Six-Month-Old Comics: The September 7 Marvel Event Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

A.X.E.:  Death to the Mutants #2:  Meh.  

This issue is all over the place.  The best parts involve Kro, particularly his flirtations with Emma.  If this event results in anything, I would welcome the Deviants suddenly emerging as yet another faction among Earth's squabbling parties, particularly since you could see their allegiance reasonably moving from party to party depending on the situation.  The worst parts involve Gillen getting cute, like Syne the Memotaur discussing poetry with a poet she meets online.  Also does the Progenitor change appearance halfway through the issue?

As I said:  meh.

Immortal X-Men #6:  This issue is almost incoherent.  

In the wake of the X-Men's failed attack on the Progenitor, the Council meets to discuss options.  Emma informs them that Sersei and Starfox are working on their own plans, and Sebastian appoints himself as Krakoa's liaison to them.  

Sebastian meets with Starfox who agrees to send Sebastian ideas on what the mutants can surrender to address the "immortality secret" that started the war.  Um, what?  Other than abandoning immortality entirely, I don't see what outcome could make Druig think the mutants aren't an excessive deviation.  Also, aren't we passed that point, given the Progenitor's ultimatum?  Shouldn't we be more focused on making sure the Progenitor judges Earth as worthy?  Moreover, when has Starfox of all people ever been the person you want developing ideas to stave off the end of the world?  

Shaw uncharacteristically insists that the solution has to "help the children," so I assume some age-based limitation is coming.  But, again, why?  I don't see humankind suddenly supporting the mutants now that they can only die x (heh) number of times.  (If you're wondering when Sebastian suddenly got all altruistic, it's allegedly due to the Progenitor taking the form of Emma judging him.  If you get that part, let me know.)

To make matters, worse, Shaw summons someone named Mother Righteous to make some sort of deal.  I think we're supposed to know who she is, but I'm not sure.

TL;DR:  I can't take this series anymore.

Spider-Man 2099:  Exodus - Omega #1:  This issue is as terrible as I feared.  The good news, though, is Ulana the Watcher confirms that Marvel views this 2099 as a "reality rewoven, unified from disparate timelines."  Hopefully it means someone else will pick up the shovel in this amazing sandbox and build something great.  Unfortunately, that didn't happen here.

Six-Month-Old Comics: The August 3 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #126:  As expected, Zdarsky isn't fucking kidding.

The issue begins with a recovering Robin telling Batman to mind his own business when Bruce expresses concern that Tim is already on patrol.  Bruce returns to the Cave, and Zdarsky picks up the thread from last issue as Bruce muses how the kids don't understand that they ultimately can't keep their costumed identities and find "love and happiness."  (Yes, it's weird to see Bruce say the words "love and happiness.")  Before Bruce goes any farther down that road, Failsafe attacks!

Zdarsky makes it clear that Failsafe is Bruce's un-fucking-stoppable Doomsday.  Within six punches thrown, Bruce realizes that he's dead if he stays in the Cave.  He manages to grapple himself to the Batmobile and order it to speed to safety.  But the bomb Bruce throws at Failsafe as he leaves the Cave does no good as, still on fire, it finds Bruce in the city.  Bruce admits to Oracle that the situation is bad, and Jiménez does a great job of showing actual fear in Bruce's eyes as Failsafe grabs his cape and hurls him to the ground before he can escape up a fire escape.  

Bruce contemplates the end, which only doesn't happen because Batgirl (Cassandra), Signal, and Spoiler arrive.  Failsafe almost immediately takes out Stephanie, and Signal distracts Failsafe while Robin gets Bruce into the Batmobile so he can meet Leslie at the Cave.  A concussed Bruce murmurs to himself that Failsafe sounds familiar, and Tim floors it to flee the pursuing Failsafe.  Nightwing arrives in time to buy Tim time to escape.  Failsafe dismisses the team as "little soldiers" and takes out Batgirl and Spoiler.  He then rips off Duke's helmet and scans it, gaining access to the team's systems.

Leslie is startled to find Failsafe in the new Cave, but Bruce had Tim take him to the old one.  Cryptically recalling that he "went too far" in his early days before the "children" softened him, Bruce activates Zur-en-Arrh!

