"Star Wars: Rise of the Sith, Volume 1"

            The following is a review of the “Star Wars: Rise of the Sith, Volume 1” graphic novel as presented in Marvel Epic Collection format. This review will not focus on any of the movies or television/Disney+ series directly, but there may be some “Star Wars” history references for context. These stories take place before “Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.”

            “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

            “Nearly a thousand years have passed since the Jedi defeated the evil Sith to end their centuries-long war. Prosperity has come to much of the Galactic Republic.

            “As the Jedi Temple of Coruscant, the Jedi now train their Padawan students in the way of the force under the guidance of the Jedi Council.

            “Despite the current galactic peace, trouble can still come – in many different forms, to any of the thousands of worlds that make up the Republic. It is the duty of the Jedi Knights to answer whenever they are called upon, to address conflicts throughout the galaxy.

            “Although it is long believed that the Sith have been wiped out for good, the Jedi Council is ever watchful for signs of the dark side of the Force. But they are unaware of the Phantom Menace lurking in their midst….”

            The Jedi are armed with a weapon called a Lightsaber that Jedi younglings build at the start of their training. Jedi Master Mace Windu, a late bloomer, didn’t build his until he was a teenager, but on his first solo mission, he found a rare purple stone to power his Lightsaber.

            As he grew older, Windu faced further challenges, including the heinous Uda-Khalid to administer justice.

            Jedi are trained in the use of the Force almost upon birth. Jedi are taken to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and never have personal attachments, and are not allowed to have contact with their birth family until they have achieved the status as a Jedi. Windu is tested by Vianna D’Pow, who is hired by a family who wishes to have their birth child taken back to them.

            Windu also went to the Temple of Tet-Ami to prevent its secrets from being exploited, which includes many mysterious protections.

            Being accepted into the Jedi Council is the highest honor a Jedi can attain. Windu was eventually accepted onto the Council, which is led by Yoda, a wise and aged being. Another of Yoda’s species, Yaddle, is considered to be a Jedi, but must first prove that her difficult history will not seduce her to the Dark Side of the Force.

            After twenty-one years away from his birth planet Cerea, Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi returns home to visit his family. Ki was not accepted into Jedi training until he was older, missing four crucial years’ worth of training in the use of the Force. Ki discovers that the thug Bin-Garda-Zon, a specter of his family’s past, has resurfaced.

            Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn has taken a Padawan in Xanatos. Xanatos has found issues with Orykan. Xanatos is afraid he will be replaced as Qui-Gon’s Padawan with Orykan. Orykan is accepted as Jedi Maser Tahl. This jealousy and a return to his home planet and estranged family meeting starts to lead Xanatos to the Dark Side of the Force.

            Following the loss of Xanatos, Qui-Gon is assigned Obi-Wan Kenobi as his Padawan. Obi-Wan fears of disappointing Qui-Gon, and is in danger of displaying emotions. Denying emotions is a key creed in Jedi training, and Qui-Gon finds he must educate Obi-Wan in the history of this creed.

            Upon arriving on Arorlia, Obi-Wan inadvertently finds himself in a life-and-death situation, further assuring Obi-Wan that path he is traveling as a Jedi is indeed righteous.

            Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are assigned the task of protecting the Aurorient Express, but their mission becomes further more serious as illegal droid cargo is released and two bombs have been placed on the ship that threaten to endanger thousands of travelers.

            Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are dispatched to a planet not very fond of the Jedi. After the Baroness Omnino is attacked by an internal threat. The Baroness then decides she wants the Jedi’s protection, a task Yoda is not keen to involve Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in. But on Ord Mantell, all is not what it seems, especially when the reason the Baroness’ request for protection is revealed.

            Meanwhile, activities of the Sith begin again, as Darth Sidious takes on Darth Maul as his apprentice, who is tested in the ruthless ways of the Sith, and how Lightsabers are considered nameless and used for great injury to foes of the Sith.

            Maul is tested for his mettle, going under horrors for Darth Sidious and banishing emotions.

            The Jedi Knights face a long forgotten threat thought eradicated a long time ago, the Yinchorri. The requiring Mace Windu to form an assault team to combat against the Yinchorri, including Micah Giiet, Plo Koon, Lilit Twoseas, K’Kruhk, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. But the Yinchorri is also involved with the Sith, given a hand by Darth Sidious.

            The Jedi must make a deal with Vilmarh Grakrk to escape from a doomed planet.

            Plo Koon and Micah Giiet travel to Ord Mantell to rescue Slabba Drewl from Corpo the Hutt, and Giiet is forced to battle a droid in a cooking competition to secure the freedom of his friend.

            Darth Maul’s history as a candy thief is revealed.

            Artist Ramon Bachs is challenged to a Lightsaber duel with K’Kruhk.

 

            I will start by saying that all the rest of this review is my opinion and my opinion only. Therefore, I will not say if it was a good book or a bad book because we all have free will and can feel however we want about it, it’s all up to your own personal taste. We can’t all agree on anything. So if you want to read this book or have read this book, I welcome to feel however you want to feel about it, and if you disagree with what I say, truly that’s great. I’d love for anyone to leave comments or tweets about this if they have read this book telling me how you feel, you are THE BEST! Now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get to my opinion.

            When it comes to “Star Wars,” we all have mixed opinions about the movies and shows. Some we like, some we don’t. I’m one of the one who liked the prequel trilogy the best, but that’s because they were from my generation, so it resonated better with me. This book all took place before the first chronological film. That’s mostly the reason I got this book. If you’ve seen “The Phantom Menace,” you’ll probably remember Liam Neeson’s character, Qui-Gon Jinn, who (spoiler alert) meets an unfortunate fate, and therefore was only in one movie. I’ve always liked Neeson as an actor and enjoyed his portrayal of Qui-Gon, so a book of him younger was highly appealing to me. And Obi-Wan Kenobi has always been one of my favorite “Star Wars” characters, I thought Ewan McGregor was fantastic in the role, so him younger (and in this book, we’re looking at him being about twelve by the Aurorient Express storyline, they don’t exactly say) was also fascinating to me. As for the stories; there were a lot of different stories in this book, and regular readers know how that can have a significant impact on my enjoyment. A lot of different stories in an Epic Collection is dangerous to this blog because there are usually stories in the book I like and some I dislike. So, when it comes to these stories, I actually surprisingly liked all of them. Having background on a story I like already that wasn’t told before is often appealing to me. For example, the “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series on Disney+ gave more insight into the history of Obi-Wan and Princess Leia, and I highly enjoyed it (again, I thought McGregor was exceptional in the role) and I thought the show was brilliant (if you have Disney+ and have not watched the show yet, I highly recommend you do). I also enjoyed the Mace Windu stories (Samuel L. Jackson is one of my favorite actors), particularly the story where they revealed why his Lightsaber was purple (which I’d always wondered, but Jackson is so awesome he was the only one allowed a Lightsaber of that color. Watch everything “Star Wars” and no one else has a purple Lightsaber). And Yaddle revealed that every member of Yoda’s species (which she was, too) commits horrific passive voice (I had a college professor who was obsessed with passive voice and it drove me nuts and I never really learned how to stop using it, sorry Professor Gunther if you’re reading this!). All that said, though, I could find a few faults in this book, sorry to say. I’m a nitpicker, I can often find faults in everything. Also, we must remember that this is a “graphic novel” and the graphics are important as well. We could read the most amazing story, but the art just doesn’t do it justice, which actually describes how I feel about this book. A lot of the art was appealing to me, being from a period of comic book art I highly enjoyed (1999-2011), but there were some issues where the art was a little wonky, like a couple of the artists drew the characters where their body proportions looked unnatural (I’m nice, so I’m not going to signal anyone out, but if you penciled anything in this book, you probably know who you are), but in general, I thought the art was stellar (pun intended). Regular readers also know my terms “art” and “art of the time.” In other words, did I think it was good art in general, or if it was it only good for the time periods when the artists produced it? I’m happy to say that I thought the art was good in general. For me, the story and the art gelled well together.

            Next, I’m going to tell you if I recommend this book and to whom do I recommend it to. If you loved “The Phantom Menace,” I totally recommend it to you. If you’re a “Star Wars” fan in general, I think you should take a peek at this book. And, I also use the word “accessibility.” In other words, what I feel you have to know to optimally enjoy the book. I feel like this book is 100% accessible to anyone, since it’s before the first chronological movie, and I don’t think you need any background “Star Wars” knowledge, so if you’re interested in starting consuming “Star Wars” media, I think this book is an amazing place to start. So I guess, what I’m saying in general is that I recommend this book to anyone (which I don’t think has ever happened in the two-year history of this blog).

            Now, I know you’re all planning on me just getting to the point; how do I score this book? I score on a scale of one-to-ten. One means I thought it was trash, ten means this was amazing. All considered, with the stories I enjoyed and the art I enjoyed, but the bit of wonkiness in the art and a story that wasn’t always stellar, everything about the content of the book, I score this as an eight. I don’t think I’ve left out any of my reasons of why I score this book, so we can move on from here.

In fact, I think I’ve said pretty much all that needs to be said for this review, so I’m wrapping this up now. I’ll tell you that this blog gets a lot of reviews, and I post new ones every month, but I also write short fiction and nonfiction, as well as free-verse poetry, and articles, essays, editorials, and a few other things, so feel free to browse anything else already on the over one-hundred posts already there, keep coming back for more of my upcoming posts, and to finish this off, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Devil's Reign"

 

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics Event “Devil’s Reign” as presented on Marvel Unlimited.

