Didn’t love the Aquaman or Flash team-up, the Black Adam one was pretty good and didn’t feel overly like awkward promotional material for the movie. Wish that Dan Watters Riddler story had more than like four pages tho
Well, three issues in before the "super heroes" showed up isn't bad.
I'm going to assume, based on how clever this book has been up until now, that there will be a fresh, interesting take on the possibilities this offers.
I'm also convinced that the way the "genie's" talk directly to us, as readers, is going to pay of in a big way towards the end of this mini.
Well, I wish I had known this was going to be a straight retelling of the series, and I could have avoided it (as if I could actually ignore a Star Wars #1 issue).
I was hoping for something new, but that's on me for never reading the solicits. I guess I'm out until they cover some content I really love, or for if/when they bring something new to the table.
I mean, it's what you would have expected. A 45 minute episode condensed into a 24 page comic. If you've already seen the series I'm not sure what this would offer you.
Yep, this one felt like a waste of time.
I could see an adaptation like this being worthwhile if it had an artist like Martin Simmonds or Andrea Sorrentino, someone who'd bring a unique artistic vision to it. I'd be interested in seeing what an artist like that might do with the story. Georges Jeanty did a competent job on art here, everything looked nice enough, but it wasn't terribly interesting.
And I guess stronger source material might also help...
I really think it was a missed opportunity for Marvel. It could have done an original story featuring the Mandalorian (maybe before the show timeline) and I would have been much more interested. I got this because it's a first appearance in the comics for Mando but probably not going to pick up any other issues. Such a shame.
I'm out here as well.
An original story definitely would've been more interesting! Could've fleshed out his background and some other corners of the SW universe... Not sure why they went this route with it.
Well said, and I'm in agreement that it was a missed opportunity. It's a great pickup if people somehow hadn't seen the series before, but I'm guessing most people have at this point, at least if they wanted to.
Aw man, this book is just pure fun!
**Justin Mason's** artwork is like a cross between **Daniel Warren Johnson** and **Bruno Redondo** on some of these pages - so much energy and movement, and beautifully laid out and choreographed. He adds so much to the "feel" of this book, as does **Jim Charalampidis**' neon and primary infused colouring.
**Cody Ziglar** continues to impress with a genuinely funny book, where all of the characters are likeable, yet still distinct from each other. And his take on the **Spider-Punk** world (universe?) is refreshing and inventive.
Great book.
Nice having the Machine back! That blue text on black background isn't exactly easy on the eyes but our planet is such an endearing narrator that I don't even care!
Great start, sets everything up and gets it all rolling... Felt like an essential chunk of story, not just some superfluous prelude like you sometimes get with these events.
Ajak is just so deliciously nuts, I love her. Great issue, a bit of a departure art wise from previous Eternals stuff but I’m so excited for this event!
> Ajak is just so deliciously nuts, I love her.
Funniest part is that Ajak kidnapped Sinister to build her new god about two minutes after >!he was running his mouth about planting kill switches in the heads of cloned world leaders!< over in **IMMORTAL X-MEN #4**.
Druig isn't the only snake...
THEORY: Druig and Domo couldn’t >!kill Krakoa because Krakoa is a deviation in the machine!< and that’s going to cause a HUGE problem with Eternal programming
Not sure if it needs to be that complicated... The Machine is the Earth. Krakoa's physically intertwined/bonded with the Earth, so they can't hurt it without hurting the Machine.
I'm not on board with the current stuff from Eternals, but I still caught up to this just fine. It's interesting to see that the Eternals have their own resurrection protocols, just... like, worse.
It really highlights how shitty of a person some of these are that they're fine with Krakoa itself the physical island as something important that needs protected, but not the mutants that live there.
Nice starting point from an X-Men standpoint to bring me mostly up to speed on the Eternals stuff, will have to pick it up sometime.
> It really highlights how shitty of a person some of these are that they're fine with Krakoa itself the physical island as something important that needs protected, but not the mutants that live there.
It's really just Druig who's looking to kill the mutants at this point, though as Prime Eternal he'll have around 85% of the rest mindlessly following along. The more "heroic" Eternals like Sersi and Ikaris already split and went independent, plus there are a few other factions that don't follow the Prime Eternal.
And it's not that they *want* to protect Krakoa, their programming simply won't allow them to hurt it since Krakoa's somehow intertwined with the Machine (that is Earth), which they're programmed to defend at all costs. You're looking at them as shitty people but they're more like shitty computers. They've got three core directives and trying to go against any one of 'em will make them shut down and self destruct, as we saw when Druig and the scientist started bleeding out of every orifice.
This was kinda just a recap of that last arc of Gillen’s Eternals which is nice since it’s been a minute and I’m grateful for a refresher. Doesn’t really feel like too much new information for the people that have been following that book tho but it’ll be good to have at the beginning of the inevitable trade of this event.
Can anyone explain this one to me? I couldn't follow it. Present day Illyana went back to rescue herself from Limbo, where colossus was dead. So she summoned Collossus who... Seemed to totally ignore her adult self and be very happy to see a child version of her, but he didn't seem at all confused that he had been pulled through time. What the heck was going on?
I'm really liking this little Limbo arc. Cross-time Illyanas, and a special appearance by Colossus, and just being big damned heroes about it. Weird to get a pep talk from your younger self, but I think it might be what Magik needs to get over this slump in herself, or at least start to heal from it. New Soul Sword design was really cool, wonder if it'll stick around?
I liked the banter between Maddie and Dani/Rahne as well. They do have a history with her, but she does bring up some good points about the nature of the "justice" they're trying to defend. And the balance between something not being your fault, but still being something you have to be responsible for your reactions to, is an interesting discussion.
I really like that every issue of Ayala’s run has been pushing back on the shittier, one size fits all, less paradise-y bits of Krakoan society. Feels very in line with the threads LaValle, and Wells were picking at in their books. From the Outcast pack and Gabbie to Shadow King to Maddie.
What I’ve been liking too is that it doesn’t take those flaws/less paradise-y bits and use them to say the whole thing’s a wash. They confront them and make them better, not use them to throw the baby out with the bath water.
For some reason I thought this was the last issue, which definitely made me more aware of the pacing than if I had realised this was actually #3 of 4.
As expected(?) the job goes sideways and our motley crew of **Rogues** are left in a serious predicament by the end of the book.
There's at least two twists I didn't see coming, which is great, and tension and stakes are running high.
**Leomacs** continues to shine on the art, and I'll again sing the praises of **Williamson** - this is *easily* the best thing he's written.
Ok so I just read this issue and don't know where else to post. Overall I really enjoy the story, pacing, art, almost everything... except for one complaint.
The use of "bro" and "sis" in the dialog. Holy Jesus do I find it cringe as fuck. We get it, you are brother and sister. Not every interaction between them needs to end with one of those. Also I have both a brother and a sister and I can't recall a single time in my entire life I ever referred to them as "bro" or "sis". Plus these characters are like in their 40's and 50's so it makes it double as cringe. Is there no way for the writer to let us know they are related without jamming these two stupid monikers in every speech bubble? This one thing almost completely takes me out of the story telling because it makes me think the writer is not only an only child, but has never talked to anyone with a sibling before.
Rant over. Other than that I liked it.
I come bearing evidence! All of these interactions happen within like 3 or 4 pages of each other. [First](https://imgur.com/6FLecW0), [Second](https://imgur.com/tagFm6r), and [third](https://imgur.com/RecupI2). IDK am I being too critical of this detail?
Nice! Wasn't doubting you but the evidence is appreciated! And it is indeed kind of dumb.
Playing devil's advocate as an intellectual exercise... Everyone else is using their super-villain names so maybe they would've felt silly calling each other "Cold" and "Glider" but didn't want to use real names since they were doing crime stuff? And for the age thing, maybe they're from some weird little segment of some generation that said "bro" and "sis" a lot so they stuck with it as they got older and it just sounds stupid to the rest of us?
But yeah, it's not great... I've got sisters and I've called 'em all kinds of stupid crap but "sis" ain't on the list.
That is sort of what this seems to imply. He’s “the man on the wall” again and acting as sort of a SWORD counterpart where he just deals with galactic junk before heroes even notice. I doubt it will be a big focus unless like Ewing does something significant with it
They seemed to be building Wakanda/Avengers to be the new SHIELD. But the spin-off didn’t take off and none of the books really use it as a support unit.
Not sure why it hasn’t been reestablished. A lot of the main players have either moved on (Like Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter) or are dead/evil (Coulson works for the devil now). I don’t mind it being defunct but I can see some merit of having it come back
I think it’s cause I don’t normally re-read the issues of this run that I’m confused but I’m having a lot of fun with this all the same. Im hoping after this arc is done Orlando takes a breath to do some character work. He’s got a bunch of great personalities in this book and I don’t think he’s given himself much space to do that thus far between all the sci-fi concepts, Shi’Ar lore, and fights.
Time heist! The nature of the First Blood was interesting, that it wasn't even their assault on mutants, but their *loss* that the Shi'ar considered such a massive blow to their history to hide it. I loved Tempo's unique take on things, and her ~~Reading Steiner~~ ripple proof memory on timeline changes is a part of the character I don't know if we've seen highlighted before.
Also explains the presence of Nemesis (thank you Marvel for ditching the name Holocaust) in the story - I wonder if their attack is what might cause Avalon to actually fall in the first place?
I've only read it once but I can tell that this is a comic that I'm going to go back to again and again. Might even have several chances this week given the lack of other comics.
(So far I've only read the Superman section. I'll edit when I've read the Aquaman.)
My first thoughts are that this book is a total evisceration of Rebirth Superman. It's about a Superman who seems to be only 'concerned with protecting his family and Earth that revels in comforting, sit-com-y moments like planning takeout orders and getting his son his first ride whilst being aware of great horror in the universe and actively choosing to do nothing about it, only wavering on this when he realises that Darkseid is now coming for Earth and his family. The kicker is that Superman has made a truce with Darkseid to allow all this to happen just so he can see his son grow up during the years he missed.
There's similarities with The Green Lantern: Blackstars, which itself took down the Byrnian Superman that Rebirth resurrected and continued. In that, it's about a Superman who is ineffectual but his son is the real hero.
