"The End" Week: Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (180)!

I didn't write these all at once, but I would've had to space them out--so to speak. From 2021, Guardians of the Galaxy #18 (Legacy #180), "Then It's Us" Written by Al Ewing, art by Juan Frigeri. 

The cover event blurb is "The Last Annihilation," and this is the big finish: Dormammu has possessed Ego the Living Planet, and was now a colossal, galactic-level force of destruction. The Guardians are pulling out all the stops, working with both the mutants of Krakoa (they maybe hadn't colonized Mars/Arrako at that point) and Doctor Doom, who performs an elaborate ritual with Drax, Moondragon, Star-Lord, and Groot to drain energy from Dormammu. Doom then sends the heroes off to battle...

Meanwhile, Nova is getting ready for a suicide run, to punch the planet-sized Dormammu in the kisser: Gamora refuses to leave him alone, although she's not the type to say "I love you" but definitely the type to want to be there to say "I told you so." Their moment is interrupted by Rocket, who arrives with a big gun and a bullet of anti-magic mysterium from Krakoa. Star-Lord and Groot arrive, with Star-Lord and Nova powering the bullet, and Gamora taking the shot. She playfully accuses Rocket of being lazy, but he defers to the deadliest woman in the galaxy, who blows a massive hole through Dormammu/Ego; banishing Dormammu back to the Dark Dimension, and reducing Ego to an asteroid belt. (Oh, he'll be back, he's taken worse than that!)

Doom confers with his...not partner, certainly: ally? Pawn? Lackey? Sister Talionis now had rule over whatever was left of the Chitauri; and while Doom hadn't gotten everything he had wanted, he came out well ahead with a ton of mystic power, that may or may not have come into play the next time he was seen. At Gosnell's bar, the Guardians catch up, including members of their extended roster like Quasar, Hercules, and Noh-Varr. Peter, Rich, and Gamora are looking forward to a vacation, and look like a better throuple than Scott, Jean, and Logan.

I think I came to this title late in the game, because I saw Quasar was back; but I stuck around for the next series since writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing had done some Star Trek I just loved. They haven't wowed me since, though; and their run was only 10 issues and an annual to wrap up. Some of that could be MCU fatigue; or the fact that this would be what, like the third time the Guardians had built a deep bench of supporting characters, that would be either forgotten or benched in a new run to hew more closely to the MCU lineup; even if like Iron Man I don't know that the movies improved sales of the actual comics the least little bit. Just a matter of time until yet another relaunch, of course: I wouldn't mind a Rocket/Groot fronted book, with, um, let's see...Death's Head, Her/Kismet, maybe Lila Cheney...unless I could use Rom, then all bets are off.  

And I loaded the wrong scan here...twice. Ugh, skill issue.

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Well, at least the kid wasn't turned into cubes.

Cover for 2018's Infinity Countdown: Champions #2 by Clayton Crain. I feel like Rich has given Thanos a good fight in the past--better than his showing in Infinity Gauntlet #4--but this issue, while the Champions manage to beat the Chitauri Warbringer, Ironheart gets her suit destroyed by Thanos, then Sam gets his suit taken away by the Nova Corps. So, the cover's a bit of a lie. 

I know I got this one for a buck at EntertainMart, and they are probably having another sale now! This is why the mountains of comics lying around never get smaller...Have a good weekend!

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"Young."

I know I read New Warriors when they debuted in Thor, then like the first year or so of their book...and then never again? I mean, not even a lot of random pickups later, although I know we've seen a couple here. Certainly none of the later incarnations, which means I didn't actually read any issues where Darkhawk was a member, so I don't know if I'm anywhere near their team dynamic. Then again, that means I also 'missed' a storyline where Namorita has a drunken hookup with a gang member who steals Warrior data, which leads to the death of Rage's grandma...! Ugh. Some aspects of that book, in retrospect, are very much of their time, and also kinda gross. For example, Nova was written a lot like Wally West was for a while: a lecherous horndog, with no other personality traits.

I say that, and yet it doesn't stop me from a joke at their expense, to explain away the missing Warriors Namorita and (young) Vance Astro, who of course have not received figures yet! And poor Namorita remains dead following Civil War, but they picked up a spare of her somewhere in the timestream or something. That seems like a raw deal, but she didn't have to do a stint as Penance or anything, so maybe she did get off easy.

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"Chair."

We're using the Fortnite Dio and Siona figures again; since they remind me of the aliens that would show up on Space: 1999: usually European jerks. Last I checked, you could get that two-pack pretty cheap--cheaper than I bought it for! If the helmets were a little less fiddley and the heads easily swappable with Legends, I would give it a stronger recommendation, but I liked them. They also aren't quite posable enough for a lot of horrible poses, either...Ah, they probably also remind me of the foreign couple--I want to say German?--from Super Troopers, one of my favorite movies ever!

