"Iron Man: The Future"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Iron Man: The Future” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            The Mandarin and Ezekiel Stane began working together, along with Vibro, Firebrand, Chemistro, Blizzard, Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Living Laser, Melter, Whirlwind, Mauler, and Firepower to commit terrorist attacks. Following the Serpent’s War, Tony Stark/Iron Man invited the elf Splitlip to join Stark Resilient. Tony and Splitlip also worked on getting sober. Tony was subpoenaed for the Iron Man armor’s biometric information for the prior thirty days after it was suspected he piloted the Iron Man armor drunk. Mandarin, Stane, Justine Hammer, and Sasha Hammer began plotting to take down Tony Stark. Tony piloting the armor drunk hit the news. Sasha Hammer was promoted to the head of the Detroit Steel Corps following the apparent death of Lieutenant Doug Johnson, the face of Detroit Steel. The Stark Resilient Board of Investors voiced their concerns over CEO Virginia “Pepper” Potts’ activities as the armored hero Rescue following a leaked photo of Pepper crying in Pepper’s office while in the Rescue armor. Stane discovered that Tony’s Repulsor Unit that kept Tony alive was damaged, and Mandarin sent Living Laser to attack Iron Man. Stark Resilient Head of Security Bethany Cabe revealed to Pepper that Cabe was the one who leaked the photo of Pepper crying so Cabe could make the money that Pepper was not providing Cabe. Justine Hammer secretly had Spymaster infiltrating Stark Resilient, and Justine planned to have Spymaster make a move against Stark Resilient. Living Laser compromised Tony’s Repulsor Unit further and put Tony in cardiac arrest. Stane discovered he and all the villains the Mandarin had recruited had been implanted with bombs. Tony was revived at Lenox Hill Hospital and physically resisted treatment from the doctors. Mandarin had Stane working on Dreadnought machines, and when Stane showed resistance, Mandarin revealed Mandarin was using one of the Mandarin’s rings to control Stane’s mind. General Babbage informed James “Rhodey” Rhodes/War Machine, Stark Resilient’s liaison with the United States government, that Babbage felt Tony was unfit to pilot the Iron Man armor. Mandarin sent a fleet of Dreadnoughts to attack Three Gorges dam in China. Iron Man, War Machine, and the Chinese superhero team the Dynasty put a stop to the Dreadnoughts’ attack. In Paris, a deranged Doug Johnson, identifying as Detroit Steel, secured a path back to the United States. Tony provided the data on the Iron Man armor to the Feds. Tony was forced to wear a governing device on his Repulsor Unit that would allow Babbage and Justine Hammer control when Tony could be Iron Man and be able to deactivate the armor. Iron Man fought Whirlwind, but Iron Man was deactivated during the fight, and Whirlwind was able to escape. Melter attacked Downtown Los Angeles. War Machine fought him, and Whirlwind and Living Laser joined the fight. Tony discovered he could not remove the governing device after it was attached to his Repulsor Unit. Tony and Rhodey faked Rhodey’s death as part of Tony’s plan to fight back against the Mandarin.

            Iron Man fought Firebrand and Crimson Dynamo, but Iron Man was deactivated and Sasha Hammer and the Detroit Steel Corps were allowed to finish the fight. Tony told Steve Rogers/Captain America and Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel that Tony was taking a leave of absence from the Avengers. Stane’s Dreadnoughts failed, much to the Mandarin’s displeasure. The Mandarin’s mole in Stark Resilient Leonard Pimacher/Spymaster violently attacked Stark Resilient employee Tim Cababa. Tony informed Babbage he would no longer be Iron Man and purged himself of the Iron Man armor. Stane removed the Mandarin’s bomb from Stane’s body. Spymaster attacked Stark Resilient employee Carson Wyche, but Cabe and Stark Resilient secretary Bambi Arbogast came to Wyche’s rescue. Firepower attacked internation waters near Somalia, and Rhodey arrived as the new Iron Man arrived to defeat Firepower. Tony publicly announced that he was no longer Iron Man. Johnson/Detroit Steel attacked Sasha Hammer and abducted her. Stane attacked Mandarin, furious that the Mandarin had been manipulating Stane, but Stane was easily stopped by the Mandarin. Cababa and Spymaster were taken to Seatle Medical Center to treat their injuries. Johnson brought Sasha to Hammer Industries, demanding a trade of her life for his old armor. Justine agreed, planning to detonate the armor as soon as Johnson climbed into it. Spymaster attacked the police in the hospital, and the police put Spymaster down for good. Tony removed himself from Stark Resilient. Iron Man and Rescue saved Tony from an attempt on Tony’s life. Johnson had overwritten Justine’s programming of the Detroit Steel and Johnson attacked the Hammer girls. Sasha fought back and ended Johnson. Tony discovered that the Mandarin was in Tony’s head and could control Tony.

            Tony went to Mandarin City in China to work for the Mandarin. Resilient announced their plan to launch their new product, the Swarm. Rescue teamed up with the new Iron Man to defeat Vibro. Tony worked with a mentally damaged Zeke Stane on Mandarin’s Dreadnoughts. Justine Hammer took Babbage off the board. Tony and Melter got in a fight in Mandarin City Mess Hall. Mandarin attempted to detonate Melter’s implant, but Tony saved Melter, much to Mandarin’s displeasure. Tony gave Mandarin a list of needs for building the Dreadnoughts. Mandarin sent the villains out to get the items, who came into conflict with Iron Man and Rescue. Tony operated on Stane to restore his cognitive functions. Mandarin revealed to Tony that the rings were living aliens and Mandarin planned to implant the aliens in the Dreadnoughts. Rescue fought the new Iron Man and deduced that Iron Man was Rhodey. Mandarin began implanting the aliens in the Dreadnoughts. Tony tried to incite the supervillains to fight against Mandarin. Pepper began to believe the J.A.R.V.I.S. AI in Pepper’s armor was compromised. When Pepper and Wyche tried to fix J.A.R.V.I.S., the AI attacked Pepper and Wyche. Tony built a new Iron Man armor in secret. Rhodey/Iron Man came to Pepper and Wyche’s rescue. The Resilient employees used the Swarm to locate Tony. Justine Hammer, now in Babbage’s position, refused to send aid to Tony. Iron Man, Blizzard, Living Laser, Whirlwind, and Stane united against Mandarin. Pepper turned to Triumph Division and the Dynasty to rescue Tony. Mandarin revealed he planned to destroy the Earth. Pepper destroyed the Rescue armor and the J.A.R.V.I.S. AI. Iron Man and his allies had a final battle with Mandarin and the Dreadnoughts for the fate of the world. Tony took heat from S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill. Tony planned what Tony wanted to do for his future.

            Okay, now we have the plot synopsis out of the way, let’s move on to my individual segments. So, as I always do in my reviews, I’m going to start with my own personal opinions on the book. I will say that I really enjoyed the stories. The running plotlines were really entertaining to me. I liked how the whole book focused on the Mandarin and his machinations against Tony/Iron Man. Some of the reveals were really great. The Mandarin being in Stane and Tony’s heads, the rings being living aliens, the identity of the mole in Stark Resilient, Cabe being the leak on the picture of Pepper crying in armor in her office, Johnson having survived being turned to stone, there were some really good plot twists and surprises in this book. The gaggle of villains added to the entertainment value, with so many great foes for Tony, Rhodey and Pepper to fight. The whole back and forth between Tony and Mandarin was exciting, with each making their moves, including Rhodey faking his death. Stane’s arc was interesting, going from being a villain to ally and his part in the final battle with the Mandarin and the conclusion of Stane’s story. The Hammer girls were entertaining antagonists as well, and the Detroit Steel story was enjoyable to read. Overall, I found this to be a fun, exciting, intriguing read. However, this is a graphic novel, and I will say that the graphics were not enjoyable for me. Some of my regular readers may recall my grievances with Salvador Larroca, I’ve brought him up several times in other reviews. This whole book was illustrated by him, and I just did not like the work he did on this book. I don’t like the way Larroca draws faces, so looking at the artwork detracted from the entertainment of the experience of consuming this book. I would like to share my opinion on the title as well. This collection contains eighteen issues, making three story arcs, each issue having its own subtitle, so technically, there were twenty-one choices for a title for this collection. “The Future” was one of the storylines, lasting for seven issues, and it was the longest storyline in the collection. As far as choices for titles go, I feel like this was a good pick. We’re also going to talk about the cover. It shows Iron Man flying. It’s simple, yet it’s still perfect. Was it the only cover that could work for this collection? No. But it still works as a representation for this book, and it does deliver on its promise, so I feel like it’s totally appropriate for this book. This book was an entertaining read, and I feel like it delivered on what it advertised, but the artwork was difficult to enjoy.

            Next up, we’re going to discuss accessibility. Now, even though I’ve gone over this over seven dozen times before, I know there are always those new people who have never read a Tim Cubbin review before and don’t know what I mean when I say accessibility when I apply it to media, so I shall have to explain it once again. If you already know what I’m about to say, please bear with me while I explain to the newbs. So, I’m asking if this book is accessible, and I’m asking if a person who had never heard of Iron Man before can obtain this book, read it, and understand everything they have just read based solely on the content in this book alone. I will say that answer is no. This volume is marketed as Vol. 6. This volume continues directly where the last story left off, and builds on stories collected in the three previous volumes of the series. However, this volume only contains issues from one series and does not tie into any events or crossover into any other storylines, so the story is self-contained to this volume. Following this series’ previous three volumes requires a requisite knowledge of the Marvel Universe from the time-period, so this series is not a beginner’s series. If you are looking into starting to read Marvel Comics, I would not only say that this volume is not a good place to start, but I would also say starting at Vol. 3 and reading through to this point probably isn’t the best place for Marvel beginners.

            Next up on our list of topics to discuss, we’ve gotten to my numeric score. My scoring system is extremely basic and simple to understand. I score on a scale of exact whole numbers ranging from one through ten. One is the lowest score I can give, and that means that this book is so horrible it should be avoided at all costs. Ten, however, is my highest score, reserved only for absolute perfection, and I do not give out a lot of those, but that means it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read and if you get me started talking about it, I will not stop for several hours. When I score a graphic novel, I’m scoring the quality of the story and the artwork, and the appropriateness of the title and cover. I will say that I thought the story was fantastic, but it wasn’t absolutely perfect and if this weren’t a graphic novel, it wouldn’t get a ten. The art was very much to my displeasure. The title was a good choice, and the cover was adequate. So, combining all these factors together, mixing everything up thoroughly, the score we’re looking at is… a six! Despite loving the story, I had to deduct points for the artwork, but the title and cover were just fine and did not require any point deductions.

            Next up is my recommendation segment. This segment has two foci: to tell you if I give this book the Tim Cubbin seal of approval and would personally recommend and tell you to read this book; and regardless of if I condone this book or not, who do I think the best audience for this book would be, based on the characteristics of the book itself and topics readers enjoy, and not based on fans of Iron Man, Marvel Comics, or fans of the creative team? To address the first topic, I would very much recommend this book to you, my readers. If you’re reading this review and are now interested in reading this graphic novel based solely on the words you’ve spent the past few minutes reading, I would tell you to get your hands on this book as soon as you can and read it, head to your favorite bookstore, comic shop, online retailer, local library, or see if any of your friends have this, and hopefully you enjoy reading it. As for whom I believe a good audience would be, I feel people who enjoy stories about people recovering from addiction, or people who are actually doing so themselves, could find Tony’s predicament sympathetic or even relatable. People who enjoy stories about technology would enjoy this book. And people who enjoy stories about industrial espionage could find this book enjoyable.

