Seven-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero September 1 and 8 (2021) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Dark Ages #1 (September 1):  This issue is pretty solid, to be honest.  I loved Taylor's work on "Earth 2," so I was happy to see that he was the one penning this "What If...?" story.  This series picks up a popular science-fiction theme over the past few years, namely what happens if Earth lost electricity.  

In this version of Earth, it all begins at the start of the Universe, when its creator(s) also created the Unmaker to stop entropy and consume black holes.  Eventually, this mission to police the new Universe corrupted him, and the Living Tribunal was forced to stop him.  Instead of destroying him, he buried the Unmaker's body in Earth's core just as the planet was forming.  (I'm not really sure what the Tribunal's long-term plan was there.)  

At any rate, he starts to awaken, shaking apart the Earth.  Dr. Strange and Sue Storm go to the center of the Earth, and Dr. Strange manages to open up a portal to a dimension where electricity doesn't exist before the Unmaker kills him.  Although Dr. Strange's plan worked, the anti-electricity field eventually grew to encompass all of Earth since he was unable to stop it.  To make matters worse, when the Unmaker awakened, he somehow connected with Apocalypse, and it seems that Apocalypse is ready to take advantage of Earth's weakness to do...something.  

Again, all in all, it's a pretty solid premise, and Taylor makes a good call using Peter as a narrator to keep it light when appropriate.

The Last Annihilation:  Wiccan & Hulkling #1 (September 1):  This issue is just lovely.  From start to finish, it's a testament to both characters as individuals and to both characters as a couple.  It walks us through their fears and insecurities, only for each one of them to move past them when they realize that they're never alone.  As they remind themselves and each other, it's what marriage means.  

But, their marriage goes a step farther.  Teddy had their wedding rings forged from the ruins of Captain Marvel's Nega-Bands, allowing Billy and Teddy to switch places and address threats more suitable to their power sets.  Teddy discovers that Billy reforged his sword using Dormammu's "Flames of Faltine," which he uses to disrupt Dormammu.  Meanwhile, Billy arrives on Throneworld II in time to redirect the energy that the Supreme Intelligence was using to destroy the planet to take out the Mindless One fleet.  

Along the way, Oliveira reminds us of how they first found one another, using the concept of quantum entanglement as a metaphor for whom they are now.  Once linked, they remain linked.  It's hard to write about love, but Oliverira does it well.  The art team helps him enormously as they somehow manage to show how much these two boys love one another.  It just so happens to be a love that'll save the galaxy.

New Mutants #21 (September 1):  OK, now we're getting somewhere.  

Although it's still pretty unclear the extent to which the Shadow King is manipulating the Lost Club, it's exceedingly clear that he manipulated Rahne, given that it seems like she killed Gabby.  The Five agreed to resurrect Gabby (and basically tell the Council to go fuck itself and its "no clones" policy), and she recounts her final moments to the Five, the Lost Club, and Rahne.  Rahne then tells Dani, Illyana, and Xi'an, and they're ready to beat down the Shadow King.  

This issue's second plot is a lot harder to follow.  Jimmy takes some of the other kids to the Moon for a little housekeeping around the Krakoa sphere, but it's hard to follow because we've never really met these kids before.  Given they're all wearing spacesuits, it's basically just a bunch of faceless mutants doing things.  

I'm fine with splitting the narrative between various groupings, but we need to spend more time getting to know the extended cast lest we spend every issue going, "Wait, who did what?"

Sinister War #4 (September 1):  The Sinister War ends in a fairly believable way.  Otto uses Black Ant's helmet to create a device that destroys the centipedes in everyone's heads, knocking out everyone.  He tells Peter that he didn't do it to save him but because Kindred reneged on their deal.  It's all very Otto.  Along the way, though, Boomerang sacrificed himself to save Spidey.  He had already risked his life last issue to help Peter flee, so his sacrifice here completes as much of a redemption arc as possible for Boomerang.  Now, all we have left is Peter taking on Kindred.  Did this event turn out better than I thought?  Definitely.  Am I ready for the Kindred story to end?  OMFG, yes.

