Still reeling from the chaotic events that took place during the Battle of the Atom, the time-displaced X-Men and Kitty Pryde complete their side switch in All New X-Men Vol. 4: All Different. They don’t get much time to settle down though, as a distress call from Florida takes them to a modern X-Men member in need and the evolution of a past threat.
Up until his appearance in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Iron Fist was an unknown quantity to me. Even in that game, his presence is scarce, as he’s widely recognized as being one of the worst in the game. Still, his appearance in that game was enough for me to try out Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #1. This issue establishes the troubled past of Daniel Rand while throwing him in the mix of a conflict with ninjas. It’s by no means bad, but I don’t think it’s all that great, either.
The war against Cassandra Nova may be over, but there’s still much work to be done if you’re one of the X-Men. In New X-Men Book 4, the team is split up into different parts of the world to help bridge relations between man and mutant. This book in the series bucks the trend of tight casts and focused stories for shorter arcs and way more characters. The more, the merrier, right? This sadly isn’t the case here.
The Guardians of the Galaxy have lingered in the background of an alternate Marvel universe since the 1960s. Having been brought into the main fold and backed by a major motion picture set for release later this year, this eclectic gang of space vigilantes are finally poised to be Marvel’s next big thing. In anticipation of the film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers made my reading list.
After a disturbing John Sublime diversion took precedence in Book 2, New X-Men Book 3 shifts the focus back to Cassandra Nova. Having taken over Professor X’s body before heading off to space with Lilandra, she begins her latest assault on mutant kind with unthinkable weapons at her disposal. Have the X-Men finally met their match?
Sporting a smile that only a mother could love, the cover of Joker by Brian Azzarello has always caught my eye, even before I began reading comic books. Giving it nothing more than a glance for years, I finally decided to act on it for three reasons:
After reading it, I’m not sure what to make of a book that seemed like a sure-fire hit.
As an peripheral fan of Spider-Man, I never thought much of Kraven. Watching him on the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, I always saw Kraven as a second-rate villain meant to fill in the gaps between Green Goblin and Venom stories. Released as a six-issue event spanning three different Spider-Man comic lines, Kraven’s Last Hunt is meant to represent the Russian hunter’s finest hour. I haven’t read enough Spider-Man to say otherwise, but this might also be one of Peter Parker’s best as well.
Sporting a ridiculously long title, All-New X-Men/Indestructible Hulk/Superior Spider-Man: The Arms of the Octopus is a three-part special starring…yeah, I’m not going to list them all off again. I can’t speak for how they fit within the continuities of Hulk and Spider-Man, but this does fit within the All New X-Men timeline after issue #11. Our mutant blasts from the past take a trip to Times Square that’s rudely interrupted by a young Doctor Octopus. Did he somehow make the jump to the present day too? Spider-Man and Hulk get involved to put down this menace.
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Grant Morrison’s off-kilter take on Marvel’s mutants continues in New X-Men Book 2. This time, Cyclops and Emma Frost must stop John Sublime from harvesting mutant body parts in order to create superhuman soldiers. Some unexpected visitors at the front door of Xavier’s school are greeted by an even more unexpected host. Meanwhile, the conflict between Professor X and Cassandra Nova escalates deep into the mind of this new threat.
In Third Person 