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Since Powers of X #4, some of the more tantalizing mysteries and riddles in X-Men comics can be found in Mister Sinister’s “Sinister Secrets” a gossip column found in the pages of various books. Today I’ll answer: + What’s the meaning behind every Sinister riddle released so far in the Dawn of X? + What do the Sinister Secrets mean for X-Men comics in 2020? + Why Sinister Secrets has continued in the pages of Marauders and not the Hickman written X-Men. Spoilers For Discussed Comics May Follow! Sinister Secret #1: The most direct interpretation is to continue scanning X-Men comics for a Mister Sinister clone wearing red shoes. Since that hasn’t appeared yet (although we have recently seen Sinister coveting Exodus’ epaullettes!), it’s tempting to explore alternate meanings for the riddle. There’s actually an astonishing range of symbolism for red shoes, from pop cultural connections to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, to feminist movements, to straight up Satanism (you know, to hide the blood drops from your sacrifices!). The connection I like the most, though, is to Hans Christian Anderson’s horrific fairy tale titled “The Red Shoes.” In this story a young girl named Karen insists on her wearing her dopest red shoes everywhere – including (gasp!) to church – , and her vanity gets her cursed so that her red shoes never stop dancing. Even after she has her feet amputed by the local executioner. I told you it was horrific. The moral is effectively “don’t be vain,” which is not high on Mister Sinister’s list of fairy tale morals learned. So while the secret could be in reference to a Sinister clone, or even more exciting, an alternate reality Sinister, it could also just be a riddle telling us that Mister Sinister is impossibly vain, and that his ego will always drive him to “truly sinister” acts of betrayal. He’ll always be plotting something in secret that may throw everything Moira, Magneto, and Professor X are planning out the window. Sinister Secret #2 The thrill of cracking the second Sinister secret has gone, as “the flower that’s the fullest,” aka Jumbo Carnation – a Grant Morrison creation from New X-Men, began appearing in the pages of Marauders. Jumbo was famously murdered in New X-Men but has since been revived and is busy bonding with the likes of both Emma Frost and Callisto on Krakoa. Sinister Secret #3: The “deceased redheaded pretender” is clearly a reference to Madlyene Pryor, Sinister’s clone of Jean Grey who went on to become the Goblin Queen during the X-Men event Inferno, circa 1989. Worth noting here that this is not the only reference to Inferno we’ll be seeing throughout Sinister’s secrets. The most interesting tease is that Pryor – who we’ve already seen returned in the pages of Hellions #1 – left behind more than secrets. Possible secrets left behind by Maddy include: Demons – from her reign as Goblin Queen, there may be demon sleeper agents Madylene Pryor left behind all around the world. This would support my theory that we’re due for an impending Inferno 2.0 event from Marvel and the X-Men line. Kids – Madylene is Cable’s birth-mother, and given Scott Summer’s world’s worst father approach to her and baby Cable, it would not be surprising if there was a second child she’d kept secret from Scott and company. Sinister Clones – During the Kieron Gillen run of Uncanny X-Men we see Sinister at times surrounded by clones of Madylene Pryor. While these clones appear less autonomous than the original, it’s not impossible that the real Maddy has collected an army of clones as well. Sinister Secret #4: Sinister #4 is one of the trickiest to decipher, so I have two working theories, and I find both of them super exciting. For the first, I have to credit a really cool CBR theory (https://www.cbr.com/powers-x-sinister-10-secrets-explored/) that suggests this may have to do with Captain Marvel’s role in Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic’s 2015 Secret Wars. In the aftermath of Secret Wars #4, Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, one of only a handful of survivors from Earth-616, quite literally washes up on Bar Sinister, the Baron Sinister’s domain in Emperor Goddoom’s Battleworld. Next we see Carol, she’s wearing a Sinister diamond in the middle of her forehead, and scheming with the Baron about plans to betray Emperor Goddoom in the climactic final event battle. Honestly, there’s so much left to parse out here, from who’s really in charge (Carol’s straight punching Sinister in the face to get him where she wants him, but Sinister seems to like it!), to whether or not this is really Carol Danvers of Earth-616 or a clone (hence the red diamond). Plus there’s some delicious wordplay to be had with “everyone’s wrapped up in current events,” signaling that a past event comic may be exactly what Sinister #4 is a reference to. If all of this means a Battleworld Bar Sinister Carol – a longtime X-Men ally – I’ll be over

Marvel comics of 1983. Hobgoblin! The Trial of Hank Pym! Monica Rambeau! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Amazing Spider-Man Annual / Avengers #16 / #227 Doctor Strange #58 to #62 Amazing Spider-Man #239, #244 to #245 Avengers #228 to #230 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 3 — Marvel Fanfare #10 to #13 Iron Man / Thor #169 to #170 / #337 to #339 Fantastic Four #257 to #260 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Hellions #1 by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia introduces the problem children of mutantkind, all under the steady gentle guidance of Mister Sinister. It’s a Suicide Squad meets Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. What could go wrong? Today I’ll answer: + Who are the Hellions? + What is Hellions role in the Dawn of X? + How does this oddball collection connect to Mister Sinister, Madylene Pryor, and possibly Inferno 2?! Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! Hellions begins with the X-Men tracking renegade Hellfire Cultists (more on them in a few) attempting some terrorist plot on the anniversary of the Mutant Massacre (more on this in a few too!). Following a bazooka attack that leaves Nightcrawler unconscious, Havok seemingly “breaks” and lets a darker persona loose, nearly frying a cultist alive until Wolverine – of all people – interjects (lest Havok break that Krakoan no killing humans law). The mission’s sour turn puts Alex on a fast track for the gathering of the Hellions. In this case, Alex is joining the following problem mutants being put on trial for their actions endangering Krakoa: Orphanmaker & Nanny, John Greycrow aka Scalphunter, Kyle Gibney aka Wild Child, and Manuel De La Rocha aka Empath. On the surface it’s an oddball, nearly inexplicable gathering, but as I’ll explain, the connections these characters share are actually pretty clear. In pre release interviews, writer Zeb Wells said: “The book asks how the mutants with blood on their hands can possibly integrate in a civilized society.” As Nightcrawler says in the issue’s opening quote, “It is folly to create an Eden, if no one has use for snakes.” This all actually sounds a bit like Fallen Angels, but whereas that short-lived failure was a meditation on Kwannon’s new status free of Betsy Braddock, Hellions immediately takes the question to Krakoa’s Quiet Council and demands the council account for the “inconvenient” mutants. Not for nothing, Wells and Segovia also clearly take the cues from Hickman’s glam rock Sinister in crafting a wicked rush of energy coursing through the chaotic geneticist. After much debate, it’s actually Sinister who lands on the idea to put these Hellions to use as his own personal task force. The likes of Cyclops – I would say reasonably – have issue with Sinister taking ownership of some of Krakoa’s most violent, but with certain restrictions put in place – for example, the Hellions are not to be used if there’s a possibility of human casualties, which I’m sure won’t possibly ever be a line that gets crossed – the Quiet Council agrees to this proposal. And the new Hellions are born! In the pages of New Mutants, in an issue by Chris Claremont and Sal Buscema, the original Hellions are students of the Hellfire Club’s White Queen, Emma Frost, at the Massachusetts Academy. It’s a fun inversion of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and a great rivalry and occasional frenemy status with the developing New Mutants franchise. The original Hellions are Catseye, Empath, Jetstream, Roulette, Tarot, Thunderbird, and for a short time, Firestar. There’s of course plenty of story between, but many of these original Hellions, save Empath, were killed by Trevor Fitzroy in Uncanny X-Men #281 and #282. Although there has never before been a Hellions comic title, the Hellions name has also been repurposed in the pages of New X-Men. With Mr. Sinister working in the wings as the Hellions leader, it brings to mind a 90’s Marvel What If issue (#74 to be precise) about Sinister leading the X-Men. Notably, every member of the Hellions has recognizable often deep connections with Sinister throughout X-Men history, which I’ll highlight here. Scalphunter John Greycrow is the Native American mutant Leader of the Marauders and a leading villain in the Mutant Massacre, the 80’s X-Men crossover that led to the deaths of many Morlocks and the violent removal of Angel’s wings. When you talk about mutants whose very presence ruffles the feathers of other mutants on Krakoa, Scalphunter is high on the list. Sinister Connections: Scalphunter has worked for Mister Sinister, often as a Maruader, for about as long as the character’s been in Uncanny X-Men comics. This extends into modern day comics as well, through events like Messiah CompleX. As expected, we get a glimpse of the problems with Scalphunter’s presence on Krakoa when Callisto and a group of Morlocks attack him on the anniversary of the mutant massacre, although gathering from the fact that he was cleaning his weapons at the time, this didn’t go well for the Morlocks… again. Wild Child Although Wild Child, aka Kyle Gibney, is most frequently found in the pages of Alpha Flight, the most recognizable version of Wild Child for me is found during Age of Apocalypse, as Sabretooth’s dog-like sidekick. Wild Child’s somewhat similar to a Wolverine or Sabretooth in both powerset and in the fact that his feral half is out of control on Krakoa. S

Giant-Size Nightcrawler by Jonathan Hickman and Alan Davis, with Carlos Lopez colors, & Clayton Cowles letters, is the second entry in the 5 issue Giant-Size X-Men series, and finds Kurt leading a team of mutants through a Krakoan gate into the deserted & seemingly haunted X-Mansion. Today I’ll answer: + What’s the secret of the haunted X-Mansion? + How does Giant-Size Nightcrawler connect to the themes of Hickman’s “Giant-Size” series so far? + What X-Men characters and concepts are introduced and what do they mean for the Dawn of X? Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! The issue opens with Nightcrawler traveling to the deserted X-Mansion gates with Illyana Rasputin, Eyeboy, Cypher and Lockheed. Right away the team sees a curious array of ghostly mutants, setting Lockheed out of his mind with flame bursts. It’s all mysterious and a bit too familiar until Hound Rachel’s form dissolves before the team’s eyes – shouts to Alan Davis’ rendering of Lockheed’s utter shock – into a cluster of the beetle-like aliens known as the Sidri! The Sidri are a fantastic, and unexpected pull from Hickman and Davis, a techno-organic alien race of freelance bounty hunters. They’re a really sparingly used deep cut from X-Men lore but make so much for the broader themes and connective tissue of the Giant-Size series so far. The Sidri debuted in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #154, hot on the tail of Corsair when he was on the run (again) from the Shi’ar. Although they seem almost too small to operate as anything other than pests, collectively the Sidri are capable of working as freelance bounty hunters, which is somewhere between hilarious and terrifying. Imagine Mandolorian was made up of thousands of tiny baby yodas, and you kind of have an idea of the potential here. In line with the Brood’s involvement in X-Men #8 and X-Men #9 written by Hickman (and issue nine released the same day as Giant-Size Nightcrawler) the Sidri are introduced on the front-end and back-end of the Uncanny X-Men Brood saga, first with art by Dave Cockrum in #154 and later by Paul Smith in issue #168 (168 being the famous Kitty Pryde “Professor Xavier is a Jerk” opener.) In #168 they’re effectively big beetles with laser eyes, and Kitty and Colossus fight a leftover nest of them in the X-Mansion’s basement. The other important development as all this is happening in the X-Mansion is Doug Ramsey pulled through the Sidri’s alien base where he begins negotiations with the bounty hunters. Illyana finds Doug to rescue him, only to find that 1) Doug’s in talks with the Sidri and 2) Warlock is alive and well, hopping off Doug’s arm and into the form of one of the Sidri. In X-Men #8 we saw it briefly teased that Doug, Warlock and Krakoa were all discussing Tom Brady’s release from the Pats (at least that’s what I assume), but this is the first real clear instance of Warlock alive and seemingly well as his own entity in the Dawn of X. Upon his return, Douglock lets the team know the Sidri encountered Lady Mastermind, who came looking to use the gate to Krakoa and has since been kept in a sort of symbiotic coma, causing Kurt and friends to hallucinate those apparitions upon their entrance, and unconsciously using her powers to ask for help. Although she has a goofy name and puts new meaning in the term V-neck, Lady Mastermind is a really entertaining holdover from the Mike Carey X-Men run – we know Hickman’s a fan. Doug makes deal with the Sidri that they can keep the X-Mansion real estate for their nest, so long as they basically allow access to the Krakoan gate there. As Doug notes, “It’s going to be a problem,” which is what we in the business refer to as foreshadowing. The Sidri make a TON of sense to introduce into Hickman’s X-Narrative. A techno-organic alien race with a hive mind? That’s right in line with everything we’ve seen from all of the following: + Phalanx + Children of the Vault + Warlock / Doug A very real concern I could see developing for the X-Men is an alliance of all these alien/techno-organic forces, continuing the man vs. machine structural war so eloquently teased in Powers of X. If the Children of the Vault, and now the Sidri team-up that’s an immensely intimidating threat for mutants. Throw the Phalanx into the mix and it may just be up to Douglock to save us all. As much as I enjoyed this issue, it’s a strange choice for a Nightcrawler showcase. He’s the leader of the squad here, but the story’s not really about him? My biggest takeaways are definitely the developments for Douglock and the sci-fi alien threats added to the growing “techno-organic hivemind” category in the X-men’s database. In that regard – and really that regard alone – Giant-Size Nightcrawler #1 is disappointingly devoid of the things that make Nightcrawler my favorite X-Men character. The swashbuckling charm, the smile as he leaps into danger, the incredible use of his bamfing teleportation… none of that

Marvel comics of 1983. Elektra! Rogue! More Brood Belly Babies! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Daredevil #190, #191 New Mutants #1 to #2 Uncanny X-Men #165 to #167, #172 to #173, #175 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 2 — Amazing Spider-Man Annual / Avengers #16 / #227 Doctor Strange #58 to #62 Amazing Spider-Man #239, #244 to #245 Avengers #228 to #230 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

While he’s been laughably drunk and bombastic throughout the Krakoa era of X-Men, Gabriel Summers, aka Vulcan’s return to the world of X-Men brings with a huge mystery that extends from Hickman’s X-Men to Immortal Hulk to cosmic fallout from the 2009 event War of Kings. Today I’ll answer: + What is the mystery of Vulcan and why does it matter for X-Men? + What does this have to do with “The Death of Death” and War of Kings + How might this mystery connect to everything from “Sinister Secrets” to the Phoenix to the promised December X-Men event in 2020 Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! Full Dawn of X Reading Order All Krakin’ Krakoa X-Men Video In X-Men #8 (2020), Gabriel Summers, aka Vulcan, is shown having restless dreams/nightmares about his time floating through space in the Fault, in the wake of his battle to the “near death” with Black Bolt in the cosmic event War of Kings. His hard partying lifestyle would seem be a coping mechanism. At the same time, Shi’ar Battle records from this issue let us know that while presumed dead, Vulcan in fact *never* died, implying he was not resurrected on Krakoa but instead somehow found his way from War of Kings to House of X. This clear and present mystery got me thinking about *why* Jonathan Hickman would want to call back to War of Kings, and pretty soon I was falling down an endless theory rabbit hole pertaining to 1) Black Bolt’s role as one of the Celestial Messiahs as seen in my video connecting Hickman’s FF to the upcoming Empyre and 2) How Hickman’s X-Men and so much of Marvel right now is on a cosmic crash course with “The Death of Death,” with the third Summers brother perhaps at the center of it all. If stating Vulcan never died wasn’t enough, Hickman and artist Mahmud Asrar hammer home the point by mirroring the exact same panel layout used in FF prior to showing Black Bolt’s escape from the Fault (shouts to @AbyssalOdin on Twitter for being the first I’ve seen to identify these layouts are exactly the same!). Before digging into what this means, a quick refresher on War of Kings is useful to understand why Vulcan and Black Bolt are simultaneously drifting in the vacuum of a tear in space and time. We get there because Vulcan, having ascended to Emperor of the Shi’ar following the “Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire” storyline written by Ed Brubaker in Uncanny X-Men, is at war with the Kree Imperium, at the time ruled by Black Bolt and the Inhumans. Very very notably, the Vulcan of this era is a mad king, warped by power and bloodlust after an admittedly traumatic sequence of events detailed in the pages of X-Men Deadly Genesis. In “Deadly Genesis,” we learn that Vulcan is the long lost third Summers brother, a secret part of Professor X’s history as the group of young mutants originally sent to rescue the OG X-Men from Krakoa, before Giant-Size X-Men #1 in 1975. With the aid of Darwin, Vulcan does not die, but is instead launched into space on a piece of Krakoa (my head is buzzing from the House / Powers connections here), until his return to the living after the the post House of M Scarlet Witch’s M-Day. So again, this all sets Vulcan on a violent collision course with Marvel Cosmic, culminating in a fist fight with Black Bolt. Despite his love of explosions, it’s actually Black Bolt’s planned Terrigen-Bombs (an idea Hickman would gravitate to again during New Avengers and Infinity) that creates the Fault in space, and seemingly leads to the death of the two Kings. Of course, we now know the Kings did not die. Before detailing his genetic prophecy as the Midnight King and Celestial Messiah, Hickman and artist Greg Tochinni deliver a few pages of Black Bolt’s escape, although the specifics are few. My biggest takeaway is that it looks like Black Bolt is fighting a many-angled one, the Cthulu like entities that dominate the Cancerverse. Again, though, the escape effectively boils down to “Black Bolt’s destined to fulfill prophecy and his powersets dope, so sure he can escape.” It should not come as a shock that there could be more to it. The cancerverse is the realm that lies at the end of this Fault, as discovered by Quasar in Realm of Kings, and most thoroughly explored in The Thanos Imperative. It’s an alternate dimension that follows the trajectory of our known Earth-616 until The Death of Captain Marvel story (Marvel’s first original graphic novel by Jim Starlin) is reversed. It’s a truly deathless universe, with undead parallel universe “Revengers” and these Many Angled Ones seeking growth into the Marvel U’s known reality. Speaking of the Cancerverse – and this is where I really start to run off the tracks – the concept is very relevant to the current state of X-Men, Immortal Hulk, and others. In Valkyrie #7, written by Jason Aaron and Al Ewing with art by Cafu, we’re introduced to “The Death of Death.” As Jane Foster tells us the entity is “the living judgment of death as a