In the back-up story, two previously unidentified Penguin heirs - Addison and Aiden - have murdered their ten siblings.  Well, they tried to murder all ten:  Selina manages to prevent a disguised Aiden from murdering Ethan, from "Batgirl."  But he's left in a vegetative state.

Selina puts together this sequence of events the next day when Addison and Aiden arrive at the Executor's office for the will reading.  They have notarized copies of documents vouching for their DNA, and Selina recognizes Aiden is wearing the same cufflinks as Ethan's attacker.  Since the will excludes Ethan due to his vegetative state, the Executor announces that Addison and Aiden inherit the Iceberg Lounge and Penguin's other real-estate holdings.  Addison loses her mind, though, when the Executor announces that Penguin's money goes to the Flights of Fancy Bird Sanctuary in Metropolis.  Aiden then hustles her out the door.

Before Addison and Aiden arrived, Selina asked the Executor for the names of the mothers of Penguin's children so she could split her $500,000 fee among them .  After Addison and Aiden depart, she cryptically asks the Executor for one more address.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with Zdarksy's run so far.  As I hoped, the main story brings the sort of propulsive energy and astute characterization that he brought to Spider-Man, and the Catwoman mystery is a great accompaniment.

Immortal X-Men #5:  Oof.  

The best part of this issue is Bandini and Curiel's art, whose brightness and clarity brilliantly matches Exodus' story as a knight in the employ of a series of messiahs (Apocalypse, Magneto, and now Hope).

Unfortunately, the art does more to walk us through Exodus' thousand-year journey than anything Gillen does.

Exodus realizes that he's lost in his memories because the Uni-Mind is attacking and it's using this ploy on all the Council members to distract them from the attack.  I'll admit that it's a solid plan on the Uni-Mind's part.  I'll also admit that Gillen does a great job of scripting Exodus' fever-driven way of speaking and thinking.  Combined, however, the disjoint narrative and crazed script make the issue difficult to follow.  

I also don't know enough about Exodus' past to know whether Gillen is ret-conning his history, filling in gaps in said history, or rehashing events that we've seen elsewhere.  But it certainly feels odd for Gillen to spend so much time on Exodus' history when this issue also gives us the Hex attacking Krakoa for the first time.

Again, I keep reading this series because it's essential to understanding the X-Men's current status quo not because it's interesting in and of itself.

Moon Knight #14:  McKay and Cappuccio do a great job balancing Marc's characterization-driven conversation with Jake and Steve with the ass-kicking punishment he gets from Grand Mal and Nemean.  

For example, Jake and Steve point out Marc is getting his ass handed to him because he's trying too hard to keep them on the bench.  In fact, they note Marc is usually the one who gets them into trouble.  Marc says that he's trying to hide his disorder from Reece because he doesn't want to scare her away.  Jake and Steve point out Reece is actually managing her chronic disease unlike Marc, who is actively ignoring it.  All excellent points, fellas.

In the end Hunter's Moon and Tigra find Marc's broken body, and Marc agrees to let in Jake and Steve.  Of note, I was happy to see McKay mentioning previous series' events during the conversation, a rare creator who doesn't pretend he invented a legacy character from scratch.  Good times (for us, not Marc), they're a-comin'!

Spider-Man 2099:  Exodus #5:  This issue is similar to the previous ones:  a long series of expository conversations to update us the status quo of another B-list 2099 hero.  This time, it's the X-Men's turn.

The mutants are homeless after the Cabal used its Sentinels to seize the mutant homeland in the Savage Land for reasons I don't think Orlando specifies other than the Cabal is e-v-i-l.  The action (such as it is) starts when Northstar discovers a mutant at the heart of the Celestial Garden, which Cerebra decides means it's the new mutant homeland.  (Ballsy.)

Upon arriving, the X-Men discover an adamantium mountain that Rogue turns to gas using Voght's powers. Inside is a Doom-manufactured canister holding X-Man's eye.  Before Orlando can explain, the Cabal's Sentinels attack.  Spidey and Nostromo arrive to help just as Osborn arrives with more goons.

This issue is perhaps the most wooden of an already mediocre series, as the X-Men are little more than plot-advancing mouthpieces.  I'm glad we're finally wrapping up this series so someone other than Orlando can hopefully take the 2099 ball and run with it.  It isn't a lot, but it's what I've got.

