Marauders #2: I have to say, I am here for the Marauders-Shi'ar war that we're clearly getting.
Despite occasionally confusing moments, Orlando does a solid job throwing a lot of information at us here without relying on too much exposition. I mean, the conversation between Delphos and Betel, a fellow Noble of the Kin Crimson, pushes this boundary, as they list the Ten Shames in an IM exchange as if they're discussing them with at uninitiated person and not a fellow Noble. But, it does what it needs to do. We learn that only one person can speak about the Tenth Shame and Xandra only knows about the First Shame.
Orlando does a great job with Xandra, as she both acknowledges to Gladiator that they have to keep the First Shame secret since it's so heinous but is also furious at him (and all Shi'ar) for essentially making her subordinate to the Kin Crimson. Xandra's horror at just the First Shame makes it clear that the Shi'ar's treatment of the first mutants (I'm guessing involved making them lab rats) was far beyond the pale. As such, it's hard to empathize with the Nobles' outrage at the mutants' "affront" in trying to discover what happened to the first mutants. Orlando is setting up a story that involves some comeuppance for the Shi'ar, though I'm not quite sure how it's going to happen.
My only complaint here is that Orlando uses several deus ex machina in the Marauders' battle with Erik the Red. For example, Somnus can essentially stop time given that his dreamscape exists at a slower pace and Bishop (I think) somehow creates energy helmets for everyone after the ship explodes.
In other words, I like where we're going, but I'm hoping Orlando tightens up some parts.
Spider-Man 2099: Exodus - Alpha #1: I'm fucking thrilled to say that this issue is spectacular. This issue is Orlando's best work in comics.
Honestly, I'm so excited, I don't even know how to begin. As anyone reading this blog for a while knows, I don't say the following part lightly, but I think Orlando wisely puts aside Miguel's continuity for the moment and keeps the focus on Miguel and Lyla here. Miguel's (and 2099's) continuity is so confusing at this point that it does no good trying to explain it in a debut issue. Orlando sticks to the basics, and it's a reminder how good the basics are.
We kick off this new chapter in Miguel's adventures with a man named Bruto Olafsen cutting off a man's arm. When Public Eye officers try to arrest him, he shows them a black card with white concentric circles, and the officers realize that he's a Cabal pledge. Bruto tells them that he's just trying to make his numbers when Miguel snatches him. Bruto is shocked Spidey would take on the Cabal, but Miguel notes that he's just a pledge; Miguel tells Bruno the Cabal was testing him and, if he had passed the test, it would be there to help him. Realizing Spidey speaks the truth, Bruto says that he's Nueva York's sixth richest man and can pay him. (This part makes it clear we're not dealing with an organization recruiting from the lower classes.) Miguel wants the Cabal's leader's name, but Bruto doesn't know it. Instead, Bruto can only send him to the comms station where Bruto was supposed to transmit his zipgun's thrill counter. (I love the "thrill counter" idea.)
As Miguel heads to the comms tower, Lyla and Miguel's conversation provides some background on where we are in 2099. Lyla informs us that the Cabal is the world's only "real" superpower, and I love Orlando deciding to put the days of Alchemax serving as 2099's sole villain behind us. We learn that the Cabal operates from "Heaven," which I'm guessing is a satellite, and brutally and publicly murdered the Avengers, which has left the world in a state of shock.
Arriving at the comms station, Miguel uses the key that he swiped off Bruto to hack into the system. He discovers the Cabal has routed a "stellar mass" on a collision course with the Ontario Expanse. He also learns that the station was going to explode with Bruto inside. Miguel realizes that Bruto's initiation was a "cruel joke," and I'm intrigued why the Cabal singled out Bruto for such punishment. Miguel also discovers that the Cabal is scanning the entire planet for some reason but notices some dead zones. Lyla tells Miguel that the drive has more encrypted files, so Miguel grabs it before the station implodes.
Miguel then heads to one of the dead zones while Lyla scans the news. The C.E.O. of Green Globe Partners, an activist fund, blames Alchemax for "R&D gone wrong, citing the crash's immediate mutagenic effects on the terrain." At the dead zone, Miguel discover the Ghost Spire, a tower that Ghost Rider controls and where he protects a city of unhomed, unwanted people. Zero informs Miguel the crater is birthing new elements and new conspiracies, worrying that the coming fear riots will hurt his people. Zero agrees to crack the "mysterium datadrive" (a great Easter egg for X-Men fans) but demands Miguel leaves after he does so before the Cabal can track him to the Spire and hurt Zero's people.