Tini Howard and Marcus To’s Excalibur #9 is moving closer to the Multiversal Mayhem I’ve always wanted, and teasing a March towards the upcoming X of Swords event. Today I’ll answer: + Who is Saturnyne and what’s her role in the Marvel Multiverse? + What happened to the Captain Britain Corps? + How is Apocalypse confirming my X of Swords theories? Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! Full Dawn of X Reading Order All Krakin’ Krakoa X-Men Videos In Excalibur #9 we’re quickly tossed into a history lesson about The Starlight Citadel, Captain Britain Corps, and Omniversal Majestrix Opal Luna Saturnyne. If you’re unfamiliar with the history of these concepts in the pages of Captain Britain or Excalibur, this history can feel particularly byzantine, but here are the essential details I’d pay attention to at this point: 1)The Captain Britain Corps have been destroyed. I’ll go into more detail about the hows, but this means the Omniversal (see also: alternate reality) collection of Captain Britains across universes does not exist (as we knew it at least). The Omniversal Corps is where we get Earth designations like “Earth-616,” which as far as we know may know be the only catalogued Earth with a Captain Britain! 2)The Citadel is currently inhabited by Saturnyne, who has been teased as the “White Witch,” a detail I called way back in my review of Excalibur #1. Although it’s located in Otherworld, the Citadel currently hidden from view to outsiders. 3)Following the destruction of the Corps, Saturnyne has been promoted to role of Omniversal Guardian, which was previously held by Merlyn. Why does this matter? Well, in regards to the destruction of the Captain Britain Corps, this enhances Betsy’s own import as one of – if not the last – Captain Britain in the Omniverse, and suggests fascinating future storylines like reassembling the omniversal corps. Plus, it means that for the time being, the protectors of the Omniverse are missing, leaving the collected realities of Marvel Comics without their known Defenders. Betsy and Excalibur need to use the Warwolf skulls they assembled the previous two issues to track their way to the hidden Citadel and learn why the Omniversal protectors are in hiding. What happened to the Captain Britain Corps? Well, in the build to 2015’s Secret Wars, Brian Braddock escaped Otherworld to report the builders led an assault on the Starlight Citadel, and decimated the Corps. It’s a very short depiction of events (and apparently an even shorter battle), but it also reads like Saturnyne’s defensive tactics failed and contributed to the destruction – not that there was likely much she could do given the encroaching reality that “Everything dies.” Although the Corps are gone, it would appear that Saturnyne escaped their fate, and remains as the Omniversal Guardian with a new gathering of Priestesses of the Starlight Citadel. Following the removal of Morgan Le Fay from the throne of Otherworld, Saturnyne observes a new threat in the form of Apocalypse and his merry band of mutants we know as Excalibur. She sets her priestesses on the hunt to prevent Excalibur from making their way to the Citadel. Who is Saturnyne? The character was created by Dave Thorpe and Alan Davis for Marvel UK, although my first exposure was in Marvel Superheroes by Alan Moore and Alan Davis. In that underrated 80s series, Saturnyne is established as an ally to Earth-616 Brian Braddock and a major part of the Ominversal court ruled by Merlyn and Roma. It’s Roma in particular, as the daughter of Merlyn, who would go on to have the most direct relationship guarding the Omniverse with Saturnyne at her side. Essentially, Saturnyne can in many ways be credited with the – perhaps intentional – formation of the original Excalibur, after sending Technet to capture Rachel Summers, at the time the Phoenix, in Excalibur Special Edition #1. In more recent years, omniversal threats like Spider-Verse and Secret Wars severaly challenged Saturnyne’s responsibilities, and given the end result of Secret Wars (2015), there can be little arguing that Saturnyne is coming off her greatest failure. The Captain Britain Corps’ response to Hickman’s grand Secret Wars remains one of the storylines with the most to fill in (the entire affair is covered in something like 2 pages), so I’ll be curious to see if we learn more about what Saturnyne’s been up to since that time, or what she views as her new role in a post Corps world. On a final note, much like the omniverse full of Captain Britains, there’s an omniverse full of Saturnyne’s, with the only one from Earth-9 standing tall as Omniversal Guardian. These variations range from Brian Braddock’s romantic partner, Courtney Ross, to the villainous Sat-Yr-9. both a tyrannical nazi, and one of my favorite LCD Soundsystem songs. Of course, Apocalypse is fueling Saturnyne’s worry with a deliberate lack of subtlety creepin’ on the Citadel. This is where Howard and To really begin planting the s

Marvel’s Celestial Madonna and Celestial Messiah concepts are some of the most confounding in Avengers and Marvel cosmic history, mysteries wrapped inside enigmas made of questions. Today I’ll answer: + What or Who the heck is Marvel’s Celestial Messiah? + Why does the Messiah matter in 2020? + What does this have to do with Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men? + How Marvel’s cosmic prophesies are on a collision course! Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! The history of the Celestial Messiah begins with the story of the Celestial Madonna, as told in the pages of Steve Englehart written Marvel comics, beginning in Avengers and extending through the likes of Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, and eventually an early 2000’s eight issue series called Avengers: Celestial Quest. The quick version is that while with the Avengers, the Vietnamese Mantis, Mistress of the Martial Arts, learned of her prophesied role as the universe’s Celestial Madonna. Although it was unknown to even Mantis until a ways into the saga, she had been trained by the Priests of Pama, Kree pacifists loyal to the Cotati – a plant-based alien race – in ways of telepathic empathy making her the perfect human half of a Cotati / Human pregnancy. That’s right: All this builds to Mantis marrying and sleeping with a tree! So yes, it’s important right off the bat to accept that the basis for basically everything I’ll be talking about today is tree-sex. You have to be pine with that. Fine with that. Just leaf your preconceived notions of mating at the door. Oak-K moving on. The original Celestial Madonna saga runs through eight issues of the core Avengers series, plus three “Giant-Size” specials from about 1974 through 1975. The Celestial Madonna saga reading order: Avengers #128 Avengers #129 Giant-Size Avengers #2 Avengers #130 Avengers #131 Avengers #132 Giant-Size Avengers #3 Avengers #133 Avengers #134 Avengers #135 Giant-Size Avengers #4 Again, essentially, Giant-Size Avengers #4 concludes with Mantis consummating a marriage with the elder Cotati, in the recreated form of the just dead Swordsman, in order to give birth to the Celestial Messiah. Before we get to this Messiah, though, it’s really important to understand the Cotati, in terms of where they come from and what their relevance is for the Marvel Cosmic landscape. In Marvel’s late 2019 Incoming teaser, building towards the 2020 Empyre event, it was revealed both the Kree and Skrull were sending a message that said “Beware the Trees.” For readers of the Celestial Madonna saga, this is a clear allusion to the Cotati, long since confirmed (particularly with Empyre tie-ins like Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah announced). Why might the Kree (and Skrulls for that matter) find themselves running scared of the returned Cotati? And what has changed in the Cotati that they appear to be stealthily assassinating Kree and Skrull agents on Earth? During Engelhardt’s “Celestial Madonna” saga there’s an ancient galactic history lesson that tells us one million years ago the Skrulls traveled to Hala, the emerging Kree homeworld, and challenged both the co-existing Kree and Cotati to prove who was the superior galactic partner on Earth’s moon. Long story short, when the Kree think the Cotati are about to win, they effectively commit genocide, and only a small amount of Cotati survive. The Kree’s actions – not only decimating the Cotati but killing the Skrulls who witnessed their atrocity – sparked the Kree- Skrull war that has more or less been an ongoing feud for all of Marvel history. It makes a lot of sense that the Cotati might have some grievances to air out with both the Kree and the Skrull, resulting in a massive war in Earth’s atmosphere in the pages of Empyre. In the aftermath of the Celestial Madonna saga, Mantis does in fact give birth a baby boy she names Sequoia, Quoi for short, the half human, half Cotati baby prophesied to become the Celestial Messiah. I’ll note here again, this prophesy stems from the Priests of Pama and the Cotati. It’s also a prophesy that we see the likes of Kang the Conqueror and Thanos very fully buying into in the pages of Englehart’s Avengers and “Celestial Quest.” Nonetheless, I can’t emphasize this enough, taking prophesy as absolute truth is time and time again proven complicated, whether we’re talking the fictional worlds of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, or any number of sacred religious texts, or even the works of someone like Nostradamus. Plus, the Celestial Messiah prophecy is deliberately vague – it promises a “perfect child” who is destined to change the universe. But that can mean plenty of things! Over the course of “Celestial Quest,” Sequoia begins as an extremely surly teen who resents his mother for bailing on him after 1 year of raising him – fair! – before growing into his energy absorption powerset and universe-saving messiah role. Naturally, this includes swinging a giant ax into Thanos with an all-time least cool hero line “You lack an ax in

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1982! Topics discussed include: My Marvelous March Madness results! Listener questions! Christianity in comics, John Byrne being a creep, and More! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 1 — Daredevil #190, #191 New Mutants #1 to #2 Uncanny X-Men #165 to #167, #172 to #173, #175 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Variant Cover! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

The parasitic alien Brood are back threatening the X-Men and unveiling more of Jonathan Hickman’s major cosmic plans for mutantkind. Today I’ll answer: + Who are the Brood and what’s their relationship with the X-Men? + How has Hickman been building towards these cosmic developments in the pages of New Mutants, and as far back as his post-War of Kings Fantastic Four? + How is Hickman using X-Men to integrate his own cosmic plans with Marvel’s upcoming Empyre event? Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! In X-Men #8, writer Jonathan Hickman and fill-in artist Mahmud Asrar return to the swirling hard science fiction of Powers of X, full of Shi’ar graveyards, intergalactic bleed space (evoking Warren Ellis’ argonaut poetry in The Authority), and rivers of dark matter inhabited by alien Brood. As we’ve known since New Mutants #1 written by Hickman with art by Rod Reis, Hickman’s been planting seeds of Brood narratives deep in our unconscious with the creation of the King Egg. And now, with the OG New Mutants squad returning from their Hickman written adventure among the Shi’ar and the Starjammers, they of course bring the menace of the Brood back with them. Hickman’s been quite locked into a Devil-May-Care attitude for all of the New Mutants, leading Rahne Sinclair here to declare the King Egg naught more than her “Space Booty.” This is the point in time where that carefree spirit comes back to haunt Krakoa. Because Rahne Sinclair brought the King Egg back to Krakoa, the ever expanding Brood empire is set for a full scale invasion. Although they’ve been decimated over the course of the previous decades, Hickman writes here that the Brood are exponentially expanding, up to trillions of drones, thousands of conquered worlds, and 1,000 Queen Brood. For the less familiar, the Brood are a menacing alien race the X-Men first encounter in earnest during a Brood Saga that runs from approximately Uncanny X-Men #160 through #167, with writing by Chris Claremont and art primarily by Paul Smith. In addition to vicious physical capabilities, and a deceptively intelligent, merciless cunning, the nastiest thing about the Brood is that they can infect their adversaries with Brood eggs that will turn anyone into a part of the shared Brood collective. In their first encounter with the X-Men, this is what the Brood due to the team, putting the likes of Cyclops, Storm, Kitty Pryde, and Colossus on borrowed time, until some last second saving from the likes of Wolverine’s healing factor, Carol Danvers newfound Binary powers (a result of Brood experimentation) and that time Storm became a baby space whale for a little while! Adding insult to injury, when the Uncanny X-Men return from their near-death experiences at the hands of the Brood, they return to find Professor X – who had recently taken responsibility for the New Mutants at the X-Mansion – succumbing to full Brood Queen takeover. The Professor literally begs for death before the full transformation, but is instead casually cloned into a new walking body via Shi’ar technology by Moira MacTaggert and Lilandra. I’ve been talking about this particular development since early House / Powers because of the ways it might connect back to big picture Moira and Charles storylines, so pay careful attention here! In retrospect, the single most fascinating Brood moment of the 2000’s occurred in the Warren Ellis written Astonishing X-Men, a follow-up to the Joss Whedon and John Cassaday run that never lived up to its predecessor, but did introduce a Brood-infected clone of Krakoa. This is something that’s actually kind of hard to fathom given Krakoa’s role in the post House of X landscape, but could a Brood still infect Krakoa? And what would that look like when all of mutantkind is living there! Like basically all of the known Marvel cosmic players (shouts to my Kree / Skrull listeners and the upcoming Empyre event), the Brood are nearly wiped out during the events of Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest. Abigail Brand, director of SWORD, actually makes a case for the Brood’s role in the universe as parasitic predators, although it’s worth pointing out that she was half-infected by Brood at the time. Nonetheless, I find this argument interesting, the Brood as cosmic necessity ala Galactus rather than straight up evil aliens. Historically, there have also been evolving, dare I say mutant Brood, with a sense of compassion setting them apart from all of Brood-kind. One of these is a member of Hulk’s warbound from Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, but the best of all of these is of course Broo, who was introduced in the pages of the Jason Aaron written Wolverine and the X-Men. Naturally, Broo is coincidentally visiting when the Brood invasion occurs, and he’s quite perturbed to find a King Egg just chilling like a decorative sculpture. Although Broo – who has most recently been seeing working with Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda – declares “King Eggs disrupts the breeding cy

