"Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider: Gwenom"

 

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider: Gwenom” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                As a teenager, Gwen Stacy was bitten by a mutated spider. The bite transformed her, granting her amazing powers: a precognitive awareness of danger, adhesive fingertips and toes, and the proportional speed and strength of a spider. But those gifts were taken away when a super villain further tampered with her genetics, and Gwen had no choice but to embrace a symbiotic parasite called Venom to restore them. To the residents of New York, she is the dangerous outlaw called Spider-Woman.

                Former NYPD Captain George Stacy had been in prison awaiting trial for aiding and abetting Spider-Woman when he was brutally assaulted in jail by the supervillain Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino and went into a coma. Gwen sought vengeance for the wrongs against her father. In her anger, she was losing control of the Venom symbiote and giving in to her dark side. However, revenge against the Rhino was denied her as rogue police officer Frank Castle ended the Rhino in front of Gwen, but the blame for Rhino’s demise fell upon Gwen. Gwen broke into a S.H.I.E.L.D. prison to talk to Cindy Moon, the woman responsible for both the spider that created Spider-Woman and for the loss of Gwen’s powers for advice on how to defeat Matt Murdock/Kingpin, who had been pulling Gwen’s strings since the arrest of George Stacy. Gwen’s friends and bandmates The Mary Janes (Mary Jane Watson, Betty Brant, and Glory Grant) started a search for Gwen, who had been absent because of Gwen’s activities as Spider-Woman. They enlisted Ben and May Parker in their search. Spider-Woman had a run in with Castle, who offered a team-up against Kingpin. Kingpin had stolen Gwen’s interdimensional teleporter “watch” but was unaware of its purpose or how to work it, but it had been making a noise that Kingpin did not know how to stop. Gwen confessed her secret identity to The Mary Janes and the Parkers, unsure if she could defeat the Kingpin. Ben Parker insisted the war against the Kingpin was indeed Gwen’s fight. Gwen, Castle, and Samantha Wilson/Captain America took the fight to Kingpin. At the conclusion of the battle, Gwen found herself teleported from her home dimension of Earth-65 to another reality, where she ran into that reality’s version of Gwen Stacy. The Watcher of Earth-65 Utua and the Watcher of Earth-8 Utaa observed the dimensional travel and saw that an anomaly was occurring.

                Gwen was unsure of the reality she was in or when in the timeline she was and was afraid, she was on Earth-616 and talking to the Gwen Stacy that was soon to meet her demise and to preserve the timeline tried not to talk to her. She couldn’t find help from the Fantastic Four, so turned back to that reality’s Gwen. She confessed to being Spider-Woman from another reality and the two agreed to work together to get Gwen back to her reality. The Watchers traveled on Earth-8, where they ran into Charlotte Morales-Stacy/Spider-Girl and George Morales-Stacy/Spider-Max, the children of Miles Morales/Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman from that reality, when a Gwen Stacy/Venom arrived to reveal she and a council of Spider-Women were behind the anomaly to prevent Gwen from killing Kingpin. The two Gwens on what turned out to be Earth-617 went to Tony Stark, who created a device that could get Gwen home. Upon returning to her reality, Gwen went to J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the tabloid newspaper The Daily Bugle, and revealed her identity as Spider-Woman. She was dubbed “Spider-Gwen” in the newspaper. She had a confrontation with Kingpin, where she was able to get her watch back. She was put on trial for crimes committed as Spider-Woman and found guilty and sentenced to a year in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Maximum-Security Prison. She was assaulted daily by Titania. After six months, Captain America came to her with an offer that would release her early if she agreed to sign on for a S.H.I.E.L.D. assignment, but Gwen refused and decided to serve her sentence. While she was in prison, her father came out of his coma. Upon her release, Gwen went back to her life with her father, in The Mary Janes, and as Spider-Gwen.

                While craving a burger, Gwen ran into her old friend Harry Osborn. The two tried to catch up, but Peter Porker/Spider-Ham, the Spider-Hero of another reality, came to inform Gwen the Inheritors, a group of vampiric creatures who fed off of Spider-Totems, had returned and were after Spider-Heroes again. They had already ended Spider-Man Noir and Spider-UK. Gwen attempted to join the fight, but when she tried to transport realities, she lost her watch and was stranded. She decided to go to Oscorp, where she ran into that reality’s Gwen Stacy/Green Goblin. In this reality, Harry Osborn/Spider-Man and Green Goblin had been a superhero team, but after Spider-Man’s death, Green Goblin lost touch with her humanity. Gwen ran into this reality’s Peter Parker, who was a scientist, who informed her this reality’s Gwen would be able to create a reality transporter for her if they could bring Green Goblin back to her senses. Peter and Gwen went to this reality’s Mary Jane Watson, who informed them that this reality’s Betty Brant and Glory Grant were reporters investigating the Green Goblin’s hideout locations. Peter, Gwen, and Mary Jane went after Green Goblin, followed by Betty and Glory who were hoping to get a story. Mary Jane was able to appeal to Green Goblin’s humanity, and Green Goblin was able to create a dimensional transporter for Gwen. Betty and Glory decided not to break the story out of respect for a hero. Gwen was able to rejoin the fight against the Inheritors, and though the Spider-Heroes won, it was not without great cost. Gwen was now the only Spider-Hero able to travel between realities. She went to the worlds of fallen Spider-Heroes to inform the Spider-Heroes’ loved ones of their losses.

                The Mary Janes were planning their big comeback. Gwen, a convicted felon, found herself unable to obtain employment, and decided to open a business as a hero for hire. The Man-Wolf and his gang decided to target Gwen. Gwen attempted a date with Harry Osborn, but the two were denied service at a fancy restaurant due to Gwen’s status as Spider-Gwen. Gwen started having headaches. Gwen decided to turn to Oscorp scientist Doctor Elsa Brock for help. Harry tried to help Gwen arrange an appointment, but the two were informed that there was no Doctor Brock employed at Oscorp. As the Mary Janes performed a concert, the venue was attacked by the Man-Wolf’s gang. During the attack, Harry was severely injured. Gwen then had to fight the Man-Wolf himself.

                Gwen traveled to Earth-616 where she teamed up with Peter Parker/Spider-Man to fight the supervillain Swarm, who was attempting to steal a rare dinosaur skeleton. After the fight, Gwen settled on a new superhero code name: Ghost Spider.

                Okay, now that we have the plot summary out of the way, let’s move on to the Tim Cubbin input segments of this review. We’re going to start with my personal reflections on this book. I found this book to be moderately enjoyable. While I liked it, I didn’t love it. Let’s talk about what I liked first. I liked Gwen meeting herself from other dimensions. I enjoyed how she met herself on Earth-617 in particular. Readers of “The Amazing Spider-Man” #121 know exactly what is supposed to happen to that Gwen that specific night based on the outfit she’s wearing, and I liked how Gwen didn’t want to tell this Gwen her suspicions as she was unsure if she was in 616 in the past and didn’t want to prevent her death in order to preserve the sanctity of the timeline, something she easily could have violated, and I liked the payoff that occurred from this meeting. I also enjoyed the “Gwen Goblin,” I thought it was a very interesting choice to make a Gwen Stacy the Green Goblin. I liked the follow-up to Spider-Geddon, with Gwen informing the fallen Spider-Heroes’ families of their loved ones’ passings, the Spider-Man Noir particularly hit hard with Aunt May’s reaction. I liked the jail issue, which was a huge surprise, you don’t often see your protagonist superhero due jail time, and I thought that issue was fascinating, especially when she wouldn’t take the deal to get out early. That may seem odd to like, but what I liked about it was that it showed Gwen takes accountability for her actions, and it showcased her sense of justice and her resilience, and the strength and willpower of her character, that she would go to jail for her beliefs and willingly accept her punishment and serve it to its full time. I liked how she tried to reestablish her life after jail and all the hiccups that came with it, unable to get a job, too much public attention, getting turned down at a restaurant, then forming her own business as a solution, I thought that was great and actually very realistic and that the writers did a good job with that storyline. I liked the relationship between Gwen and her father; I found it to be very heartwarming how devoted Gwen was to her father and how supportive George was of his daughter. But while I liked all these points, these were the highlights for me. The rest of the book I mostly coasted through. The whole story arc with the Watchers felt unnecessary and was slightly confusing, and while supposedly a key point in Gwen’s journey, really didn’t seem to have much of an impact on the story. Also, I have to complain about the art from “Spider-Gwen” #25-34, I honestly didn’t particularly like it, it just didn’t visually appeal to me. However, the art in “Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider” #1-10 was actually highly enjoyable. Our final thing to touch on in my reflection is the title. I feel that “Gwenom” was a very accurate title for this volume. The storyline was one of the longest storylines in the book and the symbiote was a key component to this volume, so I think this was the best choice for a title for this book.

