Secret Wars

[starri]

I give a hearty endorsement to Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra.  Hank is a cog in the Hydra machine, balancing his work on behalf of evil with his responsibilities as a husband and father.  Seeing MODOK singing Amazing Grace at a Hydra funeral is worth the cover price by itself.

[bmoore4026]

Well, might as well review what I've read this week.

 

Still liking Marvel Zombies.  Elsa realizing her dad was a dick and that emotions shouldn't be killed or closed off was nice.  Plus, we find out the kid Elsa found is actually a girl.  And we get some Deadpool time and find out why some of the Marvel Zombies are still cognizant: the eat his brain a tiny bit at a time.  Sometimes regeneration factors can be a bitch. 

We also find out who has been following Elsa and the kid: Elsa's father, who is now a zombie and has a bunch of bloodstones growing out of him.

 

So, paper version of X-Men '92 came out this week.  Still loving this title.  Nice to see the characters that only showed up a couple of times in the series (especially poor Domino and Psylocke) getting to do a lot more.

 

Loving Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps.  Carol was able to save her crew member from last issue, which prompts her to take her squad and James Rhodes and escape from Hala Field.  Evil Baroness Lady sends jet fighters after her, but Carol and her team are able to stop them without killing them.  Carol and her squad end up on a deserted island

and are about to be attacked by Thors because Evil Baroness Lady alerted Doom to Carol's actions. Can't wait for next issue.

 

Civil War has got intrigues and shit.  She-Hulk is able to slip through into The Blue, which looks like some place out of Bade Runner, because this domain's Charles Xavier's powers are failing him in his old age.  She does some espionage work, finding Bullseye, who was Miriam Sharpe's assassin from issue #1, and encounters a grizzled Speedball.  Fight ensues.  Spider-Man's team fights Iron Man Sentinels and we get a good look at poor Electra's fried corpse.   His team finds out who is running The Iron Sentinels security - a mutated Kingpin that has Dr. Octopus' metal tentacles grafted on to his back.  Fight ensues.

 

Venom, on Pete's team, brutally kills Kingpinopus, and Pete is able to get what they were sent for.  She-Hulk is able to escape Speedball, only to be hit by some unknown energy and vanishes.  When Pete returns to base, he confides in Hank McCoy that he just doesn't feel anything anymore because so many have died.  She-Hulk wakes up, depowered, in an energy prison cell and comes face to face with the one behind the assassination

the long thought dead Black Panther. To be continued.

 

Might as well also talk about the two issues I missed from last week.

 

Secret Wars 2099 continues to be OK.  Can't really remember much.

 

Marvel Zombies vs Age of Ultron was a bit more memorable.  Ultron's forces and The Zombies join forces quite literally - Ultron merges his robots with The Zombies.  Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary, Wonder Man, Vision, and Jim Hammond bond with their lovers while the 1872 Hank Pym learns to adapt in an advanced Utopia.  Meanwhile, the 1872 Janet Van Dyne is fighting her way across The Wasteland to the Sanctuary and 1872 HP.  Some months later, though, all of the Marvel Zombies have become Ultron hybrids and begin their attack on the dome protecting Sanctuary.  1872 HP tells Vison, Wonder Man, and Jim that he has a plan to defeat the Ultron Zombies, but in order for it to work, they have to lose.  Gotta say, I'm intrigued.

 

Well, next week we're finally getting Issue 6 of the main series, which looks to have the fall of The Shield finally.  Can't wait!

[bmoore4026]

Just found out the correction: We won't be getting issue 6 until the end of September.  Goddamn it, Marvel!

[starri]

I want to marry the final issue of Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde.  I can't give it a better review than that.  It the most pure fun I've had with this event, even though I've been enjoying the hell out of the whole thing.

[bmoore4026]

After reading Age of Apocalypse yesterday, I've come to realize what the something that has been bothering me about the series and 90s X-Men comics - the unnecessarily flowery language.  It just gets under my skin. 

 

I also hate that we haven't seen Storm's team of X-Men since issue one, meaning they're probably dead.  Another thing that got me is that, during a flashback scene, the "X" on Marvel Girl's/Emma Frost's X-Men costume is positioned, more or less, around her cooch.  I mean what the hell!?

[benteen]

I loved Thors #3 and am bitterly disappointed that it's only a four-issue series.  This title is too damn fun to be done forever after this, AU be damned.

[bmoore4026]

Sorry for not giving my reviews for the past week.  I get in a funk and don't feel like doing much.

 

Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde was nice.  Very Moonlighting-like.  And since the Kitty Pryde Star-Lord encountered wasn't his Kitty Pryde, there would be little chance of screwing up like the afore mentioned show by the two of them getting married.  I'd love it if this continued as a regular series.

 

Future Imperfect ended weakly.  Maestro gets the power to destroy Doom and does so......only it turns out to be an illusion in his warped mind.  And The Resistance just walks away while Maestro powers down and laughs madly.  Um.......the end.

 

Marvel Zombies vs Age of Ultron also ended weakly.  1872 Hank Pym figures out that the Ultron Zombies are controlled by Ultron's Ionic powered will.  To stop them, they need an even greater ionic powered will.  Since Wonder Man, Vision, and Jim Hammond are powered by ions, 1872 HP asks them to sacrifice themselves to power and ionic powered collective intelligence....something.  It got complicated.  The three ion heroes say their goodbyes just as the Ultron Zombies break through the ion dome.  Battle happens.  Several die but several more fight back; Agatha Harkness kicks ass with her magic.  1872 Wasp rescues 1872 HP in the nick of time.  Wonder Man's girlfriend gets an ion power upgrade at the last minute by 1872 HP just as The Ion Heroes fly into the reactor.  She grabs Jim Hammond and throws him to the ground, taking his place in the reactor.  The reactor activates and the Ultron Zombies suddenly become the domed city's protectors.  Ultron is not happy.  1872 Hank Pym, 1872 Wasp, Jim Hammond and his girlfriend, and the domed city's survivors life happily ever after....at least until Battleworld ceases to exist.

 

Those along with Age of Apocalypse  are the ones that stand out.  Oh.  Part eight of the digital version of X-Men '92 came out.  Liked it but won't go into more until the paper issue comes out.

 

I think I'm bummed because we aren't getting Issue Six of the main series until the end of September.

[bmoore4026]

Might as well review what I've read so far.

 

A-Force continues to be great.  The Star Girl's interaction with She-Hulk, Nico, Captain Marvel, and Dazzler was touching (Give.  And forgive.), Loki (who is the traitor, as the cover spoils) is smugly triumphant, yet admonishes the three Lady Thors (Gamora, Valkyrie, and I forgot the other one) for talking badly about Medusa.  Loki's victory is short-lived as She-Hulk and her chicks burst through the window and beat the crap out of her and the Lady Thors.  Nico especially gets her moment of awesome calling out her foster mother in betraying Ms. America, brutally severing her ties with the wicked Norse god(dess).  With Loki's deceptions revealed, it looks like A-Force has one and the Thors will administer justice

until Loki launches a screaming ball of energy at The Shield, breaching it and exposing Arcadia to the Marvel Zombies. To be concluded.

  Can't wait for the conclusion.

 

Civil War begins to amp up the action.  General America mobilizes his forces against The Iron, while President Stark puts command of his forces into Bucky Barnes' hands as he goes off in search of She-Hulk.  Tony finds She-Hulk the prisoner of T'Challa in a secret base located in the chasm of The Divide.  There, he's captured by T'Challa's forces, who reveals that he's been manipulating Stark and Steve against each other for more than six years.  Also,  it's not really T'Challa, as he changes into Steve briefly and then as Tony himself.  However Stark doesn't come unprepared

as he modified his battlesuit to contain the electricity projection of the old Thor clone. He zaps T'Challa, revealing him to actually be The Skrull Empress. He battles the Skrull forces and, along with the re-Hulked She-Hulk, beats them all. Before they go above ground, however, She-Hulk says that she needs to tell Tony what she saw in Steeltown. Above ground, Tony's forces battle Steve's, with Steve boldly yelling at Tony's superheroes "You want me!? HERE I AM!" The issue ends with The Iron superheroes diving down toward Steve.

