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)

Two-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero March 9 and 16 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #92 (March 9):  Thompson does a better job in this issue of keeping the humor to a reasonable level while focusing on Ben's increasingly disturbing descent into madness.

As Ben tears his way through Beyond HQ to get to Maxine, he contemplates the fact that he doesn't know what his values are without Peter's memories.  He keeps telling himself that he isn't a bad person and is clearly worried that he's going to cross a line as he's taking out guard after guard.  (He has to destroy his A.I. assistant Langston to break into the building and notes that the Peter part of him would've felt bad about that but that part of him is gone.)  But, Janine's memories are all his own; when she arrives, it helps ground him.  He then goes after Maxine while Janine goes to save Marcus.

Meanwhile, we learn that Lizard Z is actually Vampire Lizard Z after Colleen, Misty, and Spidey stumble upon a comatose Morbius.  I'm a little confused why Peter keeps calling Lizard Z "Dr. Connors," since I thought that they were still separated?  At any rate, Colleen and Misty free "Mike," which sets up "Beyond's" end-game:  Colleen, "Mike," and Misty will take care of Lizard Z in "Amazing Spider-Man" #92.BEY while Peter heads to help Ben in "Amazing Spider-Man" #93.

I actually find myself wishing that the "Beyond" arc could've lasted longer, which is the best compliment I can imagine.

Devil's Reign #5 (March 9):  This issue is a little chaotic, as Zdarsky references events or situations that I don't recall happening.  For example, the intro page says that Otto has control of the city, which seems a little more extreme than I remember from last issue.  I'm assuming one of the tie-in issues made that development more clear, so I'm just going with it.

At any rate, Jessica Jones and the Champions try to free the Purple Children from U.S.Agent and the Thunderbolts, but they only manage to free one Child before the Abomination forces them to flee.  Meanwhile, Butch plans on taking out Kingpin since revenues are down 80 percent while Mike Murdoch hopes to use his hidden Norn Stone to somehow fix the situation.

Elsewhere, Otto transfers the rest of the Purple Children's powers to Purple Man, but, Otto being Otto, is confident that he's safe from Kingpin due to his neural blockers.  As Kingpin says, Otto's short-term thinking is why Spider-Man always defeats him, and Kingpin takes control of Otto-Hulk to take out Otto.  Kingpin then orders Purple Man to kill all the heroes, which he plans on doing through his control of New York City's citizens.  Later, Fisk arrives at Mike Murdoch's place and, thinking that he's Matt, beats him to death.

In other words, it isn't going great for our folks.  That said, Wilson is so clearly over the edge that he's going to make some sort of mistake.

Devil's Reign:  Moon Knight #1 (March 9):  Fuck, man, this issue is intense.

It turns out Moon Knight let himself get captured and sent to the Myrmidon so that he could take out Man Mountain Marko, who threatened to kill his ex-wife (who came to Marc for help) and take their super-powered daughter.  Marc certainly isn't going to let that happen, so he moves his way up the fighting-pit circuit the guards have going to take on Marko, the reigning champion.  When Marko refuses to leave his ex-wife and daughter alone, Marc pokes out his eyes.  Oh, Marc:  such a softie.  

When Marc's cellmate, 8-Ball, asks whether the heroes will take him (Marc) with them when they inevitably escape, he says that they will since they need someone like him to take on Fisk.  I like McKay ending with this point.  As much as the Avengers view him as a problem that they'd love someone to solve, I'm pretty sure that they won't mind him taking on U.S.Agent and the Thunderbolts.

Hawkeye:  Kate Bishop #5 (March 9):  Eh.  This mini-series was fine, I guess.  Nijkamp wraps up all the loose ends (except for an escaped Pascal, about whom I care not at all) and maneuvers Kate home to New York.  I'm honestly not sure why Marvel gave us such a convoluted mini-series just to get her to New York since she could've just, you know, moved there.  I'm also still not really sure how Susan got her hands on a Cosmic Cube fragment.  But, Lucky the Pizza Dog getting a hold of said fragment and generating piles of pizza and stuffed toys was worth the price of admission, I guess.  It's as strong of a recommendation as I can make, so there you go.

X Deaths of Wolverine #4 (March 9):  Ugh.  This issue isn't terrible, but I still don't know why we're belaboring this story.  

