Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #8

                This issue starts with a brief history of the cosmic cube, and the realization that the cosmic cube might just be a Skrull (they have the power to basically be whatever they want to be, the next step on the evolutionary ladder).  It seems odd, but kind of right that the most cosmic of macguffins in the Marvel universe is just some random Skrull that decided one day that he was going to turn into a magical cube.

                This leads us to New York, where X-51 has come down to Earth to retrieve Nighthawk.  He takes Nighthawk down to the street where last issue ended and we see Gargoyle asking Mephisto (Mr. Church) to take back the ability to feel.  It’s a little late for Gargoyle to go all emo, but he hopes to make it to his friend by sacrificing his newfound ability to not be made of stone.  Nighthawk still wants to save him from Mephisto though, even after his treachery.

                We get a quick aside with Daredevil (who is not actually Matt Murdock, that Daredevil is dead) being approached by someone that was changed into a regular looking human by the Terrigen Mists.  He wants to be changed back into…whatever he was before and he asks Daredevil to point him to Reed Richards because, Reed is the only one that can change him back.

                With Iceman in New York, he has provided a little reinforcement to the torch as he has placed a giant, thick wall of ice between the torch and the seething masses.  Of course, that won’t hold forever as the mutants will stop at nothing to ensure that they stay mutated.  While that madness happens below, Luke Cage and Marshall Muldoon decry the fact that the Silver Surfer told them that he would help them keep the torch lit, but has yet to show up, even though most of the other torches around the world are doused.  Daredevil then shows back up amongst the churchgoers and basically begs to be killed, which they happily oblige him. 

                In Wakanda, Marv asks the Black Panther for the cosmic cube.  The Panther refuses him, but agrees to put up Marv and his Merry Mutants for the night in order to hear their argument.  We then get a mini X-Men reunion as Beast, Storm and Cyclops are all in Wakanda.  Of course, it wouldn’t be an X-Men reunion if Scott wasn’t mopey about Jean’s death.  Ten points for consistency!

                I Latveria, Reed is just now realizing that the Absorbing Man’s head is gone, so Reed, Sue and the Thing’s two kids head to a vault to find Doom’s time machine so they can go back and prevent the Tong of Creel from stealing the head.  When they get there, though, they see that the time machine is gone, stolen by the same people that took the head?  We don’t know yet.  The mutants on the outside of the vault break in so they can kill Reed and make sure that he never changes them back (they are lots of fun).  Just as they are about to make their move though, the mutants that want to be changed back to normal attack, driving back the “evil” mutants. 

Next Issue:  Have the good guys won?  Can they ever truly win?  Will Reed change the mutant population back?  And what is up with the cosmic cube?

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #7

                We begin this issue with a brief history of all things cosmic, including Galactus, the Watchers, the Celestials and even the Silver Surfer.  We then begin the real issue where we ended the last issue, with X-51 speaking to the Supreme Intelligence.  The Supreme Intelligence issues a warning to X-51, saying that Marv is one piece of the Cosmic Consciousness away from being all-powerful.  This is apparently a pretty bad thing, according to the Supreme Intelligence.  The last piece that he is missing, happens to be Nighthawk’s eyes, the eyes that can see the future that were given to him by Mephisto. 

                With that segue; we travel to New York, where Nighthawk and Gargoyle are having a heart to heart, as Nighthawk has accused Gargoyle of selling out everyone to get his “humanity” back.  Gargoyle denies this and leaves, heading out into the cold, among the throng Immortus’ followers. 

                On the moon, Marv’s band of merry mutants show up to retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier, which Uatu was keeping in his vault o’ super weapons.  We then find out that the Celestial embryo in Earth (that was destroyed by Galactus at the end of Earth X) is not the only Celestial embryo in Earth.  Each reality (and there are a bunch of them) has its own Earth and therefore has its own embryo just waiting to burst out all Xenomorph style and destroy the Earth.  The rest of the heroes, on their way to ask the Watcher where he keeps his Ultimate Nullifier see him travel through a portal that basically takes them through history, not as active participants per se, but more as observers, unable to interact, kind of like Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol”.  They eventually corner Uatu and he relents, at first threatening to use the Ultimate Nullifier on them, and then when Marv explains that that would be interfering, he just hands it over. 

