Want to keep up with the ever-advancing continuity porn of the DC and Marvel universes, but simply don’t have the time or money to buy every ongoing? We’re here to help. The Weekend Week In Review aims to give you ((usually) very) brief synopses of what happened in a select few of DC and Marvel’s titles – with a helping of sarcastic commentary – so that when some nasty old writer wants to punish you by heavily referencing a title you didn’t pick up, you won’t be left in the dark. Of course, that means that spoilers are in abundance after the cut, but I figure that you could figure that out.
Some people say that Marvel’s Ultimate universe has characters that are more badass than their 616 counterparts. I’ve always found that hard to believe. For example: 616 Aunt May is a feeble old lady, but she still managed to outwit and “poison” the Chameleon when he was posing as Peter. It doesn’t get better than that, does it? Well, I was proved wrong in this week’s Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, wherein Aunt May shot Electro when it looked like Peter was about to meet his demise. Multiple times. The resulting surge took out a few more of the Six. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. With Pete on his last legs, though, and Norman Osborn back in action, could I go so far as to say that next issue might have… the death of Spider-Man?
The Iron Age began with an old enemy of Tony’s plucking the Dark Phoenix out of the time stream and bringing her to the present day. The Dark Phoenix, of course, responded to this by destroying all of creation. Luckily, Tony was able to escape to the past, and now has to recruit his younger, more alcoholic self and a host of other characters from the time of the Phoenix’s fall. In other words, yes, this is Marvel’s “I Love the [very early] ’80’s.”
Flashpoint: Emperor Aquaman #1 revealed that Orrin’s secret weapon is an imprisoned Geo-Force, who has been turned into a tidal wave machine. The issue also reveals that – as many had previously assumed – the reason why Aquaman is very much not nice in the world of Flashpoint is because Mera has been killed. Even so, it appears that she met her end as a result of capturing Geo-Force, so he couldn’t have been that nice of a guy to begin with.
In Red Ho– err, that is, Batman & Robin #24, Jason Todd stole Dick and Damian’s title, even the caption boxes! After breaking free from his rescuers/captors with some help from the new(er) dynamic duo, everyone’s favorite anti-hero found out that those who were trying to control him were keeping Scarlet as a bargaining chip. Jason went through yet another costume change, and prepared for the big showdown that will be coming next issue, while Dick and Damian watched in awe. We get it, Winnick, you like Jason.
Booster quickly learned that Doomsday was being “piloted,” in a sense, by Flashpoint’s version of Nathaniel Adam in Booster Gold #45. Booster escaped, carrying off a woman that was caught in the crossfire, and the two eventually relocated to one of her pads. After a brief lecture on space-time and super-heroics, Booster left in order to set things right. Little did he know, but he was followed by the same woman he saved earlier, who appeared to have superpowers. Once again, Booster was confronted by Doomsday, only this time the monster had escaped the military’s psychic control. I like to think that this is some metafictional explanation for why DC has been using the character so much lately. It makes more sense than people willingly wanting to write it into stories.
In Ghost Rider #0.1, Johnny Blaze was given a magical herb that allowed him to ride so fast that the Ghost Rider would be stripped from his body. Of course, there’s a catch. If he were to do this, some unlucky person he never met would be given the curse, and be forced to punish the wicked and generally be given a hard time for the rest of their now extended lifespan. Naturally, Johnny said yes. Remember, he’s one of the good guys.
Continued belowCitizen Cold, the most Flash-related of the Flashpoint spinoff minis – next to Kid Flash Lost – began with Captain Cold… saving the day? That’s right, Leonard Snart is now a do-gooder in the twin cities, though he’s worried that someone is going to find out about his shady past as a two-bit crook. After learning on the news that his sister had been arrested for killing their father, Citizen Cold realized that someone had been spying on him, and that someone realized that Cold had realized and made a break for it. Thinking himself safe, the unfortunate snoop was taken by surprise and dispatched by Cold, and revealed to us readers as Wally West. You see, it’s all a metaphor for how us Wally fans feel about the recent relaunch announcements.
Following the events of the latest Fear Itself, Loki absconded to Hel within the pages of Journey Into Mystery #624. Upon finding out that Hela was considering joining the Serpent in overthrowing Odin, the trickster god made his way across the netherworld to Mephisto’s Hell (one letter makes a hell of a difference), and began pitting the two gods of their respective underworlds against each other. It was also revealed that Hela and the now deceased Tyr have a thing going. He may only have one hand, but I guess he knows how to use it.
Anything that we didn’t get to that you’re interested in? Email me at the link below! This also applies for if you read something that we didn’t and want to share it with others, as I, too, have only so much money and time to spend on comics. Don’t worry, I’ll give you credit.
