Comic Book Herald

An all new Wolverine comic series launches today for the first time in six years!

Today I’ll answer:

+ Where’s Wolverine been in the Marvel Universe, and why hasn’t he had a comic series since 2014?

+ Where the new Wolverine series fits in the X-Men: Dawn of X!

+ Who are the villains of the new Wolverine ongoing?

Wolverine #1 is an over-sized, excellent (and $7.99) special with two full stories written by Ben Percy. The first, with art by Adam Kubert and colors by Frank Martin, is an extended continuation of the Dawn of X X-Force run Percy’s been writing as well.

The issue kicks off with an opening reminiscent of Old Man Logan, with X-Force teammates Jean Grey, Domino, and Quentin Quire apparently dead at the hands of a badly wounded, amnesiac but healing Wolverine.

Really since X-Force #1, Percy’s shown a clear desire to explore concepts of safety on Krakoa, and in the case of Wolverine, this character surrounded in generations of violence, the idea of ever letting go enough to truly be at peace.

Calling back to the imagery of Hickman/Larraz in House of X #1, there’s something remarkably sweet about Wolverine playing hide-and-seek with a bunch of young mutants, and only having his spot revealed by a teasing Jean Grey.

In the pages of Wolverine #1’s first story, black market Krakoan flowers are driving increases in religious cults around the world like the ‘Order of X.’

Percy’s shown an eye for exploring the impact of Krakoan drugs in X-Force, and Wolvy continues that trend with more conversation about pollen than you can shake an allergist at. As Jean Grey states later in the issue “They believe if they consume enough pollen, then Krakoa will bind with their DNA and make them… something more. Not quite human and note quite mutant. A hybrid life-form. A new species. They think the same is true of our blood.”

This all drives to an “X-Force” assemble moment, with Wolverine enlisting Sage’s aid to uncover an Order of X cult hideout, and bringing Jean, Domino, and Quentin (with Gateway’s chauffeuring aid) to explore the mistreatment of Krakoa’s pollen.

The mystery revolves around how we truly get from this point to Wolverine surrounding his teammates dead bodies in the snow, and running headfirst into the CIA operative we also see tracking the pollen trade throughout this storyline. More to come of course, and I’m excited to see how it all plays out, including the revelations of the mysterious “Pale Girl” behind it all. My first “Pale Girl” thought jumped to Miss Sinister (yes I just read “Dead Man Logan” why do you ask?), but that seems unlikely from the story ending slight reveal.

The second story by Percy and Viktor Bogdonavich plays in more familiar Wolverine comic territory, but still tackles several Krakoa questions, such as the policy of inviting truly every mutant onto the island regardless of their past deeds and inclinations towards serial killing.

The appearance of a bloody Omega Red – a longtime Wolverine nemesis, dating back to 1991’s X-Men #4 in comics history, but even further back into Wolverine’s back story – requesting amnesty sets Wolverine on edge, and leads to a confrontation with Magneto (who joyously tosses Wolverine through a Krakoan gate like a rag doll).

Wolverine and Magneto get into a pretty interesting debate about the dangers of a presence like Omega Red on Krakoa – remember back in House of X #5 it was Wolverine who expressed the most vocal objections to Apocalypse joining the island.

Magneto argues the dangers of deadly mutants are nullified by Krakoa’s resurrection protocols, and Wolverine counters with “immortality don’t erase trauma.”

This is a very compelling argument in theory, but it raises the question that has come up a few times now – How much would a mutant actually remember about their death? After all, Professor X’s backups occur weekly, not down to the second, so it’s actually very likely that the circumstances surrounding a mutant’s death would be unknown even to them. This comes up in the pages of X-Men #6, where Magneto, Professor X and Mystique can’t quite be certain Mystique’s goals were achieved prior to her death in House of X #4.

If that’s the case, isn’t Wolverine’s point kind of null and void?

Regardless, Omega Red’s presence and manipulations send Wolverine on a journey to Paris where he runs into a swelling Vampire Nation, who literally hang Wolverine upside down and stick a faucet in his neck like a Keg-arine.

As it’s ultimately revealed, the Vampire Nation seeks Wolverine’s “Endless” blood to feed their leader, Dracula, who is very much in league with Omega Red. Dracula gives Omega, real name Arkady, the carbonadium synthesizer he is literally always looking for – usually because Wolverine and Maverick are playing keepaway with it! – in exchange for his loyalty as a mole inside Krakoa.

Appropriately, there’s been a lot of theorizing about a mutant mole in the pages of X-Force and Omega Red could certainly fit the bill. It almost seems too easy, and perhaps misaligned with Dracula’s goals, but I do love the idea of Percy continuing to weave threads between Wolverine and X-Force.

Likewise, Wolverine and the X-Men have a long, entertaining history battling both Omega Red and Vampires, so I frankly love the inclusion here. There’s also been some compelling work with Dracula and the Vampire Nation in the pages of the Jason Aaron / Ed McGuiness run on Avengers that may be worth exploring any crossover as Wolverine continues. If for no other reason than to showcase the panel I keep on hand of Captain America carrying a giant cross and yelling “So come take a big bite! If you’ve got the stomach for it!” at a crowd of vampires.