                In New York, Iceman shows up to help, while Spiderman goes into the holding cell where they are keeping Spiders-Man (apparently the truce they struck at the end of the Spidey Special Issue was a tenuous one).   Spiderman first wraps webbing around his eyes so as not to fall prey to Spiders-Man’s illusions, though, and then he asks Spiders-Man to join them yet again.  In Japan, Xen fails at their job of protecting the hands of the Absorbing Man from the Tong of Creel, and now only his head remains until he is made whole.  It just so happens that his head is under the care of the one-armed Reed Richards in Latveria.  We journey to Latveria at that point (Krueger does a phenomenal job throughout the entire series of threading things together so that we go seamlessly from one location to another as the action demands, and while this may seem like something mundane and not really worthy of praise, I’m giving it to him because there are so many damn locations in this series that he could easily confuse the readers).

                                In the realm of the dead, the heroes fight on against the minions of Thanos and Death.  Marv explains yet again that Thanos is not special, that everyone eventually gets a kiss from Death (she’s apparently pretty slutty, raise your standards Thanos!).  Marv explains that he will eventually be strong enough to kill Death, his whole reason for the fetch quest in the land of the living it appears.  Back in the land of the living, Mr. Church is confronted by Gargoyle, who refuses to help him anymore, to fuel his religion and the hatred and violence it creates.  We then get the big reveal that Mr. Church is in fact Mephisto, the devil, lord of lies, etc.

Next Issue: So, the devil has been pulling the strings, got it.  Now what?

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #6

                We begin this issue with the history of Moon Knight, and quickly transition to New York, where Gargoyle can now feel things, as in human senses, it’s apparent that he already had human emotions if he desired to feel things.  Nighthawk then accuses him of something sinister, as apparently, Mr. Church is using the information he is gathering from the pages supplied to him by Gargoyle to lead the Tong of Creel to all of the pieces of the Absorbing Man.  The odd thing is, Gargoyle is speaking to someone that can see the future, and yet Nighthawk still told him everything that he needed to know.  Maybe Nighthawk couldn’t see that far into the future, to the actual consequences of the actions until they were upon him, but still, you would think someone that had a secret like Gargoyle apparently does wouldn’t try to hide it from someone that can see the future. 

                In Latveria, the Tong of Creel is closing in on the piece of the Absorbing Man that Reed Richards is keeping safe, while in Canada, Sasquatch and Guardian, or, the head of Guardian, to be more specific, realize that they are being overrun by Wolverine-looking mutants. 

                In Egypt, Marv and his band of merry heroes arrive to find Moon Knight fighting against the Sons of Set yet again. The heroes aid Moon Knight and then go to retrieve the statue they came for.  Once they retrieve that, not only do the perpetually regenerating Sons of Set fade into dust, but so does Moon Knight, finally able to die and rest in peace. 

                In Latveria, everyone is fighting the mutants that are trying to douse the “human torch” while Mr. Church enters Doom’s castle to find the piece of the Absorbing Man.  In Japan, Marv has come for the Mandarin’s rings, the next item on his quest, and leaves with the rings and the hands they came on.

                In the realm of the dead, the battle continues between Marv’s dead heroes and Thanos’ dead army.  Moon Knight shows up, which adds another body to the fight, but doesn’t do much else at this point.  On the Moon, X-51 is carting around the Supreme Intelligence who warns him that Marv must be stopped for the sake of all of the multiple realities. 

                In New York, Immortus, now locked out of Limbo, begins to mutate, which sends him into a mental tailspin.  At that moment Mr. Church walks in, asking Immortus to address his flock.  In his current state, Immortus can’t do that, he’s going crazy as it is, so he puts that on Mr. Church, who gladly accepts.

Next Issue: Who the hell is Mr. Church!?

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #5

                Back in the normal series, we begin issue five with the origin of Prince Wayfinder and his sword, a sword that created the entire world of Subatomica, a world within our world.  The magical sword lay dormant after the death of Wayfinder, but came back to “life” to find Wayfinder’s descendant, Arcturus Rann.  Rann held the Enigma Force, which he added to as he was in a state of suspended animation.  While this was happening, a portal was created to Subatomica known as the Prometheus Pit.  A villain appropriately named Psycho-Man tried to invade Earth from Subatomica but was soundly defeated by all the superheroes, so he turned his attention to Subatomica instead.  Psycho-Man used his suggestion device to cause Rann’s own wife to kill him.  The Enigma Force essentially died with Rann, ending up in the realm of the dead, where it transferred to Captain Marvel (the adult version in the land of the dead). 