            Well, I think we’re getting to the point where we’re getting ready to wrap things up. There are some more things I need to discuss before I log off. I’ve been working on this blog for almost six years at the present. I’ve compiled over 190 posts, including short stories, poems, essays, articles, editorials, and over seven dozen reviews, so if you liked this post, feel free to keep browsing timcubbin.blogspot.com for plenty more content. I’ve reviewed prose novels, comic events, manga, and over seven dozen other graphic novels just like this one. The current main focus of this blog is reviewing Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Ultimate Epic Collections. If you enjoyed this particular review and have some free time, you’re invited to check out my reviews of “Iron Man: World’s Most Wanted” “Iron Man: Stark Disassembled” and “Iron Man: The New Iron Age” for more Iron Man content. I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after it is released and try to post a review if possible, so I post on a rather frequent basis. My next review is going to be “Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel” which should be up in the next two months following the date of this posting, so if you want to see more of my new content, keep checking back for it. If you have anything to say about this post, feel free to leave a comment, and please follow, like, share, retweet, spread the word to your friends, interact with me and get the word out. I would love to hear from you, my readers. Everything posted inside of these posts is all just my opinion. I welcome you all to feel differently than me on anything and to call me out on it if you do, or if you agree with me and want me to know, please let me. I value you guys and want to know what I can do to improve this blog for all of you, and I can’t do that unless you let me know. I hope you come back for more of my work, and if you read all the way to this point, you are THE BEST! Please keep coming back for more, I will be doing this blog for as long as I can, so you can expect that to be for quite a while. Thank you so much for reading. All I have to say for now is until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Deadpool: X X Baby"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Deadpool: X X Baby” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            Norman Osborn swindled Wade Wilson/Deadpool out of a large amount of money. When Deadpool tried to collect, Osborn sent his covert strike force, the Thunderbolts after him. After Deadpool defeated the Thunderbolts, Osborn sent the Dark Avenger Hawkeye (really the assassin Bullseye in disguise) to take Deadpool out. Bullseye failed. Rather than return to Osborn with the news that Bullseye was defeated, Bullseye chose to pay Deadpool the money that Osborn owed him.

            Using some of the money he came into, Deadpool bought a boat in Vladivostok, Russia. Deadpool called his friend Bob, agent of Hydra to be a pirate with Deadpool. Deadpool planned to rob the luxury resort island Jallarka. After six weeks at sea, Deadpool and Bob finally arrived on Jallarka and met the island’s blind tour guide Kalani. Jallarka was suddenly under attack by pirates led by a man known (not by himself) as Captain Wackbeard. Deadpool agreed to defend Jallarka if Kalani joined Deadpool’s crew. Kalani agreed to Deadpool’s proposition. Wackbeard and his crew boarded Deadpool’s ship while Deadpool and crew were off of it. Deadpool climbed back aboard Deadpool’s ship and faced off against Wackbeard and crew, and while Deadpool was able to reclaim Deadpool’s ship, Deadpool was defeated by Wackbeard. Deadpool and crew then took to the seas to defeat Wackbeard, and Deadpool realized that being a pirate really wasn’t his ambition in life.

            After faking being sick and adrift at sea to board a cruise ship, Deadpool was thrown off the ship after being described as the most wanted and hated man on the planet, after seemingly selling out Earth to the Skrull’s during the Secret Invasion. Deadpool found himself in San Francisco, where he saw the X-Men on TV. X-Men leader Scott Summers/Cyclops spoke out against Norman Osborn, and Deadpool decided that Deadpool wanted to join the X-Men, despite not being a true mutant. Upon arriving at Utopia, Cyclops told Deadpool no. Ellis Kincaid, father of X-Men trainee Cessily Kincaid/Mercury, believed the X-Men were holding Mercury against Mercury’s will, and wanted to free Kincaid’s daughter from the X-Men. Cyclops decided it was not safe to have Deadpool unsupervised and sent Neena Thurman/Domino to be his chaperone and an offer of probationary status on the team. Deadpool decided the best way to ingratiate himself with Cyclops would be to get the X-Men out of their legal trouble with Kincaid by putting Kincaid out of the picture permanently. Kincaid made a television appearance, and Deadpool came to take him out. Domino protected Kincaid from afar, then brought Deadpool out for a drink, where she drugged him and tied him up to wait for the X-Men. Domino overheard part of a conversation between Cyclops and James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine talking about getting Deadpool out of the picture, and mistakenly assumed the worst, but Cyclops’ actual plan was to take Deadpool on a “special mission” to China and ditch him, and Domino allowed Deadpool to escape before Wolverine could get to Deadpool. Kincaid turned to Norman Osborn for protection. Osborn pretended to be offering it but secretly was willing to let Deadpool eliminate Kincaid because this act made the X-Men look bad. Two of Osborn’s H.A.M.M.E.R. agents acted as Kincaid’s escorts. Deadpool went after Kincaid, but Wolverine and Domino came to Kincaid’s rescue. The X-Men then had to stop Deadpool and save Kincaid and look good to the public. After losing X-Men probationary status, Deadpool headed for New York.

            Peter Parker/Spider-Man came upon the scene of an accomplished hit. Spider-Man immediately believed Deadpool to be the assassin, but Deadpool had an alibi. Spider-Man reluctantly agreed to let Deadpool see the crime scene and try to get to the bottom of the assassination. Deadpool recognized the crime scene as being the work of Hit-Monkey, an assassin who was an actual monkey who killed other killers… and Deadpool was on Hit-Monkey’s list. Spider-Man didn’t believe in the existence of Hit-Monkey at first, until at the scene of Hit-Monkey’s next crime scene, and monkey paw print was left behind. Spider-Man went looking for Deadpool and Hit-Monkey followed. Following a shoot-out, Spider-Man took a bullet to the shoulder. Spider-Man brought Deadpool to the Fantastic Four for convalescence, but the heroes turned Deadpool away. Needing to make a change of costume, Spider-Man brought Deadpool to Peter Parker’s apartment. While Spider-Man wasn’t looking, Deadpool stole the Spider-Man costume with the bullet hole in it. Deadpool then used the costume to fake Spider-Man’s death. At Spider-Man’s funeral, Hit-Monkey made an appearance. Deadpool hopped out of the casket, and Spider-Man and Deadpool teamed up to fight Hit-Monkey. Following the fight, Deadpool was taken into custody, but Spider-Man helped Deadpool escape from jail.

            While on the road in rural North Georgia, the bus Deadpool was traveling on was the target of a robbery. Deadpool was defeated by a man with electrical powers calling himself White Lightnin’. Deadpool found a police walkie-talkie at the crime scene and deduced the robbery had been conducted by a pair of cops. Deadpool went to the local police department, where an officer named Darlene pointed Deadpool to Sheriff Dale’s moonshine still, where the sheriff and his nephew Clovis Maines/White Lightnin’ operated out of, encouraging Deadpool to permanently put a stop to the crooked cop’s operation. Deadpool went to the still to combat Dale and White Lightnin’ again.  However, Dale wasn’t the only crooked cop.

            Deadpool found his way to Las Vegas. Upon arriving, Deadpool was slandered on television by club owner Lonzo Toutolos. In revenge for the defamation, Deadpool blew up the club. Deadpool then went to a casino, where he started to win games. The casino owner wouldn’t have that and sent his armored soldier the House after Deadpool. The House fought and defeated Deadpool. After detaining Deadpool, the House revealed himself to be Deadpool’s old ally Jack Hammer/Weasel. Deadpool propositioned an alliance with Weasel, and Deadpool took on the ironed mantle of Wildcard. The House and Wildcard protected Las Vegas from a robbery by supervillain Grizzly, but Wildcard became the most popular superhero in Las Vegas. Deadpool revealed his dual identity as Wildcard to the House’s bosses, forcing them into letting him keep the armor. Weasel felt jealous of Wildcard’s popularity over the House as the hero of Las Vegas. Deadpool suggested Deadpool and Weasel switch identities so Weasel could be the more popular hero. Weasel agreed to the switch. However, Deadpool secretly formed a partnership with Grizzly. Grizzly struck at the counting room of another casino to commit robbery, and the House and Wildcard battled Grizzly. The House then helped Grizzly escape with the money, having Weasel publicly dubbed a criminal. The House and Grizzly committed another robbery, but Wildcard stopped it. Deadpool allowed Weasel to escape, but since Deadpool had revealed Deadpool’s identity as Wildcard to the casino owners, Deadpool was consigned to be the Chief of Security for the casinos, and that Deadpool now had a job.

            Deadpool quit his job and found himself the target of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, who wished to punish Deadpool for the sins Wade Wilson committed over the years.

            Deadpool found himself in a team up with Steve Rogers, Natalia Romanova/Black Widow, and Marc Spector/Moon Knight against a terrorist. Rogers offered a continued alliance. Rogers, Widow and Moon Knight had all been cloned by the evil Doctor Bong, and Rogers wanted Deadpool to help Rogers’ team stop Doctor Bong and Bong’s cloning operation. However, during the mission into Bong’s laboratory, Rogers and Deadpool got into a fight. Moon Knight came to Rogers’ aid. Bong detonated the lab, attempting to destroy the heroes, and escaped. Rogers, Deadpool and Moon Knight also all managed to escape. Bong then disguised his soldiers as Deadpool when Rogers, Black Widow, Moon Knight, and the real Deadpool came to try to apprehend the evil Doctor.

            Deadpool was approached by vampires, led by Colvin. The opposing vampire Claw Sect had been provided with amulets that allowed them to walk in the light of day, and Mercy General Hospital, the hospital Colvin was the director of, needed protection for the daytime, so Colvin wished to hire Deadpool. Human Doctor Matsuzaki found herself targeted by vampires. Deadpool became smitten with Matsuzaki and fought to protect her, and the rest of Mercy General Hospital, from the invasion of the Claw Sect.

            A blinded Deadpool fought against a faction of terrorists in the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, in the United Arab Emirates.

            Okay, we have the plot synopses out of the way, it’s time to focus on my individual segments of the review. As always, we’re going to start with my own personal opinions about the book. I will say that I found this book to be highly enjoyable. I had a fun time reading it. I liked Deadpool as a pirate. I thought it was funny how Deadpool didn’t make Bob first mate, Deadpool made Bob be a parrot. And it was an interesting idea to have a blind tour guide. I enjoyed Deadpool trying to join the X-Men, particularly Cyclops’ response. I liked how Osborn played his game to manipulate public opinion against the X-Men by using both Kincaid and Deadpool as puppets, I thought it was brilliant writing. Spider-Man/Deadpool team ups are usually entertaining, and I feel like the one in this book definitely was. I loved Hit-Monkey, I thought he was a unique threat, you don’t usually see superheroes fight animals like this one. The dirty cops issue had twists I did not see coming and I thought that it was well written. I enjoyed reading Deadpool becoming the hero of Las Vegas, and I was shocked when Deadpool pulled a double-cross on Weasel and teamed up with Grizzly, then screwed them both over, but I guess that’s just typical Deadpool. And I was amused how he backed himself into a corner there and wound up with a job. Deadpool’s encounter with Ghost Rider was an interesting one to me, especially the outcome of Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare. I was surprised when Steve Rogers actually asked Deadpool for a team up, and I thought their mission was an exciting read. I loved the concept of vampires secretly running a hospital, and the Claw Sect were an interesting group of vampires. I also love how Deadpool calls every vampire a Dracula. Finally, Deadpool’s Pool-o-Vision did not work like Daredevil’s radar sense, but it made for a difficult handicap for Deadpool to work with, and he did it well. While I found the stories to be amusing and entertaining in general, some of the jokes, to me, just weren’t funny. I’m not saying it was because they were offensive or inappropriate, I just didn’t think they were anything that invoked humor in me. I also felt like Deadpool’s warped way of thinking wasn’t always likeable at times, particularly his fixation on killing Ellis Kincaid. Moving on, we’re going to discuss the art. I did not particularly enjoy the work of Shawn Crystal, Tan Eng Huat, or Philip Bond. However, I loved the work by Paco Medina, Carlo Barberi, and Bond Dazo, whom I feel did phenomenal work. The next thing I’d like to talk about is the title. In general, an Epic Collection is titled after an issue or storyline title. “X, X! Baby!!” was a caption on one of the covers, rather than a title. I found this to be an exceptionally odd choice. There were plenty of titles that the editors could have chosen from for this Collection, and they chose to disregard all these choices in favor of a quote on a cover and remove the punctuation marks. I feel like a few of the titles of storylines would have worked as titles for the Collection, such as “Want You to Want Me,” “Tricky,” or “I’m Your Man.” “Want You to Want Me” was the longest story arc in the book and the one to feature the Collection’s titular caption on the cover of one issue, so I’ll settle on “X X Baby” being an adequate title for this volume. As for the cover of this volume, it features Deadpool in his X-Men uniform in front of the cover of “Giant-Size X-Men” #1. This issue was the debut of a new team of X-Men, and I feel like the significance of that issue does not match the significance of the story of Deadpool trying to join the X-Men. Also, this cover is an edited version of the cover of “Deadpool” #17, and I feel like if the editors had used the original cover, which features Domino and Emma Frost next to Deadpool, it would be a better representation of the actual story in these issues. That said, this book was an entertaining read and a fun experience and in general, I enjoyed my time consuming it.

