Jim Shooter — the controversial former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics who conceived and wrote 1984’s Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, the first company-wide crossover in the history of comics — has died. He was 73. Writer and former DC Comics editor Mark Waid, who once described the Shooter-scripted Legion of Super-Heroes story in 1968’s Adventure Comics #369 as “the single most influential-to-my-craft story I ever read,” took to social media to announce the news on Monday, writing in a Facebook post that Shooter died from esophageal cancer.

“I’ve just received word that Jim Shooter passed away of esophageal cancer, which he’s been battling for some time,” Waid wrote on the Facebook post. “I realize that for many he’s been a controversial figure in the past (game knows game), mostly with regards to his managerial style, but my experiences with him lay outside that realm and began with my lifelong love for his writing beginning with the first time I ever picked up a copy of Adventure Comics in 1967.”

Born September 27, 1951, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Shooter cut his teeth writing for DC at the age of 14. Shooter first wrote and penciled 1966’s Adventure Comics #346, featuring Superboy and the future’s Legion of Super-Heroes, after being commissioned to write Supergirl and Superman stories. During his years at DC, Shooter created Superman villain Parasite in 1966’s Action Comics #340 and went on to create such Legionnaires as Princess Projecta, Ferro Lad, Karate Kid, and the 30th century supervillains the Fatal Five.

“For those who don’t know, Jim broke into comics at the age of 14. Let me say that again: 14. I don’t know about you, but when I was 14, I could barely put sentences together on paper,” Waid wrote. “During a hospital stay, he’d been given some Marvel and DC comics and could clearly see how much more exciting the Marvel books were and couldn’t understand why DC’s books couldn’t have that same vitality. Having no idea how comics scripts were done, he literally wrote and drew a Legion of Super-Heroes story on notebook paper and sent it in to editor Mort Weisinger, who put him to work immediately — having no idea how young he was until later.”

The protégé of then-National Periodicals (later DC) editor Mort Weisinger, whose run on the Superman titles introduced such characters as Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog, Shooter, then 17, left DC for rival publisher Marvel for a three-week stint in 1969. Shooter characterized his time working with Weisinger as “abusive.”

Shooter would return to Marvel when then-editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman offered him a position in the Marvel Bullpen in 1975. By 1978, Shooter had succeeded Archie Goodwin as editor-in-chief, overseeing the Chris Claremont-penned Uncanny X-Men, John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, Frank Miller’s Daredevil, Walt Simonson’s Thor, and Roger Stern’s Amazing Spider-Man, and X-Men spinoff Dazzler, which Shooter conceived with Alice Donenfeld and John Romita Jr. “with some help” from Stan Lee, Al Milgrom, Roger Stern, and Tom DeFalco.

He implemented a “continuity bonus,” described by Shooter as “the first incentive system in mainstream comics,” to keep creators on successive issues, as well as life insurance for freelancers, standardized creator contracts, and a royalty system. “I fixed a lot of things, but my greatest frustrations were the royalties and artwork return, which were delayed by lawsuits. I also increased rates, doubling them, and then doubling them again, because we started to make more money,” Shooter recalled in 2010. “I tried to standardize and boost the rates up. Superstars like Frank Miller? He got paid like the old guys, because he’s Frank Miller. I did respect the creative contributions like the age and seniority of the guys. I made sure guys who’d been there for twenty years weren’t getting the minimum. I also respected genius.”

Byrne, writer of Alpha Flight (1983-85), claimed that Shooter enforced a “no gays in the Marvel Universe” policy under the strict Code of the Comics Code Authority. Shooter’s interference with the Dark Phoenix Saga in the iconic Claremont-Byrne Uncanny X-Men run was just one of several creator conflicts that led to an exodus; as Wolfman put it in 2003, “Professionals left Marvel in droves” after Shooter took the reins of Marvel.

In 1984, in the midst of popular toy lines like G.I. Joe and Masters of the Universe, toy makers Mattel wanted an “editorial concept” to tie to a new Marvel-based line of action figures. That concept became Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, at the time the biggest crossover in the history of the Marvel Universe. The 12-issue series, written by Shooter, edited by DeFalco, and penciled by Mike Zeck and Bob Layton, was as successful as the toy line.

The original Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars assembled Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains — the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, and Spider-Man among them — who were pit against supervillains like Doctor Doom, Galactus, Ultron, Doc Ock, and the Wrecking Crew by the cosmic being known as the Beyonder. The series famously featured the debut appearance of Spider-Man’s black alien costume in issue #8.