                Well, that was a mouthful.  We open the action on the funeral for Cap.  If you read the special issue directly preceding this one, you would know that Cap died protecting Marv.  If you didn’t bother to read it because, well, it’s not part of the series proper, then you missed out on one of the central characters in the series meeting their untimely demise.  This is quite the odd thing to do, in my opinion, but, speaking as someone that picked up everything to do with the series, I’m not sure why anyone would skip out on the special issues.  Many of the heroes assembled pledge to help Marv complete his quest, while Wyatt Wingfoot is none too happy with Marv for leading Cap to his death.  Thor chases Loki away when he tells her that she can be whatever she wants, that her destiny as a God of Thunder is not set in stone.  Marv then makes the proclamation that all of the heroes are going to Hell.  Like, literally going to Hell, not in some vague, you cut me off in traffic kind of way. 

                In Britain, the Tong of Creel attacks Captain Britain’s home to steal another piece of the Absorbing Man, and of course they succeed.  All of these heroes in the world and they still can’t keep pieces of a dead man secure. 

                We are back with Marv and his merry band of heroes as they head to the Prometheus Pit.  It appears that, in order to prevent anything from crossing into the real world, Man-Thing sacrificed himself to plug the hole.  We get a brief history from the Micronauts Proton and Neutron along with the glowing visage of Rann’s wife.  Basically, Psycho-Man won in his attempt to enslave Subatomica.   The only way he was beat was through the help of Man-Thing who, when he clogged the Prometheus Pit, he lodged Psycho-Man’s suggestion device within himself and released his fear burning tendrils into Subatomica.  Rann’s wife seems to be speaking to everyone from the land of the dead, and of course, that causes Scott to ask about Phoenix.  He is told that she is with him, that the dreams he has of her is actually her reaching out to him.  Marv then retrieves the suggestion device from Man-Thing and they go about their merry way. 

                We end with X-51 talking to Uatu on the moon about Galactus, and about how Wayfinder’s sword was not a sentient being as he once thought it was, it was the star that Wayfinder shoved his sword into that was sentient, and the only sentient star out there is Galactus.  We then see X-51 walk over the containment unit of the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence (the hive-mind like creature that acts as the Kree’s governing body). 

Next Issue: What does the Supreme Intelligence have to do with all this?  Better yet, what does Galactus have to do with all of this?  Can the heroes actually hold on to a piece of the Absorbing Man, or are they the worst heroes ever?

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X – Cap

                What Cap-centric comic would be complete without a brief overview of Cap’s history.  This issue is no different.  We start with Cap’s origin, which I’m sure everyone knows by now.  After that prelude, we catch up with Modern day Cap and Marv, who are still on their fetch quest.  Why this is taking place in a “special issue” is one of the great mysteries of this series.  You would think that the special issues wouldn’t really hold anything too pertinent in case someone wanted to, or had to skip them for monetary reasons (though the special issues are only fifty cents more expensive than the regular issues, so I can’t imagine cost would be that much of a concern). 

                Anyway, Cap and Marv are in Washington DC, a special place for Cap, naturally, that is now reduced to ruins.  They are currently looking for Mason Harding’s Dimensional Doorway.  They find him and he explains that his dimensional door is on Mount Rushmore.  They use the cloak to travel there, but as they do it, it gives Cap some creepy nightmares.  They arrive at Mount Rushmore and are met with a deserted old timey town that had monster stuck on poles, Vlad the Impaler style in a field next to it.  The monsters are the inhabitants of the dimension that the Dimensional Doorway leads to. 

                As they admire the local handiwork, the natives show up to attack Cap and Marv.  They are obviously a little leery of visitors, and considering the fact that by their clothing they are stuck in the 1700s.  Cap and Falcon apparently stopped by to help these individuals control their monster problem at one point, then they got busy saving the rest of the world and couldn’t be everywhere at once.  Well, these people apparently hold quite the  grudge, as Cap is greeted with pointed flaming sticks.  Luckily, Marv has his cloak at the ready and they disappear as the disgruntled citizens strike. 

                Another trip through the cloak means another creepy nightmare for Cap.  This one shows that the Super Soldier program, the very one that birthed Cap himself, was nothing but a vehicle for the Third Reich to dominate.  I guess it wasn’t a coincidence that they chose Cap, with his blonde hair and blue eyes, as the original test subject.  This sends Dream Cap into a rage and he pummels the Red Skull, which is apparently okay with him as the Skull believes that if he is going to die, dying at the hands of his country’s greatest representation of the Aryan race is noble.  Then we get a nice shot of a bunch of Germans saluting Cap…and he comes out of the cloak.  They are outside on a roof, not too far from where the teleported from, and quickly find the Dimensional Doorway, which is in a basement.  Cap helps the citizens, even though they tried to kill him, against the monsters emerging from the Doorway.  Marv collects the Doorway, and makes sure to mention to Cap that Death is in the room.  The citizens prevent Marv from teleporting away and knock Cap out, causing him to have another fever-dream.  This one causes him to see the past, a past where he failed the Avengers by not being thee when they needed him most.  We get a brief history of Cap in the Earth X series, and then Cap wakes up in shackles.  These shackles are special though, as in the interior of the shackles, pressed against his wrists, are metal spikes designed to slice his wrist and kill him if he removes them. 

