"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!

"The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            Following a battle with the heroes of earth and the other-dimensional being Dormammu, Sorcerer of Chaos Morwen awakened on earth in the body of Tess Black, mortal daughter of the Asgardian god Loki. This caused Loki to feel a pain he could not identify, so he traveled to earth to investigate it. Peter Parker/Spider-Man, whose actions in the battle with Dormammu led to Morwen’s freedom, became Morwen’s target. The sorceress came to Spider-Man with an offer of power which Spider-Man had to accept, or else Morwen would destroy Spider-Man. Morwen gave Spider-Man a night to ponder her offer. Seeking mystical guidance, Spider-Man went to the home of Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Stephen Strange, but Doctor Strange was unavailable. Instead, Loki greeted Spider-Man. Loki and Spider-Man fought, but Loki emphasized he wished to stop Morwen. Spider-Man agreed to work with Loki in defeating Morwen as long as they were able to save Morwen’s human host. When Morwen returned to Spider-Man to hear Spider-Man’s decision, Loki recognized Tess, and Loki had to use his sorcery to reach Tess, banish Morwen, and save Tess.

            Peter’s wife Mary Jane Parker, an aspiring actress, had an audition for a role in a movie and had to fly to California for the audition. When she arrived to audition, she found out the director had been replaced and the new director had offered the role to another actress, believing that Mary Jane had no talent. Spider-Man witnessed a young boy trying to steal a bike. When caught by the cops, the boy pulled out a gun. Spider-Man swung in to peacefully settle the situation and protect everyone involved.

            Ezekiel Sims returned to New York, seeking Peter. Peter’s Aunt May Parker encouraged Mary Jane not to give up Mary Jane’s dreams of acting and tried to steer Mary Jane towards the stage. Ezekiel warned Peter that following Spider-Man’s last two supernatural battles, a third one with the Gatekeeper was coming, and this one was going to be the most dangerous. The Gatekeeper attacked New York City, unleashing a horde of spiders. Spider-Man fought the Gatekeeper, who revealed the reason Peter had been chosen by fate to be Spider-Man, and that Spider-Man’s true enemy was the pretender, Ezekiel, who had been using Peter to ensure Ezekiel’s own survival against the threats to the spider totems. Ezekiel abducted Peter and brought Peter to South America, where Ezekiel intended to sacrifice Peter to satisfy the forces that had been beset against the two spider totems, and the two battled for the final time.

            Mary Jane auditioned for the lead role in an off-Broadway play and got the part. While celebrating at Aunt May’s, a letter arrived for Peter. The letter was from Gwen Stacy, Peter’s girlfriend who had died during a fight between Spider-Man and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. The letter was written in Paris before Gwen died, and Gwen was going to tell Peter something in the letter. However, this was only the first page of the letter, and there was more than one page. The letter had also just been sent days before from New York City. Peter went to Gwen’s grave, where he was attacked by two costumed assailants. Not wanting to reveal his secret identity, Peter fought back and escaped. Mary Jane helped Peter realize that Gwen had written a second page on top of the first page. Peter received photos of Aunt May and Mary Jane from his assailants with a threatening note included. Spider-Man went to his police contact Lieutenant Willaim Lamont, asking him to have forensics see if they could decipher what Gwen had written on the second page by analyzing the latent impressions. Peter received a phone call from the assailants, saying the assailants had Aunt May and that the assailants were aware Peter was Spider-Man and that Peter had ten minutes to save Aunt May. Spider-Man swung to the address the assailants provided, but it was a trap and they didn’t really have Aunt May. The assailants, Gabriel and Sarah, defeated Spider-Man, but let Spider-Man live, saying the two intended to hurt Spider-Man personally before ending him for good. Spider-Man received what forensics was able to recover of the second page of Gwen’s letter. Gwen revealed she had given birth to twin children Gabriel and Sarah shortly before she died. Peter recovered DNA from Gwen and the letter to test the DNA to try to determine if the assailants were Gwen’s children. The twins attacked Spider-Man as Spider-Man was running the tests, and Spider-Man unmasked Sarah, who looked identical to Gwen. The twins escaped, and the tests revealed an almost exact match. Peter came home to find Mary Jane had read Gwen’s letter. Peter told Mary Jane that Peter couldn’t be the twins’ father, and Mary Jane revealed that she already knew about Gwen having children and that the twins’ father was Norman Osborn. Spider-Man held a press conference, calling the twins to the site of Gwen’s death. Gabriel told Spider-Man the twins wanted to hurt Peter because Norman had raised the twins and had told the twins that Peter was the twins’ father and that Peter had abandoned the twins after Spider-Man caused Gwen’s death. When Peter told the twins Norman was the twins’ father, Gabriel didn’t believe Peter, but Sarah did, citing Peter taking DNA from Gwen to run the test rather than using DNA from Peter. Peter also told the twins Norman was the Green Goblin and was the one responsible for Gwen’s death. The police arrived at the scene of the conversation and shot at Spider-Man, Gabriel, and Sarah. Gabriel escaped, but Sarah was hit. Spider-Man got Sarah to a hospital. Gabriel retreated to a laboratory Norman had left for Gabriel and Sarah, where Gabriel discovered a recorded message from Norman and Goblin costumes Norman left for the twins to continue Norman’s work. The doctors were having difficulty treating Sarah due to the Goblin formula Sarah inherited from Norman. Spider-Man offered a blood transfusion to attempt to save Sarah’s life, knowing Peter and Gwen were the same blood type and hoping Peter’s mutated blood would save Sarah. Gabriel attacked Spider-Man, who was weakened from the blood transfusion, but an unexpected person stepped up to save Spider-Man and stop Gabriel’s threat.

