Good idea: making a list of all the Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X books I've bought additional copies of, to see what I need to complete another run of that. Better idea: maybe putting that list somewhere I'd actually be able to read it while I'm looking, like in my phone or something? No, that makes too much sense. And I'm at least 40% sure I hadn't bought another of this one, anyway: from 2000, 4 (Universe X) #1, plot by Alex Ross, plot and script by Jim Krueger, art by Brent Anderson, additional inks by Will Blyberg. Cover by Alex Ross.

Unlike most characters in the Earth X setting, at the start Ben Grimm is happy and thriving, largely retired, and living with his wife Alicia and their two boys, Buzz and Chuck. (Alicia had gained some kind of sculpt-to-life powers in the Terrigen Mists, and maybe wasn't blind anymore, so she was doing way better than a lot of the people changed thusly.) Reed Richards, however, is a wreck; having not only lost Sue and Johnny, but also Franklin: as X-51 recaps at the start of this one, Franklin was Galactus now, but unaware of who he had been prior; Reed couldn't tell him without changing him back, and Galactus was needed to eat planets and keep the Celestials' numbers down. Still, Galactus had been summoned to earth previously, and defended it, when called as Franklin; now he asks X-51 to tell him of Franklin Richards, trying to determine why that name meant something to him.

Meanwhile, at Castle Doom, problems continued to pile up: Adam Warlock had returned, although Ben wonders why he wasn't trying harder to find Her. Even as Reed's "human torches" worked to burn away the Terrigen, Warlock and Her's son was the source of a lot of strife with mutated humanity, so Reed stashed the kid the last place anyone would expect: with Namor, who was still half on fire, since killing Johnny Storm. This triggers a sidebar about the nature of mutation, at least in the Earth X mythos, that might give 'Galactus' a clue as to what he had become. (Basically, if stage 1 mutation was random and stage 2 somewhat more of what the mutant wanted, stage 3 was like becoming what the universe needed you to be; which may have meant the end of what you had been.)

Reed send Ben to Namor, with one instruction: "Don't hit him." Yeah, you're sending the wrong guy then, Reed. In the underwater fight, Ben inadvertently frees Orca, Tiger Shark, and TS's sister Diane; the latter of whom had been mutated by the Terrigen as well. Ben's helmet is smashed, but he's saved by Namor giving him mouth-to-mouth, which is beyond mortifying for him. Namor then introduces him to Warlock's 'son,' the reborn Captain Mar-Vell, who Ben calls Marv; that name might stick. Marv explains, there was nothing for Ben to be mad at Namor about, it wasn't his fault. Then, the kicker: the afterlife, for super-heroes and villains, wasn't heaven but not quite hell: everyone that had died and gone there, thought they were still alive, and that those still alive were dead instead! So, grudge fights continued, as Sue and Johnny thought Reed and Ben were dead, and were still fighting Doctor Doom. Marv was in both universes now, appearing in the dead one as an adult with the Enigma Force, as he has a conversation with Stephen Strange and the Micronauts' Commander Rann, who had given Marv the Enigma Force. (The dead universe is also color-swapped: the Scarlet Witch was green there, Doom's usual green cape was red; Sue and Johnny's FF uniforms were now orange and the numbers were backwards!)

X-51 continues to explain-without-explaining why Reed had called 'Franklin' and 'Galactus' had come: after first meeting Uatu on the moon, Reed would have realized, the Watcher had always been watching, and maybe not as a friend. The FF had travelled back into the past (more than once! But FF #19 is referenced here) and Uatu would have seen that, before they actually met him. Uatu would've known of the Inhumans, the secret origins of vibranium, the creation of Adam Warlock: all of this might have inspired Reed to investigate the Microverse and the Negative Zone, perhaps looking for a place away from prying eyes...In the dead universe, Marv plans to reunite Reed and Sue: not by killing Reed, but by bringing Sue back, if they can convince her that she was really dead. Johnny had been convinced, but Sue tells him the only thing that would convince her would be to "get Victor Von Doom to come to me and apologize for his entire existence."

An aside: to keep the narration clear, X-51 is given caption boxes with like a circuitry underlay. They're really annoying to read at a glance, you have to focus there! But, pressed further, X-51 explains how Frankin's mutations had affected him: he'd been turned into an adult, back to a kid, a teenager for a bit, kid again, with the Celestials later keeping tabs on him after he had created the "Heroes Reborn" pocket universe. Galactus forces X-51 to admit, Franklin had been a threat to the Celestials; which doesn't add up for him, since 'Galactus' thought he was the only threat to the Celestials. Back in the dead universe, Johnny faces off with Doom: almost literally, as he unmasks him, to show him his scars were gone. Although, he does threaten, he wasn't quite sure how it worked there, but probably could scar him up again if needed.