            When he was a teenager, Matthew Murdock saved a man from being hit by a truck. The truck was carrying a load of toxic chemicals. The chemicals hit Matt in the eyes and was blinded. However, Matt realized that his other four senses had been heightened. He also discovered that he had a 360 degree “radar sense,” akin to echolocation. Matt grew up to become a lawyer. While in college, Matt met a woman named Elektra Natchios, and the two fell in love. Elektra went on to become a deadly assassin. As an adult, Matt decided that he wanted to use his gifts to help other people and became the crime-fighting vigilante, Daredevil. Matt and Elektra shared an on-and-off romantic relationship. Later in his career as Daredevil, Daredevil was convicted for a serious crime he did not commit, but Matt found a loophole in the justice system that allowed Matt to serve his sentence as Daredevil. In his absence, Elektra took on the mantle of Daredevil and Matt’s rules of not causing fatal injuries to others. Matt/Daredevil was eventually released from jail under time served, but continued to have both himself and Elektra sharing the title of Daredevil.

            Wilson Fisk had a criminal empire that spanned dominance over the entire city of New York, as well as beyond the city. He was an infamous mobster called the Kingpin of Crime, yet always managed to beat the legal system. Kingpin and Daredevil became arch-nemeses and battled each other countless times in the following years. Somehow, Fisk was able to win a fair election and became the mayor of New York City. He later married the schizophrenic villain Mary Walker/Typhoid Mary. The couple retreated to the mayor’s mansion.

            Daredevil’s secret identity as Matt Murdock was once exposed to the general public. Through the help of the Purple Children, who are able to influence minds, Matt was able to erase the public’s knowledge and again reestablished his secret identity as Daredevil.

            Mayor Fisk was able to find a sealed file on Daredevil, which used to contain Daredevil’s secret identity, but was now a blank folder, causing Fisk to realize that at one point, he knew the true identity of Daredevil. Armed with this information, Fisk decided to stick it to Daredevil in the worst way possible: Fisk made a law that declared vigilantism in New York city was now illegal, and any superhero was now a criminal and would now be sent to prison in the Myrmidon, a prison made to contain arrested super-powered individuals. He used the mind control powers of Zebediah Killgrave/Purple Man to keep New York City in his thrall.

            Fisk’s first targets were the Fantastic Four, who lived in the Baxter Building. Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic and Susan Storm-Richards/Invisible Woman were arrested and sent to the Myrmidon, but Johnny Storm/Human Torch and Ben Grimm/Thing were able to avoid capture. Several other superheroes, including Marc Spector/Moon Knight were arrested and sent to the Myrmidon as well.

            The heroes of New York City decided to make a bold move against Fisk: the election was upcoming, and Fisk was running unopposed, so they needed a candidate in the super community to unseat Fisk as the mayor of New York City. The heroes decided to have Luke Cage be Fisk’s opponent.

            Fisk was aware of the true identity of Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman and targeted her through her young son, Gerry.

            Elektra is targeted by Fisk and must contend with the villainous Kraven the Hunter.

            Fisk gave the Baxter Building to super villain Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus. Doc Ock decided to use Reed Richards’ laboratory for his own experiments, namely to create the Superior Four, an assortment of Otto’s variants from throughout the Multiverse, consisting of Otto Blaze/Ghost Rider, Otto Banner/Hulk, and Otto Howlett/Wolverine. However, their alliance was totally unsteady, and dominance of the quartet was up for grabs.

            Fisk decided that he had to have a hold on law enforcement and created a new team of Thunderbolts, consisting of former B- and C-list super villains, to tighten his grip of terror over New York City.

            James “Bucky” Barnes decided to take Fisk out of the picture by targeting Fisk’s mansion, but this mission ultimately ended in failure.

            The X-Men live in their Treehouse in Central Park. Despite the recognition of the mutants’ island home of Krakoa by some countries as a sovereign nation, they were unable to attain diplomatic immunity for their New York home and became targets of Fisk’s reign. He dredged up the past of the mutant Emma Frost in a supposed kidnapping and murder that supposedly occurred many years ago, but that was, in fact, false. The “victim” is very much alive and well and living in England.

            Another target of Fisk’s crackdown on New York’s vigilantes was Ben Reilly/Spider-Man. He was arrested but unable to be identified due to the beating Ben had taken to his face that obscured his features. Ben’s supporter at the Beyond Corporation, Marcus Momplaisir, was able to rescue Ben by placing himself as a decoy.

            Hunter’s Moon took on the duties as a Fist of Konshu, the Egyptian God of the Moon, who also shared his duties with Marc Spector/Moon Knight in Moon Knight’s mission.

            Matt Murdock’s twin brother Mike tried to hone in on Mayor Fisk by siding with Fisk’s son, Butch, while Fisk’s other son Richard also wanted payback against his corrupt father, but Mike soon had a target placed on his head by Wilson Fisk and his legion.

            In the Myrmidon, Marc Spector found himself undesirable to many of the prison’s other inmates. He ended up joining in on the prison’s fight club to ensure his survival.

            It now all comes down to Luke Cage, the election and the remaining heroes to try to stop Fisk and his reign of terror once and for all.

 

            Personally, I enjoyed the stories that comprise the event. I found them to be highly interesting, entertaining, and exciting. I was gripped into the event right from the start. BUT! This DID NOT feel new to me from Marvel. I done several reviews of different formats of Marvel’s “Civil War” events, and there were similarities. In “Civil War,” the Superhuman Registration Act was passed, requiring anyone who wanted to use their super powers in public had to register their identities with the government and join as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying they’re exactly the same thing. At least in “Civil War,” the super heroes had a choice. In “Devil’s Reign,” the heroes had no choice. And I have to say, Fisk’s first move against the Fantastic Four was rather harsh, walking into the Baxter Building and placing Reed and Sue in cuffs hours after the law was enacted, perhaps even too harsh. Nothing was said, they were just arrested. That seems highly wrong to me. And the Thunderbolts were pure hypocrisy. Heroes get nabbed, but his enforcement team being all former or current super villains is just fine and dandy? This really ruined the suspension of disbelief. And the desperation of Fisk creating this law just because he got ticked off seems to be too much. And also, it would take months of litigation, even after the election, before the anti-super human act could become law, but in this story it was just signed into law by the end of the first issue. Highly unrealistic. Now, like I said, I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but the realism was just not there. Also, this event seems to have no true ramifications on other Marvel characters and series. There were several other major story arcs occurring at the time that don’t seem to have had any impact created by “Devil’s Reign.” This was released during “Beyond,” “The Death of Doctor Strange,” and “The Reckoning War” and I saw absolutely no correlation there. There might be a few outcomes of “Devil’s Reign” that will stick, but as a regular devoted reader, I haven’t seen any yet.

            Now, you might want to know if I’ll refer this to you? I give a resounding “YES!” But I don’t think this story is for non-readers looking to start reading Marvel comics for the first time with no prior knowledge to anything Marvel. If you’ve never read Marvel before but have knowledge of the characters from movies and shows, you might enjoy this. For non-readers who have watched the Marvel Netflix series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher), this might be a good start for you as this story heavily features the characters from the shows. If you’re an on again/off again Marvel reader, I think this might be enjoyable for you. If you’re currently Marvel reader by collecting stories in paperback, this is something I feel you should check out. I give this a high recommendation, but I think you need to have some background knowledge and expect that there are a lot of unrealistic parts of this event.

            Okay, let’s move on to the moment you’ve been waiting for: my numeric score. In every one of my literally dozens of reviews, I give a numeric score of a scale of one-to-ten, one being the worst, ten being the best. So let’s take it all into consideration. Now, also take into account that this focused on many different characters in many different titles and had many different artists that I honestly can’t credit all those who worked on this event into said consideration. I will say that as this is a “graphic novel,” the artwork is also important. I enjoyed most of the artwork, but this was still a reason to have my score knocked down. So, again, everything into account, I score this at… SEVEN! I think that this was a very good effort by the writers and artists, but if the realism was fixed a little better I’d have given this a higher score.

            So, before you go back to whatever you were doing before you read this post (and if you’re still reading at this point, you are THE BEST!), I have a few more things to say. First is that this blog has a lot of content on it, not just all reviews of Marvel books and events (which, I hate to say, is what most of this blog is). I feature other content, such as short stories (fiction and nonfiction), poetry, essays, editorials, and articles. I am a certified journalist who can’t find a true job because I’m disabled, and I want to get my words out there somehow, so this unpaid job is what I do. Also, I post rather frequently, maybe once every week or two. I have a series of pointless complaints called B’ings if you’re interested in reading more of my work. I’m also an aspiring author looking to one day get published and a volunteer group leader with the Mental Health Association in Putnam County, so I am a rather busy little bee and don’t always have the time to do this blog, so you’ll have to forgive me for that. Finally, I’ll say that I hope you come back for more and if you want you can keep reading more of what I’ve already posted and until then, Tim Cubbin… out!

“The Silver Surfer: The Infinity Gauntlet” by Ron Marz & Susan Kennedy with Len Wein, John Figueroa & Gavin Curtis

            The following is a review of “The Silver Surfer: The Infinity Gauntlet” graphic novel by Ron Marz & Susan Kennedy with Len Wein, John Figueroa & Gavin Curtis as presented in Marvel Epic Collection format. This is not a review of “The Infinity Gauntlet” limited series.

            Galactus is a creature of cosmic destruction that sustains himself by devouring the life essences of entire planets. Norrin Radd was a man on the peaceful planet of Zenn-La. Galactus discovered Zenn-La and prepared to consume the planet. Norrin wished to save his planet and made a deal with Galactus: if Galactus were to spare Zenn-La, Norrin would now become Galactus’ herald, to search through the spaceways for planets that may sustain Galactus. Galactus accepted this deal, spared Zenn-La, and granted Norrin the Power Cosmic, and a surfboard that obeyed Norrin’s every command. Norrin was reborn as the Silver Surfer.

