"Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade"

 

                The following is a review of the graphic novel “Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

                Erik Lensherr/Magneto became interested in the Young Avengers, particularly Billy Kaplan/Wiccan and Tommy Shepherd/Speed, who might be the reincarnated children of Magneto’s daughter Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, essentially his own grandsons. Both Scott Summers/Cyclops and James Howlett/Logan/Wolverine warned Magneto to stay away from the kids.

                The Young Avengers (Cassie Lang/Stature, Eli Bradley/Patriot, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, Tommy Shepherd/Speed, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, Teddy Altman/Hulkling, Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, and Vision) battled the supremacist group the Sons of the Serpent. Steve Rogers/Captain America, Tony Stark/Iron Man, and Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel arrived to assist the fight. Wiccan lost control of his powers and put all the members of the Sons of the Serpent into comas. The Avengers feared he could potentially have the same powers as the Scarlet Witch and be the Scarlet Witch’s son. The Scarlet Witch had lost control of her powers and killed Avengers Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Scott Lang/Ant-Man, and Vision; created a world where Magneto ruled; and when the World of M failed, robbed millions of mutants of their powers with a single spell. After the World of M, Scarlet Witch disappeared, and no one had been able to find her. Wiccan refused to believe the Scarlet Witch was acting of her own free will when she committed these acts. The Avengers took Wiccan in for assessment. Hulkling volunteered to stay with Wiccan. The rest of the Young Avengers broke Wiccan and Hulkling out. Magneto found the Young Avengers and asked for Wiccan and Speed’s help finding Scarlet Witch. Wiccan refused to go without the rest of his team. The Avengers (Steve Rogers/Captain America, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Carol Danvers/Ms. Mavel, Logan/Wolverine, and Luke Cage arrived and fought Magneto, but Wiccan teleported the Young Avengers and Magneto to Wundagore Mountain in Transia, birthplace of the Scarlet Witch. They began to search for Scarlet Witch when they encountered Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, who tried to separate Wiccan from Magneto. Quicksilver attacked Magneto, and during this attack, destroyed a Doombot disguised as the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan tried to sneak off to teleport to Latveria, the country ruled by Doctor Doom, but he was discovered by Quicksilver and the Young Avengers before he could make the jump. The Avengers turned to Simon Williams/Wonder Man for help finding Scarlet Witch due to an energy bond the two shared. Wiccan managed to sneak away from the Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver and teleport to Latveria. He used his magic to disguise himself as Scarlet Witch to see if the guards would lead Wiccan to the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan was brought to a room where he came face to face with Scarlet Witch. She had no memories of her life as an Avenger or the Scarlet Witch and no magical powers and informed Wiccan she would be getting married the next day. The groom arrived in the room, and it was Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, who rendered Wiccan unconscious. The Young Avengers, Magneto, and Quicksilver managed to travel to Latveria, but they arrived at the same time as the Avengers. Doctor Doom used a spell to heal Wiccan, but the spell robbed Wiccan of his powers and locked Wiccan up. Wanda freed Wiccan and asked Wiccan to tell Wanda about the Scarlet Witch. Wiccan agreed if Wanda would help him escape. The Avengers and the Young Avengers got into a battle. Wolverine was about to end Wanda’s existence when Nathaniel Richards/Iron Lad arrived and stopped him. Iron Lad had come from the future where he found out that Scarlet Witch and Wiccan were killed at this point in time and traveled to the past to save both their lives. Iron Lad, the Young Avengers, and Wanda escaped into the Timestream. Iron Lad informed the Young Avengers he had developed new technology that would allow them to inhabit a moment in time without altering in. Stature asked Iron Lad to take them to the day the Avengers ended so Wanda would be able to remember. Stature reunited with her father Ant-Man before Jack of Hearts exploded and killed him. Seeing Jack of Hearts restored Wanda’s memories and powers, and Scarlet Witch teleported herself, the Young Avenger, and Ant-Man back to the present. Scarlet Witch lost control of her powers again. Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Jessica Jones, and Hank McCoy/Beast arrived at the scene with the Young Avengers. Wiccan talked to Scarlet Witch, and she regained control and recognized Wiccan and Speed as her sons. Beast decided to see if Scarlet Witch could undo her “no more mutants” spell. Jessica Jones suggested they go to X-Factor Investigations, the mutant detective agency, (Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man, Guido Carosella/Strong Guy, Geveedra-Seven/Shatterstar, and Juilo Esteban Richter/Rictor) Rictor was one of the mutants who had lost his powers on M-Day. Rictor agreed to let Scarlet Witch try to undo the spell on him, and Rictor got his powers back. The X-Men (Scott Summers/Cyclops, Anna Marie/Rogue, Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, Ororo Munroe/Storm, Emma Frost, Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Remy LeBeau/Gambit) arrived outside X-Factor Headquarters, looking for the Scarlet Witch. The Avengers fought the X-Men. Wanda knocked them all out and teleported herself and the Young Avengers back to Castle Doom. Doctor Doom revealed to Wiccan that Wiccan had never truly been depowered. Doctor Doom asked Wiccan and Scarlet Witch to join him in casting a spell to return the powers to the mutants of the world. Patriot tried to take out Doctor Doom while the three were casting the spell, but his shot hit Scarlet Witch, giving Doctor Doom the reality altering power of the Life Force. Doctor Doom teleported the Young Avengers and Scarlet Witch back outside X-Factor Headquarters. Doctor Doom arrived and asked the heroes to surrender to him. When the heroes refused, Doctor Doom fought the combined X-Men, X-Factor, Avengers, and Young Avengers. Not everyone walked away from the fight.