Forced into a corner, X-51 shows 'Galactus' the final fate of Franklin Richards: killed by Sentinels in X-Men #141...huh? 'Galactus' accepts that explanation, and annoyed that he wasted time talking to a robot, leaves. X-51 is confused, since he knows it didn't go down like that, at least for his world, and is grudgingly forced to consult with Uatu. Namor takes Marv and Ben back to Castle Doom, but then leaves, saying he wanted it to happen but he couldn't be there for it. Marv asks Reed to tell him about Sue, and he breaks down, since he had never even really been able to mourn her. In the dead universe, Sue does get that apology from Doom, who explains everything, from how his hurt pride led to everything he had done, to how he had always been able to manipulate Namor by not letting him split his time in and out of water correctly, to trying to kill Reed with a 'suicide' bomb. It wouldn't really have been suicide, Doom had planned to teleport away; but he chose to kill Sue instead to hurt Reed more, then his teleport failed and he died as well. Looking back on it there, Doom is able to see...yeah.

Now that Sue accepted her death, Marv was able to bring her back: using Reed's right arm as the clay, Alicia sculpts Sue, then Warlock gives her the soul gem, returning her to the living universe. This isn't a sacrifice for Warlock: Ben had thought his soul had been in the gem as well, but Warlock says he was now free, and takes his leave to go find his wife, which should get an "atta boy" from Ben. And back on the moon, X-51 offers to plug Uatu back in, so he can at least hear the world; if he can explain why he was seeing different histories...to be continued, in Universe X #1? Good lord, I thought we were further in than that. But, along with being a satisfyingly dense read, this issue shows how they were able to take something editorially inconsistent like Franklin's multiple age changes, and make them make sense. Sure, you have to go around the long way, but it gets there!  

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We mentioned 1994's aborted Kirbyverse book Victory years and years ago, and that post mentions an upcoming possible revival for those characters. Some of whom appear here, but I don't think this is the same project, even with some of the same creators! From 2012, Kirby: Genesis #7, story and script by Kurt Busiek; story, layouts and paint by Alex Ross; pencils and inks by Jack Herbert.

This was the second-to-last issue, but I like the cover, and things are more than rolling by this point: in this world, instead of the boring old plaque that went out on the Pioneer 10, they sent the Kirby plaque. Almost forty years later, after Pioneer 10 had left the solar system, an alien force finds it, and comes to earth in the forms of the "Pioneer Two." Their arrival seems to blow open the doors, and dozens of super-powered heroes, villains, and creatures seem to appear; although the viewpoint character Kirby (not that one!) wonders if the Pioneer Two didn't somehow retroactively create them...? (I thought this was a bit relating to other superhero-universe launches like the White Event or the Jumpstart, where their universe was pretty much just ours until some momentous spark sets it off; except for all the stuff that had been there already and we just hadn't noticed, like the lost continent, so many aliens, several ancient civilizations, a friendly Yeti...) A couple of the more cosmic ones take a bit of offense at that, but also aren't a lot of help in Kirby's quest to get his girl back, after she had been taken over by Valkyrie-type Midnight Swan and forced to work for the bad guys. Who, as in Victory, seem to be working together because that's how it's done in these crossovers, nevermind the fact that none of them seem to have the same goals, and are all shifty as hell. (There's a space pirate/Han Solo type, pressganged into the job, that lets Kirby go at a crucial point: "...what? He's looking for his girl, it's relatable. 'Sides, maybe we can bail while they're murdering him.")

Silver Star and Captain Victory appear, but more to the sidelines, since they would take over the narrative overwise; and they both had their own mini-series to go with this. I don't think this was entirely repurposed from Victory, though: that book was using some other characters that I didn't see here, like Bombast or Nightglider. But, like most Kurt Busiek books, this reads like butter: it's very Astro City, with just a bit more Kirby love. Note to self: I don't think I grabbed Dragonsbane, maybe keep an eye out. Also, I know it wasn't intentional, but in the last issue they might have stolen a bit from the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Snakedriver." Read more!

There's definitely an Onion headline that applies for Wolvie there.

Whelp, just spent a hour writing a post, for a book I'd already blogged; so I'd best triple-check I haven't hit this one before, since I'm positive I've bought it three times. (I can see two from here, so...) So far it looks like I haven't, so here goes! From 2001, Paradise X: Heralds #1, plot and cover by Alex Ross, plot and script by Jim Krueger, art by Steve Pugh. 