            The Silver Surfer eventually discovered the planet Earth, and summoned Galactus. However, as the Silver Surfer awaited Galactus’ arrival, he met humans, and learned the value of life. The super hero team, the Fantastic Four learned of a doomsday device called the Ultimate Nullifier that would defeat Galactus. Galactus admitted defeat and agreed to spare Earth, but felt betrayed by the Silver Surfer, so Galactus placed a barrier around Earth that prevented the Silver Surfer from leaving Earth’s atmosphere. Galactus moved on and took on a new herald named Nova, an Earth woman who served Galactus due to her unrequited love for Galactus. The Silver Surfer was eventually able to leave Earth’s atmosphere and now searches the spaceways for adventure, to help those in need, and to eventually eliminate the threat of Galactus for the universe.

            The Silver Surfer was pulled into a time warp, placing him on a peaceful planet in the 26^th century. The leader of the planet, a long-lived man named Marshach used his power to eliminate war, violence, and weapons. Unfortunately, this peace was destroyed when the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived and a conflict broke out, eventually bringing Marshach to accept mortality.

            The Eternal named Eros has a power that attracts almost every woman. He has never actually fallen in love before, until a captivating woman walks into an intergalactic bar. However, this woman is able to resist Eros’ charms.

            The Midnight Sun was experimented on and was mind-wiped with the mission to destroy the Silver Surfer. He escaped his captors and went off through the spaceways to establish a life of his own.

            Nova and the Silver Surfer have had an unspoken romance that they can never actually understand or act upon, being literally from two different worlds and from being in the service of Galactus. The Silver Surfer has been unsuccessfully trying to convince Nova to leave Galactus, and the Silver Surfer now takes Nova into the past to her Earth. Upon next planet she discovers, Nova sees the potential of the life on this planet, but she is still unable to prevent Galactus from consuming the planet.

            Thanos is an Eternal from Titan, a moon of the planet Saturn. He wishes to take over the universe, hoping to impress the Mistress Death. Thanos had learned of the Infinity Gems and set out on a quest to obtain them to create death on a massive scale. Thanos obtains all six Infinity Gems and attached them to his device, the Infinity Gauntlet. With a snap of his fingers, half of all the inhabitants of the universe instantly dies. The Silver Surfer was unable to prevent this. The Silver Surfer is able to contact Doctor Stephen Strange on Earth and brings Firelord and Drax the Destroyer into a team with the intent to bring down Thanos.

            The alien Kree Empire have been in an upheaval and are now lead by the Emperor Clumsy Foulup. The Kree Armada wish to eliminate their Emperor and try to trick the Silver Surfer into doing the job.

            Proceeding Thanos’ snap, the Earth super villain the Rhino has now mentally spiraled out of control and has decided that all animals should be free and begins to let loose all the animals living in the Central Park Zoo. The Silver Surfer attempts to convince Rhino to return the animals to safety, resulting in a conflict between the Silver Surfer and the Rhino.

            The demon named Mephisto has formed an alliance with Thanos. With Mephisto’s help, Thanos now creates a dream world where all of the universe’s remaining super heroes and super villains who would oppose him have been eliminated. The Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock are pulled into this reality and the Silver Surfer battles Thanos and destroys the dream.

            The Silver Surfer is sent into the pocket dimension ruled by Virtual Reality that forces the Silver Surfer to face the doubts, shames, and regrets the Silver Surfer has experienced over the course of his life and triumphs with the memories of friendship and love.

            Upon complete victory over all of the remaining super heroes and super villains, Thanos leaves his physical body and becomes the universe’s Supreme Being. Thanos’ granddaughter Nebula discovers Thanos’ body and snatches the Infinity Gauntlet, stealing all of Thanos’ power. The Silver Surfer, Doctor Stephen Strange, Adam Warlock, Thor, Drax the Destroyer, Firelord, Doctor Victor Von Doom, and Bruce Banner/the Hulk unite and realize that if they hope to defeat Nebula, they need the assistance of Thanos. The Silver Surfer needs further convincing, so Doctor Strange sends the Silver Surfer and Thanos to the astral plane to settle their conflict.

            The Midnight Sun finally encounters the Silver Surfer, but their battle is ended upon the arrival of the Inhumans (Black Bolt, Karnak, Gorgon and Lockjaw).

            Taneleer Tivian/the Collector learns of a rare space virus, which intrigues him and wishes to obtain a specimen. Having faked his death, he sends the Silver Surfer in his stead. However, the Silver Surfer is not the only one seeking the virus. The Collection Agency, a mercenary cadre, have been hired to obtain the virus. The two forces are eventually able to put aside their differences, but the Silver Surfer has now been infected by the virus himself.

            In his sickness, the Silver Surfer unites with the deceased Kree soldier Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel in a fever dream.

            Following this, the Silver Surfer finds himself battling his dark side and his good self and bad self must unite if the Silver Surfer is to survive.

            After the virus debacle is finished, the Silver Surfer battles the space monster Reptyl, unintentionally drawing the attraction of Princess Alaisa Ruantha Pethnan of the Second Royal House of the Kharta’een Empire, a woman used to getting her way. Because of his near-immortality and her mortality, the Silver Surfer tries to send her away to prevent him from heartbreak, something Alaisa will not stand for. She turns to Mistress Love to gain immortality and becomes Mistress Love’s Avatar. Mistress Love warns Alaisa of the other side of love. The new Avatar, however, is corrupted by Master Hate. Alaisa is still spurned by the Silver Surfer, but Alaisa still refuses to give up on her quest for Silver Surfer’s love.

            While on his travels, the Silver Surfer hears a mysterious moaning, and upon investigation, he learns that it is from an injured sentient spaceship, who asks the Silver Surfer to do a difficult task for the Silver Surfer to complete.

            When the Silver Surfer is targeted by an assault force, he accidentally enters a hyperwave, sending him on a massive collision course with Earth, and Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic must act fast to save both the Silver Surfer and Earth.

            Nova spares the lives of the Kehilla before their planet is destroyed by Galactus and promises to give them a new planet to live on. However, the Kehilla fleet’s leader Kastyx is not receptive of this, and Nova is caught in a conflict between Kastyx and his wife Kasema for the future of the Kehilla race.

 

            Let me start by saying that the Silver Surfer is not a character I am very familiar with, and I’ve actually never read “The Infinity Gauntlet.” When I bought this graphic novel, I was expecting to have it contain “The Infinity Gauntlet” limited series. After purchasing the graphic novel, I noticed that this book actually did not contain any issues of “The Infinity Gauntlet” limited series. This made me a little wary as I started to read the book. The first issue in the book was an Annual issue that was Part 3 of “The Korvac Quest.” I’ve had experiences with Annuals in Epic Collections, which, oddly enough, usually does not require reading other Parts in the “story arc.” They don’t really completely crossover, so this didn’t deter me, especially since a recap was offered on the first page after the Table of Contents and a summary follow-up explaining how the story ended. That said, the story of “The Korvac Quest” contained in this graphic novel featured the Guardians of the Galaxy, but these were the Guardians of the Galaxy from the 31^st century, a team I am very much not familiar with. This is not the team from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films and shows, and I only know the current Guardians of the Galaxy team, which was rather disappointing. Then, “The Infinity Gauntlet” issues were issues of “The Silver Surfer” that tied-in with “The Infinity Gauntlet” limited series actually had fill-ins periodically that guides the reader through the main “The Infinity Gauntlet” limited series without actually reading the limited series. This made the graphic novel a lot more comfortable to me. As I continued through the whole book (which took me three days to read, but only because I had other commitments, so I probably could have finished it in two), I found myself rather enjoying it. I will say that I found no dull moments, the book kept my interest, I never felt bored, and reading it never felt like a chore, all things that can happen in any form of media, so that meant I found it to be a relative good read. Yes, there were points where I could have used more background information, but that wasn’t too much of a hindrance to me since enough way explained. Nebula never actually appeared in the entire book, but I could forgive that. Also, the Nova storyline at the end of the book felt superfluous as the Silver Surfer never actually appeared and I don’t know why the editors felt it fit in in the book, but I still thought the story was relatively interesting, so that was also forgivable. Now, anyone who knows what a “graphic novel” means knows that a graphic novel is a narrative storyline with supporting artwork. Which means that artwork can be tricky to pair with a narrative. You could have what you felt like a stellar story, but if the artwork is not to your liking, it ruins the book for you. And there are also times there is what you feel is amazing art, but you still can’t accept it because you hated the story, so it seems like a total waste. You, at this point, can obviously tell that most of the book was to my liking. My gripes actually did not hamper too much on my numeric score, which we will get to in a couple of paragraphs, so hold your horses (does anyone say that anymore or am I just old?). Now, many of my prior readers know how I feel about comic book art. The period when the book is written tend to have relatively standardized art styles. The issues contained in this Epic Collection range from the years 1991-1992. Some of my prior readers know how I feel about art from that time. If not, I feel like it’s typically a good style. It’s from the point before we had computers to touch up the artwork, but I feel like it still was relatively high quality. Now, I can say that I felt like it was good artwork, or I felt like it was good artwork for the time, which is a major distinction. Ultimately, I feel like it was just plain good artwork. I still feel like it holds up to today’s standards. I never felt like I was looking at low-quality work and I felt like it fit the story very well.