In Cable #1 Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto reunite for only the second solo character ongoing in Marvel’s Krakoa era of X-Men, with the wildly controversial Teen Cable! It’s a fantastic, unexpected first issue to discuss. Today I’ll answer: + Who is Cable and what’s his history? + Will we survive Teen Cable? + How is Cable setting the stage for the X of Swords crossover? Spoilers for discussed comics may follow! Cable #1 opens with a day in the life of Teen Cable, beginning with Nate and Wolverine facing off in the Krakoa arena known as the Quarry, just for kicks. It’s a nice intro displaying Teen Cable’s lust for life, his familial relationship with Wolvy, and perhaps most importantly, Phil Noto’s incredible interior art, which is some of my favorite in all of the Dawn of X to date. Just look at the glowing red interpretation of Silver Samurai – so cool! We’ve seen two versions of Cable so far in the Dawn of X, one in Fallen Angels and one in X-Men. In Fallen Angels, we get “sad boy” teen Nate Summers, running missions with Psylocke just to feel something, listening to a lot of Sunny Day Real Estate, and possibly developing a romance with Laura Kinney that I’m actually pretty curious if we’ll ever see again. Given Fallen Angels already completely ignored status in the Dawn of X, this can all more or less be completely ignored, but you and I both know it happened! Meanwhile, in the Hickman written and Leinil Francis Yu penciled X-Men #2, we get “Meatball Cable,” making bonehead decisions about live grenades and jokes to himself about time-travel. Admittedly, I prefer this version by approximately 12 million percent because 1) It’s just a lot more fun to read but also 2) Teen Cable should behave differently than grizzled war veteran Cable. Fortunately, Gerry Duggan is taking all of his inspiration from this interpretation as well. For his part, Duggan and Noto quickly send Cable on a monster hunt to Arakko, where little toddler mutant Fauna has gone missing. It’s both a fun adventure that ties back to Cable’s trip with Poppa Summers and Sister Rachel in X-Men #2, and builds towards insanely exciting developments that connect to everything from the upcoming Ten of Swords crossover to the entire Marvel Cosmic landscape. Before I get to all that action, though, let’s take a moment to level-set: Who is Cable For the most part, Cable is known as a militaristic survivor from a future timeline ruled by Apocalypse, all enormous guns, telepathic powers, and metal robot arm. He’s a time-traveler and a present-day X-Men player, with roles across New Mutants, founding the original X-Force, and joining everyone from the X-Men to the Uncanny Avengers. If you know anything about Nathan Summers, it’s that he’s a timey-wimey embodiment of 90’s Marvel with a grim outlook and plays a great straight man. Of course, as his last name implies, Nate is a Summers, the son of Scott Summers and (well technically) Madylene Pryor, and his childhood is real messed up! During 1991’s X-Factor #68, Apocalypse infects baby Nathan with a technorganic virus, and in order to save his life and defeat Apocalypse, Jean and Scott have to agree to let Sister Askani take baby Nathan into the distant future where the virus can be kept at bay. Both Apocalypse and Mister Sinister take a deeply invested interest in baby Nathan, with Sinister of course obsessing over the potential of the Summers and Grey (well, Pryor) bloodline. Indeed, as Sinister’s all too happy to remind Cable, he is more or less responsible for Nathan’s existence, since Sinister schemes and machinations are so heavily integrated into the lives of Scott Summers and of course Madylene Pryor. Once he’s back from the future, Cable quickly takes to leading teams like the New Mutants and more famously, X-Force. In the pre House of X Extermination event, familiar Cable is assassinated by Teenage Cable, who blames OG Cable for letting Hank McCoy pull the original teen X-Men from their past to present day Marvel, wreaking all kinds of damage on the timestream (and still not preventing teen Cable’s hellish future). Teen Cable views his actions a necessary correction for an OG Cable that wasn’t fulfilling his duty of protecting the timestream. Does any of this make sense? I have no idea. Nonetheless, we’re good and stuck with Teen Cable. Back in Cable #1, in the course of defending little Fauna from the Arrako monster – with aid from Pixie and Armor – Cable uncovers a giant sword in the beasts foot setting it off and causing its rage. With the upcoming summer X crossover titled Ten of Swords, this is clearly a Big Deal, and apart from some choicely worded Betsy Braddock dialogue in Excalibur the first very clear set-up for the event. Even cooler, this isn’t just any sword, but as Cable’s psychic flashback tells him, it’s the former sword of a Galadorian Spaceknight known as Morn! The sword is known as the Light of Galador, and was apparently lost when Morn arrived on Arakko and found himself b

I’ll tell anyone who will listen that DC’s Dark Nights: Metal is one of my favorite comic book events of all time, and creators Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are back for round two in 2020 with Dark Nights: Death Metal. On today’s Road to DC Death Metal I’ll investigate: How did we get here and what comics should you understand prior to the event? My theories, predictions, and hopes for Death Metal And whether Death Metal can save DC Comics from its current malaise! The opening issue of the event releases May 13, 2020, and will feature two 3-month chunks of “event issues” throughout 2020, as well as “Metalverse” tie-ins. In March, Scott Snyder made a surprise Chicago Comic Con (C2E2) appearance to share a ton of tremendously exciting teases. ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post The Road to DC’s Death Metal – 2020 Anti-Crisis Event! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1982. Miller & Claremont’s Wolverine! The Brood! Fantastic Four! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Wolverine #1 to #4 Uncanny X-Men #160 to #164 Fantastic Four #240, #242 to #247 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-Two: 1983 Pt. 1 — Daredevil #190, #191 New Mutants #1 to #2 Uncanny X-Men #165 to #167, #172 to #173, #175 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Pt. 3 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

The highly anticipated follow-up to Tom King and Mitch Gerads all-time great Mister Miracle arrives today with Strange Adventures #1, a 12 issue DC Black Label limited series bringing in artist Evan “Doc” Shaner on an Adam Strange story. It’s without question one of the most anticipated comics of 2020. Today I’ll answer: + Who is Adam Strange? + Why are King, Gerads, and Shaner following Mister Miracle with this character? + What is Strange Adventures doing that sets itself apart from standard superhero comics? Strange Adventures #1 introduces readers to Adam Strange, man of two worlds, Earth-born hero of Rann, and his alien wife Alanna. To convey the dichotomy of Adam Strange’s duel lives – the costumed adventurer defending the near utopian Rann, and the archaeologist and now published memoirist of Earth – Evan Shaner and Mitch Gerads split art duties, sometimes on the same page. It’s a fascinating, generally effective split workload, with Shaner’s clean pencils evoking superhero action in its purest distilled form – indeed, it’s Shaner who frequently designs DC’s Golden Age omnibus covers for his ability to evoke that feeling of timeless hero mythology – and Mitch Gerads working the grime, grit, and general uncertainty of present day Earth. Dating back to his 1958 creation by Julius Schwartz and Murphy Anderson – essential assists from Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky – the premise of Adam Strange is that he travels 25 trillion miles between Earth and Space using Rann’s Zeta Beam technology. The Zeta – or teleportation – beam becomes integrated with Adam Strange’s being, and for much of his history has a limited, fairly unpredictable holding time, meaning Strange will often “fade” back to Earth at inopportune times. Throughout the Silver Age these stories can be found in titles like DC Showcase, Mystery in Space, and later reprints in Strange Adventures! To get back to Rann, in the Alpha Centauri star system, Adam Strange has to calculate where and when the next Zeta Beams will arrive, creating plenty of recurring tension every time he misses a beam or something goes awry. In addition the practical tension of the hero stranded on his home planet, this is also generally the device used to manufacture romantic tension, as Adam’s love is “lost in space.” On Rann, Adam Strange is turned into the planet’s champion – effectively their one man police force or army – and also falls in love with Alanna. During Alan Moore and Rick Veitch’s work on Swamp Thing, it’s revealed that Adam and Alanna will be having a baby, who will go on to be known as Aleea. For my money, if you’re looking for good Adam Strange comics to read alongside Strange Adventures, I’d first point you to the aforementioned two part Swamp Thing story written by Moore, in issues #57 and #58. For entries in what would be considered the current DC Rebirth canon – after a fashion – I like Death of Hawkman (which I maintain is actually an Adam Strange story) and Strange’s supporting role in the Grant Morrison and Liam Sharpe The Green Lantern #6 There’s also an Adam Strange reading order in the show notes if you want the whole guide on CBH! Tom King has been one of my favorite comic book writers since 2016, with truly memorable works like Marvel’s Vision, Vertigo’s Sheriff of Babylon, and of course, DC’s Mister Miracle, which I currently have ranked as my 6th favorite comic book of all time. Universal adoration for King’s work definitely soured following the conclusion of Mister Miracle, though, with both his Batman run and especially Heroes in Crisis disappointing and outright enraging fans. Honestly, this puts Strange Adventures in the position of reclaiming King’s status as one of the best writers in comics, working with Shaner and Gerads towards a narrative of returning to form. In Strange Adventures #1, Adam and Alanna are on Earth – seemingly for good – and Adam Strange is promoting his memoir, “Strange Adventures.” Adam’s generally hailed as a hero, until an extremely angry fan shows up at a book signing and tells Adam he knows what Adam did to the Pykkts, the “invading” alien race we see Adam fighting in the Shaner drawn flashbacks. Although it also raises the question why anyone on Earth would know about Adam Strange’s exploits 25 trillion miles through space. The incident leads to a public quest for clearing his name following the same angry fan’s murder by an alien weapon. There’s a particularly interesting moment during Adam Strange’s press conference where Gerads turns his lens on Alanna as she wipes away a tear. Gerads colors the middle panel with the caption “These are lies” as if a flash is going off, which for me brought to mind the panels in Mister Miracle when the background would fizz out like a broken TV reception. The fact that Alanna’s face hardens in the next panel, with the caption “Vicious, Unfounded, Corrupt Lies,” suggests an intentional clue that Alanna is hiding something as well. This is not all that hard t

At this week’s 2020 Chicago Comic Con (aka C2e2) Jonathan Hickman and the X-Men team announced the X-Men’s first Dawn of X crossover, “X of Swords” pronounced “Ten of Swords.” Starting in May’s Free Comic Book Day special, “Ten of Swords” is a 15 part crossover primarily running through Hickman’s X-Men and Tini Howard’s Excalibur. Today I’ll answer: + What is “Ten of Swords” + Why does it make sense that X-Men and Excalibur are the focus comics? + Predictions and theories about the event, including a brief history of X-Men swords! Related Reading: X-Men: Dawn of X reading order For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: As it turns out, “X of Swords” is pronounced “Ten of Swords,” which is a reference to a Tarot Card. Review Notes! As a total newcomer to Tarot, I was intrigued to learn a card like the Ten of Swords has an upright, and a reversed position, and the meaning of the reading changes depending on this position. I’ll note for those interested in their own theories, the reversed position of the “Ten of Swords” refers to recovery, regeneration, and resisting an inevitable end, the last of which sounds so specific to the mutants on Krakoa and Moira’s Powers of X revelation that mutants always lose, that it almost can’t be an accident. Regarding the meaning of “The Ten of Swords,” I’d encourage obsessed X-fans to read up on some of the details because it’s impossible not to set your mind racing on X-Men connections and possibilities. The readings are just vague enough that a billion storylines fall into place. Based on the core meaning of betrayal, and being literally stabbed in the back by 10 swords – talk about overkill! – my mind immediately jumps to Mister Sinister (the ultimate promised betrayer) or potentially – and we’ll dig into this in more detail – Apocalypse and all the schemes he has of his own. Another particularly interesting element to me is the idea that the “Ten of Swords” features a setting sun, signaling the end of an era, which makes me think about the end of one of Moira’s lifelines, or possibly just the Krakoan dream of House of X. Speaking of Tarot Card connections, this actually isn’t the fist time we’ve seen allusions in the Hickman era of X-Men, considering Powers of X teased “The Magician,” “The Tower,” and “The Devil,” one has to assume with great intent! I expect all of these cards to play a major role, and to be explained in more detail in “X of Swords,” particularly “The Tower,” which was also just teased in the background of X-Men #7 as the mysterious perfect Krakoan home of Nightcrawler (and where I imagine he’ll be having sermons for his new mutant religion). In terms of predictions and what I think is coming my absolute favorite connection centers around the mysterious origins of Arakko and Krakoa, teased in House of X #5 and X-Men #2 as deeply connected to longtime X-Men villain (and now ally) Apocalypse. Credit here to @TheMutantMenace and @Larkinz for hitting me with variations of this theory first after the news broke at C2e2 and I was furiously tweeting about relevant swords that could play a role in this crossover! So let’s start here: Krakoa and Arakko where separated during a demonic invasion, and Hickman writes about “The Twilight Sword of the enemy” as the weapon tearing the world asunder. The Twilight Sword is a very specific choice of words in Marvel, most memorably tied to Surtur, in the pages of the Walt Simonson all time great run on Thor. Here, the Twilight Sword is a herald of Doom, created by Surtur and the mines of Muspelheim to defeat Odin and bring about Ragnarok and the destruction of Asgard. When the Twilight Sword reemerged in the Kurt Busiek and George Perez Avengers about 15 years later, Thor is careful to point out the sword has magical, mystical elements that can influence the makings of reality. The power of the sword isn’t just that it’s a big ass blade – although, it’s a really big ass blade – but the fact that it’s imbued with all these other realm mystical connections. The big reason the Avengers connections to the Twilight Sword matter here – or at least the reason I’ll theorize they matter – is that it’s Morgan Le Fay who wields the mystical artifact. In Avengers #1 to #3, the swelling Avengers lineup is warped into a medieval realm controlled by Morgan Le Fay and Mordred, all using a combination of the Twilight Sword and – kind of amazingly – the “mutant witch” hex powers of the Scarlet Witch! As we’ve seen since the conclusion of Excalibur #6, Apocalypse is currently dissecting and running experiments on this same very Morgan Le Fay! This feels like way too much connection to be a coincidence, and I’m convinced Apocalypse is searching Le Fay’s being for mystical connections to the Twlight Sword that allow him to magically access the realms it once tore asunder. An Otherworld / Arakko war feels very much in play here, especially given Jaime Braddock’s own reality warping abilities, and Apocalypse’s clear machinations to put Jaime

Marvel comics of 1982. Frank Miller’s Daredevil! Contest of Champions! Nothing stops the Juggernaut! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): The Contest #1 to #3 Daredevil #178 to #189 Amazing Spider-Man #229 to #230 Moon Knight #22 to 25 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Pt. 3 — Wolverine #1 to #4 Uncanny X-Men #160 to #164 Fantastic Four #240, #242 to #247 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!, to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Men #7 delivers a major update to the state of mutants on Krakoa and in the Marvel Universe, in easily one of the biggest issues since House of X ended! Today I’ll answer: + What is “Crucible” and what does it mean for the X-Men’s resurrection protocols? + How does X-Men #7 tie heavily into House of M and X-Men “Decimation” stories from the mid 2000’s? + Why Nightcrawler is the perfect guide to introduce us to the new Crucible practice on Krakoa Related Reading: X-Men: Dawn of X reading order Review Notes – Spoilers May Follow! In X-Men #7 by Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Sunny Gho, Clayton Cowles, Tom Muller, the issue opens with the mysterious repeating refrain that “Crucible is today.” There’s been a lot of speculation about what “Crucible” might be after Marvel previewed the issue, and X-Men #7 does a nice job building details and information about the new addition to Krakoa culture as the story develops. Cyclops first considers the new procedure with Wolverine, in a scene full of details that are going to drive the Scott/Logan/Jean/Sure let’s throw in Emma why not shippers wild. On his quest to witness and learn more about Crucible, Cyclops first strolls past Doug Ramsey, Krakoa, and for just a split second, Warlock chilling. It’s tangential to the main story, but for fans who have been wondering about Doug’s techno-organic arm, and the presence of longtime New Mutants member Warlock, it’s another small clue in what appears to be another mystery. There’s definitely something curious, almost creepy, going on with Doug and Warlock, and I’m certain this isn’t the last we’ll see of them. The bulk of the issue centers around an extended, religious and philosophical conversation between Nightcrawler and Cyclops, mostly as it pertains to The Crucible. Kurt has so many questions about Krakoa, the resurrection protocols, and what they mean for faith, the afterlife, and morality. Crucially, as Cyclops and Nightcrawler make their way to Crucible, they witness Exodus leading some campfire cult kids in the ways of Krakoa. Importantly, Exodus describes resurrection not just as “being reborn,” but as “being made whole.” Even the children of Krakoa understand that death is necessary to achieve this gift. At this point it begins to become clear what Crucible is meant to be. Crucible is all about restoring mutants that were depowered in Scarlet Witch’s Decimation to their full mutant abilities. These are Krakoa’s rules for mutants who have lost their powers, and the nation’s path forward to restoring mutant kind to their past glory. Importantly, it’s not enough to resurrect those who have been killed by humans, but mutants also see it vital to restore depowered former mutants as well. At the conclusion of 2005’s House of M, Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch – then thought to be both mutant and long-time Avenger – Wanda used her reality altering powers to declare “No More Mutants” and depowered 1 million mutants. Hence her new status in the Marvel Universe as boogeyman to mutant children, and “The Pretender” label given the fact that it’s been revealed in the last 5 years, that Wanda is not – in fact- even a mutant. It’s also clear now why X-Men #7 is titled “Lifedeath,” in a callback to Uncanny X-Men #186, a story in which Storm copes with the loss of her powers after being hit with a depowering invention from Forge. Arriving at Crucible, we learn that this gladiatorial ceremony is the Quiet Council’s solution to the problem of Decimation, and mutants that want to be made whole. The first mutant to go through Crucible – or at least the first we see – is Melody Guthrie, the fourth of the Guthrie’s 10 children, and herself a mutant until the events of M-Day. The talk by Apocalypse of refusing suicide as an option is particularly relevant for Melody, who nearly committed a form of post M-Day suicide, jumping off a building believing she could still fly (New avengers #18 (?)) So instead of encouraging mass-death, Crucible is Krakoa’s way of challenging depowered ex-mutants to prove their mettle and desire to be made whole. It’s a very Apocalypse argument, fighting for survival and becoming your best self in a sword-fight with the Big A Symbol himself. My first major questions surrounding Crucible are: 1)What happens if they beat Apocalypse? They don’t get to resurrect? Doesn’t seem like a lot of incentive to have a great sword fight. 2)What about mutants – like Domino in X-Force – who aren’t depowered but are not “whole” in some way. How far does Crucible extend? While witnessing the evens of Crucible, Nightcrawler and Cyclops pose some major questions about the nation’s resurrection process. The first is the issue of mutant wills, where Cyclops points out some mutants “are arguing that the best version of themselves would be being reborn in a copy of Magneto’s body with his powers.” Nightcrawler then says “Why stop there? Why not combine two? Why not add a third into the mix?” This is some dramat