                Doctor Doom summoned his niece, Valeria Richards. The Scarlet Witch would be coming for Doctor Doom, and Doctor Doom wanted to restrain Scarlet Witch and harness Scarlet Witch’s powers for good purposes. Doctor Doom presented Valeria with a list of candidates who could help him in this effort. Valeria went to S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill, who partnered Valeria with Agent Phil Coulson. Valeria and Coulson recruited Elsa Bloodstone, John Walker/U.S.Agent, Valkyrie, Delroy Garrett/3-D Man, and Walter Newell/Stingray in the mission to Latveria to capture the Scarlet Witch and use her powers to undo Doctor Doom’s sins.

                The Young Avengers were invited to the new Avengers mansion, where they had to deal with the security system.

                Iron Man guilted Stature for destroying Iron Man’s car.

                Thor gave the Young Avengers good weather to play baseball in.

                Okay, now that we’ve got the plot summary out of the way, let’s get to the Tim Cubbin part of this review. I’ll start, as always, with my own personal opinions about the book. I found this book to be highly enjoyable. I thought “The Children’s Crusade” was a great storyline. I liked the whole web of family drama. I enjoyed the fatherly portrayal of Magneto. Seeing Magneto trying to save his daughter was touching (for those of you who are thinking you want to correct me about Magneto not being Scarlet Witch’s father, yes, I am aware that Marvel decided to declare he is not, this book was written before that retcon). It was also interesting seeing him accepting the role of a grandfather and seeing just how far he would go for family. Wiccan’s character development was also interesting to observe over the course of the book, watching how his decisions got him in trouble over and over again, but how he really wanted to find his family and absolve his mother of her crimes against the Avengers and mutantkind. I loved seeing X-Factor in this book, they are one of my favorite teams and I honestly wish Marvel would make Modern Era Epic Collections out of this run, it really deserves it. Rictor getting his powers back was great. I loved the war between the Avengers and the X-Men, and the Young Avengers and X-Factor having to take a side. I especially enjoyed watching Wolverine in his own solo vendetta against the Scarlet Witch where he was neither X-Man nor Avenger. I liked seeing the return of the Scarlet Witch. I enjoyed her development from being Wanda Maximoff, the bride of Doom, to the Scarlet Witch, Avenger, and mother. I enjoyed how Heinberg brought back Ant-Man through time travel. I liked seeing Iron Lad return. I will say, however, that the “Avengers World” issues felt out of place in a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection. None of the Young Avengers played a starring part in it. It somewhat connects with the main story, and I can see the reason that the editors decided to include these two issues in this book, but they still really felt to me like they didn’t belong in this particular collection based on the main storyline being completely separate and from quite a time apart, and also for not including the Young Avengers in starring roles. That’s not to say I didn’t find the story interesting. It wasn’t my favorite part of the book, but I still found it to be relatively enjoyable. The “I am an Avenger” short stories were fun; I found them to be enjoyable for the brief bits that they were. As far as the art goes, for the majority of this book, I found the art to be excellent. My points of unenjoyment come from two of the “I am an Avenger” stories. Otherwise, I thought the art was fantastic. As far as the title goes, this book could not have been given any other title but “The Children’s Crusade,” and if it had, that would have been a crime in my opinion. It was the title of the series that was the majority of this book, so no other title would have made sense. I will say, though, that I feel it was a little odd to make this series into a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection as this was not a “Young Avengers” comic series. The title was officially “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade,” and included the one-shot “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade – Young Avengers,” but this was not officially designated as a “Young Avengers” limited series. I can see the editors’ reasons for making this a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection, the whole book focuses on them, but this was called an “Avengers” limited series at the time. As far as the cover goes, I feel the choice was perfect, it features the Young Avengers in the foreground, the Scarlet Witch in the midground, and the Avengers in the background. It is an excellent representation of the content of this book, and I am satisfied with the editors’ pick. All-in-all, I thought this book was a great read and I highly enjoyed myself consuming it.