            I’m now going to tell you how I feel about accessibility of the book. I know that some of my readers have never read Marvel comic books before, but love the MCU films and are now considering reading comics and are looking for a place to start. I know some of you have no knowledge of Marvel at all and are only reading this because you’re a fan of my work or personally know me and are only reading this post out of what you feel is obligation. I also know some of you are longtime Marvel comics readers but have never read this story before and are interested in hearing about something you now want to read. Or, I know some of you have already read everything contained in this book and are just interested in reading my opinions. Like I said before, this book is not “The Infinity Gauntlet” and that is a major deterrent to anyone who is unfamiliar with Marvel or “The Infinity Gauntlet.” This is absolutely NOT a good place to start for new readers. Some of my prior readers know I use the phrase “self-contained.” This means that everything inside the book is completely cohesive and doesn’t rely on outside stories aside from what’s actually in this book. If you’ve actually really been reading this and actually paid any form of attention know that this is not “The Infinity Gauntlet.” And that I’ve never actually read “The Infinity Gauntlet.” And that there were points where I wish there was more information. So, I’m saying that if you’ve never read a Marvel comic before, this is a TERRIBLE place to start. I think the optimal reader should know “The Infinity Gauntlet” if they hope to fully grasp the book’s entire storyline. Now, I’m a longtime reader of Marvel comics, I’ve been reading for over twenty years (yes, I’m old), so the fact that I haven’t read “The Infinity Gauntlet” didn’t hinder me too much, but I can’t in good faith say you can do the same as me.

            Okay, I’ve been going on for quite awhile now, so we’re going to speed up the rest as much as possible. So now I’m giving you my numeric score. I score on a scale of one-(the worst)to-ten (the best). I have to take everything I’ve just typed into consideration to give it a fair score. This may surprise you, but I still give it an eight. I felt like it was a solid enough work, with both an enjoyable story and enjoyable art. So if you’re a Marvel fan but have never read the content in this book, I totally recommend this book to you, but if you’re not a longtime Marvel fan, I totally have to say this isn’t the droid you’re looking for.

            So, to finish up, this blog is all my opinions and my opinions only. I can’t expect you to agree with everything I say, and I actually like that you disagree with me. We’re all entitled to feel however you want about anything. So you’ll see that I don’t say “it was a good book,” I say “I felt like it was a good book.” This blog is primarily book reviews, mostly Marvel, having done literally dozens, but I also write short fiction and nonfiction, free-verse poetry, editorials and essays, and several other kinds of work, and I try to post at as frequent of a basis as I can (I do have a life outside this blog), usually a post or two a week, sometimes none, sometimes more, but I keep at this. I have plenty more content coming up for you to read, so if you liked this post, check out what I’ve already written and come back for more, and so, ‘til next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

B'ings: Car Commercials

 

            Hey, all, welcome (back if you truly like my pointless drivel) to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! As oft is the case, you are reading a piece by myself, Tim Cubbin.

            First off, let’s talk about why I’m here typing for hours trying to come up with cohesion which you will be done reading in two minutes (if you actually stay for the whole piece, I know I’m boring, but if you actually make it to the last three words in this post, you are THE BEST!). I actually happen to be qualified as a journalist. I went to college, majored in English, minored in journalism. I’m totally certified. So why am I doing this blog instead of writing for a newspaper or reading the teleprompter in a cable news studio? I’m actually legally disabled, seizures and brain damage. Finding a job in my condition is very difficult, but I want to write and have people read what I write, so I do this blog semiprofessionally. I don’t actually get paid, but I spend my time doing regular thirty-some-odd day-to-day activities and am writing a young adult novel series, and when I’m not doing that, I’m working on this blog out of the goodness of my heart for absolutely no money payment. I’m nice like that.

            If you’ve ever been here before, I’ve promised frequent posts, but it’s been a while since I posted. I do have a good explanation for that. I injured my hand really badly, so badly I don’t think you want to know. Because of this, I couldn’t type, and I didn’t want to have anyone else type for me, so I took a hiatus. But now I’m back! You might have noticed I’ve done two other posts frequently (actually on the same day I started this post), and a few other reviews when my hand allowed it, but nothing in the way of B’ings.

            If you haven’t been to a B’ing before, you probably don’t know what the heck a B’ing is. Well, it’s a dirty word minus four letters, which is a slang synonym for complaining. I honestly hope you now know what I mean, but if you don’t, I can’t help you there.

            You may have noticed I’m a little snarky when I write. It’s just my personality, me being me, but actually a lot nicer than I often am. I keep my jokes genial, just for fun without being seriously insulting. If you know me personally (as some of you readers might, and you are reading this out of a sense of obligation because we’re friends or family), you know how I am. I try to add a piece of myself in all my writing, fiction or nonfiction.

This is what I consider an editorial. You may want to classify this as an essay, but this is what I’m calling it, so there it is. I also write essays, being an English major and spending ten years in college. But I don’t personally think of B’ings as essays.

I also say that everything on my blog is my own personal, Tim Cubbin opinion. I’m not expecting you to read this and say “gee, Tim Cubbin makes a good point, I agree with him!” I’m actually expecting for you to feel otherwise. I just tell you like I feel since this is From MY mind. If you don’t agree with what I type, I leave that up to you, but I hope you still want to read past this point.

Anyhoo, I’ve given a super-long introduction and you probably want to get to the good stuff, why we’re actually here. Yes, I lured you here with the promise of me complaining about car commercials. (If you’re actually still here with me reading this, you are THE BEST!) So what could I possibly mean? I actually have two points to make. The first is car safety features. The second is what cars are doing in the commercials.

Let’s start with car safety features. I’ll pick a few for example, explain why I’m complaining, then I’ll move on to my second pointless point.

How about self-parking? Being disabled, I can’t drive, but I pay lots of attention to commercials and have opinions on just about every one I see. So, have you seen commercials that show cars parking themselves? I wouldn’t want to trust that. Having seen people parallel-park and having difficulty, how accurate do you think a machine can be? You need to take several things into consideration when you park.

One: The size of your car. Two: The size of the cars surrounding where you want to park. And three: The amount of room you have for the parking space. I don’t feel like a car would be able to account for these three considerations on its own. So much with that can go wrong. So I feel it’s dangerous, not just for your car, but the cars surrounding your car. It doesn’t seem to me like the entire precision can be executed perfectly.

Next, how about automatic braking? You have cars that if it detects danger in front of the car and automatically stops the car to avoid forward collision. But what about backward collision? Sure, YOUR car stops to protect it from what’s in front of it, but if your car automatically stops and you have cars BEHIND you. Their car might not have automatic braking. Which means… CRASH! You’re rear-ended! In THEORY it seems safe, but in actual EXECUTION, there does seem to me that you might just have a wee bit of a problem.

Or, let’s think about lane control? Your car may be drifting off to the side, and it might compute that you’re driving over the lane and automatically turn to fit the lane. But what if you need to pass someone? Your car might compute that you’re out of your lane and drive you right into the car you’re trying to pass.

And, let’s think about self-driving cars? Would you trust your car to drive itself? There are so many factors that go into driving, like other cars, traffic lights, stops, yields, traffic circles, speed limits, crossings, detours, so much that can go wrong. A car is a machine that can’t properly think for itself. Would you trust that? I certainly don’t! UNLESS! EVERY car on the road was self-driving. Hey, maybe that would somewhat prevent accidents? But for some people, they love driving. I’ve been in cars with plenty of people who drive for a living and love their job. (I’m on Medicaid that covers my car trips to my doctor’s appointments, so I know firsthand how the drivers working for the companies they work for.) Some people feel like driving is fun. And yes, you have people who race professionally (and not like the maniacs on my street at night who cause at least one accident a year). Do you honestly want to have a joy or a passion stripped away from you? I sure wouldn’t. So not only would a person have a dangerous travel if cars drove themselves, the fun aspect just wouldn’t be there.

Next, we’re going to discuss content shown in car commercials. Some commercials actually show cars speeding. You might see a car in a commercial flying by at 100 MPH! YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOING THAT! I see no reason for a car to drive over 80 MPH (in my opinion even over 75 MPH is too fast at times). I mean, sure, you have a speed gauge, but it should not be going as fast as it is in some car commercials.

Another pointless feeling is also showing cars doing things they shouldn’t be doing. The commercials show that you CAN ride off-road, after crazy obstacles, and stunts; but that truly does not mean that you SHOULD. Sure you CAN decide to stick your tongue onto a flagpole in winter just to prove it won’t freeze your tongue to it, but SHOULD you do it. There would be germs all over it, you could get sick, and it is actually possibly for your tongue to stick, “A Christmas Story” does not lie on that (I’ve never tried it, but I have a friend I PERSONALLY have do it because he COULD do it, and he totally regretted that choice). I have plenty of other anecdotes, but some would be either too graphic that this blog site would not allow it, or else this post would get even more boring than it already is (I’m even bored writing this, but unfortunately I got this far so that not finishing this post is not an option). Doing these could actually be really dangerous. You could be doing these activities and might not be able to regret doing them if they go wrong.

My point is, some of the things you see in car commercials that seem useful, fun, cool, what-have-you, but the content in car commercials just don’t seem practical to me. But again, because of my disability, I can’t drive, I haven’t seen through a driver’s position (well, actually I did once park my dad’s car in his garage and I was so nervous because I knew if I even scratched the car, I’d be paying for it for the rest of my life and managed to park perfectly, but driving felt like so much pressure to me), so all of this is just my passenger-seat view, and you honestly don’t have to listen or agree with me on anything I’ve typed, and I welcome your disagreement and feedback.

