Best of Marvel: Week of March 25th, 2020

Best of this Week: Black Panther #22 (Legacy #194) – Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuna, Ryan Bodenheim, Chris O’Halloran and Joe Sabino

Can T’Challa ever be redeemed?

Most people might not know, but I have something of a distaste for the King of Wakanda for various reasons over his long, illustrious, heroic career and, over time, it has all spun into a neverending flood of anti-T’Challa bias as time has gone on. From his time as part of the Illuminati to his failed relationship with Storm, I have hated this character and the fact that his misdeeds have gone mostly unpunished…until now.

The Black Panther has never been an apologetic hero and he shouldn’t have to be because he is a king and needs to be strong for his people. Though with his nation on Earth and in Outer Space under siege by the resurrected Erik Killmonger with a symbiote of the former Emperor N’Jadaka, T’Challa has trials to face before he’s able to command his people and see his defeat. His biggest question is, what is his name and will he be able to overcome his own transgressions and become the leader his people truly need?

The main theme of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther story is redemption. This issue begins with Zenzi, one of the first new villains introduced by Coates in his initial Black Panther series back in 2016, and gives us a little bit of her backstory with some history involving the original Killmonger. Through Ryan Bodenheim’s pencils, we see the simmering anger and power that she’s been capable of since her introduction and why she’s so eager to see the end of men like T’Challa who use their people and then discard them like Killmonger did for her, giving her superpowers and then trying to have her executed.

Bodenheim and Chris O’Halloran on colors gives this scene and her subsequent conversation with Bast in the body of a child a sense of weight as we now are able to understand why she’s on a mission to rid Wakanda of false rulers, Gods and Kings as Killmonger killed her entire village for his own ends and she likely feared T’Challa was doing the same to Wakanda. O’Halloran uses soft and hazy colors for the flashback, employing slight green and purple hues and switches it up to vibrant greens for Bast’s astral projection and Zenzi’s clothes as the Goddess convinces her to support Wakanda against Emperor N’Jadaka.

At the same time, T’Challa finds himself within the Djalia, the Plane of Wakandan Memory, facing off against his many ancestors to gain their help and fealty so that he may finally put this battle to rest. The main problem he faces, however, are both their numbers himself as a King. Daniel Acuna takes over the art for this portion of the issue and absolutely stuns throughout with impressively smooth linework and coloring which gives distinct borders to characters and their clothing and backgrounds while being absolutely beautiful at the same time.

Joe Sabino’s lettering also shines here as he makes the distinction between T’Challa and the many other Black Panthers by giving him black letters and word bubbles while the rest have purple letters because of their nature as ethereal beings. Not only that, but his sound effects accentuate the panels perfectly as the “TWOK” from a headbutt is given a yellow hue while being transparent to show impact and a “THUD” from T’Challa being swept at the feet is colored in a bright blue that accentuates the yellow background.

One of his female ancestors mocks his so-called “preparation” as he summons a white, luminescent spear to fight them all before she summons the Ebony Blade of the Black Knight (see Black Panther 22 – 23, 2005) and slashes him across the back, revealing his own recent past to him. This is meant to serve as a way to show how T’Challa is not as infallible as he makes himself out to be, considering how many times he’s been on the wrong side of history in regards to the world, his people, his lovers and his friends.

Coates has obviously done his research into Black Panther’s best and worst moments as the first flashback we get is from Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers (#21, 2013) after the Illuminati defeated the heroes of another Earth to save their own, the caveat being that they would have to destroy the other Earth. This was one of the lowest moments for the hero as he couldn’t do what needed to be done and King Namor had to, knowing that sacrifices had to be made in order to save the Earth. He shrank away from his duties of protecting the Earth – of protecting Wakanda after The Black Order had attacked it merely ten issues prior.

Daniel Acuna portrays T’Challas fear and reticence to commit such an atrocious act by having his face mostly shadowed and showing him cry as King T’Chaka lambasts him from the spirit world for his cowardice. Coates and Acuna then cut back to the hooded Panther and she asks what his ancestors should call the boy who scorned his legacy and T’Challa, still reeling from pain, says his own name before being slashed again.

Acuna begins the next flashback with a beautiful wide show of T’Challa looking upon a vibrant purple and almost 3D looking silhouette of the secret meeting location of the Illuminati before they wiped the memory of Steve Rogers. This was because they decided to destroy planets when the honorable soldier would not and T’Challa is framed in the background of these shots, just watching it happen. Coates makes it a point to stress that “No friendship [was] too precious to be spurned.” Then he is attacked by the Spirit of his grandfather, Azzuri.

Thematically, this makes sense as Azzuri and Steve Rogers first met when the Red Skull and Hydra Nazis tried to invade Wakanda for Vibranium and the two heroes had to fight them off, becoming friends and allies over the course of their battles together (see Marvel Knights’ Flag of our Fathers, 2010). Acuna gives the T’Challa/Azzuri fight a sense of speed by using a lot of blur lines as well as struggle squiggles as T’Challa is placed in a chokehold. As he breaks free, Azzuri disappears into a cloud of hazy, purple smoke.

We are then given a flashbak of what I consider to be his greatest failure, his broken vow and fight against Storm during the events of Avengers vs. X-Men where he stood against Mutantkind after the first mutant child was born post Scarlet Witch’s Decimation of them. The child, Hope Summers, was prophesied to be either the savior of mutants or the destroyer of everything and Black Panther cast his marriage aside during the conflict (AvX #5, 2012), though it was continued in Coates’ series years later.

Of course, while ancestors are supposed to tear you down, it was his mother that proceeded to build him back up. The final flashback given is T’Challa’s birth mother, Nyami, showing T’Challa how King T’Chaka also grieved after his wife’s death, but because he was not just one man, but a nation, he had to move past it and that’s what this whole story has been about. T’Challa’s actions have all been about him and his decisions and not about Wakanda as a whole. He forgets that he is the crown and therefore the Nation itself.

Coates has become a master of longform storytelling as he’s managed to craft a saga of almost fifty issues of T’Challa taking responsibility for his crown and Coates has framed that excellently by the name he keeps giving when his ancestors ask him who he is: T’Challa. The wrong answer. Acuna show’s the various ancestors surrounding the man, waiting for him to give the correct answer as his mother encourages him and he stands for a moment before speaking. What should he be called?

King. King of Wakanda.

In that very instant, Acuna draws all of the ancestors giving King T’Challa the, now iconic, Wakanda salute as he demands their allegiance. He feels so strong, so complete as a character now that he accepts and acknowledges his many faults as part of who he is. He doesn’t need to apologize for them because they are a part of who he is as a man, but when he is a King, he must be better. He must protect his people and that is why he will be able to stop N’Jadaka in the coming battle, just like he stopped Killmonger all those years ago as well.