            Next up on the docket of topics we need to cover is accessibility. Now, if you’ve never been to one of the seven dozen or so other times, I’ve already explained my meaning of using the word “accessibility” in application to a graphic novel, you may not know what I’m trying to say. So, if you’re a newb to a Tim Cubbin review, allow me to explain, and if you’ve been to one of my seven dozen or so other reviews, please bear with me while I go over it once again. When I say “accessibility,” I mean can a person who has never heard of Deadpool or read a Marvel Comic before obtaining this Collection, then read the story, and understand everything they have just read based solely on the material contained in just this book and this book alone? I would say that the answer is a relative yes. This Collection really doesn’t rely on outside knowledge. While this is marketed as Vol. 2, and it does directly continue from where the previous volume left off, the storyline is a fresh start, and I feel like not having read the previous volume is too detrimental to understanding this particular volume. All the issues in this Collection come from one series. There are no events occurring during this Collection and there are no tie in issues or crossovers. As such, I feel like this book has a relatively high accessibility rating. If you’ve never read a Marvel Comic before and are looking into starting, this volume is not a terrible place to jump on at.

            We’ve now come to the point where I give my numeric score. My scores are done on an extremely simple system. I score on a scale of exact whole numbers ranging from one through ten. One is the lowest score I can give, and that means that reading this book was so bad, I wish I could go back in time and erase the period of consuming this book from my memory to never have experienced this absolute abomination of literature and art. On the opposite side of the spectrum, if I score a book at a ten, that signifies sheer perfection, and the time I spent reading this book were some of the best hours of my life and when I have reason to reexperience this book, I will be in absolute bliss. When I score a book, I focus on four things: if the story was completely enjoyable; if the art was consistently visually appealing; if the title was an accurate description of the contents within; and if the cover properly delivered on the promise of what it showed and adequately represents the book. So, after careful consideration, taking into account that we have: a story that was enjoyable, yet had a lack of amusement where humor was expected; art that was, for the most part, enjoyable; a title that was questionably adequate; and a cover that didn’t quite match its significance, when I give this book a score, we’re looking at… seven! It was a decent read, but it had visual flaws, and the title and cover didn’t quite live up to the essence of the book’s content.

            Continuing forward, we have my recommendation segment. This segment handles two separate questions. The first question I answer is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers? The second question is regardless of the first question, beyond the obvious answer of fans of Deadpool, Marvel Comics, or the creative team, who are the fans of particular genres, characteristics, or styles of literature that would find this book most appealing? The answer of my first question is a resounding yes. If you’re reading this review right now and based solely on the words you’ve spent the past few minutes reading you want to read this book, I’ll tell you to hop onto your favorite online retailer, or check out your favorite book store, local comic book shop, or public library, or hit up some friends who are into Marvel, and try to find a copy of this book. As for who should be reading this book, I’d say readers who enjoy stories about mercenaries would enjoy this, fans of pirates might enjoy it, people who enjoy vampire stories could find this entertaining, and people who like literature with crude jokes might find something amusing with this book.

            Okay, we’re at the point where I’m just about ready to wrap everything up. I’ve been at this for several hours now and I need to move on with my life. Before I go, there are a few final things that do need to be said. I’ve been doing this blog for almost six years now. In that time, I have posted over 190 times. If you enjoyed reading this post, check out timcubbin.blogspot.com for more content from me. If you go way back, you’ll find I’ve written short stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials. I’ve also written over seven dozen other reviews of Epic Collections just like this one. I’ve also reviewed some prose novels, comic book events, and manga as well. Right now, the primary focus of From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin is to review Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Ultimate Epic Collections. I purchase every one of them as soon as I can after it is released and if possible, put up a review as soon as I can after I finish reading it. If you liked this review, there are similar reviews you might like. Search for “Deadpool: Magnum Opus” “Deadpool: In Wade We Trust” “Deadpool & Cable: Ballistic Bromance” “Spider-Man/Deadpool: Isn’t it Bromantic?” “Spider-Man/Deadpool: ‘Til Death Do Us” and “Spider-Man/Deadpool: Road Trip” for more Deadpool content if you have some more free time to spare. You can also keep checking back for more upcoming posts. I post on a very frequent basis. My next review will be “Iron Man: The Future” and you can expect to see that within the next four weeks. That is a rough estimate, it will most likely be sooner than that, I just have to give a wide timeframe, so I don’t give false hope. But definitely keep checking back for it, because it will be up soon. If you liked this post, feel free to follow me. Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you. Interact with me on whatever platform you found this post on. I’d totally love to hear from you guys, my readers, I’d totally value your opinions. Everything said by me on this blog is my opinion and I don’t expect anyone to agree with me on what I say, and if you have read this book and feel differently about it, please let it be known to me, I’d like to know what you think of this book. That’s really all I have to say for now. I’ll be back soon, but until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Ultimate Fantastic Four: Frightful"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Ultimate Fantastic Four: Frightful” as presented in Marvel Ultimate Epic Collection format.

            Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/Thing were altered in a teleportation malfunction and became the Fantastic Four. After their public outing, the team were returning to their home, the government think tank the Baxter Building, by helicopter with military escort. As their helicopter approached the Baxter Building, it was hit by an electromagnetic pulse. The Fantastic Four softened the helicopter’s crash landing into the Baxter Building roof. Upon disembarking, the Fantastic Four and their military escort discovered several identification cards belonging to Baxter Building staff scattered on the roof, including Franklin Storm’s, Sue, and Johnny’s father. As the Fantastic Four and their military escort entered the laboratory levels, they received a taunting message from Rhona Burchill, the setter of the trap. Rhona had been a Baxter Building applicant but had been denied admission due to Reed’s acceptance in the think tank. Upon discovering the Baxter Building staff tied up, the Fantastic Four and their military escort were incapacitated by Rhona’s robotic servant, Bobby. Rhona projected her life into Reed’s brain using a serum Rhona devised. Rhona started an auction on the Fantastic Four, selling them to Latveria. As Rhona attempted to load the Fantastic Four for transport, Reed was able to revive. Reed also revived the other members of the Fantastic Four. Realizing she was beaten, Rhona managed to escape, threatening revenge on Reed. Later, Reed received a distress message from a Reed Richards from a parallel universe.

            Crystal, princess of an advanced sect of humans living in a refuge called Attilan hidden in the Himalayas, fled to New York City, displeased at her impending arranged marriage to Maximus, brother of Black Bolt, king of the civilization. As the royal guards attempted to bring Crystal back to Attilan, Johnny attempted to come to her rescue and fought the guards but was beaten. Johnny and Crystal were saved by Crystal’s teleporting dog Lockjaw. After retreating to the Baxter Building, Crystal explained her situation to the Fantastic Four. Crystal was snatched away and brought back to Attilan, where she was scolded by her sister Medusa, the Queen. The Fantastic Four used Lockjaw to teleport to Attilan. The Fantastic Four were discovered and fought the civilization and the royal family. Feeling their refuge had been tainted by the Fantastic Four’s presence and the violence they brought, Black Bolt destroyed Attilan, and the civilization left to live in a new place where they would remain undiscovered by the human race.

            The Fantastic Four stopped a group of Chrono-Bandits from committing a time crime that would have eliminated the human race. Upon returning to the Baxter Building, Professor Storm tried to remind Reed that he was a scientist foremost and not a superhero. With the help of the Reed Richards from the parallel universe, Reed was able to build an interdimensional teleporter. Reed teleported to the other Reed Richards’ universe, only to discover he had been deceived. This universe had been overrun with a zombie plague, and zombie Reed Richards had used Reed to find a way for the zombies to find more food. As Reed tried to escape from the infected superheroes of this world, he was rescued by Magneto, who had not been infected, and who was protecting a small group of survivors who had not been affected by the plague. The zombified versions of the Fantastic Four used the teleporter to reach Reed’s uninfected world. The uninfected Fantastic Four contained the zombified Fantastic Four, then used Reed’s teleporter to travel to the infected world to save Reed. The Fantastic Four and the survivors used the teleporter to travel to the uninfected world, but Magneto stayed behind to destroy the teleporter to ensure the infection could not spread further. Upon returning to the Baxter Building, Sue and Johnny were reunited with their mother, whom they had been told died in a car crash fifteen years earlier.

                        Doctor Mary Storm had faked her death and abandoned her family to lead a scientific exploration into the lost continent of Atlantis. Doctor Storm had successfully discovered Atlantis and had come to Sue to ask for the Fantastic Four’s help in reaching a depth Doctor Storm’s team was unable to reach. Sue agreed to help, but Sue told her mother that after this, Sue never wished to see her mother again. While diving in Atlantis, Reed, Sue, and Ben discovered what Doctor Storm’s research believed to be the tomb of Namor, the King of Atlantis. Namor was awakened, and in his surprise, came into conflict with the Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four were able to subdue and restrain Namor. Namor offered to reveal the secrets of the advanced sciences of Atlantis, provided Namor gave them to Sue. Sue agreed, much to Reed’s jealousy. Doctor Storm asked Reed for Reed’s help in translating the Atlantean carvings from around Namor’s tomb. Sue and Namor took a trip through New York City. Namor attempted to put the moves on Sue, and when Sue rejected Namor, Namor attacked Sue. Reed translated the carvings and uncovered that what the Fantastic Four found Namor in was not a tomb, it was, in fact, a prison. Johnny and Ben tried to come to Sue’s rescue, but Namor overpowered Johnny and Ben. Reed arrived in his Fantastic Oh-Five, a robot with the combined powers of the Fantastic Four, but even that was not enough to defeat Namor. Reed used a helmet that converted Reed’s thoughts into three-dimensional constructs, but the power it required was too costly, and the device was shut off. The Fantastic Four were able to overpower Namor, but in defeat, Namor summoned a water monster. Sue was forced to give into Namor’s demands in order to make Namor retreat. Doctor Storm left to meet with the new owner of the company that provided funding for Doctor Storm’s work, Victor Van Damme/Doctor Doom.