So now, we’re wrapping this horrible editorial up, but first, I have a few things to say (at the top of the list is that if you’re still reading this up to this point, you are THE BEST!). This blog, as I said, contains book reviews, essays, editorials, original short nonfiction and short fiction, original poetry, all kinds of other content, so if you liked this post (and honestly, I’m surprised if you did because even I didn’t like typing this post after breaching 1,000 words, but I just couldn’t leave this post behind me) feel free to check out some of my other work. I keep busy and try to post frequently so you readers have something to read as I’m sure some of you are quite demanding and want more From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin, so I hope you keep reading, I’d love to hear from you, feel free to comment, like, share, retweet, whatever you can do on the platform you found this post on, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

Wakka's Gift

 

            On October 28, 2016, I adopted a bearded dragon. They’re called “bearded dragons” because they’re lizards that inflate their chin with marking that makes it look like a beard.

            I never thought a reptile would steal my heart. I’d only ever had cats or a dog as pets before, so this was going to be new to me. When I went to PetSmart to get my new baby, I thought it would be a difficult choice. There were three beardies in the tank. I looked, and one beardie saw me, climbed over the other two, and placed its hand on the glass. I knew this little baby wanted me.

He was hatched on September 1, 2016, and was very tiny. I have a grip that is way too firm, and I was afraid I’d smush he was so little, and I didn’t actually start holding him until January 2017.

Picking the name was easy enough for me, as I knew the boy or girl names for whichever I brought home. There are several common beardie names, like Norbert, Puff, or Toothless, but I wanted something unique, something different. My favorite video game is Final Fantasy X, and my favorite character is Wakka. I saw this baby and looking at him, I knew Wakka was the right name. He would even eventually learn and understand that his name was Wakka.

He also learned a few other words. He understood me as “Dada.” He also learned the word “bugs” (but what reptile wouldn’t learn that word?). He learned “cartoons” and if I said “Wakka, want to watch cartoons” be got very excited.

I’m living with bipolar disorder, and I saw Wakka as my emotional support animal. We did a lot of things together, including reading and, of course, watching cartoons. He was a very happy little creature, full of happiness and love. Some scientists say bearded dragons don’t know how to love. I think those scientists need to do better research on that. If you saw how he looked at me and played with me, you could see the love.

If I had a horrible day, I could just walk into my room, look at that little guy and how he’d look back at me, and it felt like if that little creature loved me that much, my life honestly couldn’t be all that bad. He always made me smile.

One of the hardest days of my life was December 4, 2021. I woke up to find he had passed over the night. It was devastating. I loved that little guy so much, and now he was gone. It was hard to comprehend, and to cope and deal with. I never thought losing a reptile would be so difficult. My emotional support animal had left me, and life would now be so difficult.

I know, though, that those five years together were some of the happiest of my life, and I had to remember that I gave him a good, happy life, full of nothing but love. I honestly have absolutely no bad memories of Wakka except the morning I found his stiff body. But to pass right before Christmas, well, it was going to be awfully difficult. Five years of being a dada now over.

I’m on several bearded dragon and reptile pages on Facebook. I’d asked around and learned the average bearded lifespan is 8-13 years. I felt like I’d done something wrong, like I had messed up and his passing was my fault, and I highly blamed myself. I should have known something was wrong, felt like I could have done something to keep him alive. I felt guilty. What if I had done something different? Would he still be alive?

My dog Casper had passed away December 3, 2013. It was like mourning one pet one day, then another one the next day, and it was extremely difficult to get through.

Therapy sessions after that were extremely difficult, but they really helped me through the rough time. I accepted it was not my fault, and that there was nothing more I could have done. He showed no signs of being sick, it was so sudden, he wasn’t suffering or in pain. And I also had to accept that he had said goodbye to me that last night. I gave him his goodnight hug and kiss, and he clung to my chest and nuzzled me. It was all going to be alright and things would get better.

I knew nothing about reptiles, and five years with no prior experience was not too bad. I’d heard of beardies who never breached two. What I did, I did right.

I plan to get another new beardie baby to love, and give a good life to, and find more happiness. In May of 2022, I was going to get a new baby, but unfortunately I got a really bad injury on my hand, requiring stitches, and I was now in no shape to handle a beardie. It’s now almost August 2022 and I’m still not fully healed, so getting a new beardie was now on the afterburner. But knowing the kind of joy a bearded dragon can provide, I definitely will get another.

Still, in 2021, the prospect of Christmas was rather dim for me. Yes I had my cat, Rose, but I shared her in the family, and she was not fully my cat, compared to the way that Wakka was my beardie.

Then, something happened that saved my Christmas.

If you’re reading this, years after my writing this short story, there might be something new, or better, but in 2021, this was cutting edge technology. I’d wanted to get the Nintendo Switch ever since I first heard of it. But coming from a low-income family, getting it would be difficult. I found I had gift cards and store credit for Game Stop. I also learned about the Nintendo Switch Lite, a portable version of the system. The regular Switch could hook up to a television and also be portable, but it was very expensive. Plus, I only have one main television in my house, and my neighborhood is notorious for losing electricity, so a version that was just portable was ideal. Plus it was $100 cheaper. Earlier in 2021, I had gone to Game Stop and asked about a Nintendo Switch Lite. The clerk checked the computer and saw that there were three in the back of the store. The clerk went into the storage room, and for six exciting minutes, I thought I’d be walking out with one. As it turned out, the worker who usually did inventory had failed at their job, and they actually did not have any Nintendo Switch Lite. This was rather devastating. I had also looked on Amazon to see the availability status, and the wait period on the Nintendo Switch Lite was five to seven months. It looked like I’d be waiting until at least 2022 to get one.

But the week after Wakka passed away, my mum and caregiver (as I am disabled and cannot live on my own) randomly went to Game Stop. She had no idea she would even go there that day, but she decided to check out to see if the clerk knew when they were possibly getting a shipment in. The clerk checked and saw that he did not know when they would possibly be getting new copies in. But, as it turned out, the computer said the store had a used copy right there in the back. The clerk went back and actually, in fact, they did, indeed have a used copy.

When I watch television at home, I usually ignore the phone if I’m truly invested. But as I sat watching television, my mum called. I was mostly ignoring it, until I heard a few choice words. “Game Stop.” “Nintendo Switch Lite” “Used.” “At the store.” I raced for the phone, picked it up, and cried out “BUY IT!” Unfortunately, however, my mum did not have the funds to purchase it… WITH her. But I had the Game Stop gift cards and store credit and knew, from the last experience, that I had more than enough to purchase both the system and a game. My mum told the clerk to hold on to it. Being disabled, including having seizures and brain damage, I’m not permitted to drive. So I gathered all my cards, my mum rushed home, and we rushed back. And with luck, the color they had in was turquoise. In all honesty, if it was purple with pink flowers, I still would have bought it. Honestly, who’d really care? A Nintendo Switch Lite is still a Nintendo Switch Lite. So before dinner, on that day, upon returning home, I now possessed a turquoise Nintendo Switch Lite.

I believe this was a Christmas miracle. I believe it was a Christmas gift for his Dada, for taking such good care of him and giving him so much love for five years. I know he would not have wanted his Dada to be sad on Christmas. I could just imagine him saying to the previous owner, if he could speak English “You! Hooman! You don’t use your Nintendo Switch Lite anymore! Bring it back to the store so my Dada can have it!” And I can imagine him saying to my mum “Gammy! The Game Stop in the Cortland Town Center has a used Nintendo Switch Lite! Get Dada here so he can buy it!” I refuse to believe that anything other than Wakka wanting me to have a happy Christmas occurred. It was Wakka’s Christmas present for me. As I set up the system, it even asked if I wanted to give the console a nickname. I actually did, and coming up with a name took less time than it took to actually read the prompt. My Nintendo Switch Lite is officially named Wakka. It may not have been an actual replacement for Wakka (as how could ANY animal be a replacement for a lost pet), but it was a nice, pleasant, happy surprise. A Christmas present from my dearly departed little goober. I believe this no matter what anyone might say, no one with ever convince me otherwise. And so, with my turquoise Nintendo Switch Lite, nicknamed Wakka, I actually had a happy Christmas.

B'ings: Teeth

            Howdy, y’all, and welcome (possibly back, if you’ve been here before) to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! Reporting today is Tim Cubbin, manager of this blog!

            Okay, so, I have to say, it’s been quite a while since I did one of these B’ings. I’d been doing a lot of reviews in my more recent posts and have been completely ignoring B’ings, so I thought it was high time to do another one of these.

            So, in the past couple of months, my cat passed away, and I sustained a pretty serious injury (which I’m sure y’all don’t want to hear about, so we’ll just skip that), so I’ve been off the grid. But I’m recovered enough to come back to the blog, so here I am now.

            Now, I know some of you might have no idea what, exactly, a B’ing is. I don’t like to use profanity on this blog, I keep it G-Rated, but think of a dirty word, drop the last four letters, and make it an action, and I think you might have figured out what a B’ing is now. If you don’t get it, just think of this as a complaint department. So a B’ing is where I take a peeve of mine and go on and on in a pointless fashion, and if you actually read this whole post, you are THE BEST! Sometimes there actually IS a relevancy, but most of the time, you might wonder why I actually do these things. Well, I went to college, I have a degree in English with a minor in journalism, and am officially a journalist. But I am legally disabled and getting a job isn’t possible, so in my spare time I read, watch shows and movies, and play video games, and yes, I write (I’m working on a young adult novel series right now, and I totally plan on getting published, so expect to eventually go to a book store and find my name on the cover), so I keep busy. So, a journalist without a job is pretty boring, so to get my words out, I write this blog. And I do it for free out of the kindness of my heart, so you are totally lucky you get to read this drivel, and you taking the time to read this is greatly appreciated.