Omega Logan and the Wolverine track down Arnab Chakladar, and Omega Logan informs Chakladar that whatever he's creating with Moira is what enables the machines in the future to destroy humanity and mutantkind.  Omega Logan promises not to kill Chakladar if he tells him where Moira went.  When Chakladar tells him that she went to Krakoa (using Banshee's skin - oof - to trick the gate), Logan lobotomizes him and orders the Wolverines to destroy the lab.  On Krakoa, Moira (allegedly) strips Forge of his powers with his gun before Logan (allegedly) kills her and succumbs to the Phalanx.

As I said, it isn't terrible, but I'm still not sure this story merits as much attention as it's getting with this five-issue mini-series.

X Lives of Wolverine #5 (March 16):  As expected, Wolverine manages to force Omega Red from his mind and, through their shared connection, locate him in Russia.  Logan kills Omega Red and returns the Cerebro Blade to Sage who then directs him to help the Wolverines fight off Omega Logan.  

Just like "X Deaths of Wolverine," I can't say that I minded this mini-series, but I'm still not sure what its point was.  Marvel's obvious attempt to turn them into the next "House of X"/"Powers of X" raised the bar way too high.  Those mini-series ended with the complete recreation of the X-titles, whereas the only outcome from "X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine" is maybe that Moira dies?  The stakes, they are low.

Also Read:  X Lives of Wolverine #4 (March 9); Amazing Spider-Man #92.BEY (March 16)

Three-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero February 16 and 23 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #89 (February 16):  This issue is a totally serviceable origin story for Queen Goblin.  It walks us through her "Goblin Gaze" ability, which allows her to twist her victim's most deep-seated fear(s) into their dominant thoughts.  Black Cat almost commits suicide under Queen Goblin's influence, but Peter saves her at the last minute.  It turns out Ben sent Janine to talk to Peter at the hospital and Janine freed Peter from his bed after Felicia webbed him to it so that he wouldn't take on Queen Goblin while still wounded.  (Confusing, I know.)  It's pretty clear that Peter isn't really healthy enough to take on Queen Goblin, but that's never stopped him before.

X Lives of Wolverine #3 (February 16):  Percy does a solid job of keeping the three time periods in which Wolverine is active distinct here, but it still isn't the easiest of issues to follow.  

It is clear, though, that Marvel Girl, Professor X, and Wolverine are losing the battle.  Mikhail's control over the Cerebro Sword is improving, now allowing him to send Omega Red against Xavier's ancestor in Canada while at the same time sending him against Wolverine in Japan.  When Omega Red manages to take over Wolverine in Colombia, the situation goes from bad to worse.  

The best part of this series so far is that we get to see Wolverine as a person with actual feelings.  Watching him fight to save Daken's life before it begins was moving, and Logan is clear with Jean that he's struggling under his memories' emotional weight.  Logan is often portrayed as simply a killing machine, and Percy is doing a great job of putting that impression to rest.

X-Men #8 (February 16):  Oof, this issue is a lot.  It turns out Synch was the one to mindwipe Ben Ulrich only to discover that he thought that the X-Men were miracles, not threats.  The guilt over that discovery and the trauma of losing his Laura are too much for him.  After a dangerous and hilarious battle with M.O.D.O.K. on a cruise ship, Everett tells Cyke that he's thinking of leaving the X-Men.  Cyclops being Cyclops (or, well, Captain Krakoa), Scott tells Synch that he's done being an X-Men when Scott says that he is.  It sounds like an asshole move, but Scott is pretty great here, comforting Everett by telling him that he (Cyclops) has done far worse than Everett did for significantly less benefit to mutantkind.  We're eight issues into this series, and I'm still loving everything that Duggan is doing here.

Amazing Spider-Man #90 (February 23):  This issue is solid, as Gleason deftly moves us to the endgame's start.  

Peter fights off Queen Goblin's Goblin Gaze before she convinces him to drown in the East River and then takes her off the board.  Before he does so, he snags her crown, which allows him, Black Cat, and MJ to overhear Maxine (through the crown's audio) sending crews to Beyond's Staten Island facility.  In a flashback, Janine informs Ben that Maxine is creating her super-villains at said facility, so Ben heads there after he drops off Janine at the hospital where Peter is (as we saw last issue).  

Given that Maxine threatened to send Janine back to prison, Ben pretty clearly sees himself as having nothing to lose here.  Janine and Peter are increasingly worried about him as he struggles to remember Peter's name when they meet.  I'm not sure Ben's getting a happy ending, guys.

