Amazing Spider-Man #1 (April 27): [Sigh.] I haven't posted in a while because I dreaded reading this issue. "Beyond" was so great, and I was worried that Wells would need to do something to ruin that status quo just for dramatic impact. Unfortunately, he does.
Obviously, I'm OK with Peter facing challenges. In fact, I'm intrigued by Wells' idea that something happened to Spidey six months ago (as we see at the issue's opening) and, due to the trauma, he's on the outs with everyone. Aunt May has moved into a smaller apartment after bankrupting herself paying Peter's medical bills, Peter stole something from the Fantastic Four that has them not speaking to him, Randy had to pay Peter's rent when he fell off the face of the Earth: it isn't good.
Moreover, the Spider-Man part is interesting. Tombstone is running New York's organized-crime syndicates, and the Rose wants a "product" from him as well as territory that Tombstone isn't willing to give. (Tombstone refers to the "Kingpin" being gone, and I'm not sure if he means Kingpin himself or Butch.) Later, it turns out the "product" is a Goblin Glider, and Spidey interrupts the deal. When the Rose's seemingly gamma-powered enforcer named Digger (who everyone else seems to know but I don't recognize) attacks Spidey, the deal goes bad. The Rose's men grab the glider and bolt.
The problem is that Tombstone guaranteed the Rose's men's safety since they met in Harlem (his territory), so, as Hammerhead tells Tombstone, the Rome and Tombstone are now at war. Clearly making a move, the Rose has his goons blow up Tombstone's apartment. Tombstone later approaches Peter and tells him to tell Spider-Man that Tombstone is coming after him, since he has to take out Spider-Man to win back his reputation. Peter's excited by the fact that he (i.e., Spidey) has something to do, which weirds out Tombstone.
Again, all this stuff is fine. Great, even. But, Wells crosses the line for me when, yet fucking again, he breaks up MJ and Peter. To make matters worse, MJ tells Peter to stop calling her and has children (or at least step-children) with some guy named Paul. Fuck that shit. Seriously. I've been reading Spider-Man for 40 years and I am so fucking over fake MJ drama. I just can't. I can't even finish this review. I know that I'll just be gritting my teeth until the inevitable moment when they're reunited. I need a drink.
Knights of X #1 (April 27): I didn't read "Excalibur" and I haven't been too thrilled with Howard's previous work. I'm mostly here for a reunited Rictor and Shatterstar. But, this issue shows a lot of promise.
Howard does a great job of laying out status quo without too much exposition. We learn that Saturnyne has lost her title as Omniversal Majestrix to Merlin, who's using supersized Furies (who look like Sentinels) to hunt down "witchbreed" (i.e., mutants). King Arthur serves as his general given Arthur's belief that mutantkind stole his son, Mordred, from him (since Mordred is witchbreed). Betsy and the Captain Britain Corps are rescuing Otherworld's witchbreed (including Joshua) and bringing them to the Lavender Citadel, where Saturnyne stews over the loss of her throne. As the portal to Krakoa is closed, Betsy seeks help from Roma, but she doesn't have troops to spare, as her fey were some of Merlin's first victims. But, given the fey's powers come from stories, she tells Betsy that she can send her to Krakoa one time to gather knights for a quest.
On Krakoa, Betsy assembles a team of former Excalibur members who agree to help her. She and Rictor work with the Five to resurrect Mordred, but, since they're using an Otherworld - and not Cerebro - recording of his personality, they're not sure who they'll get. However, it doesn't seem to matter when Mordred's body disappears once he's resurrected. To make matters worse, Jubilee doesn't appear on the other side of the gate when the team crosses it, as it seems that it's Shogo's, and not her, quest.
With only seven allies (Bei the Blood Moon, Gambit, Meggan, Prestige, Rictor, Shatterstar, and Shogo), Betsey and company go to find Kylun at Meggan and Prestige's suggestion. When they find them, they enter an initial skirmish with Arthur's forces, only for a young Mordred to appear and help them. With a full team, the quest reveals itself: Betsy and company have to find the Siege Perilous. But, Merlin has other plans for it, as he believes that they can de-mutant Mordred (I think) if they send him through the Siege.
It seems like a lot, but, as I said, Howard does a great job throwing all this information at us without it seeming like a slog. Although I'm here for Rictor and 'Star lovin', I'm also totally down with this plot.
Past the Last Mountain #1 (April 27): This series is the flipside of "The Realm:" here, the humans won a war with magical creatures 50 years ago. At this stage, it's unclear if the magical creatures invaded Earth (like in "The Realm") or if we're dealing with a different Earth where the races always coexisted.
In the present, a troll escapes from the Westfield Penal Preserve in Montana, where the U.S. government is keeping the creatures who survived the war as well as their descendants. A troll named Abby escapes. Neil, the Preserve's new director, and Trevor, one of the Preserve's zoologists, quickly realize she did so as a distraction. From a nearby cliff, Abby's son Simon watches an agent kill her when Abby threatens Trevor. His companions, Kate (a Faun) and Willa (a dragon), are escorting him to the mythical "Dragon Lake," which Simon (and apparently Abby) believes leads to freedom. Kate doesn't believe so, but, for some reason, she's fulfilling Abby's wish to get Simon there. Agents eventually discover the trio's camp only for Willa to reveal that she's fire-capable, despite Trevor previously telling the agents that they had removed her fire glands.
As good as the main story is, it's the series of short "war stories" at the end that make this book. We watch as humans and creatures struggle with their relationships as the U.S. government suddenly declares creatures the enemy in 1972. The authors hint that the government's declaration wasn't entirely unprovoked as the United States alone seemed to experience, as one character says, "griffin terrorism, the Centaur Liberation Army, the..." Given the United States' isolation in the wake of its declaration, this series also has "Undiscovered Country" parallels.
In other words, it's a solid debut. Allor and Joyce do a great job of presenting us with both an emotionally engaging story and a fully realized world. I'm definitely coming back next issue.
Star Wars: Crimson Reign #4 (April 27): Like Sergeant Creel, I feel like it's almost criminal that Marvel hasn't given us more focus on Ren and his Knights. My disappointment is particularly acute here, as both Qi'ra and Vader allude to the Knights' illustrious past and now faded glory. Ren sees a chance to win back some of that honor by working for Qi'ra. That said, the job involves breaking into Fortress Vader on Mustafar to steal the "Screaming Key," which opens a door whose whereabouts only Qi'ra (and notably not Palpatine or Vader) knows. But, Qi'ra plan for Ochi's assassination of the Emperor's guards fails to keep Vader off Mustafar, and he appears at the end to take out the Knights. They escape with the key, but they're now on the Emperor's hit list. Given that Ren's impetus for taking this job was, in part, striking the Emperor before the Knights made their way up said list (for their shadow-using powers), I'm not sure the Knights are heading to the bright future Ren hoped to see.
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