 

Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows ended nicely.  Long story short - Mary-Jane and Annie beat the crap out of Regent's scientists and Mary Jane gets their armor, Peter (who is not dead) sees Regent threaten his family, prompting him to break out of his tank and smash Regent out of his building to the streets below.  Annie follows and stabs the back of Regent's armor with a special arrow of Hawkeye's that he made from her inhibitor bracelet.  Regent loses his powers and threatens to kill Annie.  The crowd of spectators are horrified that he would threaten a child and turn on him.  Peter gets Regent's attention by telling a really bad joke that somehow prompts the overlord to laugh, dropping his guard and allowing Peter to knock him out.  Hawkeye's SHIELD resistance take Regent into custody and the story ends with Mary Jane, Peter, and Annie having breakfast together.  Peter tells the gentle reader that not every story ends with a "happily ever after" but sometimes with a "to be continued" and that their story will keep going on and he wouldn't have it any other way :)

 

Korvac Saga reveals that Michael Korvac remembers the old Marvel Universe and Starhawk the Guardians and Wonder Man's Avengers the Last Incursion from the first issue of the main series.  Before this happens however, the Wonder Avengers and Guardians battle each other and Korvac but stop when Starhawk reveals all.   Korvac has been hiding in Forest Hills until the time was right to overthrow Doom and become a more benevolent ruler for Battleworld. 

Unfortunately, because he manifested his true powers, Korvac has signed his death certificate...and that of Holy Wood and Forest Hills. Doom sends his Thors to attack Korvac and his allies. The Guardians and Wonder Avengers are killed quickly. Korvac blows himself up, along with the Thors, Holy Wood, and Forest Hill and all who lived there. However, he did use some of his power to restore his faithful Guardians to life and placed them in a different domain. Knowing that they'll always be on the run from Doom, they also know that they have a mission - to be the Guardians of the knowledge of the universe that once was.. So long as even one of them is alive, the hope of the stars will exist. Bittersweet ending.

 

And now for Siege.  It was a bit of a let down.  We don't really see how Nick Fury became Nick The Fury.  We find out why the good Ultron robots fled Perfection

they developed the emotion of love for one another

and join in the battle to stop Nick the Fury.  We find out what happened to Magik and Leah the Hel -

they're aren't dead but are using their magics to live and love with each other in the Deadlands.

.  Kang is able to ride Nick the Fury through the timestream, using him to destroy the chronomines that hindered his travels.  The issue ends with Kang returning and he, along with Abigail Brand, meet

Thanos. And, judging from the cover of the sixth issue of the main series, I think we can gather what he intends to do.

.  Intriguing story but I just don't like the art.

 

More stuff to come.

Edited September 11, 2015 by bmoore4026

[Spartan Girl]

Can Renew Your Vows replace the "official" Spiderman storyline?

[starri]

If anyone tells you The Last Days of Ms Marvel made me cry, they are lying.  Lying, I tell you.

 

Also if Marguerite Bennett wanted to find a way to make me love 1602 Witch Hunter Angela even more that I already do, telling the story of the 1602 Cloak and Dagger was exactly the way to do it.

 

A-Force was similarly delightful.  

 

Bennett and Willow Wilson knocked it out of the park this week.

[Dandesun]

I love the regular artist on Ms Marvel. Kamala's expression when her brother's all 'You couldn't possibly understand' about having super-powers is magnificent. It's just this scowl to end all scowls and it gets deeper as their parents show up all worried over their precious son. 'He's got super powers but the good news is they're probably temporary. And he's being a total wet sock about it!'

 

I did love her brother standing up to the Crush Gone Wrong especially about 'don't think you'll put this off on my sister just because you're a boy and nothing is ever your fault!'

 

And everything between Carol and Kamala was lovely.

 

Over at Big Little Marvel we get a Mega Battle with the X-Men, Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy before the twins get recruited into the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (even though they're not all boys so it shouldn't be a brotherhood and they're not all mutants so they're just the Legion of Evil!)

[bmoore4026]

Might as well talk about the last of last week's issues

 

The last Planet Hulk issue actually made me want to cry:

Barbarian Steve kills The Red King in retaliation for Bucky's death. Doc Green applauds Steve's actions and revels in becoming the next king of Greenland.  Barbarian Steve is furious at being used by Doc Green and says that he's nothing like him. At this Doc Green powers down to his true human form....Steven Rogers.  Just as Barbarian Steve went with Bucky through the Super Soldier Program to become physically strong, so did Doc Green "embrace the gamma" to gain his powers. The only difference, Doc Green claims, is that Bucky's ideology has made Barbarian Steve weak and is the reason why he will leave Greenland in Doc Green's hands. But Barbarian Steve tells Doc Green he's wrong: Bucky inspired him to be strong. Without him, he'd always be a coward. It made him brave enough to do what must be done. To demonstrate this, Barbarian Steve kills the unpowered Doc Green.  After tossing the head of the Red King at the massive feet of the Hulks, Barbarian Steve departs with Devil Dinosaur to parts unknown. The end. Like I said, I feel like crying.

 

Giant Size Little Marvel was the perfect pick me up.  Seeing the Little Inhumans (along with Chibi Medusa and her pigtails) was great, as was Zachary and Chloe's reactions to seeing the Terrigen Mist process and what it does.  Zach and Chloe rather angrily telling all the different hero groups to stop fighting was good, too.  It's exactly what a lot of fans think.  This doesn't stop the heroes from having a big battle royale.  The group Zach and Chloe do join is a forgone conclusion.  If all the heroes can't get along, then what group does:

the villains.

.  I'd love to see more adventures of Zach and Chloe!

 

And Secret Wars 2099 ended.  Avengers 2099 and Defenders 2099 fight Baron Mordo 2099 and The Dweller in Darkness 2099 and win.  The end.

 

Read the last Red Skull issue.  Basically, Red Skull didn't tell Magneto that the Sentinels that are guarding The Shield are made of plastic and, thus, his restored powers don't work on them.  The Sentinels terminate the Annihilis Insects that were with Magneto and blast him with a laser so powerful it burns the skin from his face.  It doesn't kill him, but it does leave him with a red skull.  Irony!  Magneto fights Red Skull amongst The Marvel Zombies, Magneto gets eaten, Red Skull escapes to the other side of The Shield, Red Skull gloats, Red Skull gets shot by Crossbones, Crossbones takes Red Skull's head back to Doom.  The end.  Really no point to this mini-series.

 

Liked 1602 - Witch Hunter Angela.  We got to see the 1602 versions of Rogue and Agent Coulson, along with Cloak and Dagger. 

Anyway, 1602 Rogue stabs herself with Angela's spear to free herself from The Enchantress's power. Rogue survives but The Enchantress is unleashed. She kills Serah.  Angela burns Serah's body on a funeral pyre and finds her skull among the ashes. Angela is crestfallen until the skull suddenly speaks to her and tells her that their story isn't over yet. To be continued.

.  Well, I'm dying to know how this all turns out!

 

Well, the tie-ins coming out this week are Age of Apocalypse, Armor Wars, Guardians of Knowhere, House of M, Infinity Guantlet (finally), Secret Wars Journal, Spider-Island, and Spider-Verse.  With the exception of the second one, it looks like a decent week.