            Charlie Weiderman, an old friend of Peter’s from high school who had also been bullied like Peter had been as a teenager, returned to ask Peter for a favor. Charlie was determined to earn a military contract on a chemical body armor that would make the wearer invulnerable and needed vibranium for his formula, something he couldn’t afford, but Tony Stark could provide it. Charlie hoped Peter held enough clout with Stark to earn Charlie a grant, but Charlie lied and said Peter would be supervising the project so Charlie could secure the grant. When Peter found that his name had been attached to the project, Peter told Charlie Peter was going to go to Stark with the truth. Charlie rushed to test his formula, and it literally blew up on him. Charlie survived and became invulnerable. When the first responders came to the scene, Charlie attacked them. Charlie came to Peter for help, asking Peter to access Charlie’s bank account to get Charlie’s money from Stark Industries out before the account got frozen or else Charlie would go after Peter’s loved ones. Peter went to Mary Jane and told Mary Jane to go to a hotel with Aunt May for their safety. Spider-Man fought Charlie, but Charlie was able to escape. Feeling Peter had betrayed Charlie to Spider-Man, Charlie went to Peter and Mary Jane’s apartment and set it on fire. Spider-Man fought Charlie again but lost the fight. Spider-Man then turned to Tony Stark and his technology to defeat Charlie and protect his family, but not before Aunt May suffered a devastating loss.

            Okay, now that we’ve got the synopsis out of the way, let’s move on to the personalized segments of this review. If you know the formula for these reviews, you know we’re going to start with my own individual opinions about this graphic novel, and if you didn’t know, now you do. Previous readers of my “The Amazing Spider-Man” Modern Era Epic Collection reviews will recall that I am a fan of J. Michael Straczynski’s run on “The Amazing Spider-Man.” This volume, however, didn’t hold up as well when compared to the previous two volumes. I’m not saying I didn’t like this book, but it wasn’t as enjoyable for me as Straczynski’s prior works for certain reasons. The Morwen story was entertaining, I did enjoy seeing Spider-Man team up with Loki. “Vibes” was a one issue story, and it was a good setup for Mary Jane’s character development throughout the course of this volume. “The Book of Ezekiel” was a little hard for me because I didn’t like how Ezekiel turned from being an enigmatic ally to being a devious backstabber. All the previous times he appeared, he’s been enjoyable to read, and it just was character assassination to watch him turn out to have been scheming against Peter this entire time in order to save himself. But if you want to talk about character assassination, let’s discuss “Sins Past.” Gwen having kids with Norman Osborn has to have been the low point of Straczynski’s run on “The Amazing Spider-Man.” Why on earth would Gwen Stacy ever have kids with Norman Osborn? That made zero sense at all. I know Gwen wasn’t a saint, but come on, that’s a bit of a stretch. And this also reflected poorly on Mary Jane, keeping something like this for so many years. Yes, her character is supposed to be good at keeping secrets, but this kind of secret is cruel. However, looking past the concept of Gwen having children with Norman Osborn, the story was intriguing. “Skin Deep” was interesting, seeing someone who had it almost as bad as, if not worse than, Peter growing up, seeing their friendship, and seeing how he reacted to finding himself with powers. As far as the story goes, it’s a little bit of a mixed bag of things to like and things to dislike, but in general, I found most of the stories to be at least moderately, if not relatively, enjoyable. Now, of course, this is a graphic novel, so we’re required to evaluate the quality of the art in this book as well. I am a big fan of the work of John Romita Jr., I think his work is exceptional, I love his style. I was a little dismayed that he didn’t illustrate this entire volume, but Mike Deodato Jr. is another fantastic artist in my opinion, and I loved Mark Brooks’ work on the flashback sequences in “Skin Deep,” the flashbacks had a throwback comic book look and I really enjoyed those. This collection is actually a rare occasion for me, where there were multiple artists that I found consistently visually appealing that I enjoyed better than the story. Coming up next, we’re going to discuss my opinion on the title. I thought “Sins Past” was a completely appropriate title for this particular collection. It was the longest running storyline in the collection, and it even fits well with the themes of the other stories in this volume, with sins of the past coming back to haunt Peter’s present. I also discuss if I feel the cover is appropriate for the content contained inside the volume. This book has a cover of Spider-Man web-swinging. In my opinion, this cover is adequate for this book. It doesn’t hint on any of the themes inside the book, but in all honesty, that doesn’t really matter, it’s a nice cover and it is sufficient for this book. Sometimes, simple is best. In fact, some of the other choices of covers would not have been perfect representations of the core essence of the book, so I applaud the editors for picking the simple option. I feel like the editors had a good marketing style for this book.

            Next up on the agenda of my personalized topics, I’m going to tell you how accessible I feel this book is. Now I know I’ve been over this over seven dozen times at this point, but every time I do a review, I always have readers who have never read one of my reviews before and have no idea what I mean when I throw around the word “accessible,” so once again, I am compelled to explain myself, so to my readers who already know what’s coming, please just bear with me. Anyway, the accessibility of a book I review is how easy it would be for someone who, for example, by some seemingly impossible way, has never heard of Spider-Man, to see this book available to them and then say “oh, hey, this looks cool, I want to read this,” then do so, and understand what is written with no outside information about Spider-Man or Marvel Comics. This volume is marketed as Vol. 3, and it relies on following stories begun in the previous two volumes, so not having followed Straczynski’s run on “The Amazing Spider-Man” thus far is detrimental to following “The Book of Ezekiel,” where Ezekiel’s story has been told over the past two collections. Also, knowledge about the history of Gwen Stacy is necessary for understanding “Sins Past.” I will not say that not knowing your Spider-Man history makes this an impossible read, but being out of the loop will lead to an amount of difficulty following these particular stories. I will say, though, this book contains issues from only one series, all consecutive issues, with no events or crossovers, so the flow of the story is smooth, and the narrative is perfectly linear. If you’ve never read a Marvel Comic book before and are looking for a place to start, I would not recommend this volume as your first choice.