                Next up, we’re going to discuss accessibility. Now, I’ve done over seven dozen Epic Collection reviews at this point, and I’ve explained myself every time, but I know that I have newbies reading my reviews every time I post, so I have to explain myself once again. When I’m talking about accessibility in graphic novels, I’m talking about if people who, for example, have never read a Marvel Comic book before can hear about this book and decide to read it, then actually read it, and understand it completely as is without any prior of outside knowledge of the backstory or the history of the characters. This book does draw on a lot of backstories such as “Avengers Disassembled,” “House of M,” and “Decimation,” but for the majority, it is self-contained. The hiccup is including the two issues of “Avengers World” from the “Axis” storyline, which does break the self-containment and draw on some outside knowledge. That said, I do still feel that this book is highly accessible. The stories are presented in such a way that I feel having no outside knowledge of Marvel Comics would be super detrimental to. Marvel goes as far as to advertise this as essential reading for fans of Marvel Television’s “Wandavision” and “Agatha All Along,” and I concur that fans of those series would possibly find enjoyment with this book as it highlights Scarlet Witch and Wiccan, both prominent figures in the two television series, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s essential myself as the storylines have no actual connections, the television series did not actually adapt “The Children’s Crusade” in the shows. I will say that I do feel that even though this book is marketed as Vol. 3, Vols. 1-2 are not necessary reads before reading this book, as the stories are not directly connected to or continued from the previous volumes. If you’ve never read a Marvel Comic before and are looking for a jump on point, I would say that this is a relatively decent one.

                Next up, I’m going to score this book on a numeric scale. I know some readers primarily come to this blog to hear about the story and read my numeric score, I know that some of my other segments aren’t as popular or as big of a draw, but I still feel that every segment in my reviews has validity, just some more than others, and the numeric score is one of my key segments, not to dismiss the importance of any of my other segments. Anyway, I score on a very basic system. I work with a scale of exact integers ranging from one through ten, no point somethings, just whole numbers. If I give a graphic novel a score of a one, that means that this book is a pile of trash that should be collectively gathered and set on a massive pyre, then all the plates containing prints of these issues so reprints can be made should be wiped so this horrible book can never be reproduced and is completely erased from existence, sparing anyone the pain of spending their money obtaining this book. However, a score of a ten means that this book is sheer perfection, and I will never understand it if this book doesn’t become a bestseller that needs to be reprinted every few years because there are no copies available on the shelves anymore because it is completely sold out. Okay, so I’m not actually being serious about this, I’m just trying to make a point. Anyway, I don’t give out tens very often because I don’t very often find books to be perfection. So, let’s talk about what I’m looking for when I give a numeric score. I’m looking for a compelling story, fantastic art, accurate title, and adequate cover. Now, this book did have all of that, yet I still don’t feel like this book was perfection. Again, the “Avengers World” issues felt a little out of place being in a “Young Avengers” Modern Era Epic Collection, it didn’t quite fit like a glove in my opinion. And some of the art in “I am an Avenger” was a little wonky. So, I do have to deduct. However, I still feel like this book deserves a high score, the problems with this book weren’t too detrimental in my opinion. So, when I churn out my numeric score, it’s going to be… an eight! I thought it was an excellent read and I highly enjoyed it.