This issue of Black Panther was phenomenal and really shows how much Ta-Nehisi Coates has grown from his initial few books which were mostly full of world building. He’s shown that he can create an amazing and expansive story that utilizes not only T’Challa’s extensive history, but also that of the Marvel Universe at large to make this story seem grand and far reaching as something on this scale should.

Ryan Bodenheim does have amazing skills as a penciller, but I found myself far more engaged with Daniel Acuna’s style throughout this issue as he manages to make the fight seem so ethereal while also focusing on some of my favorite moments of Marvel History – not to mention his colors are always so vibrant and loud, popping off the pages with the intensity that readers have come to expect from him.

I hope that the rest of this series continues this upward slope because this was fantastic and it gets a high recommend from me!

Best of Marvel: Week of February 19th, 2020

Best of this Week: Fantastic Four #19 (Legacy #664) – Dan Slott, Sean Izaakse, Marcio Menyz, Erick Arciniega and Joe Caramagna

It all began with one fateful foray into space.

Reed Richards, a gifted scientist from Empire State University, his brilliant wife, Susan Storm, her hot headed younger brother, Johnny Storm and expert pilot Ben Grimm board the Marvel-1 in an attempt to explore space. Unfortunately for them, their ship is hit with a wave of Cosmic Rays, sending them crashing back to the Earth and giving them all special powers. For decades, we all thought that everything was Reed’s fault for not having strong enough shields, blessing and cursing his family with powers, but we learn here that that is not the case.

Throughout the last five issues, The Fantastic Four have been fighting against the people of Spyre; A planet of normal people, enhanced people and monsters that have feared the prophecy of the “Four-Told,” beings that would destroy Spyre and their way of life. After Reed exposes their leader, The Overseer, for being the one that released the cosmic rays on the Four, Ben climbs his tower and beats the everloving crap out of him and destroys the tower in the process.

Realizing that the Overseer stands defeated and the eye that watched them is no more, every citizen turns on the FF, proclaiming that the prophecy did happen as the Overseer lay in the rubble. This issue picks up in the immediate aftermath (after a preview of the coming story in the first few pages involving Mole Man and Wyatt Wingfoot). Sue places a barrier over the FF as the citizens, heroes and monsters pelt her forcefield with fists and rock. Previously, the citizens were divided by their classes, but now they’ve united against Reed and the Four.

One of the more interesting subplots that Dan Slott had been weaving is the burgeoning relationship between supposed “soulmates” in Johnny Storm and a Spyrian hero named Sky, a darker skinned girl with wings that may actually be in love with another hero by the name of Citadel. This is one of the few times that Johnny shows an actual longstanding interest in a woman, especially since their connection was made shortly after the Fours first failed mission unbeknownst to him.

Slott had been building this up and getting readers invested in their struggle of love and it’s good to see Johnny loving someone like he did with Medusa or Crystal of the Inhumans.This is further tested as Sky is torn between the traditions of her people and her disdain for the FF after their actions. Of course, she’s not the only one who is irate as the Overseer picks himself back up and calls Reed out for a one-on-one brawl.

Reed’s never been the best fighter in the world, but he’s always had ways to use his powers to his advantage and can still hold himself pretty well. Sean Izaakse portrays that pretty well with a few expertly drawn pages of battle as Reed uses his stretchy abilities to dodge energy beams, punch Overseer from afar and uses his arm as a slingshot to fling boulders at the villain. Izaakse and Erick Arciniega work in perfect tandem to make these scenes exciting with bright colors and dynamic angles.

Things get even crazier as Overseer fights back with his own arsenal of suit abilities. Izaakse draws amazing looking rings for sonic blasts that Arciniega colors with a beautiful yellow. Then switches it up for crackling blue lightning and finally ends things with Kirby-esque bubbles of energy that go from a dark orange to a dastardly purple to match Overseer’s beautiful armor. This fight is absolutely gorgeous to look at even as the panels are mostly medium sized, widescreen rectangles.

Throughout their fight, the two have an exchange that boils down to hubris vs. personal responsibility and both make pretty good points. Reed had always blamed himself for what had happened to his friends and family, thinking that his miscalculations are what put them all in anger and that weight is lifted off of his shoulders with rage at finally punching the cause. Overseer, feared for the lives of his people from the potential threat from beyond by a man that never asked what the greater galaxy wanted. Reed always does things like this and Overseer’s only course of action was to curtail it before things got bad.

As always, Reed does what he does best, uses his brain to talk Overseer down, knowing that he too hasn’t fully mastered the use of Cosmic Rays and suggests that they could accomplish more together than against each other (opposite his conversation with Charles Xavier – see X-Men + Fantastic Four). Reed proposes that the two make a trade of sorts and offers the people of Spyre a chance similar to what Ben has in “The Almost Cure,” something we’ve seen used recently when Ben and Alicia Masters went on their honeymoon and would have allowed him to turn human for a day until he fought the Hulk and landed in a coma.

The Monster Men take umbrage with the idea because Ben had preached appreciating who one is on the inside when he rallied them to fight Overseer, but when one of the Heroes of the Spyre asks if it will work on him too, almost everyone seems to want in on the change. Of course there are others who see the FF’s gift as what will truly destroy their people, showing that some people just can’t be pleased. As their time on Spyre draw to a close, Reed and Johnny bond together like they did when this arc started as Johnny muses on what his life would have been without his powers.

It’s a touching scene and Dan Slott has always been great at things like these. From his time on Spider-Man and She Hulk, he’s shown that he has skill in giving readers heartfelt moments, especially given that we almost hardly ever see the pair together. This is accentuated by Izaakse drawing Johnny with a smile on his face as he flies through the skies with an almost old school look colored by Arciniega with lush oranges and intense reds.

Just as the FF are about to depart, Overseer tells them that only ones soulmate can remove the soul bindings on their arms. After a few pages of searching for Sky, she shows up to Johnny. I think the implication is that she went on some soul searching away from Johnny and when he offers to remove her Soul Binding, she refuses and tells Johnny he can keep his too as she’s joining them on the trip to Earth.

Suffice to say, this is as shocking to The FF as one might expect as they add yet another hero to the ranks, but she likely won’t be on the main team, but more as a supporting role until Marvel decides to give her a miniseries and then sends her back to the Spyre. She’s certainly a welcome addition and it’ll be fun to see what kind of shenanigans she and Johnny will get into as he’s naturally flirtatious and she wants to keep to the traditions of her people. It’s difficult to say that she’s fully in love with Johnny still as she flirts with Citadel before they disembark.

Overall, this was a really fun issue and concludes a story that had a surprising amount of heart and depth. Generally, I like the idea of Cosmic Happenstance and did love the mysterious nature of how the FF got their powers. I might have preferred that things be kept random chance, but honestly, I wasn’t put off by this equally ridiculous explanation either. At the same time, Dan Slott also alleviates some of the guilt from Reed’s shoulders which could be a double edged sword for him in the future if his ego grows too large.