            Okay, we’re at one of my most crucial segments of my reviews: the numeric score. Now, I know that all my readers come to these reviews for different reasons, some come mainly just to read about the story, but knowing just how good I think a book is when I review it is essential to writing an effective review. So, we’ll start off by discussing my scoring system. Some of you probably know it by now, it is extremely basic. I score on a scale of whole numbers ranging from one through ten. One is my lowest score, and that means that every remaining copy of this book that has yet to be sold should be removed from the shelves or pulled out of the warehouses or factories and obliterated, and the original plates should be erased so that this abomination can never be reprinted and will be removed from living memory entirely. Okay, I know that’s really extra right there, I’m just trying to emphasize a point. Ten, on the other hand, is the highest score I can possibly give, and that signifies that this book exemplifies sheer perfection in every way and is one of the best things I have ever read and I will not shut up about it until I have read my next book that I am going to review. For me, giving out a ten is extremely rare because to be a ten, I expect there to be no identifiable flaws in either the story, the art, the title, or the choice of cover, which is a lot of things to expect to be flawless, and if I do find even a single thing to complain about, I can’t in good faith give a book a score of a ten. Now, we’ve established based on my review so far that this book has aspects that I have found to complain about, which means you already know this book is not getting a ten. That said, there was a lot in this book I found to enjoy, there were parts of the stories I liked, I loved the art, and the marketing strategy was adequate. So, all of those factors are taken into account when I dole out my score. So, all cards on the table, when I deal out my score, what we’re looking at is… a seven! It was, for the most part, enjoyable, but the character assassinations were a bit much and the stories were not as good as some of Straczynski’s previous storylines in his run on the series.

            Coming up next on our docket, we’re doing the recommendation segment. This segment is to answer two independent questions. The first question is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers, or even to anyone who is unfortunate enough to get caught in a conversation about this book with me? Question two is, regardless of my personal recommendation or not, whom do I think is the perfect audience for this book, going beyond the obvious of fans of Spider-Man, Marvel Comics, or the creative team. So, to answer the first question, yes, I do recommend this book. If you read this review and now based solely on the words you have just spent the past few minutes reading you want to read the book I wrote about, I would tell you to get out there and find some way to get your hands on this book, either your favorite online retailer, bookstore, comic book shop, library, or someone else who has this book, and read it as soon as you possibly can. To answer question number two, I think the best audiences for this book are people who enjoy reading stories about supernatural threats, and people who enjoy suspense stories about things from the past coming back to have repercussions on the present.

            Okay, I think we’re just about ready to wrap things up. There are a few things I have to say before I hit the publish button. I’ve been doing this blog for over five and a half years now. I’ve posted over 180 times, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for plenty more content. I’ve written short stories, poems, articles, essays, editorials, and over seven dozen other reviews just like this one. I’ve reviewed prose novels, graphic novels, comic book events, and manga. My current focus is mainly Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Ultimate Epic Collections. I purchase every new one as soon as I can after it is released and post a review at my earliest convenience after finishing reading it. I post on a very frequent basis. If you liked this post, feel free to check out “The Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home,” “The Amazing Spider-Man: The Life and Death of Spiders,” and “The Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time” for more “The Amazing Spider-Man” Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection content. Keep checking back regularly for my next review, which will definitely be up within the next two months after this post. I use two months as an oversimplification, you can probably expect it a lot sooner than that, I just don’t want to rush the gun or anything. My next review is going to be “New Avengers: Secret Invasion” in case you’re interested, so you know what to look for. Feel free to drop a comment, and share, like, and retweet, get me out there however you like or can. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Ultimate X-Men: World Tour"

 

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Ultimate X-Men: World Tour” as presented in Marvel Ultimate Epic Collection format.

                They are the X-Men – sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them. Led by Professor Charles Xavier, young mutants Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Colossus, and Iceman use their mutant abilities for the betterment of mankind as a whole. Weapon X, the covert government program that turned mutants into living weapons, is no more. Despite their capture, the X-Men helped bring it down and regrouped at the X-Mansion in New York’s Westchester County. As headmaster of the School for Gifted Youngsters, Professor X was pleased with the performance of his students, and things were quiet at the academy. But not all mutants had been fortunate enough to have been rescued by Charles Xavier. Some survived by their wits alone, with nobody to whom they could turn. Each day, they faced the scorn and fear of the human world – and sometimes, of themselves. One such mutant was Remy LeBeau.

                A little girl witnessed gangster Hammerhead murder her parents and barely escaped herself. Remy LeBeau used his powers as street performance on the streets of New York City. He thought he was going to be having a good time, until the little girl came to Remy and asked Remy to use his magic to bring the little girl’s parents back to life. Remy told the little girl Remy didn’t know that kind of magic but offered to protect the little girl for a little while. That night, when they went to sleep in an abandoned subway train, the little girl was taken by Hammerhead’s goons. Hammerhead’s goons left a note for Remy, telling Remy not to come looking for the little girl. Remy began shaking down New York City’s underworld, searching for information on how to find the little girl. During his search, Charles Xavier came to Remy with an offer, but Remy refused to hear it. Remy’s search led him to Hammerhead, whom Remy had to face off with to spare the life of the little girl and also for Remy’s own survival.