                Next up, we’re going to talk about accessibility. I’ve been over this over six dozen times at this point, and I know I have previous readers who already know what I’m about to explain again, but I know I always have newbies for every review I write, so I always have to explain this for them, so regular readers, bear with me for a few seconds. When I use the word accessibility in one of my reviews, it applies to if a new reader, who has never heard of or knows nothing about Spider-Gwen, can find this book online, or in a bookstore or comic book shop, or a local library, or at a friend’s house, and decide that they want to read this, and be able to completely understand what they’ve read without any prior knowledge on the subject matter. I will tell you that this book is highly inaccessible. This book, which is marketed as Vol. 3, picks up directly where Vol. 2 left off, and that built up from storylines from the first volume, so reading those are pretty essential to understanding this particular volume, and not having read them is a huge amount of missed storylines. Also, this book crosses over into “Spider-Geddon,” which was a Spider-Man crossover event. This book had only the “Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider” issues of the event, as Epic Collections almost never include the main series of the events, only the tie-in issues of the particular characters that are the focus of the collection, so not knowing the other Spider-Heroes is also detrimental to understanding this particular volume. So, if you’re looking to get into reading Marvel Comics and are looking for a starting point, this book is not the point to jump in on.

                Continuing on, we’re going to get to my numeric score. My score is, of course, one of the key points of my reviews. I score on a very basic system: exact integers on a scale ranging from one through ten. If I give a book a score of a one, that is my lowest score, which signifies that this book is so horrible it’s not worth taking off the shelf and shouldn’t even be bought If a give a book a ten, that is my highest score, which signifies that this book is sheer perfection and it would be a sin if this book didn’t fly off the shelves. When I give a graphic novel a score, I take three factors into account: the story, the artwork, and the title. A graphic novel can have a perfect story, but the art can be horrible, and the title could be a complete misnomer, and I’d have to deduct two points. On the other hand, a graphic novel can have the worst story ever told but still have fantastic artwork and the most perfect title ever and get points just for that. So, let’s take a quick look at our ingredients here: we have a story that for me had good points, but this was still only a book I could coast through. The artwork was only enjoyable for me for half of the book. The title was an accurate representation of the book. So, we’re going to take these three factors, throw them in a blender, mix it until it’s completely blended, then the score we’re working with here is… a six. To me, this book was mid-level, but I still feel like it falls on the high side of mid.

                The next topic on our agenda is my recommendation. In this segment, I will answer two questions. The first is do I personally recommend this book to my readers or anyone who I talk to about comic books? The second question is completely independent of the first question, and it is who do I believe would be the best audience for this book? The answer to the first question is that I believe if you’re reading this review and are interested in reading this book based solely on what I’ve been writing, I would tell you that I feel like you should give this book a try. As for the best audience for this book, beyond the obvious fans of Spider-Gwen, Marvel Comics, Jason Latour, and Seanan McGuire, I would say this book is for comic readers who enjoy stories about family bonds, as this is a story about a daughter seeking vengeance for the wrongs committed against her father. Also, if you like comics about alternate realities, this is a good book for you. If you like comic books about a character fighting their dark side, this comic is perfect for you. And if you like comics about the justice system, you might like this book.

                Okay, we’re at the point where I’m going to start wrapping things up. There are a few things that should be noted before I sign off. First, I have been working on this blog for five years now, I’ve done over 170 posts. I’ve done over six dozen reviews of Marvel Epic Collections, as well as reviews of prose novels, events, and even a few manga. I’ve also written several short stories and poetry, as well as essays, articles, and editorials. I have done reviews of almost every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection, and I have written a review of every Ultimate Epic Collection. I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after their release, and if possible, I post a review as soon as I can after I finish reading it. If you liked this review, check out my reviews of “Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider: Edge of Spider-Verse” and “Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider: Weapon of Choice” for more Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider content, and keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for other posts, I’m sure you’ll find something else here you’ll like as well. I post on a very frequent basis, so keep checking back for more. You can expect my next review “Spider-Girl: Family Ties” sometime in the next two months, so keep checking back for it. And with that, I release you from your bonds to me. You can go back to doing what you were doing, and I’ll move on with my life. But until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Captain America: The Burden of Dreams"

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Captain America: The Burden of Dreams” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                Steve Rogers/Captain America is dead. The Red Skull, with the help of megalomaniacal psychiatrist Doctor Faustus, manipulated Sharon Carter, former Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D., into taking the life of the man she loved. Mentally blocked from telling anyone what she’d done, Sharon spiraled out of control, fighting to hold onto her sanity. But when she found out she was pregnant, she lost control of her mind again, shot her allies, Sam Wilson/Falcon, and Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and fled. Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier sought vengeance on the men he felt responsible for the death of Steve Rogers. But on his hunt, he fell into the hands of the Red Skull, who had secretly been sharing the mind of Bucky’s former master from his Winter Soldier days, ex-Soviet General Aleksander Lukin. Bucky was faced with Faustus’ mind-manipulation as well, but having been previously programmed, he was resistant. Falcon and Black Widow recovered on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, having only been stunned, leading Director Tony Stark/Iron Man, who was aware Sharon killed Steve, to believe Sharon was not completely gone. Falcon and Black Widow tracked the R.A.I.D. base where Faustus was hiding and infiltrated it. Faustus and Sharon escaped in an aircraft, taking Winter Soldier with them, but to cover their escape, Sharon kicked Winter Soldier out of the aircraft. Black Widow arrested the Winter Soldier, and the Winter Soldier was brought to the Helicarrier. Winter Soldier escaped and attacked Iron Man. The two fought until Iron Man talked him down. Iron Man showed Winter Soldier a letter left to him by Steve Rogers in the event of Rogers’ death, explaining Rogers’ wishes for there to be another Captain America and for Tony to save Bucky. Tony decided to kill two birds with one stone and make Bucky the new Captain America. Bucky agreed but said he would not work for S.H.I.E.L.D. Lukin faked his death in a plane crash. The new CEO of Lukin’s company Kronas Vladmir Morovin, who was secretly not even a real person, started to cause financial troubles for the American public by doubling oil prices and foreclosing mortgages. Stark was immediately suspicious about the existence of Morovin, but his theory was ignored. The new Captain America debuted against a R.A.I.D. faction. As a crowd demanded action from the government outside the White House, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stationed outside, who were under the programming of Faustus, went wild and attacked the crowd. Senator Gordon Wright contracted Kane-Meyer Securities, secretly a subsidiary of Kronas, to keep Washington, D.C. safe. Wright was under the influence of Faustus. A riot erupted outside the White House, and Captain America sprung into action to defuse it. As he entered the Senate Building, he was confronted by Synthia Shmidt/Sin, Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, and the Serpent Society. Captain America won the fight, but not the public’s affections. Arnim Zola, Red Skull’s scientist, discovered Sharon was pregnant. Sharon, who was fighting Faustus’ programming, discovered what appeared to be Steve Rogers alive in the Red Skull’s base. Red Skull deduced that Bucky was the new Captain America.

                Wright announced his candidacy for Presidency of the United States of America by forming the Third Wing Party. He negotiated with Kronas to halt the foreclosures and to reduce oil prices. This was all part of the Red Skull’s plan to take over and destroy America. Falcon confronted Stark, unhappy with Stark making Bucky the new Captain America. Clint Barton/Hawkeye confronted Bucky, telling Bucky Clint would be watching Bucky’s actions. Falcon came to Bucky and asked to team up with Bucky to save Sharon. Sharon came to rescue Steve, but discovered the person Red Skull was hiding was William Burnside, the Captain America of the 1950s, who was programmed to believe he was Steve Rogers. She was about to put him down but was discovered and stopped by Faustus. Falcon and Captain America confronted Zola at a R.A.I.D. base, and though the base was destroyed, Zola escaped. Sharon attempted to escape Red Skull’s base by taking a recovering Sin hostage. Bucky, who was following Wright, was confronted by Burnside. The two fought first, but Bucky tried to reason with Burnside and almost succeeded until Faustus reactivated Burnside’s programming. Sin fought off Sharon and stabbed Sharon in the stomach, causing Sharon to lose the baby. Red Skull turned on his daughter for ruining his plans. Red Skull had Zola working on a machine that would separate Red Skull from Lukin. Faustus decided to betray the Red Skull, causing Sharon to forget she was pregnant and releasing Sharon from Faustus’ control. Sin was tasked to take out Wright’s opponents at the presidential debate, but Sin, furious with her father, planned to take out Wright instead. Falcon and Black Widow discovered Red Skull’s base and infiltrated it. Red Skull’s machine failed. Burnside escaped. Red Skull set his base to explode. Falcon, Black Widow, Sharon, and Burnside had to stop Red Skull, Lukin and Zola, while Bucky had to stop Sin.