I loved the heck out of Wolverine #1 more than even anticipated, and am thrilled to have this new series as part of the Dawn of X. Between this and the regular excellence of X-Force I’ve been really impressed by Percy’s contributions to the Dawn of X.

The post Krakin’ Krakoa #35: Wolverine #1 Review – Where Does Wolverine Fit In The Dawn of X? appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Zack & Dave cover your questions, poll results, and recap the Marvel Comics of 1981!

Topics discussed include:

Up Next:

My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty One: 1982 Pt. 1 —

You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at:

mymarvelousyear.com

https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/

Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month.

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The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Variant Cover! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Thor #3 follows the cliffhanger appearance of Beta Ray Bill, cosmic powerhouse, frequent player in the Donny Cates cosmic Marvel universe, and oath-brother to Thor. The story by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino is an all out action issue fixating on a brawl between Bill and Thor. Beta Ray Bill views Thor’s work with Galactus as an absolute breach of his worthiness to hold Mjolnir, and initially seeks to attack the devourer in order to free Thor from what Bill assumes is some sort of mind control or bewitching.

Today I’ll answer:

+ Who is Beta Ray Bill and what’s his history with Thor and Galactus?

+ Where are we at in the Donny Cates and Nic Klein Thor story through three issues, and where is the series heading?

For related reading orders on Comic Book Herald:

Donny Cates’ Marvel Comics! 

Thor reading order!

Beta Ray Bill reading order!

Beta Ray Bill is even more enraged when he learns that Thor is working with Galactus of his own free will, and despite Thor’s clear advantages as the combination Lord of Asgard / Herald of Galactus, fights Thor until Stormbreaker, Bill’s enchanted hammer, is literally smashed to pieces.

Beta Ray Bill is even more enraged when he learns that Thor is working with Galactus of his own free will, and despite Thor’s clear advantages as the combination Lord of Asgard / Herald of Galactus, fights Thor until Stormbreaker, Bill’s enchanted hammer, is literally smashed to pieces.

To help explain why Beta Ray Bill is so enraged by the trajectory of Thor’s course with Galactus, it helps to look at the character’s history in the Marvel Universe.

In my favorite Beta Ray Bill story of the 2000’s, and the one with the most relevance for the Cates and Klein run to date, the three issue Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter by Kieron Gillen and Kano follows Bill as he seeks revenge on Galactus. Thor questions the wisdom of Bill’s vendetta against the world devourer, and actually denies him aid.

Bill’s plan is to starve Galactus, choosing to employ strategy over pure brawn in a way that highlights why Beta Ray Bill is a cosmic powerhouse.

The story is also a nice inversion of the usual conclusion Marvel heroes come to about Galactus operating as a monstrous but necessary force in the galactic balance. Famously, in the pages of the John Byrne era of Fantastic Four, Reed Richards even makes a case for Galactus during a space trial, which is frankly a lot like making a case for a serial killer in front of the aggrieved family.

Bill wants nothing to do with this philosophy or science, though. In the words of every review of stories involving Thor and Beta Ray Bill ever: It’s hammertime.

Bill comes very close to succeeding too, taking on the likes of the Silver Surfer as he seeks an end to the World Devourer. His position as Galactus’ status as necessary force of nature is clear too, at one point telling the Surfer: “You serve Galactus. Thurs your hands are bloody red. What do we have to talk about?”

Nonetheless, Bill’s obsession with revenge and his methods of planetary annihilation to murder Galactus result in him becoming unworthy of Stormbreaker. It’s only after he halts his bloodthirsty quest that he’s able to wield the enchanted weapon again.

With all that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that Beta Ray Bill would bumrush the show in Thor #3, however foolhardy that proves.

Although he has to learn a lesson by the end of Godhunter, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe Beta Ray doesn’t still hate Galactus with a raging fury.

After Thor’s well and truly beaten Beta Ray Bill, the issue concludes with the former love interest of both Beta Ray Bill and Thor, Lady Sif, now Sif the all-seeing following the events of King Thor. Presumably issue #4 will kick off with a brouhaha between Thor and Sif, although I hope Cates & Klein are more clever than that.

Because Thor #3 is so action-heavy – and again, so one-sided – there’s a lightness to this issue that leaves little to grasp onto. It’s perhaps important to show how far beyond his normal status quo King Thor has risen – he makes Bill look like a featherweight – but doing so a second time against an ally would feel beyond repetitive.

The most interesting thing this “Herald of Thunder” storyline is doing is asking how complicit Thor is, or should feel about his newfound role aiding Galactus’ planet consumption. There’s a crucial moment in issue #3 where Galactus seeks to control Thor’s power cosmic, and Thor tells him “Nay!!! I took your power.” instead of the other way around. The scene reminds me a lot of my toddler when I tell him I’m going to play with the best dinosaur action figure, but nonetheless it reveals a clear distinction Thor is making that he is, in fact, in control of his actions and working with Galactus because it needs to be done.