                Professor X wrote an article, detailing his world at his school and about his students, the X-Men, hoping to alleviate the anti-mutant tension. Professor X revealed to Peter Rasputin/Colossus that Magneto, the mutant terrorist whom the world believed had been neutralized by Professor X, was alive and living as Erik Lensherr, with mental blocks convincing him he was an ordinary human. Erik was working with special needs children and in a romantic relationship with a nonmutant woman. Colossus was unsettled by this. Fred Dukes/Blob was chatting online with Henry McCoy/Beast, pretending to be a closeted mutant female who was romantically interested in Beast. The Brotherhood of Mutants’ continued terrorist attacks led the magazine that Professor X’s article was to be published in to reconsider, and the article was scrapped before it hit the pages of the magazine.

                David Xavier, son of Professor X and Moira McTaggert, human geneticist and ex-wife of Professor X, who had been kept in a hidden school/hospital for mutants on Muir Island in Scotland funded by Professor X’s generous secret benefactors designated for mutants who could not go public due to the nature of their mutations, escaped before his dying body failed him by transferring his consciousness into one of Moira’s doctors on staff. Professor X published a book, and to promote it, held a world tour, bringing the X-Men along with him. While in London, the X-Men broke up into groups to compete in assignments to help the disadvantaged in order to earn their grades. Despite their work being lower profile, Beast and Scott Summers/Cyclops came out on top. While at their hotel, Colossus disappeared overnight with two unknown people, headed for Russia. Moira called Professor X to tell him David had escaped and trashed the hospital. S.T.R.I.K.E. agents Dai Thomas and Betsy Braddock had been dispatched to investigate the situation. Professor X, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Beast, Ororo Munroe/Storm, and Logan/Wolverine flew to Muir Island, while Cyclops and Jean Grey/Marvel Girl flew to Russia to search for Colossus, whom Professor X believed may have been kidnapped. The X-Men tracked David down to a Burger King in Aberdeen, where David had been jumping bodies due to the bodies’ inability to sustain David’s life energies. David jumped into Wolverine, whose healing factor made it so he would not deteriorate from David’s powers. David used his reality warping powers to defeat the X-Men but was unable to withstand Agent Braddock’s telepathy. David left Wolverine’s body and disappeared, but Wolverine found himself gravely injured. Cyclops and Marvel Girl found Colossus in Saint Petersburg. Colossus had left the X-Men because he felt neglected and unable to believe in Professor X’s dream. In Berlin, Professor X spent time bonding with Agent Braddock. A submarine was downed in Barent’s Sea, trapping the sailors within. Colossus rescued the sailors in the submarine and realized he could find his place in the X-Men after all. Professor X realized that after leaving Wolverine, David had jumped into Agent Braddock’s body and the woman he had been talking to was actually his son. As Wolverine, Iceman, Beast and Storm were driving to the airport to reunite with Cyclops, Marvel Girl, and Colossus, they encountered David, who was holding Professor X and Moira hostage. The X-Men combatted David, now calling himself Proteus, who used his reality warping powers to destroy the sites Professor X and the X-Men were planning on visiting along their book tour. The X-Men were nearly defeated, with Iceman gravely injured. The outcome of this conflict left Professor X with doubts of his dream.

                Professor X penned a letter to Cyclops, announcing the disbandment of the X-Men and Professor X’s plans to remove the mental blocks on Magneto, but an unexpected encounter led Professor X to realize the validity of Professor X’s dream. Cyclops and Marvel Girl became romantically involved.

                Kitty Pryde had manifested her mutant powers of intangibility and was unable to control them. Theresa Pryde, Kitty’s mother, contacted Professor X to tell Professor X about Kitty’s situation. Professor X met with Theresa and Kitty and accepted Kitty as a student at Xavier’s School for Gifted Children, under Theresa’s condition that Kitty was not to go on any missions or be a superhero. Iceman’s family filed a lawsuit against Professor X. Senator Andrew Border Turk took an interest in the case and became the public face of the lawsuit against the X-Men. Marvel Girl’s visions of the Phoenix returned. The Brotherhood pulled off an operation in Pakistan, in which they disarmed the country of its nuclear arsenal. The members of the Brotherhood became disillusioned with Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch’s leadership strategies and prepared to oust Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as heads of the Brotherhood. Cyclops and Colossus were picked to go on a mission to the Savage Land after the Pentagon lost communication with the members of the United States military stationed in the Savage Land. Wolverine and Cyclops got into a physical fight over Marvel Girl. As punishment, Professor X picked Wolverine instead of Colossus to go with Cyclops on the Savage Land mission. Beast let slip in an instant message to Blob, who was pretending to be a closeted mutant female, that Magneto was alive. Cyclops and Wolverine found that Kitty had stowed away with them on the X-Jet to the Savage Land. Professor X’s response was to expel her from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. The Brotherhood, without Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, planned an ambush on Beast to learn the location of Magneto. Iceman was asked to testify against Professor X and the X-Men. Cyclops and Wolverine discovered the Savage Land’s computer had achieved self-awareness and planned to overthrow the planet. Professor X’s secret benefactors, the Hellfire Club, arranged a gala to meet with Professor X and the X-Men. Professor X, Storm, Colossus, and Marvel Girl attended the gala. Professor X learned one of his benefactors was Sebastian Shaw from Shaw Industries. The Hellfire Club’s agents attacked and incapacitated Professor X, Storm, and Colossus. The Hellfire Club summoned the Phoenix and used Marvel Girl as it’s vessel. The Phoenix was not happy with Shaw trying to command it and went out of control. Professor X was left to face the Phoenix and save the mind of his student. The Brotherhood attacked Beast and went in search of Magneto to remove the mental blocks.

