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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 2, 2015 8:55:23 GMT -5
Regarding some of the SW tie-ins (SPOILERS of course) :
A police procedural/detective noir story starring alternate versions of Thor sounds preposterous but man, if Jason Aaron and Chris Sprouse haven't turned Thors into one of the most interesting of the tie-ins. You have Ultimate Thor, Beta Ray Thor, Stormborn (Storm of X-Men), Rune Thor, Destroyer Thor (yes, THAT Destroyer), Throg, Odin, even Groot Thor (I am Thor!).
Ultimate Thor and Beta Ray Thor, partners in the Hall of Homicide, are assigned the important case of solving an apparent serial killing, 5 dead women across 5 different kingdoms. The case becomes more intriguing when it's discovered the 5 dead women are all the same woman, Jane Foster. The situation turns deadly though when Ray is killed while searching for leads, Thor Odinson appears (the only Thor to ever become unworthy) and what may a homeless, street-living Loki have to do with all this?
This book reads like Law & Order: Valhalla Unit, very enjoyable.
Spider-Man Renew Your Vows continues to be enjoyable as well. The exploration of 'With great power comes great responsibility' continues as Peter now believes his greatest responsibility is to protect his family at all costs, especially his daughter, who is now exhibiting her own powers, from the forces of the Regent. But when she is possibly detected at school (a beautiful misdirection here by Slott with a great guest appearance), Peter in street clothes races to save her, revealing that, in this domain bereft of heroes, Spider-Man still survives. Fearful of being hunted, MJ convinces Peter that the best way to protect his family is to be Spider-Man, handing him a black costume. Some really great story-telling here from Slott.
While I have yet to read the main Spider-Island story, the Spider-Island tie-in was fun. Flash Thompson Venom leads a rebellion against the Spider-Queen in infected Manhattan. It doesn't help that Spidey is dead and the majority of the Avengers are now infected (Spider-Cap leads the Queen's forces). With the help of the Vision and Jessica Drew, Flash enacts a plan inspired by Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night.
During the day, Jack is an infected spider slave. At night with a full moon though, his curse takes over, turning him into his normal free werewolf self, who works with Flash in the rebellion. Flash has been collecting certain items, the moonstone of Man-Wolf, Morbius' vampire serum and the lizard serum of Curt Conners and uses them to free Cap, Carol Danvers and the Hulk from their spider-influence. So yes, Cap is now Man-Wolf, Carol is a living vampire, and you have a Lizard Hulk! A wonderful fun twist as Flash now hopes to use his new Monster Squad in destroying the Spider-Queens' reign.
But the real reason I picked this up was the back-up story of Spider-Girl by her creator team of DeFalco and Frenz. Within the span of 10 pages, we see the after-effects of Spider-Universe on Mayday Parker, from her social life to her family life to her superhero life, where a new threat appears. It's an old-school Marvel approach to story-telling that still works beautifully when handled by a pro such as DeFalco. Bendis should take notes.