Shooter also wrote the sequel, the 1985 nine-issue limited series Secret Wars II, drawn by Milgrom. The 1984 series inspired writer Jonathan Hickman’s multiversal crossover Secret Wars in 2015, which is being adapted into Marvel Studios films Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

The post Jim Shooter, Former Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief Who Wrote Secret Wars, Dies at 73 appeared first on ComicBook.com.

We’re still in the early stages of the new DC Universe that James Gunn is guiding, but that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating on when Harley Quinn will debut. Margot Robbie brought Harley Quinn to life on the big screen, and her adult animated series on HBO Max continues to impress. The first DC heroine to get the spotlight is Milly Alcock’s Supergirl. Of course, Harley Quinn will eventually appear, but it’s the team-up potential that should get fans excited. This happens all the time in the comics, so why should the theatrical DC Universe be any different? One DC Comics team-up features the potential of pairing Harley Quinn with other antiheroes.

DC released a preview of Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #1 by Leah Williams and Haining. It begins inside Harley Quinn’s apartment, where we see her hyenas sound asleep. As for Harley, she’s in the bathroom listening to music while taking a shower. Suddenly, a masked individual sneaks in through a window. The hyenas get up growling, but the individual takes their glove off so they can sniff her hand.

Harley Quinn comes up on the masked person from behind, wielding a massive mallet. The mysterious character ducks and strikes back, kicking Harley Quinn on the side of the head. They continue fighting until Harley slips on a pool of water, allowing her attacker to pull off the towel covering her bare skin. The preview reveals our mystery character is Catwoman, who asks Harley how she’s been.

Catwoman and Harley Quinn are going to be joined by Poison Ivy for Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit, a five-issue event series featuring an intergalactic nightclub opening up in Gotham City. The owner of the nightclub, Despero, is looking to destroy Earth, and it’s up to Harley Quinn, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy to stop him.

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“MEN MAY BE FROM MARS, BUT BADDIES ARE FROM VENUS!” the description of Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #1 reads. “There’s a hot new outer space-themed nightclub in Gotham City, and who better to rob it than Catwoman, Ivy, and Harley? But there’s more to this intergalactic discotheque than meets the eye(s), as the Sirens discover when they stumble headfirst into a plot to destroy the entire planet led by the club’s owner — the alien despot Despero! I hope you have good insurance, Gotham City, because you’re about to get wrecked. Special appearances by deadly DJs, hunky alien hotties, dancers dressed as aliens, mutant failures, one wild UFO, and lots and lots of fire!”

James Gunn is staying busy fleshing out the rest of the DC Universe. Tom Rhys Harries has been cast as Clayface, and it appears that Matt Reeves has finished the script for The Batman 2. Later this month Superman releases, and it’s the first theatrical release for the new DC Universe. The reception to Superman will dictate how the rest of the DC Universe unfolds, including when we’ll see Harley Quinn and the rest of the Gotham City Sirens.

Gotham City Sirens: Unfit for Orbit #1 goes on sale Wednesday, July 2nd. Let us know your thoughts on the preview in the comments below!

The post DC Gives Harley Quinn a Reunion We Need to See in James Gunn’s DC Universe appeared first on ComicBook.com.

DC Comics created the superhero, and has revitalized the concept multiple times over the decades. The best example of this is the ’80s. In the ’80s, DC pioneered bringing maturity into comics, with creators like Alan Moore and Frank Miller opening the door for some of the greatest writers and artists in the history of the medium. DC’s British Invasion made the publisher an avant-garde voice in comics, and books like Swamp Thing, Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Doom Patrol, Animal Man, Hellblazer, The Sandman, Justice League International, and umpteen others redefined what the superhero could be in the eyes of the general public. The ’90s were the decade where comics had the most attention on them, and while it all backfired for a variety of reasons, DC still had some of the greatest comics on the market.

The ’90s are often thought of the decade of style over substance, and this is true — on the Image and Marvel side of things. DC was basically putting out all of the best written comics of the ’90s. There are a multitude of amazing DC superhero comics from the ’90s (this list isn’t going to include any Vertigo or books that became Vertigo books for reprint purposes — there will be a separate list for that at some point), and there are some that have risen to the top. These ten DC stories are the best of the ’90s, and hunting them down will give you some of the best DC books of all time.