                To prevent Marv from being killed though, Cap slices his wrists and removes the shackles, saving Marv and hiding out in an abandoned schoolhouse.  Cap comes up with the idea to make a run for it, to get out of the town before the citizens can kill them, because they are on their way, and that’s definitely what the citizens plan on doing.  Cap does just that, bursting through the line of people as they shoot at him with Revolutionary War replica weapons.  He keeps pushing on, until the amount of bullets in him prevents him from going any further.  Cap dies as Death herself looks in on him, and we realize that Death was not there for Marv at all.

                Later, a small group of heroes assemble to save Marv and bury collect Cap.  Then Cap, like many of the other heroes before him, goes to the land of the dead, and his fight continues.

                Just as a quick aside before we wrap up, while Krueger remains strong as the writer on this issue, the artwork by Thomas Yeates is rough.  There is very little weight to the art itself and what really gets me is the layout choices.  On practically every page there are overlapping panels and just a general lack of flow.  Overlapping panels are okay every once in a while for a change of pace, but to do it through much of the book, and not have strong, striking visuals to counteract it seems like an experiment for the experiment’s sake.

Next Issue: Back to the regular series and Marv’s fetch quest continues.  Who will help him now that Cap is gone?  Who wants to help him since he seems a lot like Batman with his sidekicks?

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #4

                Issue four opens with a brief summary of Norse mythology, which apparently all came about because of aliens, yes aliens.  An alien inhabited Odin, and the stories that Odin told, about himself and others, became the myths that were passed down.  Everything that was created n terms of Norse mythology was just made up by an alien.  The worlds that were created, the nine realms, the rainbow bridge, was all basically due to an overactive imagination. 

                Back in New York, the mystery of Mr. Church and his connection to Gargoyle deepens and we learn that the Tong of Creel is fighting Xen out in Japan as Cap and Marv arrive for their next piece of the puzzle.  Unfortunately, Cap and Marv arrive in time to see Xen lose and another piece of the Absorbing Man claimed.  Cap gets on a video conference with Reed to find out what happened when he was out of commission.  Cap remembers nothing of the past, about when Johnny and Sue died, as well as the Avengers, which is good news for us as neither do we. 

                Apparently, as Reed tells it to Cap, the Absorbing Man was pretty dumb, but that all changed when he merged with Ultron, absorbing all of Ultron’s knowledge and power into him.  He became a deadly foe, becoming anything and everything he had to in order to counteract the powers of the Avengers, killing them off, one by one until the Vision infected him with a computer virus.  In order to counteract this, the Absorbing Man turned to stone, to isolate the virus.  At this point, Vision shattered him into multiple pieces, each piece given to someone else to safeguard with the thought that if he was ever put back together, the individual that killed the Avengers would continue his rampage unabated across the globe. 

                We then find out that Dr. Strange has been moved to Japan by his assistant, Wong.  We are then transported to a Hydra holding facility because Marv and Cap are looking for Rick Jones, who has the Nega Bands (which are next on the checklist).  Unfortunately, they see that Rick now only has one arm, the other one, including the Nega Band that was on it, is missing.  Unfortunately, the piece of the cosmic consciousness that was in the Nega Bands is now gone (maybe because the two are not together?) so they don’t need those trinkets after all.  It is then revealed that Hydra actually inhabits dead bodies, that they kill their victims and take their minds over, so being one of the Hydra is not a worry free life like we had once thought.  Cap decides to destroy everything in his path in his grief. 

 

                In New York, the torch is being defended by the heroes, while Immortus is trying to retreat to Limbo to avoid being changed by the Terrigen Mists, but he is locked out for some reason.  While in Hell, or New Jersey, I’m not sure which, Loki explains to the fire demon Surtur of Norse Myth that he is not actually trapped, that he’s basically just playing his part in a big play.  He is not really imprisoned, and he doesn’t actually have to cause Ragnarok, he can do whatever he wants to. 

                In the Hydra base, Cap destroys everyone and everything with the Spaceknight gun.  He then turns the gun on Death herself, as she is still following him around.  It crumbles in his hands and he does his best to shelter young Marv from its advances.