Spider-Punk #4:  When the villain spares the hero in the penultimate chapter, it's usually the author's naked ploy to amp up the drama.  It is here, too.  Unusually, though, Ziglar gives Green Goblin a solid reason for "sparing" Hobie, Kamala, Karl, and Riri:  he's going to execute them publicly!  During his various super-villain monologues, Norman - whose head survived Hobie decapitating him due to the Venom symbiote - explains to Hobie that his death at Hobie's hands made him a martyr to all the fascists and racists who supported him.  I actually thought at various moments that one or more of the Spider-Band might die, so I'm really not sure how next issue is going to go, y'all!

X-Men Red #5:  Unlike "Immortal X-Men" #5, Ewing shines in this tie-in issue, showing us how Uranos decimated Arakko, as we saw in "A.X.E.:  Judgment Day" #1.

It isn't just Uranos himself attacking the Arakkii, but his "armories," a series of destructive tools that range from a bio-metallic slime infecting the Morrowlands to a self-replicating machine army invading Argyre Planitia.  Ewing provides a timer in each panel, underscoring how devastating Uranos' attack is when Brand, Cable, and Magneto are all dead before Uranos uses up 20 minutes of the hour Druig allowed him.  

The scene where Uranos rips out Magneto's heart is particularly brutal and shocking, which makes the last page's revelation that Magneto somehow survives without his heart all the more confusing.  Other than that, it's a pretty spectacular issue that underscores the threat the mutants face in the Eternals.

Three-Month-Old Comics: The July 13 Edition - The X-Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I'm going to put these issues in what I think is their chronological order, though it isn't the order in which I read them.

X-Men:  Hellfire Gala #1:  Despite its 66-page length, this issue is pretty to the point.

Beyond the naming of the new X-Men team, this issue's most significant development is Moira informing Druig (the Eternal) and an accomplice that the Five are the secret to Krakoa's resurrection protocols.  As we'll see in "A.X.E.:  Eve of Judgment" #1, Druig uses this information as inspiration to remove the "deviant" mutants from Earth.

That said, Moira's other actions in this issue don't particularly make sense.  At the risk of exposing herself to the Krakoans (as she eventually does), Moira inhabits Mary Jane Watson's body in order to attend the Hellfire Gala.  (Mary Jane is apparently Emma's new spokesperson for the Krakoan medicines initiative because it's helping with Aunt Anna's dementia.)  Apparently, Moira's only reason for attending the Gala is so that she can taunt Proteus by telling him that she never loved him, seeing his creation as merely necessary to bring about the resurrection protocols.  Duggan never explains why Moira does so, particularly now.  Given the attention the Gala attracts, it seems she had plenty of other avenues to taunt Proteus.  I assume she had reasons why she did so and did so now, but again Duggan doesn't delve into them.

In terms of setting up later developments, Tony learns from Reed that Charles and Erik stole his memories of suppressing the X-gene, which sets up an alliance between them.  But Tony also informs Emma that they did so.  Scott eventually gets to talk to a reeling Emma, revealing to her that Nathaniel Essex is Dr. Stasis.  he tells her that he and Jean only trust her with this information, which inspires her to tell him about Moira.  She also tells him what Charles and Erik did to Reed, and he shares her concern that they're almost too far gone.

We have other developments whose directions are less clear.  Dr. Stasis appears to invade one of the secret Krakoan facilities where the mutants grow the Flowers of Krakoa that produce the medicines.  I'm assuming Moira told him about its location, though Duggan never confirms that.  At any rate, he not only seems to steal one of the Flowers but also detonate the facility.  Either way, I don't buy it.  Shouldn't someone be guarding it?  I'm pretty sure the Quiet Council knew that Moira was still in the wind.  Since she knows all their secrets, wouldn't they have been more careful with one of the more important ones?  Couldn't they see that the Gala was a perfect time for a raid?

In other words, meh.  For all it seems like we're going to war with Orchis soon, we're actually going to war with the Eternals.  Although I'm stoked that Firestar, Havok, and Iceman joining the X-Men, this promised fight with Orchis is starting to drag out way too long.  We need at least a skirmish soon lest it becomes the X-Men's Kindred.  [Shudder.]

Immortal X-Men #4:  Ugh.  I just can't with this series.  