This would be a prequel to Paradise X, the third and final chapter of Ross and Krueger's Earth X trilogy; and begins with X-51 recovering, and restoring, the Logan from "Days of Future Past," Earth-811. (I'm nerdy, but not nerdy enough to remember earth designations like that of the top of my head!) While he could be resurrected, X-51 sadly tells Logan his friends could not; and Logan recognizes where he was, since he had been there before: the Watcher's home on the moon. (Like the Onion said, "Man Experiencing First Real Moment of Peace in Years Resuscitated.")

X-51 introduces him to the team he had put together, collected from the multiverse, some of which would have even been familiar to Logan: the vampire Ororo, Bloodstorm; the MC2 Spider-Girl, Killraven, Deathlok, Iron Man 2020, and a Hyperion. (Logan recognizes May as "Parker's kid" by scent, which grosses her out.) They also pass by the naysaying old Watcher Uatu, who was basically a big blind face at this point. X-51 gives the quick version of what he had learned, about the multiverse, divergent timelines, Mephisto, and primarily, the Celestial egg planted in earths across the multiverse. (That plot point is probably the legacy of the Earth X books, as it's crossed over into 616 and movie continuity.) He wanted the team to warn the Reed Richards of those worlds; then he would use Uatu's stuff to reward the heralds accordingly. (Killraven and Logan both point out, their earths sucked and were probably past saving, but X-51 had found others.) The heroes are paired up, with X-51 going with Hyperion; as they are transported by familiar-looking big black monoliths...

Hyperion and X-51 arrive on an earth taken over by Kulan Gath (around Uncanny X-Men #190!) and Reed Richards had just been strung up. Deathlok and Killraven get a world ruled by Satyrnin, which does have a lot of armored goons for them to blast. IM 2020 is paired off with Bloodstorm, feeling that he was because he would've been protected from the vampire, but they find a world apparently full of 'em. Logan and Spider-Girl show up at a White House, to see President Richards...perhaps better known as the Brute!

I hesitate to mention this, since I have an irrational fear of anyone horning in on my search; but I read all the Earth X books as they came out, and since my old copies have been read many times I have been putting together another run of them from the cheap bins. Checking the pile I have handy, I had most of Earth and Universe, but needed about 12 of Paradise X. There were maybe 14 issues of that one, since they ran from #0 to #X because of course they do. Still, I had new copies of all three of Heralds, and I think I have all of the one-shots like Xen and Cap, which I thought would be tough to gather up. I've been picking at that for some time, it seems to come in chunks, but I might be making some headway.

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This month, Thor picks a fight with his buddy's dad.

I think I've read several issues of this series from the dollar bins, but maybe none in order. Still, we'll see if this one does anything for us: from 2024, Immortal Thor #14, "The Wheel" Written by Al Ewing, art by Janeth Bazaldúa Nava. Cover by Alex Ross.

This issue opens with a flashback to the mythical origin of Zeus: his mother, Rhea, had gone to the earth-mother Gaea for help. Namely, how to keep the Titan Cronus, from eating her son Zeus? Gaea substitutes a magic rock, for Rhea to feed to Cronus in Zeus's stead, then gets kind of creepy and grabby: she considers if Zeus could be useful, in the future, was he the one...? She decides no, but maybe he could be a final test for that chosen one.

Millenia later, Thor and Hercules find the resurrected Zeus, in a dark dimension of endless night. He had been killed by Nyx, who seemed to have a lot of power there, but she, like the rest of them, was seemingly trapped in that dimension by a rune of Loki's. (Actually, although he may have used it, I don't think it was Loki's rune.) Loki was currently appearing as a younger man, and shows up with Athena, who seems to have gone a bit dark and spacey, filled with "the wisdom beyond wisdom." They give Thor some clues about his current test, before Zeus returns, now partnered up with Nyx, and intent on killing Loki--and incidentally, Thor, Herc, and even Athena--then getting out to start a new race of gods. Still, his vaunted thunderbolts can't even reach Thor: he was currently the All-Father, and could turn the bolts away. Herc notices, that seemed to dismay Loki...

Zeus gets angrier and angrier, as Thor feigns boredom batting away the bolts. But, Hercules realizes, the test was to "take it like a god!" Thor takes on Zeus, hand to hand, and catches about a million volts, but stays in there. Herc turns his attention to Nyx, forgiving her, in an attempt to free them both from an endless cycle of vengeance. He also points out, a realm of eternal night, maybe actually was a good home for her? Nyx realizes, yeah, she could do something there, for herself (and probably without Zeus...) and sends one of her calmer-seeming kids, Hypnos, to go with Hercules back to the "old world." But Zeus and Thor's fight continues: Loki says, his trial wasn't over.

Despite Zeus hitting him with everything, Thor is unhurt: in fact, he's taking in Zeus's power, leaving him smaller and weak, and finally collapsing. Thor now had the power of Odin and Zeus...as well as the mark of the wheel. To be continued! 