I also swapped out one of Quasar's hands with a regular grabbing one: he came with fists and flying hands. I also know Quasar had an Avengers ID--he'd never burn it like Moon Knight! Later Avengers teams, anything Bendis or after, I don't think used the same system; so Nova wouldn't have gotten one even if he had been a proper team member. But Quasar has been killed and come back, so it's unlikely he would still have his in his pocket. But, why would it work now, who could be calling...?

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Yay, Quasar! And the domestic came in first! 

 Let me explain: the Walgreens exclusive Quasar Marvel Legends figure was supposed to be out like third-quarter-ish last year. But, distribution for figures at Walgreens has been spotty of late, and while he had been available overseas and Canada, very few had been found stateside yet. I finally caved and ordered one from Zavvi, shipped from Britain: slightly more spendy, but honestly worth it for peace of mind, and still cheaper than scalper prices on Mercari. Of course before the Zavvi one arrived, Walgreens finally put Quas up on their website--he's sold out now, already! At least for shipping; maybe you might find one in a store. The way their distribution seems to go, you'll either find 40, or none. 

So, just a bit of monkeying around with him, fellow Walgreens Legend Nova, and a couple Fortnite figures, Deo and Siona. Despite also being from Hasbro, they don't seem to have the same necks: when the heads pop off, either the neck-piece or the balljoint usually comes with them. Otherwise, I would've swapped on the spare Skrull heads from the Skrull Troopers. Also sold out! Ugh. I got two, after missing out/waiting too long on the Hellfire Club goon. 

One thing I remembered about Quasar during this: he used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent! Not a great one, admittedly: he's kind of too nice for it. But he was probably trained in a lot of crap. They probably gave him the basics on how to kill a man with a ballpoint pen; with him studiously--and squeamishly--taking notes...

And Kymellian tranquilizers is a really dumb joke.

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This is starting to interfere with my immaculate record-keeping. (I said, immaculate!)

It took a bit of looking, and the one I bought was the only one I've seen so far, but Saturday we picked up the newest Marvel Legends Nova! Granted, I'm more excited for the upcoming Quasar from Walgreens, but still neat. 

This is like Nova's third Legend; and the younger version got one as well, but yet another Nova will be getting a figure: Frankie Raye, herald of Galactus, will get a Marvel Legend with the Haslabs version of her boss. I chipped in for that over the weekend as well, before it hit 20,000 or whatever to unlock Morg. Is Morg a deep cut now? He got the push back in the 90's but I can't recall if he's been seen for years. Also, I was trying to confirm if Ron Marz sprung for one, since I'm pretty sure he created Morg. (It may set a bad precedent, but Haslabs should just give him one!)

Ugh, way too much flash today, sorry. Sometime next month my Sentinels from Haslabs should show up, which leaves me with a quandary for my Year in Toys numbers: they were paid for last year, but didn't arrive then. I think they are going to be "charged" on arrival date then. Which I'm not doing consistently, since I had some pre-orders where some figures arrived earlier than others, but I may have just counted one total. I'm never going to be 100% accurate, but still want to keep it in the ballpark.

Let's see...currently on pre-order, I have a couple Ultrons--all the other Ursa Major figures are here! That's always a killer, but it's easy to see he'd be a star of that wave. (And probably reissued at some point.) Tigra is arriving sooner than I had expected, and I have the Watcher wave and Web-Man (Bizarro Spidey!) ordered from GameStop. Ah, I almost forgot, I pre-ordered the reissue Marvel Select Watcher as well!

I think Legion may have already shipped from Target. I did miss the Mobius pre-order, though. I was expecting Legion later, though, because I preordered him with the 1Up X-Men arcade game! (Because I wanted it and by God I deserve it!) I don't think I'll be tempted by Legion's Age of Apocalypse wave-mates; and Legion got the buy because he was the second lead in the Nightcrawler-centric Way of X. (Which is over already, setting up some Onslaught crossover or something; but had a hard misstep the third issue, that I could natter on about for ever.) 

I have a tendency to spread out orders and pre-orders, even before exclusives are involved. I think he's a Wal-Mart exclusive: the Compound Hulk was down to just over $20 at one point; so I ordered him and Winter Soldier: Bucky is here already, CH is still over two months out. From Amazon, I pre-ordered Psycho-Man and the High Evolutionary: I don't know if either will be hugely popular, but both look really sharp, and I do love expanding the character roster. Still, they maybe aren't coming until March 2022? I say it all the time, but that seems like a million years away. 

Is that everything? Probably need to add some more.  

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As of right this second, I haven't pledged or whatever for the HasLabs Galactus, even though I've been doing extra overtime all week to cover it! So I thought I'd see if I had a comic with Galactus handy to blog real quick, and I had one with Nova: that's appropriate as well, and odds are Galactus would appear in her strip, right? Right...? From 1991, Marvel Comics Presents #94, covers by Sam Kieth.