            Reed traveled to the past to the day of the teleportation accident that gave the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom their powers. Reed found the Fantastic Four were intent on making sure the teleportation accident didn’t occur, a decision that surprised Reed. Back in the present, Johnny was celebrating his birthday. Johnny played a prank on Ben that made Ben a laughingstock at the party. The Fantastic Four realized how much the transformation into the Thing upset Ben, and as Reed had been unable to cure Ben, the Fantastic Four concluded the only way to fix Ben would be to ensure the teleportation accident never occurred. The Fantastic Four enacted this plan, and the world changed. The Skrulls had provided the human race with a drug that gave them superpowers, and everyone on the planet except Ben Grimm took them. Thor was president of the United States of America, and Reed Richards was vice president. The Super-Skrull was making a visit to Earth to meet with President Thor. However, the Skrulls were secretly not benevolent and used this same tactic to assimilate technology and resources from races of planets before eliminating them. Sue found this out, and the Super-Skrull eliminated her. The Skrulls used the drug to eliminate the entire human race, save for the one human being who hadn’t taken it: Ben Grimm. Ben fought the Super-Skrull, then had to use time travel technology to prevent the Fantastic Four from averting the teleportation accident. With the world back how it was supposed to be, Ben was again depressed… until he met a blind woman named Alica Masters, who was not put off by Ben’s outward appearance as the Thing.

            While on a double date with Ben and Alicia, Johnny fell ill. Reed, refusing to destroy the zombie Fantastic Four, continued working on finding a way to return the zombie Fantastic Four to the infected universe after discovering in ten days’ time, inter-dimensional transference between the two universes would not be possible for another fifty billion years. The Fantastic Four discovered Johnny had an alien incubating inside him that would be potentially devastating to every living thing on Earth, and that the alien would hatch in seven days. The military planned to exile Johnny to the N-Zone to protect all life on Earth. With no one else to turn to, Reed, Sue, and Ben went to Latveria to see Doctor Doom to ask for his assistance. The zombie Fantastic Four escaped captivity, and the top half of the Baxter Building was sealed to contain them. Doctor Doom agreed to help Reed get rid of the alien in Johnny, provided Reed allow Doctor Doom to secretly swap bodies with Reed. Seeing no other option, Reed agreed. Doctor Doom in Reed’s body, Ben, Sue, and Reed in Doctor Doom’s body returned to the Baxter Building. The zombie Fantastic Four planned to use Reed’s teleporter to bring the zombies of the infected world to an uninfected world. Doctor Doom in Reed’s body used a spell in an attempt to banish the alien in Johnny to the N-Zone but instead summoned it to Earth. The alien needed a human host, and Reed in Doctor Doom’s body had to find a way to get rid of the alien, stop the zombie invasion, and return to Reed’s body.

            Okay, now that we’ve got the plot summary out of the way, let’s move on to the individualized segments of my review. We’ll start off with, as we always do, my own individual input on the graphic novel. I will say that I found this book to be relatively enjoyable. I found the portrayal of the Baxter Building as a government sponsored think tank to be an interesting concept. I enjoyed the Ultimate introductions of the beings who are otherwise known as the Inhumans, and of Namor. I thought the zombie story arcs were well executed, and I liked how Magneto was forced into the position of a protector of humans. I actually found myself enjoying the return of Doctor Storm into Sue and Johnny’s lives, she was just a character I loved to hate, and the helmet scene with her was hysterical. I enjoyed seeing a world where everyone had superpowers and how the one normal person who didn’t subscribe to the Skrulls’ miracle drug had to save the whole human race. I loved seeing how far Reed was willing to go for his friends Ben and Johnny, both to try to find a way to cure Ben of being the Thing, and of saving Johnny from the alien. Changing history and swapping bodies with your worst enemy shows the signs of a truly devoted friend. That said, I honestly didn’t feel like these stories really stood out. To me, they just weren’t anything super special or spectacular. I liked these stories, but I just wasn’t totally wowed or blown away by them. Also, Thor should not legally be able to be president of the United States of America, according to the Constitution since he was not born in the United States. I’m not even sure if he’s even legally an American citizen. Now, as this is a graphic novel, we have to focus on the art as well as the story. I will say that I did not enjoy Jae Lee’s work in this graphic novel. Visually, I don’t like the way Lee draws faces. I was a fan of Greg Land’s work on the rest of the graphic novel, though. Another thing I critique when I review a graphic novel is the title, how appropriate it is for the graphic novel as a whole. The potential given choices were “Think Tank,” “Crossover,” “Tomb of Namor,” “President Thor,” and “Frightful,” the latter four all being three issue story arcs and tied as the longest story arcs in the collection. Given these choices, I do feel like “Frightful” was the best possible choice as title for this collection. Finally, I’m going to talk about the cover. This collection’s cover features the Fantastic Four in the foreground, with Doctor Doom in the background, holding his hands up with strings coming from his fingers, attached to the Fantastic Four. I feel like this cover is trying to say that Doctor Doom is holding the Fantastic Four like puppets under his control. I also don’t feel like this truly happened in this collection, so I feel like this was not a good choice to use as a cover. I feel like there could be better choices for covers that would more accurately represent this collection and deliver on the promise given on the cover.

            Next up, we’re going to discuss accessibility. Now, I know some of you might not know what I mean when I apply the word “accessibility” to a book review, and some of you have been to at least one of my over seven dozen other reviews and already know what I mean by this, but I do have to explain it again. The question I’m posing is “how accessible is this book?” What I mean by this is, how well can a person who knows absolutely nothing about the Fantastic Four obtain this book, read it cover to cover, and understand everything as it is presented with no outside knowledge of the subject matter? I will say that this book is vaguely accessible. It’s marketed as Vol. 2, and it does begin exactly where Vol. 1 left off. It builds on a storyline that has already been constructed. However, this does have a sense of self-containment. It collects issues from one series only, and does not tie in to any events or storylines from other comic series from the time of release. It does feature characters from other series in supporting roles, but knowing their full histories is not imperative to understanding this particular volume. If you’re new to Marvel Comics and are looking for a place to start reading, I don’t recommend picking this as your first choice, but if you do read the previous volume first, this series is fully accessible.

            Moving on, I’m going to give this graphic novel a numeric score. I score media on a very basic scale, on exact whole numbers ranging from one through ten. If a book gets a score of a one, that means it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever read and that I regret every cent I spent on purchasing it and every second I spent reading it and wish I could take it all back. If, however, I score a book at a ten, that means that this is one of the best things I’ve ever read and spending the money on it was worth every cent and the time I spent reading it were some of the best hours of my life. I’m often a very tough critic. I don’t just give a book a ten unless it truly is perfection and there was nothing I can complain about. When I score a book, I’m considering if the story was thoroughly enjoyable, if the art was consistently visually appealing, if the title accurately describes the essence of the storylines, and if the cover is an accurate depiction of the content inside the book. So, based on all of these factors, mixing everything together and blending out a score, I’m ranking this book as… a six. The stories were not of the highest caliber, the art was for the main part visually pleasing, the title was adequate, but the cover did not deliver on its promise.

            Finally on our docket of topics to discuss is my recommendation segment. This segment always answers two separate questions. Question number one is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers? The second question is, regardless of if I would personally tell you to read this book or not, what qualities of a reader would find this book most appealing? To answer my first question, the answer is yes, I do recommend this book to you. If you’ve read this review and are now completely invested in reading this book based solely on the words you’ve just spent the past few minutes reading, I would tell you to go to your preferred online retailer, your favorite bookstore, your local comic book store, your public library, or try to mooch it off of a friend who loves Marvel. As for the type of reader who might like this, we’ll go beyond the obvious of fans of the Fantastic Four, Marvel, and the creative team, and I’ll say readers who enjoy zombie stories would like this, horror fans could find this enjoyable, and readers who enjoy stories about utopian societies becoming dystopias might find this book up their alley.

            Okay, we’re getting to the point where I’m about ready to wrap everything up. There are a few things I’d like to discuss before I hit post. The first is that I have been doing this blog for almost six years now. In that time, I have published over 190 posts. In the past, I have posted short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and editorials. There is plenty of other content on this blog, so if you ever have some more free time and are in the mood, please continue browsing timcubbin.blogspot.com for more of my work. I’ve reviewed prose novels, comic book events, and manga, as well as reviewing over seven dozen other Epic Collections. I collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after it is released, and if possible, put up a review as soon as I can after reading it. I post on a very frequent basis because of this. These two types of content are my main focus on his blog at the moment. If you liked this review and have time, feel free to check out my review of “Ultimate Fantastic Four: The Fantastic” for more Ultimate Fantastic Four content. My next review is going to be “Deadpool: X X Baby” you can expect that to be posted within the next two weeks following this review, so keep checking back for it. I’ll be doing this blog for as long as I possibly can, so you can expect this blog to keep coming for quite a while. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"New X-Men: Planet X"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “New X-Men: Planet X” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            Following the attempted murder of Emma Frost/White Queen, Scott Summers/Cyclops left the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and the X-Men. Cyclops sought comfort at the Hellfire Club as he dealt with the strains Emma put on his marriage with Jean Grey/Phoenix. Logan/Wolverine wished to learn about his past, and Wolverine’s meeting with European criminal Fantomex gave Wolverine a lead on a Weapon Plus facility called the World in England that might shed light on Wolverine’s history before Wolverine became Weapon X. Fantomex himself was the program’s Weapon XIII. Wolverine challenged Cyclops to a drinking game, the stakes being if Cyclops won, Wolverine would allow Cyclops to disappear, while if Wolverine won, Cyclops would accompany Wolverine on his fact-finding mission to the World. Wolverine won, and Wolverine, Cyclops, and Fantomex set out for the World. Upon breaching the World’s outer perimeter, the trio discovered a camera that recorded a group of Advanced Idea Mechanics agents’ encounter with the latest Weapon Plus project, Weapon XV, a part-man/part-machine hybrid being. The trio then encountered the remnants of the A.I.M. unit, after a fire fight, took the A.I.M. unit out. The trio then entered the World, a place where time could be slowed or accelerated or stopped altogether. At the moment they entered, time was on pause. As they explored, time restarted and the trio were attacked by a car-cop, part of the World’s security. After taking the car-cop out, the trio came face-to-face with Weapon XV. After the trio took a beating from Weapon XV, Weapon XV escaped the World and headed for the Weapon Plus orbital base. Cyclops, Wolverine and Fantomex followed Weapon XV into space in Fantomex’ parter/vehicle E.V.A. While exploring, the trio fought Weapon Plus agents and placed charges to blow up the Weapon Plus base. Following the planting of the charges, the trio found their way to a computer. Fantomex was able to access it, providing Wolverine with his history and ten minutes of access before the station blew. As Cyclops and Fantomex made their escape, E.V.A. was attacked, and E.V.A.’s psychic connection with Fantomex left Fantomex weakened. Cyclops was able to help Fantomex escape. When Weapon XV found Wolverine, Wolverine blew up the station.