I would have to read more of this series in one sitting to be sure, but I wonder if Ewing wasn't trying to see, if the old cycles like Ragnarok couldn't be broken. Can you learn from them, if you have to keep reliving them?

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This one probably falls under three times, but I think I bought it three times from the same dollar bins because of the Alex Ross cover! From 2019, Captain America #8 (712), "Captain of Nothing, part II" Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, art by Adam Kubert. 

I bought it three times, sure, but I'm not sure I had read it until now, which makes me wonder when did I last read Cap regularly? Around Cap #600? Ed Brubaker had a long run, and we checked out his last issue some time back, but that was from 2012, and it feels like there's been about 40 separate runs since then? Rick Remender/John Romita Jr., Mark Waid was back for a minute, then Captain America: Steve Rogers, which I think was 19 issues of him becoming Hydra Cap for Secret Empire? Which leads up to this one, per the lengthy "Previously..." section: while Hydra Cap had been taken down, not all the fascists appear to have been rooted out. Thunderbolt Ross--non-Red Hulk here, at least so far in the story--had sent Sharon Carter on a mission that might have been a trap, then turned up dead, with Cap as the prime suspect. Instead of going on the lam to prove his innocence, Cap had turned himself in voluntarily, and was now at the Myrmidon, which would probably be best described as a privatized version of the Vault, run by...a pardoned Baron Strucker? Were there a lot of really sketchy pardons in the Hydra Cap era?

No, Cap explains: Strucker had sold out when Hydra's power began to fade, turning on them for a clean record. To further put him over, and show his dominance over his prison, Strucker displays for the whole prison him beating the tar out of the Wrecker. He's trying to show everyone, if he can beat the Wrecker until he cries like a little girl, what can he do to Cap? Meanwhile, Sharon has a meeting with New York's mayor, Wilson Fisk: she knows Fisk knows Cap was innocent, and manages to extort some info out of him. Still, Fisk does have a closing burn: at that point, America trusted him more than Cap. Back at the Myrmidon, rec time for Cap involves a minor scuffle with the Wrecking Crew's Bulldozer and Piledriver, who act like they have the moral high ground on Cap: this is probably due to Marvel's sliding timeline, but Bulldozer had served in the Army, probably during Gulf War, and felt betrayed by America. Piledriver mentions Rick Jones, who had been "inspired" to death in Secret Empire: that was Cap's fault, for building up a rep "more trusted than Jesus." Geez, when those two are clowning on you...(Bulldozer is the one in the Bane-like face mask, was he a biter? Piledriver is rocking the Guile hair.)

The behind-the-scenes conspiracy continues, as Alexa Lukin has Hydra Cap released from secret prison but then seemingly throws him to Selene. (Who isn't referred to by name this issue!) And Sharon Carter reviews the Kingpin's info with her crew, which fingers the Foreigner for Ross's death. I can't imagine anybody really thought Ross was dead, which makes me wonder if this wasn't just Kingpin trying to take out a rival: we've seen their rivalry before. That and Foreigner looks really generic here, rather than like Patrick McGoohan circa the Prisoner; and it still references his ex-wife Silver Sable, which I maintain was meant as a joke! 

Granted, this was part 2 of 6, and I'm coming in real cold; but by itself this wasn't a real satisfying comic. Which seems indicative of why I haven't read Captain America regularly in so long: it feels like I have to read forty issues to get anything out of it.

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So the story goes, when Stan Lee and Steve Ditko were working on Amazing Spider-Man, when it came time to unmask the Green Goblin, that Ditko didn't think it should be someone they had seen before, but Lee thought it if was Harry Osborn's dad Norman, that would be more dramatic. That story may or may not be true, but you shouldn't assume every masked character is someone you actually know. Like today's book! From 2001, Universe X #8, story by Alex Ross and Jim Krueger, pencils by Doug (Dougie) Braithwaite, inks by Bill Reinhold. 

I've mentioned before, I haven't done a big re-read of the Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X epic for some time; but I keep picking up random issues out of the cheap bins. Could I put together another run of it? Doubtful, that'd be like 40-some books total (if you stick to the original!) and includes #0's, #1/2's, specials...This issue, the Earth X narrator Aaron Stack joins up with this title's narrator, Kyle Richmond--Machine Man and Nighthawk, although neither are near their classic looks! They go after Isaac, the Gargoyle, who had betrayed Kyle to Mephisto in exchange for getting to feel again; but Mephisto tells him, "you could always 'feel' guilt, Isaac."

