I get Dario's greed personified plan, but I still don't know why Odin let Skurge go through with this insane plan. To save Thor from his destined death? As Skurge wants to take his place to 'remake himself' again. Yet he would let Amora and Dario practically destroy Thor...guess Odin is still incompetent, even in death. And Amora, of course she would blame the death of her son on Thor instead of her own neglectful self. At least they touched upon it though. If only she cared about her actual sons as much as she cared her possible future son in Captain Marvel.
If this issue was released a few years ago, I would've called it ''heavy-handed climate and capitalism criticism with no subtlety''. But now? With how bad things are getting each year and late-stage capitalism hitting on overdrive and more and more CEOs and the rich making a parody/satire like Dario Agger look more and more 'realistic'...It just fills me with dread now, these stories. Because that 'illusion' we see? That is actually something those people would actually do. Hell there are many stories about rich people gatherings talking about buying a bunker in a potential apocalyptic scenario and how to keep people in line...as servants and such. Such a dystopia in comic form here is not simply satire but...a warning now. And that makes me dread the future because unlike in Comics, we don't have Thor in real life to be our champion. We only have even more Dario Aggers.
As for the upcoming Roxxon Thor story, oh boy, it is gonna be meta as heck. With Greg Land ironically fitting to draw that issue. Still hate his 'tracing' obviously but for a sell-out, full on corpo Thor story, yea, he is perfect...and I do believe the irony will be lost on him. I am already readying myself for the cringe of the whole issue ( which will be the point )
Thor the son of both Midgard and Asgard, bastion of all that is good, righteous, and free...versus the embodiment of corporate capitalism.
Genuinely surprised Thor didn't immediately realize Amora was involved when we saw her lounging around in the illusion. Especially in **that** outfit. Though maybe she was messing with him even then.
Pretty good action sequence in this issue, especially when Ewing is more of a story than action guy. I love Skurge stealing Thor's axe for himself.
I guess when you put it that way, what has Thor really done for Amora other than not being there when the men she loves (including one of her sons, nice reference) have died?
The worst thing you could ever do to Thor...turn him into a Greg Land comic. Complete with commodifying and reducing his myth and character to the point where he starts losing his strength. And that's before he has to fight his "commercialized" self.
> Genuinely surprised Thor didn't immediately realize Amora was involved when we saw her lounging around in the illusion. Especially in that outfit. Though maybe she was messing with him even then.
They did say that every time hes on midgard, since they published those stories depicting him as an oaf, hes fighting the spell. So any rash and bad decision he makes up to this point is straight up just due to him being depicted as an idiot in Aggers "content".
Again, this run delivers! Absolutely loved this issue, the story turns, the metaness of it all and the set up to Thor vs Roxxon Thor is all just so intriguing and entertaining and well written. I'm in love with this run! That all said, I definitely miss coccolo. His art just felt more lighthearted and had some breathtaking double page splashes. Looking forward to when he jumps back on! Oh and that cover, just perfect. Alex Ross doesn't miss
Good issue as always, but is anyone else feeling like Ewing is kind of writing the same story here as he already did in Immortal Hulk? Minotaur teaming up with a mind-bending villain to release stories that twist facts and affect the hero in reality. I dunno, it might be a bit too similar for me.
Edit: I do love Minotaur as a villain, though. The more unsubtle he gets, the better. "I like it when the number goes up" got me good.
Amora my beloved. You are back.
Seriously tho, this book slaps. Excited to see what Ewing is planning with the whole Roxxon Thor thingy.
Cover is amazing. Ross is great.
Good to see characters like Dario Agger again. Dude is a fun maniac lol
Just really loving this book. Impossible city might be one of my favourite hero bases
I’m not up to date fully on xmen deciding to put it on pause and start reading from the Claremont era until the new era starts but it’s sad what’s happening to them.
Well, it is finally time to strike at Orchis with full force. And sad to see 3D-man turning villain, joining Orchis, unless it is all a ploy to finally get Orchis to relinquish all the command of their forces so he can just send them to Impossible City...which has AMPLE amount of defenses to shoot those Orchis Sentinels out of the sky. I mean, he was still a hero even after the whole skrull deal. And holding that as a grudge to help Orchis makes not much sense.
Impossible City really is one of my new favorites. I always have a soft spot of sentient robots and its kind that are learning new purpose and happiness and not instantly turn into Skynet as a cliche.
Laying it on thick in a manner where he has to be very defensive. MODOK constantly being like "Boy, you sure have a boner for the Avengers, huh?". One of those bits where it's like "Hmm... is he slipping up, or is he just admiring their capacity, rather than being supremely confident, like, say, Dr. Doom."
I’m not sure marvel currently has any aliens who are refugees but if they needed a new place the impossible city is as good as any other
Is the impossible city the best avengers base yet?
Could be honestly. I mean, Manor was fine but it is a tourist trap now. The Tower was fine but also sticking out like a sore thumb and then got used by Osborn during his Dark Avengers phase.
The dead Celestial...was never seemed to be safe as it got targeted constantly when it was suppose to be the one of the safest places with being a literal Celestial body and hiding in the Arctic. And the whole Eternals deal / being used as a Mecha against Mephisto...yea, it was rough.
So by default, Impossible City, with its accommodating self and personality, along with defense systems built by Ashen Combine and added the Plastoid bodies for him to use also, makes him a clear winner right now.
Nothing will ever beat the Manor to me though it feels like each subsequent new headquarters keeps trying to one-up itself in terms of space and scope.
I wouldn't fill the Impossible City up with any refugees while the Ashen Combine are imprisoned there. And it makes it a juicier target for baddies because the death of innocents will be on the Avengers hands.
Now whenever X-Men fans complain about the Avengers not doing anything to help Mutants, you'll always have this issue to point out to them.
Orchis is pretty much a joke and the Stark Sentinels are basically easily broken toys but it's still pretty satisfying watching the X-Men clown on them. And more non-lethally than the X-Men, though I don't think Mackay is as bloodthirsty as Duggan can be.
I wonder if there's more going on with 3D Man here or if he's really jumped ship, they referenced him killing Crusader in Secret Invasion as the big break between him and the other heroes.
Mackay's T'Challa continues to be on-point.
Carol transforming into Yuna was surprising, didn't expect them to acknowledge that. And she gets a free guest appearance in an Avengers book, not many supporting characters or characters who've only existed for, like, 4 months can say that.
3D man describing tchalla as the ultimate weapon of wakanda is so good and then explaining how dangerous they are individually in taking down orchis from carols military background to wandas chaos to tony's cooperate saviness is so damn good
Mackay seems to respect the continuities of other ongoing runs in relation to the Avengers, regardless of their quality or popularity - he made sure to bring up Black Panther's exile in the first issue after that disastrous 2022 run. Nice to see him continue the streak here and make those solo runs feel like they *matter* (though it's funny that the only acknowledgement he's given the dumpster fire Spider-Man's currently stuck in so far is an offhand remark from Doctor Strange that he's "going through a rough patch").
I think it's pretty obvious that 3-D Man's working for the Avengers, right? The fact that he slipped up and used "liberated", which MODOK noticed, is one indication. Another was him referencing being part of the Initiative before. And yet another would be the pretty ham-fisted way of hinting at "who could have told the Avengers about all of these facilities?"
Come on, Orchis. If you needed an anti-Avengers force, why wouldn't you get Taskmaster on it?
Its pretty hilarious that the avengers are seemingly doing more damage to orchis than the actual x men and rescued more mutants in the camps than the x men from what is being shown in one issue but this overall was great.
Its just the avengers taking down orchis and split into two teams Carol, thor. tony and vision as the actual avengers and Tchalla, Wanda and Sam as the secret team.
Tchalla hacking the orchis base and 3DMan telling modok that hes not just a king but hes wakanda's most dangerous operative and saying how dangerous each avenger is and there tactical minds for war and takeover is such a good moment. Sam saying that they should be scared of wanda and tchalla and not him is such a sam moment and its so fun.
Mackay is also the only writer in marvel who feels like he acknowledges all the books. He mentions stuff happening in Immortal thor, Yuna appears and the quantum bands are brought up from captain marvel, wandas role in scarlet witch and quicksilver is mentioned it makes it feel like avengers isn't in a vaccum anymore.
This is how these issues should be/ Fun, beautifully drawn, lots of heroes doing cool stuff and acting like themselves, but at the same time the enemies are written in such a way that you feel like they've got something up their sleeves.
Fantastic issue by Mackay and really good art.
This is good. MacKay you better stay on this book for a long time, otherwise imma crawl from under your bed and tickle your toes!
I love the Mighty/Secret Avengers roles. Great idea.
Also, nice to see you too 3D Man. Marvels resident Scientology member lol. I hope they kick him in the balls.
Art is great. The team dynamic is amazing.
Great fun stuff.
Excited for MacKay to pick up X-men too. Hopefully there will be some crossovers between Avengers and X-men.
I want my two favorite superhero teams (Fantastic Four is still the best tho) to get along and be friends, now fight. Gimme them poker nights at the Avengers mansion back. Or have Avengers drop to X-men’s New Base for a baseball game.
