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The Great Pretenders: The Three-Wanda Problem

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Scarlet Witch is a problem. I, a filthy millennial, started reading comics in the heyday of House of M and Young Avengers, which means Wanda Maximoff was introduced to me as an unstable reality-warping monster who could – and did – commit genocide with three little words. In the 16 years since Brian Bendis and Olivier Coipel, Mavel has tragically done very little to shake off this stigma. The 21st century has not been kind to the resident hex-wielding sorceress of the Avengers, as Wanda’s had her mutant heritage erased in favor of a High Evolutionary retcon no one liked, been the spark that caused the MCU’s Civil War, and raised an army of zombies in an attempt to undo her past crimes. With WandaVision currently airing on Disney+ and casting her, once again, as an apparent villain whose inability to control herself has harmed others and broken reality, I am left with one question: How the hell do you fix Wanda Maximoff? [Read more…] about The Great Pretenders: The Three-Wanda Problem

X of Swords: Recovering What’s Been Lost

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X of Swords is by –  W: Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, Leah Williams, Benjamin Percy, Vita Ayala, Gerry Duggan, Ed Brisson, Zeb Wells; A: Lienel Francis Yu, Pepe Larraz, Carlos Gomez, Viktor Bogdanovic, Matteo Lolli, Rod Reis, R.B. Silva, Stefano Caselli, Joshua Cassara, Phil Noto, Carmen Carnero; C: Sunny Gho, Marte Gracia, Israel Silva, Matt Wilson, Edgar Delgado, David Curiel, Nolan Woodard, Guru-eFX, Rachelle Rosenberg; L: Clayton Cowles, Joe Caramangna, Cory Petit, Ariana Maher, Travis Lanham, Joe Sabino; D: Tom Muller

X of Swords is a story about love, like all the best X-Men stories. This is why it excels so beautifully, because it honors the emotional core of its characters and themes of found family and protecting the weak. The newly-collected crossover event is about what our heroes will sacrifice to recover lost love – in a contest of swords, the sharpest are the ones that pierce the heart. Tini Howard, Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia lead the entire X-Men creative team in a coordinated effort to create a sprawling epic. It may wobble at times but never loses sight of its true purpose, sticking the landing with Olympic flair. The story introduces years’ worth of new material and vibrant characters into the canon while giving fans hit after hit for their long-time favorites. X of Swords draws on the past, present, and future of the franchise to pull just about every heart string. [Read more…] about X of Swords: Recovering What’s Been Lost

Avengers by Jonathan Hickman – The Complete Collection Vol. 3 Review!

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From his first arc on Avengers, through New Avengers, Time Runs Out, and Secret Wars, Jonathan Hickman explores the dichotomy of life and death, their intersections, and how they, together, form the basis of creation. Infinity, his first major event, is the first crescendo of these ideas, the way they pull at and touch one another, collected in the latest Avengers by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 3.

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The Old 52: DC’s New 52 10 Years Later – The Launch & What Went Well

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And at last, we reach the books that I actually want to talk about. The best part of a line-wide relaunch is always the successful books that come out of it, and these successful books usually indicate the strongest ideas behind the relaunch. But what’s interesting about the New 52 is how many of these really strong books exist almost to spite the reboot. Let’s dive in. [Read more…] about The Old 52: DC’s New 52 10 Years Later – The Launch & What Went Well