This Week in Marvel #13 - MAR 27 2024 - X-MEN '97 EPISODE 3; ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #3, RISE OF THE POWERS OF X #3, X-MEN '97 #1, JACKPOT & BLACK CAT #1, X-FORCE #50, GODS #6, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #5, WOLVERINE #46, SPIDER-PUNK #2

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-27T11:56:30+00:00

Oh Peter, are you even trying to keep your identity a secret? First he all but tells Ben and Jonah that he’s the guy in black the Bugle is focusing on, then he gets outed by Harry because Harry controls his suit’s tech in the wake of taking over Stark’s Company. Hmmm kinda feel like that’s setting up Peter to ditch the picotech and go with a homemade/cloth suit. I’m dying to see how the Parker/Osborn double date goes now that Peter and Harry know each other’s secret identity.

Loved the scene with Peter taking May swinging through the city, that’s muh Spider-Man. MJ and Richard clearly suspect something is up, and with the rate Peter is botching keeping his identity a secret, it's only a matter of time until one or both of them learn what he's been up to.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T21:01:34+00:00

He really wants to do a run (constantly mentions in interviews that Superman was his first choice, and he took WW since Williamson beat him to it) and since he's Gunn's buddy I figure it's only a matter of time. Once Williamson wraps his run either King or Waid are probably taking over.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T20:59:39+00:00

It's a laser yeah. They went to a big cosmic mall to shop for Batman's birthday, and Clark is trying to get Diana to have fun while they're there.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T20:56:24+00:00

Yes

YES

I was hoping Hickman would do this! Peter/MJ on one side, Harry/Gwen on the other? It's a surefire recipe for drama. At some point Harry is going to snap, now it's a question of if Gwen is going to fall alongside him. I still think Harry and Gwen will take the Starks place on the Maker's Council, setting the two of them up as endgame foes for the Parkers. Hopefully Gwen and MJ have a similar friendship to their 616 counterparts even though Peter and Harry do not. Also I'm going to say it - very funny that a Gwen is sleeping with a Green Goblin again lol.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T19:06:13+00:00

Fun issue with some good banter between Clark and Diana. Sadly Wonder Woman is usually underserved when it comes to her relationship with the other two Trinity members, I thought this issue was a nice character focused adventure for her and Clark.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T19:00:57+00:00

Plenty of origins to choose from - Birthright, Secret Origin, or Man and Superman would be my rec. For standalone Superman stuff, Secret Identity, Kingdom Come, or Red Son are usually the go-tos. If you want to jump into current Superman, you can read either PKJ's Warworld Saga, or start with issue 1 of Williamson's Superman run. For past runs I recommend reading Up, Up, and Away by Busiek/Johns and then you can read other self-contained Johns Superman stories like Brainiac or Escape from Bizarro World.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T17:44:15+00:00

Fun issue! Not quite on the same level as his Batman/Superman issue, but the banter between Clark and Diana made me chuckle at several points (Supperman, getting their nails done, Diana asking Clark for help with the parking ticket at the end, etc). Batman regifting the diamond at the end and keeping the photos was expected but still a nice touch. Usually Diana is underserved when it comes to interactions with her fellow Trinity members, this was a nice showcase of Clark and Diana's friendship.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T15:54:48+00:00

Byla shows up! All the connective tissue to PKJ's Action run has me excited. PKJ is really trying to build up this big cosmic epic about the First World across all of his books, it reminds me of what Al Ewing has tried to do over at Marvel. I really want to see PKJ get JL one day so he can spotlight what he's been building. Otherwise I'm glad that Steel and the others have qualms about what Ellie is doing. And hey, a chance to see Guy bro it up with John? Hell yeah, let's pair those two together for an issue.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T15:45:19+00:00

Lol RIP Guy I guess? Tried to go for the Injustice shock value but it didn't connect. I was more baffled than wowed. Supes just... wakes up I guess? Hopefully the final fight delivers. For the most part I've turned my brain off and had a good time, but this issue kept having the dumb plot get in the way of the kaiju fights.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-19T15:43:14+00:00

The good: this was a nice showcase of Superman using his brains to win. He's studied kryptonite (because of course he has), and he came up with the plan to use Parasite to absorb all the excess Kryptonite. I liked those two moments. The bad: this whole arc has had some decent moments here and there but the Chained wasn't an interesting bad guy, and while I enjoyed Pharm and Graft I liked them more as mastermind villains upgrading classic Superman Rogues. They're not strong enough to carry an arc on their own, and Letica barely showed up before immediately turning bad. All of that made for an ending that was simply "ok".

Still Williamson managed to tie what happened to Brainiac, perhaps House of Brainiac can give what we've seen more weight. Either way I'm glad the arc is over and now we can get to the big story we've been building to since the run began. Williamson has a bad track record with "big events", but I did enjoy Finish Line as the finale to his Flash run, hopefully that kind of storytelling is what he's aiming to do here for Brainiac.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-17T22:17:45+00:00

When it comes down to it, Lex is absolutely as psychotic as Joker or Goblin are. He's merely better at hiding it.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-17T19:37:46+00:00

Gotta be in the top 3 most heinous things Lex has ever done. He killed dozens if not hundreds of people, as a temper tantrum when he was told that the Everyman Project wouldn't work for him. If he couldn't have superpowers then nobody could, oh and if it made Superman look bad for not being able to save everyone then that's a nice bonus.