            Charles Xavier/Professor X planned to step down as headmaster of the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, leaving the school under the guidance of Jean Grey. Cerebra, the X-Men’s mutant detection device, located Cyclops and Wolverine in space. Jean left for space in the X-Plane Mark 3 to pick up Wolverine from space, while Emma Frost and Henry “Hank” McCoy/Beast went off to pick up Cyclops. Xorn had a lesson with the Special Class, Angel Salvadore, Barnell Bohusk/Beak, Sooraya Qadir/Dust, Basilisk, Earnst, and Martha Johansson. Dust fled the class to converse with Professor X. Dust suddenly attacked Professor X. Xorn came to Professor X’s rescue, but Dust destroyed Cerebra. Dust attacked the Special Class before Professor X and Xorn were able to subdue her. Jean found Wolverine, and the two realized they were on Asteroid M, former base of the X-Men’s greatest enemy Erik Lensherr/Magneto. The X-Plane was destroyed, and Asteroid M was knocked out of orbit, headed towards the Sun. Beast and Emma’s X-Plane was also blown up over the Pacific Ocean. Xorn attacked Professor X, revealing himself to actually be Magneto, and disabling the Professor’s ability to walk, a gift Magneto had granted using Nano-Sentinels. Magneto destroyed the Xavier Institute and then New York City, redubbing it New Genosha. Magneto deputized the Special Class, Esme Cuckoo, and Mortimer Toynbee/Toad as the heads of his new Brotherhood of Mutants and staged a mutant uprising. He kept Professor X incapacitated in a tank. Magneto planned to use his powers to reverse the Earth’s magnetic poles. He used the mutant performance enhancing drug Kick to boost his powers. As Wolverine and Jean headed for the Sun, Wolverine killed Jean to instantly spare her the pain of their inevitable deaths. Magneto placed Beak in charge of exterminating the remaining humans in New Genosha, a task Beak did not wish to do. Basilisk spoke out of turn, and an accidentally enhanced magnetic pulse from Magneto ended Basilisk’s life. Magneto attempted to end Beak, but Beak managed to escape Magneto’s wrath. Beak was discovered by the resistance, headed by Cyclops and Fantomex, and including Dust, and the Stepford Cuckoos, Phoebe, Mindee, and Celeste Cuckoo. As Esme revealed her romantic feelings for Magneto, Magneto rejected Esme’s advance. The Phoenix Force saved Jean and Wolverine from their deaths and Phoenix brought the two back to Earth. Phoenix found Beast and Emma floating on the wreckage of the X-Plane in the Pacific Ocean. The United States government planned to drop neutron warheads on New Genosha, coded only to destroy mutations and leave all surroundings intact. The resistance attacked Magneto’s base. Fantomex injured Toad and released Professor X. Magneto attempted to take down Fantomex, but Cyclops came to his rescue. Cyclops took out his anger at Magneto with an optic blast. Esma turned on Magneto, and Magneto released a Magnetic pulse on Esme. Beast tried to talk the President out of dropping the neutron warheads. Esme died in Emma’s arms. Beast attempted to neutralize the Kick in Magneto’s bloodstream to weaken him. Phoenix and Professor X confronted Magneto. As the X-Men prepared to take down Magneto once and for all, tragedy befell the team.

            Grieving from the fallout of the battle with Magneto, Cyclops lost heart for the X-Men and left the team. Without him, Beast tried to head the school. Under great stress, Beast tried Kick. Unknown to Beast was that the drug was the aerosol form of Sublime. Continued use of the drug supplanted the Beast’s persona, turning him into a mad scientist. 150 passed and humanity was nearly extinct. The Phoenix Egg was discovered on the moon. Tom Skylark and his Sentinel partner Rover were tasked with bringing the Phoenix Egg to the Institute. On his trek, he was attacked by Beast’s creations, the Crawlers. Rover took them out except for one that managed to teleport inside of Rover. Tom met with E.V.A. at the Institute. The Crawler that hid inside Rover had been spliced with genetic codes from Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man, and the Crawlers were able to multiply inside the Institute. Tito Bohusk/Beak tried to help Rover and E.V.A. destroy the Crawlers, but the Crawlers were able to teleport away with the Phoenix Egg. The X-Men (Wolverine, E.V.A., Beak, and Cassandra Nova), Tom and Rover prepared to fly to Beast’s laboratory in Transatlantis. Beast forced the Phoenix Egg to hatch, releasing a reborn Jean Grey. As the X-Men fought an army of Crawlers, Tom and E.V.A. had an intimate moment in front of Rover. This caused a distraction for Rover, and Rover was destroyed. Beast implanted himself with Phoenix traits, an act he had promised to perform on his loyal servant Apollyon, the U-Man. The X-Men faced the reborn Phoenix, and Wolverine was able to reach the Jean Grey inside of her. Beast faced the X-Men in a final battle, and the fate of the universe rested in the hands of Jean Grey.

            Okay, we have the plot synopsis out of the way, let’s move on to my individual segments of this review, shall we. We’re going to start, as I always do, with my own personal opinions on the book. I will say that I absolutely loved this book. I’ve been a reader of Marvel Comics since 2001, and New X-Men was actually one of the first two series I ever subscribed to. I looked forward to getting the new issues every month, and this series has been a favorite of mine for twenty-five years. Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men is one of my top three all-time favorite comic book runs to this day. This conclusion was just fantastic, and I was completely blown away. Reading this book again twenty-two years later was still just as good as it was the first time I read it. I remember being totally shocked when it turned out that Xorn was really Magneto. And I loved how Jean truly became Phoenix at the end of “Planet X.” The final showdown between the X-Men and Magneto in this book was totally epic. And I loved the dystopian future in “Here Comes Tomorrow.” Beast’s transformation into Sublime was a great twist. These stories were, in my opinion, peak. As far as the art goes, I have a love/hate for Chris Bachalo’s artwork. It’s unique, and I kind of like it, but it is a little wonky. Phil Jimenez and Marc Silvestri did bang up jobs on their penciling. In general, I liked the artwork, but Bachalo’s work was a little off-putting at certain points. Next up in things I critique about Epic Collections is the title. The editors had a few choices, including “Assault on Weapon Plus,” “Planet X,” or “Here Comes Tomorrow,” but the main arcs did tend to have subtitles, so the editors could have run with one of those as well, or else pulled a rando title from out of nowhere for this book that they thought would be good. That said, I thought “Planet X” was the best choice of titles for this book. It was the longest story arc in the Collection, and I feel like it fits the book as a whole as well. Finally, I’m going to talk about the cover. It’s actually very simple, just Cyclops shooting off an optic blast. Was it the best choice for a cover for this book? I’d say it wasn’t. I feel like there were other covers in this book that would have been more perfect. That said, it’s not a bad cover. Cyclops does play a major part in this book, so his gracing the cover seems appropriate enough. Unfortunately, I do have to question how he’s firing an optic blast if he’s not pressing the studs on either the sides of his visor or in his palms. Plus, I do feel Cyclops’ face does look a little odd. But I’m not going to fault the cover on technicalities such as these. Overall, I thought this book was fantastic, and I really loved it.

            Next up on the docket of things to discuss, we’re going to talk about accessibility. I know I’ve talked about this over seven dozen times at this point, and every time I do a review, I have to explain it, so to the people who have read reviews by me before, bear with me while I explain to my newbs just what exactly I mean when I talk about accessibility. So, I’m going to pose a question here: is this book accessible? What I mean by that is, can a person who knows absolutely nothing about the X-Men pick up this book, read it, and understand the story as it is presented with no outside knowledge of the stories before, around, or during the time of the issues contained in just this volume? I will say the answer to that question is no. This Collection is marketed as Vol. 3 and directly continues from stories started in the previous volumes. However, I feel that if you want this book to be accessible, you just need to read the first two volumes of New X-Men as presented in Modern Era Epic Collection format (“E is for Extinction” and “New Worlds”). I feel like Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men was self-contained, and it was where I started reading comics knowing almost nothing about the Marvel Comic Universe of the X-Men. It doesn’t directly cross over into other series or tie into other storylines or events from the time. On its own, I will say that this particular volume is not a good book to choose as your first book if you’re trying to start reading Marvel Comic books, but this series is a good series to get into Marvel Comics with if you’ve never read a Marvel Comic book before and you’re looking for somewhere to start your journey into the Marvel Universe.

            Moving on, I’m going to give this book a numeric score. I know some of you might consider this the most important part of my reviews, but I feel like to some of my readers, every one of my segments might be what they consider my most important segment. Now, of course, it’s important to go over how I score a book. I score on a scale of whole numbers ranging from one through ten. If I score a book as a one, that means that this book is one of the worst things I have ever read in my entire life and reading it was actually an experience that was physically and emotionally painful. However, if I score a book as a ten, that means that this book is one of the best things I have ever read in my entire life and the hours I spent reading it were some of the best few hours of my life. To be honest, I don’t usually give out tens simply because a ten means this book was perfect and I could find no flaws or things to complain about. I primarily base a book’s score on the story, but since this book is a graphic novel, I’m judging this book on art as well. Also, I take the title and cover into consideration, if I feel they properly apply to this particular book. So, taking everything into account, the score I feel I am going to give this book is… a nine! I loved the story, I thought the title was perfect and that the cover is adequate to represent the contents inside this volume, but I did feel that Bachalo’s artwork was a little wonky here and there, but overall, this book was truly exceptional and I thoroughly loved reading it.

            Finally, I’m going to give my recommendation segment. This segment answers two separate questions. The first question is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers? The second question is, regardless of if I would actually tell you to read this book or not based on my personal feelings, whom do I feel is the target audience, beyond the obvious of fans of Marvel Comics, the X-Men, or the creators? The answer to my first question is a resounding yes. If you’re reading this review and are so intrigued based solely on the words I have just spent the past few hours tying that you now want to read this book, I will say go to your preferred online retailer, your nearest bookstore, your favorite comic shop, your local library, or your Marvel obsessed friend or family member and try to get your hands on a copy of this book and read it at your earliest convenience. As for who I feel the perfect audience for this book is, I’d say it’s best for people who love stories about infiltration of secret facilities, near-catastrophic disasters, and post-apocalyptic futures. If you read this book, please feel free to leave a comment on this blog site, or a comment or tweet on the social media site you found this blog post on about your feelings about this book. I’d love to hear your opinions. Everything I say on this blog is my own personal opinion and I am not trying to force my feelings on you. I leave it up to you to feel how you want to about anything I say whether you want to agree or disagree with me. That’s the beauty of being human is that we all have our own opinions about everything, and I totally encourage you to have yours. If you read this book and think it’s horrible, I’d love to hear from you about your thoughts about this book and why you thought it was so bad. And if you loved it, I’d love to know your favorite parts of this book. I’d love to have a community vibe going here, although no one seems to want to do that yet, but I’m always hoping it will happen, so please feel free to start things going if you want to say something, you’re welcome to it.

            Okay, we’re getting to the point where I’m just about ready to sign off. There are a few things I do have to say before I sign off. The first is that I’ve been doing this blog for almost six years now. I’ve done over 190 posts, so if you have some more free time, check out more content on timcubbin.blogspot.com and see what else there is to like. I’ve done several kinds of posts, such as shorts stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials. My primary focus at the moment is reviews. I’ve done reviews of prose novels, manga, comic book events, and a lot of reviews of graphic novels. Right now, I collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after it is released and if possible, put up a review. If you liked this review and have some more time, feel free to check out my reviews of “New X-Men: E is for Extinction” “New X-Men: New Worlds” “Astonishing X-Men: Gifted” and “Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable” for more X-Men content. I post on a very frequent basis. My next post is going to be “Ultimate Fantastic Four: Frightful” which will be posted on this site within the next two months, but you can probably expect it to be a lot sooner than that, I’m just giving a rough estimate based on my availability to get the book, how long it takes to read it, and when I’m free to draft the review, but if you want to see more of my work, keep checking back until it’s posted. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Annihilation: Conquest Prologue"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Annihilation: Conquest Prologue” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            On Lamentis Outworld, Phyla-Vell/Quasar and Heather Douglas/Moondragon were staying with the Priests of Pama following the Annihilation War. On Hala, Ronan the Accuser, now leader of the Kree, had given Peter Quill (formerly Star-Lord) the position of Special Military Advisor to the Kree Leadership following the Annihilation War. Quill had arranged the usage of the Galadorian Spaceknights’ A-Ware technology for the Kree War-Net. Quasar heard a voice from the Quantum Bands warning of disaster for the Kree and a conquest, instructing her to find a savior, a task only Quasar could accomplish. Quill met with a delegation of Spaceknights to test the A-Ware technology. The Kree War-Net turned on the Kree and attacked the Kree. Quasar and Moondragon were attacked by a Kree Sentry. The two women defeated the Sentry. Hala had been attacked by the Phalanx, a race of techno-organic beings who assimilated with the races they invaded and now wished to assimilate the Kree. The Phalanx released a pulse that shifted Kree space out of the rest of the galaxy. Quasar vowed to find the savior of the Kree people. Quill tried to fight the Phalanx, who had begun to assimilate the Kree, but was injured.