Sean Izaakse and Erick Arciniega also do an amazing job on the art (I can’t leave out Marcio Menyz, but I didn’t really care for the Wingfoot stuff). The pair smash it with the visual storytelling through fantastic facial expressions, body language and utopian setting. One thing that took me time to notice was that all of the people of Spyre were black. It’s a small, but nice touch that makes them stand out amongst the other races that we see throughout the galaxy.

Depending on how the next issue goes, I may stick with the series, but I’ve never been a big fan of Mole Man stories, so I may drop off until the next arc, but this one was absolutely worth the time, a high recommend!

Best of Marvel: Week of February 12th, 2020

Best of this Week: Thor #3 – Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino

Thor has lived for a millennium and has fought in thousands, if not millions, of battles… but the one he will remember most was against his brother in arms: Beta Ray Bill.

That’s the tale that Donny Cates is spinning as we see the fallout from the last issue of Thor as Beta Ray Bill comes to find his brother standing side by side with the Eater of Worlds, Galactus. Their stare down is intense and readers can feel the vortex of thoughts in both of their minds. Nic Klein and Matt Wilson frame their confrontation excellently with a pulled out shot, showing them both with Bill floating hesitantly and Thor standing still, unaffected by Bill’s appearance. In the background looms the World Eater with neon oranges coloring his body while all of them are in space.

Cates does an amazing job of portraying Bill as someone who cares for his people, specifically Thor, given Odin and the Thunder God gave him a home and people after Galactus destroyed his. He tells Thor that he will have his revenge against Galactus for corrupting his brother’s honor and attempts to strike the Thunder God. Unfortunately for him, with the Power Cosmic, Thor backhands Beta Ray Bill into the recently destroyed planet of Clypse.

It’s an excellent show of power as Thor barely moves an inch and as Bill crashes, Klein draws an excellent pair of panels showing Bill being flung into the ruins of the planet, with Wilson offering amazing and dynamic oranges for the subsequent explosion and an awesome DOOM lettering from Joe Sabino as Bill hits the surface. The next panel shows Bill trying to stand with his armor and helmet in absolute tatters. Thor then comes to him and says that in the past they were equals, but with the Power Cosmic and his new All-Father abilities, he is far beyond what he was.

This is absolutely true as well. In their first meeting in The Mighty Thor #337 (1983), Bill was able to overpower Thor and use Mjolnir as a weapon against the Thunder God, thinking he was a threat to Bill’s fellow Korbinites. Soon after, the pair became the greatest of allies, even brothers when Odin forged a new hammer for Beta Ray Bill called Stormbreaker and allowed him to fight through the cosmos as an Ally of Asgard. However, it has been quite a few years since then and Thor himself has gone above and beyond his capabilities from their first meeting.

In the almost forty years since that story, Thor has beaten the Mangog and Thanos back-to-back (Thor, 1998), knocked out the Phoenix Force (Avengers vs. X-Men, 2012), fought back against the forces of the Collecter for a straight two years in order to reach a hammer from another universe (The Unworthy Thor, 2016) and repelled an interdimensional invasion from Malekith the Accursed (War of the Realms, 2019). He is now the All-Father of Asgard as well and Bill has lagged behind.

Thor tries to calm his brother by using the Thunder to transform into his non-Power Cosmic form, showing Bill that he is completely in charge of his own decisions. Wilson does an awesome job of using blue to contrast the raging fires of Clypse and Thor looks absolutely heroic and badass in his new costume with his regular, non-glowing, hair. Galactus blasts at Thor, telling him that he is not above the Power Cosmic, but Thor overpowers him with Mjolnir alone as the scene is colored with intense white and purple hues.

Bill calls Thor a traitor for choosing to help Galactus and gives the Thunder God a nice whack across the face that BOOMs out in his anger. Beta Ray Bill is angry and where he might have been holding back before, he questions Thor’s integrity for siding with a monster like Galactus and the two have a savage fight against each other. It’s intense and paints their formerly friendly rivalry in a new and painful light as every strike is filled with venom, rage and anguish. Both men even have great points during the fight as they speak between punches and hammer swings.

Bill tells Thor that he is a king and he has an army at his very command. He could have sent forces to the edge of the universe and fought to his last to stop the Black Winter from taking another Universe. The most powerful line comes when Bill says, “You could have come to ME!” and this hits far harder than every thunderous blow the pair have made to each other. Thor did have options and he always has his brother as the two have fought side by side through worse.

Thor needed Bill’s help when Asgard was about to crash into the Earth during Secret Invasion (2008) and Bill even offered Thor Stormbreaker when the Thunderer found himself Unworthy. Bill has always been there when Thor has needed him, but this time Thor has chosen to go to the shadows rather seek help from his friends in the light.

Thor owns up to the fact that he has to become something almost evil because there’s a far larger picture that Bill isn’t seeing however. The Black Winter has destroyed Universes and it will destroy this one too unless Thor allows Galactus to consume the planets that he’s heralding him to. Thor understands the responsibilities he has as King of Asgard and he is completely right. Bill is an idealist in this situation, but realistically Galactus, having survived the previous Winter, is their last hope (at least until something better comes along later down the line).

After smacking each other around for several pages, Thor attempts to throw Mjolnir at Bill and the Korbinite catches it, trying to keep it away from Thor. The Thunder God attempts to call it back, threatening to take Bill’s arm if he keeps fighting against him, but Bill does not relent. Klein frames this as not just a struggle of power, but of honor. Thor initially stands firm, trying to reason with Beta Ray Bill, but Bill is steadfast and struggles against the weight of Thor’s power. We get a pulled in shot of Bill holding on through sheer will before he tells Thor that he truly is unworthy of Mjolnir.

Klein then gives us an amazing shot of Thor lowering his head, a moment of pained realization as Bill’s words strike him to the core as he’s unable to say a word against it. But it is for only a moment as Thor then calls Stormbreaker to his hand and we get an almost heartbreaking and powerful double page spread that is best read for yourself.

Overall, this was yet another phenomenal issue of Thor in what I believe is an absolutely worthy successor to Jason Aaron’s years long epic with only three issues released so far. Donny Cates understands the sheer power that these characters wield and scripts them to great effect. He also understands their personalities and strives to give us a badass story that leans on Marvel’s past while also creating a new history in the process. I honestly haven’t felt this energized about a Thor story since The Unworthy Thor almost four years ago and I feel the same gravitas from this story as I did from that one.

Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino absolutely pull this issue together with their excellent pencils, colors and lettering respectively. Klein has an excellent eye for scale and fight scenes in particular which gives this book a grander feel while also highlighting the brutality that Thr and Bill are capable of as warriors. Wilson accentuates Klein’s lines with stunning colors that pop off of the pages and create the intensity and heat from the raging fires and crackling lightning. Sabino places word balloons and sound effects to give the book a voice and sound for every hard hitting action or line of dialogue.