Edited September 15, 2015 by bmoore4026

[starri]

So, we came to the end of Guardians of Knowhere and Spider-Verse.  Oddly, my reactions to the finales has pretty much been the opposite of how I've reacted to the series themselves.

 

Spider-Verse seems, at the end of the day, nothing more than a grand set-up for the All-New All-Different Marvel series Web Warriors.  Don't get me wrong, that's going to be on my (virtual) pull list when it comes out, but I was really hoping that such a great miniseries would have an ending that was a little less perfunctory.  Still doesn't dim my enjoyment of the series as a whole.

 

Guardians of Knowhere however suddenly made itself relevant.  And it's not truly over yet because 

616-Peter, fresh from his heartbreak over Kitty, appears to recruit them into whatever plan to take on Doom is forming, so the event is actually going to conclude in both the main book and the new series

.  But what was great was the alliance and respect that Thor-Angela and Gamora developed, even to the point that Angela is begging Gamora not to commit more heresy, because she doesn't want anything to happen to her.  But Gamora is insistent that things are wrong:  Thanos, Quill, Groot.  She knows their names and knows she should remember them, but doesn't know why.  It was a total curveball, but it was a great issue, and really elevated the series as whole.

 

Spider Island released its penultimate issue.  Both the main and the backup were really good, and it's nice to see that even when he's in the thrall of the Spider Queen, JJJ is still JJJ.  There's a callback to a silly adventure from a previous Spider-Man story, Lizard-MJ getting in a "Face it, tiger," and a great retelling of what a badass Agent Venom is.  Very satisfying.

Edited September 18, 2015 by starri

[bmoore4026]

Right.  Might as well talk about the week's comics.

 

Infinity Gauntlet did not disappoint.  Big battle involving The Guardians and Nova Family on one side and Adam Warlock and I think members of the Shiar Imperial Guard on the other.  Battle filled with awesome moments and then Thanos appears at the end. 

He blindsides Adam Warlock and takes his Soul Gem. Then he kills Mama Nova and takes her Mind Gem. It's revealed that he's the one who unleashed the Annihilation Insects on Xandar. And now that he's in control of almost all the Infinity Gems, he's close to godhood. He kills Drax, declaring that "Infinity is almost upon him." Only one issue left. Gah!

 

Age of Apocalypse was interesting.  Apocalypse unleashes the Legacy Virus and Magneto is promptly infected. 

Magneto throws all his power at Apocalypse, determined to bring down the evil mutant. Iceman, who survived the destruction of the Savage Land in the first issue, shows up and tries to contain both Apocalypse and the virus. Meanwhile, Cyclops, Weapon X, and Burner head into Dark Beast's lab to find Jean Grey and, hopefully, a way to stop the Legacy Virus. Havok shows up and tries to fight the three but Cyclops tell him to watch the security video of things going on outside. This causes Havok to help Cyclops' group and he leads them to where Jean is being experimented on. Back outside, Apocalypse breaks free and is about to kill Iceman, when suddenly his body begins to melt. Apocalypse has been infected, irony of ironies. The X-Men launch their assault as the White Queen tries to convince Apocalypse's Horsemen to take down their master. Wild Child becomes infected and attacks Sabretooth, forcing the latter to mercy kill the former. The Horsemens want to survive is stronger than their loyalty, so they join the X-Men in attacking Apocalypse. Apocalypse's body cannot handle it and it falls apart, killing him. Magneto, having spent all his power to stop Apocalypse, dies in White Queen's arms. In a touching panel, X-Men, Horseman, and human react sadly to the man who just saved them from Apocalypse. Enraged by her husband's death, White Queen mentally assaults Dr. Corbeau, who had a hand in creating the Legacy Virus, and she learns who the one behind it really is - Dr. Nemesis, the evil scientist keeping Jean Grey prisoner and is now fighting Cyclops' group. OK, I am hyped for the last part!

 

More coming later.

[bmoore4026]

And now to talk about the rest of last week's comics.

 

Big slug it out fight in Spider-Island.  Everybody fights The Spider-Queen.  She seems to be defeated, only for Spider-Man and some of the others stopping short of killing her.  This frustrated me because she's the source of misery on Spider-Island and, when they get the upper hand, some of the heroes get squeamish about killing her.  The debate between those who want to kill The Spider-Queen and those who don't is interrupted when the lady in question shows her true evil form.  Suddenly, Spider-Man isn't so reluctant to killer her.  To be continued. 

 

In House of M, Quicksilver and Namor take over, forcing the powerless Magneto and the still powered Lorna Dane to go on the run with the human resistance.  Wanda isn't happy with what's happening, but reluctantly joins Pietro after he explains why he did what he did.  What Wanda doesn't know is that Pietro has made things harder for humans in a very short amount of time.  Magneto are taken captive by the human resistance's cyborg allies.  The cyborg leader tells Magneto that if he wants his kingdom back, he and Lorna are going to have to ally up with them.  Magneto grudgingly does so and he, Lorna, the cyborg leader, and the human resistance head for the human internment camps to bust out some allies.  To be continued.  Too much bickering in this series, but I'll see it through to the end.

 

Spider-Verse has always confused me but seeing the various Spider-People interact with each other (especially Spider-Pig and Peter Parker) was entertaining.  All in all, the series ended.  Wish I knew what was going on other than Norman Osborn being evil and trying to overthrow Doom.

 

Lastly, there's Secret War Journal.  First story involving Night Nurse was depressing, but the second story, involving the Mill-E the Model android trying to gain converts to the Cult of Doom was really funny.  Seeing how the Domains reacted to her was a hoot, as was the ending.  So, that wraps up that series.

 

This week will see the continuation for 1873 and Weirdworld, and the conclusions of Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps, Runaways, Inhumans: Attilan Rising, X-Tinction Agenda, and Years of Future Past.  Kind of sad to see the tie-ins winding down.
 

Edited September 22, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

Well.  I just finished the last issue of Years of Future Past :

Chrissie fights Cameron. During their first battle, Cameron talks about the tigers that are loose in the city, and how they've thrived and now hunt in pacts, killing human and mutant alike. Cameron sees mutantkind being the same way, and he goes off to kill President Kelly.

At National Plaza, Colossus, Storm, Rachel, and Angel are able to gently bring down Air Force One. Rachel assures Colossus that Chrissie will save President Kelly from the Magneto controlled Sentinel (unware that both are no more), only for Cameron to appear, followed by the army. Cameron pulls off the door to Air Force One and yanks out President Kelly, ready to drop him.

Before he can do it, however, Chrissie shows up, along with Kate, Wolverine, and the not dead Lockheed, who proceeds to blow up Air Force One, sending Cameron and President Kelly flying.

Kate punches the shit out of Rachel for setting up Chrissie to become a martyr, while Chrissie tells President Kelly (who isn't dead after being blasted several feet forward) that it was a mutant who saved him, getting him to climb on to Lockheed and flown to safety.

Chrissie faces Cameron once more in battle. Cameron chides Chrissie, saying that the killing will never stop because of the two of them and that there are no innocent bystanders. Chrissie, knowing her brother can no longer phase because of the heat from the Air Force One explosion, tell him that she knows this, that there are only martyrs. At this, she runs her liquid metal arm through his chest.

The X-Men, along with the weakened Chrissie and grief stricken Kate, retreat back to Nightcrawler's church. President Kelly orders the army to stand down. Rachel vows to Kate she'll atone for what she did, but Kate doesn't care. Colossus tells Kate that every mutant left, less than a hundred, are now at the church.

At the church, Chrissie weeps and tells Kate she had to kill Cameron, other wise it would never stop. Kate comforts her daughter, saying that she knows.

No one has time to settle though, as sirens and helicopters are heard and coming closer. The X-Men and mutant survivors ready themselves for one last fight.