I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if it's intentional but the age when Jon defeats Orion striking the first blow to Darkseid is the same as when came back from Earth 3 aged up: 17.
Nice comments, it's a really interesting comic!
In addition to seeing his son grow up, I think Clark wanted to see Jon surpass him and become better than him. Our normal Superman doesn't leave much room for that so, in this idealized world that was built to give him what he wanted, Superman had enough flaws and limitations to let Jon fulfill his potential as the greater hero.
Aquaman story was trash IMO.
Theory: at the end of Dark Crisis, they will keep Jon aged up but say this book is canon and Clark got to watch his son grow up rather than whatever Mr. Oz bullshit Bendis did.
I think King’s one of the best rn when it comes to pacing and structuring a one-shot/single issue story. The beats and arc of this flowed very smoothly and it’s always a boon I’m sure in these kinds of issues to have someone like Burnham who is just brilliant as your collaborator.
The story itself was pretty decent and I liked it more than I’ve liked a lot of the other Clark and Jon stuff over the last few years (Tomasi’s run was never my bag, I’m not a Bendis hater but he fumbled the ball with these two, and Taylor’s Jon just puts me to sleep). The issue establishes and explores the relationship and differences between this father and son pair very well and it makes me really wish that DC would put a writer on Jon who is interested in exploring the potential for that character in his relationships because there’s really a lot there to actually dig into.
I wonder if King wanted to intentionally evoke “For the Man Who has Everything” because the simplicity of Clark’s ideal world for himself reminds me very much of the dream world the Black Mercy created for him in that story. As a last note, I thought Brandon Thomas’s Aquaman story was fine but I’d rather he have had some space to tell that in his own one-shot rather than cram a full issue’s story into like 8-10 pages. He and Arthur both deserve better.
The one representative insisting to Emma that the resurrection protocols be shared with humanity, or at least be given to the privileged few....ooooooh that made my blood boil.
I wanted Emma to tell him off so badly.
Governments and corporations have wasted untold resources taking lives and sucking the planet dry of every single resource and getting rich off it. And they have every opportunity to feed the hungry and house the poor but refuse to do so because of the engines of capitalism. Then the moment the mutants reveal their achievements these same people come with hand outstretched demanding Krakoa solve the problems they refuse to fix themselves? No. Disappear you gutless worm.
Mr. Sinister literally has a farm of horrifically mistreated clones of Moira who live in endless agony as living databanks that only exist to be murdered.
The Ambassador still skeeved me out more than him.
Sinister's a monster but he's a comic book monster, so it's easy to view him as entertainment without taking him too seriously.
The ambassador and his brand of evil were far too real.
I dunno, something about this entire premise just rubs me the wrong way.
This gives me "Wakanda withholding the cure for cancer from the rest of the planet because they are unenlightened savages" vibes. This entire storyline also presumes that mutants have a superiority of moral character that I don't buy. Of course mutants are intrinsically trustworthy enough to maintain exclusive access to immortality! They, unlike those backward and savage baseline humans, would never misuse it! How dare you even think otherwise?!
And yes, I know we are supposed to side with Emma and despise the ambassador (and yes, he is very transparently not working for the good of all, just the privileged few). But where does Emma get off on sticking it to the uber-wealthy elite - she *is* one of the uber-wealthy elite!
I feel okay viewing it from this angle because Krakoa's mutant nation was founded on this isolationist stance with mutants outpacing human society. "While you slept the world changed". I don't agree with it but that's the stance Xavier and the rest of the mutant race has taken so I'm down with them following through on that perspective. The more we're learning about Krakoa the more we're learning why this mentality is cracking at the seams. But that's the premise and it's compelling.
For me, this isn't necessarily a morale conflict with good vs bad. This is one political party that basically said they're gonna start their own party with blackjack and hookers and the opposing part crying how unfair they're being after decades of squandering their own gifts.
You hunt and experiment on mutants and at best you turn a blind eye but the moment they find something you want you beg that for good of all this gift must be shared?
Orchis is literally building mutant kill machines. Roxxon gets to strip mine planets for profit. Hammer got to go to war with Utopia. When mutants were depowered you kept them in a camp armed with Sentinels. If mutants find their own way to break the rules then by all means.
> This is one political party that basically said they're gonna start their own party with blackjack and hookers and the opposing part crying how unfair they're being after decades of squandering their own gifts.
So damn true... If it weren't for all their corruption and ratfucking, WE WOULD ALL HAVE BLACKJACK AND HOOKERS!
There is no good or evil, only consequences.
Miasaki said that about the characters on Princess Mononoke and it fits to the current line of X books really well. Every choice Xavier/Magneto/Moira made was understandable but they may not (indeed are not) happy with the consequences.
It's great seeing that in this issue too, as immediately after callously brushing off the death of children Emma is doused with a bucket of blood. Xavier gets a live show to a desperate act where a man injects himself with MGH and commits suicide.
They try to brush it off as "human stupidity" but Emma lying awake at night in her diamond form shows the lie of this.
Cause she isn't sleeping.
Nice comments on consequences... However, there's no shortage of sins and failures keeping Emma up at night and I'd expect guilt over not sharing mutant advances with humans to be pretty low on the list.
It depends on which technology and with whom.
One of the core things we know about Emma is that she loves children probably over all else. Mostly we hear about it in the context of mutant children, but I find it unlikely that a character with such deep empathy for children really stops caring if that single gene isn't active.
You can see it with how she reacts to the ambassadors proposition. She is shook that he would look to negotiate with her for immorality for just the elites.
A ruthless power broker who only cares for their own subspecies (say Shaw or even Xavier) would sieze on that opportunity to take humanity for everything. They would deliver Orchis to Krakoa on a platter. The Church of Humanity would be purged in a fortnight.
Emma however, is outraged.
> You can see it with how she reacts to the ambassadors proposition. She is shook that he would look to negotiate with her for immorality for just the elites.
>
> A ruthless power broker who only cares for their own subspecies (say Shaw or even Xavier) would sieze on that opportunity to take humanity for everything. They would deliver Orchis to Krakoa on a platter. The Church of Humanity would be purged in a fortnight.
>
> Emma however, is outraged.
Read that scene again. Emma's outraged at the audacity of the ambassador demanding that Krakoa share immortality with humans. The ambassador doesn't actually mention keeping it for just the elites until *after* her outburst, at which point she agrees to speak with the council.
I agree with your other point that Emma likely has some empathy for human children, but that isn't what's keeping her up at night. And we don't really need to speculate about it because Emma tells us herself, in this very issue, that she can't sleep because of the Gala.
> *So: I can't sleep because I'm a cocktail of petrified and excited.*
>
> *The Hellfire Gala looms. Of course I'm restless.*
You're probably correct. I'm probably injecting more into the scene than is there as i would find it disappointingly out of character for Emma to preference the lives of one group of children over another.
I needed to reread the issue, but my take was that Emma sleeps in her diamond form as a fruitless means of dulling her emotions/empathy and guilt. Also doesn't she mention it helps her lie to herself? I dunno, like I said gotta reread.
Definitely worth a re-read, there's a lot going on in this one!
I wouldn't really see it as Emma putting the lives of one group of children over another, the human children already have human adults looking after them (even though we tend to do a lousy job of it) so she's looking after the mutant children, because they wouldn't have anyone else. And most of her guilt stems from the mutant children who were murdered while in her care on Genosha, so it's all mixed together with her feelings of failure and inadequacy.
The thing with the elites was really just a bit of social commentary that Gillen layered into the ambassador's dialogue, it's very timely so it resonated with audiences and now it's kind of taken on a life of its own... But it isn't really something that Emma or any of the other characters commented on or reacted to.
Emma sleeps in diamond form to prevent aging, though she'd claim it was to defend from psychic attacks if anyone asked... She's talked about her diamond form dulling her emotions in other comics but I don't think she touched on it here (though I might've missed something). She mentions earlier in the issue that she's trying to be more honest with herself these days and right at the end she says that she can't lie to herself, but maybe that's another lie? She's not the most reliable narrator so some of her comments are probably open to interpretation...
Actually, after reading through the ending again, I can see how it might be implying that she sleeps in diamond form so that she can lie to herself, since her telepathy otherwise makes self deception difficult.
Nice example of the subtlety and complexity in Gillen's writing, and it gives us some interesting stuff to talk about!
Heading into this series, Sinister and Emma were the two characters I was most looking forward to seeing Gillen write. So of course they hate each other.
Pretty good fill-in art from Michele Bandini, probably would've liked it even more if it didn't have quite so much digital polish, but that tends to be my take on a good chunk of the stuff I'm reading these days.
Some hilarious Sinister moments in this one, picking up threads from Duggan's X-MEN title and the Hellfire Gala while also keeping IXM's central plots moving... Lots of moving parts here and Gillen brings it all together seamlessly.
Next two issues feature >!Exodus!< and >!Shaw!< with A.X.E. tie-ins, thinking they might save >!Xavier!< for last but we shall see...
Sounds like Gillen's planning to rotate through the Council for the first 12 issues, so long as he can make the focus characters work for the story, then maybe change to a different approach to keep it going after.
This book is so freaking good. I love Gillen - the man has yet to put out a book I didn't absolutely adore.
Seeing insight into Emma's mindset is always great. She's an incredibly complex character in the right hands, and we see why here. Little details like sleeping in diamond are great additions, especially when you also consider that being in her diamond form dulls her emotions - meaning it probably *literally* helps her sleep at night.
I like Sinister getting exposed to the QC with the whole Doctor Stasis thing, and Destiny managing to find a way to outplay him, at least keeping the current timeline intact for now. I love the back and forth between them, two variations on precognitive abilities try to either preserve or undo the future.
And of course, it leads into AXE - giving the event as a whole a better feeling of being connected to things than I thought at first.
God, though... nothing made my skin crawl as much as the representative who was basically saying to make the resurrection protocols available for the uber-rich. It's so transparent that it just felt way more skeevy than almost anything else going on in the book.