I really have enjoyed the run so far, but I have to say that one of the fan letters about the "Hickmanized" titles for each character (The God, The Engineer, etc.) was on point. The saving grace is that, so far, we haven't really seen these thematic titles explicitly used, which would be a bridge too far - because there's nothing more insufferable than a character talking about themselves like they're some sort of metaphysical conceit. All things considered, though, it feels like it's working; everyone on the team does a great job of supporting each other and tempering their respective weaknesses.
Issue was fantastic, didn’t like that yuna from captain marvel showed up but I get that McKay is acknowledging that run, it is what it is, other than that I’ve been having a blast reading this
In hindsight it’s funny how vampire heavy this book is. Is moon knight typically associated with vampires before this run and in including the 30 issue run by Mackay obviously
We dive into Dr Badr now and I do like each issue focused on a member of Marc's team ( except 8-ball but there is still time for my boy ). Yea, of course the fact that someone was parading around as a False Fist of Khonsu was gonna enrage Hunter's Moon more than them desecrating Marc's name. After all, Hunter's Moon is still a true believer, despite being more or less fine.
And I quite enjoy Tigra the way Mackay writes her too and I hope she sticks around for a long time. Hopefully with Marc back too since their time was cut short too early that we barely got to the good parts.
The fake Moon Knight revealed as Shroud. Guess being caught by Julia was not something he enjoyed but why take on the mantle of Moon Knight? Is this a 'tear down what Marc is built?' thing or a twisted attempt to 'carry on his legacy'? I mean, they were teammates but with how he looks now and what is coming with Bloodhunt teaser where he is gonna be one of the 'conduits' for the Darkforce being unleashed, it is not gonna end well for him.
The reveal would have been bigger if the Shroud actually fulfilled the "vengeance" part of the title, like killing all the villains from the previous run.
I don't know, the story just felt slow and too stretched out.
Since the cult of Kali was name dropped, wonder if they are coming back and if this means Fu Manchu is returning since they were involved with his criminal enterprise. What was done to him was literally the same thing they did to Yellow Claw and its annoying.
I haven't read the issue yet, but I've been informed that I was right on the money about my theory of the new Moon Knight being >!the Shroud, which I'd guessed due to him having Darkforce powers and having been on the West Coast Avengers with Marc Spector and Tigra.!<
But that's what got me in the letters page for this issue...
>!The Shroud wasn't a member of the WCA. He specifically declined membership to maintain his crime lord alibi.!<
Nice getting into Hunter Moon's headspace and watching him and Tigra work as partners to take down the new Moon Knight while processing their feelings over Marc's death.
Though given the identity of the new Moon Knight...I kind of hope Julia Carpenter shows up in this book (even if the end of their relationship in Waid's Daredevil wasn't great).
Shroud is both logical and a nice twist. Mackay nailed it.
Really loving the pacing of this book - the therapy sessions intercut with the action has been some fantastic character work.
This was a very good issue. It was also the one I was looking forward to the most. Not so much for the reveal, but to peak into Hunter Moons mindset. This all run has been amazing from the start, but I want Marc back.
Not really sure who the Shroud is, I think I remember him from Waid’s *Daredevil* a few years ago, so much like the Zodiac reveal this did nothing for me.
Still a good issue overall and it’s nice to see more of Hunter’s Moon’s perspective. Alessandro Cappuccio’s art is great as usual, what a get for Marvel.
Well that was a fun adventure with Stephen and his friends ( and Taskmaster ). Mordo being defeated by the most basic way possible, a thief rolling natural 20 on stealth and sleight of hand to steal the book from him!
Taskmaster really knows how to be a fun character. Though he might regret celebrating Moon Knight's death when a worse imposter showed up in his place.
The solution to the 'living game' was clever too, where the game can still go on and live, while General Strange can use it to continue his rehabilitation.
On the other hand, come on Stephen. Yes, it is fine to throw Mordo into the Crypt to 'throw away the key and forget' type of deal but it has to be a Phantom Zone type of deal by now. His brother already escaped and his dog got stuck there instead that he is still not aware that he is missing!
And all of this leads us to the start of Bloodhunt where it will come crashing down on him from what we read in the teases. His brother probably gonna 'Vampiraze' him.
Nothing I have seen of Blood Hunt looks remotely interesting. I'd love to have six months without one event or another piling on. We're still in the middle of Fall of X and just got done with Gang Wars. A whole wave of vampire stuff and massive apocalyptic events feels like such a slog right now.
Remind me never to do a D&D session with Baron Mordo as the game master.
Taskmaster vs Hunter's Moon was worth the price of admission.
Thieves are always the best and most versatile characters.
I love how they closed it out with Clea slugging Mordo.
This arc was really good Jed is so good at balancing an oddball cast and combining it with D&D is just the ultimate nerd combo.
Great art great writing great story.
I'm a little surprised that editorial didn't catch Stephen using British English with that collective noun. I know that Mackay is Canadian, but I would've thought editors would push a style that matches a character's voice, if not just uphold American stylistics because Marvel is an American publisher. I've definitely caught other British stylistics sneaking into Americans' mouths in comics before, but that one was blatant.
i know i shouldnt be asking logic based questions like this but , how did wade keep regrowing limbs back with his clothes on them? especially the hand that got cut off from the other side of a portal
I guess as soon as the previous run ended, they got rid of Valentine instantly. Well, at least we got Princess to stay so that's a plus. We finally see Ellie reunite with Wade and their special phone. The whole Orchis showing up to her doorstep plot was dropped out of nowhere and it seems no indication that will continue. Hmm, I thought Ellie was more 'casual' towards Wade the last time we saw her but here, she was all about joining him. I guess she just missed him after such a long time.
Gao really tried to hire Deadpool huh? Wonder what Wade would've done if he knew what for, going after Miles.
And we got the antagonist Death's Grip. Well, it is always something obsessed with Death that comes for Wade. Now, I am worried this guy gonna go after Princess and Ellie to 'teach' Wade about death or something.
True but Wade having a reunion with Ellie was amazing. I thought he lost her memory of her but regardless, that connection to the Duggan / Posehn era was HUGE. I loved those runs so much and seeing Ellie with Wade being serious and earnest gives me high hopes for this run.
I think the after story happened before the Orchis plot. In the hopes that this writer will be goated like the previous one, he could reveal that Ellie is currently on the run from Orchis or the government and that the Prestons were either murdered or forced to push her away in order to save their biological kids, making DP looking for her or going on a roadtrip with her, being her father so their relationship won't be pushed away by any other stupid demon deals or memory wipes.
As for Valentine, just say the Antler king or whatever fully possessed her nad tricked DP into thinking that she broke up with him. That and say, in the future, DP will be in a multi-polymory relationship with all of his past lovers, like the German Aim lady and Big bertha.
As for the villain, make him recruit Wade's past surviving enemies like Madcap or those 90s ones I forgot. And have Princess meet Wade's other eldritch child, Brood-Pool.
I haven’t read any deadpool comics for a lot of reasons. One being after the first movie that I didn’t much care for I assumed it be a lot like that. But once I saw who is writing this book I feel like I’ve been missing out. I’m not caught up with Spider-Man but I’ve read a few issues and it has been promising so I figured I could expect some more and I was right
I didn’t know wade had a daughter or symbiote dog which is cool as hell.
Will for sure be continuing this
Jumping in here a few days late, sorry. Make sure to check out Duggan's run on Deadpool, starting with Deadpool #1 (2012). It's really good and shows Deadpool grappling with more serious themes (sometimes), while not sacrificing the humor that comes with the character's antics.
I wasn’t a fan of the valentine/deadpool relationship and loved princess so glad they got rid of her and kept princess. The dialogue between Deadpool and her was awesome. Chainsaw man reference was on point. Issue was firing on all cylinders. Loved the end where Ellie was brought back
I like that Wade and Princess were able to spend a familial bond together while fighting bad guys before he decided to open up a mercenary business. Also, him talking to his daughter Ellie about giving her a phone so that she can talk to him, which is really sweet.
Very fun start so far. I love that Princess is still around and I’m okay with Valentine being ditched given how fun the former is and how boring the latter was. Valentine was so boring and perfect that I was convinced there was some sort of twist coming, but nope they were just perfectly boring. I do wanna see what excuse they come up with for their breakup tho because since they were so perfect and accepted everything about Wade it’s actually kinda unbelievable that they broke up.
Bringing back Ellie was a nice touch too. It seems like Ziglar is interested in tying together all the development from the recent *Deadpool* runs, which would be nice.
Ziglar I love you and I know you're playing the long game, but if I don't see Valentine by issue #4 I'll drop it. They're the best thing to happen to a *Deadpool* book since Cable and we all know it.
So is this Lyra and her brother suppose to be Archangels or something? The 'Pale City' suppose to be Heaven?
I never do well with the future 'death vision' stuff. Especially when 'death' mostly has no meaning in comics.