Next Issue: It’s another special, this time focusing on Cap.  Will death finally come? Will it bring cake? 

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X – Spidey

                Our second special issue focuses on Spiderman, and as an added bonus, it enlists the help of one of the greatest Spiderman artists of all time, John Romita, Sr.  The interesting thing about this issue is that it splits time between the modern Universe X universe (illustrated by John Stanisci) and a more classic feeling universe (illustrated by Romita and Al Milgrom) - breakdowns for the whole issue were completed by Jackson Guice.  These are not classic scenes in that you can find them in your 1980s Spiderman comics, these are classic in feeling only (thanks in large part to Romita’s involvement, no doubt).  What the classic scenes offer is an alternate universe take where Gwen never died and Harry never became a villain.  It shows a happy, married life for Peter and Gwen, as well as for Harry and Mary Jane.  Peter has retired from being Spiderman as well, preferring to let the younger crop of heroes take over for him. 

                We cut back to the “modern day” where we learn that May’s mother, Mary Jane, died, which is probably what caused her father to go into his tailspin that we saw in Earth X.  We also get a brief “origin” for May.  I say “origin” because she was basically born with her powers and beyond that, a symbiote bonded to her much like it had to her father during the Secret Wars so many years ago.  That created a rift between the two that we saw during the previous series, a rift that was repaired by the end of that series when Peter accepted his superhero destiny, he even became a member of the police force. 

                Now, we see that the police force, under the leadership of Marshall Muldoon and Luke Cage are preparing an assault on Immortus, and in particular, Spiders-Man, the villain who can cast illusions.  It is their idea that if they stop him from casting illusions to gain followers for Immortus, the whole “church” will fall apart.  Peter goes off to take care of Spiders-Man by himself, preferring to not have the entire police force caught under his web of illusion.  However, two days have passed and he has not returned, so May heads out after him. 

                Just a quick aside on the artwork, Romita, Milgrom and Guice are legends, so it’s no surprise that this is one of the best illustrated books of the series (I've never heard of John Stanisci before, but he does an exceptional job on this as well).  What really does it for me though is the fact that, stylistically, they are so different, and so perfect for what they bring to the issue.  Stanisci does a masterful job at showing how dark and dismal the world of Universe X really is, while Romita (with help from Milgrom) brings his style to the happy, simple universe (more on that in a moment).

                Okay, so May, in searching for her father, has infiltrated Immortus’ ranks, and easily dispatches anyone and everyone that stands in her way.  She has many of the same abilities as her father but is a little more ruthless, kind of like Venom, which would make sense considering the fact that her costume is a symbiote as well.  May eventually happens upon Spiders-Man, who just so happens to be casting an illusion upon her father.  She tries to break the illusion but is unable to do so with just brute force.  Her symbiote suggests that she basically infiltrate the illusion to drag her father out of it, which is what she does.  It is then that we realize that the “classic universe” is actually just Peter’s mind, it’s his preferred universe, really, and now he’s trapped there.  Old Peter, who is married to Gwen in this universe, is actually Peter’s mind, and his wishful thinking of how his life actually turned out.

                May sets off to find her father, but first she happens upon Spiders-Man as a human because, as he states, inside the illusion he holds no power.  He can’t help her at all in his current form, so May sets out to find her father herself.  She bursts in on the scene we saw earlier, with Peter, MJ, Gwen and Harry (though the way the glass is falling, it looks like the window shattered outwards).  Peter does not recognize his daughter because he is so far deep into the illusion, in fact he thinks that May is actually Venom, because she kind of looks like him, I guess.  They fight through Peter’s home, where May continues to try and explain who she is and what is wrong with Peter.  As they traverse the house though, May notices some pictures on the wall and sees that Peter and Gwen were married in his dream, not Peter and MJ (who happens to be May’s mother in reality). 

                They take the fight outside, and Peter will not believe what May has to say, he is convinced that the reality in his head is the real thing.  May does her best to convince her father that what she is saying is true by playing the guilt trip card about his dream scenario being married to another woman.  She explains to Peter all of the things that are wrong with his current scenario, all occurrences in the regular comic series, including the death of George Stacey, and the death of Gwen as well.  This sends Peter into a tailspin as he not only learns that what is in his head is all a lie, but he also has to deal with the fact that his daughter has found out his dirty secret, that he was still in love with Gwen the whole time he was married to MJ.  Peter rubs away instead of taking responsibility for his actions, and May chases him until Spiderman shows up and tussles with her.  She unmasks him and realizes that it is not Peter, but Peter’s son, Ben that is now behind the mask.  This is a blow to May as she sees that in Peter’s ideal world, he is married to Gwen and has a son instead of a daughter. 