The current Daredevil was an unkillable, um, daredevil; a circus performer who may or may not have been anyone we actually knew. (At this point, anyway; someone might sub in later!) New York City was basically a colossal riot today, but DD is lamenting the lack of his audience; when he's approached by Ransak the Reject, who was looking for Reed Richards, since he could cure the mutations that had been caused by the Terrigen Mists. Which I don't think would help Ransak; who, like Harvey Dent in Dark Knight Returns, was convinced he was hideous. Ransak doesn't have his usual pal Karkas here, to keep him level. The NYPD, which included Peter Parker and Luke Cage, was all that stood between a colossal mob of mutates bent on destroying the "Human Torch" built by Richards, that was designed to cure humanity. A paunchy, accountant-looking Iceman maintains ice walls around it, while wondering when his old pal Warren became so gloomy...and unstylish. Daredevil confronts "Mr. Church," actually Mephisto, and his Church of Immortus. DD refuses to join, because he wants them to kill him; Warren sees the crowd tear him apart but is unable to help.

There's a brief aside to Wakanda, where Mar-Vell's group asks the Black Panther for the Cosmic Cube: the Panther's Earth X mutation is a rare miss from Ross, since it's just T'Challa with a realistic panther head. Back in Latveria, the reunited Reed and Sue Richards may not have much time left together, as the mob of mutated humanity attacks, and the Tong of Creel is there as well, intent on reassembling the Absorbing Man. The Thing's cheerful kids, Buzz and Chuck, try to defend them; but Creel's head and Doom's time machine are both gone. Ransak the Reject arrives in time, with the "Monster Generation," mutated humans who wanted to be un-mutated. 

Re-checking the reading order, the Beasts special was next: it's a dark one!

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Here it is, your moment of Xen:

I've been meaning to get back to it for several years now, but I haven't sat down and read all of Earth X/Universe X/Paradise X in a while; even as I seemingly, slowly continue to randomly put together more of another run of it. (Got a cheap-but-readable Earth X #0 the other day!) From 2002, Paradise X Special: Xen #1, plot and cover by Alex Ross, plot and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Steve Yeowell, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz.

I had to double-check a reading order for this, since there were several specials, and I wasn't sure where this fell. Also, I couldn't remember the order of the main series, and I forget there was the Marvels X prequel series from 2020, which seems like something I should be more interested in? But I kind of think it was maybe six issues of "here's where everything goes to crap and there's no stopping it," and I don't feel like getting into that? Anyway, if all of Earth X had proper numbering, prequels notwithstanding, like maybe triangle numbers like the Superman titles used to have; this would be like #41 out of #56? So, pretty deep into it, and yet there are a ton of characters this issue that readers would not have spent a lot of time with previously; as well as a few that had been involved to various degrees for much of the run.

Doctor Strange was back from the presumed dead, and gives a lengthy recap to the Xen team; most of whom openly disagree with their Lord Sunfire about this whole deal: when the Terrigen Mists mutated everyone on earth, public opinion swerved hard on earth's superheroes for their perceived failure to stop it. Strange had devoted himself to trying to figure out what happened, and didn't notice problems closer to home: Clea stabbed his body while he was in his astral form, but she had been turned against Strange by Wong, who had turned to Mephisto, seemingly in frustration over being a servant...and maybe over what his mutation had done to him. Mephisto's aid came with strings, though: the devil couldn't risk Strange's actual death, so Wong was forced into servitude maintaining Strange in a coma-like state, until discovered by Bruce Banner. Clea had been turned, with "unbridled lust" for Loki; and later Thor had banished her to Asgard: Thor and Loki had learned a lot of unpleasant truths about their father Odin, and themselves. Wong was killed by Adam Warlock, after his mutation had been revealed.

Loki and Thor advise the heroes, they can't let Odin find them too quickly; but with Strange and Xen go to Jotenheim; under the assumption that Odin wouldn't keep Clea in the city, since her magic could break the illusion of Asgard. They are set upon by Frost Giants, and Strange ponders why Xen was even a team: they weren't all Japanese, and he knew who Tao was, but didn't know why he wore a mask. The flaming Tora gives a brief origin, telling how Jim Hammond had helped her control her powers. But, this little journey had taken longer than the last few pages had indicated, and back in Japan the ghost of Fin Fang Foom is tearing up the place, while the Stark-created Seven Silver Samurai try to save the world. In Asgard, Odin feels betrayed by Mephisto, who says he's not the devil Odin knew. (Best of my recollection: "Odin" had been a storyteller, given power, to spin Asgard and the other realms besides 'Midgard' into being, setting himself up as the All-Father. Mephisto had a long game in mind; and Thor and Loki were rebelling against the roles Odin had forced them into.) While Xen fights the Warriors Three (who may have always been imaginary, creations of Odin) Tao speaks with Thor, letting him know hey, he's knows what it's like to have a villain for a dad.