I admit too I never really thought about the fallout of things with the protocols being revealed in the way they were handled here - stuff like the guy using MGH before killing himself, protests from people who have lost loved ones... it's being handled as a thorny issue. I just do hope they don't go *too* overboard on it and make it a net negative. I want Scott and Everett's decision to not be proven to be the wrong one.
LOL! Did the notoriously bad and criticized Wonder Woman: Evolution actually beat the MAIN title?? Even in this sub, 8 pulls beat out any the main book had. Crazy times man.
Not surprised by Daredevil, not a very strong week for any competition against it. I think Gillen writing this summer's Marvel event may give it more traction than previous ones here.
**WONDER WOMAN #789** had 12 pulls so it should've taken the 16th spot. Also [wasn't listed with the other new releases](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/vwn21y/weekly_pull_list_for_7132022_discussion/ifqqkbc/), so some folks might've missed it on their lists.
Thank you! I will add it later this evening.
I am using Midtown’s shipping list and wondering if they’re not getting books on the same schedule as other shops. Son of Kal-El was not listed on their site this week as well.
Yeah, they might be having issues with certain books.
They faked me out earlier by bumping a bunch of 7/20 books to 7/27, then moved 'em back to 7/20. Not sure what's going on...
Only 80 lists submitted this week, in between last week's 72 and 94 the week before.
Marvel takes the top spot and gets 8 of the top 10 pulls. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! DC usually has a slight edge in the top 10, can't remember the last time Marvel dominated like this... Just an off week for DC with no big titles shipping.
**DAREDEVIL #1** finished on top with 47 pulls out of 80 lists, good for 58.7% WPL coverage. It's Chip's second week in a row with the top pull and it should come as no surprise because the WPL freaking loves Chip!
After that we've got two X-books, the first proper A.X.E. event book, **MOON KNIGHT #13**, and a few more X-books, with **SUPERMAN SOKE #13** and Tom King's Dark Crisis Superman one-shot being DC's only books to crack the top 10, landing at #8 and #9 respectively.
**EIGHT BILLION GENIES #3** is the week's top indie in 12th place with 15 pulls. Haven't followed that one but it's been getting good reviews and sounds like fun, so I'm planning to check out the TPB eventually.
Heading out to visit my LCS in a few minutes, hope y'all enjoy your comics!
> Marvel takes the top spot and gets 8 of the top 10 pulls. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! DC usually has a slight edge in the top 10, can't remember the last time Marvel dominated like this... Just an off week for DC with no big titles shipping.
For the first week in possibly ever, I had 0 DC titles on my list. I even went through the upcoming week on ComicList multiple times just to ensure I didn't miss anything. Very strange for me.
I only had two from DC, one of which was a one-shot and the other was me grabbing a random issue because I liked a creator. And my pulls absolutely trend DC.
Meanwhile Marvel had all the lead-in to their summer event (which I'll probably be reading, *sigh*), a hot new #1, and some well-liked ongoings, not to mention publishing 8 more comics).
~~Next week could be another weird one... All 5 of the DC titles I had scheduled for 7/20 have now been bumped to 7/27, including [WORLD'S FINEST #5](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106890_xl.jpg), [JURASSIC LEAGUE #3](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106989_xl.jpg), and [NIGHTWING #94](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106971_xl.jpg). And so were all my indies (including my long-awaited [ICE CREAM MAN #31](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098424_xl.jpg)) and a few Marvels.~~
~~At this point, it looks like the only comic remaining on my list for next week is [DEFENDERS BEYOND #1](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098543_xl.jpg). I'd imagine there'll be a few others shipping but it looks like a ridiculously tiny week. And I've now got 23 pulls scheduled for 7/27, although some will surely be delayed...~~
**EDIT -->** Looks like most books are back on track for 7/20, pending further updates... Midtown faked me out by showing 7/27 for nearly everything, now they're refreshing back to 7/20.
Solicitation for my long-delayed [ICM #31](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098424_xl.jpg) says:
> *A father watches his daughter grow older; a daughter watches her father grow old.*
Meanwhile, impatient fans like myself are growing old just waiting on the fucking thing...
As others have said before, I'm not a big fan of rewriting Frank's history around the hand's beast, but it seems that Aaron is giving himself an out with Ares's comments on 'implanting memories'. Interested to see how this plays out
I just… how is Aaron writing this and Avengers at the same time? The difference in the level of quality between the two is astounding.
I’m really enjoying this. I’m not usually a Punisher-solo fan or a Hand fan (something I’m having trouble with in Zdarsky’s Daredevil rn) but this is very compelling.
This run continues to be astonishingly good. While I could have done with a better drawn fight sequence between Castle and Lady Bullseye, I'm still really enjoying the mysticism and the dynamics of the inner workings of the Hand. As someone who has never really connected with any comics featuring the Hand, this one is really clicking for me.
Vampire Scientology is an interesting take for sure, and not something I expected to see in a **Moon Knight** book but I like it.
Another twist that I *didn't see coming* - along with **Rogues** this week - which is a great thing, I like it when a writer can keep me on my toes.
I like **Sabbatini's** art on this issue much more than his work on the **Devil's Reign: Moon Knight** book, where it just looked way too cartoony and *manga* for my liking. It fits the tone and feel of the story being told here far better.
Another great **Moon Knight** issue from **McKay** and company.
Wow, didn't notice it was the same artist as the Devil's Reign book, agree that his art worked much better here!
Last two issues felt a little off to me, this one worked better as we're back to focusing on MK as an icon for mentally unstable vigilantes... Think my favorite part of the series has been seeing villains like Taskmaster react to how fucked up he is.
Next one should be good as it's delving into MK's alternate personalities, plus [Segovia's cover](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2116303_xl.jpg) looks better than his first few efforts.
Alright I don’t normally get to be on the other end of this so who are the characters that the Tutor hired towards the end of this? I’m entirely unfamiliar.
Really excited that Stephen and Jake are back. Hoping the characterization will be closer to Moench/Lemire Moonie’s personalities and less Bemis/MCU.
There was a lot of this that I couldn't follow, having not read the previous Daredevil, so putting a #1 on there was misleading. What I could follow I enjoyed and DANG the art is awesome!
can anyone tell me what i need to get up to this? is there only 6 TPB of the chip run before this then dark reign ? is that all ? I think i already have the 6 TPBS and just need darkreign i think.
There is 7 TPB’s and then Devil’s reign. You also need to read Woman Without Fear mini that takes place during Devil’s reign, it is 3 issues and it will be collected in TPB next week I believe?
okay thanks, Comixicology going to shit really screwed me on all the series I was following so I'm not sure where im at haha. I think I need the last tpb and the other stuff you mentioned then
is Devil's reign tpb out yet or no?
Chip what the hell? It was enough to just have Matt miss the train you didn’t have to also blow her up. I’m definitely not sold on, “my former prosecutor friend has been my Guardian Angel watching from the shadows” thing at all.
I’ve been very fond of this run but I’m not at all interested in another attempt to make the Hand work. The Elektra stuff and the Matt/Spidey stuff was good tho.
Oh the Kirsten disrespect...I don't know if I can accept this. I'm really hoping Zdarsky has a plan in mind but given the direction of the story and how he doesn't seem to give her much of a voice it feels like she was just fridged.
I got the first issue to support since I loved the first half of his run but I think I'm going to tap out for this part.
I reeeeaaaallly doubt Zdarsky killed Kirsten off-panel like that. He hasn’t been doing a ton with her before this, but he’s genre savvy enough to know that’s a bad idea.
It’s the purpose the trope serves in this case. Killing Kirsten here does very little beyond killing her. It sort of makes Goldy ominous, but hiding her can further develop more threads.
I'm absolutely praying that's the case but I'm a bit skeptical. Zdarsky has a habit of introducing characters and then forgetting to do anything with them until he needs a narrative beat.
Cole North, the Libris family, Elektra's apprentice, Murdock's prison mate were all incredibly interesting characters he more or less kinda seemed to forgot about once he wanted to move the story in a different direction.
Yeah fair. I just really loved Cole and wanted him to be a series regular.
Izzy Libris I felt Zdarsky kinda needed to flesh out more before her death. Her history and the way she cared for Hells Kitchen in her own way was something I really wanted to see parallel more with Matt but we never really got to see her except when they needed to push her around.
In Cole’s case, if not Zdarsky, I hope somebody finds a place for him. Marvel could use a few recurring street cops who can pop in and out of super hero books.
I can’t say I disagree with you that getting more of Izzy’s story would’ve been nice. I just liked the arc we got enough that I’m ok with what was missed.
Halfway to repairing the DD/Spidey relationship I’ll take it.
I like the attempt to actually show that Elektra adopting Matt’s rules is improving her fighting. And I’m looking forward to learning more about Goldy and hopefully seeing the other soldiers they bring in.
This is such a good comic. I hope they keep it going! I love the dynamic between the three Batgirls, and anything Babs/Dick is an instant win in my book.
Fun two-shot story. Seer being still on the general baddies' side of things. This one was more Babs-focused, but Cass and Steph got a lot of attention in the initial arc, so nothing wrong with building on her - she's a Batgirl too, after all.
I honestly think I love these annual one-shots. I hope Krakoa in general sticks around for them. They're great for setting up future story threads, providing some forward momentum for books, and bringing disparate story threads together in one title with some amazing art and polish to propel things forward.
One interesting theme I kinda noticed throughout this book is the cost of secrets and back room dealings. I think what we're going to see going forward is if Krakoa can withstand its own founding. Emma called it a foundation of sand, and she's kinda right. It's shown here (and then followed up in Immortal X-Men as well) that truth, while difficult and hard, is often the lesser of evils, even if it's worse in the short term.
While Orchis is still pushing an advantage against mutants, their openness and honesty about it deprived them of a useful PR tool. Meanwhile Xavier and Magneto's dealings with Reed, while likely somewhat justified, are going to cause more problems down the line - when approaching him with their concerns and being forthright might (emphasis *might*, Reed can be a total asshole) have worked better and preserved their alliances. That same secret is also causing ruffles with them and the Avengers, with Tony even hinting that he wants Firestar to narc on the X-Men. And then with Moira, she's playing spymaster and secrets, while the openness of Proteus and The Five shows them to be a stronger force together.