Few power players in the world of X-Men are as essential to Krakoa with as much baggage between them as Jean Grey and Emma Frost, two of the world’s most powerful telepaths and members of Krakoa’s quiet council. ​ Today I’ll answer:​ + What does this Giant-Size special mean for Jean and Emma in the Krakoa era?​ + What’s the big picture role of the 5 Hickman written Giant-Size specials in Dawn of X?​ + What do you need to know about the history between Jean and Emma?​ In our first of five Giant-Size issues written by Jonathan Hickman, with alternating artistic showcases, we get Russell Dauterman and Matt Wilson – the powerhouse duo that made the Jane Foster era of Thor and War of the Realms so incredible – taking on a Jean Grey and Emma Frost combo adventure.​ Get your Krakoan translators ready because Giant-Size Jean and Emma is a nearly silent issue, with Krakoan language gates offering some of the only text in the issue. For those of you who don’t feel like playing cryptographer, the opening text reads: “Silence, Psychic Rescue in Progress!” Jean and Emma’s psychic rescue is required after Storm is found badly wounded and comatose on Krakoa.​ Related Reading: X-Men: Dawn of X reading order Review Notes – Spoilers May Follow! Why Jean and Emma?​ In addition to a long-running, frequently nasty history that dates back to the early 80’s “Dark Phoenix Saga,” Jean Grey and Emma Frost also stand out as the female leads of the Grant Morrison written, Frank Quitely designed New X-Men. It makes a lot of sense that Hickman – whose passion for New X-Men is well publicized and clearly influence all things X-Men – Dauterman, and Wilson would take to New X-Men #121 in particular, a “silent” issue in which Jean and Emma venture inside the psychic swamp of Cassandra Nova to save Professor X. With art by Frank Quitely, New X-Men #121 is a psychedelic explosion of ideas in which we learn Professor X tried to kill his twin sister – Cassandra Nova – in utero.​ Notably, Jean is easily the most successful of the adventuring telepaths, as she points out to Emma at issue’s end. Frankly, if you read nothing else prior to the Giant-Size special, you should consider New X-Men #121 for inspiration and reference points, of which there are several fun ones. Venturing into Storm’s psychic landscape, we get a nice callback to the character’s shared histories. Whereas Storm’s psychic defenses recognize Jean Grey as a friend, they also recognize Emma Frost is a long-time enemy. Indeed, back in Uncanny X-Men #151 to #152, Emma took control of Storm’s body in order to use her to trick and manipulate the X-Men, among plenty of other misdeeds.​ It’s a reminder that Emma’s history with the X-Men is ripe with baggage, much of which makes Jean and Emma working together an unlikely scenario to begin with. Jean and Emma Frost first meet in the pages of Uncanny X-Men during the “Dark Phoenix Saga” – which more or less spans issues #129 to #138, but arguably has been building since Giant-Size X-Men #1!. ​ This is during Emma’s black-and-white – well, mostly white – straight up super villain days, without all of the nuance and complexity that Claremont, Lobdell/Bachalo in the pages of Generation X, Morrison, and countless other creators would add to her character in the decades to come. As a result, her and Phoenix era Jean quickly throw down, as Jean unleashes the full might of the Phoenix on Emma’s not inconsequential psychic powers.​ In a sense, Emma would have the last laugh, working with Jason Wyngarde – aka Mastermind – to manipulate Jean into becoming the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. Through all that history, by the time House of X and Powers of X culminate in a new Krakoan nation state for mutantkind, Jean and Emma are amicable enough and together enough in their cause to share a beer and celebrate. ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post Krakin’ Krakoa #37: Giant-Size Jean Grey / Emma Frost Review! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Looking back at the entire first wave of X-Men Dawn of X to discuss what’s working, what’s not, and where we think X-Men comics are going in 2020! Thanks to Zack Quaintance (@comicsbookcase) for joining me for a great conversation about all things X-Men! Related Reading: X-Men: Dawn of X reading order You can also find more of my thoughts and theories on all things 2020 X-Men over on the Comic Book Herald Youtube channel! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post X-Men: Dawn of X Wave 1 In Review! (W/ Zack Quaintance) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1982. Original graphic novels debut! The Death of Captain Marvel, New Mutants, and X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): The Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel #1 The New Mutants New Mutants Graphic Novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills X-Men: Gold Loves, Man Kills – Special Edition Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Pt. 2 — The Contest #1 to #3 Daredevil #178 to #189 Amazing Spider-Man #229 to #230 Moon Knight #22 to 25 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty-One: 1982 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

News broke on Friday (Feb 21, 2020) that Dan Didio, Co-Publisher at DC Comics since 2010, is leaving the company. It’s a huge change for DC, and provides an opportunity to reflect on a legacy that includes The New 52, DC Rebirth, and a lot of complexity. Thanks to Zack Quaintance (@comicsbookcase) for joining me for an impromptu discussion about Didio’s legacy as DC co-publisher, and what it might mean for DC Comics moving forward. We talk about the good and bad of Didio’s time as the figurehead of DC Comics and what we’ll remember most. We also consider how Didio impacted both DC’s legacy characters and the line of in-continuity superhero comics as a whole. What will DC Comics look like in a post-Didio era, and with new corporate ownership bringing in different ideas of what they want out of a comics publisher? Related Reading: Co-Publisher Dan Didio no longer at DC DC’s The New 52 reading order DC Rebirth reading order ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com   The post Dan Didio Out At DC Comics: Quickfire Reactions & Predictions (W/ Zack Quaintance) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

An all new Wolverine comic series launches today for the first time in six years! Today I’ll answer: + Where’s Wolverine been in the Marvel Universe, and why hasn’t he had a comic series since 2014? + Where the new Wolverine series fits in the X-Men: Dawn of X! + Who are the villains of the new Wolverine ongoing? Wolverine #1 is an over-sized, excellent (and $7.99) special with two full stories written by Ben Percy. The first, with art by Adam Kubert and colors by Frank Martin, is an extended continuation of the Dawn of X X-Force run Percy’s been writing as well. The issue kicks off with an opening reminiscent of Old Man Logan, with X-Force teammates Jean Grey, Domino, and Quentin Quire apparently dead at the hands of a badly wounded, amnesiac but healing Wolverine. Really since X-Force #1, Percy’s shown a clear desire to explore concepts of safety on Krakoa, and in the case of Wolverine, this character surrounded in generations of violence, the idea of ever letting go enough to truly be at peace. Calling back to the imagery of Hickman/Larraz in House of X #1, there’s something remarkably sweet about Wolverine playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of young mutants, and only having his spot revealed by a teasing Jean Grey. In the pages of Wolverine #1’s first story, black market Krakoan flowers are driving increases in religious cults around the world like the ‘Order of X.’ Percy’s shown an eye for exploring the impact of Krakoan drugs in X-Force, and Wolvy continues that trend with more conversation about pollen than you can shake an allergist at. As Jean Grey states later in the issue “They believe if they consume enough pollen, then Krakoa will bind with their DNA and make them… something more. Not quite human and note quite mutant. A hybrid life-form. A new species. They think the same is true of our blood.” This all drives to an “X-Force” assemble moment, with Wolverine enlisting Sage’s aid to uncover an Order of X cult hideout, and bringing Jean, Domino, and Quentin (with Gateway’s chauffeuring aid) to explore the mistreatment of Krakoa’s pollen. The mystery revolves around how we truly get from this point to Wolverine surrounding his teammates dead bodies in the snow, and running headfirst into the CIA operative we also see tracking the pollen trade throughout this storyline. More to come of course, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out, including the revelations of the mysterious “Pale Girl” behind it all. My first “Pale Girl” thought jumped to Miss Sinister (yes I just read “Dead Man Logan” why do you ask?), but that seems unlikely from the story ending slight reveal. The second story by Percy and Viktor Bogdonavich plays in more familiar Wolverine comic territory, but still tackles several Krakoa questions, such as the policy of inviting truly every mutant onto the island regardless of their past deeds and inclinations towards serial killing. The appearance of a bloody Omega Red – a longtime Wolverine nemesis, dating back to 1991’s X-Men #4 in comics history, but even further back into Wolverine’s back story – requesting amnesty sets Wolverine on edge, and leads to a confrontation with Magneto (who joyously tosses Wolverine through a Krakoan gate like a rag doll). Wolverine and Magneto get into a pretty interesting debate about the dangers of a presence like Omega Red on Krakoa – remember back in House of X #5 it was Wolverine who expressed the most vocal objections to Apocalypse joining the island. Magneto argues the dangers of deadly mutants are nullified by Krakoa’s resurrection protocols, and Wolverine counters with “immortality don’t erase trauma.” This is a very compelling argument in theory, but it raises the question that has come up a few times now – How much would a mutant actually remember about their death? After all, Professor X’s backups occur weekly, not down to the second, so it’s actually very likely that the circumstances surrounding a mutant’s death would be unknown even to them. This comes up in the pages of X-Men #6, where Magneto, Professor X and Mystique can’t quite be certain Mystique’s goals were achieved prior to her death in House of X #4. If that’s the case, isn’t Wolverine’s point kind of null and void? Regardless, Omega Red’s presence and manipulations send Wolverine on a journey to Paris where he runs into a swelling Vampire Nation, who literally hang Wolverine upside down and stick a faucet in his neck like a Keg-arine. As it’s ultimately revealed, the Vampire Nation seeks Wolverine’s “Endless” blood to feed their leader, Dracula, who is very much in league with Omega Red. Dracula gives Omega, real name Arkady, the carbonadium synthesizer he is literally always looking for – usually because Wolverine and Maverick are playing keepaway with it! – in exchange for his loyalty as a mole inside Krakoa. Appropriately, there’s been a lot of theorizing about a mutant mole in the pages of X-Force and Omega Red could certainly fit the bill. It almost seems too easy, an

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1981! Topics discussed include: ’81 poll results – What Marvel character deserved an all-time great 80’s run? Dave and Zack’s Doctor Doom feud! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty One: 1982 Pt. 1 — The Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel #1 The New Mutants New Mutants Graphic Novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills X-Men: Gold Loves, Man Kills – Special Edition You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Variant Cover! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Thor #3 follows the cliffhanger appearance of Beta Ray Bill, cosmic powerhouse, frequent player in the Donny Cates cosmic Marvel universe, and oath-brother to Thor. The story by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino is an all out action issue fixating on a brawl between Bill and Thor. Beta Ray Bill views Thor’s work with Galactus as an absolute breach of his worthiness to hold Mjolnir, and initially seeks to attack the devourer in order to free Thor from what Bill assumes is some sort of mind control or bewitching. Today I’ll answer: + Who is Beta Ray Bill and what’s his history with Thor and Galactus? + Where are we at in the Donny Cates and Nic Klein Thor story through three issues, and where is the series heading? For related reading orders on Comic Book Herald: Donny Cates’ Marvel Comics! Thor reading order! Beta Ray Bill reading order! Beta Ray Bill is even more enraged when he learns that Thor is working with Galactus of his own free will, and despite Thor’s clear advantages as the combination Lord of Asgard / Herald of Galactus, fights Thor until Stormbreaker, Bill’s enchanted hammer, is literally smashed to pieces. Beta Ray Bill is even more enraged when he learns that Thor is working with Galactus of his own free will, and despite Thor’s clear advantages as the combination Lord of Asgard / Herald of Galactus, fights Thor until Stormbreaker, Bill’s enchanted hammer, is literally smashed to pieces. To help explain why Beta Ray Bill is so enraged by the trajectory of Thor’s course with Galactus, it helps to look at the character’s history in the Marvel Universe. In my favorite Beta Ray Bill story of the 2000’s, and the one with the most relevance for the Cates and Klein run to date, the three issue Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter by Kieron Gillen and Kano follows Bill as he seeks revenge on Galactus. Thor questions the wisdom of Bill’s vendetta against the world devourer, and actually denies him aid. Bill’s plan is to starve Galactus, choosing to employ strategy over pure brawn in a way that highlights why Beta Ray Bill is a cosmic powerhouse. The story is also a nice inversion of the usual conclusion Marvel heroes come to about Galactus operating as a monstrous but necessary force in the galactic balance. Famously, in the pages of the John Byrne era of Fantastic Four, Reed Richards even makes a case for Galactus during a space trial, which is frankly a lot like making a case for a serial killer in front of the aggrieved family. Bill wants nothing to do with this philosophy or science, though. In the words of every review of stories involving Thor and Beta Ray Bill ever: It’s hammertime. Bill comes very close to succeeding too, taking on the likes of the Silver Surfer as he seeks an end to the World Devourer. His position as Galactus’ status as necessary force of nature is clear too, at one point telling the Surfer: “You serve Galactus. Thurs your hands are bloody red. What do we have to talk about?” Nonetheless, Bill’s obsession with revenge and his methods of planetary annihilation to murder Galactus result in him becoming unworthy of Stormbreaker. It’s only after he halts his bloodthirsty quest that he’s able to wield the enchanted weapon again. With all that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that Beta Ray Bill would bumrush the show in Thor #3, however foolhardy that proves. Although he has to learn a lesson by the end of Godhunter, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe Beta Ray doesn’t still hate Galactus with a raging fury. After Thor’s well and truly beaten Beta Ray Bill, the issue concludes with the former love interest of both Beta Ray Bill and Thor, Lady Sif, now Sif the all-seeing following the events of King Thor. Presumably issue #4 will kick off with a brouhaha between Thor and Sif, although I hope Cates & Klein are more clever than that. Because Thor #3 is so action-heavy – and again, so one-sided – there’s a lightness to this issue that leaves little to grasp onto. It’s perhaps important to show how far beyond his normal status quo King Thor has risen – he makes Bill look like a featherweight – but doing so a second time against an ally would feel beyond repetitive. The most interesting thing this “Herald of Thunder” storyline is doing is asking how complicit Thor is, or should feel about his newfound role aiding Galactus’ planet consumption. There’s a crucial moment in issue #3 where Galactus seeks to control Thor’s power cosmic, and Thor tells him “Nay!!! I took your power.” instead of the other way around. The scene reminds me a lot of my toddler when I tell him I’m going to play with the best dinosaur action figure, but nonetheless it reveals a clear distinction Thor is making that he is, in fact, in control of his actions and working with Galactus because it needs to be done. I think Cates and Klein are interested in asking questions about Thor’s humanity as King, even calling him the new “God of Genocide” in issue #2, but that angle is falling very f