10) “The Death of Superman” Saga

So, this is a long one, but a lot of these ’90s DC books are sagas and you have to read a lot of comics. “The Death of Superman” is a stone cold classic, an action epic that killed off the Man of Steel and got the attention of the entire country (I was there — it was on the evening news). However, to truly appreciate it, you have to keep reading the Superman titles through “World Without a Superman”, “Funeral for a Friend”, “Reign of the Supermen”, and “The Return of Superman” to really see how great an idea this really was. This is a Superman epic of the biggest proportions from a team of creators — Dan Jurgens, Bret Breeding, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, Jackson “Butch” Guise, Tom Grummet, and Jon Bogdanove — who are some of the greatest Superman creators ever. There has been a lot of debate over “The Death of Superman” over the years, and whether it should be lumped in with the many mistakes of ’90s comics. However, when you sit down and read the story, you see just how great it is. Superman events throughout the ’90s became a cycle of diminishing returns, but these are amazing.

9) Chase

DC in the late ’90s had a lot of great series, and you’re going to find several of them on this list. Some of them ran for a long time, and others of them didn’t. Chase is one of those that didn’t. The series only ran for ten issues, nine regular issues and a last #1,000,000 issue (which is kind of hilarious, honestly). It’s very hard to find — it hasn’t been collected in years. However, it’s worth the hunt. The series, by Dan Curtis Johnson, JH Williams III, and Mick Gray, follow DEO agent Cameron Chase, as she goes on various missions for the agency, butting heads with heroes and villains. It’s an intriguing premise, though, and every issue is a tour de force. Chase is a great character, and her adventures deserved way more attention than they got. This book is a window into the ’90s post-Crisis DC Universe, both in its story, and the quality of the book. Chase is an awesome comic, and more people should know about it.

8) Resurrection Man

Resurrection Man ran longer than Chase, but nearly as long as it should have. This is another DC book that you really just need to read the whole thing, because you fall in love with Mitch Shelley, the Resurrection Man (go out and get Resurrection Man: Quantum Karma, a Black Label currently coming out about him). Resurrection Man ran for 27 issues, with a #1,000,000 issue, and tells the story of Mitch Shelley. Mitch has the power to resurrect every time he dies with a new superpower. The book follows him as he goes on the road, using his powers and skills to help those who need it, and fight evil. The book, from the main creative team of Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning (the minds behind the ’90s Legion of Superheroes, Legionnaires, part of the team behind Annihilation, and the creators who revitalized the Guardians of the Galaxy), and the late great Jackson “Butch” Guise, give readers some amazing stories. It’s seriously one of the greatest comics of all time, not just the ’90s. It’s a mainstream DC book with a Vertigo vibe, and it’s never anything less than the best.

7) DC One Million

DC One Million, by Grant Morrison and Val Semieks, is a four issue DC event comic from 1999. The story revolved around the Justice Legion A of the 853rd century, when the 1,000,000th issues of DC Comics would have come out, coming to the present and asking the JLA to go to the future to see the emergence of the Prime Superman. However, Vandal Savage and Solaris the Tyrant Sun have a plan to destroy their enemies in the past and the future. This is one of DC’s best events. The main series is pretty great, with a layered plot that will see a plan millennia in the making to unfold. The tie-ins, the best of them usually collected in DC One Million collected editions, are excellent as well. Morrison is one of the greatest creators of the ’90s, and this story is a perfect example of their ability.

6) JLA: The Nail

JLA: The Nail, by writer/artist Alan Davis, is an Elseworlds classic. The story took place in a DC Universe where the Kents got a nail in their tire, and never found baby Kal-El. This is a very different DC Universe; while there is still a Justice League, it’s very different. When Lex Luthor is made mayor of Metropolis, a plan is put into motion, one which is meant to destroy the superhero community, and the Justice League quickly prove to be their own worst enemy. Behind the scenes, a shadowy manipulator waits, one you’ll never guess. This is a brilliant story from start to finish. While it’s only three issues long, Davis is able to give readers a fully formed DC Universe. There are some amazing twists and turns in this book, as readers get to see what the greatest heroes in the world look like without Superman there. The art is tremendous — each member of the team gets an amazing splash page of them in action throughout the book — with brilliant action and character acting to tell the story. JLA: The Nail is consistently amazing, and if you’re a DC fan who hasn’t read it, you need to ASAP.