On the plus side, we finally get somewhere when it comes to the Sinister drama, as Emma relays Scott's discovery to the Council that someone claiming that he's the "real" Nathaniel Essex is Dr. Stasis.  As Emma says, it's hard to tell by his reaction if Sinister knew or not.  He opens a portal to escape to his lab.  Destiny is standing next to where the portal is and, as he passes through it, tells him not to be a coward.  As he prepares to activate a Moira to burn this reality, Destiny's words give him pause.  Instead, he returns to the Council to offer his apologies.  However, as we'll see in "A.X.E.:  Eve of Judgment #1," someone kidnaps him via teleportation before the Council can act.

Also running through this issue is the fall-out from Scott's revelation of the resurrection protocols. Unsurprisingly, Emma has the best answer when an ambassador presses her to give humanity's VIPs the secret.  The response?  "16 million."  It seems a pretty solid position to say that the mutants won't resurrect a human until the 16 million mutants lost on Genosha are resurrected.  That said, the grieving woman who throws pig's blood on Emma after she lost her husband shows that humanity won't necessarily accept said position, even if it's a solid one.

Despite the good, I still find myself suffering through these issues as they mostly involve some arrogant mutant leader expositing all over us.  This issue isn't too terrible because Emma is the least insufferable of them.  I'm dreading when Gillen puts us in Charles' mind.

A.X.E.:  Eve of Judgment #1:  You have to get through a lot of exposition about the current state of the Deviants and Eternals here, but it sets up an interesting enough premise for this event that it's worth it.

After his appearance in "X-Men:  Hellfire Gala" #1, Druig - the Eternal Prime - is advancing two separate schemes in this issue.

First, the Machine that is Earth informs us that the Eternals have three core directives:  1) protect the Celestials; 2) protect the Machine; and 3) correct excess deviation.  According to the Machine, the last one is open to interpretation.  

Druig wants to eliminate all mutants as excess deviations.  As the Machine notes, Druig could rule for a million years as Druig the Merciless if he shows the Eternals his commitment to principles "in a fallen age" by destroying the mutants.  However, Domo's plan to detonate an anti-matter bomb under Krakoa backfires when it turns out Krakoa is part of the Machine.  Druig decides to consult Uranos for some help.

Ikaris, Sersei, and Thena are living in Lemuria to help the Deviants recover from an attack by the Eternals and Thanos.  They've separated themselves from the Eternals since they're reeling from the revelation that the Machine kills a human every time it resurrects them.  For Ikaris, protecting the Machine means protecting humans, and he's working out this contradiction of his existence.

Meanwhile, Druig releases one of Ikaris and company's allies, Phastos, who is also appalled by the secret of Eternal resurrection.  Druig releases him at the request of Ajak and Makkari, two priestesses who want him to determine whether their plans to create a god could work.  Their plan appalls him, but his response inadvertently confirms that they could do so.  The person they plan to upgrade?  Sinister (as seen in "Immortal X-Men" #4).  Why did Druig help?  He's just currying favor with the priestesses before he can find away to mind-wipe Phastos and the other rebels of the resurrection secret.

Again, it isn't the most exciting issue, but Gillen really does a solid job quickly moving us through the Eternals' status quo without making it too boring.  Moreover, as I said, the premise here - of the Avengers between two immortal species at war - could go really interesting places.

Marauders #4:  You guys, this issue is so bad.

It starts OK-ish.  Kate dies (eye roll) saving Bishop from the Kin soldiers as the team makes their way to the Chronicle.  It turns out the Chronicle is a person, so Kwannon reads his mind.  It turns out the ancient (and more avian) Shi'ar stumbled upon the First Mutants' colony (named Threshold) on a pre-humanity Earth.  Furious the mutants defeated their attempt at conquest, they returned with more troops to commit genocide.  But Threshold won again.  This sequence is what the Kin mean by "First Blood."

The Shi'ar then engineered themselves to become stronger and less avian, though I lose the plot after this point.  Per the Chronicle's memories, the Shi'ar returned to confront Threshold a third time, but it had disappeared.  I thought that the focus of the next few issues was going to involve the Marauders trying to find where they went.  Instead, the Chronicle says that the Kin's "prescients foresaw [mutants'] desperate lifeboats in time...and vaporized them on arrival."  What lifeboats?  Previously, we learned that the Shi'ar only survived their first altercation with Threshold because its mutants were scared of space and didn't chase them.  What changed?  Was it the K-T extinction event?  Also, arrival where?  Did they try to flee to the Shi'ar?  Also, the Chronicle was pretty clear that the mutants were gone before the Shi'ar arrived, so how did they also destroy them?