            Kree Admiral Galen-Kor had all of Quill’s technological implants removed. Quill was tasked to lead a no-tech strike force against the Phalanx to destroy the Phalanx’s infiltration system before it could be brought online. The task force was comprised of prisoners of the Kree, including the Bug, Deathcry, Mantis, Gabriel Vargas/Captain Universe, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot. The team went into their mission, and tensions rose between Captain Universe and Deathcry after Captain Universe committed a perceived slight against Deathcry by defending her from a Phalanx sentry, an act considered offensive to the Shi’ar. The Phalanx detected the team’s presence and sent more sentries after them. As the team fought off the sentries, Captain Universe once again saved Deathcry. Deathcry turned feral on Captain Universe, and Deathcry was unalived when Captain Universe accidentally used the Uni-force to protect himself from her oncoming attack. The team managed to escape from the sentries. Quill took the uniform of a Kree maintenance worker and accessed a Kree data hub. Quill discovered the Phalanx were releasing an airborne nanovirus to infect the Kree. Quill returned to the team to inform them of this horrifying news. The team was attacked by Phalanx drones. Captain Universe stayed behind to give the team time to escape from the drones. As the team reached a crowded area, they were apprehended by Phalanx sentries and detained. Mantis was able to evade capture. Mantis reunited with Captain Universe. The team realized that they were already infected with the nanovirus. Captain Universe had to use the Uni-force against the Phalanx. Mantis freed the rest of the team. The team fought to escape and complete their mission.

            Quasar and Moondragon were attacked by the Super-Adaptoid, who had been assimilated by the Phalanx. During the fight, Quasar went into an uncontrollable rage, and one of the jewels in Quasar’s Quantum Bands went dark. Moondragon was plagued with headaches. Quasar’s rage was caused by Annihilus, the previous wearer of the Quantum Bands before Phyla-Vell. Quasar learned that if all the jewels in the Quantum Bands went dark, the Bands would be useless. The Phalanx assaulted the Priests of Pama’s sanctuary and obliterated it. Only Quasar and Moondragon survived. Quasar and Moondragon went to the Kree world Dlaw-Neurg. On the Kree planet Ollupac, the Super-Adaptoid heard tell of a wizard. Super-Adaptoid attacked Quasar and Moondragon on Dlaw-Neurg and copied her Quantum Bands in order to be able to follow the savior’s energy trail, then flew off. Moondragon abandoned her humanity to become the Dragon of the Moon to aid Quasar. Quasar and the Dragon of the Moon went to the planet Morag IV, where they were ambushed by the Super-Adaptoid. Quasar and the Dragon of the Moon were defeated. The two were nursed back to health by a native named Dejann. Quasar and the Dragon of the Moon found the Super-Adaptoid attempting to assimilate the savior, who was in a cocoon. An army of Phalanx arrived on Morag IV to take out the natives. Quasar and the Dragon of the Moo turned their attention away from the Super-Adaptoid to save the natives. In the fight, Quasar used up all the energy in the Quantum Bands, leaving them powerless. Quasar led the fight with just her natural inborn powers. Quasar fought the Super-Adaptoid and drained some quantum energy from the Super-Adaptoid, then used logic in a final Quantum Band duel. In the aftermath, the previous Quasar, Wendell Vaughn, arrived to banish Annihilus from the Quantum Bands. The source of the voice was revealed, and the savior emerged.

            Richard Rider/Nova was the last surviving member of the Nova Corps and had the Worldmind downloaded in his head, containing all the data of the Xandarian culture. Nova had been flying from planet to planet, answering distress calls. Nova stopped the Planetfall weapon from causing mass destruction on Turakis and took out leftovers from the Annihilation Wave on Halexa. Nova responded to a distress call from the Research Habitat Sorona Dae, but the call was on autorepeat and all life in the habitat had long since expired. Nova traveled through a stargate and arrived on Earth’s moon. Nova decided to visit his home planet while he was in the vicinity. Nova went to his parents’ house. While partaking in a dinner with them, the conversation between Nova and his father got heated over the New Warriors and the Superhuman Registration Act. Suddenly, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark/Iron Man and a group of agents arrived at Nova’s parents’ house, following the energy trail Nova left entering Earth’s atmosphere and mistakenly perceiving him as a threat. An angered Nova left with Stark aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. While Stark did not know about the Annihilation War, Nova was aware of the superhuman Civil War that had just concluded. Stark asked Nova to register. Nova said he needed twenty-four hours to think it over. Nova spoke to Vance Astrovik/Justice, a registered superhero and former fellow New Warrior. Justice tried to convince Nova to stay and become part of the Initiative. While sleeping, Worldmind took control of Nova’s motor functions and frightened Nova’s father. Nova was attacked by the supervillain Diamondhead. Nova defeated the villain and found himself wanted by Norman Osborn’s Thunderbolts for unregistered vigilantism. Nova fought the Thunderbolts until Iron Man arrived to intervene and end the fight. After returning home, Nova was confronted by Robbie Baldwin/Penance, a member of the Thunderbolts and another former New Warrior. Their conversation convinced Nova that he no longer wanted to be on the planet Earth if the Superhuman Registration Act was part of the status quo and returned to space. Nova received a mass amount of distress calls from Hala. While attempting to reach Hala, Nova was attacked by a swarm of Kree Sentries sent by the Phalanx. Nova defeated the Sentries. The Phalanx had converted Gamora, Nova’s former lover, into a Phalanx Select. The Phalanx wished to either kill or Select Nova and chose Gamora to do the job. Nova flew through an energy barrier surrounding the Kree System and was badly burned. He crashed on the Kree outworld Drez-Lar. Kree Stellar Captain Ko-Rel had been leading a group of Kree survivors on Drez-Lar since the start of the Annihilation War. The Kree detected Nova’s crash landing and went to investigate. As Ko-Rel approached Nova’s burnt body, the Nova Force and Worldmind entered into Ko-Rel. Gamora and a group of Phalanx soldiers teleported down to Drez-Lar and attacked Ko-Rel’s people. Ko-Rel was tasked by Worldmind with protecting Nova Prime’s body while it healed, leading her away from her people while Gamora and her soldiers took out the Kree. Gamora found Nova’s body and Selected him into the Phalanx. Nova’s conversion also meant that Worldmind would become part of the Phalanx. Before it could be converted, Worldmind told Ko-Rel to take out both Nova Prime and Worldmind to prevent Worldmind from becoming an instrument of the Phalanx. Selects Nova and Gamora went to the Kree planetoid Nil-Rast to find Drax the Destroyer and Select him into the Phalanx as well. Ko-Rel came after Nova and tried to end him, but was unsuccessful, and Gamora took out Ko-Rel. Before she expired, Ko-Rel tried to reach Nova’s humanity. The man inside Nova then battled the Phalanx Selection in order to regain control of Nova’s body. Gamora and the now Selected Drax followed Nova as he made his escape, on the mission to end his life since he would not be converted.

            Okay, that wraps up our summary, let’s move on to my personal segments of this review. As I usually do, I’ll start off by sharing my own personal opinions of the book. First off, let’s talk about the stories. I found these stories to be enjoyable. I loved how this laid the groundwork for the modern Guardians of the Galaxy. “The Phalanx Covenant” from the 1990s is an old favorite storyline of mine, so I do enjoy the Phalanx as adversaries, and I felt like the writers in this book wrote them on the same level as back in the ’90s, and took it so many steps further, turning them from a mutant threat to a cosmic-level threat. I loved the Star-Lord storyline, in particular. The team was great and I enjoyed their adventure together, and the Guardians of the Galaxy feel of the story was excellent. I also enjoyed seeing the Earth-based segment in the Nova storyline, it was nice to see some Terran action mixed in with all the cosmic goings-on. The Quasar storyline was also entertaining, the relationship between Quasar and Moondragon was beautiful, especially Moondragon giving up her humanity for the person she loved. I enjoyed reading this prologue, and I hope the next volume comes out sooner rather than later as I would love to see where the Conquest goes from here. As far as the art goes, I liked most of it except for the work of Timothy Green II in Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord. Otherwise, I thought the art was fantastic. Next up, we’re going to discuss the title. “Conquest Prologue” really wasn’t the most inspired title the editors could have given it, but it does fit the content of the book, so I honestly can’t complain too much about it. As for the cover, it shows Quasar standing with her Quantum Sword stabbed in a Phalanx sentry in the foreground, with the faces of Ronan, Star-Lord, Nova, Warlock, Moondragon and Super-Skrull in the background, with some ships flying around in a few spots. I felt like this was the perfect cover for this book as it features all the main characters from the book on it. Overall, I thought this book was pretty well done, with the exception of the artwork of Green II.

            Next up on our list of topics to discuss, we’re going to touch on accessibility. Now, I know I’ve gone over this over seven dozen times already, and I know that there are those of you who have been with me before and know what I’m about to explain, so if you do, please be patient with me while I explain to the newbs what I mean when I used the word “accessibility” when applied to this graphic novel. So, I’m posing the question of, is this book accessible? What I mean by that is, can a person who knows absolutely nothing about Marvel Comics somehow come in possession of this book, read it, and understand it as written, based solely on what is contained within the pages of this book alone with no outside context? While this book is marketed as Vol. 3, this series of Modern Era Epic Collections follows separate events, and this volume features the start of a new event after the one contained in Vols. 1 and 2, so I honestly don’t feel that you need to have read the first two volumes prior to this one. Plus, this book contains Annihilation Saga which recaps the entire first Annihilation event, so it’s already in this book anyway. While the Nova storyline does touch on Civil War and The Initiative, I don’t feel like knowing about them is essential to following this book. I think that the characters are established in the here-and-now well enough that knowing their backgrounds is not essential to understanding the characters. I feel like if you’re looking to get into reading Marvel Comics and don’t know where to start, this wouldn’t be my first pick for you, but it would not be a bad pick at all.

            Next up, we’re going to discuss my numeric score. My scoring system is extremely simple. I score on a scale of whole numbers ranging from one through ten. One is the lowest score I can give, and if I do give a book that score, you’d be better off lining a birdcage with its pages rather than reading them. If, however, I score a book at a ten, that means this book is perfection and is something that if you are my friend and you read comic books, I will not leave you alone until you read it and have a five hour discussion with me about it. So, when I score a graphic novel, what I’m looking at is how much I liked the story and the art and if I feel the title and cover are appropriate for the content inside the book. So, taking this book and laying it all out on the table, the score we’re looking at is… an eight! I thought this book was well done and I really enjoyed reading it, and I mostly enjoyed the art, and I thought the title and cover were adequate to represent the content of this collection.

            Moving on, the next segment is my recommendation segment. In this segment, I answer two questions, independent of each other. The first question is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my reader? The second question, regardless of if I would personally recommend the book, whom do I think would be the perfect audience for this book, aside from fans of Marvel Comics, the characters, and the creative team? To answer the first question, if you’re reading this review and are deciding if you want to read this book based solely on what you’ve spent the past few minutes reading on my blog, I would tell you go to your favorite online retailer, bookstore, comic shop, library, or person in your life who obsessively collects Marvel Comics and try to find this book there as soon as you can, as I found this to be an enjoyable read and I highly recommend it. To answer the second question, the best audience for this book are fans of space stories and aliens, and I would also suggest that this book would appeal to the LGBTQ+ community based on Quasar and Moondragon.

            Well, I’d say we’re just about ready to wrap things up. There are a few last-minute things I would like to say first. Starting with, I’ve been doing this blog for almost six years now, and I’ve done over 190 posts, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for more content. I’ve done over seven dozen reviews of Epic Collections just like this one, including “Annihilation: Annihilation Day” and “Annihilation: Desperate Measures” which you should check out after reading this post if you have some free time to spare. I’ve also written reviews of prose novels, manga, and comic book events, as well as short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and editorials, so there is a huge variety of content on this blog if you’re into other kinds of written media. I collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after they are released and put reviews of them up as soon as I can after reading them, so you can imagine I post quite often. Those reviews are my main focus of content on this blog. My next review is going to be “New X-Men: Planet X” so keep an eye out for that, that review will be up within the next two months after this post, but it’s likely going to be a lot sooner than that. Keep checking back regularly for more content, I’m going to keep doing this blog for as long as I can, so you can expect that that is going to be for a good long while. So, I say to you all until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"New Avengers: Secret Invasion"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “New Avengers: Secret Invasion” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format. It is NOT a review of the Disney+ series “Secret Invasion.”