                Okay, now that we have the synopsis out of the way, let’s move on to the Tim Cubbin segments of this review. First off, we’ll start with, as we usually do, my own personal opinions about this graphic novel. Let’s begin by evaluating the stories. I absolutely loved these stories. “Thief in the Night”/”Wild Card” with Remy LeBeau was actually my favorite story in this collection, I really enjoyed seeing him do everything he could to protect the little girl from Hammerhead. “It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way” was an interesting way to get a glimpse into the personal lives of the X-Men. “World Tour” was exciting, I really enjoyed this interpretation of Proteus. “Registration” was a great epilogue; I liked how it explored the relationships between the characters. “Hellfire and Brimstone” was also a great storyline, I especially enjoyed the part at the end with Phoenix, and I loved the introduction of Kitty Pryde, and I also liked how it very slightly loosely reinterpreted “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” one of my all-time favorite comic book stories. However, I did have a major problem with this graphic novel, that being the graphics. The artists failed to consistently appeal to my visual palate. I did not like the way Esad Ribic drew Remy’s face, it didn’t look natural. There were times where I liked Adam Kubert’s work, but much of the time, his characters’ faces just didn’t look right. I especially disliked Chris Bachalo’s drawings of Proteus and Iceman. I kind of appreciated where Kaare Andrews was going with his artwork, but I don’t quite approve of the execution. Moving on, let’s discuss the title. I felt like “World Tour” was the ideal choice for a title for this book. Despite “Hellfire and Brimstone” being the longest storyline in the book, I still thought “World Tour” was a better fit. It just seems to capture the essence of the book better. Finally, we’re going to talk about the cover. It features the X-Men poised for action. I feel like it’s a great cover. What I do find odd is that it comes from nowhere within this collection. I honestly don’t know where it comes from, none of the issues in this book have this cover, but I do like it. So, when looking at this book, reading the story was enjoyable, but the artwork detracted from the experience a great deal.

                Next up we’re going to discuss accessibility. I know that I’ve been over this over seven dozen times at this point, but every time I do a new post, I have readers who have never read a Tim Cubbin review before, so I have to explain what I mean every time I do it, so I’m doing it again. What I’m posing here is this: is this book accessible? When I say this, what I mean is, can someone who knows absolutely nothing about the X-Men or even Marvel Comics in general decide to take this book from wherever they find it, read it, and be able to understand it as it is written, with no outside knowledge? This collection is marketed as Vol. 2, and it does pick up exactly where Vol. 1 left off. Reading this volume without having read the previous volume is not going to be easy. That said, Vol. 1 did not end in the middle of a storyline, and this book does not feature any events or crossovers, and only contains issues of “Ultimate X-Men,” so while not having read Vol. 1 leaves a lot of blanks, I don’t feel it is absolutely essential to being able to read and enjoy this particular volume. Also, this is part of the Ultimate Universe, which was relatively new at the time, and there really is not a lot of backstory at this particular point, so not having read Vol. 1 is only missing twelve issues of a new Universe. However, if you’ve never read a Marvel Comic book before and are looking for a place to start, I would not recommend picking this book as your first choice, I would recommend reading the first twelve issues of Ultimate X-Men (2001) first, then you will be fine reading this book as your next option.

                Next up, we’re going to reveal my numeric score. While this is one of the key points of all my reviews, I don’t necessarily feel it is the most important part of the review. After all, everyone has different values, and each segment of these reviews has different meanings to all my readers. Readers come for the synopsis so they can learn what this book is about, some might say that’s the most important part. Others may say my recommendation paragraph is the most important because it makes them decide if they actually want to read the book or not. Everyone feels differently. Anyway, let’s discuss my scoring system. It’s fairly simple: I score on a scale of exact whole numbers ranging from one through ten. If I score a book at a one, that means it’s a flaming pile of trash, and every remaining copy should be rounded up, placed in a pile, and lit up, then all the print plates should be deleted so this horror can never be recreated and is wiped out of existence permanently. Okay, that’s a little extreme, I’d never actually condone book burning, I’m just being extra. All I’m saying is it’s horrible. If, on the other hand, I score a book at a ten, that means the book is absolutely sheer perfection, perfect in every way and one of the best things I have ever read in my entire life. Now, a ten requires a story that is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, artwork that consistently appeals to my eyes, a title that fits the story perfectly, and a cover that is a great representation of the content inside the book. So, you can probably guess that this book is not getting a ten due to my assessment of the art. While this book did have a great story, title and cover, the art still detracted from the experience of enjoying this book. Still, I do have to give this book a pretty good score. So, everything in the metaphorical blender, the score that comes out when thoroughly blended is… an eight. I thought reading the words was enjoyable, despite not reading the imagery, but I still don’t find myself able to fault this book too terribly for that.