                Moving on in our list of topics to discuss, we’re going to my recommendation segment. In this segment, I answer two questions. The first is, do I, Tim Cubbin, personally recommend that you, who have just spent the past however many minutes you’ve been taking to read this, should read this book if you are now interested in reading this book, based solely on the words I have just spent the past few hours typing? The second question is, beyond the obvious of the people who are already Marvel and Young Avengers fans, who do I think should be reading this book, regardless of the fact if I would personally tell you to read it or not? The answer to the first question is probably obvious, but yes, I would recommend this book to you, my readers. If you are reading this review and now want to read this graphic novel, I recommend going to your favorite bookstore or online retailer, or your favorite comic book store, or your local library, or to your Marvel-obsessed friend’s house, and look for this book and read it as soon as you possibly can. If you do read this graphic novel, feel free to express your opinions. Comment or post or tweet anything you’d like to say, I’d love to hear from you. Everything I write in this blog is my own personal opinion and I don’t expect any of my readers to agree with what I say. We all have our own minds and think our own thoughts, and I invite you to feel however you want to feel about what I have to say, and if you disagree with me on anything I write, I’d really like to know so we can discuss our opinions. As far as to answer the second question on who the best audience is, I’d say that it includes teenagers and young adults, the LGBTQ+ community, and people who like stories about family drama.

                Okay, we’re getting to the wrap up point. So, I do have a few things to say before I log off. First, I’ve been doing this blog for over five years now and have done over 180 posts. I’ve done plenty of reviews of Epic Collections, Modern Era Epic Collections, and Ultimate Epic Collections. If you want to read more “Young Avengers” posts, feel free to check out my reviews of “Young Avengers: Not What You Think” and “Young Avengers: Dark Reign” for more content. I purchase every Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection and Ultimate Epic Collection as soon as I can after it is released and put up a review of it as soon as possible. I’ve done over seven dozen reviews just like this, so there are plenty more to read. My next review will be “Daredevil: The Murdock Papers” which you can expect to see within the next two months following this review, so keep checking back for it. There are also short stories, poems, essays, articles, and editorials, so keep checking out timcubbin.blogspot.com for tons more content that I’m sure you’ll like. I post on a very frequent basis, so keep checking back regularly, and tell your friends, family members, and coworkers about my blog so I get more readership. I’ll be doing this blog for as long as I possibly can, so you can expect that to be for quite a while. That’s all I have to say for now. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Revivals and Revelations"

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Revivals and Revelations” as presented in Marvel Modern Era Epic Collection format.

            After taking a year off to mourn the death of his mother, Miles Morales/Spider-Man found himself teamed up with the Ultimates’ Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman and new heroes Tyrone Johnson/Cloak, Tandy Bowen/Dagger, and Lana Baumgartner/Bombshell to shut down the evil Roxxon Corporation. Meanwhile, on another Earth in another dimension, a massive amount of time-travel abuses among the super-hero community created a series of rips in the space-time continuum that wreaked havoc across the galaxy. One such rip dropped into this universe a cosmic force, known only as Galactus, with a carnal appetite for entire worlds.

            Spider-Woman, after afraid of losing her position on the Ultimates, requested S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Monica Chang place her in charge of an investigation into the surviving Roxxon genetic experiments other than Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell. Bombshell’s parole officer threatened her with jail time for using her powers as it violated the rules of her probation. Miles found out that some members of the NYPD were happy Spider-Man was back in action. Cloak brought Dagger to her old home, only to find it abandoned. Frustrated and wanting a big bad guy to hit, Cloak and Dagger witnessed the appearance of Galactus in New Jersey, which Galactus then proceeded to wipe off the map, but Cloak and Dagger discovered they were no match for Galactus. Spider-Man teamed up with the Ultimates to try to save as many people in New York as possible. Bombshell witnessed the carnage being caused by Galactus and decided to try her hand at being a superhero. Cloak and Dagger joined the rescue effort. Spider-Man found his father Jefferson Davis looking for his son and unmasked to his father. Jefferson then blamed Miles for the death of both Jefferson’s brother Aaron Davis/Prowler and Miles’ mother Rio Morales. Miles told his father to hide and that Miles would come back. Spider-Man found a crashed plane, carrying a surviving J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle and thebugle.com. As the heroes struggled to save lives, Jameson promised to change their lives. Miles returned home, looking for his father, but Jefferson was nowhere to be found. Miles was contacted by Steve Rogers/Captain America, who asked for Spider-Man’s help stopping Galactus.