Kate stays awhile longer in a church. She sees as shadow coming from a side archway: it is a tiger. Earlier in the issue, while Cameron was talking about the tigers, we see a bunch of them drag the body of Magneto out of the Sentinel he was in and devour it, their muzzles stained with his blood. The captions in the last few panels are of Kate wondering what will become of mutants now. Will they fight? Will they die? Will the world be better or worse if they pass on into extinction? Are the sirens ambulances or Sentinels? Is there a difference any longer?

The last full page panel is of Kate staring directly at a bloody mouthed tiger.

 

Jesus, what a way to end a series! I feel like crying!

Edited September 23, 2015 by bmoore4026

[starri]

Inhumans: Attilan Rising.  

Apparently, Doom has some power over time that we've never seen anywhere else. Medusa joins up with Black Bolt and decides to take down New Attilan. Black Bolt ends up going through Terrigenesis and emerging with his traditional powers. Cut to Doomstadt, where Doom observes that this had the same outcome as before. And then time is rewritten, with Black Bolt sitting on the throne of Attilan with an un-powered Medusa leading the rebellion from The Quiet Room.

 I like this series because I really like Medusa, and there's one panel that's got the best depiction of her powers that I think I've ever seen, but the ending didn't really work for me.

 

Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps.  Kelly Sue DeConnick's swan song at Marvel.  She's going to do great things over at Bitch Planet, but for now, Carol and her Corps are going out the way they've lived.  Good ending, celebrating one of the characters that really pushed Marvel to greater diversity.  See you soon, Carol.

[Lantern7]

In case you haven't heard . . . X-Men '92 will be an ongoing series next year. I don' t think I'll stay around for that, mostly because I'm not getting the nostalgia fuzzies reading the miniseries.

[bmoore4026]

Inhumans: Attilan Rising.  

Apparently, Doom has some power over time that we've never seen anywhere else. Medusa joins up with Black Bolt and decides to take down New Attilan. Black Bolt ends up going through Terrigenesis and emerging with his traditional powers. Cut to Doomstadt, where Doom observes that this had the same outcome as before. And then time is rewritten, with Black Bolt sitting on the throne of Attilan with an un-powered Medusa leading the rebellion from The Quiet Room.

 I like this series because I really like Medusa, and there's one panel that's got the best depiction of her powers that I think I've ever seen, but the ending didn't really work for me.

 

I think from the ending, we are to assume that Black Bolt and Medusa are stuck in that time loop because they're both threats to Doom, since they're from the original universe and know how bad Doom can be.  By taking away their memories and alternating the two in a conflict of powerful ruler/powerless rebellion leader, they're kept in check.  Doom won't have to worry about them.

[bmoore4026]

Well, the next issue of the main series doesn't come out 'til next week (I hope), so this week we've got some wrap ups.

 

I'll start with the two comics featuring Cassandra Nova.

 

Much like Years of Future Past, E is for Extinction ends on a sad note:

 

Both the Old and New X-Men encounter the resurrected Cassandra Nova in Jean Grey's body.

Cyclops tried to bring Jean back, only for Cassandra to obliterate him.

The Nova possessed X-Men battle Old and non-possessed New X-Men. It's implied that the latter team is killed off one by one, until only Wolverine and the Xavier possessed Quinten Quire are left.

Wolverine reasons that Cyclops failed because the love between him and Jean was gone. But Logan never stopped loving Jean. Xavier possess Wolverine and they both reach out to Jean. This brings Jean around.

On the Astral Plane, Xavier manifests psychic Adamantium claws. In the physical world, Wolverine unsheathes his claws while Jean creates her own Phoenix claws. The two draw into an embrace, stabbing each other with their respective claws. On the Astral Plane, Xavier kills Cassandra with his claws.

Elsewhere, the human couple from the first issue learn that Henry McCoy's procedure worked and they're to be parents to a mutant baby. The husband is briefly distracted by "fireworks outside the city" but goes to his wife and touches her pregnant belly. They decide that if the baby is a boy, they'll name him James. If a girl, Jean.

At the crater that was once the battlefield both X-Men teams were on, there is nothing left except for a small area of light in the center. That light is the new Phoenix, emerging from the body of Xorn. Phoenix declares that balance has been restored and only Grey remains. Too bad both X-Men teams are dead.

Edited September 30, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

The X-Men '92 finale is much happier:

 

All the X-Men and X-Force battle the rather frightening looking X-Sentinel. The wussified Wolverine overcomes his brainwashing when a lady he's trying to save asks him to bring Cyclops to save her.


Rogue over comes hers when she realizes that, for all the romantic planning she and Remy have been doing, she still can never touch his skin with out sucking the life out of him. Gambit comes around when he realizes that the two of them would never truly have a normal life. Pam and Archer from the show Archer are right - Gambit is the gayest X-Man, because the panel after he comes to his senses features him ripping off his shirt while his ponytail flaps in the wind.


On the Cassandra/Shadow King side of things, Xavier, with Psylocke, Cable, and Jean Grey lending him their psychic powers, battles the monster on The Astral Plane and in his Onslaught form, to boot. Xavier succeeds in firing Shadow King into the void, where he no doubt will stay, forever and ever. Xavier might need a transfusion the way he was head-bloodin' during the big battle.


Back in the physical world, the mutants are getting their butts handed to them by the X-Sentinel. The now unpossessed Cassandra says that Baron Kelly has the Sentinel shutdown codes. If those codes are fired into the X-Sentinel's receiver on it's chest via laser, it'll stop.


Kelly asks Cyclops to shoot his beams at the X-Sentinel, but Scott informs him that his eyebeams are concussive beams, not lasers; Cassandra escapes in the confusion. Jubilee shows up with Cable's megalaser gun and volunteers to do it.


Gambit supercharges a motorcycle and pulls and Evel Knievel speeding jump right into the X-Sentinel's hands that were blocking the lasers, jumping off at the last second. Rogue grabs Remy, who steals the kiss he's always wanted. irritating her but he says it was worth it as he falls unconscious.


Jubilee fires the megalaser gun multiple times at the X-Sentinel, who says "Jubilee wins" several times as it breaks down. However, the backlash from the gun is too much for Jubilee's little body and she falls into a coma.

Jubilee wakes up sometime later at the X-Men mansion where she learns that everyone is OK and that they won. We also see Rogue in a new costume, Jean ready to leave for a vacation with Scott, and Gambit teaching the new students (yay, Generation X kids) of the reopened Xavier School. Much to Jubilee's delight, Jono is one of the new students.


Xavier asks X-Force if any are willing to stay on as X-Men. Bishop volunteers his services as campus security, while Psylocke is willing to take Jean's place on the team. Cable, however, says he prefers to stay with his team. Cyclops bids farewell to Storm, confident the team will do well in her hands.


In the first epilogue for the story, we see a barista (it's a man, so is it baristo?) serving coffee to someone reading a newspaper, who comments on the Xavier School reopening. The person deliberately knocks their spoon off the table, causing the server to reveal his magnetic powers by catching it in midair. The customer, Cassandra Nova, with a wicked smile, tells the server, Joseph, not to worry and that she'll keep his secret.


Epilogue two features Baron Kelly meeting with his associates underground Westchester. His associates? None other than Apocalypse and his Horsemen - Mystique of the Brotherhood, Bastion of the Prime Sentinels, and Exodus of The Acolytes. Together, they begin to plot anew.


I loved this series! I so plan on reading more when it becomes a regular series next year. Yes, it plays off the nostalgia of fans, but I loved the 90s X-Men. I loved the animated series. These are the X-Men I remember and miss. These are the times I want back. No "M" Day. No "Mutant Savior". No "Bad Cyclops". These are the mutants I know and love!