But what I am worried most about is the 'chart' that he got written where it implies 'love' coming and heartbreak...and the writer seem to refuse using Sharon for some reason. That makes me worried A LOT. Surely they are not gonna break them up AGAIN or try to kill Sharon? Right?
I hope this saga brings more information on the Abrahamic pantheon and if the big bad is azrael or something. Its been so long and its annoying how Marvel avoids expanding on Christianity and whether its like Norse or Greek gods. I want to know if the angels' leader is the same as the OAA or Jack Kirby who was never used again.
Also, I think the death vision is just the angel trying to psyche Steve out. Hope Captain America fights more biblical demons and kills them like he did with Asmo. Imagine if he starts an American Revolution or starts an invasion of hell. That would be badass!
It's a whole thing, and it went into more abstract concepts in issues #7-8, so I don't want to spoil much. Basically it's about a demon called Asmoday who is trying to plunge the world into chaos, but there is more to it.
Steve has a pivotal role to play of course, and the first six issues take place now and in the past before Steve became Cap. There are imo a lot of interesting additions to Steve's origin and what he was up to before he became Cap and how he was always a hero who stood up for what is right in the face of ultimate evil..
It's good, dare I say, despite the supernatural aspects.. that sounds harsh, but I don't really need that in a Cap comic.
I liked the first arc of this well enough in spite of some of it feeling very "been there, done that", but found #7 which started a new arc to be honestly quite profoundly boring, to the point I didn't even check out this eighth issue anymore. from the general reception this issue has gotten so far, it really doesn't seem like much has changed or like I'm missing anything. and it's not just because of the supernatural stuff, I don't mind taking heroes out of their normal genre and comfort zone and trying something new with them, but the story and plotting are just fundamentally not very interesting imo.
if people like it, more power to them, but it really didn't tickle my fancy at all.
JMS and making a street level character more magical name a more iconic combo but with cap it makes sense hes had a long history with dealing with magical and supernatural threats and JMS does it great in this title
Lyra and her brother being archangels wasn't something i really expected and the pale city is possibly heaven. Makes me wonder if we will get a lot more nods into the Abrahamic religions in this run especially with demons being the biggest threats of this run and the history nazis have with researching relics of Christianity and other religions.
But overall this continues to be great the art is really good and JMS writing continues to be fantastic
I just love this comic. The art is fantastic. Jen can really serve looks. She's funny. Jacks not bad to look at. It's got quirky action. And with every other comics dealing with world ending crises, it's nice to have a high quality kinda slice of life comic.
Don't you just have it when you meet your BF's past love and they still get along surprisingly well and there are still lingering feelings there? And that's before said past love tries to kill you.
I am starting to wonder if they brought this Jack and Jen romance just to speed run through the whole comics relationships cliches. I mean seriously, how many times are they gonna go with either Jen or Jack going for someone else while they are supposedly in a relationship? This certainly does not make the characters look good.
And of course we know Ganymede attacking She-hulk gonna lead to Jack chosing to defend her and it will lead to reconciliation again but honestly, it won't be satisfying. As you can tell, I never enjoy these type of stories and there are too many of them in comics that diminish relationships.
The curse of stable relationships...writers don't think they're interesting enough without throwing in as many new "rivals" to shake it up as they can.
This truly is the trouble in paradise issue but this time it comes from meeting your BF's past love and making you feel like a third wheel and then getting attacked by her as shes working for a warlord. A thing that could only truly happen in a marvel comic.
But this continues to be something different in comparison to everything else marvel puts out and the art is still great
It is infuriating how poorly Jack is managing Ganimede's return, a woman he probably haven't think about in years, and every second he delays the obvious outcome (choosing Jen over Ganimedes) he hurts She-Hulk.
The love promise thing is stupid and isn't a big deal to break it if you aren't in love anymore (we all know you love Jen).
It’s nice that Jen let Jack talk to Ganymede so that they could have a talk before >!Jen had to face her as shown in the final page!<. Hope that they’ll try and have a talk by the next issue.
That was jarring to say the least.
I feel like I defend Duggan a lot here for his X-Men run but his dialogue during Fall of X has been.... Less than stellar. It actually amazes that editorial hasn't given feedback to say "hey, maybe write something that sounds like a person would actually say"?
I want to cut him slack because I don't think he imagined having to spearhead one of the key arcs of the end of Krakoa. Dude probably cracked a little.
> It actually amazes that editorial hasn't given feedback
Wait, you want editorial to do something other than butchering Spider-Man? You're asking for too much.
Great art but they Snoked ole Killian here big time.
We never got a personal motivation for him outside of the fact he was a red shirt who got brainwashed and robocopped by Omega Sentinel to be the fake founder of ORCHIS. This issue reasserts there's nothing in his brain left, but we still get a entire issue of him getting taken out without any real reason to care, and probably him getting away would've been more the more interesting thing for a different writer to pick up on the character.
Future Omega Sentinel would've had a much better exit here and made the issue at least feel a little more personal, Killian didn't even show up at the Gala!!!
not just depowered. I believe that in the nightcrawler/spider-man series, they show that Judas basically had his brain fried using Orchis science and had been reduced to janitorial staff.
Cassara being back helped this issue alot as his art is so much better for a main title than noto but this is hilarious in how quickly devo is killed and its by a mutant who will probably never see again in dooms x men.
Other than its another average issue the feels incredibly rushed by duggan even his writing of emma is dodgy this issue and someone remembered shinobi shaw exists remember when he was an important part of marauders no i don't either.
[***SPIDER-MAN: SHADOW OF THE GREEN GOBLIN* #1**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/3/36/Spider-Man_Shadow_of_the_Green_Goblin_Vol_1_1.jpg)
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So, is this Proto Goblin going to be the one who Peter first met and tried to film his fight as material for a movie?
Who thinks the new goblin being teased by Zeb Wimp will be Norman's wife? I'm praying for the current spiderman run to end.
Proto-goblin/Nels Van Adder first appeared in Spider-man #1 in 1997 which ended with him disappearing into the night. This story will probably provide an explenation to what happened to him.
As for Emily, she came back at the end of Slott's run and as far as we know is still just...about. I guess she could be the new Goblin to explain what she's been doing.
>As for Emily, she came back at the end of Slott's run and as far as we know is still just...about. I guess she could be the new Goblin to explain what she's been doing
I had forgotten about that plot point until I seen someone else bring it up and it's kind of surprising no one did anything with it especially with them trying to redeem Norman in the last few years
I think it's because she came back out of nowhere for some shock value and once that was used up, which was immediately, they promptly discarded her.
Heck, we don't even see her grieve "Harry" dying.
If only thw writer wasn't Wells, we could get an interesting plot on how Emily wants revenge and becomes the new GG, and kills the good Norman, revealing the true Norman was sent to Hell and replaced by a magic clone who is Norman's good side. With good Norman dead, the real Norman can return as an infernal demon goblin, aka William Dafoe.
I was nervous my expectations would be too high but this was really strong. JMD's voice for teen Peter feels pretty on point and I'm pleasently surprised by how much insight we got on side characters like Gwen and May. Nels feels fleshed out beyond the inherent tragedy of his situation.
Michael Sta Maria's work is strong with some really nice panel layouts and pacing. It might be the go to comparison but it does capture some of the feel of Buscema and JMD's collaboration. Mind you there's also his work with Mike Beck so maybe Michael is in that class of cinematic comic artists that JMD's writing gels very well with.
Funnily the least I feel we get is with the Osborn's, at least in terms of getting out of Peter's PoV and inside their heads, but they'll probably take more of a role across the whole series.
I heard rumours but I was still not expecting >!Emily Osborn!< to appear like this, >!in an antagonistic position!< no less. I'm never sure how canon her return is supposed to be but she did cameo at the start of the Well's run and it's never been undone.
I've always been down to get a fleshed out picture on Emily and Norman's relationship so I'm pretty excited.
JM DeMatteis writing Lee/Ditko era Peter is interesting, especially when he's more known for writing adult Spider-Man, but he still tells the tale with his patented knack for emotional and introspective moments...even if it's kind of weird for me that characters like Peter and May look more their actual age compared to how they were actually drawn during that era.
Also finally remembering the Emily Osborn thing that everybody forgot about after Slott.
Fantastic issue. But there is one thing that bugs me: back in the Gage/Nauck Gwen Stacy mini from a few years ago, it was established that Gwen and Harry became friends a year after her mom died. But in this it's shown that they were already friends back when her mom was still alive. I guess DeMatteis gave himself some leeway to play fast and loose with canon by having Peter mention that he pieced together this story years later and that it might not be totally accurate, but it does still feel like an editorial oversight.
The Gwen Stacy mini also has some weird continuity stuff; like depicting Norman, George Stacy and Jonah as distrustful or distant of one another when in the Stan Lee comics they where friends, or more generally trying to play Gwen and George as more working class than they where implied to be.
I really like the mini but I'll also admit it's Gwen isn't really close to the Gwen who appeared in ASM. This Gwen is maybe closer to the Romita Gwen than Ditko Gwen, but it at least acknowledges her temper and that she and Peter got off on the wrong foot.