I think Cates and Klein are interested in asking questions about Thor’s humanity as King, even calling him the new “God of Genocide” in issue #2, but that angle is falling very flat for me. Firstly, the question was explored so thoroughly in Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers that clearing the bar is a tall order, and this does not yet come close to measuring up. Second, there’s a very good reason Thor is working with Galactus, and it’s a threat to all universes! I’m yet to in any way think Thor has lost his sense of what’s right, although perhaps as the book progresses and more planets are endangered, we may see that trend.

In Thor #4, I’m looking forward to Thor and Sif putting down hammer and sword, and discussing a plan to use the Bifrost to fully save future planets like they tried to do with Clypse on the fly. We’re three issues into the first story of this era of King Thor, and he’s yet to do much by way of governing. It’s time to put the fists down and see what Thor is thinking, lest this series devolve into nothing but shattered hammers.

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The post The Cates of Hel #3: Thor #3 Review – The History of Beta Ray Bill! appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Men #6 by Jonathan Hickman, Matteo Buffagni, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles is a much-needed flashback to Mystique’s role in the House of X event, offering present day insights into the apparent strong return of Orchis, those sentinel obsessed humans the X-Men gave their lives to stop. The issue’s effective at connecting back to the celebrated event that birthed the Krakoa era, while also suggesting the victory was not nearly as certain as mutantkind previously thought.

For the full Dawn of X reading order:

Mystique reading order

History of Mystique and Destiny

For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos:

Today I’ll answer:

+ What does X-Men #6 reveal about Mystique’s secret role in House of X

+ The history between Mystique and Destiny

+ What the return of Orchis in this issue means for Krakoa and the House of X!

Notably, X-Men #6 features no data pages, maximizing a full issue’s worth of story for Mystique’s emotional power struggle with Professor Xavier and Magneto, as well as the development of the Orchis threat thought crippled. Like X-Men #4, issue #6 is a deliberate follow-up to the event that started it all, and feels tremendously essential.

Looking back to House of X and Powers of X, when we first see Mystique, she’s in the process of stealing a data file from Damage Control with Sabretooth and Toad. When she returns to Krakoa – narrowly escaping the arrival of the Fantastic Four, who arrest Sabretooth – she delivers the data to Magneto.

There’s really nothing suspicious about this interaction in these early stages, as Mystique and Magneto have long fought on the same side, and certainly from the early 2000’s movie franchise alone, now have a cultural perception of closeness and allyship.

First, though, Mystique uses the acquisition of data as leverage against Magneto and Professor X. Mystique makes “demands” of Magneto and the Prof, before Xavier sarcastically condescends to her with the line “Is helping your fellow mutant not reward enough for Raven Darkholme,” a line Raven will wryly use back against the Professor in mere moments.

House and Powers were really about Charles and Erik’s plans to use Mystique’s stolen data, and less about what she really wants. Following the House of X #4 mission gone terribly wrong – remember, Mystique gets “lost” and the entire X-crew is killed in the process of preventing Orchis’ Mother Mold from becoming operational – Mystique is resurrected and made one of the 12 members of the Council. This appears to be Professor and Magneto’s efforts of placating Mystique, although it’s clear from her abject boredom during Council meetings, that Raven has something else in mind.

In X-Men #6 this scene is replayed but this time with an extended cut that reveals Professor X and Magneto also asked Mystique to plant a seed on the Orchis station during the X-Men’s mission to sabotage the Mother Mold. This is why Mystique mysteriously takes a wrong turn during that issue, and becomes crucial as the planted Krakoan gate allows Mystique to travel to the Orchis station under the guise of one of their soldiers to monitor their progress.

This is one of those story beats that Jonathan Hickman is great at, fitting wrinkles into pauses and breath left behind in previous issues. There’s a sense to how the puzzle fits together, and also a clear-eyed vision that shows this was the plan all along.

During the process of reconnaissance, Mystique learns that Dr. Alia Gregor is making progress on the development of Nimrod, and that the X-Men’s destruction of the Mother Mold was not the apparent end of the Nimrod threat that mutantkind had hoped.

This is catastrophic news for Magneto and Professor X’s plans. Not only is Orchis restoring what they’re calling a “Sentinel City” on Mars – have to think that’s not the last time we’ll be hearing of Sentinel City! – but the dramatic House of X #4 infiltration didn’t even stop the rise of Nimrod.

Personally, I think this is a brilliant reveal. Nimrod was so effectively built up as the ultimate threat to mutantkind in the pages of Powers of X, so the adaptive mutant hunter is a borderline requirement to retain tension towards the mutants attempts to assure a future that doesn’t result in their own extermination. Plus, it highlights that even with Moira’s lifeline insights, the Krakoa era of X-Men is far from a guaranteed success. In fact, so far based on Moira’s lives, everything she tries leads to failure; this is a hint that the same inevitability may be at play.

So why is Mystique running all these errands for the Prof and Magneto?

Given the closeness of their relationship historically, many have postulated that Mystique is most dedicated to the resurrection of Destiny, and that’s quite clearly made explicit here. Mystique teases that she doesn’t kill Dr. Gregor because of Krakoa’s laws about killing humans – which Magneto characteristically throws out the window in a millisecond – but the reality is she’s holding out in an effort to get the resurrection committee to make good on their promise of bringing back Destiny.