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6) JLA: Year One

JLA: Year One, by Mark Waid, Bryan Augustyn, and Barry Kitson, retells the origin of the Justice League. JLA was the hottest superhero book at DC for the last half of the decade, and the publisher started publishing way more content with the team. The origin of the Justice League had been changed so that Black Canary held the Wonder Woman spot, and this series re-told the stories that had been retconned, as well as going in new directions. This twelve issue series is outstanding from start to finish, with brilliant art and heart-stopping action. However, what really makes this book sing is the characterization. Waid and Augustyn do a tremendous job of presenting the new, post-Crisis versions of the founders of the Justice League, showing their growing pains as they got to know each other, and grew as heroes and friends. This is a near perfect comic, and shows why Waid was one of the best superhero writers of the ’90s.

4) JSA: Golden Age

JSA: The Golden Age, by James Robinson and Paul Smith, is another Elseworlds classic, this one starring the heroes of the Golden Age. DC’s Golden Age heroes had fallen out of favor by the ’90s, and this book helped reinvigorate interest in them. The Golden Age followed the heroes of the Justice Society and the All-Star Squadron after WWII. Mr. America runs for public office, and a plan is set into motion, one that was made in Germany at the end of the war and that will have major repercussions for the men and women of the superpowered community. The Golden Age takes the maturity of a book like Watchmen and brings it to DC’s Golden Age. It’s amazing from start to finish. Robinson brought the Golden Age to life, and showed why these heroes have been extant for so long. Smith is one of the best artists in the industry’s history, and this story is one of his best works. The Golden Age isn’t just one of the best DC book of the ’90s, it isn’t just one of the best comics of the ’90s, it’s one of the best comics of all time.

3) Starman

Here’s the thing — I could tell you to read one volume of Starman, probably the first or second, but then you’d want to read the whole thing anyway, so let’s just put the whole series here. Starman ran for 82 issues, a #1,000,000 issue, and a Blackest Night tie-in, and told the story of Jack Knight. Jack is one of the sons of the original Starman, Ted Knight. His brother David takes up their father’s mantle, but he is killed by the Mist, his father’s arch-enemy. Jack is forced to take up the cosmic staff, and become Starman, changing his life forever. Starman, by James Robinson, Tony Harris, and Peter Snejberg is one of the greatest comics ever. It was about a quintessentially ’90s man becoming a superhero, and the life he led, dealing with the insanity of being a superhero, the legacy of his family, and just trying to find love and happiness in a crazy world. It’s full of amazing characters, and Robinson does a tremendous job of bringing them to life. The book’s art is perfect. Harris and Snejberg both have unique styles, and they give the book some amazing imagery. Robinson made people love Golden Age DC again with this and The Golden Age, and Starman is a book unlike anything else out there.

2) “Rock of Ages”

The Justice League went through a renaissance in the ’90s, with writer Grant Morrison bringing the back the Big Seven League — Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, and Martian Manhunter — in JLA, a book that is in the opinion of many people the greatest superhero team book of all time. Artist Howard Porter was the book’s regular penciler, and his pencils perfectly matched Morrison’s gonzo widescreen action scripts. Their best story was “Rock of Ages”, which has taken its place among the greatest Justice League stories ever. In it, Lex Luthor leads the Injustice Gang against the League in a winner take all game of corporate takeover, all the while an unseen threat promises to throw the universe into chaos — and it’s the heroes fault. There’s not many stories that give readers Green Arrow and the Atom versus Darkseid, and if that sounds awesome to you, then this is your story. If that doesn’t sound interesting to you, then “Rock of Ages” is still for you. It’s for everyone. Read it and find out why.

1) Kingdom Come

Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross, is perfect. There’s really no other way to describe it. On the one hand, it’s as much a screed against the grim, gritty, and bloody heroes of the ’90s as anything and why the classics will always be better, and very much of its time. On the other, it’s a timeless tale of good and evil, about the power of the human in the superhuman, about being willing to do anything to see that good prevails, and how that can go wrong. Kingdom Come is seriously one of the most beautiful comics you will ever read. Ross’s painted artwork giving the book a sense of realism that really makes the whole thing. Kingdom Come sneers at all of those grim and gritty comics that say they’re realistic and look like cartoons, with the art really augmenting the humanity and emotion of the script. Kingdom Come brings its story to life until you feel like you’re Norman McKay himself, going with the Spectre on their quest. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? It’s up to you. If you take my advice, you’ll get one of the collected editions (which has pages that weren’t originally in the story when it was published) and hunt down the single issues. There’s something about reading those old issues; there’s less story, but the story feels better in the single issue medium. Reading it monthly was a trip, each gorgeous new issue pulling you further and further in. Kingdom Come is amazing.