With all of them together, this book is the Perfect Storm of what a great Thor comic can be and the awesome potential of singular events taking place in one issue. So far, I’m absolutely enthralled with this book and the cliffhanger from this issue absolutely ensures that I’ll be back for more – High Recommend.

Best of Marvel: Week of January 1st, 2019

Best of this Week: Thor #1 – Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino

What a Thunderous way to begin the New Year! What better way to celebrate than with a glorious new #1 for the new King of Asgard helmed by the ever amazing Donny Cates, Nic Klein and Matt Wilson with awesome letters by Joe Sabino! This book hit so many good notes and lets me breathe knowing that one of Marvel’s most storied characters is continuing to be in good hands, especially after such an epic run by the awesome Jason Aaron.

The book begins with an amazing splash page of Mjolnir flying through space and then crossing into each of the Ten Realms as someone narrates Thor’s rise as the new King. It’s a beautiful sequence that alludes to the millennia of war between the realms, culminating in Malekith’s Invasion of them all very recently. Klein and Wilson treat the reader to a variety of landscapes from the bright pinks of Alfheim to the cold blues of Jotunheim. The pair do an amazing job characterizing these locales through visuals alone.

Of course, the reasoning behind the monologue and the throw itself is a show of force. Under Odin, the Realms fought each other as they pleased. Asgard was left in ruins because the All-Father was too stubborn to try and rally his people during Malekith’s Invasions. Under Thor, that would not be the case. As Mjolnir cracks through each Realm, without any of them hearing his words, they know to listen and fear him because of his power. This epic opening climaxes with Mjolnir crashing through the head of some monster the Avengers were fighting before Thor calls it back with a smirk from Asgard.

It is at this point that we finally see Thor, months after the War of the Realms. He is gruff, his hair and beard have grown out again and we learn through Tony Stark sharpie-ing a message on Mjolnir that Thor has retired. Sif the All-Seeing reiterates this as she informs the reader that Thor’s smiting days are over and that he must go and be King.

This is…saddening in all honesty. Thor has spent many a lifetime fighting, drinking and avoiding his destiny for so long. He has always wanted to be king, but even as he walks down the Rainbow Bridge back to New Asgard, he looks as if there’s nothing but melancholy about him. The way that Klein frames this panel makes it seem as if there’s a wide divide between Thor and Asgard. The Realm flourishes now that life has been brought to it under Yggdrasil, but Thor is bored.

As he takes a seat on his new throne, we’re shown just how different he is to Odin. Instead of a shimmering palace, Odin’s hall is made of wood and stone because of the World tree with a rune etched just above his seat: Thurisaz, a symbol of defense and destruction (as the book describes) and perfectly fitting of the warrior king. He ushers his court out of his presence and sighs as he prepares to speak to his people and Loki appears from the shadows.

The brothers relationship here is far more confrontational than I would have expected. Granted, I didn’t read the Loki mini-series, so I don’t know if the Trickster did something to draw his brother’s ire. Thor is very terse with the King of Jotunheim and even throws Mjolnir in slight fury after Loki notes that Thor had to grunt when he lifted the hammer, something he’s never done before and a black portent for Thor’s future. Loki didn’t come out with any of his normal witticisms which was unexpected, but Cates does hint that there a potentially big things in store for the brothers through some narration.

Thor had been meant to speak to his people following the restoration of Asgard, but just as he’s about to regale his people of the new era of peace, his nervous butterflies turn to abject horror as a one armed Galactus crashes into Asgard, right on top of the Asgardians. Nic Klein and Matt Wilson spare no expense in making this one of the most epic double page spreads imaginable.

Galactus face of pain and sends a shiver down the spine as one wonders what could possibly have sent him crashing in the way that he did. The debris, people and smoke fly around the edges of the pages as Galactus’ impact and the snow that follows him creates a sense of unease. Klein makes sure that the reader can feel the weight of the crash and Sabino accentuates it with his EXCELLENT “KRAKOOOMM” sound effect. Wilson excellently blends Galactus varying purple tones to the fire just behind his head to create a sense of extreme heat. Klein creates a grand sense of scale as Thor appears miniscule to both Galactus and the incoming threat.

Not knowing what the hell had just occurred, Thor leaps a Galactus with every intention of sending him to Hel herself until the Eater of Worlds pleads with him to stop, warning him of something called “The Great Black Winter.” Part of said Winter had followed Galactus and caused the skies of Asgard to be cursed with rain and The World Tree began to turn black and die. Thor then calls previous Heralds of Galactus to see what is going on. At the table sits Firelord, Cosmic Ghost Rider and others until the Silver Surfer arrives, still black and intangible (See Silver Surfer: Black).

Thor is angry and demands answers which the Surfer is able to provide. We learn that The Great Black Winter was the event that destroyed the Universe before the one we know today and that the Surfer had hidden away powerful planets for Galactus to consume precisely for this occasion. Cates has done an amazing job in building a new lore and power scale for the Silver Surfer in particular as normally he’d have no secrets from his master.

As Thor dons his vestments of war, he thinks back to Sif and Loki’s words of his bygone days as a warrior. It’s a powerful set of panels as Thor seemed ready to enjoy his days of peaceful boredom. He grunts like an older man only snapping his cape on, but that doesn’t stop his kingly heart as when he approaches Galactus, he commands the World Eater to kneel to him. As The Surfer fills Galactus in on his plan, Galactus tells all about what lies in the void of the Great Black Winter; The form of ones own true death. Galactus reveals that he had gazed into it twice. First he saw the void because he couldn’t father the future things that he would see and next… he saw Thor.

The revelation comes as a shock to everyone as Galactus then blasts Thor with an immense amount of energy. Kein and Wilson make sure to shower the pages with bright light, intense lines and posing until revealing Thor: Herald of Thunder, similar to the cover of the book with Thurisaz as the new symbol of his chest.

Donny Cates has a particular style when he writes. He scripts grand moments interlaced with shorter ones that build character. It worked when we got into the psyche of the Silver Surfer as he explored the primordial state of being and Thanos as he watched a future where he had killed all of life. Cates has an affinity for the cosmic characters and it shows as he’s taken the reigns of Thor and reminds us of why he and his lore have been able to capture our imaginations for so long.

Thor has the ability to transverse the Ten Realms, the entire universe if he wishes, but even he suffers the melancholy of duty and boredom. He is a warrior at heart and he needs a great battle to fight in or he loses a part of himself that kept him motivated. With that in mind, Cates is looking to take Thor on a grand adventure in the stars with a buffed powerset that hopefully will expand on his greater strength in the Old King Thor future.

Nic Klein and Matt Wilson make all of this possible however with their amazing art. Klein is easily able to get into the groove of drawing these vast environments, amazingly dynamic poses and heavily expressive faces. Wilson brings it all to life with beautiful and vibrant colors that make you feel as though you’re in there, interacting with the characters. Without them, this wouldn’t feel as epic as it does.