            The Illuminati is a secret organization comprised of several of the world’s most powerful heroes: Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange; Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans; Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men; Reed Richards, founding member of the Fantastic Four; Namor, the Sub-Mariner, ruler of Atlantis; and Iron Man, founding member of the Avenger. These six men worked together to shape the superhuman world. To keep the trust between the group members, the Illuminati’s existence had been kept secret from everyone, including the members’ teammates and families. Years ago, after the Kree-Skrull War, the group traveled to the Skrull homeworld to let the Skrulls know that Earth would not tolerate any more attempts at Skrull invasion. Things did not go well.

            Years ago, on Skrull World Satriani, Skrull King Dorrek had Princess Veranke exiled for preaching the Skrull prophecy that a devourer of worlds would destroy the Skrull Homeworld and that the Skrulls would find a new homeworld on a blue world. Dorrek had his scientists working on clones of Earth’s heroes based on the samples they were able to acquire when they held the Illuminati prisoner. Years after Veranke’s exile, Galactus, devourer of worlds, did indeed come and consume the Skrull Throneworld. Years after that, Veranke was found and brought out of exile and coronated as Queen. The Skrulls believed in the ancient prophecy Veranke believe, and the Skrulls believed the blue world they were promised was Earth, and so the Skrulls planned an invasion of Earth using Super-Skrulls. Over the years, Skrull technology had grown so advanced that the Skrulls were able to create Super-Skrulls so perfect a Super-Skrull could copy a person’s powers and have if the Super-Skrull remained in the form of the person that the Super-Skrull was copying, the Super-Skrull would be completely undetectable, and anyone would believe the Super-Skrull was indeed the person the Super-Skrull was impersonating. Queen Veranke did not wish to just order the invasion of Earth; she wished to be part of it. And the person she chose to impersonate in the invasion of Earth was Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, once an agent of Hydra, once an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. And now an Avenger.

            As far as the Avengers knew, Jessica had lost her powers, and Hydra had offered to get them back for her if she would act as a double agent. She went directly to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and told him the truth, but Rury surprised Jessica by telling her to take the deal. She was working in secret with Fury until he quit S.H.I.E.L.D. and went underground. Since then, she had been a double agent, reporting only to Fury, but Fury was no longer in charge. As far as the Avengers knew, every day had been a death-defying double cross for Jessica. And then Captain America made her an Avenger, putting her in even more danger. Putting her in a horrible position. The Avengers agreed to work with her and Fury to find out who was behind all the mysterious goings-on. But what really happened was when Jessica accepted to undergo Hydra’s operation that would restore her spider powers, the Hydra agents performing the operation were actually Skrulls. The Skrulls abducted Jessica, and Veranke took Jessica’s place. Veranke planned to destabilize S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra, eliminate the mutants, and turn the superheroes against each other. Veranke had Jessica placed at the Raft, and Veranke was at the Raft the night of the breakout which brought about the formation of the New Avengers. She had also had former Avenger Hank Pym/Yellowjacket replaced with a Skrull agent. Veranke told Viper/Madame Hydra that now that Spider-Woman was an Avenger, Spider-Woman deserved a better payment than before for now being a triple agent. Fury’s replacement as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Maria Hill informed Spider-Woman/Veranke that Hill was not happy that there was a New Avengers and that Hill would be keeping an eye on the newly formed team. The Yellowjacket Skrull informed Veranke of a joint Avengers/X-Men operation on Genosha to confront Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, who had lost control of Scarlet Witch’s reality altering powers and had been the reason for the disbanding of the original Avengers. Both Skrull agents were in attendance of this operation.

            Then the world burned away to white. Wanda transformed the entire world into a utopia where mutants were the dominant species and most everyone was given their heart’s true desire. Her fathers dream had become a twisted reality – he was lord and master of the ruling class, the House of M. Only Wolverine seemed to remember the world as it was and gathered his fellow heroes to try to bring reality back. When reality was restored, Wanda stripped most of Earth’s mutants of their X-genes. This act, the realization of part of the Skrulls’ plans coming to fruition, coupled with the destruction of the Skrull homeworld, brought Veranke and her agents to believe that Earth would indeed become their new homeworld and their invasion would succeed.

The New Avengers learned that the shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrulls had invaded the Earth. And, since they could not tell who was really a Skrull, they could not trust anyone to be who they seemed to be, including each other. This sent the Avengers into a tailspin of mistrust. Recently, the Avengers stopped the Hood’s newly organized gang of super villains, but the Hood broke his cohorts out of S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and took them right back to the Avengers. The attack at the Sanctum Sanctorum was fierce, and though the Avengers won the day, they did so at the cost of Doctor Strange, who lost both his mastery of the Mystic Arts and his home. Luke Cage’s wife, Jessica Jones, fled the battle in mortal fear for their child’s safety. Jessica found asylum with the registered Mighty Avengers, even though she betrayed her husband’s beliefs by doing so.

            When Parker Robbins/The Hood rescued Whitney Frost/Madame Masque from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, the pair discovered the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents interrogating Madame Masque were Skrulls. The Hood and Madame Masque brought a Skrull agent back to the Hood’s organization’s hideout to interrogate the Skrull. The Skrull revealed that the Skrulls had planned to replace Madame Masque and revealed the Skrulls’ plans of the secret invasion to the Hood’s organization before the Skrull passed away from injuries inflicted upon the Skrull by the Hood and Madame Masque. The Hood also realized that one of the members of his organization, the Slug, was actually a Skrull in disguise. The Hood took out the imposter Slug and burned the building and the evidence of the Skrull invasion. During the battle in the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Hood had realized his namesake hood was trying to take possession of him and wanted to learn more about the demon behind the hood. Parker threatened the demon, saying Parker would dispose of the hood if the demon did not reveal itself to Parker. The demon revealed itself to Parker to be Dormammu, ruler of the Dark Dimension.

Luke called Jessica, who informed Luke Jessica was at Avengers Tower, and Jessica had signed the Superhuman Registration Act. Luke went to Avengers Tower to talk to Jessica face-to-face. Jessica told Luke he could see their baby Danielle if Luke registered, and that she didn’t believe the New Avengers’ theory about a Skrull secret invasion. The Mighty Avengers joined the confrontation, and Luke accused them of potentially being Skrulls, which they all both denied and claimed they had no idea what Luke meant by the accusation, save for Spider-Woman, a former member of the New Avengers who switched sides. Spider-Woman told the Mighty Avengers that the Skrull reference was classified S.H.I.E.L.D. information and Director Tony Stark/Iron Man was the one who should explain this to the team. Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel decided to let Luke go. Danny Rand/Iron Fist obtained a new hideout for the New Avengers following the loss of the Sanctum Sanctorum.

            Maya Lopez/Echo had a conversation with James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine. Echo was not completely convinced that there was a Skrull secret invasion occurring. Echo went out on patrol one night and ran into someone whom she believed to be Matt Murdock/Daredevil, but who actually turned out to be a Skrull. The Skrull told Echo it was going to kill Echo and replace Echo in the New Avengers. The Skrull then attacked Echo, but Wolverine had followed Echo and was able to aid Echo in the fight and the two New Avengers were able to force the Skrull to retreat. Echo and Clint Barton/Ronin became romantically entangled.

            A Skrull ship crash-landed in the Savage Land. When both Iron Man’s public Mighty Avengers team and Luke Cage’s underground New Avengers arrived there, Luke opened the door of the ship, only to be met with a gathering of Earth’s heroes from a more innocent time. From out of the pod came Captain America, Spider-Man, Hawkeye and others who declared that they had been held captive by the shape-shifting Skrulls and had only now returned to Earth. The standoff between the Avengers of yesterday and today burst into violence. The battle upset the natural balance of the Savage Land, and a giant Tyrannosaurus rex scattered the fight.

            Peter Parker/Spider-Man found himself face-to-face with Kevin Plunder/Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, and Zabu. Ka-Zar told Spider-Man that Skrulls had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and were mining the Savage Land’s resource, Vibranium. The New Avengers had stumbled onto the operation on their first mission, and the Skrulls had tried to kill the New Avengers. Spider-Man didn’t believe Ka-Zar’s story, or that Ka-Zar was a human. Suddenly, Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Shanna were attacked by Steve Rogers/Captain America. Ka-Zar’s allies were able to shoot Captain America with a dart, which revealed that this was not really Captain America, but a Skrull in disguise. Shanna then tested to prove if Spider-Man was the genuine article, and Spider-Man passed the test as human.

            All looked lost, but the Skrulls’ plans quickly unraveled when the mighty Thor summoned both the humans and Skrulls to a battle on the fields of Central Park: for the first time in years, the original Avengers were united, and Nick Fury was back on the battlefield. And for the first time ever, with the help of the super villain kingpin the Hood, heroes and villains fought as one. The turning point came when Norman Osborn, once the villainous Green Goblin and recently the leader of the Thunderbolts, stepped up and made the kill shot that took out the Skrull Queen. The humans prevailed, barely, over the alien army. In the aftermath, the international peacekeeping organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. was dismantled. Its director, Tony Stark, took the fall for the invasion and was ousted from his position while Norman Osborn came out a hard-as-nails media hero and was put in charge of the Initiative and all it encompassed. Secretly, Norman had called a meeting of controversial figures: Namor, the king of Atlantis; X-Men leader Emma Frost; ousted Latverian monarch Doctor Doom; Loki, the God of Mischief; and the Hood.

            Osborn proposed an alliance between himself, Namor, Emma Frost/White Queen, Doctor Victor Von Doom, Loki, and the Hood. They would all get whatever they wanted, their kingdoms and immunity, so long as they publicly endorsed Osborn and agreed to sign up with his Initiative. Secretly, Doctor Doom believed Osborn’s plans as head of the Initiative would fail and Osborn would implode and was just waiting for it to happen.

            During the battle in Central Park, Jessica Jones had left baby Danielle Cage with a Skrull impersonating the Avengers’ butler Edwin Jarvis. Amidst the chaos, the Skrull fled with Danielle. The Mighty and New Avengers and the Fantastic Four united to find baby Danielle. Reed Richards tried to use his Skrull detecting technology to find the Skrull Jarvis, but the tech would not work on the Super-Skrulls. The Avengers found a Skrull impersonating a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but the Skrull expired before it could give Jessica Jones information on the location of the Jarvis Skrull and Danielle. Luke Cage, in desperation, turned to Norman Osborn for help. Osborn agreed to aid Luke as long as Luke registered. Luke agreed to Osborn’s deal. Osborn, who had taken several Skrulls into custody following the battle in Central Park, had Mac Gargan/Venom assist Osborn in interrogating the Skrulls, and Osborn, Venom, and Luke learned of a Skrull meeting place. Luke went to the Skrull meeting place, and Bullseye aided Luke in insuring the safe return of Danielle. Luke confronted Osborn at Avengers Tower and told Osborn he was breaking the deal. Back at the New Avengers’ hideout in the Bronx, the team witnessed Osborn come out in public as the Iron Patriot and unveiled his new team of Avengers, supervillains disguised as previous heroes from the original and New Avengers teams. Ronin, who had just reunited with his ex-wife Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird, was furious with the Avengers rebrand, and wanted to take the Avengers name back from Osborn and his Avengers lineup. Spider-Woman went to Avengers Tower to lead Osborn and his Avengers into a trap set in the abandoned Hellfire Club. However, instead of being attacked by Osborn’s Avengers, the New Avengers were confronted by the Hood and his organization. The New Avengers were barely able to escape the assault. Ronin went public on television speaking against Norman Osborn and Osborn’s Avengers team, vowing that the New Avengers would take Osborn down.