 

 

Edited October 2, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

Magik and her demons enjoy some time at Coney Island, eating hot dogs and people. Magik speaks with N'astirh's severed head and learn of Sinister's Boom Boom demons.


At the sewer hideout of Sinister, he explains his plans to all assembled that he intends to use his Boom Boom demon hybrids to kill Magik and stop the demons once and for all. These plans blow up in Sinister's face when Boom Boom regains her senses and blows up Sinister's face, destroying the entire upper half of his body.


The Boom Boom demons go berserk, throwing energy time bombs at X-Men and demons alike. Havok is killed before Goblin Queen's eyes. It's at this moment that Magik attacks.


Magik's demons begin killing the remaining X-Men, but Colossus, Boom Boom, and Domino manage to escape to street-level, where Magik is waiting.


Colossus fights Magik with the Soul Sword. When it looks like he's about to strike her down, she casts and illusion of her old Illiyana form, begging him not to.


Colossus drops his guard, giving Magik the momentum to strike cutting open his metal chest. Before she can strike again, the ground buckles and she falls, giving Colossus another opening to strike. However, Magik once again casts an illusion of her old self. It's at this point that Domino emerges and yells at Colossus to not believe in the illusion and to remember all of those that have fallen.


Colossus regains his senses and strikes, but Magik dodges the sword, which becomes imbedded in the asphalt. Magik uses her dark powers to slam her big brother to the ground and to twist and morph the wound and surrounding metals into disgusting tendrils.


Domino shoots Magik multiple times in the head; Boom Boom emerges from the hole leading to the now destroyed sewers. Magik shrugs off the attack and seizes Domino. Magik gloats over her brother, saying that even his girlfriend knows the score and that he should have killed her when he had the chance. And he had a lot of chances. Magik unhinges her monstrous jaw, revealing three nasty rows of teeth, and prepares to eat Domino's head. Before she can get the chance, Colossus, with all his strength, pulls out the Soul Sword and slashes the demon who was once his sister in half.


The Soul Sword changes Colossus body, undoing the grievous damage Magik did. Colossus realizes it was his love for Domino that gave him the strength to do what had to be done. Domino had a similar notion, which is why she attacked Magik. The two are about to kiss when Boom Boom interrupts, saying the X-Men are dead and the demons are coming.


Colossus decides to leave the forsaken domain of Limbo with Domino and Boom Boom and uses to Soul Sword the teleport the three of them away.


While the X-Men are dead, Madelyn Pryor and Nathan are not. The two are teleported to the surface by the demonic Nightcrawler and see that Magik's corpse is erupting with hellfire.


Madelyn steps into the inferno and is transformed, with a whole new outfit to boot. Hail to the queen, baby.


The end. I liked this series but it works best as a mini. With all the heroes dead and the Goblin Queen coming full circle as the ruler of Limbo again with her son at her side, there's no reason to continue. Let her live happily ever after...in Hell. I am going to miss her snarkiness though.

 

Inferno ended rather bittersweetly but maintained it's dark humor throughout:

Edited October 1, 2015 by bmoore4026

[benteen]

Magik and her demons enjoy some time at Coney Island, eating hot dogs and people. Magik speaks with N'astirh's severed head and learn of Sinister's Boom Boom demons.

At the sewer hideout of Sinister, he explains his plans to all assembled that he plans to use his Boom Boom demon hybrids. These plans blow up in Sinister's face when Boom Boom regains her senses and blows up Sinister's face, destroying the entire upper half of his body.

The Boom Boom demons go berserk, throwing energy time bombs at X-Men and demons alike. Havok is killed before Goblin Queen's eyes. It's at this moment that Magik attacks.

Magik's demons begin killing the remaining X-Men, but Colossus, Boom Boom, and Domino manage to escape to street-level, where Magik is waiting.

Colossus fights Magik with the Soul Sword. When it looks like he's about to strike her down, she casts and illusion of her old Illiyana form, begging him not to.

Colossus drops his guard, giving Magik the momentum to strike cutting open his metal chest. Before she can strike again, the ground buckles and she falls, giving Colossus another opening to strike. However, Magik once again casts an illusion of her old self. It's at this point that Domino emerges and yells at Colossus to not believe in the illusion and to remember all of those that have fallen.

Colossus regains his senses and strikes, but Magik dodges the sword, which becomes imbedded in the asphalt. Magik uses her dark powers to slam her big brother to the ground and to twist and morph the wound and surrounding metals into disgusting tendrils.

Domino shoots Magik multiple times in the head; Boom Boom emerges for the whole leading to the now destroyed sewers. Magik shrugs off the attack and seizes Domino. Magik gloats over her brother, saying that even his girlfriend knows the score and that he should have killed her when he had the chance. And he had a lot of chances. Magik unhinges her monstrous jaw, revealing three nasty rows of teeth, and prepares to eat Domino's head. Before she can get the chance, Colossus, with all his strength, pulls out the Soul Sword and slashes the demon who was once his sister in half.

The Soul Sword changes Colossus body, undoing the grievous damage Magik did. Colossus realizes it was his love for Domino that gave him the strength to do what had to be done. Domino had a similar notion, which is why she attacked Magik. The two are about to kiss when Boom Boom interrupts, saying the X-Men are dead and the demons are coming.

Colossus decides to leave the forsaken domain of Limbo with Domino and Boom Boom and uses to Soul Sword the teleport the three of them away.

While the X-Men are dead, Madelyn Pryor and Nathan are not. The two are teleported to the surface by the demonic Nightcrawler and see that Magik's corpse is erupting with hellfire.

Madelyn steps into the inferno and is transformed, with a whole new outfit to boot. Hail to the queen, baby.

The end. U liked this series but it works best as a mini. With all the heroes dead and the Goblin Queen coming full circle as the ruler of Limbo again with her son at her side, there's no reason to continue. Let her live happily ever after...in Hell. I am going to miss her snarkiness though.

 

Inferno ended rather bittersweetly but maintained it's dark humor throughout:

 

Yep.  I thought that was the perfect assessmenet of it.  I really enjoyed Inferno.

[starri]

Inferno was something I only picked up on a lark, but I'm so glad I did.  It wasn't quite as Earth- (or, I guess Battleworld-)shattering as some of the other series, but it's been neck and neck with Star Lord and Kitty Pryde as the most pure fun of any of the series.

 

I'm only sad that we won't get to see the Freddie Mercury-esque Mr. Sinister whenever the multiverse resets.

[bmoore4026]

Three weeks have passed since last issue. Black Swan is now part of Doom's council. Susan and Valeria want to know more about who everyone is, but Doom is more concerned about the whereabouts of the remaining Life Raft survivors than where they came from (because he knows damn well). Valeria is beginning to have doubts in her "father", and this is frustrating her to no end. She knows everything about this is wrong. Her Foundation did finding out something, though: The source of Doom's power is within Battleworld (but we, the readers, already know this). They're also studying probes that have been seen all around Battleworld.


The probes are the product of Reed and Ultimate Reed, who are trying to find out a way to defeat Doom. Ultimate Reed wants to flat out kill Doom, but Reed is more concerned about what will happen to Battleworld if that happens. Ultimate Reed says that thinking is flawed and what matters is that his creation, "The Prophet", is mobilizing those who doubt Doom's power throughout all the domains and is beginning to march them toward Doom's stronghold. All Ultimate Reed can think of now is how to kill Doom, but Reed is against it. Ultimate Reed wonders how his other self can be so "weak". Reed matter-of-factly states that he cares in somethings besides himself. This is why Reed is awesome.


Reed has sent both Spider-Men to Castle Doom, where they encounter Valeria. Turns out she wants to help and leads them to the trap door that leads underground. She asks Peter Parker whether any of them killed Stephen Strange and he tells her that none of them did. Her response: "Didn't think so". Shit is subtly escalating.


