Welcome back to the MC2, Multiversity’s panel of noted Marvel experts. The three of us (MC3 sounded weird) are covering Marvel’s straight up CALVACADE of “Secret Wars” tie-ins! This week, we tackle “Red Skull”, “Siege”, and more whilst giving up our own thoughts on the event as a whole! Feel free to join in the conversation in the comments and let us know what you think about Marvel’s latest crossover. Spoilers below!
Age of Apocalypse #2
Written by Fabian Nicieza
Illustrated by Gerardo Sandoval
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
“Age of Apocalypse” #1 was the perfect jumping back in point for fans of this alternate world. The problem though is that it was really geared towards those specific fans with it’s very 90’s feeling story and art. “Age of Apocalypse” #2 doesn’t do much to change this as it’s even more of a love letter to the 90’s but does remain as a piece of harmless nostalgia.
“Age of Apocalypse” #2 opens with the continued battle between the remnants of the X-Men and the Summers Brothers’ force. They all want Douglas because of his abilities but his place in all of this isn’t completely clear yet. Meanwhile, Apocalypse is preparing for a much bigger war than anything this domain has faced and Dark Beast might not be as close to becoming a new Horseman as he thought.
As an X-Men fan, this specific story is important to me but I don’t have the nostalgic pull that I think this miniseries is aiming for. “Age of Apocalypse” is very much the 90’s embodied. The story is dark and features lots of wordy narration. Good and evil is pretty easily defined, the dialogue is simple and the action is way over the top. It all makes sense but this is very much something only a specific group of fans will enjoy. I can’t see anyone unfamiliar with these versions of these characters, or even the original storyline, enjoying this. This is fine but it does become a tough book to sell and thus review. Nicieza is the right writer for this series (as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago) and does a fine job capturing the spirit of this time period. This should come as no surprise as he was a huge part of the X-Men boon in the 90’s so it’s a nice niche title in this sense.
Sandoval’s art is good for what the series calls for. The men have huge, bulging muscles and defy anatomy and the women have large chests but are a lot better than what we got back then. Rogue and Emma Frost look sort of anatomically correct but it’s not perfect as depending the angle, things shift oddly. Apocalypse himself is a massive behemoth that defies everything but it’s version that I think every comic fan knows. The lines are clean and while it’s really over the top, the detailing is very good so on the plus side, this isn’t a messy looking book. Curiel’s colors are dark but the costumes have just enough color to make them pop. I like the contrast of some uniforms compared to the backgrounds.
Final Verdict 6.8 – This will really work for some but not for others.
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Adam Kubert
Reviewed by James Johnston
I honestly appreciate “Renew Your Vows”, if only for how much it heaped onto the “What if MJ and Peter were married?” premise. I figured it would be just that but now we’re three issues in and the world’s been overtaken by a 90’s ass madman named Regent and Spidey is rising up after leading a mundane life under Regent’s oppressive rule. It’s like “Spider-Man: Reign” if Peter Parker’s semen added a character instead of removing one. Honestly, there’s a lot to love about this world, like Doc Ock thinking Spider-Man was hiding from him and not the Apocalypse looking tyrant who took over Manhattan.
What’s nice is that Spider-Man’s family ties directly into Regent’s stranglehold on Manhattan. Peter chose his family over Spider-Man, and now that he’s been forced into the costume he’ll take all the shortcuts necessary to finish this mission as fast as he can and return to his wife and kid. Speaking of which, MJ telling her daughter that Spider-Man never lost while images of Gwen and Ben flash by is the type of heavy moment the Spidey mythos needs sometimes. I’d much rather have this type of “SERIOUS” comic than the “One Moment in Time” retread it seems we were being set up for.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 7.8 – Either I’m crazy or this comic stepped up in a huge way. I feel like this is going to make a nice OGN, rather than a Battleworld tie-in.
Giant-Size Little Marvel: AvX #3
Written & Illustrated by Skottie Young
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
“Little Marvel” has been an absolute blast the last couple of months. Young and Beaulieu have taken a sunny position in “Secret Wars” and have offered up a series that has a laugh on every single page. “Little Marvel” #3 is no different. In this issue Zoe and Zachary get up close and personal with the Avengers and the X-Men at their respective clubhouses. Skottie takes us through each clubhouse and the crazy dangers that come with each one including the Danger Room and capture the flag with Paintballs. This is harmless silliness. This isn’t something that takes itself so seriously like some of the other tie-ins and the slapstick comedy is so good. The character development of Zoe and Zachary is great in this issue because they have the perfect amount of sibling bickering without becoming unbearably bratty. I love the way Young has nailed each of the hero’s voices despite them being so young. There’s jokes that reference the movies and it all comes together to be a very funny experience.