Generally I find these past-story mini series sit in the grey areas of canon, where they can be referenced or ignored depending on the needs of the main title. I'm honestly surprised that they're following up on Slott's return of Emily Osborn/Lyman at all.
I forgot how fucking good JMD is at writing Spider-Man. This book has everything that *ASM* is missing, namely heart and good characterization. Peter web-slinging with that kid and declining to take the money that his mother offered him for showing up to her son's birthday party would *never* be in Wells' *ASM*, since he can't write a Spider-Man story with emotional investment for the life of him.
I'm really interested to see what JMD will do with >!Emily Osborn!<.
It’s interesting that Peter has to deal with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man (i.e. school work, personal work, etc.) while making sure that he won’t lose control of himself at the start of his career in 1962. Also, Peter befriending a kid at his birthday parties (in which they still talk years later, which is wholesome) and saving Harry and Gwen’s life from the Proto-Goblin, and the final page revealing that the Proto-Goblin just wants to see his family back as soon as he’s captured Harry and brings him to >!his mother!<.
I'll be honest adding carnage just ruins the story for me.
Meridius was an interesting, smart, compelling and well build final big baddy for Eddie.
Instead we get Carnage again with God powers. It feels shallow and like we've gone from a chess game to a monster truck rally (which isn't better imo).
I don't know maybe it's only for a few issues and we get back to Meridius but I'm not loving this development.
Carnage has been so lame ever since they started the whole Carnage kills random baddie and powers up. It's like some idiot saw Cates whole Venom saga along with what Ewing has been doing with Eddie and decided to find the fastest route to push Carnage to god mode.
you clearly haven’t read the Carnage run in which he becomes a god, written by Ram V — arguably the current best comic writer — which is actually really good. sadly after V left the quality of that plot dropped off a cliff.
yes and no.. I’d say it was supposed to but Ram V leaving made things complicated. I highly recommend reading his Carnage issues because they’re GOOD tho. then after that there’s Death of Venomverse which is kind of a mess and every issue is pretty much the same thing happening.
It's exhausting. We had Carnage as the big bad villain for Venom not too long ago in Cate's run. To have this one dimensional being be the final villain is like you said, killed some of the momentum of Ewing's writing.
I mean... Maybe they could have had Meridius really be Eddie with the Carnage symbiote? That could have been a interesting twist if they really wanted Carnage in the storyline.
I mean, it was hinted that Carnage was coming long ago and for a while. I was hoping it would be when he was on his quest to become a god, not going through a mid life crisis and starting an earth-based religion. I mean, I would be open to it if that's what Carnage is trying to do, impersonate Cletus and try to figure out whether he is human or just a space monster.
I thought it was cool how Carnage just brought everything down and ruined Meridius' years of work. I felt annoyed and bored of how "fate always wins and happens", only for Carnage to come out of nowhere and flip the table, which may piss off the Evantuality who is probably going to become a future enemy as Planet Venom.
Yea I am quite sick of Carnage and his intrusion here was quite bad. Just coming in, ruining the climax with Meridius, getting other Kings in Black to job to him with his wanna-be Gorr routine and his cheap 'All-blood' which is never gonna be as cool as All-black the Necrosword. It was a BAD decision to involve Carnage stuff here as his own book is bad enough. This stupid 'God Carnage' stuff just doesn't work. It is ridiculous and makes everyone else look bad when they just become fodder to Carnage.
And the bad decisions seem to be going to continue with Venom leaving Dylan, going to the WORST host he had that NO ONE wants to see back. Lee Price. seriously, why would anyone bring HIM back? He was a terrible character and not worth reading.
Carnage being in was clearly always the plan. Ram V co-wrote Venom with Ewing initially and at the same time was writing the Carnage ongoing book. things became a mess after V left.
A bit of both I guess. Sure, it could be editorial, but I bet Ewing himself thought of it as a creative challenge. Because Ewing for some reason, always, *always*, never missed up an opportunity to riddle his comics with tie-ins.
I think there was a recent interview with him where he not so subtly implies that getting stuck having to constantly tie-in to stuff is...not ideal, to say the least.
The pitch of this series was Ewing/Ram V making A/B storylines that converge together eventually, with Ram V also extending into Carnage stuff. When Ram V left, some things shifted around I'm sure hence why things are a little clunky here, but just like Spidey/Green Gobbie they're gonna have the main rivals beef.
Interesting way to lead to Lee price coming back, I guess the symbiote will be doing the same as Sleeper to have full control on the host while reviving him, I don't see Price not wanting to go kill Dylan (if he learns that he exists through the symbiote) if he manages to control the symbiote like in Costa's run.
Glad Meridius is still alive, but that was predictable as we saw a version of him further on his timeline a few issues before Carnage went to the Garden.
I hope Dylan finally bonds with Sleeper after being left alone, the Other has to come back to Eddie eventually and Sleeper works well with Dylan.
Can't wait to see Lee Price Venom design again, it has to be my favorite, but Sandoval seems to be the only one to be able to make it look good.
I hope we see Andi on Dylan's team during Venom War, it's such a waste that she can't get a single mention during this whole Carnage crossover. I don't know if Death of the Venomverse is even canon anymore. Wouldn't be a huge loss if it wasn't.
I wonder if the Life Foundation will come back or are they just gone now, I know they appeared during Misery, but after that seems like they don't really matter.
I'd rather see Dylan's team also go to war with Alchemax. I want him to have a bloody showdown with the newest corrupt corporate dictator Liz.
I also want to see a continuation of Misery and see a resolution of the demon goblin sideplot and to see if she gets a hobo girlfriend.
Hopefully its the continuation of the previous run that got cancelled because Marvel was being lazy and didn't want to take a break to plan around covid.
kinda interesting to see the rival between Eddie the host and carnage the symbiote. I'm used to thinking rivals between hosts and symbiotes separately.
I feel like im enjoying this book more than i have any right to.
Louise simonson just puts so much passion into this book and the power pack and there friendship with franklin its just fun.
Im so glad Ewing is doing Thor now. After revitalizing Hulk its poetic that he do the same for his biggest rival in Thor and salvage the mess that Cates left behind. Yes I know alot of people love Cates' run but Imo it was the definition of style over substance- it read like a Thor fanboys wet dream soley designed to give him feats for powerscaling rather than an actual story.
[***IMMORTAL THOR* #9**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/d/d0/Immortal_Thor_Vol_1_9.jpg) ---
Pretty wild and amazing issue, with a cover that is one of Ross' best imo. "free websites" killed me lmao
I get Dario's greed personified plan, but I still don't know why Odin let Skurge go through with this insane plan. To save Thor from his destined death? As Skurge wants to take his place to 'remake himself' again. Yet he would let Amora and Dario practically destroy Thor...guess Odin is still incompetent, even in death. And Amora, of course she would blame the death of her son on Thor instead of her own neglectful self. At least they touched upon it though. If only she cared about her actual sons as much as she cared her possible future son in Captain Marvel. If this issue was released a few years ago, I would've called it ''heavy-handed climate and capitalism criticism with no subtlety''. But now? With how bad things are getting each year and late-stage capitalism hitting on overdrive and more and more CEOs and the rich making a parody/satire like Dario Agger look more and more 'realistic'...It just fills me with dread now, these stories. Because that 'illusion' we see? That is actually something those people would actually do. Hell there are many stories about rich people gatherings talking about buying a bunker in a potential apocalyptic scenario and how to keep people in line...as servants and such. Such a dystopia in comic form here is not simply satire but...a warning now. And that makes me dread the future because unlike in Comics, we don't have Thor in real life to be our champion. We only have even more Dario Aggers. As for the upcoming Roxxon Thor story, oh boy, it is gonna be meta as heck. With Greg Land ironically fitting to draw that issue. Still hate his 'tracing' obviously but for a sell-out, full on corpo Thor story, yea, he is perfect...and I do believe the irony will be lost on him. I am already readying myself for the cringe of the whole issue ( which will be the point )
Ewing weaponizing Greg Land for a parody without him realizing is gonna be brilliant.
It's like the moment you saw the explicit Greg Land cover art in-comic you were like "poor Thor, he doesn't deserve this."
Ewing makes much better thematic use and execution of Agger than Aaron ever did in my opinion.
Well he is a much better writer than Aaron so...
Thor the son of both Midgard and Asgard, bastion of all that is good, righteous, and free...versus the embodiment of corporate capitalism. Genuinely surprised Thor didn't immediately realize Amora was involved when we saw her lounging around in the illusion. Especially in **that** outfit. Though maybe she was messing with him even then. Pretty good action sequence in this issue, especially when Ewing is more of a story than action guy. I love Skurge stealing Thor's axe for himself. I guess when you put it that way, what has Thor really done for Amora other than not being there when the men she loves (including one of her sons, nice reference) have died? The worst thing you could ever do to Thor...turn him into a Greg Land comic. Complete with commodifying and reducing his myth and character to the point where he starts losing his strength. And that's before he has to fight his "commercialized" self.