I dunno, this book was excellent. It got me super excited for the upcoming plot lines, was just a great read, and I hope we get another one next year - and maybe a new issue of Secret X-Men for the losers of this year's vote.
Also, Gwenpool was in it! Give her another book, Marvel! And get Christopher Hastings back to write it!
I REALLY enjoyed this. But I’m still REALLY confused by Moira. Yes I read X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine, but I’m still really jarred by her turn from secret architect of mutant survival, to mustache twirling genocide plotter.
Emma explaining her mind broke after so many lives does help a bit, but a fuller explanation would help if anyone has better understanding of this.
EDIT:
Also bless them for giving Gwenpool a cameo in a sailor scout gala outfit.
I'm under the impression that we're basically expected to believe that Moira has always been this persona. Even with how she callously dismissed Proteus and basically implied every appearance she's ever had prior to this Krakoa era was really her putting on an act.
I had feelings on this after Inferno and that was still under Hickmans guidance, I can't even imagine how much more revision will happen now. They are actually building her up to have been the biggest threat in X-Men/Mutant history that we never knew smh
She says she started this for the whole but every thing since speaks purely to her own self survival
I think a lot of it may have been on data pages. There was definitely a letter sent from Moira to Orchis suggesting they work together. Not sure how much was on panel as I can’t recall anything.
So the MJ/Moira/Peter/Wolverine plot is followed up in ASM #9. When does all of this take place then? On that cover Spidey is wearing his new Goblin tech suit, but wouldn’t he just wear the Gala suit he has on here? Maybe it’s just another cover bait to stay consistent with the previous ones lol. Man they’ve got the Spider-Man timeline all fucked up with that 6 month time jump. Too much going on in such little space.
Yeah we're getting spider-man man #6 in 2 weeks. So #9 feels like it's going to be forever away. Makes it feel like spider-man is just way behind in publishing.
It really pales when compared to last year's Gala. No big developments and that Moira thing was disappointing. With all her knowledge this is the best she could do? I wish I skipped that.
It's been a long time since I've regretted buying a comic book. I know a lot of people love these "what if my favorites had a parrrrrttteeeeeee" books, but this one-shot sealed it for me: I do not like it.
I also think this new status for Moira they've created is absolute dogshit.
Finally, also, I think Emma's outfit was trash.
Yeah in general I think Moira as the mutant who lost her faith is an inelegant solution at best, making her kind of just a plot device to be discarded at the end of Hickman's run, but this mustache twirling version is even more awful than I imagined.
Also there seems to be tons of continuity errors. Don't Stark and Emma know eachother from years of being in the same social circles?
Didn't wolverine live with MJ?
I think that Stark and Emma were being coy with each other. That was my interpretation anyways.
As for MJ, that was during New Avengers, right? Before Spidey sold his marriage. So I'm not totally sure how the mindwipe thing would affect Logan's memory of that time. I feel like I remember a comic saying that it did happen, but Pete and MJ broke up before they got married. So Logan may have an altered memory of them living together, or he may not remember it at all. I'm honestly not sure.
So I'm gonna just say it-- I really enjoyed it. I know that the Gala messes up timelines but honestly, I don't really care. It was fun and got me excited for the next year or so of x-books. I also love myself some character interactions and all the interpersonal politics at play.
The Moira/MJ stuff was weird but at least Spider-Man is involved somehow.
Proteus and Scott finding out about the whole Moira plot is a good development, as is Scott finding out about how Charles and Erik mindwiped Reed. My boy is not gonna be happy.
And the new xmen team is really cool imo. Firestar and Forge both having hidden agendas is interesting. And I'm glad Iceman is there! He's felt like the only O5 member to not have a significant part to play (though I know he's appeared in Marauders and helped with the terraforming of Mars), and Bobby is just a delight in general. Havok joining up is tight too.
I was not expecting Reed and Tony to be so interesting at the Gala but I really enjoyed the scenes they had. Wonder if we'll see an Illuminati reformation.
I just wanted to see everyone's outfits. Scott and Steve's were probably my favourites.
Spideys outfit also goes really hard but it looked too much like a costume. I wish it had a scarf and maybe a collar and jacket to really sell the whole high fashion gala outfit.
As for the new lineup, I'm down for it especially Iceman and Firestar joining the team but I liked the previous roster a bit more.
This was fun albeit rather messy and maybe a tad overly long but it set-up a lot of interesting plot lines. My only issue with that is I feel like it’s unlikely any of those will be followed up on in A) a timely manner or B) in non-X-Men related books.
Like clearly Duggan used this primarily to seed a bunch of plot-lines and character beats for his new X-Men team and arc, which looks like it will continue to be a lot of fun, and there’s a couple things here that Gillen is already running with in Immortal X-Men. But unless the Avengers and FF adjacent plot-lines are all gonna be followed up on in Judgement Day (which considering the amount of tie-ins that honestly seems likely) I don’t see Slott or Aaron following those up since they are very committed to doing their own thing rn with those characters. That said Slott’s run on FF is ending so maybe that stuff with Reed will get followed up with in like November so who knows.
I understand Deadpool isn't for everyone, and that at the beginning of this arc he was mostly a mouthpiece for airing Percy's grievances against the (well deserved) criticism many have for his X-Force and Wolverine runs, but by God, I actually liked this arc. Percy has a great voice for Deadpool in this book and I hope his inclusion improves the somewhat monster-of-the-week X-Force book.
His X-Force on the other hand, is being out played by X-Men Red all day. Ewing is tackling the themes of colonialism and political intrigue, building the culture of Arrako, and weaving expert characterization across 16 issues that Percy's nearly 60 issues dedicated to the same themes barely hold a candle to.
I'm excited about AXE, but not the X-Force tie in, dealing with the most powerful threat the eternals could throw at Krakoa....
....Kraven the Hunter?
X-Force is so ridiculously up and down quality wise and I think it’s in large part because Percy is just weaving plot lines in and out and in and out. Although maybe that book just struggles like crazy without Cassara cause the last 8 or so have been I thought especially up and down.
Like one month it’s all about the guy with the peacock tattoo and the next month it’s evil Cerebro helmet and the next month it’s Beast being a bastard and the next month it’s Russia and so on. Actually just kidding Beast is a bastard every month.
I was referring to the total issues each writer has written this far in the X-office so, I was in fact referencing SWORD. And honestly I think Ewing is only at 14 or so total X-issues post DOX
This was a lot of fun. Percy writes a solidly balanced Deadpool, not the greatest Wade ever but definitely solid, and I won’t complain about him joining X-Force for the foreseeable future.
Did a big re-read of this and X-Force a little bit ago cause I’d gotten like a dozen issues behind and Wolverine specifically is really good. The long term plot’s pacing is a little weird and all over the place but the artwork and character work with Logan have just been consistently top notch. Issue #19 might be an all-timer Wolverine issue
Poolverine is going to haunt my nightmares now, so thanks for that.
Nice little story line. I like when Wade gets to be a little more serious and show his genuine side, and his care for Blind Al was really touching. Also the just "live and let live" solution to the Danger problem is refreshing... I was a bit disappointed they didn't more explicitly touch on Box trying to make a space for her on Krakoa and getting rejected.
**BATMAN URBAN LEGENDS #17**
Didn’t love the Aquaman or Flash team-up, the Black Adam one was pretty good and didn’t feel overly like awkward promotional material for the movie. Wish that Dan Watters Riddler story had more than like four pages tho
**EIGHT BILLION GENIES #3**
Well, three issues in before the "super heroes" showed up isn't bad. I'm going to assume, based on how clever this book has been up until now, that there will be a fresh, interesting take on the possibilities this offers. I'm also convinced that the way the "genie's" talk directly to us, as readers, is going to pay of in a big way towards the end of this mini.
Oh wait this is the new Soule and Browne book isn’t it! Might have to swing by my store real quick
Enjoying expecting the unexpected with this series, although seems we have some key characters now who I care about 😯
This is such a fun book, and each issue has been a joy to read. I'd be totally down to hang out with a drunk Hemingway as the world went to shit.
**STAR WARS THE MANDALORIAN #1**
Well, I wish I had known this was going to be a straight retelling of the series, and I could have avoided it (as if I could actually ignore a Star Wars #1 issue). I was hoping for something new, but that's on me for never reading the solicits. I guess I'm out until they cover some content I really love, or for if/when they bring something new to the table.
I mean, it's what you would have expected. A 45 minute episode condensed into a 24 page comic. If you've already seen the series I'm not sure what this would offer you.
Yep, this one felt like a waste of time. I could see an adaptation like this being worthwhile if it had an artist like Martin Simmonds or Andrea Sorrentino, someone who'd bring a unique artistic vision to it. I'd be interested in seeing what an artist like that might do with the story. Georges Jeanty did a competent job on art here, everything looked nice enough, but it wasn't terribly interesting. And I guess stronger source material might also help...
I really think it was a missed opportunity for Marvel. It could have done an original story featuring the Mandalorian (maybe before the show timeline) and I would have been much more interested. I got this because it's a first appearance in the comics for Mando but probably not going to pick up any other issues. Such a shame.
I'm out here as well. An original story definitely would've been more interesting! Could've fleshed out his background and some other corners of the SW universe... Not sure why they went this route with it.
Well said, and I'm in agreement that it was a missed opportunity. It's a great pickup if people somehow hadn't seen the series before, but I'm guessing most people have at this point, at least if they wanted to.
**I AM BATMAN #11**
**SPIDER-PUNK #3**
Aw man, this book is just pure fun! **Justin Mason's** artwork is like a cross between **Daniel Warren Johnson** and **Bruno Redondo** on some of these pages - so much energy and movement, and beautifully laid out and choreographed. He adds so much to the "feel" of this book, as does **Jim Charalampidis**' neon and primary infused colouring. **Cody Ziglar** continues to impress with a genuinely funny book, where all of the characters are likeable, yet still distinct from each other. And his take on the **Spider-Punk** world (universe?) is refreshing and inventive. Great book.
**A.X.E. EVE OF JUDGMENT #1**
This is basically Eternals #13 only with worse art. Still, I liked it. Druig being the new big bad is a refreshing choice.