Amazing Spider-Man #73 (September 8):  Oh, God, make it end, please, please, please, make it end.  Am I thrilled that Spencer undoes "Sins Past?"  OMG, yes!  I'm beyond thrilled.  It never made sense.  

Spencer even does it well:  Harry used Mysterio acting as Mary Jane's therapist to plant the conversation where Gwen "admitted" to Mary Jane that she and Norman had children.  In the end, the Harry AI tells Norman that Gabriel and Sarah were LMDs whom he created to torture Norman, his version of the trauma that Harry inflicted on Peter with Mary and Richard Parker.  

The unclear part is that Kindred seems to be both Harry and Sarah Osborn.  It seems like Harry kept resurrecting Gabriel and Sarah each time they suffered advanced aging syndrome, driving them insane in the same way that the Jackal eventually drove Ben insane.  But, Sarah keeps referring to this process as something that she, Sarah, did, when she couldn't possibly have been the one to do it?  I guess we'll finally, finally see.

Eight-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero August 18 (2021) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Guardians of the Galaxy #17 (August 18):  This issue trips a bit over the ever-confusing Cosmic Marvel continuity, as the issue's big reveal - that Ego and Galactus at some point bonded, meaning that the Dormammu-dominated Ego is now the Dormammu-dominated Galactus - comes after a lot of exposition.  Do I understand?  No, not really.

For me, the most relevant part of the story is Rich trying to convince everyone that they're trusting Doom way too much.  Ewing makes it seem like Rich is just immature as always, and everyone but Gamora ignores him.  (Remember those sparks?)  But, as Doom takes advantage of Dormammu conquering Chitauri Prime to colonize it for his Rigellian allies, the rest of the team reconsiders Rich's position.  I'm always thrilled when we treat Rich like an adult.  

All that said, this issue does reveal Dormammu's plan:  he's invading five ancestral worlds that form a pentagram to bring our dimension into his dimension.  In other words, it's pretty low stakes.  :)

Marauders #23 (August 18):  This issue starts poorly, as I had to Google a bit to discover what the fuck happened to the Marauder.  It's a poor showing to have the fate of the series' titular ship determined in a different series with nary an editor's note to tell us what the fuck happened.  The rest of this issue is fine, though, as Emma, Jumbo Carnation, Kate, and Tempo help Banshee stop rivals mobs from stealing Krakoa's medications from an Irish warehouse.  I'll be honest that I wish we'd stop focusing so much on Emma at the expense of characters like Bishop, Iceman, and Shadowcat.  But, we'll see where we go as the dust from the Hellfire Gala continues to settle.

Moon Knight #2 (August 18):  Cappuccio is spectacular in depicting this issue's villain lost in the sea of Marc's god-touched mind.  He builds the tension panel by panel to the moment when an enormous and monstrous Moon Knight appears in the villain's mindscape to destroy his mind.  In terms of the plot, the unnamed spectator hired the villain to confront Moon Knight.  We also start rounding out Marc's supporting cast here, as I'm pretty sure Soldier is going to appear again after Marc saved him and his mother from the villain and his mind-controlling sweat.  I mean, how could you not?

Sinister War #3 (August 18):  I mean, Spencer is really drawing out this story, but he does a better job making this issue fill less like the filler that last one was.  At some point, you start to wonder if Spidey really has a hope of surviving.  Usually, he manages to swing to safety, but so many villains are after him that he never gets that break.  It's hard to believe that we only have one more issue.

X-Men:  Trial of Magneto #1 (TPB) (August 18):  This issue is spectacular and as such difficult to review.  The summary doesn't quite do the emotions justice.  

X-Force and the X-Men watch as X-Factor investigates Wanda's murder, discovering that a supernatural magnetized object strangulated her to death.  Suspicion obviously falls onto Magneto, who loses his fucking mind when the Quiet Council refuses to resurrect her.  He almost kills Professor X with Cerebro and sermonizes about the Council's "hopelessly antediluvian human concept[s]."  It's just like the old days.  

X-Factor tries to arrest him after he storms from the Grove; to put it mildly, he resists arrest.  Polaris arrives to try to stop him, and he's brutal, calling her "unhinged and inconsistent at [her] best."  Lorna is withering in her response, asking:  "How many women is it now you once claimed to love who all perished during your brief window of affection and attention?"  