This was a very explosive issue and I’m absolutely excited for the future of this series as I have been with all of Cates’ other work up to this point. It’s definitely a high recommend from me for a promising story and absolutely fantastic art!

Best of Marvel: Week of December 18th, 2019

Best of this Week: King Thor #4 – Jason Aaron, Esad Ribic, Ive Svorcina, Joe Sabino and a Cadre of Guest Artists and Colorists

Seven Years.

Seven years that Jason Aaron has been the primary writer of one of Marvel’s most popular heroes – redefining his history, character and just about everything we knew about the God of Thunder, Asgard and everything within the Norse plane of Marvel’s universe. It has had it’s ups and downs, but through it all, Jason Aaron and his various art teams have stuck things out to tell an amazing story that will be regarded as some of the most important and game changing material in Thor’s publication history.

This final issue of King Thor ends where it all egan, with Gorr the Godbutcher and his fight against the God of Thunder, both of them now at their most powerful. Immediately, the weight of the situation can be felt as Ribic gives us a beautiful double page splash of Thor smacking away debris as he approaches Gorr the Necroplanet. Ribic paints this scene with Gorr’s enormous eyes staring holes into Thor, accentuated by Ive Svorcina’s amazing purple glows as he looks on with anger. The entire scene is coated in the same hue with Thor furiously fighting his way to his much larger enemy.

Aaron writes captions calling Thor Ragnarok, giving him many nicknames – Thor the All-Butcher, the Annihilagod, The END-FATHER as his lightning reverberates across the cosmos, destroying everything in the way of him and Gorr. He notes how easy it is for Thor to destroy things and furthers the idea that’s plagued Thor for centuries; that Gorr was right the entire time. This simple truth has been hanging over Thor’s head since the end of the Original Sin (2014) event which saw Nick Fury whisper those very words into Thor’s ear, making the Odinson into the Unworthy Thor. At the end of Time, it still echoes in his mind.

Gorr, however, revels in his newfound necro powers. He has become death and welcomes the end of all things, especially the last of the Gods including Loki, Thor and the Granddaughters of Thunder. His mission has been one of destruction since his introduction way back in Thor: God of Thunder #2 (2013). He had systematically killed as many gods as he could before his supposed last confrontation with Thor in the Godbomb storyline. In the midst of this battle he nearly swallows Thor whole.

Gloriously, Loki rides into the fight on Toothgnasher, one of Thor’s trusty goats, and does his best to distract Gorr in his own way. Even though the God of Mischief is blinded by the darkness, he still has his tongue and taunts Gorr while Thor fights his way through the darkness. An Unseen narrator speaks about Thor’s own fights with depression over his worthiness. How he wished to one day be able to conquer his demons, but learned that it’s a constant battle that he would learn to live with and channel into his own Storm.

We get another double page spread with Thor’s lightning escaping the blackness of Planet Gorr, cracking dead planets in half as Loki looks on with laughter. Ribic and Svorcina work together seamlessly to make this entire battle seem epic. Thor’s centuries of Rage spring forth and in an excellently colored flash of blue, Thor destroys Gorr with his Storm. However…the cost of this action was immense as the Sun remains black and the edges of the universe are collapsing.

Before we reach the final conclusion, we get a short segment between the Lord Librarian and Shadrak, two characters from the God of Thunder run, as Lord Librarian chastises Shadrak for allowing a set of books to fall. However, upon seeing that they were a bunch of Thor stories, he tells Shadrak that some of the books are old stories and stories untold. We then get a montage from a bunch of Marvel artists of various possible stories for the God of Thunder and the final conclusions for present day character like Baldur, Jane Foster Valkyrie and Sif the All-Seeing.

Back to the far future, however, we learn that Loki thrust himself into the dead sun and began to speak into it, bringing the fires back to life with his many stories to tell. Unfortunately, the edges of the universe forever remain frayed, so Thor has one final thing to do. He whispers final words to Mjolnir, embraces his grand daughters with tears all around and boards a ship to stave off the collapse of the Universe with his Storm.

This was certainly the perfect way to end an awesome run with the character. Jason Aaron reinvigorated Thor even after great series by J. Michael Straczynski and Matt Fraction. Aaron pulled almost everything from his run back into the King Thor storyline and the War of the Realms event that preceded it. This book gave us a final ending for the Old God of Thunder that we’ve been waiting for since he was first glimpsed in the beginning of Aaron’s story.

As Always Ribic reminds us that he’s worth all of the money as his art stuns here as it always has when he’s worked on Thor. His lines are smooth, thick and he puts insane amounts of detail into characters and debris. Everything he draws has a sense of floatiness to it that would be detrimental to other artists, but he used it as an advantage to also display the weight of the situation and the Godly nature of the battle taking place.

Ive Svorcina was the perfect colorist for this because his colors give this entire story an air of bleakness up until Thor’s final victory. His purples are hazy and his blues show the strength of the Thunder. When the time comes for Thor to fight off the darkness, he appears as a glorious shining beacon as the blue shines on him.

With Donny Cates run on Thor coming next year, he has big shoes to fill after seven years of pretty good story telling. Jason Aaron and his team knocked everything out of the park with this final issue of King Thor and I can’t wait to see what’s next for him as well as his continuing runs on Avengers and Conan the Barbarian. High recommend!

Best of Marvel: Week of November 20th, 2019

Best of this Week: Captain Marvel #12 (Legacy #146) – Kelly Thompson, Lee Garbett, Tamra Bonvillain and Clayton Cowles

Captain Marvel is supposed to be Earth’s Mightiest Hero.

She recently just fought off Star, a new”hero” siphoning off her power, while dealing with the world calling her a traitor when her Kree DNA came to light to the world. Because of only one little girl protecting her, she was able to defeat Star and regained the love of humanity. After the battle, she breathes a sigh of relief that they saw her in a good light again, but wondered about their fickle nature and if they’d eventually turn on her again. So it begs the question, what happened to her?

This issue begins with Carol barreling towards the Earth, her inner monologue talking about never knowing what’s waiting and how preparing for things is pointless. We see Thor picking the mounds of snow off of Avengers Mountain when suddenly someone comes crashing into him; that someone being Captain Marvel, clad in all black with a mask now adorned with a bright red Kree Star on it. She knocks Thor into another mountain and depressingly muses that she always thought that she’d be the hero in the end.

Thor soon calls Mjolnir and cracks the helmet off of her face with an amazing shot by Garbett and Bonvillain. The lightning cracks so smoothly with all of the impact of a thundercrack as Carol is sent flying back, revealing her face to the God of Thunder. It’s an amazing visual made even more powerful when Thor towers above her, ready to strike again, but finally sees that it is in fact his teammate. His face turns from anger to concern and she apologizes before blasting him in the chest.