            To commemorate the second anniversary of the untimely passing of Peter Parker, Peter’s Aunt May Parker and confidante Gwen Stacy hosted a small get-together at their house to celebrate Peter’s life. Miles was invited and brought his best friend Ganke Lee along as his plus one. Those in attendance at the get-together were Peter’s girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman, Lana Baumgartner/Bombshell, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Bobby Drake/Iceman, Liz Allan/Firestar, Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Kenny “Kong” McFarlane. J. Jonah Jameson was invited, but he decided not to leave his limousine, and Tony Stark/Iron Man was unable to attend, but he sent catering from chef Chester Cebulski. Ganke brought Gwen a gift he made from Legos, which Miles feared would scare Gwen away, but which instead earned Ganke a kiss from Gwen. The guests discussed what they thought Peter’s life would turn out to be like should he have lived. Gwen decided to honor Peter that the party should do something nice, so the guests brought the catering to Queen’s Mission to offer food and comfort to the poor, homeless, and hungry. As the guests dispersed from May’s house, someone was watching from the bushes.

            Following the shut down of S.H.I.E.L.D., Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, who was believed dead and was being held in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, was to be transferred to federal prison. Burglars who came to be called the “Spider-Man Twins” began a crime spree. While being transferred, Osborn escaped custody as the Green Goblin. Miles consulted Mary Jane as Miles considered telling his girlfriend Katie Bishop that Miles was Spider-Man, asking how long Mary Jane knew Peter was Spider-Man and what Mary Jane’s relationship with Peter was like. Miles went to his father’s apartment to check if Jefferson had returned and instead found Peter Parker searching through the apartment. Peter wanted his web-shooters back, which May had gifted to Miles after Miles took up the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter’s death. Miles wanted Peter to tell May that Peter was alive. Peter knocked Miles unconscious and took back the web-shooters. Miles believed this Peter Parker to be a clone and went to Ganke with Miles’s suspicions. Ned Leeds came to Jameson with intentions to run a story on the Spider-Men, but Jameson refused to publish it. Reporter Ben Urich arrived with the story of Norman Osborn being alive and on the loose, which Jameson decided to go along with. A security guard attacked by the Spider-Men died in the ER, and homicide detective Maria Hill was put in charge of the case. Hill was already aware that Miles was Spider-Man. Miles confessed to Katie that he was Spider-Man. Her reaction was to run away from him. Hill arrived and asked Miles to get in the car with her, but Miles pulled a disappearing act. After Hill left, Miles and Ganke read Urich’s story about Norman Osborn. Miles decided to go to the last place Norman Osborn was seen alive: in front of Peter Parker’s house. Monica Chang led a unit into Osborn Industries to look for Norman Osborn, but the unit did not survive their encounter with the Green Goblin. Miles went to Peter Parker’s house, where he was confronted by the Green Goblin. Katie confessed to her sister Misha that Miles was Spider-Man. Miles fought the Green Goblin and was joined in the fight by Peter Parker. The media witnessed the arrival of Peter Parker, and May immediately knew this was the real Peter Parker by watching the news footage. Miles used his venom blast on the Green Goblin, who then fled from the two Spider-Men, who were then confronted by the police. During Miles and Peter’s escape, Miles was grazed in the leg by a police bullet. Miles was discovered by Maria Hill, who Miles got in the car with. The Spider-Man Twins decided to take advantage of the return of Peter Parker. Hill helped Miles treat his wound. Osborn went to Jameson to confess his story. Osborn had a theory that because of the Oz formula in their blood, Osborn and Peter were unable to die. Jameson attempted to end Osborn but only ended up meeting his own demise. Miles and Hill went to Mary Jane’s house, where they learned she had been helping hide the fact that Peter Parker was alive. May and Gwen arrived and reunited with Peter. The Green Goblin also arrived in front of Mary Jane’s house. Miles fought and defeated the Green Goblin with his venom blast. Osborn taunted Miles, saying Osborn had information about Miles’ father before turning back into the Green Goblin. Miles and Peter fought the Green Goblin again, and Hill joined in to make sure Norman Osborn would never menace the world again. Peter returned the web-shooters to Miles and gave Miles his blessing to be Spider-Man, but decided he had to leave for the safety of his family and friends, and Peter and Mary Jane drove off together. Miles returned to Brooklyn Visions Academy, where he was woken up by Ganke, who informed Miles that Miles had a visitor: Miles’ father. Jefferson revealed to Miles that twenty-five years ago, Jefferson had gone undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D., working to bring down Wilson Fisk/Kingpin from inside Fisk’s own organization and the reason he left Miles was because Jefferson didn’t feel worthy enough, and Jefferson and Miles reunited as father and son. Miles found Max Dillon/Electro and Victor Creed/Sabretooth engaged in a fight. He tried to let them defeat each other, until innocent lives were threatened, and he joined in the fight. Miles was aided in the fight by Cloak and Dagger, and the trio were able to defeat the supervillains. Miles went to Katie’s house to try to talk to Katie and was greeted by Katie’s father. Misha had revealed to her father that Miles was Spider-Man. Katie’s father drugged Miles. The Spider-Man Twins robbed a top secret S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse. They were confronted by Jessica Drew/Black Widow, but the Twins were able to defeat Black Widow. Miles’ father attempted to contact Miles but was unsuccessful. Ganke and Miles’ roommate Judge revealed to Ganke that Judge knew Miles was Spider-Man. Miles woke up in a Hydra facility. Katie’s parents were agents of Hydra, and she was born into the organization. Hydra agents also abducted Jefferson and Ganke. Miles tried to escape but was blackmailed with Jefferson and Ganke’s lives. Judge was sent to look for Miles and Ganke and discovered their room was trashed. Victor Van Damme/Doctor Doom was in the process of making a merger with Hydra and arrived at the Hydra facility. Doom wanted to learn how to duplicate Miles and Jessica’s powers, make an army of super-soldiers with spider powers, then dispose of Miles and Jessica. Judge went to Miles’ father’s apartment to search for Miles and was greeted by Cloak and Dagger, who were also looking for Miles. Judge, Cloak and Dagger contacted Bombshell and Kitty Pryde, and the group recruited Maria Hill and Brooklyn Police Department Captain Frank Quaid to rescue Miles. As the group tried to make their escape, they witnessed their world about to come to an end.