The Spider-Men head underground to the Energy Room, where they find Molecule Man, who demands food from them. Miles happens to have a hamburger on him. A three week old hamburger, Peter points out, but Molecule Man doesn't care and eats it anyway. When Peter asks where they can find the source of Doom's power, Molecule Man matter-of-factly says, "You're looking at him". So, Molecule Man is the one with the true power. Does this mean Doom would be completely powerless without him? Does he really have Beyonder power?


Doom meets with some of his Barons and Baronesses (the fact that Apocalypse and Maestro are still around means this issue happens before events in Age of Apocalypse and Future Imperfect, but after Inferno, since Madelyne Pryor is once again Baroness of Limbo). From the panels, it suggests that Egyptia has fallen to The Prophet. Doom is not happy about the uprisings and Apocalypse suggests he kill all who are disloyal, throughout the domains. Rather than waste Thors, however, he orders the domain rulers to do so. Mr. Sinister, of the Bar Sinister domain, asks his guest, Captain Marvel, what they should do. Carol, in her sublime way (several punches to the face), convinces Sinister to "act naughty". The look on Carol's face in the last panel is fucking creepy!


At the Isle of Agamotto, Black Panther and Namor, who have seem to have patched things up between them, enter Stephen's secret chamber, containing items that can defeat Doom. One is the Siege Courageous, an item that can teleport anyone anywhere in the world. Namor takes hold of this item. Black Panther, to his surprise, finds something even better - a fully empowered Infinity Gauntlet! Can I get a "Hell yeah!"


At Castle Doom, Susan tells Franklin the Story of The Fantastic Four, which is quite different than the one we know. Reed has been replaced with Johnny and Susan's father, Franklin Storm. They were from an Earth that was destroyed during an Incursion, but Susan is fuzzy on the details. She knows that when her world ended, they turned up on Battleworld and that Doom "saved them". A panel suggests that Franklin Storm was killed by Apocalypse (of where, I don't know), but Doom saved the others. Susan implies that The Human Torch willingly became Battleworld's Sun, but we know that's not true. So, either Doom altered her memories or she knows and is sugar coating the truth. Franklin asks about Ben and Susan says that's another story for another day.


If you've been reading Siege, you know what's become of Ben. For those who don't, he's part of The Shield that protects the domains from the likes of The Ultrons, The Annihilation Insects, and The Marvel Zombies.


At The Shield, Ben converses with Thanos, who is prisoner there. Thanos tells Ben that "God" put him there because he fears him. That, in the world he is from, Ben and Doom are mortal enemies. When Ben asks if Battleworld is real, Thanos assures him it is. It's just not reality as it should be. Thanos asks Ben if he's just going to allow himself to "live on his knees" before a tyrant, or will he stand.


The last page is Ben's answer: he stands. The Gigantic Ben Grimm stands.

 

Well, the latest issue of the main series came out, finally:

Edited October 10, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

We get further detail into Ben and Thanos' conversation, along with what was happening during all this.

Abigail Brand's forces are fighting the assembled nasties from the other side of The Shield; The Ultrons, The Zombies, The Insects. Several die.

During the big battle is when Ben gets up and leaves. The main series suggested that Ben got up on the Far East domain side, but the Battleworld map shows that that domain isn't located along side The Shield. The Valley of Flame is, though, meaning that domain is history now.

Ms. America teleports out with Kate Bishop/Hawkeye. Kang decides to travel back to the past to warn what will happen. Leonardo separates from Michelangelo and they both pass on, leaving Abigail Brand and The Bar Sinister Scott Summers to face the coming horde alone. The two join in as the monsters on the other side of The Shield advance. The end.

Goddamn, a lot of these tie-ins end sadly!

 

Siege ties directly in with issue six of the main series.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

Also, some of the comics of the "All-New All-Different" (not enough quotation marks in existence for those words) Marvel Comics debuted this week, even though Secret Wars isn't finished yet.  Wondering if there should be a separate topic.  Downside would be a shit ton of spoilers before the series even ends.

[starri]

Damn, Siege had a great ending.

 

I dispute that it was a bummer.  The Shield was the status quo.  With that gone, it gives a fighting chance to the multiverse to reassert itself.

[bmoore4026]

Damn, Siege had a great ending.

 

I dispute that it was a bummer.  The Shield was the status quo.  With that gone, it gives a fighting chance to the multiverse to reassert itself.

 

You have a point, but there are so many zombies and Ultrons and space insects that there might not be much left even if the heroes win.  I still thing that last panel of Abigail and Cyclops holding hands as all the things The Shield was holding back advanced on them was sad.  The just resigned themselves to their fate.  At least Ms. America and Kate Bishop got away.

[starri]

I can neither confirm nor deny that I might have gotten a little verklempt at the end of 1602: Witch Hunter Angela.  Which, counting a few of the Last Days of... is like the fourth or fifth time the event has made me sniffly.

 

It was kind of a beautifully cyclical moment.  1602 exists at all because Neil Gaiman signed on to write a miniseries for Marvel so he'd have enough money to fight Todd McFarlane in court over the ownership of Angela.  He set it in King James' England because, as he started working on the story after 9/11, he wasn't in the mood to see a bunch of tall buildings fall down.  And then we get a lovely story about the love between Angela and Serah, where we can have a relationship where one of the halves is transgender without it being any kind of a big deal, pointed out, or underlined.

 

I think I'm onboard for the first issue (at least) of Angela - Queen of Hel.  If Marguerite Bennett can keep up this level of quality, it should be a great ride.

 

I'm glad we're getting back to the universe the way it's supposed to be soon, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't enjoyed the living hell out of the Event.

 

ETA:  Adding to the verklempt-ness, Spider-Island.  With the threat of the Spider-Queen too much to contain 

Flash makes the decision to sacrifice not only himself, but also the symbiote to stop her. In her final moments, she begs the symbiote to spare her, promising to find him a better, stronger host. The symbiote then corrects her--Flash wasn't its host, he was its friend. Peace is restored, and the new baron, Peter Parker petitions to have Spider-Island renamed after Flash.

 Truly a great ending.

Edited October 11, 2015 by starri

[bmoore4026]

I can neither confirm nor deny that I might have gotten a little verklempt at the end of 1602: Witch Hunter Angela.  Which, counting a few of the Last Days of... is like the fourth or fifth time the event has made me sniffly.

 

It was kind of a beautifully cyclical moment.  1602 exists at all because Neil Gaiman signed on to write a miniseries for Marvel so he'd have enough money to fight Todd McFarlane in court over the ownership of Angela.  He set it in King James' England because, as he started working on the story after 9/11, he wasn't in the mood to see a bunch of tall buildings fall down.  And then we get a lovely story about the love between Angela and Serah, where we can have a relationship where one of the halves is transgender without it being any kind of a big deal, pointed out, or underlined.

 

ETA:  Adding to the verklempt-ness, Spider-Island.  With the threat of the Spider-Queen too much to contain 

Flash makes the decision to sacrifice not only himself, but also the symbiote to stop her. In her final moments, she begs the symbiote to spare her, promising to find him a better, stronger host. The symbiote then corrects her--Flash wasn't its host, he was its friend. Peace is restored, and the new baron, Peter Parker petitions to have Spider-Island renamed after Flash.

 Truly a great ending.

 

The Angela mini-series was exquisite.  I had no idea Gaiman did the series because he need the money to fight McFarlane.  This shows the great difference between the two - McFarlane can draw, but he's a shit storyteller and a character thief.  Gaiman, who I don't know if he can draw, is one of the best storytellers who's ever lived and can take preexisting characters and either retell them or reinvent them in masterful ways.  I'm envious. 

