MARVEL AT THE AMAZING COMIC REVIEWS BY STU! 7/26/17

Welcome to my weekly comic book oriented article here at Flipside Gaming. Last week the Invincible Ironman decided she wanted to run a country and X-men decided it was time to Astonish their readers. This week we get the Venom who likes to ride a motorcycle while on fire and Sam Wilson is ready to be the Captain America that the world needs again. So, without any further delay, here we go! Excelsior!

Reviews

Astonishing X-men #1

Well, I knew this book was going to be great due to the cast having such a heavy X-Force influence, but the reveal at the end that Charles Xavier is going to play a huge role was exciting. I would not be surprised if he soon rejoins the land of the living with the Legacy soft-reboot coming soon. It has been quite a while in comic book years since he was around so his return would not be a surprise.

Doctor Strange #23

This was a neat team-up between Doctor Strange, the Defenders and the Kingpin. Kingpin being possessed by a demon was a cool moment followed by an actual knight in armor coming to defeat said demon. There were also some cool moments with Baron Mordo and the Defenders as well. Daredevil was kind of just relaxing and taunting Mordo in a bubble that made for some hilarious dialogue. I expect this to wrap up the Dark Dimension storyline soon with Secret Empire coming to a head soon.

Invincible Iron Man #9

Looking back, this might be one of the best comic book issues of the whole year. You had Doombots, advanced AIs talking about existence, and Riri Williams taking over Latveria, the home of the other Iron Man. If the final page is treated as anything other as a cliffhanger to get readers to buy the next issue, it could be a very interesting twist for the character going forward and something that will be very cool to read.

Spider-Man 2099 #25

This is the end of the revival run for Miguel O’Hara and the Spider-Man of 2099. There was a lot of interesting developments throughout this issue and it leaves a couple of new characters in the present day, including a new Spider-Man. The sequence where Spider-Man is trying to reason with Marko and pay him off was also fantastically done and the first pound at the end paid it off nicely. I think we will see O’Hara sooner rather than later but if it is the end it was a good run!

Previews

Captain America: Sam Wilson #24

I was a bit surprised this issue came across my radar for this week. I was pretty sure with Sam Wilson returning to being the Falcon we would not see any more Captain America out of him but here we are. I also did not see Secret Empire making Sam be the catalyst for the fight against Steve Rogers and Hydra but looking back it does make a lot of sense and I am glad they are doing it.

Deadpool #34

Deadpool continues to be among the funniest comics, but it has a surprising backbone that leads to a lot of emotional moments for the him. Now we have him battling this friend Agent Preston for the custody of his daughter Ellie. Deadpool has been working against Hydra from the inside and I would not be surprised to see Agent Coulson still be alive at the end of this but I am ready for a twist or 2 along the way.

Edge of Venomverse #3

Just look at that cover! That sells me on this issue alone. We get to see the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, mix with a symbiote. Although, I guess that should raise the question as to why the symbiote can merge with a being made of fire, but I am willing to just say “comic books” and go along for the ride. I am hoping we get to meet an original character at some point soon but I am just going to enjoy this as it goes.

Secret Empire #7

This is being touted as the show down that Ulysses foreshadowed way back in Civil War. Miles Morales is either going to kill Steve Rogers or the Black Widow is going to get to him first. I am not sure Marvel is ready to have either kill Rogers and I am going to assume there is still a Rogers vs Roger/Wilson showdown to come in the climax. Regardless, this issue is going to have the reader on edge to see if Marvel will actually go through with it or not.

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to stop in any Flipside Gaming in East Greenbush to pick up or reserve your copies of these titles today!

 -Stu Somers

Stu is a former M:TG Pro Tour competitor and avid comic book fan. He wants to know what you think about his article, so leave a comment below or hit him up on twitter @Ssomers55.