X Deaths of Wolverine #3 (February 23):  I originally thought that Phalanx Logan (or Omega Logan, as Moira calls him) returned from the future to kill her as part of the machine's war against humanity and/or mutantkind.  But, Moira has a different take:  mutantkind wants her dead.  

Moira tips off the CIA so that they're on hand to protect Arnab Chakladar, the Epiphany CEO, when Omega Logan attacks him at his event.  She then follows Chakladar home and reveals to him that whatever collaboration evolves from this moment works because the mutants returned to prevent it.  (It made more sense when she said it.)  Meanwhile, the Wolverines confront Omega Logan only for him to inform them that Krakoa's Resurrection Protocols at some point fail.  

At his lab, Chakladar agrees to help Moira.  He builds a device that allows "for a mental upload, guaranteeing [Moira's] 11th life."  I'm surprised by how clever this development is, that Moira's 11th life has nothing to do with her mutant power.  If I'm reading my review of "Powers of X" #6 correctly, it appears that the future where she killed Logan in that issue goes differently, as she seems to delight in murdering Logan here (which she didn't in "Powers of X" #6).  

In the present, Omega Logan tells the Wolverines that his death at Moira's hands was the end of one story but the beginning of another one.

I have to admit that I'm still not really sure where we're going with "X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine."  "X Deaths of Wolverine" seems to tie up some loose ends related to the future story that Hickman told in "Powers of X" (my least favorite one, to be honest), and it seems unlikely that "X Lives of Wolverine" will end with Omega Red successfully killing Professor X.  But, I definitely still don't see how they tie together, though I guess we have time for that to become clear.

Also Read:  Ben Reilly:  Spider-Man #2 (February 23); Dark Ages #5 (February 23)

Three-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero February 2 and 9 (2022) Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #88 (February 2):  Hoo boy.  Beyond's Board members are less than thrilled Maxine lost the drive, so she puts her career on the line by doubling down and getting them to activate the "Halifax Protocol."  

As she later villainsplains to an imprisoned Marcus, Halifax was an oil-company CEO with a super-mansion full of bodies in Broxton, OK.  The police were on the scene investigating his crimes when Thor's fight with the Sentry happened in "Siege."  Maxine notes that no one cared about Halifax anymore.  As such, she reveals that Beyond's product - a question that I've had since the beginning - is chaos.  The Halifax Protocol is Beyond's super-villain division, and Maxine activates it by using Norman Osborn's sins (i.e., the contents of that creepy jar that she's been holding) to turn Dr. Kafka into Queen Goblin.

Meanwhile, Janine goes to MJ for help, and MJ brings her to Glory Grant at the "Daily Bugle."  Tracking Janine, Beyond sends Queen Goblin after them, and Ben arrives just in time to save Janine.  Queen Goblin manages to destroy the drive, but, to Maxine's surprise, Ben announces that it isn't his problem.  He departs with Janine, leaving MJ to face Queen Goblin by herself.  In other words, Ben is losing it.

X Lives of Wolverine #2 (February 2):  This issue at least gives us a better sense of what we're actually doing here.

At some point, Mikhail Rasputin stole the Cerebro Sword, which Magneto made from the Cerebro unit that Professor X was wearing when something (someone?) called XENO attempted to assassinate him.  (I'm assuming it happened in "X-Force.")  As such, Rasputin has some connection to Cerebro and discovered that X-Force tampered with Omega Red's resurrection, installing the surveillance chip and editing his problematic memories.  Rasputin provided that information to Omega Red when he was on a mission in Moscow with Domino and Wolverine, leading him to break into the Hatchery (as we saw last issue) to confirm the information.  

Meanwhile, we learn that Sage created a program to monitor any memory alterations since they could be connected to "timeline terrorism."  As such, she's able to detect Omega Red's attempt to eliminate Xavier and/or his ancestors, hence why Jean sends Logan back into the timestream.   However, Logan is starting to lose it as he comes face to face with his sins, particularly his actions with Team X.  Is Logan going to fuck up everything because he can't help himself?  Maybe.

Amazing Spider-Man #88.BEY (February 9):  OMG, I love this issue.  First, I love Hobie Brown.  I remember when he debuted in "Amazing Spider-Man," and I've always been disappointed that he's been such an underused character.