                Back in 1942, Steve Rogers/Captain America, Bucky and Jim Hammond/Human Torch saved Professor Zhang Chin. In 1968, the Winter Soldier was assigned to kill Chin, but Chin was saved by his experiment, the Man with No Face. In the present, Georges Batroc was hired by Chin to steal an archive drive from a United Nations Scientific Research Facility. Bucky was unable to prevent him from escaping. Captain America and Black Widow decided to investigate. Captain America found Batroc involved in a transport and tried to stop it and fought both Batroc and the Man with No Face. Captain America was almost defeated until Black Widow jumped in to help him, and the villains escaped. Captain America saw what was being transported and was furious.

                Bucky and Black Widow teamed up with Namor to go after Chin. Bucky decided to go in as the Winter Soldier. Bucky fought Chin’s agents and was abducted and brought to Chin’s laboratory. Chin created a virus from what he had stolen from the United Nations and planned to unleash it to eliminate half of earth’s population. He tested it airborne, and it was a success. He next attempted to transmit it through water and use it on Namor. Black Widow infiltrated Chin’s lab to rescue Bucky, and Bucky, Black Widow and Namor had to work together to stop Chin from releasing the virus and defeat the Man with No Face.

                Okay, now that we’ve got the plot summary out of the way, let’s progress to my input for this review. We’re going to start with my own personal opinions about this graphic novel. Honestly, I really enjoyed this graphic novel, and I looked back at previous reviews I wrote on the “The Death of Captain America” prose novel from several years ago and last year’s “Captain America: Death of the Dream” and I really enjoyed those as well. So, let’s talk about what I liked in particular. This book did have a lot of plot twists. I feel like Ed Brubaker wrote a compelling and cohesive story that wove past and present in perfectly. It was a big decision to kill Steve Rogers and replacing him with Bucky Barnes did seem like both an odd and logical choice at the same time. This gave Bucky a true shot at redemption for his actions as the Winter Soldier, and I did enjoy that, seeing him find himself again and be a hero. I don’t know if I’m more jaded now because of the MCU and future Captain America stories that I’ve read since where Sam Wilson was Captain America, and that in turn made having Bucky being Cap seem a little weird. I enjoyed how the supporting characters all had important roles in the drama as well and that the story wasn’t entirely centered on Bucky. I liked how the villains were written, the Red Skull’s machinations, Zola’s sycophantism, and Faustus’ betrayal were all excellent in my opinion. I thought the Red Skull’s plot with Wright, attempting to control America by getting his pawn elected President, was cleverly written. I found Chin to be an interesting mastermind. Watching Sharon throughout the course of the graphic novel was actually one of my favorite plotlines and I liked following her progression, even though it was full of tragedy, but it showed that a superhero’s non-powered girlfriend doesn’t always have to be helpless, which was what made her story so interesting, that she wasn’t just some damsel in distress, she actually fought for herself. I appreciated that Bucky wasn’t accepted as Captain America right away. If it were written that a superhero had just died and a new person showed up wearing a similar costume using the same name and everyone immediately loved them, that would be poor writing. Steve Rogers was Captain America since the 1940s and died, a guy who shows up in 2008 being the new Captain America should not be accepted in the mantle on his first public appearance. And I will say that I thought Bucky’s Captain America uniform was a lot cooler than Steve’s. I will say, though, that I was a little offput by the Superhuman Registration Act’s effect on Bucky’s ability to be officially backed by S.H.I.E.L.D., my longtime readers know how I am about unregistered heroes, and for those who don’t know, I’m actually pro-registration, so reading about an unregistered hero was a little bit of a turnoff. Now, I would be remiss in my duties reviewing a graphic novel if I didn’t discuss the visuals. As far as my liking of the artwork in this graphic novel, I found it to be acceptable. I’m not going to rave about it, I didn’t love it, but at the same time, I didn’t find it to be displeasing, I just thought that it was adequate and didn’t make perusing this graphic novel unappealing. I’d also like to touch on the title. I actually thought the title was perfect. There honestly were four given choices for a title, or the editors could have come up with something else, but I thought “The Burden of Dreams,” which was a title of one of the story arcs, was the best title the editors could have picked for this collection. I feel like it succinctly sums up the story, as Bucky takes up the mantle of Captain America and has to live up to the ideals of a symbol of a nation.

                Next up on our agenda is going to be the segment where I discuss accessibility. I know at this point I’ve explained this over six dozen times, but it’s something I always have to go over again for my newbs every time I do a review because I always have new readers who have never read a Tim Cubbin review before and may not know what I mean when I throw out the word accessibility like this. So when I say “accessibility” in association with a graphic novel, I mean if a person who has never heard of Captain America before can discover this book in their favorite bookstore, or website, or local library, or from a friend or relative, decide they want to read this book, then read the entire story and comprehend all the details they have just read. This book is extremely inaccessible. This collection is marketed as Vol. 3, and picks up in the middle of a story left off from Vol. 2, which had a storyline built from Vol. 1, so if you have not read the first two Modern Era Epic Collections of “Captain America,” do not try to read this volume. It is a direct continuation of an unfinished storyline, and you will have no idea what you are reading if this is the first Marvel graphic novel you ever pick up. This volume is absolutely not a place for a person who wants to begin reading Marvel Comic books to start with.

                We’re going to continue this review by me giving this graphic novel a numeric score. My scoring system is extremely simplistic. I score on a scale of one through ten, using exact integers. If I give a book a score of a one, that’s my lowest score, and that means that this book is a pile of trash that should be avoided at all costs. If I score a book at a ten, however, that’s my highest score, which means that this book is sheer perfection. When I review a graphic novel, I’m looking at a combination of three things: story, art, and title. The majority of the score usually goes to the story, while art and title will give point deductions if I don’t like them. I also am usually not one to give a book a ten unless I do truly feel the book is in fact perfection, so usually I start scoring a book at a nine and take my deductions from there. So, let’s quickly review what we’ve got going on here. I really enjoyed the story, I thought the art was acceptable, and I thought the title was spot on, so we’re looking at a relatively good score here. So, if I put all these factors together, the score I’m giving this graphic novel is… a seven! This may seem a little low, considering that I really did enjoy this book, but it is what I feel is appropriate.

                Next up is my recommendation segment. This covers two topics. The first topic is, do I personally recommend this book to anyone reading this review or to anyone unfortunate enough to have to hear me talk about this book in person? The second topic is regardless of the fact of if I would tell anyone to read this or not, who do I think is the best audience for this book? To answer the first question, yes, this book does get the personal Tim Cubbin recommendation. As for who I think the best audience is, we’ll look at the obvious first, fans of Captain America. Another target audience is fans of Ed Brubaker. Fans of Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier would very much appreciate this story of his redemption and evolution as a character. Beyond that, I feel this book is good for readers of comics who like spy stories or tales of espionage. It’s also for comic readers who like political intrigue stories. Finally, I think it’s good for readers who like war and soldier stories.

                Okay, we’re getting to the point where I have said almost all I have to say. There are a few more things I have to touch on first. Let’s begin with the contents of this blog. I’ve been writing for five years now and have published over 175 posts. In addition to over six dozen other Marvel Epic Collection reviews, I’ve reviewed prose novels and manga, as well as written a few short stories, poems, articles, essays, and editorials, so if you want to try other material, keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for plenty more content. I’ve previously written reviews of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “Captain America: Death of the Dream” if you liked this post and want more Captain America content. I post on a very frequent basis as I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after they are released and try to post a review if possible. I usually do at least one post a month. I’m expecting to do a post of “Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider: Gwenon” sometime in the next two weeks, so keep an eye out for that post, and expect plenty more to keep coming as I’m going to keep doing this blog for as long as I possibly can, so that until I can’t see or type anymore, which I don’t expect to be a long time from now. I think that’s it for now, so until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Annihilation: Desperate Measures"

 

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

                Annihilus, Lord of the Negative Zone, and his Annihilation wave pushed through the Crunch, and the universe was expanding into the Negative Zone. Annihilus was leading his Annihilation wave to take over all of existence. He destroyed the planet Xandar and killed all the Nova Corps, save for Richard Rider, who had the Xandarian Worldmind, and all of the Nova Force downloaded into his head.