The next few pages see Carol and Thor fighting their way through just about everywhere. They make arenas of Greenland, Manitoba, Kansas, California and Mexico all the while a gorgeous splash page acts as their background. Carol and Thor are locked in a battle of wills, thunder crackles from Mjolnir and bother of them look at each other with rage on their faces. Thor looks far more imposing, but Carol is able to hold her own against him. It’s the fight I’ve always known I’ve wanted to see! Though of course the tables get turned when Thor overpowers her and calls the lightning down.

Thor continues to plead with her, asking her to stand down, knowing that she cannot defeat him while he wields Mjolnir and she even acknowledges this to be true before blasting the hammer away. Thor believes this to be a trivial act before Mjolnir is sent across the cosmos and doesn’t return, allowing Carol to take advantage, giving Thor everything she’s got. I can’t even describe the page and give it the credit it deserves.

Bonvillain’s colors are amazingly well done and help to make Captain Marvel look like an evil firebird, almost like her Binary form, but more controlled. Bonvillain’s excellent use of yellows and oranges gives these scenes some powerful heat, especially as Garbett makes Captain Marvel look like a force to be reckoned with. She’s absolutely terrifying with all of her power and the black face paint around her eyes. Her new costume design was amazing as well, cause I’m a basic guy and love red and black color schemes. I love the torn sash, the red line down her arms and the Kree star aligned to the left side of her costume.

In a shocking twist, after Thor’s defeat, we see Carol delivering his head to Vox Supreme, possibly the new leader of The Kree people following Donny Cates’ Death of the Inhumans storyline as the Vox were introduced there. However, I honestly do not think that Thor, nor any of the impending deaths in this arc will stick or will be real in the first place. Though, I do have to say that this story has me very intrigued. I want to know what’s going on with Carol, why has she aligned herself with Vox and what does all of this have to do with the Kree?

Throughout the book, Carol notes that she doesn’t want to do this. In her mind, it’s something she has to do and asks Thor and presumably the other Avengers to forgive her for all of the things that she’s going to. I like the seeds of mystery that Kelly Thompson is sowing here as we are given almost no answers as to what happened between issues eleven and twelve to get us here. I also like that she chose to have Carol fight Thor, the “Strongest” Avenger, first. This showcases Carol’s strength and gives us the impression that maybe the other Avengers will be easier pickings…save for She-Hulk.

After the roller coaster that the last arc was, I can only hope that this one will live up to that and show just how fearsome Captain Marvel could be if she turned evil. She’s got the strength, but does she have the mean streak to go through with it through her Avengers team?

Best of Marvel Week of October 23rd, 2019

Best of this Week: The Immortal Hulk #25 (Legacy #742) – Al Ewing, Germán García, Chris O’Halloran, Joe Bennett, Ruy José and Paul Mounts

At the end of the Universe, there is only the Breaker of Worlds.

Many issues of Immortal Hulk have tackled the horror of what comes next, the existence of an apocalyptic Green Hell for those touched by Gamma radiation being the most terrifying. This issue, however, doesn’t focus on what comes AFTER life, but what is coming for the last flickers of it that will exist at the end of time.

Following an alien being of some sort, named Par%l, we join hir as they travel to the last known vestige of the Universe’s knowledge. A planet called O%los, a beautiful planet with chromatic seas, crystalline superstructures and a general feeling of happiness. Par%l hopes that by beating the Breaker-Apart to O%los, that they might be able to warn the nine billion souls that live there or save the knowledge stored therein. From what we learn of hir interaction with another being of her kind, every other planet in the Universe has been destroyed by a monster of some kind.

These pages are characterized by García’s use of otherworldly visuals and O’Halloran’s use of warm and pastel colors. Par%l and her companion Farys look almost microbial with extended “necks,” long, almost tube like bodies, capped with heads that contain crystals of some sort in them. It’s abstract in a way that signifies that humans have long since been annihilated and that the beings at the far end of the universe are pretty much all that’s left.

The pages before this have been characterized by bright and lively colors. Warm oranges and yellows have signified life and the hope that knowledge could be saved. The multi colors of O%los even brim with light and a feeling that everything will be all right. O’Halloran makes sure to set the mood of the unknown before ripping it away at the very last moment.

As Par%l arrives to the orbit of O%los, in the distance, they spy a green light.

In an instant, O%los is beset upon by the form of The Immortal Hulk. He floats through space, not speaking a single word, but saying everything he needed to with a clothesline.

He obliterates the planet.

Par%l observes his every movement. From his crashing through several moons and lifeless planets, winding up his fist, to the impact of the hit. The crystals of O%los are spread across the vastness of space, the planet is turned into a combination of glass, dust and death as nine billion beings are killed and all of life knowledge if destroyed. What was once a colorful environment is then replaced with a bright green and the darkest blacks as the destroyed remains of O%los float around hir.

Par%l doesn’t understand and gathers the words for all of the things they’re seeing. They have never seen hands or arms before, but she finds the words, she has never seen a face before and above all, she had never seen a smile until the Breaker-Apart looks upon her minuscule and insignificant form. Hulk is terrifying here as he has now become planet sized or larger, able to shift his size enough to crush stars and even suns. He doesn’t have regular eyes as they just glow with evil Green Door Energy.

When Par%l tries to communicate with him, simply asking “Why?” They are met with horrors unimaginable. I’d imagine García is a fan of Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino’s Gideon Falls because the next few pages are beautiful double page spreads of Eldritch terror in a similar style. It’s not fair to draw comparisons, but in my opinion they are absolutely prevalent.

The shots of thousands of people with their eyes blotted out, screaming in fear without any words or even sound as they’re coated in an evil green and black is more than mind numbingly scary. The next shot of The One Below All showing his fleshy, mucus-y visage under the guise of Hulk’s horribly distorted and ripped apart body with the background showing a city razed to the ground is terrifying. The red lettering by Cory Petit only stands to make the scene more scary as he’s able to convey what The One Below All says in a way that makes him seem out of this dimension.

He is powerful in a way that is incomprehensible. This is shown even more on the final spread where he is shown with tunnels where his eyes were as he’s surrounded by faces in the melted flesh of the Hulk’s body. He says that he has eaten all of the selves that were in the Hulk and that the mystery of his own existence frightens him, but he will kill all of life to be alone.

Par%l is unable to take it and hir shell cracks, forming a fly containing all of hir knowledge of the future. Somehow it travels through time into the hands of one of the Hulk’s oldest enemies.

To say this book had me terrified would be an understatement. As I turned each page, the horrors only became more visceral, more dreadful. The Hulk will destroy the world, not just one, but all of them. Of the many futures that Marvel presents, I believe this one. The One Below All is written as if they are the truth. They will kill everything and there is nothing any living being can do to stop it. Maybe Par%l landing in the hands of who it does will be the catalyst to avoiding that future, but like Thanos, The One Below All might just be inevitable.