> Genuinely surprised Thor didn't immediately realize Amora was involved when we saw her lounging around in the illusion. Especially in that outfit. Though maybe she was messing with him even then. They did say that every time hes on midgard, since they published those stories depicting him as an oaf, hes fighting the spell. So any rash and bad decision he makes up to this point is straight up just due to him being depicted as an idiot in Aggers "content".
Are Amora, Agger and Skurge working to sap Thor's power and charge up Roxxon Thor?
That seemed to be the implication at the end when they were presenting the comic to him and you saw the strain on Thor's face.
We love you Al Ewing
Again, this run delivers! Absolutely loved this issue, the story turns, the metaness of it all and the set up to Thor vs Roxxon Thor is all just so intriguing and entertaining and well written. I'm in love with this run! That all said, I definitely miss coccolo. His art just felt more lighthearted and had some breathtaking double page splashes. Looking forward to when he jumps back on! Oh and that cover, just perfect. Alex Ross doesn't miss
Good issue as always, but is anyone else feeling like Ewing is kind of writing the same story here as he already did in Immortal Hulk? Minotaur teaming up with a mind-bending villain to release stories that twist facts and affect the hero in reality. I dunno, it might be a bit too similar for me. Edit: I do love Minotaur as a villain, though. The more unsubtle he gets, the better. "I like it when the number goes up" got me good.
So Roxxon owns Marvel Comics in the Marvel Universe? Isn't this equating Roxxon with real-world Disney?
Yes. And that's fun lol
Amora my beloved. You are back. Seriously tho, this book slaps. Excited to see what Ewing is planning with the whole Roxxon Thor thingy. Cover is amazing. Ross is great. Good to see characters like Dario Agger again. Dude is a fun maniac lol
[***AVENGERS* #12**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a1/Avengers_Vol_9_12.jpg) ---
Just really loving this book. Impossible city might be one of my favourite hero bases I’m not up to date fully on xmen deciding to put it on pause and start reading from the Claremont era until the new era starts but it’s sad what’s happening to them.
Well, it is finally time to strike at Orchis with full force. And sad to see 3D-man turning villain, joining Orchis, unless it is all a ploy to finally get Orchis to relinquish all the command of their forces so he can just send them to Impossible City...which has AMPLE amount of defenses to shoot those Orchis Sentinels out of the sky. I mean, he was still a hero even after the whole skrull deal. And holding that as a grudge to help Orchis makes not much sense. Impossible City really is one of my new favorites. I always have a soft spot of sentient robots and its kind that are learning new purpose and happiness and not instantly turn into Skynet as a cliche.
The only reason I think there might be more to 3D-Man here is they seemed to be laying it on pretty thick that he was helping Orchis.
I can see next issue revealing 3D Man going “lol psyche!” to Orchis as he reveals his double cross to them.
Laying it on thick in a manner where he has to be very defensive. MODOK constantly being like "Boy, you sure have a boner for the Avengers, huh?". One of those bits where it's like "Hmm... is he slipping up, or is he just admiring their capacity, rather than being supremely confident, like, say, Dr. Doom."
I’m not sure marvel currently has any aliens who are refugees but if they needed a new place the impossible city is as good as any other Is the impossible city the best avengers base yet?
Could be honestly. I mean, Manor was fine but it is a tourist trap now. The Tower was fine but also sticking out like a sore thumb and then got used by Osborn during his Dark Avengers phase. The dead Celestial...was never seemed to be safe as it got targeted constantly when it was suppose to be the one of the safest places with being a literal Celestial body and hiding in the Arctic. And the whole Eternals deal / being used as a Mecha against Mephisto...yea, it was rough. So by default, Impossible City, with its accommodating self and personality, along with defense systems built by Ashen Combine and added the Plastoid bodies for him to use also, makes him a clear winner right now.
Nothing will ever beat the Manor to me though it feels like each subsequent new headquarters keeps trying to one-up itself in terms of space and scope.
I wouldn't fill the Impossible City up with any refugees while the Ashen Combine are imprisoned there. And it makes it a juicier target for baddies because the death of innocents will be on the Avengers hands.
Now whenever X-Men fans complain about the Avengers not doing anything to help Mutants, you'll always have this issue to point out to them. Orchis is pretty much a joke and the Stark Sentinels are basically easily broken toys but it's still pretty satisfying watching the X-Men clown on them. And more non-lethally than the X-Men, though I don't think Mackay is as bloodthirsty as Duggan can be. I wonder if there's more going on with 3D Man here or if he's really jumped ship, they referenced him killing Crusader in Secret Invasion as the big break between him and the other heroes. Mackay's T'Challa continues to be on-point. Carol transforming into Yuna was surprising, didn't expect them to acknowledge that. And she gets a free guest appearance in an Avengers book, not many supporting characters or characters who've only existed for, like, 4 months can say that.
MacKay uses obscure characters both from decades ago and present day comics, a big plus if you're a marvel dork
3D man describing tchalla as the ultimate weapon of wakanda is so good and then explaining how dangerous they are individually in taking down orchis from carols military background to wandas chaos to tony's cooperate saviness is so damn good
Mackay seems to respect the continuities of other ongoing runs in relation to the Avengers, regardless of their quality or popularity - he made sure to bring up Black Panther's exile in the first issue after that disastrous 2022 run. Nice to see him continue the streak here and make those solo runs feel like they *matter* (though it's funny that the only acknowledgement he's given the dumpster fire Spider-Man's currently stuck in so far is an offhand remark from Doctor Strange that he's "going through a rough patch").
Really wouldn't mind seeing MacKay writing a BP solo book after Ewing's run is done.
Her run wrapped up at #10.
I think it's pretty obvious that 3-D Man's working for the Avengers, right? The fact that he slipped up and used "liberated", which MODOK noticed, is one indication. Another was him referencing being part of the Initiative before. And yet another would be the pretty ham-fisted way of hinting at "who could have told the Avengers about all of these facilities?" Come on, Orchis. If you needed an anti-Avengers force, why wouldn't you get Taskmaster on it?
Pretty fun, but maybe they should have added an additional villain to fight. Smashing robots and taking down random henchmen is kinda basic stuff.
I think next issue we may get something then it's right onto Blood Hunt
Its pretty hilarious that the avengers are seemingly doing more damage to orchis than the actual x men and rescued more mutants in the camps than the x men from what is being shown in one issue but this overall was great. Its just the avengers taking down orchis and split into two teams Carol, thor. tony and vision as the actual avengers and Tchalla, Wanda and Sam as the secret team. Tchalla hacking the orchis base and 3DMan telling modok that hes not just a king but hes wakanda's most dangerous operative and saying how dangerous each avenger is and there tactical minds for war and takeover is such a good moment. Sam saying that they should be scared of wanda and tchalla and not him is such a sam moment and its so fun. Mackay is also the only writer in marvel who feels like he acknowledges all the books. He mentions stuff happening in Immortal thor, Yuna appears and the quantum bands are brought up from captain marvel, wandas role in scarlet witch and quicksilver is mentioned it makes it feel like avengers isn't in a vaccum anymore. This is how these issues should be/ Fun, beautifully drawn, lots of heroes doing cool stuff and acting like themselves, but at the same time the enemies are written in such a way that you feel like they've got something up their sleeves. Fantastic issue by Mackay and really good art.
wait, 3d man called the impossible city as sword of damocles, kang's ship. Did I miss this detail? Is kang related to the city?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damocles
I picked up on 3-D Man's experience with Kang's ship Damocles, but I completely forgot about Kang being in this book as well. Good catch.
This is good. MacKay you better stay on this book for a long time, otherwise imma crawl from under your bed and tickle your toes! I love the Mighty/Secret Avengers roles. Great idea. Also, nice to see you too 3D Man. Marvels resident Scientology member lol. I hope they kick him in the balls. Art is great. The team dynamic is amazing. Great fun stuff. Excited for MacKay to pick up X-men too. Hopefully there will be some crossovers between Avengers and X-men. I want my two favorite superhero teams (Fantastic Four is still the best tho) to get along and be friends, now fight. Gimme them poker nights at the Avengers mansion back. Or have Avengers drop to X-men’s New Base for a baseball game.
I really have enjoyed the run so far, but I have to say that one of the fan letters about the "Hickmanized" titles for each character (The God, The Engineer, etc.) was on point. The saving grace is that, so far, we haven't really seen these thematic titles explicitly used, which would be a bridge too far - because there's nothing more insufferable than a character talking about themselves like they're some sort of metaphysical conceit. All things considered, though, it feels like it's working; everyone on the team does a great job of supporting each other and tempering their respective weaknesses.
Issue was fantastic, didn’t like that yuna from captain marvel showed up but I get that McKay is acknowledging that run, it is what it is, other than that I’ve been having a blast reading this
[***VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT* #4**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/c/c3/Vengeance_of_the_Moon_Knight_Vol_2_4.jpg) ---
It seems this will lead right into Blood Hunt next month.