            I now tell you that EVERYTHING on this blog is MY OWN PERSONAL opinion. I don’t expect you to understand or agree with what I say. In fact, I welcome you to disagree with me. That is the beauty of being a human being. We all have our own opinions. This is all just mine.

            Now, you can probably get the point (more like pointlessness) of this post. You’re here because: 1) You are a regular reader of this blog and read everything I write; 2) You are a friend of mine on Facebook and thought you wanted to check this out; or 3) You saw the # and are intrigued by this. Whyever you’re here, you’re here and that means a lot to me. But yes, I gave the title “B’ings: Teeth,” and that is what I am here today to talk about.

            Do you notice that everyone now must have perfect, shiny, white teeth? It’s totally expected these days. But when did that become a requirement? In my day, you were happy just not having cavities. Or gingivitis. The dentist didn’t tell you how shiny your teeth were, just how healthy they were. You didn’t have to look in the mirror every morning, shine the light on it and be like “bling!” I mean, people don’t smile if they smoke or drink coffee because it’s embarrassing that their teeth don’t shine. If your teeth aren’t shiny white, you have an ugly smile. When did this start? When I was in high school, we didn’t have whitening toothpaste, or whitening strips, or whitening trays, or tooth polish, or anything like that. We had for sensitivity and gingivitis and whatnot, but whitening? Not a thing. Then I’m in my third year of college and all the commercials come on and it’s like, a big deal. And here’s a little known fact: All those extra things except toothpaste made for whitening your teeth? They’re abrasive. Each time you put those things on, you’re eroding your enamel. So sure you’re making your teeth LOOK good, but you’re not making your teeth HEALTHY! I went to college embarrassed of my teeth. I come from a lower-class family and I couldn’t afford a dentist, so I brushed my teeth three times a day using a different kind of toothpaste each time. In the morning I did sensitivity. After lunch in between class, I used enamel restoring toothpaste. At night I used whitening toothpaste. Unfortunately, I had a major problem that toothpaste just couldn’t fix: I was on the medication Lithium. Lithium contains a very high level of salt in it. This ate away at my teeth. I was on Lithium since 2002 and taken off in 2020, and no matter how much I brushed, it just didn’t work. As a market research interviewer, I did a lot of paperwork and dealt with a lot of people every day. I tried to hold my lips a certain way so no one saw the horror in my mouth, but it never worked. People saw, and it was extremely embarrassing. I was finally put on disability, with Medicaid and Medicare and could get dental work, but it wasn’t enough. I had to have every tooth extracted all at once. Not pleasant and not a good story, so we’ll leave that alone. I finally got dentures. Fun fact: You can actually pick a color when your dentures are being made. And no, you don’t just go to the dentist two times and have your dentures. It takes six fitting sessions over the span of several months, and you don’t just pop them in and out as you have to use seal so they stay in your mouth and the paste does not come off easy. In all honesty, I never wear my dentures, I find them extremely uncomfortable. But when I picked out my color, I picked what seems like an odd choice, and did not pick perfect white. I wanted them to look natural and made them off-white. So when I look at people and see “perfect” teeth, it hurts me mentally. And back in my day, we had braces. Metal braces. That they stuck to your teeth to fix the position so your teeth were steady to make sure your teeth had a proper formation, and you might have needed them for years. Now you have those things you pop in your mouth at night to fix the position. In my day, we didn’t have that. (And, oh, my gosh, I’m saying “in my day” a lot. I’m SO OLD!) And let’s talk about losing teeth as children. You know those scenes in movies where they tie something around a loose tooth and use a heavy weight to yank it out? DON’T DO THAT! It DOES NOT work! I’ve heard of people getting seriously hurt doing that. Especially if the tooth is not loose, but the kid wants the Tooth Fairy to come, as that will cause permanent damage, so DO NOT encourage such behavior. I know we can’t control what our kids watch these days, but a lot of shows and movies show it and it is not a safe thing to do. I actually have firsthand experience and believe me, it was NOT fun. If a tooth is loose, don’t fiddle with it. (Although, in all honesty, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably shed all your baby teeth and this is kind of pointless to say, but I’m still saying it anyway). I used to yank them out, and the results were not pleasant. The best way to do it is to wiggle it back and forth with your tongue. So if you’re an adult, teach this to your kids, it’s very important to know. And also, let’s talk about the Tooth Fairy. In my day (again, I’m old), I got a dollar per tooth. And my mum took my fallen-out tooth right after I lost it, put it in a little plastic bag, put a dollar in a bag exactly like it when I wasn’t looking, and swapped the bags before putting the money bag under my pillow. So parents, this is a good tactic and works very well. Now, I don’t know how much parents these days give for a lost tooth. In my mum’s day, she got a quarter. Now kids probably get an obscene amount such as five dollars these days. (Gotta love inflation.) And also, kids are now con artists. They know the Tooth Fairy isn’t real, but know how to work parents to get money anyway. Kids these days don’t believe in anything (Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or the Great Pumpkin, to name a few), they just want the presents. (And now I’m saying “kids these days,” I AM old!) But telling young kids about them being made up can now be considered emotionally scarring, so just go along with it.

            And I would be remiss if I complained about teeth and not mention dentists. Going to the dentist, well, I’d rather have gotten stuck in the DMV for seven hours then deal with that scraping hook. Lucky me, I don’t have to go to the dentist anymore, but yeah, going to the dentist? Not fun. And going to the dentist is important, don’t let your kids tell you they don’t want to go, and if you want, you can tell them my story, that’s horrifying enough to make your kids want to go, having every tooth in your mouth pulled out all at once, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. (Okay, maybe I would for some people, but I will keep them to myself.) Novocain only does just so much. But, I mean, let’s face it, who ACTUALLY WANTS to go to the dentist? (If you answer yes, I would actually dislocate my jaw in surprise.) I don’t think even dentists want to go to the dentist. Pretty sadistic job, in my opinion. I don’t know if any of you agree or disagree with me, like I said, this is all my own personal opinion, feel however you want to about everything I’ve just typed, I welcome dissent. And if you are on medications, going to the dentist is extremely important, I would know the effects if you don’t, as much as you hate it.

            Okay, hopefully you don’t equate this post as painful as having a tooth pulled, but I think we should start wrapping this up. If you’re still reading this post up to this point, thank you, you are THE BEST. Now, for those of you who have never been to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin before, I will say that I do not just write these stupid things. I write reviews of mostly Marvel Comics books and comics, and I have done literally dozens of them. I also write short fiction and nonfiction, I actually have an idea high up on this to-do list, I have a whole bunch of index cards right now with ideas I have to tackle, as I had been injured really badly and couldn’t write. I also have some poetry on this blog (even though I personally hate, don’t understand and can’t format, do I do free-verse poetry in mostly epic poetry format). I also write pieces about mental health, illness, and wellness, which are actually important topics, but don’t get many reads. I post often. Like I said, have plenty of ideas. There’s plenty to find on this blog to like and enjoy, and now I’ll finish off with three more simple words: Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond"

 

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics event “Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond” as presented on Marvel Unlimited.

            Peter Parker was just your average, everyday high school student. His parents died when he was a little boy and he grew up with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. He was super smart, and bullied for it. One day, he went to a radiology demonstration. As the demonstration began, a small spider got in the way of the rays and became irradiated. The radioactive spider then bit Peter. Peter discovered he now had adhesive fingertips and toes, has the proportional strength, speed and agility of a spider his size, and had a precognitive awareness of danger he calls “spider-sense.” He also created webs which he shoots from devices mounted to his wrists. At first he tried to make money with his powers by showing off. One day, he allowed a robber to get past him when he could have easily stopped him, Peter caring only for number one: him. This robber took Peter’s Uncle Ben from him. Peter then decided to use his powers for the benefit of others, following a lesson that Uncle Ben had imparted into him: With great power there must also come great responsibility. Using these powers for good soon turned into stopping crime combatting others with powers using them for evil purposes, super villains. This made Peter the super hero the Amazing Spider-Man.

            Several years back, Peter Parker was cloned. He found himself face-to-face with his clone, and after the battle, Peter believed the clone vanquished. The clone, however, survived and tried to live a normal life as Ben Reilly. Ben eventually returned, and reluctantly ended up becoming the super hero the Scarlet Spider. Ben and Peter formed an understanding, and Ben lived his own life over the years following.

            The Beyond Corporation has been putting out products and services benefitting the public. Now, they have created a Super Hero Development Project, headed by Maxine Danger. Beyond has purchased the rights to the Spider-Man name, and wanted to have their own Spider-Man working for them. But the Spider-Man they have hired is not Peter Parker. They have hired Ben Reilly. They have upgraded many things for him, including a high-tech costume and other spider-related gadgets, as well as a penthouse apartment with his girlfriend Janine Godbe, a convict Beyond managed to have released from jail. He was assigned a handler named Marcus Momplaisir, as well as assistance from the Daughters of the Dragon, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing and Monica Rambeau/Spectrum. He is also assigned to therapy from Doctor Ashley Kafka. Beyond has also employed the super hero team the Slingers.

            Peter finds himself allied with Ben against the super villain team the U-Foes, including Vapor and X-Ray. Having a high-tech new costume, Ben emerged unscathed, and the U-Foes were captured. Peter, however, was not so lucky. This battle landed Peter in the hospital, fighting for his life. His girlfriend Mary Jane Watson and Aunt May rush to Peter’s side. Mary Jane is one of the few people who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Peter’s ex, the sometimes super hero thief Felicia Hardy/Black Cat also comes to Peter’s bedside. As Peter’s condition gets worse, Ben comes to Peter in the hospital. Peter tells Ben there has to be a Spider-Man and gives Ben his blessing before lapsing into a coma.