Ronan was a former Kree Accuser, but due to a false testimony, he had been stripped of his rank and accused of treason and was on the run for his crimes. To restore his honor, he was searching for the “witness” who presented false evidence against him, Tana Nile. His search led him to Godthab Omega, where he reunited with his old friend Korath. While the two were catching up, they were attacked by Stellaris and Nebula, who were acting as graces for Gamora, the deadliest woman in the galaxy. Ronan forced the graces into retreat, where they returned to Gamora, who was harboring Tana Nile. Ronan found the warrior Devos in the town of Abyss, where Devos had just defeated the Skrull Talos, but Gamora attacks them both. The aspiring shaper of worlds Glorian used the energies from Devos, Talos, and the impact of Ronan and Gamora’s fight to recreate Godthab Omega. After Ronan and Gamora’s fight, Korath found Ronan, when Annhilus’ Annihilation Wave hit Godthab Omega. The Wave interrupted Glorian’s creation process. The Wave was led by Annihilus’ mat Eradica. Ronan discovered where Gamora and her graces were hiding Tana Nile, who was injured by the Annihilation Wave. She revealed the Fiyero House had been the ones who ordered her to give false testimony, before she succumbed to her wounds. Fiyero House wanted to replace the old order on Hala and claim it for themselves, going so far as to overthrow the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Ronan then defeated Eradica and her horde. His business of Godthab Omega concluded, Ronan swore he would find redemption.

                After six months, Richard Rider/Nova was leading the fight against the Annihilation Wave, with his second-in-command Peter Quill, formerly known as Starlord. Nova’s team included Drax the Destroyer and his companion Cammi, Gamora, Ronan, and the Heralds of Galactus, Firelord, Red Shift, and Stardust. They were holding off the wave, but they were not winning the War. Meanwhile, Annihilus had Thanos and the Proemial Gods Tenebrous and Aegis on his side. Firelord battled Annihilus’ mate Extirpia and captured her. Annihilus sent his hound Ravenous to extract revenge on Galactus’ former heralds. Firelord was returned gravely injured. Tenebrous and Aegis defeated Galactus and his current herald Norrin Radd/Silver Surfer and abducted Galactus and Silver Surfer. Phyla-Vell came to Drax to tell him his daughter Heather Douglas/Moondragon had been abducted by Thanos. Praxagora, a soldier from the Negative Zone who now fought against Annihilus, arrived with the body of Kl’rt/Super-Skrull. Ravenous, his Curs, and the Centurions, Annihilus’ elite army, arrived at the heroes’ base. Thanos created a device that would channel the energies Galactus consumed to power Annihilus’ forces. Firelord rejoined the fight, and the Super-Skrull was revived, but Annihilus’ forces were too much, and the heroes had to retreat off-world. Drax stayed behind in the fight to cover the retreat. Moondragon used her telepathic powers to show Thanos Annihilus’ plan. Thanos had keyed the shutdown on the Galactus machine to his power signature. But before Thanos could double-cross Annihilus, Drax fulfilled the purpose he was created for and destroyed Thanos. Moondragon surmised Silver Surfer, possessing the Power Cosmic, was on the same power level as Thanos, and instructed Drax to rescue him. Silver Surfer then freed Galactus. Ronan and Super-Skrull fought and defeated Ravenous. Ronan then struck down House Fiyero and was proclaimed ruler of the Kree. All forces then united in a final battle against Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave.

                Terrax the Tamer, a former herald of Galactus, along with the Skrull warrior Paibok and the Delinquent, arrived on a planet of Centaurians who were enslaved by Randau, the Space Parasite, who feasted upon energy. Terrax, having been defeated many times in the past, wanted to redeem himself and claim a victory. However, Randau’s defeat might not have been what the enslaved Centaurians wanted.

                Stardust, a former herald of Galactus, and an Ethereal, was confronted by the last remnants of his kind. After striking them down, he found Galactus, weakened from Annihilus’ machine and hungering more than ever. Having been replaced by the Silver Surfer, Stardust was desperate to return to Galactus’ service and offered Galactus a gift, hoping to win the world-eater’s favor.

                Firelord, a former herald of Galactus, arrived on Omina Prime, which was being overtaken by the warlord Smyt. The Centurians attempted to fight back but were not strong enough to defeat the warlord. Firelord offered his assistance, feeling a sense on sympathy for both having served another, but this was not an act of friendship, a fact he made known before departing Omina Prime.

                Silver Surfer, the current herald of Galactus, was tasked by his master with the mission of destroying the Proemial Gods Tenebrous and Aegis.

                Okay, I feel like that’s a good summary for this graphic novel. I tried to avoid spoiling the ending as much as possible, so you’ll actually have a reason to buy this book to find out how the heroes actually save the universes. So, we’ve covered Marvel’s part in this review, now let’s do my part of this review. We’re going to start with, as usual, my own reflections on the graphic novel. So, personally, I wasn’t all that impressed with the story. However, I will say what I am impressed with. Marvel has put out so many Epic Collections over the years, and none of them have ever actually contained the entirety of an event before. Epic Collections usually contain issues of specific characters from specific time periods, which at times occur around events, but will not actually include every single issue of the main event limited series. This is actually Vol. 2 of “Annihilation” and contained all six issues of the limited series “Annihilation” and if you combine the first two volumes together, they comprise the entire event. So, I will say I am actually happy about that. But was it an event I loved? No, it was not. This event actually occurred around the same time as “Civil War,” and I will say I much preferred the terrestrial war to the cosmic war. That said, I didn’t hate this event. I did find it mildly enjoyable. I mean, I read the entire graphic novel (comics sections only) in the span of about four hours, so if I couldn’t put it down, I guess on some level it was entertaining to me. Let’s talk about what I did like first. My favorite aspects about this graphic novel were the relationships between the characters. In Vol. 1, it was established how Drax met Cammi. I loved how their relationship continued in this volume. It was stated how Drax cared for Cammi, something that he didn’t actually really do for his own biological daughter Heather. I found that touching, especially when Drax stayed behind in the fight to allow the heroes to escape, and Cammi’s reaction, wanting to go back for Drax, despite their whole Cammi being a pain in Drax’s butt schtick. I liked Ronan’s quest for redemption against House Fiyero, the fact that they tried to take over and throw him out so they could have their way, and the turnaround of him taking them down and being given ascension over the Kree, I loved the poetic nature of that. I liked how Thanos had his own machinations the entire time, working for and against Annihilus at the same time, and at the end never getting his chance to double-cross his ally. Thanos has actually always been my favorite villain from space, as he actually does occasionally get to win, which not every villain gets to do, and he is a very nuanced villain as well. I knew from Vol. 1 that he didn’t truly want to serve Annihilus like Annihilus wanted because Thanos doesn’t actually serve anyone but himself and I was waiting to see the turnaround and see what Thanos would do, and I was slightly disappointed Drax stopped Thanos from taking an almost heroic action, but it still made for good entertainment. And I liked how Drax didn’t end Thanos to save Heather, despite Thanos having kidnapped her, he just ended Thanos because he believed that was his destiny because it showed his focus on not actually truly valuing family over purpose and exactly what a cold and ruthless character he is. I liked the two issue “Heralds of Galactus” limited series showcasing the four heralds, I thought those four short stories were all extremely interesting vignettes, and I usually like short stories focusing on one character at a time, I like how they give a new perspective on the character. Now let’s talk about what I didn’t like. I felt like at points there was too much action. There were times where there would be pages with panels full of explosions and blasts and no dialogue, and I felt like this detracted from it a little bit. Some issues took me less than ten minutes to read, and I found that slightly disappointing, I would have liked a little more exposition to go with the action, rather than just having a whole page full of reds, oranges, blacks, yellows, and sound effects. I remember back when comic books used to take forty-five minutes to read, and I really miss those days, and back then comics cost a heck of a lot less than they do now. I’m dropping a lot of money on these books, I want to actually be able to savor them, rather than just fly through them. I also didn’t like the time jumps. Between the first two volumes of “Annihilation,” there was a lot of time that wasn’t actually shown on panel, and these two volumes collected issues that spanned over a real-time period of three years in publication. I feel like the writers could have made a compelling story without the time jumps, which left gaps of several months left completely off the page. Yes, the dialogue was enough to explain what happened in the timespan between the jumps, but I didn’t feel like the six months left to the imagination were necessary, especially since comic book time isn’t supposed to mimic real time, and really, not a whole lot of years are supposed to have passed from back when Marvel first went big back in 1961 to now, so over 200 days passing in one event wastes a lot of time, in my opinion, and this event taking so long while the rest of the Marvel Universe is going on at a time period at a much slower pace doesn’t make sense, since “Civil War” didn’t take that long. Of course, we wouldn’t have a graphic novel review if I didn’t discuss the artwork. As my regular readers know, this is often a killer of scores for me. A graphic novel can have the most amazing story ever told, but the artwork can be an eyesore that ruins my enjoyment reading the book. That said, the story can be awful but still have mind-blowingly epic artwork that actually gets points just for pleasing my eyes. So, let’s do a rundown of what I thought of the art. For the art in “Annihilation: Ronan,” I felt it was a little wonky, but it wasn’t so bad that I hated it. The artwork in “Annihilation” was, in my opinion, fantastic. I found the art in “Parasites” to be enjoyable. I loved the artwork in “A Death of Hope.” The art in “Afterburn” was, in my opinion, very good. And I thought the art in “Brother’s Keeper” was excellent. So, in general, I found the artwork to mostly be acceptable, if not pleasurable, which it is actually relatively rare to happen when a graphic novel has so many artists. Usually, multiple artists means that someone runs a risk if inciting my ire, but none of these artists actually really struck a nerve. My final reflection is going to be on the title. Yes, “Desperate Measures” was the title of one issue in this book, but I just don’t really like it. This book basically had fourteen titles to choose from, if you want to get technical, and I don’t know exactly why the editors picked this one specifically, but it’s not my favorite. Can I tell you which one would have been the best? Honestly, no, but I still think there could have been a better title.