What’s your favorite DC comics of the ’90s (Legion of Superheroes and Legionnaires almost got in, but I figured I was asking you to read enough full series)? Sound off in the comments below.

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Ever since the success of Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel hasn’t been able to keep Wade Wilson and Logan away from each other. The duo is currently headlining Deadpool/Wolverine and is part of the cast of Weapon X-Men. Anytime you put Wolverine and Deadpool together, it turns into a money-making endeavor. This is probably part of the thinking behind another series pairing the popular X-Men together, except this time, they won’t be going about it alone. Two more characters are joining them, and it’s two people Deadpool and Wolverine are very familiar with, and fans will recognize.

Marvel released a preview of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 by Cody Ziglar, Roge Antonio, Guru-eFX, and VC’s Travis Lanham. The comic brings Wolverine and Deadpool together with their daughters, Laura Kinney and Ellie Camacho, respectively. Previously known as X-23, Laura Kinney now officially shares the Wolverine mantle with her father, Logan. After her father was killed by the villainous Death Grip, Ellie Camacho took up the Deadpool mantle while sporting Wade’s healing factor.

The preview begins with an ominous, mysterious voice speaking to a kid named Julian. The figure appears to break into Julian’s home and reaches out with a hand to take Julian away to someone and their “royal court.” Next, our Wolverines arrive too late to save the day. They find Julian’s parents killed, and a small axe left behind as a possible murder weapon. Deadpool is the one who alerted Logan and Laura to someone stealing mutant kids from a town.

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Wade Wilson and Ellie Camacho teleport into the town. They also find a small axe left in the debris in the middle of the street. The preview of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 ends with Deadpool saying, “Don’t tell me you’ve finally arrived…” while his text balloon is surrounded by floating red hearts.

“The past 15 issues I’ve spent writing Wade and Ellie have been a dream come true,” Ziglar shared. “Getting to finish out their journey with two of the coolest mutants is just a cherry on top—I can’t explain just how much I look forward to exploring the father-daughter dynamics with these four!”

“CLAWS & MUTANTS. MERCS & MOUTHS. DEADPOOLS & WOLVERINES!” the description of Wolverines & Deadpools #1 reads. “What’s better than THE BEST THERE IS partnered up with the MERC WITH THE MOUTH? How about adding daughters ELLIE CAMACHO and LAURA KINNEY to the mission as they go up against a classic X-VILLAIN? Wolverines & Deadpools, baby!”

Wolverines & Deadpools #1 goes on sale Wednesday, July 2nd. Let us know your thoughts on the book in the comments below!

The post Wolverine and Deadpool Are Teaming Up Again (& You Won’t Believe Who’s Joining Them) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Batman is one of the world’s most iconic superheroes, and is universally accepted as one of the faces of DC. On average, there are more Batman comics released every month than any other character, and more series focused on him and his extended cast than many heroes get on their own. Beyond just his sales, Batman is a beloved character. He is one of the coolest and most relatable characters, as even if all pretense is stripped away, he is a hurt man who is trying his best to make the world a better place. People love Batman, which is why it’s so insane to me that the best versions of Batman are not the one who headlines the main Batman comic book. Batman has been consistently falling behind alternate takes on the Dark Knight because these other books present a character that feels more like Batman.

Batman is Better Outside the Main Universe

To prove my point, let’s compare the current run of Batman to stories that sit outside of continuity, such as Absolute Batman and Batman: Dark Patterns. Let’s look at Dark Patterns first, which is a series that focuses on Batman tackling dark and dangerous mysteries early on in his career. The first two of four standalone arcs have concluded, and both are phenomenal stories that can slide perfectly into the greater Batman mythos. Instead of focusing on telling a mystery that is purely realistic, the comic embraces the inherent strangeness of Batman as a character. Batman uses down to earth, tested deductive skills to put together the pieces of wildly out-there puzzles, like a man riddled with spikes and nails who can’t feel pain going on a murder spree. Or the psychotic Scarface doll seemingly possessing an entire building. These stories don’t insist upon themselves or try to redefine Batman as a character, they focus on capturing the very specific atmosphere that only Batman stories have and giving it to fans in its purest form.