 

That Serah brought Shakespeare Marlow's blood to write A Midsummer Night's Dream was so many layers of awesome, both in story and without.  Serah does this so people could see Angela (as Titania) as a beautiful fairy queen rather than a demon queen and maybe change her fate, at least a little.  This shows true love.  And her performing the play with The 1602 Guardians was beautiful.

 

On another level, Gaiman was co-awarded with The World Fantasy Award for the "Midsummer Night's Dream" issue of The Sandman.  This all comes full-circle.

 

Thanks to you, starri, I've just realized the mini-series was both a homage and an honoring of Neil Gaiman's creations.  Really a beautiful series.

 

As for Spider-Island, yeah the ending was bittersweet.  Everybody is free now and willing chose to be a different kind of monster-human if they wanted.  That's what one of cruxes of the series - free will.  With The Spider-Queen beaten (with D-Lister Stegron delivering the coup de grace), everyone got their free will back and some chose new forms, while others were cool with their spider bodies.  It was a beautiful ending.  And, yes, Flash would love any name for the free Manhattan, so long as it's not Spider-Island.

 

I'm a little bummed.  Everything's winding down.  And the delays are irritating now that "All-New (except it's not) Marvel" is debuting over the next couple months.

[starri]

I wanted to hug the final issue of A-Force.  There is a big, giant fight, in which every member of A-Force and every other superhero in Arcadia plus assorted Thors beat up a horde of zombies.  This prompts Ms. Marvel to observe this is even better than her fanfic version.  And the ending, while again bittersweet, is lovely all the same.

 

Civil War ended on the same note that most of the other books have been coming to, but honestly, I don't mind.  There is for the first time peace between the Blue and the Iron, and it comes at a very high price, but even so, it's an ending that was earned, and that is quite possibly the only way the two nations could have had any hope of moving forward.  I'm still ooged out by the thought of Tony Stark macking on She-Hulk, though.

[bmoore4026]

Age of Apocalypse wrapped up. Legacy Virus is stopped. Dr. Nemesis is stopped. Loads of characters die. But Jean Grey is given her powers back through brain surgery between Mr. Sinister and Emma Frost. Jean becomes the Phoenix and liquefies Nemesis, raining down the Legacy Virus cure while simultaneously taking away mutant powers. Everyone is equal now. Sabretooth and Wolverine, unfortunately, got blown into space. But Cyclops and Jean are together, and Alex reconciled with his brother. Rogue and Blink and White Queen and Havok watch happily as Cyclops and Phoenix join hands. The end.


1872 finally sees the dam blown up, along with Bruce Banner, and the heroes taking back Timely. Fisk gets the sheriff's star in the eye before being shot in the head by Natasha, who's pissed over Banner dying. or has he? Red Wolf becomes the new sheriff and his "Avenging Posse" - Natasha, Tony Stark (who gives up drinking and becomes an inventor/blacksmith) and Luke Cage become Timely's defenders. Wild West Frank Castle and Bucky hunt and kill any they suspect killed Sheriff Steve. The mini-series ends with the promise that The Avengers of the West will return...with out Kid Colt or Two Gun Kid or Rawhide Kid or Kid-n-Play. So, yeah. Another goddamn Avengers title.

 

Big things happened in one of the titles!  But first Age of Apocalypse and 1872.

Edited October 22, 2015 by bmoore4026

[bmoore4026]

The last issue begins like the rest of the tie-in endings - big battle, hero trying to get the upper hand and so very close to getting what they've wanted. But in the last few pages, just when it looks like Arkon is victorious and will go home, Battleworld explodes and a new universe is form! Yeah. This series takes place during the climatic battle at the end of the main series. A passenger jet crash lands after being pulled through a dimensional rift and the survivors are almost killed by man eating plant squid monsters. The monsters are slain by Arkon, who grimly welcomes them to Weirdworld, and deep down he vows her will find his way home again.  But, yeah.  We just got spoiled on how Secret Wars is going to end.  Battleworld go boom, things reset.

 

The real title to talk about is one that's gone under the radar - Weirdworld.

[bmoore4026]

Magneto gets his powers back, kills Namor, takes back his throne, and decides to make things better for humans. The end.

 

Hello?  Anyone here?

 

Last issue of House of M came out last Wednesday.

 

I hate the delays.  Everything is all but wrapped up and the new universe is already going, but the main mini-series isn't over yet.  It's frustrating.

[benteen]

Yeah, the Secret Wars mini-series was one of the best one recently but they've kill all momentum with all the delays.

[Chip]

I'm so behind in Secret Wars. I'm just reading the main title and your posts here!

[bmoore4026]

Nothing new this week, but the Age of Apocalypse tie-in has been collected and released in a trade paperback, at least I think it has.  It could have been delayed for all I know.

[starri]

Everything seems to be feast or famine at the moment.  SW #7 is out next week, along with pretty much ever ANAD series I want to read.

[benteen]

I see Thors #4 is out this week.  I loved that series but I literally had forgotten that it hadn't finished yet.

[starri]

Thors ending ties directly into SW#7, so read it first.

Basically 616-Thor appears before the Thor Corps and proves exactly why she's worthy to weild the hammer. There's also a nice moment when Ultimate Thor looks into her eyes and realizes that she's also a Jane Foster. And there's a foreshadowing of story to come in 616.

Regarding SW#7, all I'm going to say is that Baron Sinister is almost as much fun as the one from Inferno.

[bmoore4026]

Oh, I was meaning to talk about the seventh issue of the main series, along with the ending of Infinity Gauntlet.

 

Infinity Gauntlet was all

 

BANGBANGBANGPOWPOWPOWDIEDIEDIEIWILLHAVETHEINFINITYGAUNTLETICREATEDADEATHSTONEHIMOM

 

The seventh issue was all

 

HATHEPHROPHETISMAXIMUSBADGUYFIGHTTHORFIGHTDOOMSPISSEDWHYAREMAESTROANDAPOCALYPSEAROUND

DIDNOONEREADTHEIRMINISERIESBLACKPANTHERANDNAMORWELCOMEMARVELZOMBIESINTOTHE SEIGETRIUMPHANTTOBETURNEDINTOTHEIRFORMERSELVESANDFIGHTDOOMANDTHATSHOWITENDS.

 

As you can tell, I'm burned out by this point.  I'll still read the series.  But this should have been wrapped up already.  Creators, act cool and/or trolly and delay shit - you're writing comic books, not HBO.

[starri]

Groot is the World Tree! Groot is the World Tree!

 

In retrospect, that should have been obvious.  

 

And they moved the release of SW #9 from January 3rd to the 13th because of course they did.  Nothing like waiting another month for the end of an Event that should have happened two months ago.

[Dandesun]

That's the most frustrating thing about the whole event... the rest of the Universe has moved on and we still don't fully know what happened.

[bmoore4026]

Oh, good.  Everyone's got the gist of what happened in issue 7.5.

 

The fight between Giant Thing and Franklin Controlled Galactus was a cop out.  Yeah, thing smashed most of Doom's Castle and killed Maestro, but I wanted a big drag out fight between two mighty things.  What we got was Ben Grimm being blown to smithereens because he can't bring himself to harm Franklin.

 

The bit with Star Lord fighting Black Swan and resurrecting Groot was pretty cool, and the last panels were pretty awesome, what with The Marvel Zombies showing up followed by Namor and an Infinity Gauntlet wielding Black Panther.  Also, Valeria has brought Susan face to face with Reed, so, hopefully, something good will come of this reunion.

 

There actually is only one more tie-in left and that's Ultimate End.  Hopefully, Doom drops a mountain on all of 'em.

 

Also, a lot of the tie-ins are being released now in collected editions.  Anyone who wishes to read up on the goings on in Battleworld can do so without shelling out 5 bucks a pop.