            As Spider-Man, Ben finds himself facing several of Peter’s old villains, including the pseudo-vampire Doctor Michael Morbius, Kraven the Hunter, and Doctor Octopus. Ben is also assigned to have Miles Morales give up the name of Spider-Man as Beyond owns the Spidey rights and Miles is committing infringement. After meeting and eventually teaming-up with Miles, Ben turns down this order.

            Meanwhile, Aunt May, who is a force of nature, refuses to give up on her nephew and forms an unorthodox team-up with her ex-fiancé and super villain, Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus, in an attempt to save Peter’s life, and the pair actually manage to get samples from the U-Foes that brings Peter out of his coma.

            While still incapacitated, the super villain and crook Parker Robbins/the Hood holds Peter at gunpoint. His hood has been stolen, and Robbins wants it back. Black Cat then says the Mary Jane is part of her crew, and Black Cat and Mary Jane go on a mission to retrieve the stolen hood by sunup or else Peter’s life is forfeit. Through trickery, Black Cat and Mary Jane retrieve the hood, but not in the way Robbins expects.

            Peter is not in any shape to be Spider-Man, but he wants to get back to the job. So, at nights, Peter receives training sessions with Black Cat and Steve Rogers/Captain America, preparing to get back into the game.

            Ben manages to obtain a Beyond data drive and learns that Beyond is keeping him compliant by erasing some of Ben’s memories. They accidentally erase several of Ben’s key memories, such as “with great power there must also come great responsibility” and end up sending Ben into a downward spiral.

            Meanwhile, Beyond is not just developing a Super Hero Project, but also a Super Villain Project. To that end, Beyond creates Queen Goblin in an attempt to bring Ben back into their fold. Now Peter, Ben, Misty, Colleen, and Spectrum must team-up to expose Beyond and bring them down.

            Some of my readers who go way back with me may have read my review of “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga.” If you haven’t, maybe you should consider reading it, as it will provide greater context of this story. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I totally suggest you check it out.

            Anyway, you probably want me to tell you what I thought of it, if I recommend it, to whom I recommend it, how accessible I feel this story was to casual/non readers, and my numeric score, so I’ll get to that promptly.

If you read my review of “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga,” you will know that I felt it was disjointed and inaccessible because it crossed over into several series and had multiple storylines. Almost all this issues “Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond” on Marvel Unlimited were of “The Amazing Spider-Man” with the one exception being a one-shot “Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond.” This did have multiple storylines in the event, but not every issue focused on Peter and Ben. While most of the story was consistent, the stories of the Daughters of the Dragon, Aunt May and Doctor Octopus, Spectrum, the Slingers, and Mary Jane and Black Cat were not all characters as prominent as Spider-Man. Even Ben Reilly is a lesser-known character, and casual/non readers probably only know Peter Parker and Miles Morales from the movies and cartoons and don’t know Ben as Spider-Man. However, the villains Morbius, Kraven and Doc Ock are more prominent characters from the movies and cartoons. Still, I don’t think that makes up for that. Me being a huge Marvel fan, I know a lot about these characters, but I know you may not. So if you have never picked up a Marvel Comic book in your entire life, this is not a good place to start. However, if you are a reader of Spider-Man comics dating back to “The Clone Saga” in the ‘90s, I think this might be worth the read. I felt like the stories were self-contained, but a reader needs extensive knowledge to actually read and understand these stories. I think it’s inaccessible to any non or casual reader. As far as the stories themselves go, I did find them rather entertaining. I read the whole event twice, as individual issues as they became available on Marvel Unlimited, then as one consecutive binge, finishing in less than twenty-four hours, and I did enjoy them both times. I’ve always been a fan of Ben Reilly. The first Marvel comic book I ever bought was “The Amazing Spider-Man” #410, which was at the first point where Ben was Spider-Man, so he holds a special place in my mind. Incidentally, as this will probably never come up again, in that issue Ben became Spider-Carnage, which is possibly why my favorite super villain is Carnage. (I recently reviewed “Carnage: Born in Blood,” if you want to read that one too.) Unfortunately, I have to say that Ben’s downward spiral was devastating for me. I always thought he was a great character, and when I first read the event as it became individually available, I was so excited he was back in the Spidey costume (I also like Ben’s Spider-Man costume better than Peter’s, I think it’s so much cooler). I felt like it would have great potential, and yet for me, it fell flat. I did appreciate that this story didn’t go all over the place like “The Clone Saga,” and I thought the villain choices were great. I loved Aunt May’s persistence, storming into the hospital and scaring the heck out of all the staff, and her turning back to Doc Ock was for me an interesting twist. I’ve also been a fan of the Black Cat, so her part in Peter’s rehabilitation was enjoyable for me, and her team-up with Mary Jane was so interesting for me as well. But I didn’t quite like the character of Janine Godbe. First off, to me she looked like a poor man’s version of Mary Jane, with the red hair and green eyes, just like Mary Jane Watson, so of course Ben fell for this cheap imitation since he couldn’t get the real deal. Second, she was a convict, and Beyond pulled strings and got her out, which made her unlikable to me. And third, her other history was not covered, so her character to me felt two-dimensional. I’m not saying she wasn’t a useful character, she helped big time with the data drive, I’m just saying she wasn’t provided with enough background for me to like the character. I have to say I liked the inclusion of Miles Morales and their little Spider-Person tussle felt fun for me.

But we do have a major problem with this event. When you think of a comic book, you should also think graphic novel. This means it contains artwork and story, and both of those need to be considered. I feel like you could call this a showcase. There were several writers and several artists. That is a MAJOR conflict. While the multiple writers did produce a rather decent story, some of the artwork just did not please me. I’m being nice to the artists and not naming names here, but some of the artwork was not to my liking. Some of the artwork blew me away, and some of the artwork just made me think “meh.” The styles of artwork were too varied, and that was the only cause of inconsistency. It’s like looking at two paintings, where they’re both supposed to be the same thing but if you really focus you see that they’re both completely different. That’s how the art in this event made me feel. Every artist drew Ben so differently, it was just so hard to accept that this was all the same character.

Okay, I hope I’m not boring you, and if you’re still here reading this, you are THE BEST! So now you probably want to hear me give this a numeric score. If you’ve read any of my other dozens of reviews (I kid you not, there are literally dozens), you know I’m a very harsh scorer. If I give it a seven or higher, it might actually potentially be good for other readers. Even if I give it a one, it might still be good for other readers. On this blog, I offer you nothing other than my own personal opinions. Just mine. I’m not forcing you to accept everything I say. I even invite you to disagree with me, so if you want to say anything to me and my other readers, feel free to leave comments, as that would be THE BEST! (No one has ever left a comment for me before, so feel free to be the first). It’s the beauty of free will that we all have our own individual opinions. For example, some people saw “Thor: Love and Thunder” and said it was the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, while others say it was amazing. I will not say if it was a good movie or a bad movie because we all have our own personal opinions, a fact I wish people would accept. (I personally rather enjoyed it, I’d score it at seven out of ten). And yes, I score out of ten. One is the worst, ten is the best. When I give a score, I have to take everything into consideration. This means both stories and art. The stories felt decent and entertaining to me, but some of the artists just didn’t draw me a pleasing experience. So factoring it all in, I score it as… six. My reasoning has already been completely explained I don’t think I have to say anything else.

Speaking of not having to say anything else, let’s wrap this all up. I know this has been a long read, and this has taken me over two hours to write, so let’s just finish this now. But before I go, I must reiterate that I have literally written dozens of Marvel reviews, and my work is just all piled up on my desk. I have short stories I’m working on, I have more B’ings on the way, and you can expect plenty more to read in the following weeks. So I’m getting to work on some other things now to keep you reading, and until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

“Carnage: Born in Blood” by David Michelinie, Tom DeFalco, Terry Kavanagh & J.M. DeMatteis

 

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “Carnage: Born in Blood” by David Michelinie, Tom DeFalco, Terry Kavanagh & J.M. DeMatteis.

            Cletus Kasady was born into a broken home and grew up in St. Estes Home for Boys, where he was badly bullied. He would go on to commit arson on the orphanage and many other heinous crimes that landed him in Riker’s Island Prison Complex serving eleven consecutive life sentences.

            Peter Parker was orphaned as a little boy and grew up with his elderly Aunt May and Uncle Ben. As a high school student when he was bitten by a radioactive spider at a radiology demonstration. He gained the proportional strength and agility of a spider, adhesive fingertips and toes, and a precognitive awareness of personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He also created web shooters. He first used his powers to show off and try to make money. He allowed a robber to run past him when he easily could have stopped the robber. The robber later broke into Aunt May and Uncle Ben’s house and murdered Uncle Ben. Peter then took a saying from his Uncle Ben to heart: “With great power there must also come great responsibility.” He then vowed to use his powers for good and became a super hero called the Amazing Spider-Man. Peter kept his identity as Spider-Man a secret, telling no one of his alter ego. On one of his many adventures, Peter was sent to the planet Battleworld with almost all the other heroes and villains in the Marvel Universe. His costume was damaged, and he came upon a device that gave him a new costume. The costume could produce its own webbing, amplified Peter’s abilities, and could change shape. Peter brought the costume back home to earth and continued to wear it. Superhero Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four ran a diagnostic on the costume and discovered it was a living organism called a symbiote that wanted to permanently bond with Peter. Reed discovered the symbiote was weak against sound. Peter was able to separate from the symbiote and thought he had destroyed it. But he was wrong. Peter married Mary Jane Watson, one of the only people who knew Peter was Spider-Man.