To make matters worse, Cassandra says that some escapees survived and were kept in "timedrives," which were stored on a destroyed Shi'ar base.  As such, Bishop and Cassandra want to travel in time to save them; of course, it turns out the "base" was Asteroid M, and Tempus has them arrive just as Nemesis does to destroy it.

What a fucking mess.  It's one thing for an arc occasionally to lose internal narrative consistency, but Orlando can't even keep this issue internally consistent.  It's just plain bad.

New Mutants #27:  As confusing as this issue could've been, Ayala does a solid job moving the pieces around the board in a followable way.

Young Illyana accidentally turns Limbo - or, at least, her part of Limbo - into Alice in Wonderland, summoning not only Dani, Illyana, Madelyne, and Rahne but also Colossus.  Young Illyana saves Illyana as the Red King (i.e., Belasco) kidnaps Dani, Madelyne, and Rahne.  She, the ever handsome Colossus, and Illyana confront the Red King, and Illyana manages to summon the Soulsword briefly again to break the spell.

She's hesitant to leave her former self to the torture that she knows is coming, but young Illyana assures her that she has to do so so that she can become her, who she'd be proud to be.  She then gives Illyana an acorn she created in her 1983 limited series ("Magik"), though I don't remember why it's significant.  (It's been a while.)

The most compelling parts of this issue are Colossus and Magik's interactions, as they're full of hurt and sorrow.  You have to hope that Ayala is showing us these emotions with the intent on addressing them down the line, particularly as it seems like Illyana might unify her soul next issue.  Belasco's comments about how broken she is makes it seem like her soul is still fractured.  I remember a previous iteration of "New Mutants" tackling this issue, but I don't think we ever got a clear resolution.  I'd love for us to get one here.

Three-Month-Old Comics: The June 22 Edition - Part One (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #4:  Other than the MJ sub-plot, this issue is everything I want a Spider-Man story to be.  

Kareem saves Peter before Tombstone's goon shoots him in the head.  Kareem tells Peter that Tombstone is also gunning for Robbie (in addition to planning the 125th massacre to pin on the Rose).  Peter makes his way through Tombstone's hideout in the hopes that he can stop the massacre before it begins.  Along the way, he manages to call Randy to warn him about his father.  

Of course, it turns out Tombstone made Peter do his dirty work:  Peter wasn't below Tombstone's hideout, but the Rose's.  Man, if only we had more villains like Wells' Tombstone!  

Meanwhile, Tombstone apparently just wanted to have a man-to-man talk with Robbie now that they're going to be family.  Rubbing salt in that wound, the issue starts with MJ speaking with her daughter, who looks almost exactly like her so maybe isn't her step-daughter?  In sum, Tombstone gets a happy ending with family and Peter gets...well, not a happy ending.

In other words, it's a spectacular issue from start to finish.

Immortal X-Men #3:  I still feel like I'm reading this series more from obligation than anything Gillen is doing here.  Like the other issues, I came close to skimming as Destiny monologued as she always does.  

To save you the time, Destiny has the same precognitive explosion - presumably due to her new body - as she did when her powers first manifested when she turned 13 years old.  Many of these visions relate to Mr. Sinister's cloning of Moira, as her powers allow him to dominate future timelines.  When something goes wrong for him, he simply resets the timeline.  

Awakened from the explosion-induced coma, Destiny now must find a way to stop Sinister without tipping her hand to other Council members, given her lack of trust in them.  (To show she isn't crazy for thinking that way, Charles' continued asshole behavior gets so bad in this issue that even Kate calls him on it.)  Destiny's real sorrow comes from the fact that she doesn't see Raven in any of these timelines.  As Raven is the only person she trusts, she's a woman alone.

The only interesting part of this issue for me was Gillen cleverly ret-coning Destiny's previous death as necessary for Krakoa to come into existence.  Destiny now realizes that she would've killed Moira as planned, preventing the sequences of events that led to Krakoa happening.  At the time, Destiny only knew her death was necessary, since, as we know, she couldn't see Moira.  In the Krakoa era, I appreciate it when authors take the time to make Krakoa seem inevitable, even if we didn't know it at the time.