Skottie Young’s art is probably better than his writing but that’s not a dig at his scripting. He’s such a great artist with an even better style that he constantly pushes further. Baby versions are his thing but there’s such great movement and expression in every single panel. Everything is crazy over the top and some of the concepts are hilariously bizarre, like a bouncy house made of Spider-Man webs. Beaulieu’s colors are truly amazing and on the surface they look simple but there’s a great use of shadowing and layering on things like trees and explosions.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – If you want to laugh, you could do a whole lot worse than picking up this series.
Civil War #2
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Francis Leinil Yu
Reviewed by James Johnston
I’ll commend “Civil War” on trying to distance itself from its predecessor as possible. In fact, it seems to be an active subversion of it. Iron Man is trying to figure out who manipulated Earth’s heroes into fighting and dividing the country in half. If this series ends with the culprit being Mark Millar, know that it’ll instantly rocket to the top of our end-of-event “Best Of” list.
Unfortunately, that’s not likely with “Civil War” as it currently is. Mostly because it seems to be all talk and no game. Characters discuss plans and try to out strategize the other in preparation for “Civil War 2: Twose Side Are You ON?” which leads to a feeling that we’ll get to the real story later. The political maneuvering is a smart path for “Civil War” to follow, but not the most compelling as it leaves so many other threads hanging. Specifically, what’s the deal with any of Spider-Man’s squad? Why was the US government cool with dividing the country up based on the whims of two dudes in spandex? Why is She-Hulk dating Tony Stark when she’s better than this?
Final Verdict: 6.4 – I’d probably like “Civil War” a lot more if I knew there would be more issues to it, allowing for time to build all the stories of its world up. Instead, I know we’ve got five issues and I can’t help but think the next few issues will be pretty rushed. And while the world of “Civil War” is certainly an interesting one, its details seem extraneous to the central story, interesting tidbits that will be left untouched. I need more to form a solid opinion on this title, but I feel like it’s one I could pass for the moment.
Future Imperfect #4
Written by Peter David
Illustrated by Greg Land
Reviewed by James Johnston
A lot of people give Greg Land heat for being a bad artist. In truth, he’s not a bad artist, he’s just a very specific one. In fact, I’d argue that he’s pretty good when he’s working on projects that suit his taste. His run on “Iron Man” made sense as he really reflected the plastic emptiness in Tony Stark’s life. make that sentence as you will. For “Future Imperfect” however, a book full of emotion and intrigue, “Land could afford to step away for a bit.
Continued belowAside from Land’s propensity for “model face”, “Future Imperfect” still stands to be one of the more intriguing mini-series as Ruby Summers continues her crusade against The Maestro. As a greatest hits tour for Peter David, “Future Imperfect” also allows the writer to delve into his favorite characters and throw out any pop cultures references he wants, like the painfully conspicuous Game of Thrones shout-out halfway through. That said, I feel like I need to be a bit more familiar with David, as the last page reveal of the Ancient One did nothing for me. It was jut an old guy saying “Cool.” Is that Jamie Maddox? I just assume that, in every Peter David comic, every four characters is just a version of Multiple Man who wandered off and got lost.
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Still a fun comic, even if this particular issue was a little lighter than most.
Guardians of Knowhere #2
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Mike Deodato
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle
Ugh.
Much like with “Ultimate End”, I feel like Brian Michael Bendis is the writer who either just missed the memo on tying into “Secret Wars” or is just trying to fuck with us at this point. If you remember, the last issue ended with a major cliffhanger as Yodat, the Destroyer of Destroyers faces down against the Guardians. This issue… we get a flashback for the majority of the issue showing Yodat’s origin story before returning to the exact same spot as the first issue ended with only four pages to spare. Bendis and Deodato then give us the lamest beatdown ever before ending in the exact same way as the last issue.
This issue exemplifies everything that’s terrible about Bendis’ writing habits as this issue adds nothing to the overall story to the point where I don’t think there even is an overall story to “Guardians Of Knowhere”. I have no idea why the Guardians are on Knowhere or what they want as they’ve been supplanted in their own comic by a villain who is little more than just a Big Guy With Anger Issues. Not even the art can save it as Mike Deodato’s murky artwork only serves to either fill this issue with pointless action that adds nothing to the story or have two characters stand in place while the Bendis Dialogue™ at each other.
Final Verdict: 4.2 – Do the same with this book as “Ultimate End” and pretend it doesn’t exist.