X-Men #6 by Jonathan Hickman, Matteo Buffagni, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles is a much-needed flashback to Mystique’s role in the House of X event, offering present day insights into the apparent strong return of Orchis, those sentinel obsessed humans the X-Men gave their lives to stop. The issue’s effective at connecting back to the celebrated event that birthed the Krakoa era, while also suggesting the victory was not nearly as certain as mutantkind previously thought. For the full Dawn of X reading order: Mystique reading order History of Mystique and Destiny For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: Today I’ll answer: + What does X-Men #6 reveal about Mystique’s secret role in House of X + The history between Mystique and Destiny + What the return of Orchis in this issue means for Krakoa and the House of X! Notably, X-Men #6 features no data pages, maximizing a full issue’s worth of story for Mystique’s emotional power struggle with Professor Xavier and Magneto, as well as the development of the Orchis threat thought crippled. Like X-Men #4, issue #6 is a deliberate follow-up to the event that started it all, and feels tremendously essential. Looking back to House of X and Powers of X, when we first see Mystique, she’s in the process of stealing a data file from Damage Control with Sabretooth and Toad. When she returns to Krakoa – narrowly escaping the arrival of the Fantastic Four, who arrest Sabretooth – she delivers the data to Magneto. There’s really nothing suspicious about this interaction in these early stages, as Mystique and Magneto have long fought on the same side, and certainly from the early 2000’s movie franchise alone, now have a cultural perception of closeness and allyship. First, though, Mystique uses the acquisition of data as leverage against Magneto and Professor X. Mystique makes “demands” of Magneto and the Prof, before Xavier sarcastically condescends to her with the line “Is helping your fellow mutant not reward enough for Raven Darkholme,” a line Raven will wryly use back against the Professor in mere moments. House and Powers were really about Charles and Erik’s plans to use Mystique’s stolen data, and less about what she really wants. Following the House of X #4 mission gone terribly wrong – remember, Mystique gets “lost” and the entire X-crew is killed in the process of preventing Orchis’ Mother Mold from becoming operational – Mystique is resurrected and made one of the 12 members of the Council. This appears to be Professor and Magneto’s efforts of placating Mystique, although it’s clear from her abject boredom during Council meetings, that Raven has something else in mind. In X-Men #6 this scene is replayed but this time with an extended cut that reveals Professor X and Magneto also asked Mystique to plant a seed on the Orchis station during the X-Men’s mission to sabotage the Mother Mold. This is why Mystique mysteriously takes a wrong turn during that issue, and becomes crucial as the planted Krakoan gate allows Mystique to travel to the Orchis station under the guise of one of their soldiers to monitor their progress. This is one of those story beats that Jonathan Hickman is great at, fitting wrinkles into pauses and breath left behind in previous issues. There’s a sense to how the puzzle fits together, and also a clear-eyed vision that shows this was the plan all along. During the process of reconnaissance, Mystique learns that Dr. Alia Gregor is making progress on the development of Nimrod, and that the X-Men’s destruction of the Mother Mold was not the apparent end of the Nimrod threat that mutantkind had hoped. This is catastrophic news for Magneto and Professor X’s plans. Not only is Orchis restoring what they’re calling a “Sentinel City” on Mars – have to think that’s not the last time we’ll be hearing of Sentinel City! – but the dramatic House of X #4 infiltration didn’t even stop the rise of Nimrod. Personally, I think this is a brilliant reveal. Nimrod was so effectively built up as the ultimate threat to mutantkind in the pages of Powers of X, so the adaptive mutant hunter is a borderline requirement to retain tension towards the mutants attempts to assure a future that doesn’t result in their own extermination. Plus, it highlights that even with Moira’s lifeline insights, the Krakoa era of X-Men is far from a guaranteed success. In fact, so far based on Moira’s lives, everything she tries leads to failure; this is a hint that the same inevitability may be at play. So why is Mystique running all these errands for the Prof and Magneto? Given the closeness of their relationship historically, many have postulated that Mystique is most dedicated to the resurrection of Destiny, and that’s quite clearly made explicit here. Mystique teases that she doesn’t kill Dr. Gregor because of Krakoa’s laws about killing humans – which Magneto characteristically throws out the window in a millisecond – but the reality is she’s holding out in an effort to get the resurrecti

Marvel comics of 1981. Doomquest! Moon Knight! A guy’s head with a gorilla body! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Iron Man #149 to #150 Fantastic Four #232 to #236 Moon Knight #9 to #10 Avengers #212 to #213 Power Man and Iron Fist #67, 68, 75 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty One: 1982 Pt. 1 — The Death of Captain Marvel Graphic Novel #1 The New Mutants New Mutants Graphic Novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills X-Men: Gold Loves, Man Kills – Special Edition You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, and Laura Martin follows up on a thread first teased in House of X #1, when Cyclops told the Richards family he’d always have a home on Krakoa. In addition to major ramifications for the Marvel Universe, X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 combines elements from my favorite Fantastic Four series of the last 5 years (Marvel Two-In-One written by Chip Zdarsky) and my favorite ongoing Dawn of X title, Marauders, for a very strong opening issue. The issue opens with a monologue from Franklin, now a 13 year old, reflecting on his history with the Fantastic Four and as an omega level mutant. Following 2015’s Secret Wars Franklin was in a position of literally creating universes (which as we’ll see is not the first time he’s done as much), but since Dan Slott’s Fantastic Four kicked off in 2018, Franklin’s powerset dwindles whenever he put it to use. For the full Dawn of X reading order: For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: Today I’ll answer: + Why the X-Men are after Franklin Richards, and why the Fantastic Four are suspicious + The essential reading history of Franklin Richards! By the time the X-Men come calling, wondering about the possibility of bringing Franklin “home” to Krakoa (and when I say wondering, I mean borderline storming the Richards’ home on Yancy Street and demanding an audience w/ flippin’ Magneto in tow!), he’s already in a place of sadness, anger, and confusion. Despite the fact that Franklin’s father, Reed, is arguably the smartest man alive, he can’t seem to find a cure for Franklin’s powers. This leads Franklin to question why it is that Ben Grimm and now himself are the only two “problems” that Reed seems historically unable to solve. It’s a devastating line of thinking from Reed’s own son, but also very understandable, and something we know Ben’s worried about and fumed over in the past as well. So when the X-Men decide it’s time to show and claim Franklin as their own, leveraging the debatable bond Kitty and Franklin share from a nice throwback connection to 1987’s Fantastic Four vs. X-Men miniseries, Franklin’s pretty primed to consider the offer! It’s a nice choice to use Kitty as the voice of reason connecting with Franklin throughout, as it affords both connections to Marvel’s history and an excuse to primarily utilize Kate Pryde and her Marauders as our focus mutants. History of Franklin Pt. 1 – Birth Before going any deeper into this specific issue – and if all you’re here for is a review, I quite like this issue and am super excited about the 4 issue limited series. It’s a strong recommend from me, although I’d note to check my Dawn of X reading order on CBH for placement because it creates some conflicts with Marauders – I do also want to dig into Franklin’s history to explore why the character is such a crucial one for both the Krakoa era of X-Men and the Marvel Universe as a whole. Franklin was born in 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6, approximately six full years into Marvel’s growing Silver Age superhero universe, and over 75 issues (plus annuals) into Fantastic Four. In true Marvel fashion, the only way to mitigate cosmic ray induced difficulties with Sue’s pregnancy is for Reed, Ben, and Johnny to venture into the Negative Zone, battle Annihilus, and return with something called element X to help Sue give birth to a happy healthy Franklin! History of Franklin Pt. 2 – Power Creep As this auspicious debut suggests, Franklin begins developing his mutant powers well before puberty, really as a toddler, which is quite atypical in the Marvel Universe, and chalked up to his parent’s own cosmically altered genetics. Throughout our My Marvelous Year reading club read through the Marvel Universe, we’ve seen various instances of Franklin’s true power. Likewise, we’ve seen an equal reaction of Reed and the family (although mostly the responsibility falls to Reed) trying to control or tame this power in the interests of their son. For example, in Fantastic Four #150, Franklin wakes from a coma to take down a model of Ultron that literally the Avengers, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four were struggling to defeat. This use of Franklin’s power appears to “cure” him, but in reality his powers were just lying in wait. The next major development that I think of comes during the John Byrne era of Fantastic Four, specifically issues #244 to #245, when we meet “adult” Franklin for the first time. Franklin the toddler more or less accidentally uses his suddenly untapped mutant reality warping abilities to turn himself into an adult, and in the confusion, he of course fights and defeats the Fantastic Four sans Sue. It’s worth noting that although this is not a time traveling version of Franklin, the idea clearly sparked something in the Marvel creative fabric, as aging up Franklin and finding out what he could become has been a staple of the character’s stories ever since. This all leads to an overextended period of the Fantastic Four assuming F

With East of West wrapping up its seven year journey into the Apocalypse, John and I are taking a look back at the Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Rus Wooten series from Image Comics! You can check out part one here covering East of West #1 to #29 (the first two in-universe years of the Apocalypse), and in part two we’re covering East of West #30 to #45, the final year of the Apocalypse! For previous Deep Dives: For more, check out the full guides on Comic Book Herald: Best of Jonathan Hickman Dave’s Faves: The Best Comics of All Time! Comics discussed include: East of West Journals From Armageddon (Pre-Show Notes!) Dave: Here’s what’s catching me on my read through the 3rd and final year of East of West’s Apocalypse, much of which I’m reading for the very first time (because it just actually ended!) The idea of sticking landings is growing in importance across all of pop culture. I don’t know that the trend in its modern incarnation *started* with LOST, but that’s the biggest one that sticks out in my mind. Either way, you look across the nerd culture landscape, and the biggest stories in 2019 about Star Wars and Game of Thrones were about whether or not the franchises stuck the landing (or perhaps in those examples, more specifically about how they didn’t and how that is a grievous sin against mankind and generations to come). All of this looms over East of West, and I think because it’s structurally akin to Game of Thrones – patiently allowing the audience to take in the world and characters, while allows teasing the eventual culmination of ice and fire (or I suppose in this case, death and end times) – the landing feels to me like an almost impossible challenge. Just to get to a finish line, East of West has to really kick into overdrive. In year two we can watch Babylon decide whether to eat or befriend a pig. In year three, Chosen start getting taken off the board. So here’s the question: Is year 3 rushed, hollow, or delivering on its promise? Related, but not too directly: Who do you find yourself rooting for in year three? Are you rooting for the ranger? The chosen? Archibald? Death and Babylon? I’ll save my initial answer for the pod John: Good questions! I’ve bring trying to pay special notice to what new elements have come up in this final act. Things like the Psalm robots, Archie’s magic gun, and the knowledge that Wolf may have always been Chosen? I often find that “failure to land” can be predicted by what gets added this late and if those additions are escalations… or bandaids. Also, it’s interesting how much of this act revolves around love. • Death and Babylon • The two horsemen and Babylon • Wolf and his people • Doma Lux and the Widowmaker • the Ranger and Red I’ll be interested to see what those mean for the finale. The post Deep Dives #6: What’s It Mean For a Comic To Stick The Landing? – East of West Review Pt. 2 (#30 to #45) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Thor #2 follows the big new series development where Thor is now the Herald of Thunder, guiding Galactus across the cosmos to consume enough power to prevent the Black Winter’s destruction of the universe. The story by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino raises some interesting questions about Thor’s new role as Herald and King of Asgard and how the two may function in tandem. Today on The Cates of Hel #2 I’ll answer: + What does it mean to be a Herald of Galactus, looking at the history of Heralds in the Marvel Universe and considering how King Thor compares + Whether or not Galactus is made of paper mache + Why the issues’ final page reveal is so exciting Spoilers for the discussed comics may follow! For related reading orders on Comic Book Herald: Donny Cates’ Marvel Comics! Thor reading order! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com The post The Cates of Hel #2: Thor #2 Review – What Makes a Herald of Galactus? appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1981. Daves of Future Zacks! Frank Miller’s Daredevil! Claremont to the Ms. Marvel Rescue! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Captain America #253, #254 Daredevil #168 to #172 Uncanny X-Men #141, #142, #145 to #147, #150 Avengers Annual #10 Thor Annual #9 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 2 — Iron Man #149 to #150 Fantastic Four #232 to #236 Moon Knight #9 to #10 Avengers #212 to #213 Power Man and Iron Fist #67, 68, 75 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Force #6 by Benjamin Percy and Stephen Segovia digs into Beast’s role with the covert ops team, and it’s an eye-opening glimpse into Hank McCoy’s state of mind and current role on Krakoa. Honestly this issue might be a bit of a shock for long time X-Men fans, but for my money it very much aligns with where Beast’s been heading all decade, and maybe longer. For the full Dawn of X reading order: For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: Today I’ll answer: + Et tu, Beast? What the heck happened to Hank’s morality and is this issue in character? + Why Professor Xavier’s confession is the least surprising confession of all time! My Notes From the Review! Please note spoilers for the discussed issues may follow. X-Force #6 opens with Beast asserting his role as the death squad’s conductor, pulling strings from behind the scenes and masterminding schemes in the interest of Krakoa. As Beast says, on a team with Wolverine, Jean Grey, even Quentin Quire, there’s certainly an internal argument to be made about the true leader of the squad, but in Beast’s mind, it’s quite clearly him. It’s far from the worst we’ll see, but this is a good opening glimpse into the hubris of Henry McCoy. His arrogance frequently comes across as part of his charm, but there’s a sincerity and lack of self-awareness throughout X-Force #6 that transitions it to something more sinister. From there, Beast quite freely opens up the knowledge that in his role as information controller, he’s increasingly ok with “whatever it takes to hide our work.” Just a few examples given include bribery, planet evidence, memory erasure, and blowing up buildings. He’s like Joe Pesci’s character in The Irishman but blue. It’s not hard to imagine Beast in a role akin to Gotham’s Oracle, although I think the revelation that he’s more of a Calculator may be surprising to many. That said, the methods of X-Force are often given something of a pass, as this is, as Mystique puts it, “a mutant CIA.” Certainly there’s an expectation that lines of lawfulness and causing harm are crossed. The question is at what point does it all go too far? Before progressing deeper into the issue, I think it’s high time to address Beast’s years-long descent into the character we see now. I think there’s a tendency to view Hank as a hero almost without darkness, whether this stems from the 90’s animated series where Beast is perpetually a kindly professor, or just his comparative opposition to the inherent darkness in contemporaneous characters like Wolverine, Cyclops during the Utopia era, or even Jean Grey with the Phoenix. While there’s certainly a modern trend of Hank McCoy’s decent into questionable ethics and “non-heroic” decision making, you can run this back pretty far in X-Men history. Even Hank’s initial decision to experiment on himself is filled with hubris, and most importantly, mistakes that result in him turning blue and hairy for the rest of his days. Likewise, in the 90’s when Hank was studying the Legacy Virus, Beast turns to Mister Sinister for an information swap. The same happens with Dark Beast in the wake of the mutant Decimation, and while Dark Beast is obviously a darkest timeline mirror from the Age of Apocalypse, it is increasingly interesting to consider whether those seeds are within the Hank McCoy we know from Earth 616. The real break for Beast in the 2010’s kicks off with 2012’s All-New X-Men and Hank’s genuinely indefensible decision to bring the 5 original X-Men forward in time from their Silver Age debuts to the present day. The entire affair is a mess of a supposed genius intellect tampering with time and all of reality. It’s actually a great example of Beast’s downfall: Convincing himself of good intentions as his hubris drives him to a decision that does not take others into account at all. Similar conceits include Hank’s membership in the Jonathan Hickman written New Avengers Illuminati, where Hank was part of a group slipping away from their aspirations to never kill in the name of survival and their earth’s greater good. The worst version of all this, though, is Beast’s role collaborating with Hydra Cap’s regime in the pages of Secret Empire. Now, there seems to be a general Marvel fan consensus to just will away the idea that various Marvel “heroes” collaborated with Fascist Steve Rogers during this 2017 event, and to be fair, I don’t really hear anybody talk about Thor / Odinson’s role on the Stevil Avengers in 2020. Nonetheless, if we’re going to explore Beast’s descent into what he’s quite clearly seeing as “pragmatism,” but young Silver Age heroic ideals Hank McCoy sees as “the bad guy,” we have to mention this absolute low point. This is Beast accepting a Hydra takeover of America, and working with Hydra, so long as mutantkind could keep “New Tian” as their own. It’s an awful look. Enter the nation of Terra Verde and their experiments with “telefloronic scientists.” Essentially, Terra Verd