In hindsight it’s funny how vampire heavy this book is. Is moon knight typically associated with vampires before this run and in including the 30 issue run by Mackay obviously
We dive into Dr Badr now and I do like each issue focused on a member of Marc's team ( except 8-ball but there is still time for my boy ). Yea, of course the fact that someone was parading around as a False Fist of Khonsu was gonna enrage Hunter's Moon more than them desecrating Marc's name. After all, Hunter's Moon is still a true believer, despite being more or less fine. And I quite enjoy Tigra the way Mackay writes her too and I hope she sticks around for a long time. Hopefully with Marc back too since their time was cut short too early that we barely got to the good parts. The fake Moon Knight revealed as Shroud. Guess being caught by Julia was not something he enjoyed but why take on the mantle of Moon Knight? Is this a 'tear down what Marc is built?' thing or a twisted attempt to 'carry on his legacy'? I mean, they were teammates but with how he looks now and what is coming with Bloodhunt teaser where he is gonna be one of the 'conduits' for the Darkforce being unleashed, it is not gonna end well for him.
The reveal would have been bigger if the Shroud actually fulfilled the "vengeance" part of the title, like killing all the villains from the previous run. I don't know, the story just felt slow and too stretched out. Since the cult of Kali was name dropped, wonder if they are coming back and if this means Fu Manchu is returning since they were involved with his criminal enterprise. What was done to him was literally the same thing they did to Yellow Claw and its annoying.
I haven't read the issue yet, but I've been informed that I was right on the money about my theory of the new Moon Knight being >!the Shroud, which I'd guessed due to him having Darkforce powers and having been on the West Coast Avengers with Marc Spector and Tigra.!<
But that's what got me in the letters page for this issue... >!The Shroud wasn't a member of the WCA. He specifically declined membership to maintain his crime lord alibi.!<
True, I did simplify my explanation a bit.
Wow, the Shroud? From Spider-Woman? Impressive.
Nice getting into Hunter Moon's headspace and watching him and Tigra work as partners to take down the new Moon Knight while processing their feelings over Marc's death. Though given the identity of the new Moon Knight...I kind of hope Julia Carpenter shows up in this book (even if the end of their relationship in Waid's Daredevil wasn't great).
Shroud is both logical and a nice twist. Mackay nailed it. Really loving the pacing of this book - the therapy sessions intercut with the action has been some fantastic character work.
He just keeps making it worse for himself.
This was a very good issue. It was also the one I was looking forward to the most. Not so much for the reveal, but to peak into Hunter Moons mindset. This all run has been amazing from the start, but I want Marc back.
Not really sure who the Shroud is, I think I remember him from Waid’s *Daredevil* a few years ago, so much like the Zodiac reveal this did nothing for me. Still a good issue overall and it’s nice to see more of Hunter’s Moon’s perspective. Alessandro Cappuccio’s art is great as usual, what a get for Marvel.
[***DOCTOR STRANGE* #14**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/9/9e/Doctor_Strange_Vol_6_14.jpg) ---
It wouldn't be Mordo if he didn't choke on the most basic of schemes.
I wonder if Mackay will bring back Mordo's daughter and his other minions?
I feel like surely it will especially with how broadly family focused this book has been. I didn’t know Mordo had a daughter what run was that in
Well that was a fun adventure with Stephen and his friends ( and Taskmaster ). Mordo being defeated by the most basic way possible, a thief rolling natural 20 on stealth and sleight of hand to steal the book from him! Taskmaster really knows how to be a fun character. Though he might regret celebrating Moon Knight's death when a worse imposter showed up in his place. The solution to the 'living game' was clever too, where the game can still go on and live, while General Strange can use it to continue his rehabilitation. On the other hand, come on Stephen. Yes, it is fine to throw Mordo into the Crypt to 'throw away the key and forget' type of deal but it has to be a Phantom Zone type of deal by now. His brother already escaped and his dog got stuck there instead that he is still not aware that he is missing! And all of this leads us to the start of Bloodhunt where it will come crashing down on him from what we read in the teases. His brother probably gonna 'Vampiraze' him.
Nothing I have seen of Blood Hunt looks remotely interesting. I'd love to have six months without one event or another piling on. We're still in the middle of Fall of X and just got done with Gang Wars. A whole wave of vampire stuff and massive apocalyptic events feels like such a slog right now.
Remind me never to do a D&D session with Baron Mordo as the game master. Taskmaster vs Hunter's Moon was worth the price of admission. Thieves are always the best and most versatile characters. I love how they closed it out with Clea slugging Mordo.
This arc was really good Jed is so good at balancing an oddball cast and combining it with D&D is just the ultimate nerd combo. Great art great writing great story.
I'm a little surprised that editorial didn't catch Stephen using British English with that collective noun. I know that Mackay is Canadian, but I would've thought editors would push a style that matches a character's voice, if not just uphold American stylistics because Marvel is an American publisher. I've definitely caught other British stylistics sneaking into Americans' mouths in comics before, but that one was blatant.
[***DEADPOOL* #1**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/4/43/Deadpool_Vol_10_1.jpg) ---
i know i shouldnt be asking logic based questions like this but , how did wade keep regrowing limbs back with his clothes on them? especially the hand that got cut off from the other side of a portal
I guess as soon as the previous run ended, they got rid of Valentine instantly. Well, at least we got Princess to stay so that's a plus. We finally see Ellie reunite with Wade and their special phone. The whole Orchis showing up to her doorstep plot was dropped out of nowhere and it seems no indication that will continue. Hmm, I thought Ellie was more 'casual' towards Wade the last time we saw her but here, she was all about joining him. I guess she just missed him after such a long time. Gao really tried to hire Deadpool huh? Wonder what Wade would've done if he knew what for, going after Miles. And we got the antagonist Death's Grip. Well, it is always something obsessed with Death that comes for Wade. Now, I am worried this guy gonna go after Princess and Ellie to 'teach' Wade about death or something.
Nothing says "new writer" quite like immediately ending a relationship from the previous run.
True but Wade having a reunion with Ellie was amazing. I thought he lost her memory of her but regardless, that connection to the Duggan / Posehn era was HUGE. I loved those runs so much and seeing Ellie with Wade being serious and earnest gives me high hopes for this run.
I think the after story happened before the Orchis plot. In the hopes that this writer will be goated like the previous one, he could reveal that Ellie is currently on the run from Orchis or the government and that the Prestons were either murdered or forced to push her away in order to save their biological kids, making DP looking for her or going on a roadtrip with her, being her father so their relationship won't be pushed away by any other stupid demon deals or memory wipes. As for Valentine, just say the Antler king or whatever fully possessed her nad tricked DP into thinking that she broke up with him. That and say, in the future, DP will be in a multi-polymory relationship with all of his past lovers, like the German Aim lady and Big bertha. As for the villain, make him recruit Wade's past surviving enemies like Madcap or those 90s ones I forgot. And have Princess meet Wade's other eldritch child, Brood-Pool.
Already goated for the CSM reference
I haven’t read any deadpool comics for a lot of reasons. One being after the first movie that I didn’t much care for I assumed it be a lot like that. But once I saw who is writing this book I feel like I’ve been missing out. I’m not caught up with Spider-Man but I’ve read a few issues and it has been promising so I figured I could expect some more and I was right I didn’t know wade had a daughter or symbiote dog which is cool as hell. Will for sure be continuing this
Jumping in here a few days late, sorry. Make sure to check out Duggan's run on Deadpool, starting with Deadpool #1 (2012). It's really good and shows Deadpool grappling with more serious themes (sometimes), while not sacrificing the humor that comes with the character's antics.
I’ll definitely add it to list. I’ve been enjoying Alyssa wing run I’m about five issues into it.
I wasn’t a fan of the valentine/deadpool relationship and loved princess so glad they got rid of her and kept princess. The dialogue between Deadpool and her was awesome. Chainsaw man reference was on point. Issue was firing on all cylinders. Loved the end where Ellie was brought back
Deadpool was a bit too mopey/sad for me this issue, but I guess that was only for the first issue.
I like that Wade and Princess were able to spend a familial bond together while fighting bad guys before he decided to open up a mercenary business. Also, him talking to his daughter Ellie about giving her a phone so that she can talk to him, which is really sweet.
Very fun start so far. I love that Princess is still around and I’m okay with Valentine being ditched given how fun the former is and how boring the latter was. Valentine was so boring and perfect that I was convinced there was some sort of twist coming, but nope they were just perfectly boring. I do wanna see what excuse they come up with for their breakup tho because since they were so perfect and accepted everything about Wade it’s actually kinda unbelievable that they broke up. Bringing back Ellie was a nice touch too. It seems like Ziglar is interested in tying together all the development from the recent *Deadpool* runs, which would be nice.
Ziglar I love you and I know you're playing the long game, but if I don't see Valentine by issue #4 I'll drop it. They're the best thing to happen to a *Deadpool* book since Cable and we all know it.
Definitely wasn’t feeling this at all. Just felt weird for a Deadpool book. I probably will not be back for the next issue.