Infinity Gauntlet #3
Written by Dustin Weaver & Gerry Duggan
Illustrated by Dustin Weaver
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle
At three issues, “Infinity Gauntlet” has hit that point were I’ve mostly run out of things to say about it. It’s consistently been one of the most engaging and interesting books we’ve covered so far and this issue does not change that. What it does change, though, is the point of view character as, through trickery with the time gem, this issue goes back to cover most of the events of the past two issues save for the fact that Thanos is now teaming up with the Bakian family in order to earn their trust. This makes for a very interesting dynamic in this issue and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
The only downside to this issue treading old ground by showing events from the last two issues is that the first half of this issue speeds through stuff we’ve already seen with only minor differences. It’s not really until the latter half of this issue that we see the effects of this, but this is definitely better than having to wait until next issue to see the effects. Gerry Duggan and Dustin Weaver continue to make one of the most interesting and exciting books to come out of “Secret Wars” and this issue is no different.
Final Verdict 8.6 – I literally don’t have time to explain fully why everyone should be reading this series.
Red Skull #2
Written by Joshua Williamson
Illustrated by Luca Pizzari
Continued below
Reviewed by Alice W. Castle
I never thought I’d say this, but I am pleasantly surprised by how well “Red Skull” #2 turned out. The first issue, if you remember, was solid but I felt it was too front-loaded in focusing on the team that would be travelling into the Deadlands before having Red Skull himself show up only on the last page. This is more like what I wanted to see as Red Skull saves Magneto and pretty much forces him to team up with him to survive. This is definitely an interesting dynamic and I think it’s a shame that it’s taking place on Battleworld as we don’t know a whole lot about this version of Red Skull (were there even Nazs on Battleworld?), but it still makes for a very fun read here.
Luca Pizzari’s artwork here is really different to anything we’ve seen so far with “Secret Wars”, going for a heavily inked, gritty and scratchy style of art over the more traditional superhero style we’ve seen in a lot of these titles. This makes “Red Skull” stand out from an artistic standpoint as the book feels rougher (not in a bad way, but in a texture-sense) and darker, befitting the title character. However, there are still panels where the combination of the rough, sketchy inkwork and the drab, gray colour scheme means that the details are lost. It doesn’t happen too often this issue, but there are definitely a few where Magneto’s all-white costume essentially blends into the background.
“Red Skull” was solicited as a three-issue miniseries meaning we’re already past the halfway point and I think it’s safe to say that it’s been the title that’s surprised me the most. Largely because I don’t hate it, if I’m being honest, as I was so ready for a book about Red Skull to be awful. What saves this, though, is the combination of Joshua Williamson bringing two characters together in a very tense odd couple dynamic and Luca Pizzari’s artwork being unlike what we’ve seen so far with many of the “Secret Wars” tie-ins.
Final Verdict: 7.1 – I can’t believe “Secret Wars” is at the point where I’m enjoying a book about the Red Skull, but here we are.
Siege #2
Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Filipe Andrade
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
Only a couple weeks ago, I was a little disappointed by the first issue of “Siege”. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting but all the pieces didn’t come together the way I wanted and it just didn’t stand out for me as a “Secret Wars” tie-in. My problems with the art remain but the story really picks up here and “Siege” becomes a worthwhile read.
“Siege” #2 picks up shortly after the ending of the first issue. A Kang from a different timeline has warned that the Shield is going to fall and it’s up to Abigail Brand and her soldiers to defend. Leah has decided to go over the Shield to find the woman she loves, Magik. In her absence, things get worse and Kang tries to usurp Abigail’s power. Spread out through the issue are a few different journal entries that depict some of the history of the Shield providing some nice foreshadowing for this issue’s ending.
“Siege” #2 is a much stronger issue from a writing perspective. Kieron Gillen gets deeper into the relationships that exist between these characters. Leah and Magik is a couple we sadly don’t get to see enough of and Abigail’s soft spot for the character she loved does add another dimension to her. The power play by Kang is a great use of his character without pushing him into a scheme that would be too big for this miniseries. I was worried after the first issue that this was trying to do too much and if paced correctly, this can avoid turning into something like “Ultimate End”. “Siege” #2 is very balanced while packing in a lot of story and it doesn’t once feel rushed.
At this point I think it’s fair to say that Andrade’s art is just not my thing. It’s messy in a bad way. Character designs are again inconsistent in this issue and things get muddled very quickly. With some more polishing, “Siege” could have art similar to that of “Black Science” but it’s just not coming together and the very dark, uneven colors don’t help.