                Next up, we’re going to talk about accessibility. For any of the people who have read any of my other six dozen or so reviews, I’m sorry I have to explain this, but I always have those newbies who just got Facebook or X or Threads or found me through a hashtag for the first time and have never read a Tim Cubbin review before and have no idea what I mean when I throw out the word “accessibility” like this, so I’m obligated to explain it once again for whatever ridiculously high number of times I’ve had to explain this. So when I use the word “accessibility” in a review, what I mean is, can a person who has absolutely no prior knowledge at all of Marvel Comics find this book online, or at a bookstore, or comics shop, or a library, say “oh, I like this title!” or “oh, I like this cover, I want to read this!” and procure this book, read it, and fully understand everything they’ve just read? The answer is a resounding no. The biggest reason I say this is because this is marketed as Vol. 2, and I feel like it is imperative to read Vol. 1 “Annihilation Day” before reading this graphic novel as it sets up many of the threads in the main “Annihilation” event itself. The secondary reason I say this is because some of these characters are relatively obscure and have not had adequate histories established in other media to prepare readers for this book, even if you are a fan of the MCU, video games, television series, or cartoons. I will say if you are new to Marvel Comics, whether a fan of Marvel media or just a person who has never heard of Marvel and want to read this book, this is not a book to pick as your first foray into reading Marvel Comics.

                Okay, I’ve been blathering on for a very long time at this point, you’re probably starting to get bored of me and just want me to move on, so let’s get with one of the key points in my review. I used to say it was the reason we’re all here, but some people who read my reviews just want to hear what the book was about or what I thought about it, but this next part is one of the most crucial segments of any of my reviews, that being my numeric score. So, I work on an extremely simple system of scoring. My scores come in exact integers between one through ten. If I give the book a one, that means that it’s a piece of trash and every copy left in warehouses should be collected, placed in a pile, and ignited, then should never be reprinted again. I know that sounds a little extreme, but that’s how I am. Ten means this book is sheer perfection and if I get the chance, I will find any unsuspecting victims and talk to them about this graphic novel for ten hours straight until they buy the book and we will then have a ten hour discussion about the book. I know, that’s extreme, too. These polar scores really don’t exactly mean what I say they do in exposition. One just means this book was horrible, ten means this book was fantastic. So, let’s get to the actual score. So, I always say I have my metaphorical blender that somehow magically takes graphic novels in and makes a score. I know, in reality, that makes absolutely no sense, but like I said, it’s a metaphor. This blender takes every component of the graphic novel into account when I make a score in it, the story, the art, and the title. Let’s do a quick recap of the ingredients. I felt like the story was relatively mid-level, but I still found things to enjoy about it at the same time. I felt that, for the most part, the art was at least acceptable, if not excellent. I did not like the title. I’ll toss all of these ingredients into my blender, turn it on, mix it until I have a liquid, which, I know, makes no sense, but again this is a metaphor so just accept it, and pour the liquid score out into a metaphorical cup. Now, I don’t actually drink the score, I just look at it then pour it down my metaphorical sink. But I am looking at the score and it’s… a five. This book was average, but it wasn’t completely awful.

                I know, I’ve been going on for a really long time now, you’re probably really getting bored of me now, so let’s move on to the last major segment of my review: the recommendation. In the recommendation segment, I do two things. The first thing I do is tell you if I personally would recommend this book to you, my reader, who have been reading this review for the past several minutes, or to anyone unfortunate enough to be considered someone I’d talk to about this book. The second thing I do is, regardless of if I would recommend this book or not, tell you who I think the best audience would be to read this book, which is actually usually pretty obvious, but sometimes there are a few surprises. So to cover the first bulletin point, the answer is no, I would not personally recommend this book to you if you’re reading this review and are on the fence about if you want to read this book or not based solely on what you’ve been reading for the past several minutes, but that is entirely up to you, I can’t compel you not to read this book, this may actually sound interesting to you and you might want to read it, so if you want to read it, I can’t stop you, but the fact of the matter is I would tell you that I honestly don’t think you should read it if you’re not completely sure as this book is a costly investment and I wouldn’t want you to waste your money on something you won’t enjoy. As for the second point, I feel like the best audience is people who like space dramas. If you’re a fan of shows or movies like “Star Trek” or “Star Wars” and a comic book fan, this is probably your kind of comic book. If you’re a fan of Marvel characters such as Nova, Thanos, Silver Surfer, Galactus, or Drax, I would recommend this book to you as it very much highlights these characters. And if you like cosmic Marvel Comics or Negative Zone stories, this might be your cup of tea.

                Okay, I feel like it’s just about time we all moved on with our lives, I’ve been typing for the past four hours, it’s time to move on. Just a few short notices before we go, though. First off, I do have to talk a little bit about this blog. I’ve been working on this blog for five years now and have done over 170 posts. The majority of the work I do on this blog is book reviews. I’ve done some prose novels in the past, and some Marvel events collected on Marvel Unlimited, my current main focus is Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Ultimate Epic Collections. I am a diehard Marvel fan and purchase every Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after release and if possible, put up a review on this blog. I usually do at least one post a month. I’ve done over six dozen reviews like this at this point. I’ve done a review of “Annihilation: Annihilation Day” if you want more “Annihilation” content to compare to this post. I have already obtained my next Modern Era Epic Collection “Captain America: The Burden of Dreams,” you can expect a review of that within the next eleven days. In addition to the dozens of reviews I’ve done, I’ve also written a few short stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials, so there’s plenty of other content here, keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for all my other posts. I’ll be doing this blog for as long as I can, so you can probably expect that to be for quite a while as I don’t foresee anything stopping me anytime soon. I’ll say that’s all for now, folks, but until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Carnage: Carnage U.S.A."

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Carnage: Carnage U.S.A.” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                Tech billionaire Michael Hall recovered the body of Cletus Kasady/Carnage from space after Carnage had been ripped in half by the superhero the Sentry. Francis Barrison/Shriek, Carnage’s lover and a supervillain patient at Ravencroft, a sanitorium bought over by Hall Industries, was being transported to a Hall Industries facility. The Spider-Doppelganger, who thought of her as its mother, sensed her presence and attacked the truck carrying her. Shriek’s psychiatrist, Doctor Tanis Nieves, tried to use her car to run the truck off the road. Tony Stark/Iron Man and Peter Parker/Spider-Man came to stop the creature, but Shriek used her mind control powers to incite an angry mob against the heroes. Two tech powered employees for Hall Industries, Royal Blue and Firebrick, joined the fight and shot the Spider-Doppelganger, hitting Nieves as well. The truck got away, and the mob quieted down. Nieves was outfitted with a high-tech prosthetic arm from Hall Industries that was laced with a piece of the Carnage symbiote. Spider-Man visited Nieves in the hospital, suspicious of Shriek’s part in the riot, and Nieve’s confirmed she was Shriek’s doctor but did not implicate Hall Industries. Stark found traces of the Carnage symbiote left behind from the skirmish with Royal Blue and Firebrick and told Spider-Man, who had a long history with symbiotes. Nieves demanded to see Shriek during the middle of an experiment, and the symbiote in her prosthetic arm took over and attacked. Stark pieced together that Hall was involved, and Iron Man and Spider-Man went to Hall Industries, where they were attacked by the tech soldiers Paris Green, Firebrick, Royal Blue, Burnt Orange, and Gun Metal. Nieves freed the Carnage symbiote, and the symbiote attached to her. The tech soldiers were called in to fight Carnage. Iron Man and Spider-Msn joined the fight. As Shriek was being moved, the Spider-Doppelganger tried to rescue Shriek. The Hall employees moving Shriek fought the creature, and Shriek attacked the guards to save the creature. Carnage found its way to the cell where Cletus Kasady was secretly being kept alive. The symbiote left Nieves and rejoined with Kasady. Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the Hall tech soldiers fought Carnage, but Carnage pulled the symbiote tech from the soldiers and added it to himself. Shriek found Nieves and informed her she was carrying Carnage’s baby. Tanis cut off her prosthetic arm to try to prevent bonding with a symbiote. Shriek attached the arm to herself, then joined Carnage in the fight, mind controlling all the civilians to her side, along with the Spider-Doppelganger. The tide turned against the heroes, and as it looked like the heroes were losing, Nieves became the symbiote hero Scorn. Scorn forced Shriek to use her sonic powers to destroy Carnage’s armor, but Carnage himself was able to escape. Nieves was then placed under Stark’s care.