The Wolverine opener may or may not fit into post-origin continuity, as Logan has a dream of the 1840's, in the wilderness near the Canadian border. He sees a Blackfoot brave face off against a massive black bear, then intervenes and gets wrecked: something's not right with that bear. Later, some opportunistic trappers try to help themselves to the bear carcass and Logan's scalp, which gets more blood split on the snow. Logan realizes the bear blinded the brave, but doesn't know yet more are out there..."Wild Frontier, part 2 of 6: The Backbone of God" Written by Timothy Truman, pencils by Todd Foxx, inks by Gary Kwapisz. 

Just about everyone got at least a short story in MCP, but I wasn't expecting Nova to have her own serial: "And Ye Shall Remember This Day, part 2 of 4: Only the Strong Shall Live" Plot and script by Susan Kennedy, plot and pencils by Gavin Curtis, inks by Ian Akin. I also expected Galactus to appear, but he doesn't this episode; probably because he doesn't care: Nova is acting like an earth hero instead of a herald, as she tries to help an alien race find a new home after Galactus destroyed their world. But the aliens' leader may have his own agenda, only caring about the "fit" surviving, and he may be leading them to a black hole!

On the other side, Ghost Rider and Cable team-up to save a girl from the subterranean "Warriors of the Dead." The girl can't remember her name, but the memories she has of the Dead don't seem to ring true, but they are coming for her regardless. This serial was later collected as Ghost Rider/Cable: Servants of the Dead, which I don't recall happening that often. (Written by Howard Mackie, pencils by Guang Yap, inks by Bud LaRosa.)

Finally, "Grimm's Tale," written by John Figueroa, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Don Hudson. Ben just wants to get out of town for a vacation; he can't even get to the bank without trouble, as some robbers using a garbage truck-looking vehicle try and steal the safe. Ben may have to settle for a staycation hiding from Stretcho.

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OK, I really shouldn't come in on the end here.

I consider myself a Moon Knight fan, but there are stretches of his books I haven't read. (Or don't recall, which I suppose is pretty much the same thing!) I hadn't read this crossover with him, either; but that was because I thought he would be more central to it: from 1992, Amazing Spider-Man #358, "Out on a Limb" Written by Al Milgrom, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Randy Emberlin.

Hmm, I didn't know this was written by Milgrom: he has so many inking credits, but I didn't know he wrote any. I knew the basic plot and I think it was published every two weeks, but that was about it. Moon Knight's former sidekick, Midnight--actually, that right there is why I'd never read this, I couldn't get past that! You wouldn't give the Punisher a Robin, MK doesn't need one either. Still, I think Midnight pushed himself into the role, when he wasn't ready: believed killed by the Secret Empire, he was taken and made a cyborg, and wanted revenge on his mentor, and Spider-Man and the Punisher, since he felt they left him to die. By this point, his plot was going fairly well: he had taken control of the Secret Empire, alongside his nurse Lynn, who was also a cyborg; and the juiced-up Thunderball. He also had the armored mercenary brothers, the Seekers, one of whom hated super-heroes since his son died trying to imitate the Human Torch. (The footnote references Fantastic Four #342, which was a fill-in during Walt Simonson's run. I think I had a subscription and I'm still not sure I've read that one; but I think the Seeker's kid died in FF #285.)

On the heroic side, along with MK, Punisher, and Spidey; Darkhawk, Night Thrasher, and Nova had joined up: I'm not sure everyone is really given something to do in this issue, but okay. Fighting Lynn and Midnight, Spidey does the ol' webbing in the face bit, and is mildly dismayed when she tears it off, with her face. Midnight also had the Terminator-thing going, but his face had been blown off; he couldn't believe someone would do that voluntarily, but Lynn sees herself as a superior, godlike being now. When he falters, Lynn reveals she still has the "pain-inducer" remote to keep him in line, until Thunderball makes a grab for it, intent on taking over himself. Unwilling to be a slave, Midnight starts blasting the supports, and all three are buried. The heroes grab the unconscious baddies that they can and get out--noticeably, the Punisher and Moon Knight aren't carrying anyone out.

In the aftermath, Night Thrasher gives Punisher the heads-up that the cops were coming, so he could clear out. Spidey tries to comfort Moon Knight, who isn't distraught or anything, but does feel eh, bad. And Thunderball pushes his way out of the wreckage, but exhausted, surrenders: he had dug his way out with Midnight and Lynn's severed arms, crimped together in battle. Of course both would return, because Moon Knight really needs a deeper bench of bad guys. Still, this seemed like a plot that should've been in a Moon Knight title instead of Spider-Man's: imagine if one of Batman's sidekicks went bad, and multiple heroes had to team-up to stop him, and it didn't even rate showing up in his book!

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"Wire."

I don't think I quite have Ms. Marvel's voice: the only character trait I give her here is somewhat humorless earnestness. And Black Cat is mangling or misinterpreting a quote, "When the student is ready, the master will appear," that itself isn't really as deep as all that.

Is this the last we'll see of White Kitten, er, Tiger? I'm not sure yet, but Cat and Satana are definitely returning.

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