            Okay, now that we’ve gotten that rather lengthy summary out of the way, let’s move on to my part of this review. We’re going to start, as always, with my own personal opinions on the book. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. As some of my longtime readers may know, one of my favorite comic book writers is Brian Michael Bendis, I usually love reading his work, and this time, he did not disappoint me. I do, however, have a major complaint with the “Cataclysm” storyline. As some of my longtime readers may know, Epic Collections do not actually contain the main issues of an event, rather they collect the issues of characters from around the time of the event pertaining to the titular series. “Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand” was an event that spawned several other limited series, including “Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man,” this latter limited series being the only part of “Cataclysm” included in this volume. Therefore, readers of this volume only get one part of the story, which is far from the complete story. The ending of my third paragraph was actually not me trying to be vague to avoid spoiling the ending of the story, that paragraph ends where the story ends. I will admit to a good deal of disappointment from this, but I was still able to find enjoyment reading what was contained in this volume. I found the storyline of Miles and Jefferson dealing with Miles being Spider-Man to be very emotional, having been abandoned by my father myself, and I thought the writing on that was excellent. It was established right at the beginning of the series that Jefferson hated mutants and superheroes and Miles was afraid of what telling Miles’ father that Miles was Spider-Man would mean for Miles, and the readers had been waiting for this to happen, and when it finally did Jefferson’s reaction was to abandon Miles. And the fact was that Jefferson really did this because he didn’t feel worthy whereas Miles was worthy, and I thought that was highly compelling, and the resolution between the two of them was extremely touching. I loved the celebration for Peter Parker; I thought that issue was fantastic. I especially loved the connection between Ganke and Gwen, I thought that was quite humorous. I was quite surprised by Peter Parker’s return and the fact that Oz grants immortality when I first read this storyline when it originally came out. I found it entertaining watching Peter and Miles team up against the Green Goblin, I thought their fights were pretty epic. I had forgotten over the years exactly how dark this storyline was and how many deaths and attempted deaths were caused by Osborn. Jameson’s fate in particular was extremely shocking to me, how he attempted to end Norman before meeting his own demise. This was also one of the few series of the comics where I found Maria Hill to actually be a likeable character. The way she took on Osborn was impressive. I enjoyed the Bishop Hydra twist. I totally did not see that one coming. I also enjoyed Miles’ father’s involvement in S.H.I.E.L.D., that was also unexpected. I liked Bendis’ subtle hints about “Secret Wars” with the arrests of the crazy people in costume, that was actually quite amusing. I do hate how the ending led directly into “Secret Wars” and the next volume of “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” will be in a different universe with no explanation of how Miles became part of the Marvel Universe because Marvel will not include “Secret Wars” in a Modern Era Epic Collection because of the whole not including events in Epic Collections thing and I don’t have a good recollection of that event from ten years ago. And the whole last issue in this book felt rather rushed, especially leading up to the ending, which was extremely inconclusive, by the way. I did like seeing the little team form together at the end, even though we’ll never see this team-up again. Moving forward, I will also say that I found the art in this graphic novel to be spectacular. I thought David Marquez did an exceptional job illustrating these issues and I found looking at this book to be visually pleasing. I thought this was amazing comic book artwork. As far as the title goes, I feel like it is a good representation of this collection. This book did have the revivals of Peter Parker and Norman Osborn, and there were a lot of revelations such as Jefferson being involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Bishops being involved with Hydra, so “Revivals and Revelations” perfectly encapsulates the essence of this volume, and I think it’s a spot-on title. Finally, we’re going to discuss the cover. The cover of this book shows a small Miles swinging in front of a large, roaring Green Goblin. I don’t feel this shows accurate proportions to the characters inside the issue. As such, I don’t find this to be the “perfect” cover to this book. However, the Green Goblin is a threat through seven of the sixteen issues contained in this collection, so featuring him so prominently on the cover is, in my opinion, adequate enough, but I do feel there are other covers from this collection that would work as well as, if not better than, the choice the editors picked for this volume. Overall, though, I did find this book to be a highly enjoyable experience, despite the few areas of disappointment at the beginning and end.