Continued belowFinal Verdict: 6.0 – The story and the journal pages save this but the art needs to be better.
Spider-Island #2
Written by Christos Gage & Tom DeFalco
Illustrated by Paco Diaz & Ron Frenz
Reviewed by James Johnston
Like some of my other favorite tie-ins “Spider-Island” takes an underwhelming event and explores what it would be like if that storyline went horribly wrong. Here, Agent Venom is the only hero left after the Spider Queen turned everyone into a literal wall crawler. He’s sort of solved the problem by turning everyone into monsters, freeing them from the Spider-Queen’s mind control, but that only makes the odds of everyone saving Manhattan without going on the deep end even lower. I had fun with this part of the story, even if characters are hesitant to kill their spiderfied friends and then proceed to slaughter plenty of civilians who were turned into spiders.
The “Spider-Girl” back-up story? I enjoyed less so. I think that’s a case of me definitely being th wrong demographic for this type of comic. Plus, the whole “my friends have been brain washed into trying to kill me by some evil lady oh no” bit just feels uninspired. I do like how it tries to tie-into the aftermath of “Spider-Verse” but the Spider-Girl story still dilutes the “Spider-Island” experience.
Final Verdict: 7.4 – A surprisingly fun romp with a redundant early 2000’s comic nipping at its heel.
Ultimate End #4
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Mark Bagley
Reviewed by Jess Camacho
If you’ve been reading the columns over the last couple of months, you’ll notice that “Ultimate End” is probably our least favorite of all the tie ins. I wish I could say that this issue changes ends streak of negative reviews but it doesn’t. “Ultimate End” is a rushed and almost incoherent mess. I read a lot of books set in the Ultimate Universe and have been keeping up with this series and even I had a tough time following all of this. There’s no easy transition and it’s very tough to keep track of all that is happening. The heroes are fighting each other and then they suddenly aren’t. The two Tony Starks are friends but then they’re not and their relationship is becoming more of a yo yo than a high school romance. The whole situation with Punisher makes no sense and this far into the series, what he’s doing should be much clearer to us. “Ultimate End” #4 does start building to something bigger as far as “Secret Wars” goes and that’s a pretty nice surprise. The ending of the issue ties to a big development in the central “Secret Wars” title but with just one issue to go it might be a case of doing too much too late to save this whole thing.
Mark Bagley’s art is very inconsistent. I tend to like his superhero work but this series just hasn’t done much for me. Faces aren’t very good with the bigger action scenes becoming tough to target certain heroes in. Speaking of which, it can get very rough figuring out who the Ultimate versions are compared to the old 616 versions. They are dopplegangers but there’s almost no effort put into distinguishing the two versions. The X-Men end up being the only characters you can really discern and they aren’t even involved in this story in an important way. Ponsor’s colors are just fine. They’re a bit murky but vibrant enough to make this issue feel like an Ultimate book.
Final Verdict: 4.0 – Nice ending, nice tying into the bigger story but it’s too late to save this series.
Final Thoughts
Alice: Due to Real Life Circumstances, I didn’t get to read much outside of the books I reviewed this week. Thankfully, one of the books I did read was “Infinity Gauntlet” and I love any week I get to read a new issue of “Infinity Gauntlet.” Unfortunately, it was also a week that included not just another new issue of “Ultimate End”, but also one of “Guardians Of Knowhere”, both books that add nothing to the overall story of “Secret Wars” while also not having overall stories of their own.
Continued belowThere are also other issues I really wanted to get to this week like “Civil War” and “Siege”, whose first issues I loved and I can only imagine I will continue to love them, but alas there is a Real Life outside of “Secret Wars” and I just didn’t have time to read anything. So I will sign off with this: just read “Infinity Gauntlet”, it’s the best tie-in to this damn event anyway.
Jess: It was a pretty big week but not overwhelming. After two quiet weeks, I was looking forward to more options. I’m not sure if it’s just exhaustion from keeping up with this whole event or me being jaded but I wasn’t blown away. As you can see from my reviews, I was pretty lukewarm on what I read. I think a lot of these series are running out of steam and I’m going to be happy that they’re wrapping up. I will say this though, characters from the raft that remember what came before Battleworld showing up in the tie-ins is actually pretty exciting. Miles (that was the life raft version right?) was a nice addition to “Ultimate End”, even if was too late, and Peter Quill over in “Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde” getting involved in the domains could be exciting. I am curious to see where that goes.
James: I think I’m having a pretty good time with the comics I’ve been reviewing though that may just be stockholm syndrome. But really, if you just read “Infinity Gauntlet” then you’ve got the gist for everything else.