For the less familiar, Mystique and Destiny (aka Irene Adler) debut in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #141 to #142 during the incredible “Days of Future Past” storyline by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. They found a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Avalanche, Pyro, and the Blob and make their presence felt with assassination plot against one of the most public anti-mutant politicians on the scene, Robert Kelly.

There are actually a ton of fascinating moments from “Days of Future Past” that read differently in the wake of the House of X event. I don’t want to get too sidetracked but we just re-read the issues in the My Marvelous Year reading club and podcast, and I had completely forgotten that Mystique and Destiny’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants set out to not only assassinate Senator Robert Kelly, but also Professor X and Moira MacTaggert! This feels especially pointed given what we now know about Charles and Moira’s founding of Krakoa.

While never explicitly stated due to Marvel’s frankly homophobic & fearful 1980s editorial policies, hints of Raven and Irene’s love are frequent throughout their history together as atypically close friends and allies.

Their relationship and romance has only recently been made clear in the pages of History of the Marvel Universe #2 by Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez.

There’s a really great article by The Beat describing the character’s full history, and I’ll share that in the show notes! https://www.comicsbeat.com/history-x-mens-destiny-mystique/

Mystique and Destiny’s relationship raises problems for the shadow triumvirate of Magneto, Charles, and Moira because in Moira’s third timeline, it was Destiny who proved capable of seeing Moira’s lives, and effectively putting an endcap on her ability to experiment with the future of mutantkind. You know, before Mystique, Destiny and Pyro brutally burned her alive.

House of X event even ends with Moira very directly telling Charles and Erik that they cannot resurrect Destiny under any circumstances. The fear is apparently not specific to Destiny – Moira states “there can be no precogs on Krakoa,” which now that I think about it raises some major questions about the status of Blindfold in the Krakoa era – but nonetheless it’s clear the mutant trio have no intention of actually delivering on their promise to Mystique out of their own still mysterious self-interest.

We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Moira since the Dawn of X began, but I’m extremely curious about this mandate. It’s both sinister – what is she so worried about hiding from precognitive mutants? – and feels like self-sabotage. Couldn’t working in tandem with mutants who can see the future help mutantkind’s efforts to craft a better future? I have to believe that there’s something quite devastating in Moira’s plans, like Ozymandias willing to sacrifice millions in Watchmen in order to obtain world peace.

As you’d expect, this is tremendously frustrating for Raven Darkholme. Charles and Mags are constantly moving the goalposts, and quite clearly have no intention of actually restoring Destiny to life for Mystique’s benefit, or simply because she’s a mutant and that’s what Krakoa does now. If you’re Mystique looking around at all the previous threats Professor X and company are welcoming onto the island, or the absolute wild card resurrections like Jamie Braddock in the pages of Excalibur, there’s no sensible reason to withhold Destiny beyond keeping Mystique on a string.

Professor X and Magneto have their Moira-based reasons, but this constant refusal in the face of a woman screaming that she wants her wife back – and knowing it’s within their power – is one of the cruelest measures we’ve seen them take.

We’re a long way from Mystique getting under Professor X’s skin in the pages of the early 2000’s Brian K Vaughan written Mystique solo series. When Professor X talks down to a deliberately teasing Mystique in these comics, it’s with a presence of stodgy leadership and respect.

Now when Mystique shares her hatred for Charles Xavier, it’s deeply felt, and feels like the sort of animosity that there’s no walking back from. Stranger too, as a reader, I’m on her side!

The issue ends with Mystique revisiting a conversation she had with Destiny, prophesizing the emergence of Krakoa and the refusal to resurrect her person.

I have to think that Professor X and Magneto have pushed Mystique beyond her breaking point, and that’s planning to make a move without their permission. I’d keep in mind too, that Mystique is a member of Krakoa’s council, and we’ve already seen Sebastian Shaw leverage that position for his own personal gain in the pages of Marauders. I fully expect Mystique to make similar moves, perhaps with the likes of Shaw, Sinister, or even Apocalypse at her side.

The post Krakin’ Krakoa #33: X-Men #6 Review – Mystique’s House of X Secrets appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1981. Doomquest! Moon Knight! A guy’s head with a gorilla body!

On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited):

Up Next:

My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty One: 1982 Pt. 1 —

You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at:

mymarvelousyear.com

https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/

Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month.

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The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 2 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, and Laura Martin follows up on a thread first teased in House of X #1, when Cyclops told the Richards family he’d always have a home on Krakoa. In addition to major ramifications for the Marvel Universe, X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 combines elements from my favorite Fantastic Four series of the last 5 years (Marvel Two-In-One written by Chip Zdarsky) and my favorite ongoing Dawn of X title, Marauders, for a very strong opening issue.

The issue opens with a monologue from Franklin, now a 13 year old, reflecting on his history with the Fantastic Four and as an omega level mutant. Following 2015’s Secret Wars Franklin was in a position of literally creating universes (which as we’ll see is not the first time he’s done as much), but since Dan Slott’s Fantastic Four kicked off in 2018, Franklin’s powerset dwindles whenever he put it to use.