X-Men #5 by Jonathan Hickman and Powers of X artist RB Silva is a fantastic continuation of the series first issue, and the Mike Carey written run of X-Men from the mid to late 2000’s. Today I’ll answer: + Who the heck are the Children of the Vault and why are they such a threat? + Who is Synch and what do his resurrection challenges mean for Krakoa + Why one small character moment between Laura Kinney and Logan is such a big deal As the recap page reminds us, in X-Men #1 by Hickman and Leinil Francis Yu, the X-Men’s raid of an Orchis mutant prison also revealed and freed Serafina, one of the Children of the Vault. The issue opens with Wolverine (Logan) hunting Serafina through Ecuador, before eventually losing the temporally accelerated and enhanced individual in the jungles and to the fabled Vault. In a striking image by RB Silva – whose style absolutely slays throughout this issue, to the point that I’m desperate for Silva to take over as the ongoing series artist – the Vault door used by Serafina is under what appears to be a defunct Master Mold, presumably the same one the Children were hiding out in that was previously used as a base by Cassandra Nova. As Wolverine tells Cyclops, the X-Men will have to find another way to get Serafina in their custody. The first and most obvious question here is “The children of the what now?” Hickman and company didn’t attempt much over-explanation for Serafina’s appearance in X-Men #1, but here we get to hear Hickman summarize the elements of Mike Carey and Chris Bachalo’s work in the pages of X-Men #192 to #197 (in a story titled “Supernovas”). Of course, in order to explain The Vault, Hickman uses another X-Men reference, calling back to “The World,” which is a Weapon X isolated environment created during Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men (A Hickman favorite). The World is used to run evolutionary experiments in rapid time, creating a space where an entirely contained reality can play out while only moments of time on Earth actually pass. When I think of the World I tend to think of Fantomax, as the Weapon Plus Program survivor and debonair thief brings Wolverine and Cyclops to The World facility during New X-Men, and also uses the World during Rick Remender’s run on Uncanny X-Force in order to raise En-Sabah Nur like he’s Clark Kent (for real! But we don’t need to dig into that right now). There’s a really interesting line in X-Men #5 where Professor X says “I cannot stress this enough – the Children of the Vault represent the single greatest existential threat to mutantdom… and we know nothing about them. Not really.” Assuming the Prof isn’t just full of his usual hyperbole and bluster, it begs the question how the Vault is really all that different from known concepts like The World, and why that would contribute to mutantkind’s “single greatest threat.” Hickman makes the distinction that the Vault is based on “human adaptation along technological lines,” which sounds very much the most substantial threats identified in House of X / Powers of X: Omega sentinels, Master Molds, Nimrods, and eventually the likes of the Phalanx. It’s actually a very interesting distillation of one of the series broadest themes, this idea of evolution vs. technological advancement. Humans merging with technology is a threat to mutants, whether it’s the Omega Sentinels and spawning religions of 100 years into the future, or the desire to assimilate with the Phalanx 1000 years into the future. Looking back at the Carey / Bachalo story, the Children of the Vault definitely do fit into Professor X’s fears of the ultimate threat. The Children consider themselves Earth’s superior inheritors, and plan to wipe the planet clean so their enhanced kind can ascend. It’s a clever dark mirror of motivations we’ve frequently seen from mutantkind, most commonly from the likes of Apocalypse or Magneto. There’s a hard sci-fi angle to the Children that can definitely lead to a deep dark rabbit hole of trying to explain precisely how their enhanced nature is different than mutant evolution, but if you’re willing to just take the comic book science as it stands, Carey and now Hickman are very intentionally stating the Children are still another kind of species, close-ish to human, but definitely not mutant. It’s worth calling out too, that although the X-Men led by Rogue ultimately prevail against the Children of the Vault in their first encounter, they also frequently get their butts kicked, and actually have to resort to Lady Mastermind and Mystique killing some of the Children, which is obviously not the typical “X-Men” way (although if you’re reading X-Force these days let’s just say that “kill no human” rule is getting mighty flexible). Serafina is one of these original Children of the Vault, although many of the core original Bachalo designs die in the original story arc. According to the Vault, though, there are many Pods of new Children at the ready, which is of course a clear parallel to

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1980! Topics discussed include: 79 and ’80 poll results Listener questions! More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 1 — Captain America #253, #254 Daredevil #168 to #172 Uncanny X-Men #141, #142, #145 to #147, #150 Avengers Annual #10 Thor Annual #9 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Nineteen: 1980 Variant Cover! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Throughout its first six issues, Marauders has consistently been my favorite Dawn of X book in the new X-Men lineup, both delivering on the promise of post House of X innovation and the energy of X-Men comics set in the broader Marvel Universe. For the full Dawn of X reading order: For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: My Notes From the Review! Issue #6 concludes the series first arc, revealing the Hellfire power plays of Sebastian Shaw and the potential impact that will have on Kate Pryde and her sailing Marauders. Impressively, the issue by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli also solidifies Marauders as the X-Men comic most thoroughly integrated into the non-mutant parts of the Marvel Universe, with a variety of surprising character inclusions. Today I’ll answer: + Who are the Marvel Universe villains introduced in this issue? + Can Kate Pryde be resurrected? + How Marauders has neatly threaded a story perpetually grounded in the Krakoa era of X-Men Please note spoilers for the discussed issues may follow. Marauders #6 begins where issue #5 left off, with the Marauders walking into a trap set by Hominus Verendi (aka Kade Kilgore and the kids formerly known as the Hellfire Club during the early 2010’s Wolverine & The X-Men). In this case, Verendi has put a variety of villains together to take on Kate, Pyro, Iceman, Bishop, Storm and Lockheed, and they range from X-Men deep cuts to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee creations from Silver Age Fantastic Four. The first I’ll cover is an X-Men deep cut, the X-Cutioner, who is less well known than both an X-Men storyline (X-Cutioner’s Song) and Thor/Avengers villain The Executioner. Like Duggan and Lolli’s inclusion of Shinobi Shaw, X-Cutioner is another post-Claremont early 90’s X-Men character introduction, a former FBI agent named Carl Denti who wields alien (likely Sh’iar) technology (or in some cases Sentinel tech – really anything recovered by/used against the X-Men). Denti debuted in Uncanny X-Men Annual ‘93 with a cover teasing “Where Walks the X-Cutioner,” and he set out to avenge his FBI mentor’s death at the hands of “evil mutants.” In some ways, X-Cutioner is like a Punisher for evil mutants, or at least he starts that way, specifically hunting down Mastermind for his crimes. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of X-Cutioner’s initial targets were members of the Hellfire Club, given Hellfire’s obvious impact throughout Marauders. This includes of course, Emma Frost, who X-Cutioner tried to assassinate around the time of Uncanny X-Men #310. As you’d expect, he was unsuccessful. The X-Cutioner’s costumed partner in crime is known as the Hate-Monger, who was introduced in Fantastic Four #21 as actual Adolf Hitler. Since that time, various creators have made it clear the Hate-Monger persona is a clone of Hitlers, but either way the intent is a blend of Nazi, Klan, and evil incarnate. You can tell Kate is particularly shook/infuriated by Hate-Monger’s presence, as she should be! It’s worth remembering that Kate is one of Marvel’s most prominent Jewish characters, and the mere presence of a villain this vile is an affront to her culture. Much like Red Skull, Hate-Monger’s hatred knows relatively few limits, extending to any racial minority as well as mutants. He’s actually even more offensive than your run-of-the-mill mutant-genocide proponent, and that takes doing. The history of the Hate-Monger is beyond insane – at one point during a SHIELD 50th Anniversary special he tried to assassinate baby President Obama – but suffice to say if he’s around, he’s the absolute worst. A couple other villains I’ve already touched on in some capacity throughout Krakin’ Krakoa that show up: Donald Pierce of the OG Hellfire Club (“Dark Phoenix Saga”) and Chen Zhao, the Chinese anti-mutant conspirator we’ve seen in the pages of Marauders leading up to this point. I particularly enjoy the inclusion of Pierce, who I would say is best known for getting his Cyborg arms cut off / ripped off in what was clearly the most acceptable form of violence John Byrne could get away with during the early 80’s run with Chris Claremont. At one point, Pierce defeats Colossus by letting him rip off his arm and Piotr freaks right the heck out. Anyway, neither Pierce nor Zhen are any more effective in Marauders #6, getting swiftly tossed into the drink. The most mysterious villain introduction is Yellowjacket, a miniaturized Verendi accomplice injected into Pyro’s innards by the X-Cutioner. Historically, Yellowjacket has been most commonly tied to Hank Pym (when he’s had enough of calling himself Ant-Man and may or may not be on the verge of a mental breakdown), but even with Hank’s well documented struggles, I don’t think he’s on the side of mutant exterminators. For my money, the more likely player is Eric O’Grady, aka the Irredeemable Ant-Man (in the 2006 series by Robert Kirkman and Phil Hester), aka Black Ant. O’Grady is a former good-for-nothin’ SHIELD agent who steals Ant-Man tech, an

I had high hopes for Excalibur heading in to Dawn of X, and through two issues was still caught up in the potential of a book exploring magic in the world of mutants. Talented creators Tini Howard and Marcus To have been playing with Apocalypse as a wizard, a previously untapped look into how a mutant this ancient might have explored the supernatural, while simultaneously moving the Captain Britain mythos forward once again towards Betsy Braddock. Nonetheless, apart from Fallen Angels, Excalibur has been the most disappointing comic in the Dawn of X, and with one full story arc under its belt has only trended down since launch. There will be fans of course, much as there are for Fallen Angels, but for me, reading this series is an increasing exercise in missed opportunities. For the full Dawn of X reading order: For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos: My Notes From the Review! Today I’ll answer: + What went wrong? Why hasn’t Excalibur lived up to the promise of Dawn of X? + Is there a future for Excalibur as an ongoing in the Krakoa era? Please note spoilers for the discussed issues may follow. Before digging in, I will call out the elements I enjoy because again, these are talented creators and it’s not like I think Excalibur is devoid of ideas and craft. At its best Excalibur calls into question the mutant nation of Krakoa’s role and involvement with forces of magic, time travel, and alternate realities. Sure, Krakoa has a newfound hold over Earthbound territories, but what of Otherworld, Hel, Asgard… what’s Krakoa’s role in those far out reaches of the Marvel Universe? Are they conquerors or allies? I also love what Tini Howard has done with Excalibur’s data pages, really expanding the idea of Apocalypse the wizard with poetry, text, and Grimoire entries that, while confusing, create that sense of magical mystery the book is aiming for. Too many data pages in the Dawn of X have been little more than excuses to write prose, and Howard has been more inventive than that. In terms of Excalibur’s failings, it primarily boils down to one key question: What is this book’s story and why do we care? The answer is simultaneously complicated and painfully straightforward, and therein lies the problem – each member of Excalibur’s oddball roster is dealing with their own loosely related set of problems. On the surface, the hook for Excalibur is that it’s the book exploring magic and alternate realities, and this has been Apocalypse’s primary role, with mysterious manifestations seemingly bent toward opening Krakoa to other magical realms like Otherworld. The remaining team members are all impacted by “magic” in some way. Betsy Braddock’s brother Brian, the former Captain Britain, is imprisoned and transformed by the Otherworldly magic of Morgan Le Fay. Jubilee’s son Shogo magically transforms into a dragon when he enters Otherworld. Gambit is super cranky because Apocalypse magically put Rogue in a sleeping beauty coma. And late entrant Rictor is… welcomed with open arms by magical Druids due to his earth powers. Big picture, apart from Apocalypse and Betsy, it remains unclear why this is the Excalibur lineup aside from “these characters were available.” Now I know Excalibur is going to be plenty of X-fans favorite comic. That’s great, and I welcome that diversity of opinion around comics. That said, I’ve found so little to grasp onto with this book. The threats facing Excalibur seem to change from issue to issue. The book opened with Morgan Le Fay as a threat from Avalon, but since then there have also been threats from the Coven Akkaba, Apocalypse (of course), Druids, racist UK leaders, and a host of magical creatures. The effect is an Excalibur with a hook (Apocalypse wants to conquer alternate realities on behalf of Krakoa, and well, himself) that keeps getting more and more weighed down by comparatively less interesting threads. The challenge of an all-new Excalibur was to sell readers on this particular lineup and the purpose of this series. Excalibur has not done that. All of this muddled magical mayhem builds to an influx of Otherworld creatures invading Earth, most specifically London, where Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom were in the process of convincing some arm of the UK govt to… accept Betsy as the new Captain Britain. This ties to one of the biggest problems I’ve found with Excalibur, in that this type of demonic and mythical invasion of Earth could have happened any time in X-Men history! As a matter of fact, it has (shouts to Inferno)! The recent turn of an X-Men conversation around “too many series” has helped me isolate the absolute most appealing aspect of new X-books in the Krakoa era: A hook and purpose very specific to the new status quo of the X-Men post House of X. So when X-Factor is announced with the hook about exploring “The Five” and the process of resurrection, I’m instantly on board and excited. Excalibur has lost that connection. Demons from otherworld invade London is not speci

Beginning with Marvel Comics #1000, and more directly with the 2019 Incoming #1, Marvel Comics began building to a cosmic war event, with Empyre #1 launching in April 2020. The event promises to bring the Avengers and Fantastic Four together against a cosmic Kree and Skrull threat that connects back heavily to Marvel Cosmic stories told since the publisher’s earliest days. Today I’ll answer: + What comics set the stage for understanding this event? + Why Marvel’s promotional strategy for Empyre is so refreshing + Expectations and theories for the event Please note spoilers for discussed background reading may follow. Before digging into the comics and stories that set up Empyre, it’s worth calling out a few big differences between Empyre and Marvel’s last few years of big events. Whereas the likes of War of the Realms and Absolute Carnage were both very clearly built on the backs of specific creator visions (Jason Aaron on Thor, and Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman on Venom), Empyre is more indebted to Marvel’s history of Kree/Skrull storylines. I’ve thought about it, and the approach of a major universe-wide event that doesn’t deliberately build out of a particular ongoing series is not a confidence-infusing background. The two least organic event builds of the past decade are 2013’s Age of Ultron and 2016’s Civil War II, and at my most charitable the best I can say about the events is that I liked parts of Age of Ultron. I talked about this a fair amount with War of the Realms, but it really helps to have the goodwill, strategy, and creative vision of a successful series driving to a universe-wide all-caps comic book EVENT. Empyre is – at least on the surface – forsaking that approach, but with a caveat. On one hand, the creative team of Al Ewing, Dan Slott, and Valerio Schitti, do not have an ongoing series between them, and although Slott’s near 20 issues on Fantastic Four will begin to tie-in to Empyre in 2020, Ewing’s most high-profile work – the Immortal Hulk – is simply not a part of this event pitch. So by traditional measures, Empyre is kind of out of the blue. That said, Marvel is quickly attempting to ground the event two ways. The first is through Ewing’s work writing potentially related teases in the pages of Marvel Comics #1000, and then Ewing and Slott’s work writing the teaser material in Incoming #1 (more on this in a moment). More clear even, is Marvel’s promotional effort to tie Empyre to some of their Kree vs Skrull greatest hits. Honestly, I love this approach and find it greatly refreshing. Marvel is leaning in to their vast continuity, calling back to storylines from 1971, the mid to late 1970s, 1984, 2005, and 2019! For Marvel fans who can’t help but dig into the entire decades long shared universe, it’s a suggestion that all that history is building to a payoff (As a writer, Al Ewing has shown a particular knack for weaving deep lore into modern stories as well). While this can be intimidating for newer readers, I actually agree with the instinct that more often than not, passionate new readers will simply seek out explanations for the history they don’t know, rather than away frightened! So without further ado, let’s address the history that we know will set the stage for Empyre, no matter how tangentially it may do so. You can check out the full guide on Comic Book Herald’s Empyre reading order! The post Best Comics Ever: The Road to Empyre – Marvel’s 2020 Cosmic Event! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1980. Dark Phoenix Saga! The worst idea in Avengers history! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Marvel Team-Up #95 Uncanny X-Men #129 to #137 Fantastic Four #220 to #221 Man-Thing / Doctor Strange #4 / #41 Avengers #196 to #200 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 1 — Captain America #253, #254 Daredevil #168 to #172 Uncanny X-Men #141, #142, #145 to #147, #150 Avengers Annual #10 Thor Annual #9 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Nineteen: 1980 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1980. Cap for president! She-Hulk debuts! Hulk eats a banana! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Amazing Spider-Man / Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #200 to #201, #210 / #43 to #45 Captain America #241, #250 Iron Man #131 to #133 Savage She-Hulk / Incredible Hulk #1 / #250 Daredevil #163 to #165 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Nineteen: 1980 Pt. 2 — Marvel Team-Up #95 Uncanny X-Men #129 to #137 Fantastic Four #220 to #221 Man-Thing / Doctor Strange #4 / #41 Avengers #196 to #200 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Nineteen: 1980 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1979. Iron Man in Demon in a Bottle! Scott Lang debuts as the new Ant-Man! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Marvel Two-In-One #53 to #58 Marvel Premiere 47, 48 / 51-53 Iron Man #125 to #128 Avengers #181, #185 to #187 Fantastic Four #210 to #213 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Nineteen: 1980 Pt. 1 — Amazing Spider-Man / Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #200 to #201, #210 / #43 to #45 Captain America #241, #250 Iron Man #131 to #133 Savage She-Hulk / Incredible Hulk #1 / #250 Daredevil #163 to #165 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Eighteen: 1979 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