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Post by spiderwasp on Aug 2, 2015 22:08:46 GMT -5
Regarding some of the SW tie-ins (SPOILERS of course) : A police procedural/detective noir story starring alternate versions of Thor sounds preposterous but man, if Jason Aaron and Chris Sprouse haven't turned Thors into one of the most interesting of the tie-ins. You have Ultimate Thor, Beta Ray Thor, Stormborn (Storm of X-Men), Rune Thor, Destroyer Thor (yes, THAT Destroyer), Throg, Odin, even Groot Thor (I am Thor!). Ultimate Thor and Beta Ray Thor, partners in the Hall of Homicide, are assigned the important case of solving an apparent serial killing, 5 dead women across 5 different kingdoms. The case becomes more intriguing when it's discovered the 5 dead women are all the same woman, Jane Foster. The situation turns deadly though when Ray is killed while searching for leads, Thor Odinson appears (the only Thor to ever become unworthy) and what may a homeless, street-living Loki have to do with all this? This book reads like Law & Order: Valhalla Unit, very enjoyable. Spider-Man Renew Your Vows continues to be enjoyable as well. The exploration of 'With great power comes great responsibility' continues as Peter now believes his greatest responsibility is to protect his family at all costs, especially his daughter, who is now exhibiting her own powers, from the forces of the Regent. But when she is possibly detected at school (a beautiful misdirection here by Slott with a great guest appearance), Peter in street clothes races to save her, revealing that, in this domain bereft of heroes, Spider-Man still survives. Fearful of being hunted, MJ convinces Peter that the best way to protect his family is to be Spider-Man, handing him a black costume. Some really great story-telling here from Slott. While I have yet to read the main Spider-Island story, the Spider-Island tie-in was fun. Flash Thompson Venom leads a rebellion against the Spider-Queen in infected Manhattan. It doesn't help that Spidey is dead and the majority of the Avengers are now infected (Spider-Cap leads the Queen's forces). With the help of the Vision and Jessica Drew, Flash enacts a plan inspired by Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night. During the day, Jack is an infected spider slave. At night with a full moon though, his curse takes over, turning him into his normal free werewolf self, who works with Flash in the rebellion. Flash has been collecting certain items, the moonstone of Man-Wolf, Morbius' vampire serum and the lizard serum of Curt Conners and uses them to free Cap, Carol Danvers and the Hulk from their spider-influence. So yes, Cap is now Man-Wolf, Carol is a living vampire, and you have a Lizard Hulk! A wonderful fun twist as Flash now hopes to use his new Monster Squad in destroying the Spider-Queens' reign. But the real reason I picked this up was the back-up story of Spider-Girl by her creator team of DeFalco and Frenz. Within the span of 10 pages, we see the after-effects of Spider-Universe on Mayday Parker, from her social life to her family life to her superhero life, where a new threat appears. It's an old-school Marvel approach to story-telling that still works beautifully when handled by a pro such as DeFalco. Bendis should take notes. I know you said this was enjoyable but just reading this synopsis made my head spin to the point of vertigo.
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Post by bobc on Aug 3, 2015 13:53:31 GMT -5
I was going to say the same thing. Sounds like mass chaos to me. Why would any Thor be a detective? That is so completely random. And we have yet another Hulk? Weren't the 500 we already have running around enough? How will any new reader ever be drawn to these characters when nobody know who or what they are anymore?
Wait. Hold the phone. Did you write that Captain America is now MAN WOLF? How many Captain Americas are there at this point? 10? 15? There is the usual one, the Falcon as CA, a black female CA from the future...my head hurts.
Could you see anyone trying to adapt a new blockbuster superhero movie out of this mess?
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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 8, 2015 9:05:33 GMT -5
Wait. Hold the phone. Did you write that Captain America is now MAN WOLF? How many Captain Americas are there at this point? 10? 15? There is the usual one, the Falcon as CA, a black female CA from the future...my head hurts. There's also Sheriff Steve Rogers from the 1871 mini, an Old West version of the MU. (Though if I'm reading the Wild West, I want to see the Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, more of Marvel's classic Western characters) I dunno, I've read the first issues of a good portion of these tie-in minis but haven't felt invested enough in the story to continue reading most of them. Alt-world stories have a limited appeal for me so there's really only a few that I continue to read. From what I understand though, these stories will have no lasting impact on the restored MU come October.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Aug 17, 2015 14:35:02 GMT -5
SW #5 -
Well, we learn some answers, seems Owen Reece, the Molecule Man is still 'alive' as Doom visits him after Strange's memorial service. If I understand this correctly, the Beyonders engineered Owen as a 'bomb' to destroy a universe and engineered multiple versions of Owen to destroy the multiverse.
Doom and our Owen discovered this plan, preempted it by 'detonating' some Owens prematurely, and collected the rest as a MM bomb to use against the Beyonders. Strange learned of their plan, joining them as they assailed the Beyonders. Owen seemed to absorb their power, Strange backed out of assuming that much power and responsibility thus allowing Doom to take the mantle of god.