For the full Dawn of X reading order:

For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos:

Today I’ll answer:

+ Why the X-Men are after Franklin Richards, and why the Fantastic Four are suspicious

+ The essential reading history of Franklin Richards!

By the time the X-Men come calling, wondering about the possibility of bringing Franklin “home” to Krakoa (and when I say wondering, I mean borderline storming the Richards’ home on Yancy Street and demanding an audience w/ flippin’ Magneto in tow!), he’s already in a place of sadness, anger, and confusion. Despite the fact that Franklin’s father, Reed, is arguably the smartest man alive, he can’t seem to find a cure for Franklin’s powers. This leads Franklin to question why it is that Ben Grimm and now himself are the only two “problems” that Reed seems historically unable to solve.

It’s a devastating line of thinking from Reed’s own son, but also very understandable, and something we know Ben’s worried about and fumed over in the past as well.

So when the X-Men decide it’s time to show and claim Franklin as their own, leveraging the debatable bond Kitty and Franklin share from a nice throwback connection to 1987’s Fantastic Four vs. X-Men miniseries, Franklin’s pretty primed to consider the offer!

It’s a nice choice to use Kitty as the voice of reason connecting with Franklin throughout, as it affords both connections to Marvel’s history and an excuse to primarily utilize Kate Pryde and her Marauders as our focus mutants.

Before going any deeper into this specific issue – and if all you’re here for is a review, I quite like this issue and am super excited about the 4 issue limited series. It’s a strong recommend from me, although I’d note to check my Dawn of X reading order on CBH for placement because it creates some conflicts with Marauders – I do also want to dig into Franklin’s history to explore why the character is such a crucial one for both the Krakoa era of X-Men and the Marvel Universe as a whole.

Franklin was born in 1968’s Fantastic Four Annual #6, approximately six full years into Marvel’s growing Silver Age superhero universe, and over 75 issues (plus annuals) into Fantastic Four. In true Marvel fashion, the only way to mitigate cosmic ray induced difficulties with Sue’s pregnancy is for Reed, Ben, and Johnny to venture into the Negative Zone, battle Annihilus, and return with something called element X to help Sue give birth to a happy healthy Franklin!

As this auspicious debut suggests, Franklin begins developing his mutant powers well before puberty, really as a toddler, which is quite atypical in the Marvel Universe, and chalked up to his parent’s own cosmically altered genetics. Throughout our My Marvelous Year reading club read through the Marvel Universe, we’ve seen various instances of Franklin’s true power. Likewise, we’ve seen an equal reaction of Reed and the family (although mostly the responsibility falls to Reed) trying to control or tame this power in the interests of their son.

For example, in Fantastic Four #150, Franklin wakes from a coma to take down a model of Ultron that literally the Avengers, Inhumans, and Fantastic Four were struggling to defeat. This use of Franklin’s power appears to “cure” him, but in reality his powers were just lying in wait.

The next major development that I think of comes during the John Byrne era of Fantastic Four, specifically issues #244 to #245, when we meet “adult” Franklin for the first time.  Franklin the toddler more or less accidentally uses his suddenly untapped mutant reality warping abilities to turn himself into an adult, and in the confusion, he of course fights and defeats the Fantastic Four sans Sue.

It’s worth noting that although this is not a time traveling version of Franklin, the idea clearly sparked something in the Marvel creative fabric, as aging up Franklin and finding out what he could become has been a staple of the character’s stories ever since.

This all leads to an overextended period of the Fantastic Four assuming Franklin’s powers are on lockdown, only to be proven wrong time and time again, such as in their battle against Mephisto.

It’s hard to imagine what it would really be like as a parent of a toddler with such unimaginable power. There’s certainly a thread of Reed and Sue perhaps over-extending their reach to keep him under control – a theme that comes up in a major way in X-Men / Fantastic Four #1 – but a reality warping 4 year old is a genuine nightmare. If my toddler had these powers with no mindblocks, there’d be dinosaurs on every street in our neighborhood, and let’s just say he recently learned the word carnivore.

In terms of Franklin’s specific history with the X-Men, Franklin Richards is one of the surviving mutants in the Days of Future Past timeline (we see in these issues that his Fantastic Four family have been killed by Sentinels alongside the likes of many X-Men and Peter Parker). He’s in a romance with Rachel Summers, and part of the mutant resistance that sends Kate Pryde back in time to help prevent the Days of Future Past timeline. I find it interesting that even once his power inhibiting collar is disabled, Franklin is quickly and easily scragged by a sentinel during the mutant resistance’s last stand. It’s a minor role, but Franklin’s inclusion in this timeline is telling.

This apparent downgrade of powers is dramatically course corrected in a sequel crossover event known as “Days of Future Tense.”

The apparent downgrade of powers is dramatically course corrected in a sequel crossover event known as “Days of Future Present.” The crossover spans four 1986 annuals – Fantastic Four, New Mutants, X-Factor, and Uncanny X-Men – and tells a story where the Franklin from the “Days of Future Past” timeline escapes through time back to Marvel’s present day. Franklin’s deeply scarred by the trauma of his home timeline, and lashes out against everyone, using his reality warping abilities to try to regain some semblance of his past before the Sentinels took over.