            Dormammu planned to have the Hood find and eliminated Doctor Strange, and Dormammu told the Hood that the Hood was meant to be the next Sorcerer Supreme. Simon Willaims/Wonder Man also went on television and had a public meltdown. Doctor Strange found Billy Kaplan/Wiccan and told Billy that Billy was potentially going to be the new Sorcerer Supreme, but that there was a list of other potential candidates, including Doctor Doom. Doctor Strange would have to bequeath several ancient artifacts to the next Sorcerer Supreme. The New Avengers decided that Ronin would be assuming the role of team leader, and that Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel would be second in command. However, the New Avengers were uneasy with Spider-Man, not knowing his secret identity. Ronin told Spider-Man if Spider-Man didn’t unmask for the team, Spider-Man could no longer be a New Avenger. Reluctantly, Spider-Man unmasked as Peter Parker. Jessica Jones had gone to high school with Peter and revealed that she had been in love with Peter back in ninth and tenth grade. Peter, however, did not remember Jessica Jones at all, which made Jessica angry. The Hood attacked Wiccan and Doctor Strange, and Strange managed to teleport to the New Avengers’ new hideout, Bucky Barnes/Captain America’s apartment in Brookyln. Doctor Strange told the New Avengers he had to find the next Sorcerer Supreme. With the Hood being a potential candidate, the New Avengers decided to go with Doctor Strange on his quest, against Doctor Strange’s wishes. Ms. Marvel and Captain America revealed they had taken an Avengers Quinjet before the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. Doctor Strange used the Eye of Agamotto to search for the next Sorcerer Supreme. The Eye led the New Avengers and Doctor Strange to New Orleans, Louisiana. The Hood and Madame Masque also followed to New Orleans. The Hood attacked Daimon Hellstrom, who might potentially have been the next Sorcerer Supreme. Madame Masque shot the New Avengers’ Quinjet out of the sky. Dormammu took control of the Hood. The Eye of Agamotto went to Jericho Drumm/Brother Voodoo, who became the next Sorcerer Supreme. The New Avengers and Brother Voodoo fought Dormammu to save Hellstrom and end the threat of the Hood once and for all. Norman Osborn went on television to discredit Ronin. Ronin decided the only solution now was to end Norman Osborn’s life.

            Okay, that plot synopsis was rather lengthy. Let’s move on to my own individual input for this review. For those of you who have never read a Tim Cubbin review, I’ll begin by telling you my segments following the plot analysis starts with my own personal opinions about the graphic novel. So, we’ll start with the basics, kicking off with what did I think of this book. I found this book to be relatively enjoyable for what it was. The big problem with this book is that while it is called “New Avengers: Secret Invasion,” it doesn’t actually contain any of the main issues of the “Secret Invasion” limited series, instead just collecting issues of “New Avengers” and the “Secret Invasion: Dark Reign” one-shot that came out around the time of the release of the “Secret Invasion” event. I will say there were a lot of expository pages explaining the story going on around the time of the event, which were enough to suffice reading through this book. I enjoyed the drama throughout the book, with the strain on Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ marriage and watching them try to save their relationship was a key point throughout the book. I particularly liked how she revealed she had a crush on Peter Parker back in high school, with Peter barely remembering her as “Coma Girl.” This was, of course, following Spider-Man’s “One More Day” storyline where everyone forgot Peter Parker was Spider-Man, including the New Avengers. I enjoyed the backstory of how Luke first fell in love with Jessica. The “Secret Invasion” story arcs themselves were interesting to me, despite being presented out of order. When I did this review, I arranged the storyline chronologically, so the order of the story in this review is not actually the order the story was contained in in the book itself. Because of the disjointedness of the main storyline and the fact that the whole story of “Secret Invasion” is not actually in this book, this was a little difficult to piece together. I have read the whole “Secret Invasion” event many years ago and I hate to say it, but I really don’t remember it all that well. I feel like the purpose of this series was to give background information on the “Secret Invasion” event as a lot of the stories of the event were about the history behind the invasion, with a little bit of new stories to further the New Avengers’ storyline. I also enjoyed the conflicts with Norman Osborn, and his duplicity of sending the Hood’s army after the New Avengers instead of his Dark Avengers. The Sorcerer Supreme storyline was also entertaining, and I enjoyed the battle with Dormammu and Daimon Hellstrom. Next, we have to talk about the art. The artwork in this book was a mixed bag of opinion for me. While I enjoyed the work of Jim Cheung and Billy Tan, and the stylings of Chris Bachalo, I can’t say I’m a fan of Michael Gaydos, David Mack, or Alex Maleev. Some of these artists have come up on this blog before, so some of my regular readers already know how I feel about these artists. However, a majority of this book was on the enjoyable side, so there was more artwork that I liked compared to artwork that I disliked, so that’s a plus at least. Next up, we’re going to discuss my opinion about the title. I’ll simply just say calling this book “Secret Invasion” was a perfect title for this book as that is what the majority of this book is comprised of and I honestly don’t think any other title would suffice to fit this book. The final component I’m going to voice my opinion on here is going to be the cover. The cover depicts a group of Skrull Avengers battling the founding members of the Avengers. I will say that I thought this was a horrible cover for this book. The battle shown does not actually happen in this book and I feel like it was wrong to use to represent this particular book, and I don’t even know why it was used as a cover for an individual issue when the event portrayed on the cover never actually occurred within the pages. However, overall, I had a relatively positive opinion about this graphic novel.

            Okay, now that I’ve gone on for quite some time, let’s move on to my next individual segment, which is discussing accessibility. In this segment I answer the question of is this book accessible. I’ve been over this word over seven dozen times now in so many of my reviews, but I know that every time I do a review, I have readers who have never been to this blog before, so I have to explain myself in using this word once again. So when I ask if this book is accessible, I mean, can a person who knows nothing about the Avengers, Secret Invasion, or Marvel obtain this book by whatever means they use to get their hands on it, and then read the main story of this book, can they understand the story as written based solely on just what is contained within the pages of this book. I will say that answer is a resounding no. As I said before, this book doesn’t actually collect the “Secret Invasion” limited series, and it has stories that tie in to “Dark Reign” as well, so that’s two events in one book that are touched on but the main storyline is not actually included. And this book is Vol. 4, and it continues directly from where Vol. 3 left off, so not having been a regular follower of the “New Avengers” series is highly detrimental to following this volume. If you’re a person who has never read a Marvel Comic book before, you will not be able to properly follow these stories as they are presented in this volume without experiencing some areas of difficulty. An odd side note on accessibility is even if you have followed “New Avengers” from the beginning, you will find a spot of confusion if you did not follow the Spider-Man comics from around the time, as when Spider-Man joined the New Avengers, the team knew his secret identity, but following “One More Day,” Spider-Man’s secret identity was wiped from everyone’s minds, including the New Avengers, so not knowing that storyline will leave a reader scratching their head, thinking why do the New Avengers not know Peter Parker is Spider-Man now when they knew his identity from the start of the series. All around, I would say this book has very low accessibility to new readers and if you’ve never read a Marvel Comic book before and are looking for a place to start, I would tell you that I highly do not think that this book is the right one for you to begin with.

            So, now we’re going to move on to one of the core elements of my review: the numeric score. I would love to say it’s the reason we’re all here, but the fact of the matter is that every segment in my reviews is the most important to some people and everyone has a different favorite segment to read when they come to my reviews and a different reason to keep coming back if they are a regular reader. But the numeric score is one of the key sections of my reviews and is one of my most crucial segments. So, I will start off by explaining my scoring system. It’s actually extremely simple. I score on a scale of whole numbers ranging from one through ten. One is the lowest score I can give, and if you want to be really dramatic and extra, that means that this book was so awful that every remaining copy not sold should be rounded up off the shelves and out of the warehouses and put through the worlds biggest shredder and be completely destroyed, then Marvel should go find all the original prints for these issues and wipe them clean so this abomination can never be reprinted again and can be extinguished from living memory except in the hands of true collectors who for some reason don’t want to give them up and I shall dub them as weirdos. On the other hand, ten is the highest score I can give, and that’s a sign of sheer perfection, and I will do everything I can to promote this book until I can get all my comic book reading friends to read this book too so we can have discussions about it for hours, and if they don’t like this book, I won’t be able to understand why but I will give a good argument on why I think this is one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life. When I review a graphic novel, I am considering four main factors: story, art, title, and cover. In order to get a ten, a graphic novel needs to have an exciting and engaging story that I enjoy from beginning to end and can find nothing to complain about, consistently visually pleasing artwork that looking at enhances the already excellent story, a title that accurately represents the majority of the story contained in the book, and a cover that perfectly depicts the majority of the content contained inside and what is shown on the front of this volume is actually delivered within the pages of this book. So, when considering this particular volume, we have a story that was enjoyable but was incomplete, artwork that for the majority was enjoyable, a title that was a perfect representation of the book, and a cover that failed to deliver on what it promised. So, when all the factors are put together and thoroughly assessed, the score I have to give this book is… a seven! Overall, for what it was, I found it to be relatively enjoyable, but this book is a companion volume for “Secret Invasion” and should not be considered as the only book in your collection if you want to read the “Secret Invasion” event.

            Next up on our list of topics is our recommendation segment. In this segment, I answer two separate questions. The first question is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this graphic novel to you, my readers, or to anyone else unfortunate enough to get caught up in a conversation with me about this graphic novel? The second question I answer is, regardless of if I would actually personally tell anyone directly to read it or not based on my preferences, whom do I think would be the kind of person who would find this graphic novel most enjoyable, and I don’t mean fans of Marvel, the Avengers, Secret Invasion, Brian Michael Bendis, or any of the artists, I mean the characteristics that a person likes that would get a high level of entertainment out of this book? To answer my first question, in general, I would recommend this book to people who want to read it, but the caveat is that this book requires outside knowledge, so I wouldn’t recommend this book to people who have no experience with Marvel Comics, but if you really want to read it now, based solely on the words I’ve just spent the past six hours typing, I’d tell you to go for it, just go to your favorite online retailer, preferred bookstore, favorite comic shop, local library, or hit up your friends who have this book and read it. If you do read this book, please feel free to let me know what you think. Leave a comment on this blog itself, or on Facebook, Threads, or X, I would love to hear your opinion. Everything I post on this blog is my own personal opinion, I don’t expect everyone to agree with my opinions and I respect the beauty that every human has a right to feel how they do, so if you agree or disagree, I’d love to know. I don’t usually get comments, so I’d really appreciate it if you’d drop a few words for me. Anyway, as for the audience I feel most inclined to enjoy this book, I’d say it would be people who enjoy stories about alien invasions, stories about deception among friends, stories about magic, and stories where the roles of friends and enemies are blurred.

            Okay, I’d say we’re at the point where we’re close to wrapping up. I do have a few things I’d like to say before I click publish. First off, I have been doing this blog for over five and a half years. I’ve posted on this blog 190 times already. In addition to having done over seven dozen reviews, I’ve also written short stories, poems, articles, essays, and editorials. My reviews extend beyond just graphic novels, I’ve reviewed prose novels, entire comic book events, and manga as well. I will say I post on a very frequent basis. I collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after its release and post a review on this page as early as I can after reading it, so you can figure I post a lot. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check out my reviews “New Avengers: Assembled” “New Avengers: Civil War” and “New Avengers: The Initiative” for more New Avengers content. My next post is going to be “Annihilation: Conquest Prologue” you can expect to see that within the next two months after the posting of this review. Keep checking back for it if you’re interested. I guess that’s really all I have to say for now, so I’ll just leave you with the words, Tim Cubbin… out!