                Next up on our agenda is my recommendation segment. This segment answers two questions: do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers, or to anyone unfortunate enough to get caught up in a conversation with me about this book? The second question is, regardless of if I would tell you to read it or not based on my preferences, whom do I think is the ideal audience for this book? In response to question number one, my answer is yes, I do recommend this book to you. If you are reading this review and now, based solely on the words I’ve just spent the last few hours writing, you want to read this book, I would tell you to hop online to your preferred online retailer, your favorite bookstore, your local comic store, your public library, or check with a Marvel loving friend or family member and get your hands on this book as soon as you possibly can. To answer question number two, we’re going to look past the obvious answer of X-Men and Marvel fans, and I’ll say the best audiences for this book include teenagers, who can find themselves able to relate with the teenage superheroes, and fans of international action stories.

                Okay, we’ve covered all the key points of the review, we’re just going to do the wrap-up. Anyway, I’ve been doing this blog for over five years now. I’ve posted over 180 times. Keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for all kinds of content. I’ve done several kinds of content on this blog. I’ve posted short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and editorials. I’ve also posted over seven dozen reviews just like this one. I’ve reviewed prose novels, manga, and comic events. The priority of this blog currently is to review Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Ultimate Epic Collections. I purchase every one of them as soon as I can after publication and try to get a review up as soon as I can after reading it. If you liked this post, feel free to search for “Ultimate X-Men: The Tomorrow People” if you want to read more about “Ultimate X-Men.” Expect my next post to come up within the next two months after this posting, it will be “The Amazing Spider-Man: Sins Past” so if you liked this post and want more from me, keep checking back for that one soon. That’s all I have to say for now. Until I post again, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Black Widow: Widowmaker"

 

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Black Widow: Widowmaker” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                Natalia Romanova was rescued as a baby by Ivan Petrovich Bezukhov in the former Soviet Union in 1928. In 1938, Ivan sent young Natalia to train with Taras Romanoff. Taras became like a father to Natalia. In 1940, James Howlett/Logan, the man who would become Wolverine, killed Taras. Natalia then worked in partnership with Ivan. In 1956, Ivan was gravely injured. James “Bucky” Barnes/Winter Soldier offered Ivan and Natalia a serum that would heal Ivan and extend both Ivan and Natalia’s life spans. Natalia accepted the offer, against Ivan’s wishes. In 1957, while training as a Black Widow agent in the Red Room, Natalia was introduced to Alexei Shostakov, the Soviet super soldier the Red Guardian. Alexei gave Natalia the nickname “Natasha.” Soon after, the two were wed. In 1963, the Soviet government faked Alexei’s death. Natalia went on to become a member of the Avengers and a superhero herself. Ivan continued to stay by her side. Though Natalia thought of Ivan as a father figure, Ivan had romantic feelings for Natalia. After repeated rejections after many years, Ivan finally left Natalia. Natalia eventually learned Alexei was alive. Years later, Natalia received a phone call from Ivan, warning her Icepick Protocol had been activated, right before he was murdered. When Natalia came to confirm the body was in fact Ivan’s, Ivan’s head was missing. Natalia went to Russia to try to learn about Icepick Protocol, and discovered that she had been implanted with nanites that could be passed on to the people she was close to, which could be passed of from those people as well, and could cause those infected with them to go into a psychotic rage. After saving Clint Barton/Hawkeye from his wife Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird and giving them the cure, Natalia went off to give the cure to others afflicted by the nanites. Superspy Nick Fury, former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., gave Natalia the access codes to a H.A.M.M.E.R. government launch facility. Natalia broke in and flew to space, where she discovered a Soviet weapon called the Dreadnought floating in orbit over earth. Natalia discovered who the mastermind behind Icepick Protocol was, to her great horror, and was forced to face the past to save earth from nuclear annihilation.

                Natalia mysteriously received a black rose and a ribbon. She went to see her old spy contact the Black Rose to see if he was involved, be he denied any part in sending Natalia the items. On her way to see her boyfriend James Barnes/Captain America, she was attacked. Tony Stark/Iron Man had Wolverine investigate the attack. After finding the items, Wolverine returned to the hospital to watch Natalia after her surgery. Natalia escaped from the hospital. Tony Stark, Hawkeye, and Captain America learned that Natalia was attacked because Natalia had been implanted with a device that was recording information about superpowered individuals and was accused of selling their secrets to the highest bidder, and the device was extracted from inside of Natalia. Tony Stark’s assistant Virginia “Pepper” Potts was attacked by Maki Matsumoto/Lady Bullseye, and Natalia was framed for the attack. Natalia was attacked by Elektra Natchios, who was furious she had been spied on. Elektra let Natalia go after a fight to a standstill where Natalia told Elektra that she was not selling the information. After the fight, Natalia collapsed from her injury. Black Rose discovered Natalia and stitched Natalia up. Natalia flew to London, England to find Ned, son of the tech genius inventor of the device Natalia had been implanted with. Ned told Natalia Sumi was the man who had sold out Natalia to, and Sumi had bought Ned’s father’s tech out in exchange for money and a place to live. Sumi sent Russian agents Ninotchka and Boris after Natalia and Ned, and though Natalia was able to defeat the agents, she was unable to save Ned. Sumi taunted Natalia that Sumi knew about Natalia’s baby. While on a train, Natalia confronted Lady Bullseye, who she paralyzed with an injection and tried to learn who was behind Natalia’s predicament. Lady Bullseye did not give Natalia what she was hoping for. James found Natalia, but Natalia refused to let James get involved in her situation. Natalia visited the family of the woman who delivered Natalia’s stillborn child. In Munich, Germany, Natalia was confronted by a robotic body sent by Imus Champion, the man who was really Sumi. Natalia attacked the robot but was arrested afterwards by Captain America. Natalia escaped lockup, and the arrest had been planned by Natalia herself. Natalia then confronted Imus to the finish.