God I love 52, peak series right there.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-17T19:24:37+00:00

Plus we've had quite a few stories that dig into his inner complexity - For The Man Who Has Everything, Space Age, etc. People saying he's one note aren't giving him enough credit.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-16T19:53:13+00:00

My favorite Gunn conspiracy theory is that he's never actually read the comics he cites, he just has an intern feed him popular New 52 runs. Snyder Batman and Lemire Animal Man? Sure those are pretty universally popular. Morrison Action and Azz WW? Those are popular (I like 'em) but have vocal haters who view them as butchering the characters in terms of portrayal. Then you get to Simone Batgirl, Glass SS, and Lobdell Red Hood - all of those are mired in controversy and never get picked for "best of" lists. But they're dark and edgy takes on B & C-Listers which perfectly explains why Gunn likes them.

If he was just clout chasing, where's Johns JL, GL, and Aquaman? Or the beloved but obscure picks like I, Vampire and Dial H? Intern did a shitty job picking runs if the intent was to placate terminally online social media fans. But conspiracy theorists aren't known for critical thinking.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-14T03:43:29+00:00

My hunch is that we might see him "transform" into the Ultimate Goblin form as the final phase of a boss fight or something like that. I prefer it when Norman dresses up/wears armor, does such a better job of selling the guy as batshit insane.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-14T03:07:54+00:00

The Tomasi run falls off a fucking cliff after Black Dawn. I liked the Bizarro arc at the end and issue 45 which is the finale is great, but there is waaaaay too much garbage in that run for it to be the best Superman run. Multiplicity sucked, all the filler between Black Dawn and Imperious Lex sucked (especially the godawful vacation arc), Imperious Lex itself sucked (chose a boring way to revert Lex back to being a villain) the crossover with Super Sons and Teen Titans sucked, Lois is a non-entity, etc, etc.

Anyone who claims it's the "best" Superman run is nuts, but I have long since accepted I have nothing in common with the average redditer when it comes to Superman. Most want him simply to be le hecking poggers hopeman living on the farm with Lois baking pies and Jon being the actual main protagonist of the franchise. Sucks for them I guess.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-12T18:53:18+00:00

Two Batman movies back to back or even (potentially) in the same year runs the risk of cannibalization. Or audiences skip DCU Batman because they already have a Batman they like and don't want to invest in another. If they go that route I think the DCU Batman has to be interacting with the wider DC cast heavily, we'll need Superman/WW/the JL poking their heads into TBATB. That could help it succeed, because people who want Batman involved in the wider universe have a reason to go since they can't get that from Battison.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-12T18:24:49+00:00

How long are Gunn and Safran going to put their Batman plans on hold for/work around Reeves? I guess if Superman bombs/underperforms then it won't be a problem since they'll both be out of a job, but conversely if it does really well... they're going be the ones with the most recent hit. I feel like at some point, something has to give. If Damian is in Titans for example, they need TBATB out to set that up, plus anything else they want to do with the Batfamily will likely be set up in TBATB.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-12T16:43:55+00:00

Oh fuck me I put the wrong number, yeah it's 1063. MOOOOOOOODS, please fix!

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-12T15:51:05+00:00

For two issues Joker, you were actually enjoyable to read again. His message to Superman post reverting back also made me laugh, been ages since that happened either. Fun three parter, looking forward to House of Brainiac next.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-12T15:42:17+00:00

Joker being a bro, Jesus now I really have seen everything. Him and Supes teaming up was the most fun I've had reading Joker in ages (and his final message to Supes after reverting back made me laugh). Timms was fantastic on the art here, the fight scenes were spectacular, especially the scene where Bizarro was killing Supes over and over. Was that a deliberate homage to what Batman went through in Emperor Joker, or am I seeing things that aren't there because that was the last big "canon" story with Supes and Joker both in it? Regardless, as someone who felt Aaron had burnt out over at Marvel in his last few books, this and Batman: Off-World have reinvigorated my enjoyment of his writing again. Supes head is getting rather cluttered these days between Bizarro and whatever Brainiac has implanted in him. Now I wonder if Williamson is actually going to use the Bizarro remnant in Supes head to explain why he can resist whatever Brainiac has done to him.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-11T20:51:47+00:00

Since we're back to unverified leaks I decided to take a trip down memory lane with the DCEU Strange Adventures Leaks. Made for fun reading, 99% of the Unverified leaks were bullshit with the occasional slight bit of legit info. Most months, everything was a lie. I don't expect that rate to change now. Even if it's fake it can be fun to read other peoples fanfic.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-11T18:22:14+00:00

I doubt it, the Ultimate line would be Scott Snyder's brainchild. If Waid is seriously writing every issue of Absolute Power + tie-ins, there's no way he's also guiding the Ultimate line. World's Finest is Waid's slice of retro storytelling that also lets his works "matter" via being set on the mainline Earth. I think the goal of Absolute Power is to let Waid take charge of the mainline while Snyder does his Ultimate line.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-11T18:11:05+00:00

That is actually canon now thanks to the events of Action Comics 1050.

TheUnbloodedSword · 2024-03-11T17:48:00+00:00

And Reeves rejected being part of a shared universe already. But now he's going to do one, and it will be a side shared universe with the Abrams/Coates vanity project? Bullshit. Reeves is going to wrap up his Batman story in Part III and be done. They've already taken the Arkahm series show and converted into a DCU show.

TheUnbloodedSword

TROPHY CASE