Generally, the idea of a “Dark Franklin” isn’t explored in too much detail, but “Days of Future Present” definitely gives a glimpse of what Franklin’s omega level abilities could do when the character has been traumatized.

Skipping ahead a beat in the 90’s, Franklin plays a crucial role during the X-Men “Onslaught” saga, with the villainous hybrid of Professor X and Magneto coercing Franklin’s reality warping powers to his own ends.

Appropriately, it’s Franklin’s vast abilities that create a pocket universe in the aftermath of Onslaught where Marvel could reboot heroes like the Avengers and Iron Man in their “Heroes Reborn” initiative. It’s Franklin yet again, who brings all these characters back to Earth-616 proper during “Heroes Return.” His powers at this point are so off the charts, the Celestials even get involved to consider what to do with him. This is definitely the point in time where Franklin’s reputation becomes that of the retcon-given-life, or little more than a Marvel editorial deus-ex-machina. As we’ll see, this reputation has dampened slightly, but it still lingers to this day.

Certainly there are other very good stories involving Franklin prior – again, I’d recommend checking out my essential reading guide to the character in the show notes, or Dig into the Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo run on Fantastic Four from the early parts of the 2000’s – but the next major level up for Franklin comes during Jonathan Hickman’s extended run on Fantastic Four and FF.

Hickman manages the impressive blend of a time-traveling ultra-powerful Franklin who wields Galactus as his Herald – you heard that right – and fights Mad Celestials, alongside the present day’s adorable child Franklin who befriends Leech and threatens Norman Osborn with a Nerf gun.

In Avengers, this concepts is expanded, as Hickman uses Franklin as a near eternal lifeforce, available for conversation with the Avengers as the time stone exponentially hurls them through the timestream.

This idea is particularly important for X-Men/Fantastic Four and the Krakoa era because Powers of X shows us how the X-Men are all about the long game of a future for mutants thousands of years into the future. Franklin has the potential to aid them here in a way that very other mutants ever could.

It’s a small note, but this concept of eternal Franklin is backed up in the recent History of the Marvel Universe by Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez. The framing device for retelling all this history is Galactus and Franklin chilling at the end of the universe, and Franklin more or less asking the Big G for story time!

Given all this power and potential, it’s not surprising the X-Men are deeply invested in bringing Franklin to Krakoa. Obviously, Professor X and Magneto have a concentrated plan centered around omega level mutants, but it’s not just them. If you remember from the pages of Marvel’s Incoming we’ve also seen a briefly teased scene of Mister Sinister’s desperate need to accumulate Franklin’s DNA as part of his mutant genome project.

In one of his best moments, Reed Richards questions Professor X’s suddenly urgent timetable with deep suspicion, and just looking at the smile on Sinister’s face as he drools over Franklin’s potential, Reed’s not wrong.

Of course, Reed being Reed, he can’t help but scientifically overstep with a technology inserted into Franklin that masks his mutant gene and prevents him from using Krakoan gates. It’s an ultimate betrayal, not only because it’s invasive, but because it validates Franklin’s own concerns that his father is working on solving a million problems except the one that actually matters to him.

Likewise, this moment, and the tenor of the issue solidify that this is ultimately more of a Fantastic Four story than X-Men. After all, this book is not edited in the X-Office, nor are the design pages a part of Tom Muller’s work across Dawn of X (I believe the credits was actually the work of Chip Zdarsky, looking to mimic the feel of the X-Line but in a way that fits within the Fantastic Four). This is particularly notable because since House of X, Marvel has been pretty careful about any crossover between Krakoa and the rest of the Marvel Universe. You get references here and there (in the pages of Invaders, Gwenpool, that wild “Brute Force” short story in the back of a Weapon Plus one-shot), but this is by far the most integrated Marvel U crossover involving the new World of X.

While I’m beyond excited about the issue’s final villain reveal – I won’t spoil here but expect plenty of discussion in my next issue review – Chip Zdarsky’s take on a Fantastic Four data page is wonderful. In the entry from Reed’s files, he explores the concept of “Godpower” and whether or not it’s where the Fantastic Four get their abilities from. The reduction of Franklin’s powers suggests he may be running out of energy from this “Godpower.” In their conversation, we hear Professor X particularly curious about why Franklin’s abilities might be fading as well.

In both cases, Franklin’s Patient Zero for a future that could affect either the Fantastic Four or mutantkind. If he’s losing his powers, who could be next?

The post Krakin’ Krakoa #32: X-Men/Fantastic Four #1 Review – The History of Omega Level Mutant Franklin Richards appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

With East of West wrapping up its seven year journey into the Apocalypse, John and I are taking a look back at the Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Rus Wooten series from Image Comics!

You can check out part one here covering East of West #1 to #29 (the first two in-universe years of the Apocalypse), and in part two we’re covering East of West #30 to #45, the final year of the Apocalypse!

For previous Deep Dives:

For more, check out the full guides on Comic Book Herald:

Best of Jonathan Hickman

Dave’s Faves: The Best Comics of All Time!

Comics discussed include:

Journals From Armageddon (Pre-Show Notes!)

Dave:

Here’s what’s catching me on my read through the 3rd and final year of East of West’s Apocalypse, much of which I’m reading for the very first time (because it just actually ended!)