                Natalia went undercover to the opera to intercept a device for targeted assassinations, code-named “Tiny Dancer,” and deliver it to the Secret Intelligence Service. Natalia was surprised to discover what Tiny Dancer was and getting it to her clients was harder than she thought it would be.

                Tony Stark/Iron Man went undercover to Russia to recover stolen armor, with Natalia’s help. Tony went to make a deal in disguise but was caught by industrial spy Sunset Bain. Sunset hacked Tony’s brain and sent Tony in temporal armor to travel to the past to destroy Avengers Mansion at the first meeting of the Avengers, and Natalia had to find a way to shut down Tony’s brain to save the Avengers.

                Senator Whit Crane was running for vice president of the United States. He was seen with a mysterious “Woman in Black,” then dropped out of the race, and was found dead. His son Nick was a journalist and hoped to find the woman responsible for the death of his father. Kate Horsley/Fatale and Natalia both wanted to find out Nick’s source about the Woman in Black. Fatale got to Nick first and pretended to rescue Nick from the Black Widow. Natalia was able to separate Fatale and Nick and took Nick to a safe location. Natalia attempted to stage an abduction of both Natalia and Nick and bring them to a C.I.A. interrogation site in Poland run by a friend of Natalia’s to force the source out of Nick, but the staged abduction turned real. Nick and Natalia escaped the camp, but discovered Nick and Natalia were being framed for Senator Crane’s murder and went on the run. Nick and Natalia were on a train out of Poland when they were attacked by Russian agents Fantasma and Crimson Dynamo. Fatale rescued Nick and Natalia from the Russian agents. Nick told Natalia and Fatale that his source went by the name “Sadko.” Natalia and Fatale tracked Sadko to Bulgaria and teamed up to investigate Sadko’s true identity, but Sadko wanted Natalia and Fatale dead.

                An assassin called Ronin was striking the South Kuril Islands, islands that were disputed between Russia and Japan. Hawkeye and Mockingbird were investigation the death of a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and discovered that there was a killer targeting spies, and Mockingbird and Black Widow were on the list. Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Dominic Fortune went to Russia to meet up with Natalia, where they found themselves under attack. Natalia brought Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Fortune to a Red Room training facility, where the killer had struck. Russian super agents Crimson Dynamo, Fantasma, Sputnik, and Perun attacked Natalia, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Fortune, due to the fact that Hawkeye had previously claimed the Ronin costume and identity, but Hawkeye was innocent of these killings. After a grueling fight, Natalia and Hawkeye escaped, and Mockingbird and Fortune left on a plane to Japan. Natalia informed Hawkeye that Natalia knew the killer as Sadko. Natalia and Hawkeye encountered the Madame, and during their fight, Natalia deduced where and who the new Ronin was. Natalia, Hawkeye, Mockingbird and Fortune met up on Iturup and faced Ronin and his army at the foot of an active volcano.

                Natalia and Alaine Racine/Peregrine teamed up in France to rescue hostages from cyborg villain Rapido and stop terrorists from leveling London.

                Okay, we’ve now got our synopsis out of the way, let’s move on to the next phase of this review: my input. First off, we’re going to start with what I thought of this graphic novel. I will say that I found this book to be relatively enjoyable. I liked reading it. Let’s break it down storyline by storyline. “Deadly Origin” was interesting because it blended Natalia’s history with her present and revealed a lot of her background. It was fascinating learning some of the facets of her past that I didn’t previously know about, and the twist at the end of the storyline was great as her past actions inadvertently nearly caused nuclear annihilation. However, I didn’t like how the art of the flashbacks looked compared to the art from the present scenes. “The Name of the Rose” was actually my favorite storyline. I enjoyed reading as the mystery unravel. However, the artwork detracted from my visual enjoyment, but the story itself was good. “Coppelia” was short but sweet, and the Tiny Dancer’s actual purpose led to an interesting read. The artwork was also visually appealing to me, so that made the read entertaining. “Iron Widow” was a fun read, watching Tony Stark trying to change for his deal, and still getting set up even though he came in disguise. I also found the artwork in this issue to be satisfactory. “Kiss or Kill” was highly enjoyable, I loved how the story kept twisting and turning as it went on, and Fatale was an interesting character. I’m torn about the artwork in this storyline because sometimes it looked good to me, and then at other times I just didn’t like how it looked at all. The consistency of the quality of the artwork varied, and there were times where I liked the art, and times I didn’t. “Widowmaker” was a greatly entertaining story arc, Hawkeye is one of my favorite Avengers, and the team up was an exciting one. The true identity of Ronin was a twist I didn’t see coming, and the end battle was exciting. I also felt the artwork was great from both of the artists who penciled this storyline. “Fear Itself” was an interesting issue, seeing her take down a hostage crisis and stop a terrorist attack single-handedly was quite satisfying. However, the artwork itself wasn’t quite so satisfying for me. I also enjoyed how several of the storylines connected, even though they came from separate series. The continuity was much appreciated, and the continuing themes but featuring different characters made the read more interesting. Overall, I highly enjoyed reading the stories, but there were times where the artwork wasn’t so appealing. I also have to critique the choice of the title for this collection. My opinion is that the title should reflect the majority of the overall content of the book. The longest storyline in this collection was “The Name of the Rose,” but other options were “Deadly Origins,” “Kiss or Kill,” and “Widowmaker.” I honestly think any of the latter three choices would be appropriate titles for this collection, but if I were the editors, I probably would have leaned in more for “Deadly Origins” or “Kiss or Kill” for the title as I feel those represent this volume better. However, I still find myself able to support “Widowmaker” as the title, despite not feeling it was the best title for this collection. Finally in my examinations, we’re going to talk about the cover. I feel like the front cover should be an accurate preview of what the reader should expect to see in this collection, meaning it also represents the majority of the overall content of the book. This book sports a cover of Black Widow posing with two guns in the foreground, in front of a motorcycle, with Wolverine and Winter Soldier standing in the background. I feel like this book should have featured a cover with just Black Widow on it. While Wolverine and James Barnes are recurring supporting characters in this collection, I feel that this cover does not deliver on a promise of a team up with Black Widow, Wolverine and Winter Soldier as I came to expect from viewing the cover. I actually feel like that cover is highly misleading as there are few points where all three characters appear on the same panel in this collection, and James Barnes and does not appear alongside Wolverine as Winter Soldier at any point in this collection, just as Captain America, so I feel like the choice of cover was actually poor to use for a solo issue, and especially poor to use to represent this whole book. However, I do feel relatively positively about the book itself, based on story, but the art sometimes left a little to be desired.