                Carnage escaped to Doverton, Colorado, where he took over the entire town. Kasady sent the sheriff out with his demands. The Avengers, Spider-Man, James Howlett/Wolverine, Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Steve Rogers/Captain America, and Ben Grimm/Thing were called in to rescue the town. Upon arriving, they encountered Kasady, who expanded the symbiote and corrupted the Avengers, except for Spider-Man. The government, in response, sent in two contingency plans, all symbiote powered agents, Contingency A was Scorn. Contingency B was soldiers Marcus Simms/Lasher, James Murphy/Agony, Rico Axelson/Phage, and Howard Ogden/Riot. Spider-Man was rescued by the citizens of Doverton who were able to escape from Carnage and were hiding on the Ralsby Estate outside Doverton. Carnage sent the wife and children of one of the escapees to the Ralsby Estate to kill their family. They were unable to go through with their mission. Carnage briefly lost control over Captain America, and Cap called in a third contingency plan: Eugene “Flash” Thompson/Venom. Spider-Man and Contingencies A and B fought Carnage and the symbiote civilians of Doverton and the symbiote Avengers until Venom arrived. Scorn set up a trap that separated symbiotes from their hosts and plowed Carnage into it, but unintentionally also drove Venom into it as well. Flash and Cletus fought without their symbiotes. The government fired on a localized area of Doverton to destroy the symbiote mass, and Cletus Kasady was arrested and detained.

                Carnage managed to bust out of custody from the Thunderbolts Mountain Maximum Security Prison. Venom was called in to hunt him down. On the footage of Carnage’s escape, Venom saw a small creature. Venom called his contact, Daily Inquisitor reporter Katy Kiernan, who sent him a report about the Prometheus Pit in Houston, Texas. Kaine Parker/Scarlet Spider, who operated in Houston, found a survivor of a crime scene, who seemed to be afraid of him. Katy flew to Houston to investigate the story and met with Doctor Ketola, who had built a version of the Prometheus Pit at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Carnage attacked the Space Center, and Scarlet Spider swung in to try to stop him. A group of small creatures joined the fight and forced Ketola to activate the Prometheus Pit. Carnage grabbed Katy and stepped through it. Venom arrived at the scene and lost control of the symbiote and attacked Scarlet Spider. After a brief fight, Flash regained control of the symbiote, and Scarlet Spider and Venom stepped through the Prometheus Pit. The two arrived in separate locations in the Microverse. Venom was discovered by the Enigma Force. Scarlet Spider arrived in front of the Redeemer. Carnage was brought to the Body Banks. Enigma Force traveled through the Microverse with Venom to fight Marquis Radu. The Redeemer brought Scarlet Spider to Marquis Radu’s location, where they were attacked by Carnage. The Redeemer was endangered, and Scarlet Spider broke off the attack. Marquis Radu abducted Venom, the Enigma Force, Katy, and Carnage and brought them to the Body Banks. Marquis Radu used the Venom and Carnage symbiotes to create an army of symbiote soldiers. The Enigma Force and Katy managed to break free. Carnage escaped from the Microverse. The Redeemer used his powers to return Scarlet Spider, Venom and Katy to Houston, but they did not arrive full-sized. Scarlet Spider and Venom battled the symbiote soldiers until they returned to regular size. Venom detonated a sonic bomb, destroying the symbiote soldier and knocking out Carnage. Scarlet Spider then lobotomized Cletus Kasady. Carnage was apprehended and sedated.

                Bentley Whitman/Wizard staged a prison break to recruit Carnage for his Frightful Four, along with Ulysses Klaw and Karl Malus. Wizard was dying due to dementia caused by a fight with Black Bolt and wanted to impress his estranged clone/son Bentley-23 before he passed away. However, Wizard was unable to bend Carnage to his will. Wizard decided to control Carnage, Wizard would have to change Carnage’s host. Wizard performed a blood transfusion between Cletus Kasady and Malus. Wizard decided the Frightful Four would stage an attack on City Hall in New York City and take down Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. As the Frightful Four attacked City Hall and entered the mayor’s office, they were greeted by Otto Octavius/Spider-Man and his Spider Patrol. The Superior Spider-Man then had to fight the Frightful Four and the Superior Carnage to save City Hall.

                Okay, I think that’s a good enough synopsis summary. Now it’s time for my personal input for the review. We’re going to start, as always, with my own personal opinions on the book. Some of my longtime readers may recall that Carnage is my favorite supervillain. So, of course when I found out Marvel was putting out a “Carnage” Modern Era Epic Collection, I was super excited. And I will say that I loved this book. Mind you that I did read these stories years ago, but it’s been at least twelve years on parts of this book, so the refresher was needed. But I thought these stories were excellent. I’ve always been a fan of Carnage, and I also enjoyed Flash Thompson/Venom and Kaine Parker/Scarlet Spider, so having all three of these characters featured in one volume was a huge thrill for me. Some of my longtime readers may recall that the “Minimum Carnage” storyarc was also featured in “Venom: The Savage Six,” so the story has been reviewed before in my review of that graphic novel, if you would like to compare them. Anyway, “Carnage” was interesting to me, I liked how Hall made his technology out of the Carnage symbiote, and Scorn was an interesting new character in my opinion. “Carnage U.S.A.” was highly enjoyable to me, the whole concept of Carnage taking over a whole town was highly entertaining. I loved “Minimum Carnage,” the Scarlet Spider/Venom crossover event was a great idea, in my opinion, taking these two vastly different characters and forcing them to try to achieve the same goal was genius. “Superior Carnage” was compelling, watching the Wizard making a last-ditch effort to impress his son almost made me root for the villain, which I actually felt was quite a brilliant twist. While I loved the stories, the art presents a little bit of a problem. For the most part I enjoyed it, but I have a few complaints. While I enjoyed Clayton Crain’s work on “Carnage” and “Carnage U.S.A.” I will say that I felt that his coloring was a little too dark. Also, I was not a fan of Declan Shalvey’s work on “Venom” in “Minimum Carnage.” That said, the rest of the art was, in my opinion, fantastic. But the biggest problem I have with the art is Cletus Kasady’s legs. Crain drew Kasady as he had been torn in half by the Sentry, with a prosthetic lower body. This lower body was destroyed during his fight with Flash Thompson during “Carnage U.S.A.” However, all the other artists who drew Kasady in human form gave Kasady flesh and blood legs. This inconsistency greatly bothers me. I feel it is something the editors should have noticed. Otherwise, I felt this book was a stellar Modern Era Epic Collection and hope to see more “Carnage” Modern Era Epic Collections in the future. Also, I felt that the title “Carnage U.S.A.” was highly adequate.

                Next on our list of things to discuss, we’re going to talk about accessibility. I’ve explained this at least six dozen times at this point, but I know I always have new readers every time I do a post who don’t know what I mean when I use the word, so I shall explain myself once again. When I say “accessibility” I mean if a person who knows nothing about Marvel Comics can pick up this book, read it, and completely understand what they have just read. I will say this book does have some accessibility factors, but there are some details that are off-putting to readers who are unfamiliar with the comics. First off, Flash Thompson is not the best-known Venom, Kaine Parker is not the most well-known Scarlet Spider, and readers who don’t know Marvel would have difficulty with Otto Octavius being the Superior Spider-Man. But it does have a standalone kind of feel to it, particularly the fact that most of it is limited series. This volume is comprised of three limited series, two one-shots, and four regular issues from two ongoing series. Would I recommend it as a first read for someone who wants to start getting into Marvel Comics? Not particularly, but it’s not the worst place a new reader can start.