Meanwhile, Doom charges Valeria and her Foundation with hunting down the 616 survivors (and the Cabal) by laying blame for Strange's death on their hands. We get some usual Hickman technobabble over how they are going to do that as we see snippets of where some of the 616 survivors are located (Remember? Strange scattered them across Battleworld before being killed).
I'm beginning to get some event fatigue here. The delay of this issue didn't help matters much. The story is still interesting and I'm still following some of the tie-ins, but given the press releases and interviews about the titles following this event, I'm starting to wish that Marvel would just get on with this so we can peruse the new titles.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Oct 24, 2015 9:08:23 GMT -5
And now, for SW #6....
Doom is seeking an update from Valeria on her efforts to find our scattered heroes, the 'killers' of Stephen Strange. Her efforts are ongoing but privately, her doubts over who actually killed Strange are growing. Back at her Foundation HQ, Alex Powers informs her that strange tech drones have been spotted throughout the domains.
Those drones are the work of Reed and his partner, the Maker. They are scouring Battleworld for the source of Doom's power. Reed is having qualms over possibly killing Doom, worried over what may happen to Battleworld should Doom die. The Maker is more pragmatic, willing to take that chance if it ends Doom and wonders what could have happened to make himself so soft and sentimental. They do detect the the source of Doom's power and send their best spies to investigate, to wit, the Spider-Men, Peter and Miles Morales.
Our pair infiltrate Castle Doom, finding the large statue of Owen Reece. They also discover Valeria, who tracked them there. Peter recognizes her but she doesn't recognize him. She informs them of the hidden door beneath the monument while voicing her concerns over their supposed actions. She leaves the pair as they enter the hidden domain beneath the statue, finding Owen Reece himself, who is quite happy to see them. Before he can be of any help though, he requests substance. The only thing our heroes have on them is a 3 week old hamburger that Miles had been saving. Owen quickly munches it down and smiles upon our heroes.
Meanwhile, T'Challa and Namor have completed a long journey of their own, finally finding Strange's secretive Isle of Agamotto. The island's systems recognize the pair, allowing them entrance. Upon entering, they trigger a 'If-You-Are-Seeing-This, I-Must-Be-Dead' hologram speech from Strange, who says that he has two treasures that may help against Doom. One is the Siege Courageous (similar to the Siege Perilous that appeared in X-Men years ago), a gem that can transport anyone to any location anywhere while also transforming that person into a more accurate, truer representation of that person. That tidbit is washed over though when T'Challa spots the other gift, an Infinity Gauntlet. It seems that years ago after Battleworld's initial formation, Strange found within a domain remnant an intact set of infinity gems. He then surreptitiously convinced Doom to build his castle and home in that same domain. So, this Infinity Gauntlet can only work within the domain of Castle Doom (how convenient).
Meanwhile, Doom is convening a meeting of his most powerful and loyal Barons. A mysterious Prophet has arisen and has started what is quickly becoming a mounting rebellion. The Barons are concerned over this growing movement, but question more why Doom doesn't simply intervene to end it and this Prophet. Doom responds that God does not act so haphazardly and that if his Barons are truly loyal, they will find a way to quash this rebellion before he needs to intercede. After the meeting, Baron Sinister formulates possible ways to turn this situation to his advantage, with the help of his new aide, Carol Danvers, who has seemingly become brainwashed by Sinister (she has a diamond tattoo on her forehead similar to Sinister's tattoo).
Meanwhile (whew!), it's bedtime for young Franklin Richards, who requests his favorite bedtime story from his mother, Sue. She relates to him the story of the FF, a courageous group of adventurers comprised of her, her brother Johnny, their friend Ben Grimm, and lead by their father, Dr. Storm. Our heroes fight the good fight until their universe dies. All was chaos, Dr. Storm being killed amongst the madness when Doom arrived to bring order back to a renewed world. So grateful for his help, Johnny acquiesces to becoming the sun for this new world and Ben agrees to become the shield to protect it.