Germán García’s art was phenomenal here, just beautiful to look at with a page turner everywhere. It had vast a detailed visuals when things seemed to have an upswing, but when the time came for Hulk to appear and collapse the entire idea, García hammered home just how hopeless things were. Chis O’Halloran colored this book like a champ and really sold the desolation that The Green Light brought with it. He’s able to easily elicit a feeling of fear with such a simple and common color through his use of a particular shade, kind of a toxic color accentuated by a whiteness in the center.

What’s most enjoyable about this is Al Ewing’s ability to weave a tale that goes beyond the initial premise of an unkillable Hulk, to one where an interdimensional God using the Hulk’s body sniffs out every last light in the universe. There’s so much story potential and it’s a wonder where he could possibly go to reach this point if it’s not stopped.

This book is absolutely fitting of the horror of October and is a definite Scary Recommend.

Best of Marvel: Week of September 25th, 2019

Best of this Week: Punisher Kill Krew #3 – Gerry Duggan, Juan Ferreyra and Cory Petit

My God, this had me actually laughing.

In an effort to get revenge for children that lost their parents during the events of War of the Realms, Frank Castle alongside the trusty goat of Thor, Toothgnasher has gone on a mission to exact that revenge while picking up new allies along the way like Franklin “Foggy” Nelson. The last issue ended with a cliffhanger of the pair finding a few frost giants trying to take the power of Cytorrak from Juggernaut. This third issue was slapstick, visual and dry comedy all in one in a way that only Gerry Duggan can manage and only Juan Ferreyra can capture.

Frank comes off as a more comedic version of himself with all of his funny coming from how seriously he takes the entire situation. Surrounded by Frost giants, gigantic weapons, ineffective guns and an unstoppable force, Frank Castle is unflappable in his resolve. He decides to wear a horned helmet the entire time, the only piece of armor he puts on at all and looks like a gun toting Dovahkiin. He’s still amazingly violent, cutting down the Frost Giants with his patented rage.

In one particular panel, Frank is shooting his shotgun, his muscles ripple as the weapon rattles and bangs. His mouth agape in righteous fury, the ignition from the barrel as the gun fires is hot with orange coloring and the background has more speedlines than I have seen in months, made even more dynamic with its own red-orange color. Shell casings fly back with each blast and you can just feel the imminent satisfaction of seeing a Frost giant aired out with holes… but then the next panel shows them nonplussed and before they shoot the ground in front of him and send him flying.

Surprisingly, Foggy was absolutely hilarious as hey was played as another unwilling straight man and faced near death many times, but survives in hilariously lucky ways. After trying to run away from the giants attacking Frank, he trips on a human skull, sends the sword he was carrying straight into the ropes holding Juggernaut and frees the brute. Juggernaut then runs through the giants and covers Foggy in giant blood. After they escape the cave, another attacks Foggy, but he slips on the ice and impales his face on Foggy’s sword. Each time, Foggy replies with a “huh,” the same reaction any of us would have if we miraculously got saved by the Frank Castle field of impossible luck.

Juggernaut though… oh my God. I already love Juggernaut, but seeing him here in this situation, especially after appearing in the first arc of 2018’s Thor relaunch, bringing him back into the bullpucky of this magic nonsense because of his nonsense magic powers is hilarious. After being freed, he wastes no time in absolutely decimating the Frost Giants. He runs through them with the rage of a bull, Ferreyra drawing him like a madman as he then gets coated in the blue blood and viscera of the monsters, their limbs and other assorted body parts flying behind him after a speedy charge.

After the group makes their escape, the giants see Frank and Foggy coming out of the cave and threaten that the two aren’t leaving and laugh… then they see Juggernaut and Juggy removes their legs thoroughly. As one of them lies on the ground and Frank finds himself out of shells, he just… chucks the shotgun into the giants face. There’s no warning. It’s just a small panel insult that I found maddeningly hilarious. That same frost giant tells Frank that the other giant they’re looking for is sleeping with Frank’s woman and Frank just cuts his head off from the jaw.

Another proceeds to try and attack Frank and he calls Toothgnasher who sends the car that Frank uses as a carriage into the balls of the attacking Giant before headbutting him to death. The final frost giant catches an ice stalagmite from the Juggernaut in the chest before being tortured by Frank. Ferreryra introduces him so awesomely, posing like a badass, saying that Frank and Co. will pay dearly for the massacre. Juggernaut responds accordingly, saying that they giants destroyed his small garden and rent controlled apartment in New York when they kidnapped him, so he does his best javelin throw and impales the son of a bitch.

Frank’s proceeding torture is only glimpsed as we see his silhouette of his sword in between the toenail of the giant before Juggernaut vomits all over Foggy in the car as they watch it all happen. Normally that kinda thing would gross me out, but by this point I was all in.

Gerry Duggan is probably the only guy I trust to do this kind of humor and pull it off so well, to the point where I didn’t just give a we little chuckle, but an actual hearty laugh. When he was writing Deadpool, I felt much the same and this series has been a treat on the same level. Frank Castle doesn’t always have to be all doom and gloom, but can be absolutely hilarious in the hands of the right writer. (I mean look at the Cosmic Ghost Rider miniseries…and not the Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys the Marvel Universe miniseries.)

Juan Ferreyra caught my serious attention with his amazing and stellar art on Killmonger. He does fantastically with badass serious art and upon remember he did stuff for Green Arrow Rebirth, I went back to those issues just for his art and was blown away by what I didn’t pay attention to. His art here is not only some of his best, but the comedic edge he puts to it makes it so much better and shows just how versatile he is at his own comedic timing alongside Duggan’s story.

Punisher: Kill Krew is an amazing concept that sounds like what happens when a Dungeons and Dragons Game Master lets the inmates run the asylum. Punisher running through the nine realms for the sole purpose of killing anything and everything that has wronged all of those so very adorable children is astoundingly bad, but when given a creative team this good, it’s only a recipe for a sweet cake of comic book goodness. High recommend!

Best of Marvel: Week of September 11th, 2019

Runner Up: Silver Surfer: Black #4 – Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, Dave Stewart and Clayton Cowles

Don’t read this if you’re high, Tradd Moore’s visuals are far more trippy and beautiful than any of the previous issues and this is a WILD ride.

After discovering the incubator of Galactus buried within the body of a young Ego the Living Planet, The Surfer has to make a choice of whether or not he should kill the destroyer before he is able to cause the sheer number of genocides that he will become feared for in the future, all the while his Power Cosmic is fading as Knull encroaches further on the hero.

There are so many intricacies that make Tradd Moore’s art so exciting in this issue. Moore has a particular style where everything seems quite a bit distorted and stretched. His art flows like water and allows the eyes to move gracefully from panel to panel, even in the most trippy of pages because clear lines are drawn to attract ones sight through a page. The Surfer, looks smooth, mostly thanks to Moore’s use of shining techniques and dark inks for reflections.