Knights of X #3:  Enh.  I'm finding it increasingly hard to engage with this mini-series, because every time we seem close to moving to the story's next phase Howard throws up a roadblock.  

Here, Betsy and her team make their way to the stronghold where the Sevalithi are holding Death.  (According to the editor's note, the Sevalithi imprisoned him after his defeat in "X of Swords."  I have no recollection of that, so I assume that it happened in Howard's "Excalibur.")  Death informs Betsy that Apocalypse was obsessed with the Siege Perilous, and Rictor realizes that Apocalypse's grimoire has the answer to its location.  Building off Doug's email to Rictor last issue, Rictor gives the grimoire to Death to read, and Death confirms that it details Apocalypse giving the Siege Perilous to Mercator to start his land.  I don't recognize Mercator or his land, but I'm sure we'll get there.

Meanwhile, Rachel is finally able to connect telepathically with Betsy (probably because it's daylight in Sevalith, reducing the vampires' powers).  To Mordred's disappointment, Shatterstar teleports the team to the Crooked Market to help.  It all goes to Hell when Merlyn arrives, and Gambit sacrifices himself in attacking Merlyn so Meggan can free Crooked Jim.  Gambit somehow seems confident in his resurrection, even though I'm pretty sure that the Five can't resurrect mutants who die in Otherworld?  Is the Siege Perilous going to do it?  I guess we'll see. 

At any rate, the Crooked Jim story hopefully related somehow to the Siege Perilous story since, at this point, I'm wondering why we've spent so much time on it.  It feels like Howard didn't have enough story related to the Siege Perilous for five issues so she cooked up this sideplot.  Hopefully I'm wrong.

Moon Knight #12:  Marc's fight with Zodiac surprisingly wraps up here.  That said, no one is more surprised about it than Marc.  Why?  Brilliantly, McKay has Steve Grant take control of their shared body.  Steve does so because he's concerned that Reese will see Marc differently if she watches him kill Zodiac.  To be fair to Marc, he was going to kill Zodiac to save Reese from doing it because he was worried it would change her.  (Reese was going to do it because Zodiac shot Soldier after he realized that he wasn't Moon Knight.  I'm just hoping Soldier really isn't dead.)

In addition to this unexpected twist, McKay is a delight throughout this issue as he uses every character in the roster to their fullest potential.  The path that Khonshu opened for Marc and Tigra goes right through the resting place in the Afterworld of the Firsts of Khonshu (which is news to Marc).  After the former Fists follow Marc and Tigra to Earth and wind up helping them take out Zodiac's goons, a now-freed Hunter's Moon returns them to their rest, since, after all, Marc doesn't know how to do so.  With everyone pissed at Zodiac, I can't wait to see how this crew is going to handle Steve and goody two shoe-ness.

Three-Month-Old Comics: The May 18 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Immortal X-Men #2:  This issue is fun.  Gillen corrects a problem that I didn't quite realize has plagued the Hickman era since its inception, namely the Council members sitting out most of the action despite the fact that they're some of Earth's most power mutants.  Hope and Sinister shine here, as Sinister uses one of his specialty chimera blends to incapacitate Selene's External Gate kaiju and Hope uses her various abilities to take out Selene herself (thanks to a tip from Destiny).  Crisis averted.  Along the way, Gillen shows how Destiny and Hope are not only powerful additions to the Council but significantly change its dynamics.  As I said last issue, I'm not entirely sure how stoked I am about this series overall, but Gillen moves me farther along that path here.

New Mutants #25:  Ayala starts us down an interesting road here, as Magik's attempt to turn over Limbo to Madeleine Pryor goes awry when a newly powerful S'ym attacks.  

Earlier, we saw a mysterious figure help S'ym create a weapon seemingly from his soul - a Soulclub, if you will.  S'ym then uses the Soulclub to destroy the Soulsword.  A wounded Illyana manages to teleport herself, Dani, Madeleine, and Rahne somewhere else in Limbo.  But they're functionally trapped given Illyana no longer has control over Limbo.  Ayala does a solid job of making it really unclear how they're going to escape - let alone win - this one.  