I don’t think I need to sell you on why Absolute Batman is so good, but I will anyway. It’s a complete reinvention of the character that manages to feel fresh and incredibly familiar at the same time. All of the fluff and fat is cut from the Caped Crusader, breaking him down to the barest essentials of who he is so the story can focus exclusively on emphasizing those essentials as much as possible. People love Absolute Batman because it fully presents Batman as a hero who is fighting the incredible corruption of his city, without ever relying on the tired tropes of Bruce doing the type of harm that he is trying to prevent. Batman is a vengeful yet hope-driven knight fighting against shadows that try to control his city, and that’s all he needs to be.

[RELATED: 5 Things About Batman That have Aged Perfectly]

These two series have one thing in common; they let Batman be Batman without any complicating factors. They take what fans love about the Dark Knight, his serious and gothic nature, grounded and yet strange mysteries and intense action for the greater good, and let him be the hero fans want to see. In comparison, there’s the current Batman run and its “Hush 2” storyline. In “Hush 2,” Batman is constantly making choices that seem wildly out of character and fighting the people closest to him instead of being a hero. This story had Batman shoot at his own son, for goodness sake. And just like the arcs before this one, and the ones before those, one of the main focuses is how Batman’s mistakes come back to bite him because either he (1) lets his villains live because he’s a good person or (2) is a horrible person because he keeps hurting those around him.

Main Universe Batman isn’t Allowed to be Batman

“Hush 2” is perfectly emblematic of all of the issues that are present in current Batman comics, and even a lot of comic books in general. The character and story are pushed to the side in favor of big moments and trying to become the next “big thing.” It feels like every run tries to become the definitive run of the character instead of just telling stories about Batman. And with Batman, the most common way of becoming the next big run is by mimicking the stories that redefined the character before, like The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns. The problem with that is that it’s physically impossible to create the best thing ever every time, and they always take the wrong lessons from why those stories worked.

Modern runs love to break down the character and dissect them, coming to some ultimate conclusion about why Batman does or doesn’t work, or creating a grand spectacle that will forever change how you look at Batman. Yes, The Dark Knight Returns is famous for that, and The Killing Joke pushed farther than any Batman story dared at the time, but they worked because they were exceptions. If every single story is obsessed with tearing Batman down over and over again and exposing his flaws, then at a certain point there’s nothing left of the man left to examine. It exhausts the audience because they came to read Batman, and are effectively told they should feel bad about liking him when most of the issues either show or insist Batman commits way more harm than good. It never feels like Batman just solves mysteries or fights crime anymore, and much more like he is constantly needing to argue for his own existence. And these stories only repeat again and again.

Repetitive storytelling is not a problem in and of itself. We’re comic book fans, we want to see our favorite characters act how we remember and fight crime in ways we’ve seen a hundred times before. The problem is that the stories that keep repeating are stories that can only work if they are used sparingly and actually have impact. How many times has Batman been “redefined” in the last five years alone? How many times have any of those changes actually stuck? Far less than DC would like to think on both accounts. Batman is a beloved character, but it feels like nowadays he isn’t allowed to be Batman, he has to be this grand idea that is constantly at odds with his own continuity. Every action he’s ever taken is always coming back to bite him, like he’s being punished for being Batman at all. Fans don’t want Batman to be punished for being a hero, they want him to be a hero. Batman is supposed to be fun! Give us back the Batman who stops insignificant crimes and solves little mysteries, and keep those stories that “change everything” away for at least a couple of years.

The post DC’s Best Takes on Batman Aren’t Even in the Main Timeline And I Think That’s a Problem appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Ultimate Universe is on the verge of adding one of Marvel’s elite franchises. We’re already in the second year of the Ultimate Universe, and so far only one title (Ultimate Wolverine) has been added to the line. However, we do have the first crossover, the five-issue Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, and several exciting storylines taking place in other comics. Ultimates serve as the stand-in for the Avengers, and we’ve also seen the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanks to The Maker, we’re missing one big, established Marvel superhero team, but it looks like they are on the cusp of officially debuting.

Marvel released the covers and solicits for October’s Ultimate Universe titles, which include Ultimates #17 by Denis Camp and Juan Frigeri. The cover by Dike Ruan features Doom, aka Reed Richards, walking through a dust-filled background. One notable addition to Doom’s costume is the Fantastic Four logo on his chest, alluding to a possible reunion of the Fantastic Four. Ultimates #17’s solicitation also teases the Ultimate Fantastic Four.