            Next up on our docket of topics to discuss, we’re going to cover accessibility. I know my longtime readers know what I mean by this, I have used this word in reviews over six dozen times by this point, but I know I always have first-time readers with every post I do, so I have to re-explain myself every time I do a review for the newbs who have stumbled onto my blog for the first time. So, when I say “is ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Revivals and Revelations’ accessible?” what I am asking is, can a person who has never heard of Miles Morales before or never read a Marvel Comic before obtain this book, read it cover to cover, and understand what they have just read based solely on what is contained in this book and this book alone? The answer to that question is a big no. My reasoning for this is the “Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand” tie-in. First off, this is a spin-off series from an event that does not tell the full story of the event and all of the details of the event outside of Miles, Cloak, Dagger, Bombshell, and Spider-Woman’s actions saving the people in New York City are left out of this volume. On top of that, this event is multiversal, originating in the Marvel Universe and impacting the Ultimate Universe, the latter being the setting for this collection. Secondly, the “Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man” series continues directly from where “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” left off, following twenty-eight issues of continuity, and reading this volume without consuming the previous storylines leading up to this point can be somewhat difficult to process. I would not qualify this book as one for someone who knows nothing about Marvel Comics. As for qualifications for reading this volume, I would say the reader should have read the previous two volumes of “Miles Morales: Spider-Man”, “Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand,” and know the essence of the original “Ultimate Spider-Man” and “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man” series, particularly Peter Parker’s death in order to optimally read this collection and completely assimilate what they have just read.