That said, this incarnation of him is fantastic.  First, I love him in the Hornet costume.  But, the premise is even better.  Hobie tells his wife that the destruction he witnessed during the "King in Black" event made him realize that Damage Control helps corporations but not people.  He talks about how his crowdsourcing platform, Fairplay, is full of people asking for help to rebuild their lives after super-powered events.  He figures that he can match their requests for help and the public's funding with his deep-pocketed superpowered contacts. 

As he's describing it, I'm realizing that it's the opposite of what Maxine describes in "Amazing Spider-Man" #88:  she wants to create chaos, and Hobie wants to end it.  As such, I wasn't surprised at all when Beyond suddenly buys Fairplay.  Hobie is initially furious...until he gets his $15 million parachute.  But, his wife Mindy notes that everyone got a parachute.  In fact, Beyond spent $200 million on a $70 million company.  

Suspicious, Hobie breaks into Beyond to swipe their records.  While there, Dusk sees him and follows him home.  She tells them that Beyond kidnapped Ricochet, and she needs help freeing him.  The files allow Hobie to find him.  While Mindy (who's a great character) goes through the rest of the files, Hobie and Dusk head to the farm where Ricochet is being held.  

But, it turns out Beyond just hired him the previous day to fight some inter-dimensional monsters.  He's only been gone so long due to temporal dilation.  Hobie works with Dusk and Ricochet to shut down the portal allowing the monster to enter our dimension, and Beyond is so impressed with his intelligence and physicality that they offer him a job.

Man, please, please, please let the Slingers get their own series.  This issue is one of the best issues I've read in a while.  The characters all have great charisma together, and I'd love to see Hobie in action with a top-flight creative team.

Devil's Reign #4 (February 9):  It feels like we're moving to our denouement early, so I wonder what else Zdarsky has up his sleeve.  When Kingpin accidentally uses his staff to make Typhoid Mary remember their past together, he realizes that he can use it on himself to remember Daredevil's identity, which he does.  He believes that doing so will end his insane drive for revenge, but, um, based on the expression on his face on the last page, I kind of doubt that we're going in that direction.

Moon Knight #8 (February 9):  This issue is odd.  

Badr is running the Mission since Kingpin locked up Marc, and a former detective, Flint, approaches him for help on a case.  Flint is apparently a long-standing Moon Knight character who works with Marc to solve crimes on the "freak beat."  He informs Badr that another former Moon Knight character, Stained Glass Scarlet, has reappeared, which is odd since she died a few years ago.  

Badr goes to the church where she died and learns that people seeking revenge venerate her.  As such, they her into a minor god.  But, she's no match for Khonshu, who helps Badr chase her from the church.  I'm guessing that McKay is going to return to this story at some point, because we never really learn why Scarlet is now just willy-nilly killing people, when in the past she only killed organized-crime figures (i.e., bad guys).  

I can't say that I disliked the issue, but it leaves a little too much on the table.

New Mutants #24 (February 9):  I haven't been a fan of Ayala's run, but she wraps up a number of threads here in a way that feels organic.  

The New Mutants realize that they haven't helped mutants who've been asking for help.  As such, the Five give No-Girl a new body (she now calls herself Cerebella), and Masque helps Cosmar find a form in which she feels comfortable.  The New Mutants escort Amahl as he leaves for Arakko to undergo therapy and eventually become a more productive member of Krakoan society.   Finally, Dani and Rahne clear the air between them, and I'm going to guess that they're going after Tier soon.  

But, it's Magik's conversation with Rictor that was the most interesting to me.  They discuss something that I've often mentioned during the "Dawn/Reign of X" era, namely the lack of anyone paying attention.  The pair note how the mutants still don't seem to communicate with one another well.  They're not talking about a language but a more basic emotional connection.  Rictor is apparently now a druid, and he and Magik commit to use their magical powers to make those connections possible.  To make matters even more interesting, Magik enlists a resurrected Goblin Queen to help!  (I'm assuming that the Five resurrected Madelyne after successfully lobbying for the Quiet Council to life the ban on resurrecting clones for Gabby.)

A little Google-ing revealed that Rictor and Shatterstar are back together.  As you can see in the below "Also Read" section, I went and read those issues.  In the meantime, I'd love to see them more involved with this series and their friends.