The idea of sticking landings is growing in importance across all of pop culture. I don’t know that the trend in its modern incarnation *started* with LOST, but that’s the biggest one that sticks out in my mind. Either way, you look across the nerd culture landscape, and the biggest stories in 2019 about Star Wars and Game of Thrones were about whether or not the franchises stuck the landing (or perhaps in those examples, more specifically about how they didn’t and how that is a grievous sin against mankind and generations to come).

All of this looms over East of West, and I think because it’s structurally akin to Game of Thrones – patiently allowing the audience to take in the world and characters, while allows teasing the eventual culmination of ice and fire (or I suppose in this case, death and end times) – the landing feels to me like an almost impossible challenge.

Just to get to a finish line, East of West has to really kick into overdrive. In year two we can watch Babylon decide whether to eat or befriend a pig. In year three, Chosen start getting taken off the board. So here’s the question:

Is year 3 rushed, hollow, or delivering on its promise?

Related, but not too directly: Who do you find yourself rooting for in year three?

Are you rooting for the ranger? The chosen? Archibald? Death and Babylon?

I’ll save my initial answer for the pod

John:

The post Deep Dives #6: What’s It Mean For a Comic To Stick The Landing? – East of West Review Pt. 2 (#30 to #45) appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Thor #2 follows the big new series development where Thor is now the Herald of Thunder, guiding Galactus across the cosmos to consume enough power to prevent the Black Winter’s destruction of the universe. The story by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino raises some interesting questions about Thor’s new role as Herald and King of Asgard and how the two may function in tandem.

Today on The Cates of Hel #2 I’ll answer:

+ What does it mean to be a Herald of Galactus, looking at the history of Heralds in the Marvel Universe and considering how King Thor compares

+ Whether or not Galactus is made of paper mache

+ Why the issues’ final page reveal is so exciting Spoilers for the discussed comics may follow!

For related reading orders on Comic Book Herald:

Donny Cates’ Marvel Comics! 

Thor reading order!

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Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com.

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The post The Cates of Hel #2: Thor #2 Review – What Makes a Herald of Galactus? appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

Marvel comics of 1981. Daves of Future Zacks! Frank Miller’s Daredevil! Claremont to the Ms. Marvel Rescue!

On this episode we cover the following issues (all available via Marvel Unlimited):

Up Next:

My Marvelous Year – Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 2 —

You can find more Marvel Comics guides on Comic Book Herald at:

mymarvelousyear.com

https://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/

Music for My Marvelous Year is credited to Disasterpeace. Support for My Marvelous Year comes via Patreon backers, for as little as $1 a month.

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The post Marvel Year Twenty: 1981 Pt. 1 appeared first on Comic Book Herald.

X-Force #6 by Benjamin Percy and Stephen Segovia digs into Beast’s role with the covert ops team, and it’s an eye-opening glimpse into Hank McCoy’s state of mind and current role on Krakoa. Honestly this issue might be a bit of a shock for long time X-Men fans, but for my money it very much aligns with where Beast’s been heading all decade, and maybe longer.

For the full Dawn of X reading order:

For all Comic Book Herald X-Men videos:

Today I’ll answer:

+ Et tu, Beast? What the heck happened to Hank’s morality and is this issue in character?

+ Why Professor Xavier’s confession is the least surprising confession of all time!

Please note spoilers for the discussed issues may follow.

X-Force #6 opens with Beast asserting his role as the death squad’s conductor, pulling strings from behind the scenes and masterminding schemes in the interest of Krakoa. As Beast says, on a team with Wolverine, Jean Grey, even Quentin Quire, there’s certainly an internal argument to be made about the true leader of the squad, but in Beast’s mind, it’s quite clearly him.

It’s far from the worst we’ll see, but this is a good opening glimpse into the hubris of Henry McCoy. His arrogance frequently comes across as part of his charm, but there’s a sincerity and lack of self-awareness throughout X-Force #6 that transitions it to something more sinister.

From there, Beast quite freely opens up the knowledge that in his role as information controller, he’s increasingly ok with “whatever it takes to hide our work.” Just a few examples given include bribery, planet evidence, memory erasure, and blowing up buildings. He’s like Joe Pesci’s character in The Irishman but blue.

It’s not hard to imagine Beast in a role akin to Gotham’s Oracle, although I think the revelation that he’s more of a Calculator may be surprising to many. That said, the methods of X-Force are often given something of a pass, as this is, as Mystique puts it, “a mutant CIA.” Certainly there’s an expectation that lines of lawfulness and causing harm are crossed. The question is at what point does it all go too far?

Before progressing deeper into the issue, I think it’s high time to address Beast’s years-long descent into the character we see now. I think there’s a tendency to view Hank as a hero almost without darkness, whether this stems from the 90’s animated series where Beast is perpetually a kindly professor, or just his comparative opposition to the inherent darkness in contemporaneous characters like Wolverine, Cyclops during the Utopia era, or even Jean Grey with the Phoenix.

While there’s certainly a modern trend of Hank McCoy’s decent into questionable ethics and “non-heroic” decision making, you can run this back pretty far in X-Men history. Even Hank’s initial decision to experiment on himself is filled with hubris, and most importantly, mistakes that result in him turning blue and hairy for the rest of his days.