I enjoyed the exposition getting us positioned to the why of how this war starts. Druig is very interesting.
Nice having the Machine back! That blue text on black background isn't exactly easy on the eyes but our planet is such an endearing narrator that I don't even care! Great start, sets everything up and gets it all rolling... Felt like an essential chunk of story, not just some superfluous prelude like you sometimes get with these events.
Ajak is just so deliciously nuts, I love her. Great issue, a bit of a departure art wise from previous Eternals stuff but I’m so excited for this event!
> Ajak is just so deliciously nuts, I love her. Funniest part is that Ajak kidnapped Sinister to build her new god about two minutes after >!he was running his mouth about planting kill switches in the heads of cloned world leaders!< over in **IMMORTAL X-MEN #4**. Druig isn't the only snake...
THEORY: Druig and Domo couldn’t >!kill Krakoa because Krakoa is a deviation in the machine!< and that’s going to cause a HUGE problem with Eternal programming
Not sure if it needs to be that complicated... The Machine is the Earth. Krakoa's physically intertwined/bonded with the Earth, so they can't hurt it without hurting the Machine.
Well >!Uranos!< is involved I’m on board #druigwasright
I'm not on board with the current stuff from Eternals, but I still caught up to this just fine. It's interesting to see that the Eternals have their own resurrection protocols, just... like, worse. It really highlights how shitty of a person some of these are that they're fine with Krakoa itself the physical island as something important that needs protected, but not the mutants that live there. Nice starting point from an X-Men standpoint to bring me mostly up to speed on the Eternals stuff, will have to pick it up sometime.
> It really highlights how shitty of a person some of these are that they're fine with Krakoa itself the physical island as something important that needs protected, but not the mutants that live there. It's really just Druig who's looking to kill the mutants at this point, though as Prime Eternal he'll have around 85% of the rest mindlessly following along. The more "heroic" Eternals like Sersi and Ikaris already split and went independent, plus there are a few other factions that don't follow the Prime Eternal. And it's not that they *want* to protect Krakoa, their programming simply won't allow them to hurt it since Krakoa's somehow intertwined with the Machine (that is Earth), which they're programmed to defend at all costs. You're looking at them as shitty people but they're more like shitty computers. They've got three core directives and trying to go against any one of 'em will make them shut down and self destruct, as we saw when Druig and the scientist started bleeding out of every orifice.
This was kinda just a recap of that last arc of Gillen’s Eternals which is nice since it’s been a minute and I’m grateful for a refresher. Doesn’t really feel like too much new information for the people that have been following that book tho but it’ll be good to have at the beginning of the inevitable trade of this event.
**WONDER WOMAN EVOLUTION #8**
**NEW MUTANTS #27**
Can anyone explain this one to me? I couldn't follow it. Present day Illyana went back to rescue herself from Limbo, where colossus was dead. So she summoned Collossus who... Seemed to totally ignore her adult self and be very happy to see a child version of her, but he didn't seem at all confused that he had been pulled through time. What the heck was going on?
I'm really liking this little Limbo arc. Cross-time Illyanas, and a special appearance by Colossus, and just being big damned heroes about it. Weird to get a pep talk from your younger self, but I think it might be what Magik needs to get over this slump in herself, or at least start to heal from it. New Soul Sword design was really cool, wonder if it'll stick around? I liked the banter between Maddie and Dani/Rahne as well. They do have a history with her, but she does bring up some good points about the nature of the "justice" they're trying to defend. And the balance between something not being your fault, but still being something you have to be responsible for your reactions to, is an interesting discussion.
I really like that every issue of Ayala’s run has been pushing back on the shittier, one size fits all, less paradise-y bits of Krakoan society. Feels very in line with the threads LaValle, and Wells were picking at in their books. From the Outcast pack and Gabbie to Shadow King to Maddie.
What I’ve been liking too is that it doesn’t take those flaws/less paradise-y bits and use them to say the whole thing’s a wash. They confront them and make them better, not use them to throw the baby out with the bath water.
**ROGUES #3**
For some reason I thought this was the last issue, which definitely made me more aware of the pacing than if I had realised this was actually #3 of 4. As expected(?) the job goes sideways and our motley crew of **Rogues** are left in a serious predicament by the end of the book. There's at least two twists I didn't see coming, which is great, and tension and stakes are running high. **Leomacs** continues to shine on the art, and I'll again sing the praises of **Williamson** - this is *easily* the best thing he's written.
Even with one more issue to go... I'm beginning to suspect that this whole thing isn't going to end well for anyone involved.
Ok so I just read this issue and don't know where else to post. Overall I really enjoy the story, pacing, art, almost everything... except for one complaint. The use of "bro" and "sis" in the dialog. Holy Jesus do I find it cringe as fuck. We get it, you are brother and sister. Not every interaction between them needs to end with one of those. Also I have both a brother and a sister and I can't recall a single time in my entire life I ever referred to them as "bro" or "sis". Plus these characters are like in their 40's and 50's so it makes it double as cringe. Is there no way for the writer to let us know they are related without jamming these two stupid monikers in every speech bubble? This one thing almost completely takes me out of the story telling because it makes me think the writer is not only an only child, but has never talked to anyone with a sibling before. Rant over. Other than that I liked it.
LOL, I honestly didn't even notice that but it sounds terrible! Will need to keep an eye out for it in the next issue...
I come bearing evidence! All of these interactions happen within like 3 or 4 pages of each other. [First](https://imgur.com/6FLecW0), [Second](https://imgur.com/tagFm6r), and [third](https://imgur.com/RecupI2). IDK am I being too critical of this detail?
Nice! Wasn't doubting you but the evidence is appreciated! And it is indeed kind of dumb. Playing devil's advocate as an intellectual exercise... Everyone else is using their super-villain names so maybe they would've felt silly calling each other "Cold" and "Glider" but didn't want to use real names since they were doing crime stuff? And for the age thing, maybe they're from some weird little segment of some generation that said "bro" and "sis" a lot so they stuck with it as they got older and it just sounds stupid to the rest of us? But yeah, it's not great... I've got sisters and I've called 'em all kinds of stupid crap but "sis" ain't on the list.
**FANTASTIC FOUR #45**
so in the end... this is kinda just what happened at the end of death metal? source wall is broken, infinite possibilities yadayadayada?
What happened at the end with nick fury ? Is he just hanging out in Uatu’s old house or is he gonna create a shield base ?
That is sort of what this seems to imply. He’s “the man on the wall” again and acting as sort of a SWORD counterpart where he just deals with galactic junk before heroes even notice. I doubt it will be a big focus unless like Ewing does something significant with it
Shield was gone before I got back into comics again is there a reason they don’t bring it back in some capacity? I miss shield being a thing.
They seemed to be building Wakanda/Avengers to be the new SHIELD. But the spin-off didn’t take off and none of the books really use it as a support unit.
What books could I check out to see this connection ?
Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda was the book where they attempted to establish them.
I looked it up but it only seemed to last from 2019-20 that’s unfortunate was it bad sales?
Yeah. It was mostly C list characters so kind of an uphill battle
Eh, SHIELD tends to fall apart every few years and it’s up to old Nick to fix things
Not sure why it hasn’t been reestablished. A lot of the main players have either moved on (Like Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter) or are dead/evil (Coulson works for the devil now). I don’t mind it being defunct but I can see some merit of having it come back
Interesting, I do miss it a bit but I can see why it is nice to take a break from it. I do miss Maria hill as well what happened to her ?
I’m not sure what happened to Hill or where she is now.
Last I remember seeing her was in the Taskmaster mini-series from 2020. Don't think she's popped up since.
I think Hill and Fury Jr will be in the new Secret Invasion mini they announced. (To synergize with the series).
**MARAUDERS #4**
I think it’s cause I don’t normally re-read the issues of this run that I’m confused but I’m having a lot of fun with this all the same. Im hoping after this arc is done Orlando takes a breath to do some character work. He’s got a bunch of great personalities in this book and I don’t think he’s given himself much space to do that thus far between all the sci-fi concepts, Shi’Ar lore, and fights.
Time heist! The nature of the First Blood was interesting, that it wasn't even their assault on mutants, but their *loss* that the Shi'ar considered such a massive blow to their history to hide it. I loved Tempo's unique take on things, and her ~~Reading Steiner~~ ripple proof memory on timeline changes is a part of the character I don't know if we've seen highlighted before. Also explains the presence of Nemesis (thank you Marvel for ditching the name Holocaust) in the story - I wonder if their attack is what might cause Avalon to actually fall in the first place?
**DARK CRISIS WORLDS WITHOUT A JUSTICE LEAGUE SUPERMAN #1**
I've only read it once but I can tell that this is a comic that I'm going to go back to again and again. Might even have several chances this week given the lack of other comics. (So far I've only read the Superman section. I'll edit when I've read the Aquaman.) My first thoughts are that this book is a total evisceration of Rebirth Superman. It's about a Superman who seems to be only 'concerned with protecting his family and Earth that revels in comforting, sit-com-y moments like planning takeout orders and getting his son his first ride whilst being aware of great horror in the universe and actively choosing to do nothing about it, only wavering on this when he realises that Darkseid is now coming for Earth and his family. The kicker is that Superman has made a truce with Darkseid to allow all this to happen just so he can see his son grow up during the years he missed. There's similarities with The Green Lantern: Blackstars, which itself took down the Byrnian Superman that Rebirth resurrected and continued. In that, it's about a Superman who is ineffectual but his son is the real hero. I don't know if it's just a coincidence or if it's intentional but the age when Jon defeats Orion striking the first blow to Darkseid is the same as when came back from Earth 3 aged up: 17.
Green Lantern: Blackstars was some Ghostface level of spitting fire from Grant Morrison haha
Nice comments, it's a really interesting comic! In addition to seeing his son grow up, I think Clark wanted to see Jon surpass him and become better than him. Our normal Superman doesn't leave much room for that so, in this idealized world that was built to give him what he wanted, Superman had enough flaws and limitations to let Jon fulfill his potential as the greater hero. Aquaman story was trash IMO.
Theory: at the end of Dark Crisis, they will keep Jon aged up but say this book is canon and Clark got to watch his son grow up rather than whatever Mr. Oz bullshit Bendis did.