                Okay, now that I’ve been prattling on for a long time, I think it’s high time I move on to the point that is one of the key components of my review: the numeric score. I’m not going to say it’s the single most important part of my review, everyone reads my reviews for different reasons, but the score is a very integral part of any of my reviews. So, I score on a very basic system, on a scale of one through ten. One means this book is smelly garbage that should be avoided at all cost. Ten means this book is sheer perfection. People who have read my reviews before know I’m very particular about what I consider perfection and I’m not in the business of just posting every book I read is a ten. And I will say this book is just not perfection. While yes, the stories were fantastic, the art had its problems, with the color pallet being a little dark in Crain’s work, and Shalvey’s work didn’t appeal to my visual tastes, and yes, there was the forgetting of Cletus Kasady having been cut in half. However, I still thought this was an excellent book, and I feel like the score I give should reflect on that. So, when I put the book into my metaphorical review-mixing blender and turn it on and mix this book until it’s a fine liquid, taking everything in this book into account, the fantastic story, the relatively decent art, the adequate title, and I pour it out into my metaphorical cup, this score is… an eight. I felt like this book had an exemplary story, and if a different artist had been selected for “Venom” and if the artists had remembered to follow continuity on Kasady’s body, the score could have been higher, but for what it was, this book was a phenomenal effort.

                Next on our list of things to do is the recommendation. In this segment I do two things. The first is I tell you, my readers, if I personally recommend this book to you, or if I were to talk to anyone about this book, would I recommend it to them? The second thing I do is say regardless of if I would recommend the book or not, whom do I think would be the best audience to read this book. So, to answer the first question, you can probably already guess at this point based on the excellent review I’ve given that this book gets my personal recommendation. And if you guessed that, you would be absolutely correct. I do recommend this book to anyone within the sound of my voice and anyone reading this review who is interested in reading this review based solely on what I am writing right now should definitely make every effort to try to obtain this book, either going to your favorite online retailer, or bookstore, or if you’re really lucky your local library might have it, just do whatever you can to get your hands on it, I think this is an exceptional book and well worth the read. As to whom I think the best audience for this book is, I would say anyone who is a fan of Carnage or any symbiote storylines. I would also say people who like horror comics would really enjoy this. And I would also say people who like psychological comics would definitely be a target audience.

                Okay, we’re getting to a point where we are just about ready to part ways. There are a few things I have to say before I go. The first is that I have been doing this blog for five years now and have done over 170 posts. Over seven dozen of them are book reviews just like this. I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after publication and post a review as soon as I possibly can after I read them. I post on a very frequent basis because of this, usually at least one post a month. You can expect to see my next post “Annihilation: Desperate Measures” within the next week after my publishing this post. I’ve also written short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and editorials, so there’s plenty of other content on this blog to check out if you enjoyed this post. I’ll be back soon, but until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"The Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time"

 

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

                Peter Parker/Spider-Man led the rest of the Avengers on a mission to stop a dying Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus’ Octobots from destroying New York City. Peter’s ex-girlfriend Felicia Hardy/Black Cat wanted a better standing in the superhero world and asked Peter for some of his Avengers level credit. New York City Mayor J. Jonah Jameson gave Joseph “Robbie” Robertson to restore the struggling media outlet Front Line back to the Daily Bugle, a right which had been stolen from them by Dexter Bennett that Jameson bought back for his former employee. Peter’s landlord decided to move and kicked Peter out of his apartment. Peter asked his girlfriend NYPD CSI Officer Carlie Cooper if he could move in with her, but she felt it could mess up their relationship if they moved too fast. Peter’s Aunt May Parker-Jameson had a visit with her daughter-in-law Doctor Marla Madison-Jameson. Peter came to his Aunt May to ask if he could temporarily stay with her, but Marla greeted Peter at the door and brought Peter to Horizon Labs, where Marla introduced Peter to Max Modell, one of Peter’s science idols. One Horizon scientist, Sajani Jaffrey, had been working on a metal she called Reverbium that could absorb any impact. A testing of Sajani’s project went wrong, and Peter was able to shut it down. Following this, Modell offered Peter a high-paying job at Horizon Labs, which Peter gladly accepted. Wilson Fisk/Kingpin learned about the Reverbium from his agent inside Horizon Labs and hired Roderick Kingsley/Hobgoblin to steal it. Kingsley went to a base belonging to Norman Osborn/Green Goblin to steal some of Osborn’s Goblin gear and discovered Phil Urich (a former Green Goblin) hiding in the base. Phil disposed of Kingsley. Daily Bugle reporter Norah Winters was trying to get a story on Goblin Culture from a biker bar and had to be rescued by Spider-Man and Black Cat. Commander Steve Rogers/Captain America asked Mayor Jameson to present Spider-Man with the key to the city. Macdonald “Mac” Gargan/Venom, formerly Scorpion, was separated from his symbiote, and without the Scorpion armor and the Venom symbiote, Gargan was dying. Peter began his first day at Horizon Las, which was attacked by the Hobgoblin. Peter swung into action as Spider-Man but was unable to stop Hobgoblin from stealing the Reverbium. Kingpin agreed to hire Phil Urich as his Hobgoblin. Peter built a stealth Spider-Man suit and teamed up with Black Cat to infiltrate the Fisk Building to destroy the Reverbium.

Alistair Smythe/Spider-Slayer wanted revenge on Mayor Jameson for the wrongs Jameson did to him and his family, so he broke Gargan out of the Raft prison and bonded him with a new Scorpion armor. Mayor Jameson’s son John was flying the Vertex Shuttle to Horizon’s Space Station using experimental engines. The mayor’s father Jay Jameson, Sr. was at the launch, while Marla and May were having a spa day. Spider-Slayer, along with his army of insect soldiers and Scorpion, attacked the launch, planning on destroying the shuttle and killing all of the mayor’s family and friends. Spider-Man was able to save the shuttle. Spider-Slayer’s army also attacked the spa and the Daily Bugle. Along with the help of the Avengers, Spider-Man was able to stop Smythe and his army and the Scorpion, but he used a device that cost him his Spider-Sense, and he wasn’t able to save everyone.

Eugene “Flash” Thompson was selected by Project Rebirth 2.0 to host the Venom symbiote as a government agent.

Following a tragic loss, Peter swore that as long as Spider-Man was around, no one dies. Marcus Lyman/Massacre held a bank hostage, taking several victims. Spider-Man convinced the NYPD to give in to Massacre’s demands in order to save lives, then find him later. Massacre then tested Spider-Man’s new vow by staging another hostage crisis.

The Fantastic Four mourned the loss of Johnny Storm/Human Torch, one of Spider-Man’s closest friends. Ben Grimm/Thing, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, and Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic all remembered their fondest moments with Spider-Man and Human Torch together. Spider-Man was invited to be a member of the newly minted Future Foundation. Spider-Man was called in on a Future Foundation adventure and told Carlie he was going on a business trip for Horizon. Mister Fantastic detected three rifts in the space-time continuum that the Future Foundation had to close, one on Earth, one in the Microverse, and one in the distant future. Carlie went to Horizon Labs to ship Peter a care package on his business trip, only to be told Horizon had not sent Peter anywhere. Upon returning to Earth in the present, the Future Foundation arrived on an island in the Caribbean, where the locals had been under siege. The Future Foundation investigated a mysterious island and discovered the source of the disturbances were being caused by the Sinister Six, Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus, Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon, Max Dillon/Electro, Quentin Beck/Mysterio, Alexi Systevich/Rhino, and Flint Marko/Sandman trying to open a portal. The children entrusted to the Future Foundation arrived on the island to help after discovering the rifts had been caused by the Sinister Six. The Future Foundation were able to stop the Sinister Six’s plot but were unable to prevent the villains’ escapes. Peter returned home and Carlie confronted Peter about his lie, and the two were able to reconcile.

The Future Foundation battled a giant monster that had escaped from the Microverse. They were aided by Hank Pym/Giant Man, who was in charge of the Avengers Academy, a school training young superhumans who were at risk of turning into supervillains: Jennifer Takeda/Hazmat, Ken Mack/Mettle, Jeanne Foucault/Finesse, Humberto Lopez/Reptil, Medeline Berry/Veil and Brandon Sharpe/Striker. The faculty had other commitments, and Giant Man needed a substitute teacher for a day. Giant Man asked Thing, but since Peter had a teacher’s license, Giant Man decided given Spider-Man’s history, Spider-Man would be the perfect substitute teacher. After failing at teaching ethics, Spider-Man took the students out on patrol. While on patrol, Spider-Man and the students encountered Psycho-Man, who had escaped from the Microverse during the Future Foundation’s mission. Psycho-Man corrupted the students and turned them on Psycho-Man, and Spider-Man had to find a way to break Psycho-Man’s control over the students and to defeat the villain.