I haven't been the biggest fan of Ayala's work on this title, but she makes the right call in significantly narrowing the cast and focus for this arc.  She also leaves us some interesting breadcrumbs, particularly in the form of the mysterious goblin who pledges to help Illyana upon the team's arrival in Limbo.  I'm happy to see where we go from here.

Spider-Punk #2:  This series continues to be a rollicking good time.  

Taskmaster exposits that someone hired him - and he hired Kraven and the Hunters in turn - to take out the Spider-Band because their HQ was sitting on an Osborn blacksite.  Kraven eventually detonates himself to try to take out the Band, but Ri Ri throws up a shield in time to save the team.  (Taskmaster escaped, natch.). The team realizes that the blacksite under their HQ is just one of many blacksites that Osborn left behind and decides to go on tour to dismantle the sites and Osborn's remaining network.  

In other words, Ziglar really steps up the plot side of this endeavor, giving the heroes a mission that perfectly matches their modus operandi.  Along the way, we continue to get the character moments that make this series the fun it is.  

Star Wars:  Han Solo and Chewbacca #2:  It probably isn't a surprise to anyone other than Han that Graves' safe was empty.  It means either Greedo's information was wrong or Greedo is plotting against Han.  Either way, Han, his "father" (Ovan), and Greedo find themselves at the end of the issue trapped on the other side of the door from Graves' security forces, which he hired after Han broke into his penthouse last issue.  

Earlier in the issue, Han brought along Ovan on the job because his work for the Corellian Engineering Corporation (CEC) meant that he had access to a plasma cutter, which Han and he used to open the safe.  As they interact, Ovan has enough information about Han that he seems to start believing that he might be his father, which means that he probably definitely isn't.  Meanwhile, Marshal Buck Vanto is in pursuit of Han and uses leverage that he has over Bib Fortuna (something to do with him getting "dragged back to Ryloth") to find out he's on Corellia.  

In other words, Han is in a lot of trouble on multiple fronts but, typically, doesn't understand just how much trouble...yet.

X-Men Red #2:  I'm down with everything Ewing is doing here, particularly Brand realizing that her false-flag operation - in the form of Mars' X-Men - is no match for Ororo.  When Brand has Orchis send the Progenitors to Mars as a way to collect information on how Cable interacts with his techno-organic virus, she isn't expecting Storm and the Brotherhood to appear and save the day.

My only issue with this issue is the reversion of Vulcan to his previous iteration.  That said, I acknowledge that Ewing isn't just willy-nilly wiping away his previous characterization.  Ewing makes it clear that whatever good outer shell the mysterious alien trinity from "X-Men (2019)" #10 installed around Vulcan's evil inner self is coming undone.  Vulcan's deteriorating mental state is obvious, particularly when we learn that Petra and Sway haven't been resurrected but are constructs that Gabriel created.

At some point, though, someone has to explain why the trinity created that shell in the first place.  We also need to learn if Gabriel's insanity is due to, or cause of, the unraveling outer shell.  In the meantime, it's certainly going to be fun to see Gabriel unleashed on Arakko.

Also Read:  My Brother, Teddy #1

Two-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero March 23 and 30 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ben Reilly:  Spider-Man #3 (March 23):  OMG, talk about a deep cut!  Spidercide!  I mean, he was the worst, but I'm totally game to see where DeMatteis goes with him.  I also have to complement DeMatteis on not dragging out Ben's mysterious nemesis for too long.  It was clear that it was Díaz from the beginning, and a lot of authors would've burned through a few issues to hold the reveal until the end.  Now, I feel like we're going to get some real tension as we see if Ben can handle yet another angry clone brother coming after him.

X Deaths of Wolverine #5 (March 23):  Enh.  This issue isn't terrible and does what it's supposed to do, namely bring back Moira for her eleventh life as a cyborg.  I'm down with that, though, again, I feel like the ten-issue "X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine" saga probably could've been a three-issue mini-series.  

The most interesting part of this event, for me, was Beast admitting to Sage that they only succeed - Krakoa only succeeds - because Wolverine is a savage killer willing to get his hands dirty.  For all the diplomacy of the Quiet Council, it's Wolverine who preserves mutantkind.  It's a rough pill for Beast to swallow, but it's also the closest that I've seen any long-term X-Men come to acknowledging their debt to him, even if it comes with disdain, as it does with Beast here.