Likewise, in the 90’s when Hank was studying the Legacy Virus, Beast turns to Mister Sinister for an information swap. The same happens with Dark Beast in the wake of the mutant Decimation, and while Dark Beast is obviously a darkest timeline mirror from the Age of Apocalypse, it is increasingly interesting to consider whether those seeds are within the Hank McCoy we know from Earth 616.

The real break for Beast in the 2010’s kicks off with 2012’s All-New X-Men and Hank’s genuinely indefensible decision to bring the 5 original X-Men forward in time from their Silver Age debuts to the present day. The entire affair is a mess of a supposed genius intellect tampering with time and all of reality. It’s actually a great example of Beast’s downfall: Convincing himself of good intentions as his hubris drives him to a decision that does not take others into account at all.

Similar conceits include Hank’s membership in the Jonathan Hickman written New Avengers Illuminati, where Hank was part of a group slipping away from their aspirations to never kill in the name of survival and their earth’s greater good.

The worst version of all this, though, is Beast’s role collaborating with Hydra Cap’s regime in the pages of Secret Empire. Now, there seems to be a general Marvel fan consensus to just will away the idea that various Marvel “heroes” collaborated with Fascist Steve Rogers during this 2017 event, and to be fair, I don’t really hear anybody talk about Thor / Odinson’s role on the Stevil Avengers in 2020. Nonetheless, if we’re going to explore Beast’s descent into what he’s quite clearly seeing as “pragmatism,” but young Silver Age heroic ideals Hank McCoy sees as “the bad guy,” we have to mention this absolute low point. This is Beast accepting a Hydra takeover of America, and working with Hydra, so long as mutantkind could keep “New Tian” as their own. It’s an awful look.

Enter the nation of Terra Verde and their experiments with “telefloronic scientists.” Essentially, Terra Verde had been on the brink of a plant-based miracle drug / weapons application when Professor X announced Krakoa’s new role as pharmaceutical savior. The rise of this economic competitor – or perhaps feared monopoly – led to self-experimentation and the rise of a Floronic Man / Swamp Thing / Man-Thing (because it’s marvel) army of plant people.

I love the idea here from Percy and team that rival progress in telefloronics (here described as nanotechnology but with “organic “ components) is in direct competition with Krakoa’s rapid entrance into the marketplace. It helps ground Krakoan miracle meds in the globe in which mutantkind still inhabits.

In a more traditional X-Men storyline, the expectation would be that the team tries to save humans and prevent the rising swamp monsters from inflicting further damage. You might even expect Beast to work on a cure for the infected while the heavy hitters run damage control.

Not here. Hank calls killing the plant people “a worthless moral quandary” and compares their ascension and potential threat to that of the Omega Sentinels.

So Beast projects where Terra Verde’s work is heading and decides – without consultation of anyone on Krakoa it would seem – that their experiments cannot be allowed to continue. Beast determines that Terra Verden floronics would lead to both competition for Krakoan drugs, and an additional way for humans to weaponize their bodies.

After arriving at that conclusion, Hank effectively murders the President of Terra Verde’s son (without leaving a trail of course) and states “Sometimes a little wrong makes a greater right.” It’s the perfect summation of Hank’s deepening pit of compromises and sacrificed moral center.

Even better, and an example showing Percy perfectly understands where Beast has been, is the final shot of the President’s plant-boy sliding out of a hospital window to Beast’s hyper-ironically incorrect statement: “Because I’m never wrong.”

That Beast could even *think* to say this after the time-traveling X-Men, Inhumans vs. X-Men, and his role in Secret Empire is mind-boggling. As a fan of that Shakespeare quotin’, Avengin’, bouncin’ blue Beast, I’m concerned his arrogance is past the point of no return. Either way, it will be fascinating to continue to witness.

On a final note, a data page in this issue reveals the confession of Charles Xavier (although the author is frankly unclear – the fact that it’s written in the third person makes me think it could be from Moira, but there are a myriad of options), revealing his issue #1 assassination was effectively planned from the start.

This is exactly what I suspected, and very much thematically connected to Hank’s hubris that Charles would come up with a rallying cry around the tremendous mourning of his own person.

I’ll admit, I still very much disagree with the sentiment that “Krakoa needed a Pearl Harbor,” at least at this juncture. Everyone had been on Krakoa for approximately 12 seconds when Professor X apparently schemed for tragedy.

Nonetheless, the idea that Professor X would fake his death is about as true to character as you can get in the world of X. Professor X has pretended to die more times than I can count.

Honestly, given this history, I’d actually prefer an issue where someone like a Jean Grey called him out on suspicions of getting shot in the head on purpose. There’s a track record here, as crazy as it sounds!

None of this really changes the fact that X-Force #6 is another great entry in an increasingly strong series. Still, I find it humorous that even in the Krakoa era, Professor X can’t help but go back to the same Silver Age tricks.

The post Krakin’ Krakoa #31: X-Force #6 Review – The Rise & Fall of The Beast, Hank McCoy appeared first on Comic Book Herald.