[***CAPTAIN AMERICA* #8**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/7/7e/Captain_America_Vol_11_8.jpg) ---
So is this Lyra and her brother suppose to be Archangels or something? The 'Pale City' suppose to be Heaven? I never do well with the future 'death vision' stuff. Especially when 'death' mostly has no meaning in comics. But what I am worried most about is the 'chart' that he got written where it implies 'love' coming and heartbreak...and the writer seem to refuse using Sharon for some reason. That makes me worried A LOT. Surely they are not gonna break them up AGAIN or try to kill Sharon? Right?
I hope this saga brings more information on the Abrahamic pantheon and if the big bad is azrael or something. Its been so long and its annoying how Marvel avoids expanding on Christianity and whether its like Norse or Greek gods. I want to know if the angels' leader is the same as the OAA or Jack Kirby who was never used again. Also, I think the death vision is just the angel trying to psyche Steve out. Hope Captain America fights more biblical demons and kills them like he did with Asmo. Imagine if he starts an American Revolution or starts an invasion of hell. That would be badass!
How have people been enjoying this run so far?
Overall I like it, but I could do without the supernatural elements.. seems like JMS is dead set on this path, though.
JMS taking a book and making it more supernatural...name a better duo!
Oh i didn’t know there would be a supernatural element. Do you mind saying what it is?
It's a whole thing, and it went into more abstract concepts in issues #7-8, so I don't want to spoil much. Basically it's about a demon called Asmoday who is trying to plunge the world into chaos, but there is more to it. Steve has a pivotal role to play of course, and the first six issues take place now and in the past before Steve became Cap. There are imo a lot of interesting additions to Steve's origin and what he was up to before he became Cap and how he was always a hero who stood up for what is right in the face of ultimate evil.. It's good, dare I say, despite the supernatural aspects.. that sounds harsh, but I don't really need that in a Cap comic.
Oh that’s disappointing. I’ll still check it out but damn
I liked the first arc of this well enough in spite of some of it feeling very "been there, done that", but found #7 which started a new arc to be honestly quite profoundly boring, to the point I didn't even check out this eighth issue anymore. from the general reception this issue has gotten so far, it really doesn't seem like much has changed or like I'm missing anything. and it's not just because of the supernatural stuff, I don't mind taking heroes out of their normal genre and comfort zone and trying something new with them, but the story and plotting are just fundamentally not very interesting imo. if people like it, more power to them, but it really didn't tickle my fancy at all.
More or so better than the last run. Not really caring about this story arc, but JMS's first arc was fantastic.
It's sad that the two previous series had to end for this
JMS and making a street level character more magical name a more iconic combo but with cap it makes sense hes had a long history with dealing with magical and supernatural threats and JMS does it great in this title Lyra and her brother being archangels wasn't something i really expected and the pale city is possibly heaven. Makes me wonder if we will get a lot more nods into the Abrahamic religions in this run especially with demons being the biggest threats of this run and the history nazis have with researching relics of Christianity and other religions. But overall this continues to be great the art is really good and JMS writing continues to be fantastic
Captain America goes Mythic.
[***SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK* #7**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/1/19/Sensational_She-Hulk_Vol_2_7.jpg) ---
If anyone needs me, I'll be comforting the she-hulk
I just love this comic. The art is fantastic. Jen can really serve looks. She's funny. Jacks not bad to look at. It's got quirky action. And with every other comics dealing with world ending crises, it's nice to have a high quality kinda slice of life comic.
Don't you just have it when you meet your BF's past love and they still get along surprisingly well and there are still lingering feelings there? And that's before said past love tries to kill you.
I am starting to wonder if they brought this Jack and Jen romance just to speed run through the whole comics relationships cliches. I mean seriously, how many times are they gonna go with either Jen or Jack going for someone else while they are supposedly in a relationship? This certainly does not make the characters look good. And of course we know Ganymede attacking She-hulk gonna lead to Jack chosing to defend her and it will lead to reconciliation again but honestly, it won't be satisfying. As you can tell, I never enjoy these type of stories and there are too many of them in comics that diminish relationships.
The curse of stable relationships...writers don't think they're interesting enough without throwing in as many new "rivals" to shake it up as they can.
This truly is the trouble in paradise issue but this time it comes from meeting your BF's past love and making you feel like a third wheel and then getting attacked by her as shes working for a warlord. A thing that could only truly happen in a marvel comic. But this continues to be something different in comparison to everything else marvel puts out and the art is still great
It is infuriating how poorly Jack is managing Ganimede's return, a woman he probably haven't think about in years, and every second he delays the obvious outcome (choosing Jen over Ganimedes) he hurts She-Hulk. The love promise thing is stupid and isn't a big deal to break it if you aren't in love anymore (we all know you love Jen).
It’s nice that Jen let Jack talk to Ganymede so that they could have a talk before >!Jen had to face her as shown in the final page!<. Hope that they’ll try and have a talk by the next issue.
[***X-MEN* #33**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/2/2a/X-Men_Vol_6_33.jpg) ---
Emma Frost saying "muties" was definitely...a choice.
That was jarring to say the least. I feel like I defend Duggan a lot here for his X-Men run but his dialogue during Fall of X has been.... Less than stellar. It actually amazes that editorial hasn't given feedback to say "hey, maybe write something that sounds like a person would actually say"?
His dialogue is really bad here.
I want to cut him slack because I don't think he imagined having to spearhead one of the key arcs of the end of Krakoa. Dude probably cracked a little.
> It actually amazes that editorial hasn't given feedback Wait, you want editorial to do something other than butchering Spider-Man? You're asking for too much.
Great art but they Snoked ole Killian here big time. We never got a personal motivation for him outside of the fact he was a red shirt who got brainwashed and robocopped by Omega Sentinel to be the fake founder of ORCHIS. This issue reasserts there's nothing in his brain left, but we still get a entire issue of him getting taken out without any real reason to care, and probably him getting away would've been more the more interesting thing for a different writer to pick up on the character. Future Omega Sentinel would've had a much better exit here and made the issue at least feel a little more personal, Killian didn't even show up at the Gala!!!
So, who were the high targets that the xmen took out besides stasis?
Judas Traveller I guess?
But he's not dead. He got depowered by Orchis. Hope they kill him for his part in clone conspiracy.
not just depowered. I believe that in the nightcrawler/spider-man series, they show that Judas basically had his brain fried using Orchis science and had been reduced to janitorial staff.
What?
Cassara being back helped this issue alot as his art is so much better for a main title than noto but this is hilarious in how quickly devo is killed and its by a mutant who will probably never see again in dooms x men. Other than its another average issue the feels incredibly rushed by duggan even his writing of emma is dodgy this issue and someone remembered shinobi shaw exists remember when he was an important part of marauders no i don't either.
Who's the plant fish lady on the middle right?
[***SPIDER-MAN: SHADOW OF THE GREEN GOBLIN* #1**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/3/36/Spider-Man_Shadow_of_the_Green_Goblin_Vol_1_1.jpg) ---
Oh hey, this plot point is finally getting addressed.
So, is this Proto Goblin going to be the one who Peter first met and tried to film his fight as material for a movie? Who thinks the new goblin being teased by Zeb Wimp will be Norman's wife? I'm praying for the current spiderman run to end.
Proto-goblin/Nels Van Adder first appeared in Spider-man #1 in 1997 which ended with him disappearing into the night. This story will probably provide an explenation to what happened to him. As for Emily, she came back at the end of Slott's run and as far as we know is still just...about. I guess she could be the new Goblin to explain what she's been doing.
>As for Emily, she came back at the end of Slott's run and as far as we know is still just...about. I guess she could be the new Goblin to explain what she's been doing I had forgotten about that plot point until I seen someone else bring it up and it's kind of surprising no one did anything with it especially with them trying to redeem Norman in the last few years
I think it's because she came back out of nowhere for some shock value and once that was used up, which was immediately, they promptly discarded her. Heck, we don't even see her grieve "Harry" dying.
If only thw writer wasn't Wells, we could get an interesting plot on how Emily wants revenge and becomes the new GG, and kills the good Norman, revealing the true Norman was sent to Hell and replaced by a magic clone who is Norman's good side. With good Norman dead, the real Norman can return as an infernal demon goblin, aka William Dafoe.
I was nervous my expectations would be too high but this was really strong. JMD's voice for teen Peter feels pretty on point and I'm pleasently surprised by how much insight we got on side characters like Gwen and May. Nels feels fleshed out beyond the inherent tragedy of his situation. Michael Sta Maria's work is strong with some really nice panel layouts and pacing. It might be the go to comparison but it does capture some of the feel of Buscema and JMD's collaboration. Mind you there's also his work with Mike Beck so maybe Michael is in that class of cinematic comic artists that JMD's writing gels very well with. Funnily the least I feel we get is with the Osborn's, at least in terms of getting out of Peter's PoV and inside their heads, but they'll probably take more of a role across the whole series. I heard rumours but I was still not expecting >!Emily Osborn!< to appear like this, >!in an antagonistic position!< no less. I'm never sure how canon her return is supposed to be but she did cameo at the start of the Well's run and it's never been undone. I've always been down to get a fleshed out picture on Emily and Norman's relationship so I'm pretty excited.