[bmoore4026]

The 616ers and 1610ers are about to throw down when Miles swings in and tells them to stop; Ultimate Punisher is pissed that his shot was interrupted.

Miles tells everyone that the world they live in is a lie and that Dr. Doom is not God. Old Man Logan appears and says that Miles is right. Jean Grey, Rachel Summers, and Emma Frost scan his mind and, in an emotional scene, breakdown in tears at the truth. They use their combined mental powers to reveal everything to all assembled.

Some are horrified, some believe it to be heresy, and some are pissed. It's further revealed that everyone in Manhattan, 616er and 1610er alike, aren't really from the respective Marvel or Ultimate universes, but rather from millions of alternate universes with identical lives and experiences as their original counterparts. Also, Doom has resurrected countless people several times over like a big reset button if heroes gain the upper hand in a domain, thus keeping everyone in check.

With the cat out of the bag, the Thors attack. The heroes are saved by, of all people, Ultimate Punisher. Magik teleports everyone to safety while Ultimate Punisher pays his moment of true heroism with his life.

The assembled 616 and 1610 heroes resolve to fight Doom. Miles, along with the Ultimate versions of Peter Parker and Tony Stark, leave goodbye messages to the ones they love before going off to fight.

The heroes attack Doom's Castle, but instead of an awesome battle, we just get copies of a two page spread of panels from previously in the book only with caption boxes instead of word balloons and character panels fading to white between spreads signifying that character has been killed. Eventually, all that's left is a two page spread of blank white pages.

In the epilogue, Miles is asleep in bed and is woken up by his mother. Yes, his mother. Miles is overjoyed to see her alive. His mother doesn't understand why he's so happy, but tells him she's not going to let him sleep in, even if it's a Saturday, and to go out and spend time with his friends. Miles' friends are waiting outside but he tells them to go on ahead in the city and that he'll meet them there. Indeed, he says he'll beat them to it. At this, he changes into the Ultimate Spider-Man costume and swings out of the new, futuristic looking New York City of the rebuilt Marvel Universe.

And that's how that ended. Last part of the main series comes out in January. Don't know what'll become of this thread then :(

 

The last tie-in came out Wednesday with the final issue of Ultimate End. 

[bmoore4026]

Doom meets Black Panther and Namor on the battlefield outside his castle. T'Challa taunts Doom after the latter offers to rebuild Atlantis and Wakanda, saying that it would be "a fake kingdom" created by "a vain fraud".

Using the Infinity Gauntlet, Black Panther turns Dr. Doom to glass, which Namor destroys with his trident. However, they both know beating Doom wouldn't be that easy. Indeed, Doom quickly reconstitutes himself and blows Namor away. Black Panther would have been killed, too, had it not been for the Infinity Gauntlet. Doom and Panther decide to slug it out with their respective Godlike powers.

In the statue garden, Reed meets Doom's Susan. She believes him to be responsible for Strange's death, but Reed says it was Doom's fault. Susan corrects Reed by saying "You mean God". But Reed is not intimidated. "I mean Victor", he says back.

Reed vows to end Doom's rule, even as Doom and Panther fight it out across Battleworld. When Susan asks again who he is, Reed says, "My name is Reed Richards...and I'm the one who fixes things."

Reed and Ultimate Reed enter the white void under Doom's garden where the Molecule Man is held; Doom and Panther continue their battle.

Before Reed can do anything for MM, Ultimate Reed activates a device that traps Reed in an energy dome. Back at the battle, Johnny Storm witnesses Doom punching the crap out of Black Panther.

Ultimate Reed's energy dome is causing Reed to devolve back into an ape. Ultimate Reed gloats but makes the mistake of forgetting about Molecule Man, who proceeds to turn him into salami.

Molecule Man frees Reed, who is restored to his human self. Doom and Black Panther are back on the battlefield by Doom's Castle. Doom is about to finish T'Challa off when he realizes he's smiling. This whole thing has been a distraction. Doom teleports away to his garden.

Susan confronts Doom, demanding to know if this is true. Doom says he will explain in time but she just needs to trust him. Susan shoots back, "Like Stephen trusted you"? Crushed, Doom turns his back on Susan and Valeria.

Entering the white room, Doom yells at Reed with the same shtick he's been saying since 1962: "I'M BETTER THAN YOU!" That's what it boils down to. Doom raises his hand to use his godlike power to kill Reed, only to find that it's gone.

Doom looks to Molecule Man, who asks if he brought him something to eat. When Doom says no, Molecule Man says "Well, that makes the two of you equal, doesn't it? Fair's fair, right?"

Now it's Reed who slugs it out with Doom. What follows for the next few pages is Doom trying to justify what he's done, only for Reed to call him out on it. Doom finally says these battles always boil down to the same thing: he thinks Reed believes he's better than him.

Doom's jealousy has always been Doom's downfall, and this event is no different. Doom burns Reed's face, demanding to know if Reed thinks he could have done better. Reed's response is great: "Yes. And we both know it, don't we?"

Doom drops his guard, which is the moment Molecule Man was waiting for. The white room explodes, with the garden following and Groot and the Franklin controlled Galactus being consumed by energy. Battleworld erupts in fissures.

The energy continues it's blast outward, consuming everyone on the battlefield. Black Panther quickly extracts the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet and holds on to it as the light envelops him.

The light dies down, and Black Panther opens his hand to find the Reality Gem gone...and Wakanda restored. In fact, all of Earth has been restored. He talks with some people and declares that their future, all their futures, belong in the stars. With this, a rocket is launched that will serve as Earth command. It is their alpha flight.

Eight months later, Miles Morales is thinking back to Battleworld and something Molecule Man said: in giving him a hamburger, Molecule Man says he owes Ultimate Spider-Man something. That something was restoring Miles' mother to life. Peter Parker meets with him and the two swing off to fight bad guys.

In some place else, some place cosmic, Valeria explains to her mother (her real one) that Reed now has the omnipotent powers. Combined with Franklin's world shaping and Molecule Man being able to divide himself countless times over, the Multiverse is being restored little by little. And the Fantastic Foundation is going to go explore them.

As the kids go off, the restored Franklin asks his father if they're superheroes anymore. Reed says no, not for a while at least. But they're still going to do good.

It's subtly hinted that the first thing Reed did with his godlike power was save his family and the kids of the Future Foundation. Johnny and Ben are alive but on Earth. Also on Earth is Dr. Doom, whose face and kingdom have been restored.

Reed says he used to believe in universal contraction and entropy and the death of all things. But now he says he's changed and that he's letting go of that notion. He believes in expansion and being able to live on. For now, everything lives. The end.

 

The finale was published today.  This felt like the perfect ending to the story of the Fantastic Four and the possible beginning of The Richards Family: Multiverse explorers.  I wouldn't mind reading something like that.

 

That the main characters were all important to the Fantastic Four mythos was nice, too.  Give them the spotlight rather than the X-Men or Avengers.  Plus, they were Marvel's original best seller.

 

It felt like a goodbye and a hello and I'm hoping good things come from the new Marvel Universe and they don't just toss it all and go back to it being a complete shithole.  I like a little optimism in my old age.

 

What did the rest of you think?

[starri]

In hindsight, the only way a story that started with "Everything dies!" could have gotten a happy ending would have been if "Everything lives!"  That's  a good ending.  I like Doctor Who too

 

I can't help but feel they would have had more of an impact if they'd released it on time, but honestly, I don't think I've enjoyed an Event this much since the first Siege.

 

Frustrations aside, the whole thing was, in the end, a great ride.

[Morrigan2575]

@bmoore - thanks for the recap of the Secret Wars funal book. Sounds very satisfying on an emotional level/nostalgic level.