                May retreats out of the illusion and attacks Spiders Man, who is apparently detached enough from the illusion now that he can be injured by May.  May is so angry at her father, and at Spiders Man for showing her what her father was really like that she is about to kill him when Peter comes out of the illusion and stops her.  Peter apologizes profusely, mainly because he got caught.  He does admit that living in that illusion showed him how much he needed his daughter though.  She offers an uneasy truce as she is still hurt from the revelations, and Peter asks Spiders Man to join him and May on the side of the good guys.

Next Issue:  Back to the regular issues, we catch up with the other players in this saga, and see if maybe Spiders Man can dig up any dirt on anyone else?  Does Cap wear ladies’ underpants?  Does Reed secretly have two arms?  

Not So New Comic Review: Universe X #3

                We start this issue with a brief overview of the Savage Land (for those not in the know, that is a spot in Antarctica that was untouched by the ravages of time and still contains dinosaurs and prehistoric beasts).  It is also stated that the savage land is kind of a gateway to Limbo, you know, that place between heaven and hell.  We then get a brief history of Belasco and Limbo, including Magik’s involvement in the realm. 

                Back in New York, the mysterious bookbinder continues to do his job, and we quickly transition to Britain, where it is revealed that Cap and Marv are off to the Savage Land next (hence the opening sequence).   Cap and Marv enter the cloak and teleport to the Savage Land where they are met by Ka-Zar and Shanna, who are now cat-people.  Cap and Marv are not carrying the books they picked up from the Omniverse last issue, so it is interesting to wonder where all of these artifacts are going.  Do they have a specific vault where they are storing all these, away from the masses?  Does the cloak have a shit-ton of pockets, like cargo pants?

                Sorry, I got carried away.  Back in the Savage Land, Cap and Marv come upon Sentinel City and enter the ruins, only to find that Toad is now the master of magnetism and Magneto is his dancing court jester.  Apparently, when the polarities were shifted, Magneto’s powers vanished and…went to Toad?  Anyway, Toad, as with any petulant child that now has a tiny modicum of responsibility, is kind of a dick.  However, Cap appeals to his superiority complex and asks for his help, to which Toad agrees to allow them access to the door to Limbo.  Marv, Cap and Ka-Zar enter Limbo to pick up anti-metal and are immediately met with Wraiths.  They fight the adversary, with the help of one of the greatest Space-Knights and his laser guns until Mephisto shows up, which is never a good sign.

                In the realm of the dead, Marv and the dead who know they are dead are looking for the Kree, so Marv can convince them of their death and draft them into his army, but they are nowhere to be found.  They are then met by Thanos who, true to form, is still holding a torch for Death.  Marv puts him in his place by saying that Death does not care for him, but Thanos is in love, and he doesn’t believe it. 

                We quickly cut to New York to see that the Tong of Creel have almost completely reassembled the Absorbing Man (you know, that guy that killed the Avengers and was then split into multiple pieces and hid around the world….that guy).  We are then in a different part of New York, where Immortus seems to have a handler known as Mr. Church who plays him like Dick Cheney played GW Bush. 

               

                Back in Limbo, Mephisto wants to warn Cap and Marv that Death is following them.  Way to be late to the party, Mephisto.  Of course then he holds a glowing orb that he calls the “key to Limbo”, that is until Cap knocks it out of his hands and into the “frozen in carbonite” visage of Belasco.  This sends Belasco back in time, to start his cycle over again, which is kind of a recurring theme in this series.  Cap and Marv receive the gun from the Greatest SpaceKnight and leave Limbo.  As Cap looks over his shoulder, he sees Death silently following him.

Next Issue: Will Death finally claim her victim?  Will Cap get to use the big gun first?  Will Mr. Church shoot someone in the face?

Not so New Comic Review: Universe X #2

                Issue two starts with a brief retelling of the origin of Captain Britain, which involves a lot of magic and resurrection.  Really, Superheroes are modern day myths, that are all built upon the myths of yesteryear, which would explain why Thor, Hercules, and even Merlin are fixtures in superhero comics.  Captain Britain was created by choosing the amulet of life instead of the sword of death, and he went on to be Britain’s greatest champion, forming Excalibur with Nightcrawler.  Unfortunately, Excalibur was turned to stone by the Grey Gargoyle, who was then killed by Captain Britain before he could force the villain to change them back.