“Now that the Ultimates are using the Immortus Engine to its full capacity, Doom’s dream of the Ultimate Fantastic Four may finally be realized…,” the solicitation reads.

ULTIMATES #17

• Written by DENIZ CAMP
• Art by JUAN FRIGERI
• Cover by DIKE RUAN
• On Sale 10/22
• THE ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR?
• Now that the Ultimates are using the Immortus Engine to its full capacity, Doom’s dream of the Ultimate Fantastic Four may finally be realized…

September 2024’s Ultimates #4 revealed what happened to the rest of the Fantastic Four in the Ultimate Universe. The story is told from four different perspectives, slowly peeling back the curtain on how the Maker manipulated events to ruin the Fantastic Four before they could become the heroes they were destined to be. Doom uses the Immortus Engine to look back into the past, showing how the Ultimate FF were snuffed out of existence.

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Maker manipulated the space launch that should have granted the Fantastic Four their powers. Thanks to Maker messing with Reed’s calculations, the Fantastic Four missed their window for the cosmic storm. Then their cockpit was bombarded with fire, killing Johnny. The remaining three are blamed and put on trial, with Ben committing suicide in an abandoned rock quarry. It’s unknown if he really killed himself or if Maker is also responsible for his death. Meanwhile, Sue Storm slowly died from radiation poisoning. 

With Reed Richards as the last remaining member of the Fantastic Four alive, Maker kidnapped and tortured him, brainwashing Reed to believe that his name is Doom, complete with placing Doctor Doom’s trademark mask on his head. Later, Doom begins experimenting on rats to recreate the cosmic accident that should have created the Fantastic Four. For now, the mice keep dying, and the experiments are a failure.

But since Doom has access to the Immortus Engine, he could theoretically use it to travel into the past and rescue the Fantastic Four. Whether or not that’s a good idea remains up for debate.

Ultimates #17 goes on sale October 22nd. Let us know your thoughts on the Ultimate Fantastic Four in the comments below!

The post One of Marvel’s Most Popular Teams Is Finally Joining the Ultimate Universe appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Loki is one of the first major Marvel Comics villains, appearing for the first time in Journey into Mystery #85 in 1962, and then serving as the catalyst for The Avengers forming as a team in Avengers #1 in 1963. Based on the classic Norse god of mischief, Loki has spent much of his existence as one of the main villains in Thor comics, although he has also served as a thorn in the side of many other Marvel heroes over the years. However, in the early 2000s, after the “Civil War” storyline ended, Marvel changed up Loki and made him a lot more interesting with new variants that allowed him to become an antihero, and at times, a genuine Marvel Comics hero.

There have been several variants of Loki in Marvel Comics over the years. Some have been deadlier than others, and many are incredibly interesting and much more than just the villain most fans know him to be. This only includes the Loki variants from the comics and does not include those from the MCU or animated cartoons, but there are still plenty to choose from — and they all have their charms.

7) Alligator Loki

Alligator Loki appeared for the first time in his own comic book, Alligator Loki Infinity Comic #1, in 2022. The character became incredibly popular after appearing in the Loki series on Disney+, and his comic book series ran for an impressive 48 issues before ending early in 2025. He first appears through a portal when he attacks Thor, but soon becomes Thor’s pet and friend in the comics.

As in the Disney+ series, Alligator Loki has the same basic traits as the regular Loki, but he has a much more childish personality, pulling pranks and seeming more like Jeff the Land Shark than the supervillain fans have grown to love. That said, the best Alligator Loki appearances also include Jeff, as they have a great rivalry.

6) Ultimate Loki Odinson

The original run of Ultimate Marvel Comics saw the company trying to update the characters as if they had been created at that time. It was a way to clean up the confusing continuity for new readers and make them more relatable for kids just starting to discover comics. However, it was also a way for Marvel to make the comics more realistic. Deaths here were supposed to matter, and the origins were less fantastical. This made the entire addition of Thor interesting, as no one knew what he was supposed to be in this world. However, it also made Loki just as interesting as he continued to be a thorn in his brother’s side.

Loki used his reality-shuffling abilities to make people think he was a regular human. He then convinced SHIELD that Thor was an escaped mental patient — not an actual superhero or god. He then used his role as the god of mischief to try to start World War III and made Thor’s life a living hell throughout his run. However, in the end, he wasn’t as interesting as the regular Loki. The more recent Ultimates line turned Loki into a horrible character, an overweight, cruel, and mostly lazy King of Asgard until Thor finally regained control.