In a truly genius moment, the drive is "quest encrypted," which means, to decrypt it, Miguel and Zero have to defeat a digital troll. I mean, this part is just brilliant. It wasn't necessary - Zero could've just decrypted it. But, Orlando adding in this detail shows how carefully he's thinking about each part of this issue's plot. After defeating the troll, Miguel learns that the "stellar mass" is a dying Celestial, Jovion the Enactor. The Cabal used the bullet inside him (which they probably shot at him) to pull him to Earth, creating the "weird Eden" they clearly plan on harvesting.
Before Miguel can learn more, Zero pulls him from the drive as the Cabal has sent a killcraft with shocktroops to the Spire. As the Spire disintegrates, Zero takes out the killcraft and Miguel engages the shocktroops. One of the shocktroops tells Miguel that he's a Manfredi (so, again, not a plebe), and Miguel demands to know who the Cabal's leader is. Before Miguel and the residents can take out the troops, the Manfredi tells Miguel that the leader will reveal himself soon and then uses a "cellular cyanide" tooth to dissolve himself (as do the other shocktroops).
One of the residents demands Miguel helps them now that they've lost the Spire, and he agrees to ferry them to the Transverse City Spire. Lyla informs Miguel that the Cabal has offered membership to anyone who can stake claim to the Celestial Garden, and Miguel understands that pretty much anyone alive now stands between him and the Garden. More shockingly, Lyla tells him that the Cabal's leader has, in fact, revealed himself: it's a very Norman Osborn-looking Green Goblin.
Again, I couldn't be happier with this issue. I would love for Orlando to keep ignoring most of Miguel's past to create a new 2099 status quo that we could embrace. I cannot wait for next issue.
Star Wars #23: Although everything doesn't go exactly as she planned, Zahra reminds us why she's the Empire's best officer in this issue. In fact, she only fails to take out the entire Rebel fleet -- three full divisions -- and a ground division because two Pathfinders sacrifice themselves to take out the Tarkin's Will's primary reactor. When Kes and Shara arrive at Home One (the Rebel Fleet's command frigate), Leia mentions celebrating their win, but I think that's just Leia blowing smoke up everyone's ass. Sure, Zahra lost Tarkin's Will, but the Rebels lost at least three ships by my count as well as most, if not all, of the ground division. Given the Rebellion's already reduced capacities, they'll miss the ships a lot more than the Empire will miss Tarkin's Will.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi #1: This series appears to consist of vignettes from Obi-Wan's life, timed to the debut of the Disney+ series. This issue is fine, if a little lackluster.
Obi-Wan recalls losing his time as a Padawan, when he lost his friend and protector, Gehren Rand. After receiving a Force vision of her father in terrible pain, Gehren wants to leave Coruscant to go help him. Yoda tries to explain to Gehren that the Force may (or may not) be showing her the future, but she decides that she has to leave. As Gehren is the only person ever to care about Obi-Wan, he follows her.
To me, I would've preferred to learn more about Obi-Wan as (seemingly) an orphan, since the other "Star Wars" titles have frequently mention how the Empire largely recruits orphans. The parallel between the Empire and the Jedi would be interesting.
When a gangster Gehren paid to transport her off-world double-crosses her, Gehren and Obi-Wan using their fledgling powers to escape. Obi-Wan decides against leaving Coruscant with Gehren, and, as he tells us in the present, he never saw her again. This mini-adventure makes Obi-Wan realizes the dangers of acting from fear (as Gehren was), and, later that night, Yoda tells him that it's time for him to protect himself.
I can't say that the Young Obi-Wan Chronicles interest me all that much. (Next issue focuses on an adventure with Qui-Gon.) But, after watching the first episode of the Disney+ series, I'm thrilled to see that Eopie survives so I'll take it!
Also Read: Ben Reilly: Spider-Man #4; Giant-Size X-Men: Thunderbird #1; Quests Aside #1
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