Secret X-Men #1 (February 9):  Howard loses control of the crosses, double-crosses, and triple-crosses in this issue, to the point that I'm not entirely sure what happened.  

I think that Delphos and Oracle - the Imperial Guard's precogs - convinced Xandra to set up a training exercise to test her "friends" from Krakoa.  It's unclear to me if Deathbird was aware that the alleged threat to Xandra wasn't real, but, at any rate, she recruits Roberto to help.  (We're apparently calling him Beto instead of 'Berto now.)  He assembles a team pulled from the mutants who were most disappointed that they weren't chosen for the X-Men.  

Later, it turns out he was under Xandra's influence in putting together this team, as she was impressed that they all commiserated like friends and didn't fight like enemies.  After Roberto and his team make their way through Deathbird's traps to find Xandra, someone kidnaps Deathbird.  The precogs appears to have known that it was going to happen, making it unclear to me why they would've green-lit this exercise given how essential Deathbird is to the Empire and Xandra.

I mean, sure, I enjoy Roberto and Sam action as much as the next guy, but Howard leans into that too much, as if their banter compensates for the lack of a coherent plot.  I hope that we get to see Xandra's "Secret X-Men" in action soon, but I'm not sure that I'd want Howard at the helm.

X Deaths of Wolverine #2 (February 9):  This issue is intense as fuck, but I still have no idea what exactly we're supposed to believe is happening.  

Future Logan is part of the Phalanx, so I guess that it's possible that the machines sent him back in time to kill Moira.  But, why?  Do they know Moira is now capable of dying?  If so, why would they want her dead now, given that it won't reset the timeline now that she's human.  I'm sure that it'll benefit them someway, but I'm not sure how.

In terms of Moira, Jane Foster tells her that she detected "floronic matter" in her cancer, and Moira supposes that the No-Place biome is somehow responsible.  In a truly graphic scene, she goes to a hotel, gets drunk, cuts off her Warlock arm, and cauterizes the wound with an iron (!) since she believes that Mystique is tracking her that way.  (I'm not sure that's true, but it seems like it's how Future Logan is/was.)  Moira at least gets in a lick when Mystique breaks into her hotel room only for a bomb to explode and kill her.

For some reason, Future Logan is now after someone named Arnab Chakladar.  Does he need him to find Moira now that he possibly can't track her?  I guess we'll see.

Also Read:  Excalibur #21 (June 9, 2021); X-Factor #10 (June 30, 2021); Hawkeye:  Kate Bishop #4 (February 9)

Four-Month-Old Comics: The Superhero January 19 and 26 (2022) "X Lives and Deaths of Wolverine" Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

X Lives of Wolverine #1 (January 19):  This issue is hard to follow, though Percy makes it clear that it's supposed to be.  I'm going to impose a more linear narrative on this review than the issue has.

Marvel Girl and Professor X somehow send Logan back in time to stop Omega Red from murdering Professor X before he's born.  (Charles' parents are pretty solid fighters, I have to say.)  After he manages to save Chuck (cutting his umbilical cord with his claws in the process), Logan suddenly finds himself in Colombia.  He has no memory of this moment in his life, but Jean appears to tell him that he's there to save Professor X again.  

The only hint that we get of what's happening is that Mikhail Rasputin seems to be pulling not only Omega Red's strings but the Russian government's strings as well.  That bodes poorly for everyone.  Moreover, the issue begins with Omega Red taking out Goldballs and reviewing the Resurrection Protocols, revealing the Five's opposition to Beast's "edits" to Omega Red.  

Again, I'm not sure where that plot is going, but I'm going to guess that it's nowhere good.

X Deaths of Wolverine #1 (January 26):  Given this issue focuses almost exclusively on Moira's flight from Mystique after the events of "Inferno" #4, it looks like Marvel named this mini-series "X Deaths of Wolverine" just to match the other mini-series.  Ah, Marvel.  

Moira makes her way to Scotland only to realize that she's coughing up blood.  She visits Jane Foster in New York who seems unsurprised to learn that Moira is alive and confirms that Moira has Stage 4 lung cancer.  Before Moira can handle that news, Mystique arrives to kill her.  Jane turns into Valkyrie to buy Moira time to escape, which she does only to discover that the CIA is after her.  Meanwhile, an "egg" appears on Krakoa that produces a techno-organic Wolverine, which isn't good for someone. 

If you put aside the idea that this issue centers around Wolverine, it's solid.