When comics writer Donny Cates gets a chance at a Marvel series, he takes big shots, and aims for at least one clear, major hook to get readers on board. What if Thanos… won? What if Loki was the Sorcerer Supreme? What if Peter Parker could talk to Spiders? Ok that last one’s like half a joke (but seriously, it happened), but the idea is Cates excels as these balls-to-wall no-cards-left-on-the-table “WHAT IF” style narratives seen through to completion. It’s this approach that has generated an extremely compelling body of work, across a wide variety of Marvel titles, from Thanos to Venom and now to Thor. This body of work has also increasingly set up Cates as the godhead of Marvel Cosmic, a role that looks to continue in Thor. In many ways, Thor #1 is actually three years in the making, as the Cates-verse at Marvel builds upon itself in a style not dissimilar to what Jonathan Hickman did at Marvel from 2008 to 2016, only faster, and with fewer data charts. Since the Cates-verse is so compelling, and such an interconnected pocket universe, I can’t help but take the debut of this new Thor #1 as the chance to launch “The Cates of Hel!” where I’ll be reviewing all Donny Cates written books, like Venom and Thor, to explore connections, ideas, and Marvel Comics history. Today I’ll answer: + What’s coming for Thor in 2020 + What are the elements of the Cates Marvel-verse at play in Thor #1 (and what comics should you check out to understand them) + A little history about the first meetings between Thor and Galactus in Marvel’s Silver Age, in comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! Spoilers for the discussed comics may follow! Thor #1 follows in the wake of War of the Realms, and the Jason Aaron written run of Thor that began in 2012 with Thor: God of Thunder and ended in 2019 with King Thor (both drawn by Esad Ribic.) Aaron’s is a truly worthy run in the Marvel pantheon, undeniably one of the top three Thor runs of all time, and arguably 2nd best (Walt Simonson’s 80’s work is still, quite unimpeachably the GOAT). The highest degree of difficulty in the run is likely the middle stretch, where Aaron, Russel Dautermann, and colorist Matt Wilson turned Jane Foster into the goddess of thunder and were wildly successful in doing so. That’s the legacy that awaits Donny Cates, Nic Klein, and Matt Wilson (again!) entering Thor #1. The War of the Realms is over, and so – if the apparent mission statement of King Thor is to be believed – is death in the Realms. While I don’t necessarily expect the dark elves or Muspelheim to remain off limits for Cates, it’s definitely a smart move to take the action away from the 10 realms after so much focus over the past several years. Of course the other major inherited development is King Thor. Thor is both only recently “worthy” and only recently anointed King of Asgard. It’s not the first time we’ve seen Thor take the throne (whether in Marvel continuity or in alternate futures), but it’s a new role for Thor in the modern Marvel era, and not one without burden. The carefree prince will always be an adventurer first and foremost, and there’s a sense here that King Thor confined to a throne is the end of those days. As Tony Stark remarks with a sharpie on Mjolnir “Enjoy retirement.” When confronted by Loki, Thor displays his newfound all-father force by stopping his thrown hammer in mid-air, but also unintentionally reveals the continued difficulty he’s having even lifting Mjolnir. I quite appreciate that this thread wasn’t simply thrown away because even though the Odinson was finally restored to enough “worthiness” to wield the hammer in War of the Realms, it’s been a long, arduous journey, and Aaron’s work provides every indication that it will continue to be one for the unsure Thor. As for Loki, his role in the Cates/Klein era remains entirely unclear. I can’t help but lament the cancellation of Loki’s solo series written by Daniel Kibblesmith, as the prince of lies will once again have an empty Asgard to play with for the foreseeable future. I’m sure Cates and Klein have ideas aplenty as well. Things are all well and good until a Galactus with a severed arm comes crashing to Asgard, in my favorite artwork by Klein and Wilson this issue. Before passing out, a clearly wounded Galactus desperately tells Thor he’s come for help, and fears the coming of the Black Winter. In order to get to the bottom of Galactus’ dire warnings about “Star Plagues” and “Black Winters,” King Thor calls for a gathering of former heralds of Galactus (maybe I missed it in the issue, but I’d actually enjoy the semantics here – how does Thor reach all of them? Another hammer toss round the cosmos? Sponsored ads on the ‘Gram? One wonders.) This is also the first – of several – clear Cates-verse connections, with Donny’s favorite Cosmic Ghost Rider sluggin’ mead at Thor’s table (shouts to Firelord and Stardust for joining the party as well). The Cosmic Rider debuted in “Thanos Wins,” and has since appeared in t

While 2019’s Dawn of X ended on a middling, muddled note, 2020 is off to an improved start, beginning with the energizing X-Men #4 by Jonathan Hickman and Lionel Francis Yu. My Notes From the Review! The issue features Professor X, Magneto, Apocalypse and their security detail of Cyclops and Gorgon heading to a global economics summit to discuss Krakoa’s newfound place in the world. The issue is full of Hickman’s riveting political tete a tete perfected in East of West, as well as the ethos of financial influence so elegantly explored in The Black Monday Murders. Honestly, in many ways X-Men #4 would have made a very sensible first issue, and I’m curious to explore why that is. Today I’ll answer: + What makes X-Men #4 the best Hickman/Yu issue to date + The state of the Krakoa X-Men era heading into 2020! Certainly there’s a surface level analysis of X-Men #4 that could reduce the issue to “people sitting around talking,” but there’s so much more happening here that addresses much of what I’ve been looking for in the Dawn of X. Whereas X-Men #3 was a wild curveball in the dirt (although I’m sure it’s not the last we’ll see of Hordeculture), issue #4 cuts directly to issues of Krakoa’s place in the world. We hear Magneto eloquently share mutantkind’s new plan for peaceful takeover, we see Professor X take Cerebro off for the first time (his X-Force #1 assassination not withstanding), and we learn of Krakoa’s ability to adapt to human hostility in the form of Gorgon’s security. Hickman’s first three issues of X-Men are an intriguing blend of offbeat humor, seed planting (yes, sometimes literally, but mostly I’m thinking here of Arrako and the Summoners), and defying expectations. I’ve been torn between just enjoying the breath between HoX/PoX and what Mister Sinister calls in Incoming #1 “The great crossover in the sky,” and wanting to see the Dawn of X more directly proceed from the big ideas in HoX/PoX. This is less specific to just the X-Men comic book, but my biggest sense of disatification with Dawn of X has come from a feeling of untapped potential in the era’s launch: The Powers of X and Moira X timelines were the biggest hook of the opening event, and have been lost to way more familiar ground. What X-Men can do instead, though, is answer the practicality of Krakoa in the Marvel Universe, and this is where X-Men #4 excels. More specifically, though, what makes X-Men #4 the best Hickman/Yu issue to date? A huge part is that Hickman revels in writing villains, especially villains that like to wax poetic over 9 panels. Prominent examples that come to mind are Archibald Chamberlain from East of West, or Doctor Doom from Fantastic Four / New Avengers / Secret Wars. In X-Men Hickman has found a perfect new star with Magneto, who digs into his steak with relish, and unsurprisingly takes the lead explaining mutantkind’s promise to subsume political, financial, and institutional power in the world in order to effectively “take it over.” This is another of Hickman’s wins, deflating long-running X-Men comic book tropes and replacing them with new ideas. The human politicians and leaders ask the mutant trinity if there will be war, if that’s what they want, and Magneto – of all people – assures them “there will be no war.” If for no other reason than to set the stage for his speech, explaining that war is an outdate form of mutant takeover, once he’s tried and failed at too many times. The new takeover is more insidious, more natural, and significantly harder to prevent. Lionel Franics Yu has come under fire for his X-Men work, with the most consistent criticism that his detailed grim and serious work does not match the tone of what has frankly been a more comedic opening salvo from writer Jonathan Hickman. I don’t have much doubt that Yu’s one of the better artists working consistently at Marvel, but his role on this specific title has absolutely felt miscast. A case of creative collaboration based on pedigree rather than fit. To Yu’s credit, his grim seriousness plays wonderfully throughout this tense conversation, particularly with Apocalypse unveiling arguably the greatest flex of all time, and certainly the best of 2020. I won’t spoil the joke beyond what’s shown here on the Youtube video, but suffice to say it pays to have a centuries old Celestial-powered mutant wearing a business suit in your meetings. I also very much appreciate leaders of humankind questioning the mutant drugs that have allowed their rapid ascent to power on the global stage. The very premise of House of X relies heavily on the idea that mankind would believe Krakoan drugs are as effective and safe as mutantkind claims. I am not necessarily looking for the FDA’s memos on testing (although that does feel like a possible data page) but it does feel noteworthy that the likes of Wakanda has denied a need for these drugs whereas other nations have accepted. Now, at first glance I’d imagine T’Challa, Shuri and company simply do not want

Incoming is Marvel’s 2019 year-end spectacular, simultaneously summarizing much of the publisher’s 2019 while building suspense for storylines and comics to come in 2020. Spoilers for Incoming #1 Follow! Today I’ll answer: What comics are the most important to have read prior to Incoming #1 What Incoming #1 teases for Marvel’s 2020, across everything from Hickman’s X-Men to a linewide event called Empyre to “perhaps” the death of teen heroes How Incoming #1 is the best idea Marvel’s had in years and fulfills the missed promise of Marvel #1000 Big picture, Incoming #1 could just as easily be called Marvel Universe (2019) #1 (and I’d argue that’s exactly what it should be called and that there should be one of these every year to onboard new readers!). The issue bounces between Marvels top creators contributing short stories for the characters or teams they write at Marvel. So you have Kelly Thompson writing Jessica Jones and Captain Marvel, Chip Zdarsky writing Daredevil, Jonathan Hickman reuniting with RB Silva and Marte Gracia for a Powers of X style Mister Sinister story, and so on. Impressively these short stories all intertwine, ultimately connecting to tell one murder mystery. Now there was some hand wringing, myself included, over a teaser promo Marvel released for this issue which suggested the murder mystery might be an Identity Crisis or Heroes in Crisis style death of a known character. Any comic book event that is strongly centered around “which character that you love will die!” in this day and age sends off a LOT of warning bells. Fortunately, the brilliant Al Ewing is in charge of the mystery’s framing, and he continues his work from Marvel Comics #1000 developing the Masked Rider into a centerpiece of the Marvel Universe fabric. The murder the Rider uncovers is a locked room mystery of an unknown player, and without the usual untimely death of a beloved figure, it’s easier to just enjoy the suspense of the hunt. The truly impressive trick to Incoming #1 is that the murder mystery is used as pretense to bounce around every corner of the Marvel Universe and it actually makes sense. We get a feel for what’s been happening in a wide variety of titles this year in both ways large (the Sampson and Joe Fixit interview very broadly summarizing Immortal Hulk) and small (Tini Howard continuing her story of Billy and Teddy’s romance from Death’s Head four issue mini). It’s a remarkably smart way to deliver a sampler platter issue, something Marvel has struggled with over the course of this decade. It’s no secret that genuine on-ramps into Marvel Comics are one of the publisher’s biggest struggles (there’s a reason Comic Book Herald’s guides on where to start reading Marvel books are perpetually among my site’s most popular). This is the closest I’ve seen Marvel come to an approach I’ve been recommending for years, though, with an authentic “state of the universe” address that functions on its own as a story. For my money, the two biggest criticisms against Incoming #1 are as follows. First, $9.99 is a terrible price point for your “new-reader” catch-up initiative. I get why Marvel prices this comic 60% higher than their standard release (there’s a ton of story and creative talent on display!), but just once I’d like to see Marvel bet on themselves with an excessively affordable on-ramp. The immediate comparison that comes to mind is DC’s .25 cents Free Comic Book Day teaser where the publisher teased out upcoming initiatives like the (now ill-fated) Batman and Catwoman wedding. I love the “we’ll give this one away” approach, but at most even saying “it’s 3.99 just like our other books but with way more in it!” is a win. The other criticism to me is that Incoming #1 is quite effective at building towards what’s coming in 2020, but doesn’t do a ton to really build your knowledge of what’s come before (or even where you can find that information). Sure, Elektra training Daredevil in his Netflix season one duds, or Nova referencing Annihilation Scourge makes sense to me, but I’ve read all those comics throughout 2019. For those who have not, there’s a real “here’s the situation, let’s roll!” vibe that can be extremely challenging for a lot of new readers. Apart from Ewing’s work reaching back to Marvel’s relatively untouched Golden Age, the most fascinating callback is the murder mystery leading our Marvel heroes to Raksor and Bel-Dann, Skrull and Kree warriors previously seen as interplanetary monitors during the X-Men’s “Dark Phoenix Saga” (Uncanny #137 to be specific) and later during another John Byrne story in Fantastic Four Annual #18. This builds to the issue’s biggest tease for next year, the April 2020 Empyre, with Teddy of Young Avengers fame apparently take Emperor Teddy status among an allied Kree and Skrull armada. For those less familiar with Teddy Altman and his time with the Young Avengers his given name is Dorrek VIII, son of both Kree and Skrull royal heritage. Historically he’s been

Marvel comics of 1979. Frank Miller on Daredevil! Black Cat debuts! We skip the debut of Alpha Flight! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Thor #283 to 286 Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #27 to #28 Daredevil #160, #161 Amazing Spider-Man #194 to #197 Uncanny X-Men #117, #123 to #128 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Eighteen: 1979 Pt. 2 — Marvel Two-In-One #53 to #58 Marvel Premiere 47, 48 / 51-53 Iron Man #125 to #128 Avengers #181, #185 to #187 Fantastic Four #210 to #213 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Eighteen: 1979 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