            Eddie Brock was a disgraced journalist. He blamed the end of his career on Spider-Man. He stumbled upon the symbiote Peter rejected and the two bonded in their mutual hatred for Spider-Man, and they became Venom, who became one of Spider-Man’s deadliest enemies. Venom had all the same powers as Spider-Man, and didn’t set off Peter’s spider sense. Spider-Man defeated Venom and separated Eddie and the symbiote. Eddie was sent to Riker’s Island Prison Complex, where he became cellmates with Cletus Kasady. Eddie always hoped the symbiote would reunite with him. Then, one night, the symbiote did indeed return and broke Eddie out of prison. In the process, however, a piece of the symbiote was left behind. Kasady bonded with this symbiote and busted out of Riker’s. Kasady and the symbiote took on the name Carnage, and went on a nasty crime spree.

            Peter went on to investigate the crime spree, believing this to be the work of Venom. Peter had previously battled Venom on a desert island, and Peter faked his death to give Venom a sense of satisfaction and let Venom find peace. Peter came face-to-face with Carnage and was defeated. Peter realized he could not defeat Carnage on his own, and turned to Venom for help. Venom returned to New York with Peter. Carnage set his sight on Peter’s boss J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the newspaper The Daily Bugle. Spider-Man and Venom were able to defeat Carnage and destroy Kasady’s symbiote. Peter thought the nightmare of Carnage was over. He was wrong.

            Richard and Mary Parker, Peter’s parents, as it turned out were not really dead. They were spies, and had been captured and held in a Russian prison for twenty years. Peter’s best friend, Harry Osborn became the super villain the Green Goblin, and met with an unfortunate end. Mary Jane then asked Peter to give up being Spider-Man for two weeks, and Peter gave Mary Jane his word that he would.

            Kasady was brought to Ravencroft, a maximum security institution for the criminally insane for study. The doctors there were under the impression that Carnage was just a regular costume that could just be taken on and off, and not actually a living organism. And the symbiote actually had entered Kasady’s bloodstream. Kasady became Carnage again. As he escaped from Ravencroft, Carnage released another criminal, Sandra Deel, called Shriek. Shriek had the powers of supersonic blasts and the psychic ability to bring out the worst aspects of a person. Fortunately for Kasady, Carnage was now immune to sonics. The two criminals immediately fell in love. After their escape, the two ran across the monstrous Spider-Doppelganger. After realizing that the creature posed no threat, Shriek and Carnage “adopted” it.

            Peter immediately broke his promise to Mary Jane after learning of Carnage’s escape and rushed off as Spider-Man. Unfortunately, he proved no match against the “Carnage Family.” Spider-Man was then joined by Tyrone Johnson/Cloak and Tandy Bowen/Dagger. The team-up met a snag when Shriek destroyed Dagger.

            Venom, meanwhile, heard of Carnage’s resurgence and returned to New York to battle his “offspring.”

            Spider-Man then found himself fighting the demonic creature called the Demogoblin, whose aim was to purge the world of sinners and deliver vengeance. After a brief battle, the Demogoblin escaped.

            Peter returned home, but he and Mary Jane were visited by none other than Eddie Brock. Mary Jane then stormed off from Peter after Spider-Man and Venom decided to team-up again. She went to see Aunt May, Richard and Mary Parker. Peter then turned to his ex-lover and ally Felicia Hardy/Black Cat for assistance. This alliance failed when Peter refused to do whatever it takes to end the threat of Carnage for good, and Black Cat and Venom went off on their own.

            Demogoblin encountered the Carnage Family and allowed himself to be “adopted” by Carnage and Shriek. Then a clone of an old Spider-Man villain the Jackal, who called himself Carrion, and possessed a decaying touch joined the Carnage family.

            Spider-Man then found himself surrounded by ordinary New Yorkers who were now under Shriek’s influence and at an impasse as he did not want to hurt these people but had to stop the Carnage Family.

            Michael Morbius, a former scientist and now a pseudo-vampire, dug into Shriek’s history, hoping to find information that could be used to bring down the Carnage family.

            Spider-Man, Venom and Black Cat met up again and reformed their alliance.

            Deathlok, a cybernetic organism also joined into the battle against the Carnage Family, but was swiftly defeated.

            Cloak also rejoined the Spider-Alliance, bringing the mutant Anjelica Jones/Firestar with him. Firestar’s powers include flight and microwave blasts, an ability that could help against the Carnage Family as the symbiotes are weak against strong heat and fire, and Morbius joined with the Spider-Alliance. The alliance was temporary, as Spider-Man and Firestar both did not wish to cross the line against Carnage.

            Danny Rand/Iron Fist also joined the fray, rescuing Deathlok, and Steve Rogers/Captain America, Iron Fist and Deathlok joined in with Spider-Man and Firestar.

            Carnage then abducted Venom and proceeded to torture his “father.”

            The Spider-Alliance learned that they had the ability to restore the good natures to the Shriek-controlled New Yorkers, but this proved only to be temporary. But two returning heroes then helped turn the tide against the Carnage Family.

            Still Carnage would not stop and set his sights upon a childhood friend, William Bentine, who Spider-Man then attempted to rescue.

 

            So, some of you may know my favorite Marvel super villain is Carnage, and if you didn’t, now you know. So you can imagine I got this Epic Collection as soon as I could. Some of my prior readers may have noticed I already reviewed the Marvel Comics Event “Maximum Carnage” which was the primary storyline in this book and may see some redundancies. That said, this book gave more content that was not in my prior review, particularly the original “Carnage” storyline and origin of Cletus Kasady/Carnage and another further Carnage battle, so this review is not exactly the same. It should be noted that when I score, I give it at the actual moment, and my scores may change before and after writing my reviews.

            The content in this graphic novel was originally published between the years of 1991-1994, I feel should be noted. I have regularly been reading Marvel comics since 2001, and I have read many Carnage stories over the years. That said, “Maximum Carnage” has been my favorite Carnage storyline published up to this point. My reasoning for this has been that the heroes battling Carnage was consistent. Many Carnage stories have focused on several perspectives, meaning they are an event crossover of different series. There were five Spider-Man series at the time, and this event was contained only in Spider-Man series, with the main focus on Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Other storylines such as “Absolute Carnage” for example were a crossover event and was a limited series with tie-ins from other series that focused on different characters and occasionally were contradictory, such as dialogue changing between the different series and scenes not consistent between series. This event was just one continuous storyline, with just one narrative, and that is why this story has been my favorite Carnage storyline to date.

            As to why Carnage is my favorite Marvel super villain, he’s dangerous. Most of the time, the heroes win, and the comic is just how the heroes go from point A to point B, from the start of the villain conflict to the hero defeating the villain, and everything else is just in-between, how the hero defeats the villain. With Carnage, there have only been few times Peter Parker/Spider-Man has ever defeated him on his own, so I always like seeing the alliances it takes to defeat Carnage. He’s a very powerful villain and often out-classes the heroes who battle him, which makes the victories that much more surprising. For those of you who have seen the film “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” (which truly was a disappointment to me), Carnage is not that easy to defeat in the comics as he was in the movie, and I thought that the comic storyline “Maximum Carnage” (that the film was based on) was so much better.

            And, lest we forget, this WAS a “Graphic” novel, and that is very important. You can have the best comic book story that you have ever read, but the artwork is just unbearably awful and ruins your enjoyment of the graphic novel. Or you can have stellar art, but the story is just completely flat. Let’s also point out the time of publication. There have been several periods of comic book art that exemplify the time period. One of my all-time favorite comic book artists is Mark Bagley, and he was one of the primary artists whose work was featured in this graphic novel. To me, this graphic novel had a story I loved, and MOST of the artists satisfied and impressed me, but this also impacts on my score.

            I enjoyed the three stories contained in this book. BUT! All that said, there WAS indeed a story where Spider-Man battle Carnage on his own, and that DOES impact my score. Which I am sure you want to know (if you’re still here, and if you are, you are THE BEST!), so let’s get to it. I score on a scale of one-to-ten, one being the worst, ten being the best. You can now tell that this will have a good score, but will not be a ten. So, all-in-all, everything taken into consideration, the stories, the art, all cards on the table, I score it as an eight. There was so much I loved in this book, but there were aspects that just didn’t meet my expectations, including some of the art that just wasn’t to my liking, and a story that just didn’t wow me, but I still heavily enjoyed this book.

            Now, I will say I give this book my recommendation. As I said, “Maximum Carnage” has been my favorite Carnage storyline, and “Carnage” was a good read in my opinion. You could probably find “Maximum Carnage” in a separate graphic novel, but the two other storylines made me feel getting “Carnage: Born in Blood” is more worth it. If you are a fan of Carnage from either the film or the cartoons and want to get into comics, if you are reading this review, I think you should look into reading this book. If you are a comic fan and have never read the earliest comic appearances of Carnage, totally look into reading this book. If you’ve never read a Marvel Comic before and are looking for a good place to start, there is a gap between several of the stories that may confuse first-time readers, so this book is not completely self-contained, and this might not be a totally great start for you. Still, if you’re reading this review and this graphic novel has you intrigued based solely on what I’ve typed for you here now, and are now considering reading this graphic novel, I say go for it. I don’t think this was a perfect book, but I do think it was a good book. So if you want to, give it a try.

            Before I sign off, I will say that this blog has dozens of reviews of graphic and prose novels (most are Marvel though), and I write short stories, poetry, essays, and editorials (and I am working on several projects at this time), and I post frequently (I’d taken a few month off because I had a hand injury and could not type), so you can expect more. If you’ve read this and liked this review, there’s plenty more to see and read, so you can keep coming back for more. I’ll say that if you’re still reading this post at this point and want to read more of my work, you are THE BEST! I’ll be back, and I hope you will too. Until next time, Tim Cubbin… out!