 

                That brings us to the present day as Cap and Marv arrive in Britain on the next part of their “fetch quest”, the books of Darkhold and Vishanti.  Captain Britain asks Marv to bring Meggan, a member of Excalibur who was also Captain Britain’s girlfriend back to life much like he did with Sue Richards.  Marv explains how impossible that is based on all the circumstances that led to Sue’s return.  We find out that Nightcrawler actually escaped being turned to stone as he teleported out of there, unfortunately leaving his arm behind.  Marv explains that Nightcrawler is still alive, because Marv knows who is dead, because he is actually in the realm of the dead.  Sounds odd and kind of creepy, right?  Now imagine it coming from the mouth of a toddler.  Yeah, even worse. 

                Speaking of the realm of the dead, it’s time to check in on those individuals that are stuck there, led by Marv and Dr. Strange, who is only sort of dead, which is why he’s a ghost.  The individuals in the realm of the dead that know they are dead are involved in their own fetch quest so to speak.  Their quest is to gather an army, not objects, as they are fighting death herself.  They start by gathering the best and the brightest in the Marvel Universe, such as Iron Man.  They need everyone they can, as they are not only fighting Death, but all of her minions as well.  In Latveria, as is the case all around the world, masses are forming to destroy the “Human Torches”, to prevent the mutated populace from reverting back to their more docile, human selves.  Unfortunately for them, the last remaining vestiges of superheroes in the world are massing against them, to prevent the destruction of all Reed worked to build. 

 

                In Britain, Marv and Cap visit the Omniverse, where Roma and Merlin are residing to grab the books they seek.  Merlin tells Marv that he has a piece of the cosmic consciousness in him, not the whole thing as he once thought.  They then exit the Omniverse to see that death is following Cap and Marv. 

Next Issue: Does Death want Cap or Marv, or both!? Will Marv ever get all of the cosmic consciousness?  Does Dr. Strange the ghost know Casper?

Not so New Comic Review: Universe X #1

                Earth X opened every issue with a retelling of the origins of some of Marvel’s greatest heroes.  Universe X is no different as the narrators, Nighthawk and Gargoyle continue the tradition started by Uatu and X-51.  Dr. Strange is the subject of this issue, and we get a refresher course on his hubris, and how that hubris transformed him into Dr. Strange.  Back in New York, it’s a frozen wasteland thanks to the switching of the polarity within the planet.  Tucked away inside their apartment, Nighthawk tells his tale, while Gargoyle writes it down.  When a page is complete, he then sends it down a chute to the basement, where someone binds everything Nighthawk says into books.  We get a peek at the figure, but we don’t actually know who he is (nor will we for quite some time).

                In another part of New York, we come across Marv and Cap (this obviously takes place some time after “Four” as Cap is now entrusted with Marv’s care, and last we saw, Marv was in Latveria.  I will say, Doug Braithwaite does a great job of drawing Marv as a young kid.  Kids are not easy to draw consistently, especially realistically, and Braithwaite does an exceptional job at it for the entirety of the series.  This series basically turns into one big Legend of Zelda adventure as Marv and Cap traverse the Marvel Universe to gather all the goodies that Marv needs to complete his quest.  The first item on the list is Cloak’s…cloak.  It just so happens that Dagger, now an old woman, is using it to keep warm and mourn her friend.  Some street punks want to take it from her because, well, they’re cold too.  They don’t realize that it’s a portal to another dimension though and the cloak begins to envelope them all.  Cap saves a couple of the kids, and Dagger is bent out of shape as apparently, the cloak just basically eats people all the time.  Marv does what Marv tends to do through the whole series, he tells people how the dead person that the living are mourning is doing well on the other side.  Because this is the Marvel Universe, no one thinks he’s a nutty little kid.   Marv then takes the cloak and he and Cap now use it as a teleportation device.

                In Latveria, Reed and Sue are back together, and because of this, Reed has ditched the beard and Doom armor.  Out of nowhere, Immortus shows up and says that the torches are crippling everyone (which they kind of are by removing everyone’s powers).  Reed explains to Immortus that the Earth is going to die soon anyway, so basically who cares if people don’t have powers.  That seems pretty shitty coming from someone that just got their reason to live back. 

                In New York, Spiderman is now a police officer who is stopping some thugs from stealing food.  They attack him, and Spiders Man, the guy that casts webs of illusion shows up to cast another one, showing the thugs that there is plenty of food for them to eat.  They subsequently start chowing down on absolutely nothing and Spiderman notices that Iron Maiden is hanging around as well.  Basically, it looks like we are connecting the two series at this point, showing what everyone is doing at this point in time. 