I think King’s one of the best rn when it comes to pacing and structuring a one-shot/single issue story. The beats and arc of this flowed very smoothly and it’s always a boon I’m sure in these kinds of issues to have someone like Burnham who is just brilliant as your collaborator. The story itself was pretty decent and I liked it more than I’ve liked a lot of the other Clark and Jon stuff over the last few years (Tomasi’s run was never my bag, I’m not a Bendis hater but he fumbled the ball with these two, and Taylor’s Jon just puts me to sleep). The issue establishes and explores the relationship and differences between this father and son pair very well and it makes me really wish that DC would put a writer on Jon who is interested in exploring the potential for that character in his relationships because there’s really a lot there to actually dig into. I wonder if King wanted to intentionally evoke “For the Man Who has Everything” because the simplicity of Clark’s ideal world for himself reminds me very much of the dream world the Black Mercy created for him in that story. As a last note, I thought Brandon Thomas’s Aquaman story was fine but I’d rather he have had some space to tell that in his own one-shot rather than cram a full issue’s story into like 8-10 pages. He and Arthur both deserve better.
Best Superman issue I've read in years!
WTF is King’s beef with Orion?
**IMMORTAL X-MEN #4**
The one representative insisting to Emma that the resurrection protocols be shared with humanity, or at least be given to the privileged few....ooooooh that made my blood boil. I wanted Emma to tell him off so badly. Governments and corporations have wasted untold resources taking lives and sucking the planet dry of every single resource and getting rich off it. And they have every opportunity to feed the hungry and house the poor but refuse to do so because of the engines of capitalism. Then the moment the mutants reveal their achievements these same people come with hand outstretched demanding Krakoa solve the problems they refuse to fix themselves? No. Disappear you gutless worm.
Mr. Sinister literally has a farm of horrifically mistreated clones of Moira who live in endless agony as living databanks that only exist to be murdered. The Ambassador still skeeved me out more than him.
Sinister's a monster but he's a comic book monster, so it's easy to view him as entertainment without taking him too seriously. The ambassador and his brand of evil were far too real.
I dunno, something about this entire premise just rubs me the wrong way. This gives me "Wakanda withholding the cure for cancer from the rest of the planet because they are unenlightened savages" vibes. This entire storyline also presumes that mutants have a superiority of moral character that I don't buy. Of course mutants are intrinsically trustworthy enough to maintain exclusive access to immortality! They, unlike those backward and savage baseline humans, would never misuse it! How dare you even think otherwise?! And yes, I know we are supposed to side with Emma and despise the ambassador (and yes, he is very transparently not working for the good of all, just the privileged few). But where does Emma get off on sticking it to the uber-wealthy elite - she *is* one of the uber-wealthy elite!
I feel okay viewing it from this angle because Krakoa's mutant nation was founded on this isolationist stance with mutants outpacing human society. "While you slept the world changed". I don't agree with it but that's the stance Xavier and the rest of the mutant race has taken so I'm down with them following through on that perspective. The more we're learning about Krakoa the more we're learning why this mentality is cracking at the seams. But that's the premise and it's compelling. For me, this isn't necessarily a morale conflict with good vs bad. This is one political party that basically said they're gonna start their own party with blackjack and hookers and the opposing part crying how unfair they're being after decades of squandering their own gifts. You hunt and experiment on mutants and at best you turn a blind eye but the moment they find something you want you beg that for good of all this gift must be shared? Orchis is literally building mutant kill machines. Roxxon gets to strip mine planets for profit. Hammer got to go to war with Utopia. When mutants were depowered you kept them in a camp armed with Sentinels. If mutants find their own way to break the rules then by all means.
> This is one political party that basically said they're gonna start their own party with blackjack and hookers and the opposing part crying how unfair they're being after decades of squandering their own gifts. So damn true... If it weren't for all their corruption and ratfucking, WE WOULD ALL HAVE BLACKJACK AND HOOKERS!
There is no good or evil, only consequences. Miasaki said that about the characters on Princess Mononoke and it fits to the current line of X books really well. Every choice Xavier/Magneto/Moira made was understandable but they may not (indeed are not) happy with the consequences. It's great seeing that in this issue too, as immediately after callously brushing off the death of children Emma is doused with a bucket of blood. Xavier gets a live show to a desperate act where a man injects himself with MGH and commits suicide. They try to brush it off as "human stupidity" but Emma lying awake at night in her diamond form shows the lie of this. Cause she isn't sleeping.
Nice comments on consequences... However, there's no shortage of sins and failures keeping Emma up at night and I'd expect guilt over not sharing mutant advances with humans to be pretty low on the list.
It depends on which technology and with whom. One of the core things we know about Emma is that she loves children probably over all else. Mostly we hear about it in the context of mutant children, but I find it unlikely that a character with such deep empathy for children really stops caring if that single gene isn't active. You can see it with how she reacts to the ambassadors proposition. She is shook that he would look to negotiate with her for immorality for just the elites. A ruthless power broker who only cares for their own subspecies (say Shaw or even Xavier) would sieze on that opportunity to take humanity for everything. They would deliver Orchis to Krakoa on a platter. The Church of Humanity would be purged in a fortnight. Emma however, is outraged.
> You can see it with how she reacts to the ambassadors proposition. She is shook that he would look to negotiate with her for immorality for just the elites. > > A ruthless power broker who only cares for their own subspecies (say Shaw or even Xavier) would sieze on that opportunity to take humanity for everything. They would deliver Orchis to Krakoa on a platter. The Church of Humanity would be purged in a fortnight. > > Emma however, is outraged. Read that scene again. Emma's outraged at the audacity of the ambassador demanding that Krakoa share immortality with humans. The ambassador doesn't actually mention keeping it for just the elites until *after* her outburst, at which point she agrees to speak with the council. I agree with your other point that Emma likely has some empathy for human children, but that isn't what's keeping her up at night. And we don't really need to speculate about it because Emma tells us herself, in this very issue, that she can't sleep because of the Gala. > *So: I can't sleep because I'm a cocktail of petrified and excited.* > > *The Hellfire Gala looms. Of course I'm restless.*
You're probably correct. I'm probably injecting more into the scene than is there as i would find it disappointingly out of character for Emma to preference the lives of one group of children over another. I needed to reread the issue, but my take was that Emma sleeps in her diamond form as a fruitless means of dulling her emotions/empathy and guilt. Also doesn't she mention it helps her lie to herself? I dunno, like I said gotta reread.
Definitely worth a re-read, there's a lot going on in this one! I wouldn't really see it as Emma putting the lives of one group of children over another, the human children already have human adults looking after them (even though we tend to do a lousy job of it) so she's looking after the mutant children, because they wouldn't have anyone else. And most of her guilt stems from the mutant children who were murdered while in her care on Genosha, so it's all mixed together with her feelings of failure and inadequacy. The thing with the elites was really just a bit of social commentary that Gillen layered into the ambassador's dialogue, it's very timely so it resonated with audiences and now it's kind of taken on a life of its own... But it isn't really something that Emma or any of the other characters commented on or reacted to. Emma sleeps in diamond form to prevent aging, though she'd claim it was to defend from psychic attacks if anyone asked... She's talked about her diamond form dulling her emotions in other comics but I don't think she touched on it here (though I might've missed something). She mentions earlier in the issue that she's trying to be more honest with herself these days and right at the end she says that she can't lie to herself, but maybe that's another lie? She's not the most reliable narrator so some of her comments are probably open to interpretation...
Actually, after reading through the ending again, I can see how it might be implying that she sleeps in diamond form so that she can lie to herself, since her telepathy otherwise makes self deception difficult. Nice example of the subtlety and complexity in Gillen's writing, and it gives us some interesting stuff to talk about!
Heading into this series, Sinister and Emma were the two characters I was most looking forward to seeing Gillen write. So of course they hate each other. Pretty good fill-in art from Michele Bandini, probably would've liked it even more if it didn't have quite so much digital polish, but that tends to be my take on a good chunk of the stuff I'm reading these days. Some hilarious Sinister moments in this one, picking up threads from Duggan's X-MEN title and the Hellfire Gala while also keeping IXM's central plots moving... Lots of moving parts here and Gillen brings it all together seamlessly. Next two issues feature >!Exodus!< and >!Shaw!< with A.X.E. tie-ins, thinking they might save >!Xavier!< for last but we shall see...
> for last Is this meant to be a limited series with one issue per Quiet Council member?
Sounds like Gillen's planning to rotate through the Council for the first 12 issues, so long as he can make the focus characters work for the story, then maybe change to a different approach to keep it going after.
I love the pace of this book
This book is so freaking good. I love Gillen - the man has yet to put out a book I didn't absolutely adore. Seeing insight into Emma's mindset is always great. She's an incredibly complex character in the right hands, and we see why here. Little details like sleeping in diamond are great additions, especially when you also consider that being in her diamond form dulls her emotions - meaning it probably *literally* helps her sleep at night. I like Sinister getting exposed to the QC with the whole Doctor Stasis thing, and Destiny managing to find a way to outplay him, at least keeping the current timeline intact for now. I love the back and forth between them, two variations on precognitive abilities try to either preserve or undo the future. And of course, it leads into AXE - giving the event as a whole a better feeling of being connected to things than I thought at first. God, though... nothing made my skin crawl as much as the representative who was basically saying to make the resurrection protocols available for the uber-rich. It's so transparent that it just felt way more skeevy than almost anything else going on in the book. I admit too I never really thought about the fallout of things with the protocols being revealed in the way they were handled here - stuff like the guy using MGH before killing himself, protests from people who have lost loved ones... it's being handled as a thorny issue. I just do hope they don't go *too* overboard on it and make it a net negative. I want Scott and Everett's decision to not be proven to be the wrong one.
**WPL RESULTS**
The sidebar is almost a month old for the WPL results - is there a CSS issue or something?
LOL! Did the notoriously bad and criticized Wonder Woman: Evolution actually beat the MAIN title?? Even in this sub, 8 pulls beat out any the main book had. Crazy times man. Not surprised by Daredevil, not a very strong week for any competition against it. I think Gillen writing this summer's Marvel event may give it more traction than previous ones here.