Before X-Factor and the X-Men can stop him, Quicksilver arrives and almost beats him to death.  Northstar stops him, and Quicksilver breaks into sobs on his shoulder.  (In one of the best "Dawn/Reign of X" scenes, Pietro arrives at the Blob's bar and has a drink with him, Mastermind, and Toad.)  Logan asks Jean if she can read Magneto's mind, but she says that his subconscious is just a nightmare of grief.  The issue ends with Wanda on some other plane of existence revealing that she's dead but also not dead at the same time.

This issue is a tense procedural until Lorna's and Pietro's grief leap off the page.  Although the Krakoan mutants should have known that grief drove Magneto's actions in the Grove, Jean reading his mind makes it clear that he's just as hysterical as Lorna and Pietro are.  It seems pretty clear that he didn't do it, and I'm a little surprised how quickly all the Krakoan mutants accept that he did.

Going forward, we have a number of unanswered questions.  Professor X says that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were able to trick Cerebro into thinking that they were mutants, so back-up versions of them do exist.  But, I don't get how they did so.  Did Wanda do it?  In "Uncanny Avengers" #4, we learned that the High Evolutionary gave them their powers.  Why would Cerebro ever read them as mutants if they don't have the X-gene?  Are we preparing to re-ret-con this development?  Also, the obvious question is:  if Magneto didn't kill her, who did?  Virtually every mutant wanted her dead, as the celebrations after her death show.  It's part of the reason that I'm surprised everyone jumped to the conclusion that Magneto did it.

All I know is that once Billy learns that she's dead, someone is going to have Hell to pay.

Eight-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero August 4 and 11 (2021) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Sinister War #2 (August 4):  Like "Amazing Spider-Man" #71, this issue doesn't really do anything to advance the plot.  Spidey simply gets bounced from fighting the Savage and Sinister Sixes to fighting the Syndicate, the Superior Foes of, well, him, and the Wild Pack.  In fact, he doesn't so much as fight them as get tossed between them.  I think Kraven's daughter manages to snag him, but it seems that she may not work for Kindred?  I think that he sends everyone else after her to get Spidey?  I think?  Maybe?

X-Men #2 (August 4):  Remy playing cards with Black Cat, Rhino, and the Thing - or, as Rogue says, "the entire Bar with No Name," shows at least someone is enjoying their time in New York!  

The rest of this issue focuses on the X-Men taking on the latest threat Gameworld sent, namely an Annihilation Wave that a suicide bomber unleashed.  Jean and Polaris join powers so Jean can read the dead Gameworld agent's mind (making an "MRI machine for memories"), and Jean now knows Gameworld's game.  

Duggan also makes it clear that the X-Men is serving as a powerful public-relations tool.  Dr. Stasis is hoping to stoke fears that "mutantdom is a secretive island cult."  However, given that the residents of the town that the X-Men saved serve them up some barbecue, Orchis is going to has an uphill fight on that front.  

Finally, Larraz continues to shine on this title, and I dream of him taking over "Amazing Spider-Man" one day.

Spider-Man:  Spider's Shadow #5 (August 11):  This series ends pretty much along the lines I expected, as Spidey figures out a way to take out the symbiote.  He uses an image inducer to trick it into thinking he's Johnny Storm, which I'm not sure that I totally buy, since I'm assuming that the symbiote has other senses that would tell it that Johnny wasn't Peter.  But, I'll go with it.  I more or less expected the courts to exonerate Peter, given that the other heroes (most notably, Cap) could testify that they had limited control over themselves while under the symbiote's influence.  

I was most surprised when Sue Richards offered Reed's spot on the team to Peter.  (The symbiote killed Reed to ensure that Peter couldn't free him and get help from him.)  I get that Johnny and Sue would forgive him, since, after all, Ben could also testify to them what it was like under the symbiote's influence.  But, I have a hard time believing that Peter could return to being Spider-Man.  Given how front and center his guilt is, I just don't know how he'd manage it.  