With East of West wrapping up its seven year journey into the Apocalypse, John and I are taking a look back at the Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Rus Wooten series from Image Comics! In addition to the CBH Deep Dive podcast, I’ve also included our “Journals From Armageddon,” an email conversation John and I had prior to this conversation. Check out part one here covering East of West #1 to #29 (the first two in-universe years of the Apocalypse), and we’ll be back in January 2020 with part two covering East of West #30 to #45, the final year of the Apocalypse! For previous Deep Dives: For more, check out the full guides on Comic Book Herald: Best of Jonathan Hickman Dave’s Faves: The Best Comics of All Time! Comics discussed include: East of West Journals From Armageddon Dave: Hey John, I thought for this month’s deep dives we could start a back and forth about thoughts and questions we have as we read/re-read East of West. Think of this as a completely optional series of thought starters and possible dialogue to run as a companion on CBH once we’ve recorded our episode on part one. Now, part one is going to focus on the first two years of the Apocalypse (up to around issue #30 in the series), but obviously big picture questions and thoughts are fair game. I haven’t read the most recent issue in the big East of West finale, but otherwise there aren’t really any spoilers I’m worried about. Let’s go! Line one, panel one: “The dream is over.” Ok, I won’t be breaking down this book on a line by line basis (#EastofPedantic) but this is the only line of dialogue for nearly three pages while Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Rus Wooten’s art do the work. I can’t read this line and think of anything other than John Lennon’s broken crooning on “God” from his first post-Beatles solo album. It’s a pretty famous song for a number of reasons, not least of which is that “The dream is over” sequence is the most deliberately Lennon addresses the end of the Beatles. It’s the build to that moment which feels more relevant to Hickman’s thematic opening statement here, as Lennon delivers an impassioned series of “I don’t believe in…” statements culminating in “I just believe in me. Yoko and me. That’s reality.” It’s about as direct a “kill your idols” song as a flippin’ Beatle could deliver, and that’s literally what we see the three horsemen discussing in this opening sequence. Another band of four, the horsemen just broke up too! Death is missing from their crew, and the remaining three horsemen are ready to set the world on fire if he won’t rejoin. Even the Apocalypse isn’t going according to plan. The dream is over. From there we get our first all white text transition with “The things that divide us are stronger than the things that bring us together.” The combination of these statements quite quickly builds a unified pessimism at the hear of this world. The trick will be filling it with purpose and life. John: Great thought about Lennon! I’m really excited with the collations you’ve spotted: The theme of breaking up the team the fact that we’re hearing it now from a man beyond death The sheer aesthetic match of the song itself! Brilliant thought! (Vastly better than my scoring with Morrissey’s “I know it’s over.”) Here are a few ideas I’ve been gathering. The two main reasons for Armageddon prophecies I’ve been reading a number of books and papers on eschatology in preparation for this month’s “Superpowers Reviewed” article. So these are taken straight from theology and current secular views. 1.) They Provide Definitive Answers Virtually all cultures create their own End Of Days prophecy to reaffirm their solutions to “The Big Questions.” These stories act as the conclusion to the culture’s narrative, the final summation that “proves:” the immortality of the human soul the value of the culture’s moral systems and rituals and the unknowable will of the Gods Even the word “apocalypse” comes from the Greek “to reveal” (something enormous.) It has nothing to do with war or death, only understanding. It is for this reason that it’s exceedingly common for Apocalypses to be seen as ultimately a celebration of faith, not a fear of death. 2.) They’re About Organizing Chaos Somewhere around 2-2.4 million years ago, human beings became possessed by a contradiction: The realization that we could all die at any moment, consumed by some arbitrary mass death event (disease, floods, volcanos, war, etc). As a rule, people don’t do well with arbitrary things—particularly not ones with such incredible power—so we made… A mental shiel

Zack & Dave talk about all our 2019 favorites, including MMY comics we read this year, in this holiday special! Topics discussed include: Best music, movies, TV, sons, podcasts, books, and comics of 2019! Fandom What’s coming in 2020 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post My Marvelous Christmas: Our 2019 Favorites! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

I definitely would not have predicted Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli’s Marauders would be my favorite “Dawn of X” X-Men comic in 2019 – particularly ahead of two Jonathan Hickman written series with X-Men and New Mutants, but it very much has held steady as the comic most clearly filled with purpose, humor, and vision. Marauders feels like a book that knows where it wants to go, and how it wants to utilize the new status quo of Krakoa and House of X for a successful long run. Today I’ll answer: + What the last two issues tell us about Marauders vision + Who the heck is Shinobi Shaw + Who the heck are those kids claiming to be ex Hellfire Club! My Notes From the Review! The clearest direction for Marauders so far is that Duggan, Lolli and company are most interested in the Hellfire Club politics and power dynamics than the ostensibly teased hook of a mutant pirate vessel led by Kate Pryde. The pirating is very much in play, but it’s secondary to the machinations of wealthy, powerful, scheming former villains, and that’s actually fascinating! As a result, the pirate crew is given short spurts of focus over the past few issues, allowing displays of power (in the case of Storm) and displays of idiot humor (Pyro offering beer to refugee kids). Whereas issue #3 is all about Sebastian Shaw’s power schemes – more on those in a moment – Marauders #4 blends Kate and Bishop solving eastern mysteries with unexpected Hellfire twists and turns. Even during their investigation into the “disappearance” of an individual being used to foster anti-mutant hostility Kate remains on Bishop’s case about accepting her offer to join her Hellfire squad as her – very on the repeatedly broken nose – Red Bishop. So yes, there’s action and exploration of the world outside Krakoa – such as kate and Bishop’s discovery of the “Lady Deathstrike maid service” – but the real hook here is the Krakoan power struggles and what it means for the status of the X-nation. Who the heck is Shinobi Shaw Marauders #3 dives into these power plays with Sebastian Shaw’s efforts to resurrect his son Shinobi Shaw – dead by his own hand prior to House of X – as his Black Bishop. As the Hellfire power players put together their loyal supporters, it’s interesting to note that both Emma and Sebastian have chosen family with their first announced picks. Neither are particularly known for their deep familial ties, although this is doubly true in Sebastian’s case, where his relationship with his son is rooted firmly in a neverending quest to subjugate and kill the other! Since he’s a lesser known X-character I’ll also take a moment to talk about Shinobi Shaw. Shinobi debuts in X-Factor #67 and right out of the gates is seen draining his father’s wealth, trying to use his mutant ability to control his own density (think Vision but only the body-density bits) to give his dad a heart attack, and then blowing up the Shaw estate. Happy Father’s Day! Shinobi has played at Black King of the Hellfire Club although more often than not his clearest rival is in fact the return of his father. There’s a particularly strange family dynamic between the two where they simultaneously want to kill the other, but are also proud of the strength in their family name that they would be able to succeed. With dad’s like this who needs enemies? The big issue ending is Sebastian’s attempts to manipulate Shinobi for his own ends. This feels destined to blow up in Sebastian’s face, especially considering we’ve already seen Shinobi is beholden to some mysterious outside entity, but for the time being he’s trying to use Shinobi’s anger against Emma and Kate Pryde. Who the heck are those kids claiming to be ex Hellfire Club! Marauders #4 ends with an even more surprising entry into the Hellfire legacy sweepstakes, with the reemergence of Kade Kilgore and the Homines Verendi (which from what I can tell translates to something like “The Feared Ones”). During Jason Aaron’s run writing Wolverine and the X-Men, he introduced a new youthful Hellfire Club led by Kade Kilgore. Kilgore and this new Hellfire Club is part of Marvel’s comics tradition of making genius intellect pre-teens, like Valeria Richards, although of course in this case they are pure evil. The other members seen here are Maximillion Frankenstein, Manuel Enduque, and Wilhelmina Kensington. Each member represents powerful wealthy bloodlines, in a new even more bloodthirsty model. Importantly they’re also all human and either hate mutants, or enjoy profiting off anti-mutant weapons manufacturing. The difference seems negligible. Why is this all so compelling? At the heart of these storytelling choices, there’s a throughline connecting Krakoa and the Worlldd of X to money power and shaping the globe. It’s in the way Jonathan Hickman writes Sebastian Shaw speechifying like a character out of Black Monday Murders, in the way X-Force #4 includes a data page with the shell corporations of Professor Charles Xavier, and of course in the way

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1978! Topics discussed include: The mysterious case of the 1978 variant cover episode Bears More MMY shared universe heroes & villains! Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Seventeen: 1979 Pt. 1 — Thor #283 to 286 Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #27 to #28 Daredevil #160, #161 Amazing Spider-Man #194 to #197 Uncanny X-Men #117, #123 to #128 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Seventeen: 1978 Variant Cover! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

The third issue of New Mutants is the first solely written by Ed Brisson with art by Flaviano, and it’s a trip back from space to Krakoa and a whole new gang of youthful mutants. I’ve gathered the shift from the Hickman-driven classic New Mutants in space story is relatively divisive for some readers, but I honestly enjoyed the return to Krakoa with a new crop of youngsters. Today I’ll answer: + Who these (New) New Mutants even are! + How New Mutants *could* function more like an X-Men anthology than expected + Whether or not Glob Herman is the single strangest reading order request I’ve ever gotten on Comic Book Herald (spoiler: he’s not, but I do have one!) Whereas issues #1 and #2 deal almost exclusively with mutants debuting during the Chris Claremont written New Mutants circa 1982 (save Chamber and Mondo), New Mutants #3 is a disparate collection of mutants who’ve debuted everywhere from Claremont/Byrne on Uncanny X-Men to Whedon/Cassaday on Astonishing X-Men to the late 2018 Extermination mini-event by Ed Brisson and Pepe Larraz! Who is Armor Armor is the clear leader throughout New Mutants #3, asking about bringing more of her mutant friends along to Krakoa. I quite like this angle as I’ve been asking the same thing about Mutants not yet on Krakoa. There’s still a lot of open-ended residency across Marvel’s merry mutantdom, as there are plenty of mutants we haven’t yet seen on the island. Just last week we saw that Rictor has apparently had issues controlling his powers enough to make it to Krakoa, and over the course of this issue Armor identifies a similar challenge facing Angel and Beak. Hisako Ichiki first appeared in Astonishing X-Men #4, in the must-read “Gifted” story arc by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday. As her name suggests she can generate a virtually indestructible psionic armor around her body, which gives her enhanced physical abilities. Throughout Astonishing she takes on a role similar to Kitty Pryde in the 80’s or Jubilee in the 90’s, the tenacious up and coming young woman who bonds with Wolverine. For my money, Astonishing is the best series to read to get a feel for Armor, and because I enjoy her in that series so much, I’m excited to see her leading a New Mutants squad here. This is a mutant who has plenty of experience, and has fought alongside the likes of Cyclops, Emma Frost, and of course Wolverine. Who is Glob Herman? Glob has transformed significantly since his debut in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men where the big pink blob with his eyes and bones hanging out was… kind of a menace? Glob takes to Quentin Quire’s punk riot at Xavier’s, lighting himself on fire and, uh, I think Glob tried to kill a guy (actually several humans!) Glob’s softened significantly since, with roles everywhere from Wolverine and the X-Men to Age of X-Man. Notably, Ed Brisson has taken on the mantle of head-Globitecht, writing him into compelling stories in the pages of Old Man Logan and even an X-Men Christmas special. Who is Boom Boom For my money Boom Boom is one of the stranger inclusions with this young group of relatively obscure mutants because Boom Boom has been around! Tabitha Smith debuted all the way back in 1985 (in Secret Wars II believe it or not – it’s in issue #5 of that clunker so you’d be forgiven for never making it that far into the event). Boom Boom’s bounced around the X-Men universe since then most famously as a member of X-Force and in the all-time great Nextwave. Here’s writer Warren Ellis on why he included Boom Boom in Nextwave: “I wanted a character who could blow things up.” There’s more to the quote, but you get it. When we meet Boom-Boom in New Mutants #3 she is clearly restless and willing to accept even Armor’s mission to Nebraska in order to get off Krakoa and do something. Her role is yet to be revealed in full, although I think it’s fair to imagine she might be the help the other New Mutants need at the end of this issue. Who are Maxime and Manon? Given their recent introduction, twins Maxime and Manon are the least instantly recognizable of this group. In the pages of the Brisson written Extermination Maxime and Manon are manipulated by Ahab, the mutant-hunter from the Days of Future Past timeline into turning various X-Men into his hounds (ala Rachel Summers). Ultimately, Ahab is defeated, and in doing so, Maxime and Manon are given a chance to be free of his influence with the X-Men. In terms of powerset, Manon can control memory, and Maxime can manipulate emotions. And Finally Who are Angel and Beak? Both characters debut early in the Grant Morrison written New X-Men and eventually develop a romance together. As you can tell from reading New Mutants #3 that romance leads to a LOT of children. Beak’s real name is Barnell Bohusk, and Angel’s is, well, Angel Salvadore. Beak is more obvious but both characters are good examples of Morrison’s interest in the less savory side of mutation, more focused on uncomfortable physical transformation than any sort of po

Through three issues X-Force continues to improve and build on the promise of House of X. It’s one of my favorite Dawn of X titles, and issue three by Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassarra did not disappoint! Today on Krakin’ Krakoa #24 I’ll answer: How X-Force is the X-Men Dawn of X title most consistently fulfilling the promise of House of X What we’ve learned about the Death of Professor X The mystery of the 5th assassin! For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos! For the full Dawn of X reading order: Issue 3 follows in the wake of the Reavers attack on Krakoa, and their successful assassination of Professor X (and destruction of his Cerebro headgear). Last issue also saw Wolverine and Quentin Quire discover the facility where the Reavers where horrifically holding a skinned and tortured Domino, using her mutant DNA in order to infiltrate the nation of Krakoa. We now know this faction of anti-mutant terrorists is capturing and experimenting on a variety of mutants in order to implant themselves with cybernetic upgrades, which is very much in line with the Reavers we know and, well, hate. I also have to call out the remarkably effective opening 9 panels in X-Force #3 where the creative team alternates close-ups of Domino’s torture and mission statement monologuing by “The Man with the Peacock Tattoo,” which for the record, is way less intimidating sounding than a Dragon Tattoo. As Wolverine and Quentin are rescuing Domino from this horrific fate, the process of reviving the assassinated Professor is underway, primarily driven by Jean Grey and Beast. Here we get Beast asking the question about the value of death in conversation with Jean Grey. Jean answers everyone’s fears about taking the stakes out of X-Men comics: “What I’m saying is without death life is less about me and more about us. The long game of mutantkind. That’s the dream of Krakoa.“ This is honestly the closest I’ve seen any of these – save a few hints here and there in the Hickman written issues – get to referencing the futures we’ve seen referenced in the pages of Powers of X and available to us via Moira’s lifelines. The end result is the apparent resurrection and public announcement of Professor X’s return. I say “apparent” because this all happens fairly quickly throughout the issue given the significance of the Professor’s role in making resurrection protocols and Cerebro backups tick. As Beast says “he’s all of us.” So Professor X is back, but there’s a fair amount of doubt we see expressed implicitly and explicitly in this issue. I appreciate Quentin challenging the “Kill No Humans” law of Krakoa – You have all these “villains” playing nice with X-Men but it’s down to Quentin to call out Professor X on still playing too nice. Calling out Professor X’s mistakes seems especially relevant this issue, in both his return as if nothing went wrong (he even gets a cool sword from Magneto as a memento), and another glimpse into all the threats that remain to mutantkind, perhaps even from within Krakoa. After a very effective and monstrous opener, the newly named XENO (all caps, all on-the-nose) has been relatively patient and clearly has nothing good planned. The idea that XENO might have a sleeper agent on Krakoa should be terrifying to X-Men fans. There’s also the possibility that all the awful bigots are effectively teaming up here given the language like “The shadows have gathered here” and “We are one and we are many.” I wonder if this is a combination of the likes of Reavers, Friends of Humanity, Purifiers ,etc. All in all, I’m enjoying X-Force a great deal, and consider it the heart of Dawn of X! ——————————————————————————— Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald reading club through every year of Marvel Comics, check out mymarvelousyear.com     The post Krakin’ Krakoa #24: X-Force #3 Review – The Lives & Deaths of Professor X appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1978. Magneto triumphant! Jane Foster, the Mighty Thor! Peter Parker graduates college! On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited): Marvel Team-Up #69, #70 Uncanny X-Men #112 to #116 Amazing Spider-Man #176 to #180, #185 Fantastic Four #197 to #200 What If? #10 Up Next: My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Eighteen: 1979 Pt. 1 — Thor #283 to 286 Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #27 to #28 Daredevil #160, #161 Amazing Spider-Man #194 to #197 Uncanny X-Men #117, #123 to #128 You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at: mymarvelousyear.com https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/ Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month. Make sure to subscribe now in order to get every reading list for every year of Marvel Comics! Subscribe to the Podcast! — iTunes, Google Play, Pod Feed If you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on iTunes to help us reach more readers & listeners! The post Marvel Year Seventeen: 1978 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.