Thor is distraught over the deaths of his old comrades, and Loki yells at him: none of them really "died," Odin just moved them around like pieces on a game board. At the world tree Yggdrasil, Strange tries to sense Clea, mentioning he couldn't stand to project his astral form anymore: Clea was with the Warriors Three and Balder...in Hel. Thor and Loki call foul, that Odin was changing the rules. Odin appears to them, Time Bandits-style, a giant, glowy beardy face. Thor falls back into his old role, but Loki resists, and threatens "Pops" that if he could convince Thor that Asgard was a lie, he could convince the other gods, so release Clea or else. Odin obliges, but Clea isn't overjoyed to see Strange: first, she thinks it must be a lie, or a torture, but says she'll "play along" after Strange calls her "wife." And it's brutal: Clea points out, Strange never treated her as his "wife." Strange has to admit that's true, but he's changed...no sale. Odin proclaims, someone had to take Clea's place in Hel: Loki agrees to, but Odin has no intention of letting him "poison" his realm, and takes Thor instead; sending everyone else back to earth, to the middle of the Foom/Samurai fight.

Counter-intuitively, Strange returns the ghost of Fin Fang Foom to its body; giving them the means to kill it finally. Some of Xen are still steamed with Lord Sunfire, and while Clea had supported Strange there, she didn't do it for him. Thor returns to Loki, since their plan had gone perfectly: Thor had freed all the "dead" Asgardians from Hel, even Hela. The returned Asgardians rejoice, while Odin feels his control slipping away... 

Hmm, this ends with a blurb for Paradise X #3; maybe this was issue #40 outta #56? The Foom/Samurai battle could've been a whole special by itself, too. Still, such a dense read; although I'm not positive much of Xen appeared in the rest of the run.

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The "every comic is someone's first comic" guys' collective heads would explode at this one.

It's been a few years since I've done a complete re-read of this story, but of course I'll grab cheap ones on the fly. When else are you going to see Alex Ross paint the Micronauts er, Rann and his rebels? From 2001, Universe X #5, story and cover by Alex Ross, story and script by Jim Krueger, pencils by Dougie Braithwaite, inks by Garry Leach. 

This would be 20 or so issues into the Earth X saga, a post-apocalyptic tale of the Marvel universe; or Continuity Porn: the Series! I mean that in the most loving way possible, even though they did my boy Nightcrawler dirty...today, we're tying into Micronauts #35, Fantastic Four Annual #5, and Incredible Hulk #140, among others, and that's just three pages in! The trick of this series was taking threads from across the Marvel Universe that were not in any way, shape, or form planned; and making it seem like a vast tapestry that was absolutely designed to fit together.

Along with the secret history of the Microverse and the return of some of its most famous denizens, we see the fate of the Man-Thing, and the funeral of Captain America, who died protecting the child Mar-Vell. After delivering the eulogy, the new Redwing--Wyatt Wingfoot--rails against Mar-Vell, wondering how his "cosmic consciousness" couldn't see that coming. Loki also visits the currently female Thor, albeit without a nose, claiming he was still choosing his new form. And the Tong of Creel, a cult intent on putting the pieces of the Absorbing Man together, recovers another piece as they manage to get past King Britain, the Iron Avengers, the Union Jacks, Medusa, and more.

Finally, X-51 confronts the blind Uatu--not for the first time in this series, I don't think--since he's realized something from listening to Kyle Richmond and the Gargoyle. (The latter pair were the narrators/framing device for this series, as X-51 and Uatu were in Earth X.) X-51 takes a little stroll on the moon, to the Supreme Intelligence...

Since Marvel had lost the rights to some of the Micronauts owned by Mego, there are a few redesigns here: Biotron and Microtron are reinvented as Neutron and Proton, with Neutron having a more toy soldier-like appearance. I think his head is supposed to resemble a Queen's Guard helmet, but it looks more like Kid of Kid 'n Play. They had a new Acroyear type, Spartak; named after the Acroyears' homeworld in the comic; as well as an Ant Man and a Spidra girl.

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Completely unseasonal Hodge and the Podge.

1. I accidentally turned on my local news--in my defense, I thought a game was on--and learned traffic was clogged by people camping out and lining up for crappy chicken sandwiches that you could probably make at home and not support a homophobic chain. I know times are tough, and maybe I shouldn't begrudge people their fun, but...they don't deserve the support, and it's a massive waste of time. I think I may have to go literally anywhere else tomorrow.

2. Of course, I didn't even notice them putting in that restaurant I won't name when I was in that neighborhood at Target the other day; picking up the new Cyborg Spider-Man and Negative Zone Spider-Man! They're both pretty neat, although the Negative (Dog's Eye-View) Spidey is missing a key accessory: while he comes with multiple hands and a negative slice of pizza, he doesn't get the partially unmasked head to eat it! Cyborg gets a webline, but really needed a donut: in the issue where he gets the metallic cast, it's free donuts that convinces Spidey this is a good government agency.