That said, Zdarsky shows MJ telling Peter last issue that he's the best person she knows not because he's perfect but because he isn't perfect and does good all the time regardless.  That sentiment certainly exists in this ending enough for me to believe that it's a possible outcome.  But, I'd imagine that Peter struggles with that guilt in pretty serious ways for the rest of his life.  

All in all, it's been a solid series.  I'm not sure how stoked non-Spidey fans would be with it, but, from this Spidey fan to other ones, I'd say that it's worth a read (particularly if you're into beardy, sexy Peter).

Also Read:  Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 (August 4)

Nine-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero July 7 and 14 (2021) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #70 (July 7):  This issue isn't terrible, which is a relief.  Spencer is finally starting to bring some stories to a close, so I feel more willing to engage him where he is.

First, it turns out we have three Harrys.  "Real" Harry explains to Carlie that he was in Europe checking out some old Oscorp accounts that suddenly became active when Kindred (i.e., Kindred Harry) threw Real Harry into the cell where Carlie also now finds herself.  Carlie exposits to us that the extra body that she found in the morgue was Harry's body (i.e., Dead Harry).  It's all very "Clone Saga," but I'm going with it for now.

Second, I can't say that I hate the Sinister War set-up.  First, we've got Kindred slowly but surely reassembling the original Sinister Six.  But, Kindred reminds us that a number of other super-villains are also gunning for Spidey:  the Foreigner is looking for revenge and has hired Black Ant and Taskmaster to help him get it, Overdrive is reassembling the Sinister Syndicate and looking for redemption, a Vulture-led Sinister Six is looking "for blood," and the Syndicate is looking to make a name for itself.  The Vulture-led one is news to me, as I don't think that we've seen him building his team in this series.

Finally, Otto rather brilliantly uses the isotope-genome accelerator that separated Peter and Spidey in issue #3 to separate Curt Connors from the Lizard, clearly making the Lizard all the more lethal.

In other words, it seems like Spencer is finally going to wrap up his Kindred story so we can be free.  Free!

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #2 (July 7):  I know that I'm writing this review ten months after this issue appeared, but if I can just stop one person from buying this issue I'll have done my job.  OMG, it's so bad.  I could recap it, but it would be too painful.  Pacheco leans heavy into the humor, which would normally be fine.  But, it's hard to see Peter engaging in such heartfelt support for, and witty banter with, "Star" given that she vivisected a former high-school classmate who bullied her.  (How has DC not sued Marvel over this Stargirl rip-off?)  Star herself is all over place:  she was a nerd, but everyone called her stupid; she was bullied, but she looks like a model.  It's like someone had to create a character from traits that they pulled from a hat.  Also, I'm not quite sure how Peter developed the power to shrug off the Reality Stone, but it's the least of my issues here.  Just trust me:  do not buy this terrible issue.

Captain America #30 (July 7):  Coates wraps up his time on this title in the same way that he approached the title throughout his run, giving no one any easy wins.

Steve breaks into Red Skull's headquarters after brutally taking out Crossbones.  He then goads Skull into admitting that he doesn't care about his followers' lives; if they sacrifice themselves to help him build his vision of the West, so be it.  Of course, the Daughters have recorded the conversation, hacked into Skull's YouTube channel, and posted his rant.  In the weeks that follow, the team observes no further rallies, eliminating the hate-bomb threat for now.  I particularly like that Coates has the team resolve this problem though words (Skull's words, in particular) and not fists; you can't always just punch hate into submission.

But, Coates has the team live in the same world that we do.  The Fact Channel has already proclaimed that the Skull's "frankness is refreshing," showing its support of the "Red Skull was Right" movement.  It's this part of America that Steve has the most trouble accepting; as he said at some point to Skull, he and others have to answer for the fact that they left a generation open to Skull's manipulations.  Coates also reminds us that everyone here is damaged:  Peggy lost her mentor when Alexa went bad, Bucky spent years not only frozen in time but used as a weapon, and Sharon and Steve lost their child.  They're all walking wounded.