                Cap and Marv are now in Dr. Strange’s house, looking for some books of his.  They encounter a bunch of mindless ones that leave them alone at first and then turn to attack.  As they are enveloping Marv, Loki plucks him out of the fray.  Cap reiterates the position that no Avenger can actually trust Loki, which Loki debunks because he is no longer the same person.  While on the moon, X-51 enters some ruins, looking for answers.

Next Issue: Does X-51 find the answer?  Do we even know what the question is?

Not so New Comic Review: Universe X – Four

                While Earth X was only fourteen issues long (1-12 with a zero and an X issue as bookends), it looks like Marvel gave Ross and Krueger a bit more room to flesh out the story with the addition of these “Special Issues” (there are five in total).  The thing is, you would assume that a “special” would only add tangential material to the story and not be as integral as the Universe X Special Issues are.  There are slight recaps of the action that goes on here in the regular issues, but really, these are very important issues if you want a better understanding of what is going on throughout the story (and the story is very convoluted and can get kind of confusing at times with so many moving pieces, so anything that can clear things up even a little is welcomed).

                The first “Special Issue” looks at the Fantastic Four as its main subject.  Considering how integral Reed Richards was to Earth X, this is not a bad idea.  Of course, this also means that we get another retelling of their origin (at least it’s only a quick one pager this time) as X-51 is relaying it to Galactus (who, it turns out, is now Franklin Richards).  We are then back in Doom’s castle, the home of the “Fantastic Four” (who are now down to two members).  We get more solemn Reed as he remembers his fallen bride, and then another brief flashback to show how Sue and Johnny died at the hands of Namor.  This is not just window-dressing though as it sets up Ben Grimm’s journey to Atlantis to consult with Namor.  Captain Marvel, as a child of Him and Her (I know, kind of weird) has been raised in Atlantis for the last few years to avoid the general population’s wrath at something new and different (they are no longer able to have children, probably due in large part to the mutations).  Ben Grimm, master of a restraint, decides to forego the fetch quest in order to beat up Namor one last time for what he did to Johnny and Sue.  Namor fights back, and actually knocks Ben’s breathing apparatus off.  If it wasn’t for Namor’s quick thinking, and the rescue breathing he learned in his seventh grade health class, Ben Grimm would be no more. 

 

                Be wakes up and is greeted by Mar-Vell, as a child of course.  Marv, makes some comments about Sue and Johnny, and then lets out the revelation that he is actually in both the land of the living (as a child) and the land of the dead (as a seemingly omnipotent god-being).  Apparently, Marv’s big plan is to make a new realm for the dead, a paradise, if you will.  The issue is, to do so from the land of the dead, he will need help.  All of the heroes in death’s realm, well most of them anyway, don’t think they are dead, they actually think those that are still alive are the ones that have died.  In order to exit the realm of the dead, they will need to realize where they are, which is easier said than done apparently, which we see as Johnny Storm, who realizes that he is dead, tries to convince his sister of that very fact.  Sue states that the only way she will admit to being dead, is basically if Dr. Doom admits it first, so off goes Johnny to get that done.  The way he does that is by removing Doom’s mask and showing him that he is no longer the scarred monstrosity that caused him  to put the mask on in the first place (apparently when you die, your physical scars disappear). 

                Back in the land of the living, Grimm has returned to Latveria with Marv to get Reed on board with the plan, and part of the way to do this is to bring Sue back from the dead (which is why she needed to acknowledge that she was dead in the first place (which she does, because Dr. Doom, realizing he is also dead, apologizes to her and asks for her forgiveness).  We then get a brief Dr. Doom origin story before Marv brings Sue back to life.  In order to recreate her, with her physical body being long since dead and decomposed, Alicia Masters molds Reed’s arm like clay (which is easy to do when he is as malleable as he is) into the form of Sue.  The final piece of the puzzle is taking Adam Warlock’s soul gem and giving it to Sue as a vessel to house her soul.  With that, Marv works his magic and Sue comes back to life.  Reed loses an arm, but that’s a small price to pay.  I do find it odd that the Sue that is now alive, has aged just as much as all of the other characters, but I guess it kind of makes sense since Alicia never really got to see Sue before her death.  With that, this issue comes to a close with a warning from Uatu that everything is far from over.

Next issue: everything is certainly far from over because Universe X #1 is forthcoming.  What is Marv’s plan, and why is he doing it?  Will Reed and Sue retire to Florida and live out the rest of their days together?  Will Uatu continue to be super creepy?