                Next up, we’re going to discuss accessibility. I know some of you have been here before so you know what I’m about to explain, I’ve done it over seven dozen times at this point, but every time I do a new post, I know I have readers who have never been here before, so I have to do it once again, so if you do know this, just bear with me for a few sentences while I explain it to the newbs. So, the question I’m posing here is, is this book accessible? Accessible means can a person who knows absolutely nothing about Black Widow comics obtain a copy of this book, read it, and follow the story as it is written, with no difficulties? So, my answer to that question is yes. This book is extremely standalone. These are all limited series or one-shots that really don’t continue directly off of storylines from other series, with the exception of “Fear Itself: Black Widow,” but even that doesn’t feel to me like knowing the main event “Fear Itself” is actually a necessity to comprehend this issue. I don’t feel like having outside knowledge of Marvel Comics is essential to read this book. Despite this book being marketed as Vol. 2, every series in this book starts with issue #1, so there are no previous issues to any of the issues contained in this collection. If you are looking for a place to start reading Marvel Comics, I wouldn’t say this is the best starter book, but I feel it is definitely a book that a person who has never read a Marvel Comic book before can begin with.

                Next up, we’re going to move on to one of the core components of my review: the numeric score. I won’t say it’s the most important part of my review, everything in these reviews has some kind of essentiality for being in it, so I can’t say any one paragraph in this review is the reason everyone is reading this review for. However, this is, in my opinion, highly essential to my reviews and they would not be complete without it. So let me start off by explaining my scoring system. The system is extremely simple: I score on whole numbers ranging from one to ten. My lowest score is a one, and that means this book was so awful that every copy not sold should be immediately gathered up and obliterated, then all the prints that could be used to recreate this abomination should be wiped clean to prevent the continuation of this horrible piece of trash’s existence. Okay, that is extremely extra, but it illustrates my point that this book is just awful. However, if I give a score of a ten, that means this book is sheer perfection and I will never understand it if this book does not become a bestseller and if every copy doesn’t get sold and if it doesn’t have to get reprinted every few years. Now, I am very much not easy to please, and I will not give out a ten if a book truly is not perfection. So, what I’m looking for in a graphic novel is a constantly entertaining story, consistently appealing art, a title that perfectly captures the essence of the story, and a cover that accurately represents the content of the book. So we’ve established that I did enjoy the story, I found the art to be hit-and-miss, the title wasn’t absolutely perfect in my opinion, and I don’t believe the cover delivers on what it shows on the front of the book as actually being what comprises the majority of this book. So, looking at all of this, and putting it all together and churning out a score, what I have to rate this book at is… a seven! While the story was good, the artwork and the cover brought my score down a bit.

                Next up on our list of topics to discuss is the recommendation. In this paragraph, I answer two questions. Question number one is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this book to you, my readers? Would I tell you, if you are interested in reading this book based solely on what I have just spent the past few hours writing, to go out to your nearby bookstore, or preferred online retailer, or favorite comic book shop, or local library, or Marvel fanatic friend or relative’s house, and procure this book and read it as soon as you possibly can? The second question is, regardless of if I would actually recommend this book personally, what kind of audience might appreciate this book, besides the obvious target group of fans of Marvel, Black Widow, or the creators? So, to answer the first question, yes, this book has my personal recommendation. I’d totally tell you to read it if my words have piqued your interest in perusing through this collection. To answer my second question, I think that this book would appeal to fans of spy stories, espionage stories, stories with mysteries, stories with lots of plot twists, and stories with a strong female lead.

                Okay, we’ve reached the point where I’m getting ready to wrap things up. There are a few things I would like to say before I go. I’ve been doing this blog for over five and a half years now. I’ve compiled over 180 posts, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for more content. Over seven dozen of these posts are reviews of Epic Collections just like this one. I currently collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after its release and if possible, post a review. If you liked this post, feel free to check out my reviews of “Black Widow: The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” and “Black Widow: Chaos” for more content about Black Widow Modern Era Epic Collections. In addition to these reviews, I’ve also reviewed some prose novels, manga, and comic book events. I’ve also written short stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials, so there’s other kinds of content to enjoy here as well. I post on a very frequent basis. My next post will be a review of “Ultimate X-Men: World Tour” you can expect to see that post sometime within the next two months following this post, most likely a lot sooner than that. I plan to keep doing this blog for as long as I can, so you can expect to keep seeing posts on this site for quite some time, unless I do something to prevent myself from being able to type. That’s all I have to say for now except Tim Cubbin… out!