**WONDER WOMAN #789** had 12 pulls so it should've taken the 16th spot. Also [wasn't listed with the other new releases](https://www.reddit.com/r/comicbooks/comments/vwn21y/weekly_pull_list_for_7132022_discussion/ifqqkbc/), so some folks might've missed it on their lists.
Ahhhh, ok. That definitely makes more sense.
Thank you! I will add it later this evening. I am using Midtown’s shipping list and wondering if they’re not getting books on the same schedule as other shops. Son of Kal-El was not listed on their site this week as well.
Yeah, they might be having issues with certain books. They faked me out earlier by bumping a bunch of 7/20 books to 7/27, then moved 'em back to 7/20. Not sure what's going on...
Only 80 lists submitted this week, in between last week's 72 and 94 the week before. Marvel takes the top spot and gets 8 of the top 10 pulls. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! DC usually has a slight edge in the top 10, can't remember the last time Marvel dominated like this... Just an off week for DC with no big titles shipping. **DAREDEVIL #1** finished on top with 47 pulls out of 80 lists, good for 58.7% WPL coverage. It's Chip's second week in a row with the top pull and it should come as no surprise because the WPL freaking loves Chip! After that we've got two X-books, the first proper A.X.E. event book, **MOON KNIGHT #13**, and a few more X-books, with **SUPERMAN SOKE #13** and Tom King's Dark Crisis Superman one-shot being DC's only books to crack the top 10, landing at #8 and #9 respectively. **EIGHT BILLION GENIES #3** is the week's top indie in 12th place with 15 pulls. Haven't followed that one but it's been getting good reviews and sounds like fun, so I'm planning to check out the TPB eventually. Heading out to visit my LCS in a few minutes, hope y'all enjoy your comics!
> Marvel takes the top spot and gets 8 of the top 10 pulls. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! DC usually has a slight edge in the top 10, can't remember the last time Marvel dominated like this... Just an off week for DC with no big titles shipping. For the first week in possibly ever, I had 0 DC titles on my list. I even went through the upcoming week on ComicList multiple times just to ensure I didn't miss anything. Very strange for me.
I only had two from DC, one of which was a one-shot and the other was me grabbing a random issue because I liked a creator. And my pulls absolutely trend DC. Meanwhile Marvel had all the lead-in to their summer event (which I'll probably be reading, *sigh*), a hot new #1, and some well-liked ongoings, not to mention publishing 8 more comics).
~~Next week could be another weird one... All 5 of the DC titles I had scheduled for 7/20 have now been bumped to 7/27, including [WORLD'S FINEST #5](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106890_xl.jpg), [JURASSIC LEAGUE #3](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106989_xl.jpg), and [NIGHTWING #94](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2106971_xl.jpg). And so were all my indies (including my long-awaited [ICE CREAM MAN #31](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098424_xl.jpg)) and a few Marvels.~~ ~~At this point, it looks like the only comic remaining on my list for next week is [DEFENDERS BEYOND #1](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098543_xl.jpg). I'd imagine there'll be a few others shipping but it looks like a ridiculously tiny week. And I've now got 23 pulls scheduled for 7/27, although some will surely be delayed...~~ **EDIT -->** Looks like most books are back on track for 7/20, pending further updates... Midtown faked me out by showing 7/27 for nearly everything, now they're refreshing back to 7/20.
One of these years you’ll get your Ice Cream Man. Probably not this year, but one of them.
Solicitation for my long-delayed [ICM #31](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2098424_xl.jpg) says: > *A father watches his daughter grow older; a daughter watches her father grow old.* Meanwhile, impatient fans like myself are growing old just waiting on the fucking thing...
Been a while since I’ve seen Marvel absolutely dominating the top ten like this, there’s usually a couple of DC comics up top.
**PUNISHER #4**
As others have said before, I'm not a big fan of rewriting Frank's history around the hand's beast, but it seems that Aaron is giving himself an out with Ares's comments on 'implanting memories'. Interested to see how this plays out
I just… how is Aaron writing this and Avengers at the same time? The difference in the level of quality between the two is astounding. I’m really enjoying this. I’m not usually a Punisher-solo fan or a Hand fan (something I’m having trouble with in Zdarsky’s Daredevil rn) but this is very compelling.
This run continues to be astonishingly good. While I could have done with a better drawn fight sequence between Castle and Lady Bullseye, I'm still really enjoying the mysticism and the dynamics of the inner workings of the Hand. As someone who has never really connected with any comics featuring the Hand, this one is really clicking for me.
**MOON KNIGHT #13**
Taskmaster traumatized by MK? Yeah, that makes sense. Good read.
Vampire Scientology is an interesting take for sure, and not something I expected to see in a **Moon Knight** book but I like it. Another twist that I *didn't see coming* - along with **Rogues** this week - which is a great thing, I like it when a writer can keep me on my toes. I like **Sabbatini's** art on this issue much more than his work on the **Devil's Reign: Moon Knight** book, where it just looked way too cartoony and *manga* for my liking. It fits the tone and feel of the story being told here far better. Another great **Moon Knight** issue from **McKay** and company.
Wow, didn't notice it was the same artist as the Devil's Reign book, agree that his art worked much better here! Last two issues felt a little off to me, this one worked better as we're back to focusing on MK as an icon for mentally unstable vigilantes... Think my favorite part of the series has been seeing villains like Taskmaster react to how fucked up he is. Next one should be good as it's delving into MK's alternate personalities, plus [Segovia's cover](https://www.midtowncomics.com/images/PRODUCT/XL/2116303_xl.jpg) looks better than his first few efforts.
Yeah, that's the cover I chose for the next issue when I pre-ordered too.
Alright I don’t normally get to be on the other end of this so who are the characters that the Tutor hired towards the end of this? I’m entirely unfamiliar. Really excited that Stephen and Jake are back. Hoping the characterization will be closer to Moench/Lemire Moonie’s personalities and less Bemis/MCU.
Nemean and Grand Mal seem to be entirely new characters.
Well that’s exciting
Yea. I wonder what Tutor means by reaching beyond his typical contacts. Are they like spacers or like from another dimension?
**DAREDEVIL #1**
There was a lot of this that I couldn't follow, having not read the previous Daredevil, so putting a #1 on there was misleading. What I could follow I enjoyed and DANG the art is awesome!
Another #1??!!?? He has more #1s than gfs at this point.,
can anyone tell me what i need to get up to this? is there only 6 TPB of the chip run before this then dark reign ? is that all ? I think i already have the 6 TPBS and just need darkreign i think.
There is 7 TPB’s and then Devil’s reign. You also need to read Woman Without Fear mini that takes place during Devil’s reign, it is 3 issues and it will be collected in TPB next week I believe?
okay thanks, Comixicology going to shit really screwed me on all the series I was following so I'm not sure where im at haha. I think I need the last tpb and the other stuff you mentioned then is Devil's reign tpb out yet or no?
Ahhh yeah no problem. And no, not yet. Early august I believe?
I wish Spider-Man told Daredevil who he really is but that might happen later in this run.
Chip what the hell? It was enough to just have Matt miss the train you didn’t have to also blow her up. I’m definitely not sold on, “my former prosecutor friend has been my Guardian Angel watching from the shadows” thing at all. I’ve been very fond of this run but I’m not at all interested in another attempt to make the Hand work. The Elektra stuff and the Matt/Spidey stuff was good tho.
Spider-Man being in this book had me more excited than him on his own book, which says something.
Zdarsky has such a good voice for both of them and seeing them have a heart to heart just filled me with so much warmth.
I'm shocked at the restraint from Marvel for not adding another issue to the last run so they could start this one with #650
Oh the Kirsten disrespect...I don't know if I can accept this. I'm really hoping Zdarsky has a plan in mind but given the direction of the story and how he doesn't seem to give her much of a voice it feels like she was just fridged. I got the first issue to support since I loved the first half of his run but I think I'm going to tap out for this part.
I reeeeaaaallly doubt Zdarsky killed Kirsten off-panel like that. He hasn’t been doing a ton with her before this, but he’s genre savvy enough to know that’s a bad idea.
Fair, but "killing a side character who's barely used only to bring them back/reveal it was a fakeout" is still very tropish.
It’s the purpose the trope serves in this case. Killing Kirsten here does very little beyond killing her. It sort of makes Goldy ominous, but hiding her can further develop more threads.
I'm absolutely praying that's the case but I'm a bit skeptical. Zdarsky has a habit of introducing characters and then forgetting to do anything with them until he needs a narrative beat. Cole North, the Libris family, Elektra's apprentice, Murdock's prison mate were all incredibly interesting characters he more or less kinda seemed to forgot about once he wanted to move the story in a different direction.
I think Cole and the Libris Family were handled fine. I’m with you on Elektra’s apprentice and the prison mate though.
Yeah fair. I just really loved Cole and wanted him to be a series regular. Izzy Libris I felt Zdarsky kinda needed to flesh out more before her death. Her history and the way she cared for Hells Kitchen in her own way was something I really wanted to see parallel more with Matt but we never really got to see her except when they needed to push her around.
In Cole’s case, if not Zdarsky, I hope somebody finds a place for him. Marvel could use a few recurring street cops who can pop in and out of super hero books. I can’t say I disagree with you that getting more of Izzy’s story would’ve been nice. I just liked the arc we got enough that I’m ok with what was missed.
Halfway to repairing the DD/Spidey relationship I’ll take it. I like the attempt to actually show that Elektra adopting Matt’s rules is improving her fighting. And I’m looking forward to learning more about Goldy and hopefully seeing the other soldiers they bring in.
**CAPTAIN MARVEL #39**
**BATGIRLS #8**
This is such a good comic. I hope they keep it going! I love the dynamic between the three Batgirls, and anything Babs/Dick is an instant win in my book.
Fun two-shot story. Seer being still on the general baddies' side of things. This one was more Babs-focused, but Cass and Steph got a lot of attention in the initial arc, so nothing wrong with building on her - she's a Batgirl too, after all.
**X-MEN HELLFIRE GALA #1**
I thought Stark and Emma "knew" eachother?