3. I didn't do any Black Friday-type shopping this year; but I didn't really need to, since a lot of stores have spread it out over the course of the month. At Wal-Mart I was able to pick up a pile of movies on the cheap, and we once again see what I'm willing to pay cash money for if I didn't see it in the theatres. Starting with Joker, and...eh. I may be coming down hard on that one since I managed to avoid spoilers until the day I watched it, when some slackjawed incel posted the scene with De Niro as a reply and completely missed the point that the Joker was the bad guy. De Niro as much as calls him a crybaby drama queen, which admittedly seems to be how he's often portrayed nowadays. I liked Birds of Prey better, even though it's so much Harley Quinn's movie that it didn't really need the others. I would've preferred more of just random Gothamites coming after her to settle their grudges: they did not like her! Also, blowing up Axis Chemicals is a big statement, but probably would've poisoned the eastern seaboard...Along with those, I picked up the first season of Doom Patrol and Watchmen, the last couple Spider-Man movies, Doctor Sleep, a season and change of Doctor Who, Bumblebee...and yet, all I seem to watch is reruns of MST3K and Ultraman. Well, sooner or later.

4. I can't believe I hesitated picking up these guys: Boss Fight Studio's Sam and Max! Because they are smaller runs, they're a bit more expensive than a Marvel Legends, but they're nicely done and come with a satisfying amount of extras. Is it weird that they're sold separately? I simply can't see someone buying one and not the other.

5. Alex Ross has done a ton of Timeless variant portrait covers the last couple of months. The only one I intended to buy was the Nightcrawler one, which was on Excalibur #13, in the middle of the X of Swords event, and...man, that was not for me. Betsy, the former Psylocke and current Captain Britain, is jobbed out by the undefeatable...whoever. The other issues of that I've flipped through have been the Apocalypse Show, and no thanks. Still, I did pick up some other Ross covers, which got me the last couple issues of Avengers with Moon Knight and Khonshu vs. the team; a pretty solid Daredevil; and an okay Fantastic Four. That I picked up with the Thing cover; you would've had to buy the same issue four times to get the whole team! Scam. Othen than that, I got the recent Giant-Size X-Men: Tribute to Wein & Cockrum, with a ton of artists redrawing Giant-Size X-Men #1. Hmm, I got the Cockrum cover; I might have to scan that later.

5. Hopefully he's got it by now: I sent the Master of the Mystic Smarts, PTor, a Doctor Strange themed spinner rack! Let's put the template here:

These are usually a lot of fun to put together; this time with a ton of the good doctor's guest-spots.

6. Between COVID and the weather, I'm not sure if I'm going back to Montana this Christmas. That would kind of suck, but it might free my folks up from having to spend the next month up there. Ah, we'll see.

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I was thinking it had been a bit since I had blogged any non-Marvel/DC book, but we had a Bongo comic recently. Well then, when was the last Flash Gordon book I blogged? Eleven years ago? And it's not the first picture at the link? Maybe we'll double down today: from 2013, Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #9, "Chapter Nine: Coronation" Plot and script by Eric Trautmann, co-plot, art direction and cover by Alex Ross, pencils by Ron Adrian, colors by Slamet Mujiono; and from 2015, Flash Gordon #8, "Stuff of Legend" Written by Jeff Parker, art by Evan Shaner, color by Jordie Bellaire.

Zeitgeist was a bit of a greatest-hits approach, taking elements from many different iterations: for example, Klytus, from the Flash Gordon movie, had a major role in the series and this issue. Both Ming and Klytus had been captured at this point, and while his various allies were on the verge of turning on each other, Flash has a conversation with Klytus about Mongo and what it would take to live there: absolutely no mercy. He doesn't think the earthlings are up to it, but there's no way he would be able to even conceive a different way. Still, even captured and missing an arm, Klytus still seems to hold a lot of cards, including his wife, who was leading a team from Mongo against the Nazis back on earth.

Forced to work with Klytus, Flash has a surprising announcement made: since he defeated Ming, he could take over...or name a regent to govern in his name. Dale Arden is named Empress of Mongo...a decision that Ming may raise an eyebrow at, but did it play into his hands? There was only one issue left, so he must've had something going.

Zeitgeist had been set in World War II, back when the original newspaper strips had been published; the Parker/Shaner version seemed to be set present day, but Ming may have rendered much of earth's technology useless: TV and computers weren't working, so newsreels and newspapers were back in business. Flash, Dale, and Zarkov return to earth this issue; with tales of Mongo and new science for rebuilding society. Only Flash seems downbeat: he was a little worried he would be seen as "too valuable to lose" and grounded, and they hadn't finished the job on Mongo. Weary from the interview circuit, Flash considers finally answering "the question they always ask," regarding his nickname. Which is somewhat more gloomy than usual, I believe.