Which leads to our last Meanwhile, Thanos, having been 'scattered' to the Shield wall, conversing with the large stone face of Ben Grimm. It seems Ben has been literally transformed into the Shield Wall itself. Thanos is trying to pierce the layers of lies that Doom has built upon Ben in this state, finally asking if Ben would rather die on his knees and rise up instead. Thus, a 50 ft tall Thing steps up and breaks free of the wall, striding forward....
Honestly, this story is still engaging, but with Marvel starting to release their ANAD titles, I feel like that is now overshadowing this event. To me, it's become almost an afterthought, when we can now start reading of the renewed MU that is the end result of SW. Ribic's art is still amazing though, love it.
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Post by Marvel Boy on Jan 16, 2016 12:57:14 GMT -5
And so it ends as we reach SW #9...
Admittedly, my desire to read this mini has waned over the months, thanks in no small part to delays to publication but also the release on new ANAD titles. In a way, this event became overshadowed by what has since come. Still, this is the last issue as we learn just how the Marvel Universe came back into being.
As you may recall, Strange had left for T'Challa a fully functioning Infinity Gauntlet that only works within Doom's home domain. Using outside insurrection and rebellion of domains as a front, T'Challa and Namor confront Doom in an attempt to overthrow him.
Meanwhile, Reed and the Maker (the Ultimate Reed Richards) breach the hidden lair of the Molecule Man, the source of Doom's powers. The Maker attempts a double-cross of Reed, in which Owen graciously stops him, saving Reed, only to tell him buckle up, Victor will be here soon.
Doom defeats T'Challa, almost laying waste to him till Victor realizes that this is a ploy to distract him and instantly leaves for Owen's lair, where he finds a waiting Reed.
Now the real confrontation starts. Owen levels the playing field per se between the two, causing the two foes in engage in a brutal fistfight. Reed admonishes Victor for not doing enough. It's not enough to just save everything you hold dear, but to make it better else your fears over losing what you have left consume you. Victor's responses are ego-driven, screaming that he knows Reed is arrogant enough to believe that, had he held the power, Reed would've done better with it.
In the end, Reed admits to this, he would've done better than Victor and that Victor knows it all too well. When Victor grudgingly admits so, Owen turns the tide, as everything goes white and Battleworld erupts.
As the wave of decimation sweeps the planet, a wounded T'Challa grasps a lone Infinity Gem in the afterglow only to awaken in Wakanda. A trio of scientists are talking about their latest mission, to which T'Challa quickly implores them to follow. T'Challa now sees Wakanda as the world's brightest light of hope for new ideas and technology and demands that they are the ones to lead humanity to the stars and beyond.
Earth is reborn, the Marvel Universe remade. How? We focus onto a small grouping of Susan, Valeria, Reed, Franklin, Owen, and the rest of the Foundation. Valeria explains to Susan that Owen is the battery and anchor, Franklin is a universal maker, and Reed is the Founder. Franklin creates new universes which Reed seeds with a portion of Owen's vast power. The FF are literally remaking the multiverse and cataloging it too. Reed discusses his new outlook on life with Susan as we end on a shot of Victor Von Doom, in Latveria, taking off his face mask, revealing a newly healed face and renewed vigor....
Wow right? What does all that mean? It's unclear. Reed did remake the Marvel universe albeit with some changes. Those changes have apparently been left vague for the benefit of future writers and stories. What's also unclear is if, other than the original Life Raft survivors of Battleworld, are these the 'original' Marvel characters or reincarnations?
For example, the dialogue between Reed and Susan along with bits of dialogue from Reed's fight with Victor would seem to indicate that this Susan is the previous reincarnation of Doom's making and that the original Sue died way back in #1.
In interviews, Hickman and Brevoort have suggested that this whole story started off as or could be seen as an ultimate FF epic, only to swallow up and include the rest of the MU. In a way, this seems right and I've certainly read reviews that would support this.
Otherwise, I'm not sure what to think. From his early work on FF through Avengers and NA to SW, the scale and scope of this epic is amazing. But I fear it's one that will takes years of re-reading and digestion to fully comprehend, if ever.
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