There are grand portions of the story where you feel like you’re peering into dimensions that your mind just isn’t prepared for. One such scene is when the Surfer takes Galactus’ incubator to a white dwarf star to absolutely destroy it. The sheer scale and magnitude of this thing was almost overwhelming, speaking nothing of its brightness as well.

At a point, The Surfer decides to enter Galactus’ incubator to see into the dying days of the last universe he inhabited before this new one as he went to try and kill him. The Surfer almost looks as if he’s melting upon hearing the dying screams of millions. He’s heard similar cacophonous bellows of terror, but from Galactus these screams are multiplied many times over and the next half of the page is coated in a bloody red of fear.

Dave Stewart’s colors are also a main contributor to this spectacular look. Stewart has an amazing history of great stories that he’s colored and Silver Surfer: Black takes this to a whole new level. After the Surfer enters Galactus’ mindscape, we are met with a torrent of blood, fire and Galactus’ menacing shape standing above it all, acting as a warning to the Surfer. The shading of reds in the blood ocean, the flaming skies, Galactus’ towering figure and the HANDS REACHING UP FROM THE BLOOD OCEAN are absolutely amazing and terrifying.

The Surfer stands out as being the only silver thing on this double splash page which speaks to Stewart’s sense of page awareness as we’re clearly able to start from where he appears and then work our way up to the massive Galactus up above.

Special hell yeahs given to Clayton Cowles and his expert lettering, capturing my imagination with how each bubble is used. Ego’s in particular resonate with me for the choice to have purple letters offset by a background of yellow and purple that creates a hazy, 3D look. It’s a small detail that ultimately gives the book and the Living Planet far more character, making them stand out very well.

Not only is the art some of the best I have ever seen, but the story told here is phenomenal as well. I have almost never seen The Silver Surfer so conflicted over something he was absolutely sure about just moments before. He meets Galan before he becomes Galactus and they have a conversation. Though the Surfer would avoid the death of thousands or more worlds, his hands would still be stained of blood, the Universe itself would face massive consequences and he will have used murder to justify his actions, making him a villain.

This is amazing storytelling in that it is not too often that we see The Surfer speak to his master with a clear mind, even more so when he knows the outcomes of his actions and has to choose between the future he knows or a potentially better future or far worse one. The conflict gives an already layered character even more layers and guilt given the action at the end of this book.

With the next issue being the last of this miniseries, I hope that the ripples of this story will continue to be felt throughout the continuing Guardians of the Galaxy and Absolute Carnage storylines. The Silver Surfer has been around for decades and is in great need of some change and if losing the Power Cosmic through the spread of black on his body is the way to do it, then I am all for it. High recommend.

Best of Marvel: Week of September 4th, 2019

Runner Up: Fantastic Four #14 (Legacy #659) – Dan Slott, Paco Medina, Jesus Aburtov and Joe Caramagna

Sometimes you just have to sit back and smell the roses.

Growing up, I actually thought the Fantastic Four were pretty lame. They weren’t exactly high on my radar because they were a family of explorers, scientists and just general nerds. I got seriously into comics around the time their last book hit the shelves prior to all of the Disney/Fox nonsense and that really awful movie which soured me on them even more. Things changed when I began to read Secret War (2015) and realized that there was so much more that I was missing.

I scoured my stores for back issue and trade paperbacks of everything written by Jonathan Hickman, Mark Millar and Reginald Hudlin before seeking out the older stories by George Perez, John Byrne and Roy Thomas. I learned to love their love of science, adventure and family oriented stories, so when they finally made their Marvel return, I was excited and so far they’ve done nothing but impress. This particular issue is one of the best examples of how even just dialogue, dynamics and expressions can build a great foundation for a simple yet amazing story.

The Fantastic Four have been everywhere. Other dimensions,hellscapes, universes and planets, but there’s still one mission that they’ve never completed: their original flight to the stars. After a new gallery opens showcasing the original shuttle that they traveled on in all of its destroyed glory, Reed reminisces of that time with happiness. Ben listens to one of the original black box recordings as they were first getting hit by Cosmic Rays and he’s overwhelmed with negative feelings. Two original Pilots for the space flight thank Johnny and Sue for taking their place, saying that they could have become monsters like Ben and Johnny becomes enraged with Sue having to calm him down.

These moments remind us of who these wonderful characters are and always have been. Reed is a scientific mind that’s always looking to achieve more and better himself and his inventions. Ben still lives with the inner scars of his transformation despite being one of the most respected heroes in all of the Marvel Universe. Johnny is a hothead and Sue, his sister, has always been there to calm him down. The First Family have been there for each other forever, they know each other better than anyone else does. They care about each other.

Paco Medina captures each of their emotions in a Fantastic way with excellent facial expressions and body language accentuated by Jesus Aburtov’s stellar colors.

Reed stands tall as he marvels at the old shuttle with his kids, his face is full of pride and joy while they look mildly unimpressed. Later while he’s working on specs for a new shuttle, we can see how focused he is, how determined. His fantastic beard shows how he’s aged from his previous clean shaven self, but he’s even more refined.

Ben remembers the original flight with trepidation and trembles as he remember his words when he was first becoming a rock monster. He stomps around in his normal grumpiness, but by the end, knowing that Reed, Sue and Johnny know and care about him so much, he smiles and eagerly helps them on their next journey.

Johnny, being the hothead he is, does in fact show his anger as his eyes begin to turn orange after Ben is insulted, but we get an amazing flashback to when he was just a young adult in the shuttle program and the rigorous training that he was put through by Ben. This showcases just how much Johnny wanted to go to the stars and shows us how long he’s been the ultra determined man that we know and love. Medina draws him going through the training with ease, only having space on his mind and the want to prove Ben and the other pilots wrong, becoming the youngest ever back up pilot in that universe.

Sue, being the ever loving sister, is the calm one as she gets Johnny to back off. She’s radiant as a character and Medina portrays as her the linchpin of the family. She’s the graceful one, drawn as serious as Reed, but with her normal beauty as well. She shows just how in love she is with her husband as he works on the specs and lays her head on his shoulder, smiling like she does in the flashback.

Nothing super action-y happens in this issue, in fact, one of the best moments is Johnny and Reed having a bonding moment working on the second shuttle. Both comment on how neither is using their powers to make the work easier and they share a laugh together. It’s just a nice, warm moment between brothers-in-law doing something that they haven’t been able to in years. It was at this time where I just fell in love all over again.

The Fantastic Four are more than just space adventures, aliens and Doctor Doom plots. They are a family in comics unlike any other. Where most teams are just friends that might hang out every once in a while, the FF are a family with a rich history and ever growing numbers with Franklin, Valeria and now Alicia Masters marrying Ben. The love is palpable and I wish I’d understood this for so many years prior. I can’t wait for where this next adventure takes them, but I’m all for it.