reveals that the Shi'ar have been holding the first generation of mutants captive for millennia. As Kate and company head to the Imperium, Delphos reveals herself to Xandra as Delphos the Red, a member of a secret society created to keep the mutants imprisoned lest the Imperium fall. She reveals their secret history to Xandra, who's sufficiently terrified of what would happen if the Marauders discover the truth that she sends Erik the Red after them.
Looking at next issue, I'm hoping that we'll see some tighter art and writing, but, all in all, it isn't a terrible new start for Kate and company.
Spider-Punk #1 (April 6): I'm hit or miss with Cody Ziglar, but this issue is seriously fun. Hobie and his Spider-Band of anarchist, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ super-friends protect Brooklyn from Kraven and the Hunters, who've accepted weapons from a mysterious benefactor to help him gentrify the neighborhood. It could be eye-roll inducing, but Ziglar infuses the story with enough heart and humor (i.e., "What's the Furthest Place from Here?" was missing) that it isn't. If you want your Spider-Man a little more cyberpunk and a little more queer, this series is for you.
X-Men Red #1 (April 6): This series is exactly what I was hoping it would be.
Ewing uses Storm and Sunspot as our eyes into how difficult trying to fit Earth and Arakko societies together is going to be. For Bobby, he's excited at the possibility that Arakko brings, looking to become Arakko's premier party planner, essentially. It's the perfect role for him. Fuck A.I.M. Bringing disco to Arakko is his calling.
But, Earth's misfit toys are causing trouble. Vulcan loses his shit at the Red Lagoon, Bobby's bar, when a Shi'ar diplomat doesn't recognize him, his former "king." Before Abigail Brand and Cable can calm down the situation, Vulcan starts waling on Bobby. Then, Thunderbird arrives and loses his shit and he starts waling on Vulcan. But, Brand understands the situation and does what I've been saying that the mutants' leaders need to do to keep the younger mutants in line: Thunderbird and Vulcan just need jobs.
Meanwhile, Ewing shows that Storm is handling her task a little better than Bobby. As imperious as Isca the Unbeaten is, Storm notes that she constantly abstains and refuses to accept the burden for decisions that Isca wants her (Storm) to accept. (Because Isca so frequently abstains, Storm often has to cast the tying vote.) To emphasize this point, Brand proposes that Storm create an X-Men for Mars. She wants Storm to lead it as Queen of Mars, which leads Storm, as she does frequently throughout this issue, to insist that she's Regent of Arakko.
As these events develop, Magneto strikes up a friendship with the Fisher King, a human born in the Tarn's prisons who lives on one of Arakko's isolated continents. Bobby later approaches Magneto (with the Fisher King present) about creating a new X-Men team to keep an eye on Brand, and Storm arrives to propose something similar. Knowing Brand is going to build her own X-Men (presumably with Thunderbird and Vulcan on the team) for her own ends, though, Storm suggests that they are instead the Brotherhood. Yes!
In other words, it's "John Carter of Mars" meets "Days of Future Past" meets "Blade Runner" meets "Red Mars." In other words, it's spectacular. Ewing excels at showing both Storm and Sunspot's strengths and weaknesses in one issue. Storm's commitment to peace makes her turn an inadvisably blind eye to the Arakkii's true nature, but her experience, insight, and values make her capable of actually bringing about that peace. Bobby is too optimistic, maybe, but also pays more attention than people think that he does. Ewing is also putting together characters that we've never really seen interact, which makes it all the more exciting. I can't tell if Storm is going to hate or love Bobby, but we'll see.
In other words, I am so fucking here for this series.
Also Read: Moon Knight #10 (April 6)
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