            Okay, moving on, we’re up to one of the key elements of my reviews: the numeric score. I know that it’s not the single most important part of my reviews to everyone, some people come so they can read about the story, but it is essential to state exactly how good I feel a book is when I write a review on a scaling system. So, my scoring system is extremely simple: I score media on a scale of exact integers ranging from one through ten. One is the lowest score I can possibly give, and that means that this book is not worth reading at all, and every remaining copy that hasn’t been purchased by unfortunate souls should be pulled off the shelves and destroyed, then the original plates should be wiped so this trash can never be reprinted. Ten is the highest score I can possibly give, and that means that this book is sheer perfection and one of the best things I have ever read in my entire life, and it should not be on shelves because everyone should be buying it, and the publishers should need to reprint this book on a regular basis because of the popularity that there just aren’t enough copies to satisfy the masses. Okay, I know, I’m being extra here, one and ten honestly should not exactly mean what I’ve just typed, but you get my point. Anyway, when I score an Epic Collection, I take every factor into account when producing my scores. This includes: the story: was it exciting, compelling, interesting, entertaining, and enjoyable to read from beginning to end? The art: was it visually appealing and nice to look at throughout the entire book? And the title: does it perfectly capture the essence of what the stories are about? The cover: does it adequately depict what to expect from the interior content of the collection? My longtime readers will know that I am extremely hard to please and that I don’t give out tens unless all of those factors are met exactly. So, I will say I did highly enjoy the story that was in the book, but the missing content hurts the quality of the read, and the last issue felt rushed and the story ended in an inconclusive way that will not be resolved in the next volume. The artwork was excellent. The title was a perfect choice to describe the stories in the book. The cover was adequate enough for the book, but it wasn’t the perfect representation for all the content in this collection. So, putting all of these puzzle pieces together, the score we are looking at here is… an eight! I feel like this was an exceptionally good book. While it did have its flaws, it was still highly entertaining.

            Next up, we’re going to do my recommendation segment. This segment answers two questions. The first question is: 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, who are now interested in reading this book based solely on what I have just related to anyone consuming my words? The second question is: regardless of if I would recommend this book personally, whom do I think is a good type of audience for this book, besides the obvious Miles Morales, Spider-Man and Marvel Comics fans? To answer my first question, yes, I do recommend this book to you. If you’re reading this review and want to read this book now, I suggest you go to your favorite online retailer, or your preferred bookstore, or your nearest comic book store, or your local library, or your Marvel obsessed friend or relative and look for this book and read it as soon as you can. If you read this, feel free to comment to me your opinions on this book, I would love to hear from you. Everything I say on this blog is purely my own personal opinion, and I don’t expect anyone to agree with me at all. You’re entitled to feel however you want to feel about what you read, and if you feel the same or if you feel different, I want to know. Please drop a comment here to let me know what you thought of this book. As for an audience for this book, I would recommend it to readers who enjoy family dramas and trying to find acceptance from your family; readers who enjoy stories about legacy, trying to live up to being who you are, who you want to be, and who others expect you to be; readers who enjoy stories about immortality and the repercussions of such a gift and how it can be a curse; readers who enjoy stories about secrets and what those secrets can mean to your friends, family, and relationships; and readers who enjoy stories with lots of plot twists and twists and turns and unexpected moments.

            Okay, we’re just about done here, but there are a few more things I do have to say before I click post. First off, I have been doing this blog for over five years. I have done over 180 posts, so feel free to keep exploring timcubbin.blogspot.com for more content by me. If you liked this post and want more Miles Morales, feel free to check out “Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Hero in Training” and “Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Spider-Man No More” for more content. I’ve done over six dozen other Epic Collection reviews similar to this one, so feel free to check some of those out too. I’ve also written reviews of Marvel Comics events posted on Marvel Unlimited, as well as reviews of prose novels and manga, but the current focus of this blog is on Marvel Modern Era Epic Collections and Marvel Ultimate Epic Collections. I purchase every one of those as soon as I can after their release and if possible, put up a review as soon as I can after I’m done reading it. My next review is going to be “Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade,” you can expect to see that within the next two months following the posting of this review, so if that sound interesting to you, keep checking back for it. Feel free to like, retweet, share, do whatever you can to promote this post and me. I do have a bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in journalism, but due to life circumstances am unable to get a job in the professional field, but I do this blog in my spare time to do something to contribute to what I spent my time in college learning so my skills don’t go to waste, so I’d appreciate getting as much readership as I possibly can. That’s all I have to say for now, but until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!