Before their rocket can be put on a pedestal at the museum, Dale and Zarkov know Flash is their direction, and they head back into space, arriving to save Vultan from Ming. Flash impales Ming, who isn't concerned: in fact, this justifies his "practice of never appearing physically outside (his) domicile." The Ming-duplicate melts down to an eyeball and speakerbox, very retro.

This was the last issue of this series, but a new number one was forthcoming as part of Dynamite's King books with the Phantom, Mandrake, and Jungle Jim in a shared universe. (There was a Prince Valiant book as well, but I don't know if it would've tied-in.) At a glance, looks like those maybe ran four issues a piece and then a crossover in 2016-2017 that huh, got Prince Valiant in there too. I don't know that Dynamite still has the King licenses, though, and neither does Doc Shaner. While they have a variety of licensed titles, Dynamite also recently opted to publish a dire-looking Comicsgate related book. That decision may have burned a lot of goodwill; since I wouldn't want to be tied to those hatemongers.
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Even I could parkour, if I had footapults!

Well, maybe not. I started reading Astro City with the first issue, but there was a stretch in there where it was mini-series, The Dark Age, four series in total. Crud, I thought I had all those, but now I think I'm missing at least four. Still, the other day I did get an issue out of the quarter bin that I know I somehow missed! From 1997, Kurt Busiek's Astro City #11, "Serpent's Teeth" Written by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Brent Anderson, inks by Will Blyberg, cover by Alex Ross.

Street level hero Jack-in-the-Box (no, not that one) is in a pretty good place the start of this one: newscaster girlfriend, good job designing toys, and a rambunctious fan club in the Trouble Boys. But said girlfriend is interrupted before a big announcement, as Jack has to take off to fight--the Box! (No, not that one either.) He's a twisted, cyborg mockery of Jack, but claims to be his son; as does another arrival, Jackson, who has gone in a more Wolverine direction with his cyborgery. Box had a jack-in-the-box themed puppet/robot arm, that was kind of cool. Both had come from the future, and been fighting a war on crime, but since daddy wasn't there for them, they had both long since gone off the rails into insanity. Jackson strikes me as more crazy, since he had based his entire philosophy on his dad quoting Bugs Bunny.

Box and Jackson team-up for a patricide attempt, but with the help of some Trouble Boys Jack-in-the-Box is able to defeat them. Still, their angry glaring convinces Jack they aren't lying about being his son, and he races home to his girlfriend...who had been waiting to tell him she was pregnant. I've had the next issue since it came out, and I know it was a riff on legacy heroes, but I almost think the current Jack--Zachary Johnson--was himself a legacy. Yep!
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Six or eight reboots, they might catch up to the Legion.

It's the nature of any science fiction story set in the future: after a few years of science marching on, it can start to look a bit dated. Computers and communicators and fashions start to seem clunky and antique. The alternative, I suppose, would be for the future to be in constant flux. Like today's book! From 2015, Guardians 3000 #5, "Just Like Old Times" Written by Dan Abnett, art by Gerardo Sandoval, color art by Edgar Delgado, cover by Alex Ross. (Oddly, I hadda scan that cover into the GCD; I'm always surprised when that happens.)

In the year 3014, the Guardians of the Galaxy are fighting a guerrilla war against the Brotherhood of the Badoon, a fight they had previously won! The timeline having reset, they may have fought that battle multiple times; as evidenced by their new team member Geena Drake, an earth girl who somehow sensed the temporal distortions. This issue, while in battle with the Stark--not the aliens that got Tony Stark's tech this time, as seen in the 90's Guardians book, now they were full-on robots--half the team is saved by Star-Lord. Who is still Peter Quill, but with his original helmet and Ship, in the future! Kinda cool. The other half is saved by the sudden return of a teammate they don't remember: Nikki Gold! Maybe they don't recognize her because she isn't rocking her usual flame-hair do, like she has on the cover. She also has the Captain America, or maybe a Captain America: it shares the name with the Guardians' original ship, but was a different model; underscoring for the heroes that the timeline was super garked up, to use the technical term. (Further evidenced in that Vance had Cap's shield and the star-logo communicators; both of which I think came in the 90's book, long after the Badoon were defeated.)

Hell, I'm pretty sure I have some of the rest of this series from when Hastings went down; and there are still a couple issues missing on the GCD as I write this! I want to say Marvel gave it a shot--the Ross covers are a bit more than the company has done for other titles--but it ran right into Secret Wars. I know there was some miniseries activity with the future Guardians team then, but not much now.
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