While Spider-Man was accepting the key to the city from Mayor Jameson, the ceremony was interrupted by Victor Alvarez/Power Man, Hero-For-Hire, who had unwittingly been hired by Norton G. Fester/Looter to steal the key so Looter could unlock a vault, thinking he would obtain a meteor that would strengthen his powers, but Looter instead unleashed a space monster. Spider-Man and Power Man had to team up to stop the monster and apprehend the villain.

The criminal Magnetic Man was released from prison on good behavior, but felt forced to return to his villainous ways, feeling he had no other way to make a living, until Peter Parker offered him a choice.

Spider-Man was drawn to a bar by Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider. The demon the Servicer felt Ghost Rider was not using his bike for the reason it was given to him, to collect souls, and attempted to repossess it and steal the souls of everyone living in Manhattan. Spider-Man and Ghost Rider had to team up to stop Ghost Rider’s bike from being used for a sinister purpose and defeat the demon.

Okay, so we’ve got the plot summary out of the way, now let’s move on to my personal segments to this review. We’re going to start off with my own reflections on the book. My first reflection is a rather odd one: this is not the book I wanted at the moment. What I mean by this is that this particular volume is marketed as Vol. 14. The last volume of “The Amazing Spider-Man” in Modern Era Epic Collection format was Vol. 1, and the next volume being released is Vol. 2, to be followed by Vol. 3, so I don’t know why Marvel decided to release this particular volume at this exact moment in time, it honestly makes no sense to me. I feel like right now I should be reviewing “The Life and Death of Spiders” and not “Big Time” if the editors released these books properly. I know Marvel has made jumps in releases of Epic Collections, but this release just seems completely illogical. “Coming Home” ended inconclusively, and I would much rather be reading a sequential progression than skipping eight years of comics, then going back those eight years four months later when they do release Vol. 2, especially considering that there were a lot of changes that occurred due to certain storylines such as “Civil War,” “One More Day,” and “Brand New Day” and missing those key storylines makes little sense. That said, for what it was, I found the stories contained in this book to be highly enjoyable. Peter getting a job as a scientist and finally making money, having a new girlfriend, being a member of the Avengers and the Future Foundation were all developments that I liked. Gargan becoming Scorpion again, Phil Urich becoming the new Hobgoblin, and Flash Thomson being drafted as Venom were entertaining developments as well. The Horizon Labs scientists were all entertaining new side characters and the little impacts they had on the stories were all enjoyable. “Revenge of the Spider-Slayer” had a conclusion that really tugged at my heart, the tragic loss at the end, and I thought that was brilliantly written. “Torch Song” while a depressing issue mourning the loss of Johnny Storm was also quite humorous, especially the story told by Invisible Woman. “The Substitute” storyline was actually my favorite storyline in the book due to the range of emotions delivered throughout those two issues. I felt like throughout the entire graphic novel there was a wide range of emotions in general, and I really liked that. There were parts that made me laugh, smile, feel sad, feel excitement, and other reactions out of me that I always want to feel when I’m reading a graphic novel, so I feel like the writers did an excellent job on that front. Moving on to the work of the artists, however, there were hits and there were misses. I felt like Humberto Ramos did a fantastic job, he is actually one of my favorite comic book artists, I love his unique style. I also highly enjoyed Stefano Caselli’s work, and I thought Reilly Brown was particularly good, too, but the other artists just failed to appeal to my visual palate. However, I do feel like the artwork was mostly pleasing to look at, and the stories made up for those issues that were visual turn offs. As for the choice of the title of this graphic novel, I feel like “Big Time” is completely adequate.

Next, we’re going to move on to accessibility. I know that there are some of you who have read my reviews before and know what I mean by this, and I must have explained this at least six dozen times by now, but I know there are always those new readers who have never read a Tim Cubbin review before and don’t quite off the bat get what I mean when I use the word “accessibility,” so I’m obligated to once again explain myself. My meaning in the usage of the word is simply if a person who somehow (and I know in this day and age it seems nearly impossible) has never heard of Spider-Man can walk into their local book store or library and see this book on the shelf and say to themself “gee, this looks interesting, I want to read it," and then take this book with them and read it and comprehend everything they’ve just read. In this case, I feel like this book is both accessible and inaccessible at the same time. It is the start of a new storyline, it only features issues from one series, it’s pretty much self-contained, and there are no direct crossovers or events contained in this book. However, it ties into other series with the inclusion of characters such as the Avengers, the Future Foundation, and the Avengers Academy. That said, I feel like if you have knowledge of Marvel already from other sources such as the MCU, shows, video games, cartoons, movies, or even other comics, you will probably be able to pick up on this a lot easier. I will tell you that after “Civil War” I stopped reading Marvel Comics for five years, and even now found some details in this book to be a little confusing, so I’m not completely sure if a Marvel newbie would be totally able to grasp this book, but maybe the fresh perspective might actually be a help, having not known all the history before “Brand New Day” could be beneficial, having no preconceived notions may work in your favor. However, I honestly would not recommend this book as a first book in someone’s Marvel Comics collection.

Next up on the docket is one of the most crucial moments in a Tim Cubbin review: my numeric score. I can’t say as it’s the single most important thing I do in my reviews, I think everything in these reviews aside from my introductory and conclusion paragraphs hold values of import to the overall impact of the review, but it is still extremely critical and one of the main reasons people actually read my reviews. Anyway, I score on an extremely simple system. I go on a scale of exact integers from one through ten. One means that this is one of the worst things I have ever read in my entire life and that every copy of this book should be collectively gathered and burned and then never be printed again. Giving a book a ten means that this is one of the best things I have ever read in my entire life and I will talk nonstop about it for the next month to anyone who gives me an opening and I will remember every single detail in this book fondly until the day I die. In my line of scoring, tens are reserved for sheer perfection, and I do not hand those out very often. The story has to be constantly engaging, interesting, unpredictable, satisfying, and entertaining. The art has to be consistently appealing, intriguing, pleasing, stunning, and enjoyable. And the title has to match the content it promises on the cover. So, let’s tick off the boxes here. The story for the most part was brilliantly written, but there were some parts that I didn’t completely find to be absolutely spot on. The artwork only fits the bill through about 80% of the book. The title was completely adequate. So, I’d say we’re looking at a relatively good score here. Now, my regular readers already know about my metaphorical blender, but I’ll tell you newbies about it. I have a metaphorical blender reserved for mixing scores for book reviews. So, I take all the contents of the graphic novel I’ve just read as liquids, and I pour them into my metaphorical blender. I turn it on to mix and I blend them until they’re completely consistent. Then I have my metaphorical cup I drink scores out of. I take my score liquid and I pour it into my cup. I’m looking at it and it’s… a seven! I’d love to have given higher for the story, but there were moments that I didn’t completely love, and I did take off for the art, but still, a seven is a particularly good score by my standards.

Next up on our magical mystery tour is the recommendation. This segment answers two questions. The first question is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend this graphic novel to anyone who is reading this review right now or who may hear the sound of my voice as I talk to them about this graphic novel? The second question has no correlation to the first question, and it is who do I think should be reading this graphic novel? The answer to question number one is yes, I do give my personal recommendation for this graphic novel. As for question number two, I think the best audience for this book are fans of Spider-Man (obviously), for readers who enjoy the work of Dan Slott as I feel he excelled in writing the stories he wrote in this graphic novel, and for readers who enjoy comic books that evoke a wide range of emotions, as this graphic novel definitely plays with the readers’ emotions.

Okay, we’re at the point where I’m just about ready to wrap everything up. There are some things I do have to say before I go. I’ll start off by talking about the content of this blog a little bit. I’ve been working on this blog for five years now and I have done over 170 posts. I have done over seven dozen reviews on this blog, many of them on Epic Collections. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to check out my other review in the series “The Amazing Spider-Man: Coming Home.” I collect every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after they are released and try to put up a review as soon as I can after I read them. I’ve done reviews of other books, comic events, and even a few Mangas. I’ve also written short stories, poetry, essays, editorials, and articles, but my current main focus is on reviews. I post on a very frequent basis. My next post is going to be a review of “Carnage: Carnage U.S.A.” you can expect to see that post within the next week of this post going up. And with that, I believe I’ve said all I need to say for today, so I’ll just end with Tim Cubbin… out!