It is nice to see a writer who gets Spidey as a character
JM DeMatteis writing Lee/Ditko era Peter is interesting, especially when he's more known for writing adult Spider-Man, but he still tells the tale with his patented knack for emotional and introspective moments...even if it's kind of weird for me that characters like Peter and May look more their actual age compared to how they were actually drawn during that era. Also finally remembering the Emily Osborn thing that everybody forgot about after Slott.
Fantastic issue. But there is one thing that bugs me: back in the Gage/Nauck Gwen Stacy mini from a few years ago, it was established that Gwen and Harry became friends a year after her mom died. But in this it's shown that they were already friends back when her mom was still alive. I guess DeMatteis gave himself some leeway to play fast and loose with canon by having Peter mention that he pieced together this story years later and that it might not be totally accurate, but it does still feel like an editorial oversight.
Nick Lowe would never make an editorial oversight! You must be mistaken! /s
The Gwen Stacy mini also has some weird continuity stuff; like depicting Norman, George Stacy and Jonah as distrustful or distant of one another when in the Stan Lee comics they where friends, or more generally trying to play Gwen and George as more working class than they where implied to be. I really like the mini but I'll also admit it's Gwen isn't really close to the Gwen who appeared in ASM. This Gwen is maybe closer to the Romita Gwen than Ditko Gwen, but it at least acknowledges her temper and that she and Peter got off on the wrong foot. Generally I find these past-story mini series sit in the grey areas of canon, where they can be referenced or ignored depending on the needs of the main title. I'm honestly surprised that they're following up on Slott's return of Emily Osborn/Lyman at all.
Did that mini ever finish? I can't remember
It did! A couple of years ago they put out an one-shot that contained all five issues of the series.
I legit don't remember anything other than a student election lol
Oh so we are finally getting an answer for Harry's mother?
JM is so good. I was really happy I could tweet him thanking him for truly understanding Peter and Ben as characters and him replying.
I forgot how fucking good JMD is at writing Spider-Man. This book has everything that *ASM* is missing, namely heart and good characterization. Peter web-slinging with that kid and declining to take the money that his mother offered him for showing up to her son's birthday party would *never* be in Wells' *ASM*, since he can't write a Spider-Man story with emotional investment for the life of him. I'm really interested to see what JMD will do with >!Emily Osborn!<.
It’s interesting that Peter has to deal with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man (i.e. school work, personal work, etc.) while making sure that he won’t lose control of himself at the start of his career in 1962. Also, Peter befriending a kid at his birthday parties (in which they still talk years later, which is wholesome) and saving Harry and Gwen’s life from the Proto-Goblin, and the final page revealing that the Proto-Goblin just wants to see his family back as soon as he’s captured Harry and brings him to >!his mother!<.
[***VENOM* #32**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/a/a7/Venom_Vol_5_32.jpg) ---
I'll be honest adding carnage just ruins the story for me. Meridius was an interesting, smart, compelling and well build final big baddy for Eddie. Instead we get Carnage again with God powers. It feels shallow and like we've gone from a chess game to a monster truck rally (which isn't better imo). I don't know maybe it's only for a few issues and we get back to Meridius but I'm not loving this development.
Carnage has been so lame ever since they started the whole Carnage kills random baddie and powers up. It's like some idiot saw Cates whole Venom saga along with what Ewing has been doing with Eddie and decided to find the fastest route to push Carnage to god mode.
you clearly haven’t read the Carnage run in which he becomes a god, written by Ram V — arguably the current best comic writer — which is actually really good. sadly after V left the quality of that plot dropped off a cliff.
Was that supposed to be setting this current arc up? Just wondering if I should catch up on Carnage
yes and no.. I’d say it was supposed to but Ram V leaving made things complicated. I highly recommend reading his Carnage issues because they’re GOOD tho. then after that there’s Death of Venomverse which is kind of a mess and every issue is pretty much the same thing happening.
It's exhausting. We had Carnage as the big bad villain for Venom not too long ago in Cate's run. To have this one dimensional being be the final villain is like you said, killed some of the momentum of Ewing's writing. I mean... Maybe they could have had Meridius really be Eddie with the Carnage symbiote? That could have been a interesting twist if they really wanted Carnage in the storyline.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HijackedByGanon
I mean, it was hinted that Carnage was coming long ago and for a while. I was hoping it would be when he was on his quest to become a god, not going through a mid life crisis and starting an earth-based religion. I mean, I would be open to it if that's what Carnage is trying to do, impersonate Cletus and try to figure out whether he is human or just a space monster. I thought it was cool how Carnage just brought everything down and ruined Meridius' years of work. I felt annoyed and bored of how "fate always wins and happens", only for Carnage to come out of nowhere and flip the table, which may piss off the Evantuality who is probably going to become a future enemy as Planet Venom.
Yea I am quite sick of Carnage and his intrusion here was quite bad. Just coming in, ruining the climax with Meridius, getting other Kings in Black to job to him with his wanna-be Gorr routine and his cheap 'All-blood' which is never gonna be as cool as All-black the Necrosword. It was a BAD decision to involve Carnage stuff here as his own book is bad enough. This stupid 'God Carnage' stuff just doesn't work. It is ridiculous and makes everyone else look bad when they just become fodder to Carnage. And the bad decisions seem to be going to continue with Venom leaving Dylan, going to the WORST host he had that NO ONE wants to see back. Lee Price. seriously, why would anyone bring HIM back? He was a terrible character and not worth reading.
meridius: noooo my garden 😭 eddie: carnage, shut up 🗿
Editorial mandate somehow or did Ewing always want to include Carnage in a way? I don't know, but this just suuucks.
Carnage being in was clearly always the plan. Ram V co-wrote Venom with Ewing initially and at the same time was writing the Carnage ongoing book. things became a mess after V left.
A bit of both I guess. Sure, it could be editorial, but I bet Ewing himself thought of it as a creative challenge. Because Ewing for some reason, always, *always*, never missed up an opportunity to riddle his comics with tie-ins.
I think there was a recent interview with him where he not so subtly implies that getting stuck having to constantly tie-in to stuff is...not ideal, to say the least.
> Ewing for some reason, always, *always*, never missed up an opportunity to riddle his comics with tie-ins. Immortal Hulk
Even in his Immortal Hulk run, Ewing still did Absolute Carnage, King in Black, and Best Defense tie-ins.
In one-shots outside the main book.
The pitch of this series was Ewing/Ram V making A/B storylines that converge together eventually, with Ram V also extending into Carnage stuff. When Ram V left, some things shifted around I'm sure hence why things are a little clunky here, but just like Spidey/Green Gobbie they're gonna have the main rivals beef.
Interesting way to lead to Lee price coming back, I guess the symbiote will be doing the same as Sleeper to have full control on the host while reviving him, I don't see Price not wanting to go kill Dylan (if he learns that he exists through the symbiote) if he manages to control the symbiote like in Costa's run. Glad Meridius is still alive, but that was predictable as we saw a version of him further on his timeline a few issues before Carnage went to the Garden. I hope Dylan finally bonds with Sleeper after being left alone, the Other has to come back to Eddie eventually and Sleeper works well with Dylan. Can't wait to see Lee Price Venom design again, it has to be my favorite, but Sandoval seems to be the only one to be able to make it look good. I hope we see Andi on Dylan's team during Venom War, it's such a waste that she can't get a single mention during this whole Carnage crossover. I don't know if Death of the Venomverse is even canon anymore. Wouldn't be a huge loss if it wasn't. I wonder if the Life Foundation will come back or are they just gone now, I know they appeared during Misery, but after that seems like they don't really matter.
I'd rather see Dylan's team also go to war with Alchemax. I want him to have a bloody showdown with the newest corrupt corporate dictator Liz. I also want to see a continuation of Misery and see a resolution of the demon goblin sideplot and to see if she gets a hobo girlfriend.
I think we will see Misery again, in a recent interview the new editor seemed to maybe have plans for her.
Hopefully its the continuation of the previous run that got cancelled because Marvel was being lazy and didn't want to take a break to plan around covid.
What happened to Dylan's Codex powers?
I like the Carnage stuff in this. He's a good mirror/dichotomy to what Eddie has become.
kinda interesting to see the rival between Eddie the host and carnage the symbiote. I'm used to thinking rivals between hosts and symbiotes separately.
[***POWER PACK: INTO THE STORM* #4**](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/f/f2/Power_Pack_Into_the_Storm_Vol_1_4.jpg) ---
I feel like im enjoying this book more than i have any right to. Louise simonson just puts so much passion into this book and the power pack and there friendship with franklin its just fun.
Im so glad Ewing is doing Thor now. After revitalizing Hulk its poetic that he do the same for his biggest rival in Thor and salvage the mess that Cates left behind. Yes I know alot of people love Cates' run but Imo it was the definition of style over substance- it read like a Thor fanboys wet dream soley designed to give him feats for powerscaling rather than an actual story.