Steve acknowledges as much when Sharon confesses that she gave Kingpin the information on Alexa (which he provided to the Foreigner).  He realizes that so many people are trying to tear apart what they have that he doesn't have to do so.  As he says, there are codes older than his approach.  Is it the sort of moral relativism that we don't usually see from Cap?  Yes.  But, it's also a sign that maybe he's starting to live in the same world that Coates and the team and we do.

Meanwhile, Coates completes Sin's re-transformation into Mother Superior, and I think that it's probably Coates other major legacy, beyond Cap's comfort in working in the grays.  Sin has always been scarier than Skull; if he's lawful evil, she's chaotic evil.  Her pledge to get revenge for Alexa in blood sent chills down my spine and doesn't bode well for the team enjoying their moment for long.

As sad as I am to see Coates end his run, it was truly a pleasure to read it.  I can't wait to see what he does next.

X-Men #1 (July 7):  This issue is excellent.  I can't imagine Duggan throwing anything better at us than he does here.  

First, he gets the intangibles perfect:  every character acts how I expect them to act and interacts with other characters how I expect them to interact.  They feel like a team right off the bat.  Moreover, the Treehouse is something that I always thought the X-Men needed.  I mean, I can't claim that I dreamed of something as amazing as the Treehouse; Duggan earns all the stars there.  But, I always thought the X-Men needed to plant their flag in New York.  If Krakoa is going to prove that it isn't a threat to humanity, it needs to show that it lives in the same world (and with the same threats) as humanity.  Duggan has the X-Men defeat a threat before the Avengers and Fantastic Four can get on the scene, and it's exactly what they need to be out there doing.  After all, Krakoa has enough teams focused on helping mutants.

Second, Duggan gives us not one or two but three threats.  The most brilliant one is someone who we already knew but didn't know we knew:  the Feilong Industries founder.  He thought that he was going to terraform Mars first, going so far as changing his body to accommodate Martian conditions.  When the mutants create Arakko, he swears vengeance, and Duggan makes it clear that he's a dangerous opponent already.  Second, the entity that the X-Men defeats is sent from a casino world called Gameworld.  Its host, Cordyceps Jones (whom I recognize from "Guardians of the Galaxy" Annual #1), announces that they'll be gambling on various attempts to rid Earth of Earthlings now that the Krakoan/Arakkii mutants have put it on the galactic map.  That should be good fun.  Finally, a mysterious figure pledges to find out how the X-Men are resurrecting people, focusing (along with Ben Ulrich) on Jumbo Carnation's resurrection, since everyone knew that he was dead.

In other words, as excited as I was when Hickman started his work on the X-Men, I'm somehow even more excited now.

Sinister War #1 (July 14):  I'm going to focus on the positive here.  Based on Dr. Strange's conversations with Mephisto, Spencer seems geared to undoing "One More Day" or, at the very least, modifying it.  Of course, he throws some obstacles in the way, namely Vulture's Savage Six attacking MJ's movie premiere and revealing to Peter that MJ's director is Mysterio.  (It turns out the Savage Six appeared in the "Amazing Mary Jane" series, because Vulture is furious at Mysterio's depiction of him in the movie.)  The fight sequence is pretty great as the Savage Six and the Sinister Six attack each other, leaving MJ and Peter to fight on the sidelines.  I'm not quite sure how Spencer is going to get where he wants to go, but I'm happy that at least we're doing OK for now.

Spider-Man:  Spider's Shadow #4 (July 14):  This issue seriously rights the ship, as we return from the more fantastical elements of last issue to a more believable and serious set of circumstances here.  First, I have to note yet again how adult and handsome Peter looks as I continue my lobbying for Marvel to realize that we deserve this Peter in the main title.  In terms of the story at hand, Peter travels to Four Freedoms Plaza and is appalled to find the symbiote has covered it.  He unmasks to the on-scene Avengers and pledges to Cap that the symbiote won't ever control him again.  The symbiote opens the building to him, and Johnny and MJ enter with him against his wishes.  Peter manages to throw a possessed Ben outside the building, but he and Johnny struggle to take out a possessed Reed.  But, the symbiote reveals that he's just trying to save everyone like Peter wants and emits symbiotes throughout New York, leading to Peter suddenly staring down the possessed Avengers.  I'm not sure we're getting a happy ending to this one, folks.