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Marvel Reviews

Jonathan Hickman’s Full X-Men Run: Dawns & Endings | Krakin’ Krakoa #195

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In July 2019, writer Jonathan Hickman returned to the Marvel Universe after a nearly 4 year sabbatical to deliver House of X #1, a game-changing paradigm shift for Marvel’s X-Men comics. With collaborators Pepe Larraz, RB Silva, and Marte Gracia, Hickman completely reinvigorated X-Men and the fandom that surrounds it. After the massive success of House of X and Powers of X, Hickman turned to an ongoing X-Men series, set during the new status quo of the X-Men’s Krakoa era, a run that lasted from Fall 2019 through summer 2021.

Looking back at the full run now, what did we learn, what mysteries still remain, and how effective was Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men as a whole?

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Black Cat Volume 5: “I’ll Take Manhattan” Ties Up Loose Ends In This Very Good Run

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Black Cat Vol 5, the fifth trade paperback of Jed MacKay’s Black Cat run, and the second of the series that began with the relaunched Black Cat #1 in 2021, wraps up the storyline with Black Fox, Felicia’s mentor.

The first issue in the trade, Black Cat #5 begins with Felicia and Black Fox meeting on Coney Island well before Felicia became known as Black Cat. In fact, what we are seeing is the moment when Felicia decides to take on the mantle that was once carried by her father before her. This scene acts as a prelude to what’s to come in terms of the dissolution of Felicia’s relationship with the Black Fox, reminding us of what he means to Felicia before he betrays her in the pursuit of immortality. [Read more…] about Black Cat Volume 5: “I’ll Take Manhattan” Ties Up Loose Ends In This Very Good Run

Gore, Guts, and Glory in the Predator Omnibus

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Dark Horse began publishing the Predator comics in 1989 with the story now generally referred to as Concrete Jungle, not long after debuting its Aliens line the year prior. Rather than focusing on an ongoing, the publisher pushed short appearances in the Dark Horse Presents anthology while offering up a number of limited series and one-shots over the years.

Foregoing the larger world building that the Aliens franchise has explored in novels and comics to focus on repeating the format that makes the Predator movies so great, it’s easy to forget about the early Predator comics in comparison to the Aliens and AVP series. Aliens offers more character and plot development while AVP has even more epic fights, which leaves some of these stories in the dust. On the other hand, the original outings with the Predators did offer massive amounts of bloodshed and a revolving series of backdrops and characters, which means that Predator Omnibus still has a lot to offer for fans of the films.

Collects: Predator (1989) #1-4, Predator 2 (1991) #1-2, Predator: Big Game (1991) #1-4, Predator: Cold War (1991) #1-4, Predator: The Bloody Sands of Time (1992) #1-2, Predator: Bad Blood (1993) #1-4, Predator: Invaders from the Fourth Dimension (1994) #1, Predator: Dark River (1996) #1-4, Predator: Strange Roux (1996) #1, Predator: Kindred (1996) #1-4; material from Dark Horse Presents (1986) #46, #119; Dark Horse Comics (1992) #1-2, #4-7, #10-14, #16-18, #20-21; A Decade of Dark Horse (1996) #1 [Read more…] about Gore, Guts, and Glory in the Predator Omnibus

Best New Graphic Novel: Eternals Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen & Esad Ribic!

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Of the big three “non-human races” of the Marvel Universe, the Eternals have long been playing catch-up. The X-Men are, well, the X-Men. While the Inhumans have a rich and varied history interwoven into the fabric of the larger Marvel Universe dating back to the Silver Age (to say nothing of a failed TV series and that time when Fox still owned the X-Men movie rights so Marvel tried to position them as their new, more cinema-friendly, version of mutants).

The Eternals, while of a similar pedigree (all three share an artistic creator in Jack Kirby), have long existed on the fringes of the Marvel Universe: various artists and writers, often top-notch ones, step-up and present their take on the long-lived demi-gods secretly protecting humanity from the monstrous Deviants in the name of the cosmic Celestials, and when they’re done, the Eternals quietly fade once more into the background of the Marvel Universe.

Eternals: Only Death is Eternal is the latest such creative effort. Collecting the first six issues of a new ongoing Eternals series from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Esad Ribic, the book is clearly being positioned to capitalize on and contribute to the Eternals’ upcoming moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe zeitgeist, with their feature film (after a lengthy pandemic-induced delay) scheduled to premiere just a scant few months after the publication of this volume. In Gillen & Ribic, Marvel has again entrusted top-tier talent to this effort, and Gillen and Ribic, to their credit, reward that trust. Every iteration of the Eternals attempts to put a new spin on the concept in some way, and the inaugural launch of this series is no different.

Gillen and Ribic don’t just put a new spin on things; they do so in a way that contextualizes and synthesizes all of the previous versions, creating a kind of grand unified theory of the Eternals that honors what’s come before in the Eternals history while breaking new ground. Along the way, they also tell a densely-plotted, gorgeously-illustrated, rip-roaring tale filled with moments of fist-pumping excitement and tragic heartbreak alike. The end result is the best possible entry point into the Eternals for a new reader.

Ed. Note: Story Spoilers Follow

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SWORD Volume 1 Review!

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After the fervor of the Hellfire Gala and the Twitter shattering announcement that Jonathan Hickman is leaving the X-Men following Inferno later this year, many fans of Marvel’s Merry Mutants are left in a panic. The playground of Krakoa is still open with no shortage of titles exploring this new status quo. From exploring culture in Way of X to corporate strategy in X–Corp, the very reason for Hickman’s departure is that there’s just so much to explore.

While the conceptual diversity of the Krakoan era is excellent and offers a variety of talents to tell compelling stories with a number of characters, I do feel for the loss of focus. The themes and conflicts Hickman proposed in House of X and Powers of X were incredibly compelling to me and I was hoping to see them built on for longer towards a larger conclusion (some of which may come from Inferno). And while it’s true, the momentum of the line is not solely propelled by Hickman but by the X-Writers as a whole–it’s difficult to see what the next driving goal of the line will be.  [Read more…] about SWORD Volume 1 Review!