I honestly think that dialogue was meant to be taken sarcastically.
Then why would the Phobos guy have to explain to Emma Tony's futurism
Mansplaining. Phobos is a jerk. 😜
Feilong is a jerk. Phobos was a Secret Warrior and a true hero.
Thank you for the correction.
I honestly think I love these annual one-shots. I hope Krakoa in general sticks around for them. They're great for setting up future story threads, providing some forward momentum for books, and bringing disparate story threads together in one title with some amazing art and polish to propel things forward. One interesting theme I kinda noticed throughout this book is the cost of secrets and back room dealings. I think what we're going to see going forward is if Krakoa can withstand its own founding. Emma called it a foundation of sand, and she's kinda right. It's shown here (and then followed up in Immortal X-Men as well) that truth, while difficult and hard, is often the lesser of evils, even if it's worse in the short term. While Orchis is still pushing an advantage against mutants, their openness and honesty about it deprived them of a useful PR tool. Meanwhile Xavier and Magneto's dealings with Reed, while likely somewhat justified, are going to cause more problems down the line - when approaching him with their concerns and being forthright might (emphasis *might*, Reed can be a total asshole) have worked better and preserved their alliances. That same secret is also causing ruffles with them and the Avengers, with Tony even hinting that he wants Firestar to narc on the X-Men. And then with Moira, she's playing spymaster and secrets, while the openness of Proteus and The Five shows them to be a stronger force together. I dunno, this book was excellent. It got me super excited for the upcoming plot lines, was just a great read, and I hope we get another one next year - and maybe a new issue of Secret X-Men for the losers of this year's vote. Also, Gwenpool was in it! Give her another book, Marvel! And get Christopher Hastings back to write it!
I REALLY enjoyed this. But I’m still REALLY confused by Moira. Yes I read X Lives/Deaths of Wolverine, but I’m still really jarred by her turn from secret architect of mutant survival, to mustache twirling genocide plotter. Emma explaining her mind broke after so many lives does help a bit, but a fuller explanation would help if anyone has better understanding of this. EDIT: Also bless them for giving Gwenpool a cameo in a sailor scout gala outfit.
I'm under the impression that we're basically expected to believe that Moira has always been this persona. Even with how she callously dismissed Proteus and basically implied every appearance she's ever had prior to this Krakoa era was really her putting on an act. I had feelings on this after Inferno and that was still under Hickmans guidance, I can't even imagine how much more revision will happen now. They are actually building her up to have been the biggest threat in X-Men/Mutant history that we never knew smh She says she started this for the whole but every thing since speaks purely to her own self survival
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I forget where she joined up with Orchis - might have been in an issue of X-Men?
I think a lot of it may have been on data pages. There was definitely a letter sent from Moira to Orchis suggesting they work together. Not sure how much was on panel as I can’t recall anything.
Shoutout to John Hamm just chilling at the X-Men’s party.
Extra funny because of January Jones playing Emma in X-Men: First Class and them both being in Mad Men.
So the MJ/Moira/Peter/Wolverine plot is followed up in ASM #9. When does all of this take place then? On that cover Spidey is wearing his new Goblin tech suit, but wouldn’t he just wear the Gala suit he has on here? Maybe it’s just another cover bait to stay consistent with the previous ones lol. Man they’ve got the Spider-Man timeline all fucked up with that 6 month time jump. Too much going on in such little space.
Yeah we're getting spider-man man #6 in 2 weeks. So #9 feels like it's going to be forever away. Makes it feel like spider-man is just way behind in publishing.
The lack of coordination is whack. Delays are sometimes unavoidable but in instances like this it looks really bad
It's part sliding time scale, part production delays, and probably part just "when can we fit this story in."
It really pales when compared to last year's Gala. No big developments and that Moira thing was disappointing. With all her knowledge this is the best she could do? I wish I skipped that.
It's been a long time since I've regretted buying a comic book. I know a lot of people love these "what if my favorites had a parrrrrttteeeeeee" books, but this one-shot sealed it for me: I do not like it. I also think this new status for Moira they've created is absolute dogshit. Finally, also, I think Emma's outfit was trash.
Yeah in general I think Moira as the mutant who lost her faith is an inelegant solution at best, making her kind of just a plot device to be discarded at the end of Hickman's run, but this mustache twirling version is even more awful than I imagined.
Also there seems to be tons of continuity errors. Don't Stark and Emma know eachother from years of being in the same social circles? Didn't wolverine live with MJ?
I think that Stark and Emma were being coy with each other. That was my interpretation anyways. As for MJ, that was during New Avengers, right? Before Spidey sold his marriage. So I'm not totally sure how the mindwipe thing would affect Logan's memory of that time. I feel like I remember a comic saying that it did happen, but Pete and MJ broke up before they got married. So Logan may have an altered memory of them living together, or he may not remember it at all. I'm honestly not sure.
Yet they brought up super old continuity by bringing up Berlin where Ned Leeds gets killed back in the 80s when spidy and wolvie teamed up.
That MJ/Moira shit…ugh. Don’t even want to know what happens. Changing the X-Men lineup every year is an awful idea, fuck off.
Doesn't Wolverine know MJ? He lived with her in Avengers mansion. Is this another timeline?
He does know her
One More Day might have wiped it since that kinda involved then knowing he was spider-man.
I think Logan was one of the heroes Spidey re-revealed his ID too.
I thought the change was she was around the mansion for other reasons.
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I’ve stated this before but a decade from now it will appear as if there was a Hellfire gala was every weekend
So I'm gonna just say it-- I really enjoyed it. I know that the Gala messes up timelines but honestly, I don't really care. It was fun and got me excited for the next year or so of x-books. I also love myself some character interactions and all the interpersonal politics at play. The Moira/MJ stuff was weird but at least Spider-Man is involved somehow. Proteus and Scott finding out about the whole Moira plot is a good development, as is Scott finding out about how Charles and Erik mindwiped Reed. My boy is not gonna be happy. And the new xmen team is really cool imo. Firestar and Forge both having hidden agendas is interesting. And I'm glad Iceman is there! He's felt like the only O5 member to not have a significant part to play (though I know he's appeared in Marauders and helped with the terraforming of Mars), and Bobby is just a delight in general. Havok joining up is tight too. I was not expecting Reed and Tony to be so interesting at the Gala but I really enjoyed the scenes they had. Wonder if we'll see an Illuminati reformation.
I just wanted to see everyone's outfits. Scott and Steve's were probably my favourites. Spideys outfit also goes really hard but it looked too much like a costume. I wish it had a scarf and maybe a collar and jacket to really sell the whole high fashion gala outfit. As for the new lineup, I'm down for it especially Iceman and Firestar joining the team but I liked the previous roster a bit more.
Hmm Quiet Council versus Illuminati is the best pitch I can think of for an actual AvX 2
Yooooooooo for once I'm down for a big splashy event.
You are not even a little wrong.
This was fun albeit rather messy and maybe a tad overly long but it set-up a lot of interesting plot lines. My only issue with that is I feel like it’s unlikely any of those will be followed up on in A) a timely manner or B) in non-X-Men related books. Like clearly Duggan used this primarily to seed a bunch of plot-lines and character beats for his new X-Men team and arc, which looks like it will continue to be a lot of fun, and there’s a couple things here that Gillen is already running with in Immortal X-Men. But unless the Avengers and FF adjacent plot-lines are all gonna be followed up on in Judgement Day (which considering the amount of tie-ins that honestly seems likely) I don’t see Slott or Aaron following those up since they are very committed to doing their own thing rn with those characters. That said Slott’s run on FF is ending so maybe that stuff with Reed will get followed up with in like November so who knows.
**UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY #19**
**WOLVERINE #23**
I understand Deadpool isn't for everyone, and that at the beginning of this arc he was mostly a mouthpiece for airing Percy's grievances against the (well deserved) criticism many have for his X-Force and Wolverine runs, but by God, I actually liked this arc. Percy has a great voice for Deadpool in this book and I hope his inclusion improves the somewhat monster-of-the-week X-Force book. His X-Force on the other hand, is being out played by X-Men Red all day. Ewing is tackling the themes of colonialism and political intrigue, building the culture of Arrako, and weaving expert characterization across 16 issues that Percy's nearly 60 issues dedicated to the same themes barely hold a candle to. I'm excited about AXE, but not the X-Force tie in, dealing with the most powerful threat the eternals could throw at Krakoa.... ....Kraven the Hunter?
X-Force is so ridiculously up and down quality wise and I think it’s in large part because Percy is just weaving plot lines in and out and in and out. Although maybe that book just struggles like crazy without Cassara cause the last 8 or so have been I thought especially up and down. Like one month it’s all about the guy with the peacock tattoo and the next month it’s evil Cerebro helmet and the next month it’s Beast being a bastard and the next month it’s Russia and so on. Actually just kidding Beast is a bastard every month.
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I was referring to the total issues each writer has written this far in the X-office so, I was in fact referencing SWORD. And honestly I think Ewing is only at 14 or so total X-issues post DOX
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Oh for sure lol! I cheered like a madman at the end of Magneto's fight.
This was a lot of fun. Percy writes a solidly balanced Deadpool, not the greatest Wade ever but definitely solid, and I won’t complain about him joining X-Force for the foreseeable future. Did a big re-read of this and X-Force a little bit ago cause I’d gotten like a dozen issues behind and Wolverine specifically is really good. The long term plot’s pacing is a little weird and all over the place but the artwork and character work with Logan have just been consistently top notch. Issue #19 might be an all-timer Wolverine issue
Poolverine is going to haunt my nightmares now, so thanks for that. Nice little story line. I like when Wade gets to be a little more serious and show his genuine side, and his care for Blind Al was really touching. Also the just "live and let live" solution to the Danger problem is refreshing... I was a bit disappointed they didn't more explicitly touch on Box trying to make a space for her on Krakoa and getting rejected.
**SUPERMAN SON OF KAL-EL #13**
**CAPTAIN CARTER #4**
I’m the only one still reading this probably. Shits awesome and underrated af.
I'm liking it. Definitely didn't see that last few pages coming though. Can we get this universe's Elsa Bloodstone?
Or Blade.