Amazing Spider-Man #93 (March 30):  Holy fuck balls, you guys.

For the fact that this issue ends the "Beyond" saga, it doesn't really wrap up any loose ends.  In fact, it leaves us with more questions than it answers.  How future authors answer those questions will determine what "Beyond's" long-term legacy is.  It's short-term legacy is a much-needed shot in the arm for the Spider-Man franchise.

First things first, Maxine's escape plan largely drives the story.  Ben makes quick work of the Slingers and reaches her office only for her to give him a device that'll allegedly transfer Peter's memories - the ones that Ben is missing - to him.  Although Wells never fully addresses whether Maxine is lying or not, her gambit works:  Ben leaves her to go after Peter.  She then orders a kill team to take out Marcus, telling him that she's given him a respectable death story in recognition of his service.  Janine manages to save Marcus (with the "Infantalizer," which turns the kill team into babies), and Ben finds Peter.

Wells excels in scripting this fight, as Ben's rage is so abundantly clear.  Peter can't reason with him, failing to convince him that maybe - just maybe - Maxine wasn't really telling the truth about the device that she gave him.  Speaking of Maxine, the Beyond Board authorizes the liquidation of the building's lower levels and attempts to assassinate her, only to discover that she's using a holographic decoy.  (The Board is outraged that she uses something that the Board reserves the right to use.)  I have to say that the only good news to this issue is that the Board somehow didn't promote Maxine.

Peter manages to destroy the device, which breaks Ben.  As Maxine's "quantum-shifting polymers in a psycho-reactive medium" begin to rewrite the matter in the lower floors, Ben falls into the goo.  Gleason is spectacular here.  Peter's face so clearly conveys the anguish that he feels as he watches the goo consume Ben, and Ben's face is angelically resigned to his defeat when he tells Peter:  "You have it all, Peter.  All the parts I'm missing.  I just wanted them back."  Marcus manages to save Peter as Beyond HQ becomes several floors shorter.

In the epilogue, Janine traipses through the goo to find Ben; she's started when his arm - full with some sort of psychic-energy tentacle - emerges from the rubble.  Weeks later, Mary Jane asks Peter to move into her apartment with her, only for a glowing mysterious figure to appear at the window, saying "A road of blood led to you...come with me."  Months later, Ben continues to see his face as that familiar void in the mirror.  Janine hears a crash from the other room and enters the bathroom to find him gone.  In the most spectacular splash page I've ever seen, Ben appears in a purple costume with a green psychic-energy aura exuding from him, announcing, "There is only a Chasm."  

Seriously, people, I got chills.

In terms of the overall "Beyond" saga, I have to say that I'm thrilled.  After Nick Spencer's ridiculously prolonged Kindred story, it was awesome to have such a compelling and detailed story presented in just 19 issues.  

On one hand, I'm devastated to see Ben end up this way.  I've been pulling for him for so long.  But, the Beyond Board honestly made a compelling argument that Ben was inevitably going to become Peter's archenemy:  he's gone through too much, been broken too many times, had his dreams ruined too frequently.  It's Spider-Man, so redemption is clearly on the table for him, when he has people like Janine, Marcus, and Peter all willing to help.  But, his appearance in the final page is so terrifying that it's hard to see how someone could redeem him.  He just seems too far gone.

As they say, I guess we'll have to tune in next month.

Immortal X-Men #1 (March 30):  Meh.  This issue is fine, I guess, though Gillen's use of Mr. Sinister as our narrator means that it's way too obtuse.  As always, he has schemes.

Two of said schemes are relevant here.  First, in 1919, Destiny told him...something, and he expects it to manifest at the Quiet Council meeting where Magneto announces his retirement.  That said, he doesn't think that Destiny knows that he knows, so maybe I'm wrong about that?  After all, didn't she tell him the "something?"  Second, he appears to have cloned Moira, and I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe that he's been willy-nilly resetting the timeline with her?  

I like the idea of this series in theory, of Gillen walking us through all the Council members' various schemes.  But, this issue shows how hard it is to do that in practice in a way that doesn't seem tedious.  It doesn't help that the main players are all incredibly unlikeable.  We'll see where we go, I guess.

Also Read:  Marauders Annual #1 (January 26); Devil's Reign:  X-Men #3 (March 23); Dark Ages #6 (March 30); Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #21 (March 30)