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Marvel Reviews

Is the Nick Spencer Run on Amazing Spider-Man… Good?

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No.

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Though, in its defense, the main Amazing Spider-Man title hasn’t been consistently good since Peter Parker was possessed by the ghost of Doctor Octopus (though, even then, that run was hobbled by Dan Slott’s inclination towards mediocrity and continuity fetishism); and it hasn’t been consistently great since the ’90s. There are many reasons for this, from an inexplicable notion that Spider-Man is a character who has to function like a teenager (I blame John Byrne) to the far more understandable (if still depressing) notion that Peter Parker must be a straight white guy who suffers for our sins (I blame Sam Rami).

* Spoilers for the run to date follow *

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Wolverine Omnibus 2 | Vampires, Drugs, and a Nun

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The years 1989 to 1990 were a weird time period for Marvel’s most popular mutant. Taking place in the aftermath of The Fall of the Mutants, Wolverine Omnibus Vol. 2 finds Logan without a team, a public identity, or even his name. [Read more…] about Wolverine Omnibus 2 | Vampires, Drugs, and a Nun

How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: Mysteries Amplified (Powers of X #5)

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Whereas HOX 4 was the climax of the maxiseries’ violent action and HOX 5 seemed to essentially clarify the establishment of Krakoa’s sovereignty and its mutant demographics, Powers of X #5 swerves from standard, post-denouement narrative resolution, instead amplifying all the lingering mysteries—and there are so many.

Related:

Hickman X-Men Reading Order

Krakin’ Krakoa!

More in this series!

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Who am I? Magic in Loki: Agent of Asgard

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When a story is about magic, it has to make a choice. Is magic answerable to supernatural rules, or scientific ones?

Any story is based around cause and effect. It’s based on choices and consequences. We feel cheated when characters don’t face consequences, when human nature and human lives contradict what our experience of the world is. In dealing with a stories’ magic, the same thing holds true. If the magic rules are scientific, that gives us clear cause and effect. You want to cast this spell? You’ll need this much energy, plus everything that goes in the cauldron. Boom. Everyone knows the rules. The audience never feels cheated.

But, if you’re dealing with magic that holds supernatural rules, it’s far more difficult to keep the audience’s suspension of disbelief. If magic works simply because it’s magic, then why can’t the hero snap their fingers, and solve every problem in one fell swoop? Which brings us to the question, how can we make magic consistent, when it doesn’t have any obvious rules?

Which brings us to Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s Loki: Agent of Asgard. [Read more…] about Who am I? Magic in Loki: Agent of Asgard

How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: The Hellfire Club (House of X #4-5)

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[X-Force vol3 #3 by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Clayton Crain, Cory Petit, 2008]

V. Two Big Bad Mutants of Hellfire (cont. from last week’s list of newly Krakoan villains!)

(We’ll get to the undead human supremacists pictured above in section VI.)

Last time we did a rundown of all the mutant villains freely stepping onto Krakoan soil in House of X #5. Except for Selene and Sebastian Shaw—so now we can segue (at last!) into a look at the roster of human/non-mutant baddies listed in HOX 4. Why? The Hellfire Club was once an exclusive domain of power-politics contention between elite humans and mutants; it’s seen its share of amoral mutants and humans whose cynical, self-aggrandizing politicking has often resulted in great harm to mutantkind. And even today, the question of the Club’s legacy could reignite.

Related:

Hickman X-Men Reading Order

Krakin’ Krakoa!

More in this series!

[Read more…] about How to (Re)Read the Hickman Era of X-Men: The Hellfire Club (House of X #4-5)