5) Ikol (King Loki)

King Loki is an interesting variant because he is the Loki who won. This is a Loki from the future who worked to manipulate Kid Loki to do what he wanted to ensure he remained King in as many timelines as possible. Teen Loki even called himself Ikol for a while, believing this was his fate. This was an interesting look at what could have happened if Loki turned fully evil when he worked as an Agent of Asgard alongside the All-Mother of Asgardia, as she had wished.

This was a tragic Loki, as he initially became a genuine hero, only to have the world and other heroes refuse to trust him, always referring to his past. He finally snapped after this rejection and caused the annihilation of Earth and the death of all humanity. He became the King of Asgard and ruled with terror, as this was the cruelest and most devious variant of Loki in Marvel Comics history. However, as with most versions, he ended up dying a hero to save the world and rekindle the sun after helping Thor defeat Gorr the God Butcher.

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4) Teen Loki

Teen Loki is Kid Loki aged up, but the increase in age took something away from the character. Kid Loki tried to help train Wiccan in magic to help him better control the powerful urge to become the Demiurge. However, Kid Loki’s magical powers were limited by his age. As a result, he asked Wiccan to use his powers to age him up so he could have stronger magic, and it turned him into a teen/young adult.

This eventually moved him away from the Young Avengers, which was disappointing. Instead, Marvel Comics began its Loki: Agent of Asgard series, which saw him become a super-spy for the Asgardians, helping to atone for all his past sins. Marvel was clearly trying to make Loki more of a hero/antihero in the comics to match his MCU version, but it was still a step down from his fantastic run as Kid Loki in Young Avengers. This did, however, lead to several interesting storylines, including President Loki and the God of Stories.

3) Prime Loki

This is the original Loki, who existed mostly up to Ragnarok and the creation of Lady Loki. This Loki was the main villain who appeared in The Avengers #1 and helped cause that superteam to form, and the Loki who has tried to kill Thor more times than most fans can count. He wasn’t a hero, and whenever he did do good, it was almost always for selfish reasons. He was a bad guy on the level of Doctor Doom or Kang, always there to make things hard on the heroes.

However, this also mostly made him one-dimensional in many of his appearances. Despite that, Loki is an iconic Marvel Comics villain and was for decades before the company began to experiment with him as a hero or antihero. He was always a fan-favorite villain, whether in Thor comics or others, and that is why he was such a popular choice for the Marvel Cinematic Universe when it launched.

2) Lady Loki

In 2004, Ragnarok finally happened, and all the Asgardians died while Thor went into cosmic hibernation. Marvel did this right before Civil War, which kept Thor from being a wrinkle in those plans. After Civil War ended, Thor was resurrected and began bringing back the former Asgardians one at a time. However, he had no plans to bring back Loki since he couldn’t trust his brother, so Loki found a unique way back. He returned as a woman.

Loki stole Sif’s body and returned when he tricked Thor into resurrecting him by pretending to be his former lover. As Lady Loki, the character claimed to want to start fresh and do better, but soon began to manipulate Thor and the Asgardians, just as Loki did before. Lady Loki eventually teamed with Norman Osborn’s Cabal. This is where Loki finally turned the corner by sacrificing herself to save Asgard and the world in Siege.

1) Kid Loki

Kid Loki is one of the best Loki variants ever introduced in Marvel Comics because it took the long-time Marvel villain and helped make him one of the most interesting characters in the new era of comic book stories. Kid Loki showed up after Loki sacrificed himself in Siege, and the resurrected former villain quickly joined the Young Avengers team, which was one of Marvel’s best storylines in comics when released. Just like adult Loki, no one could trust Kid Loki, but he proved he was on the side of good when the chips were down.

There is a similarity between Kid Loki and someone like Damian Wayne in DC. Both are arrogant kids who feel they are the most important characters in their story and think they know what is best for everyone around them. When Kid Loki first appeared, it wasn’t as interesting when Thor brought him to Asgard, and no one there trusted him. However, once he was added to the Young Avengers lineup, he became one of the best Loki variants Marvel ever created.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

The post Every Loki Variant, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The new Ultimate Universe has been a smash hit at Marvel for the past couple of years. With a new initiative set on giving fans what they’ve wanted for a long time with the stories in Ultimate Spider-Man by Jonathan Hickman and Peach Momoko’s brand new take on the X-Men with her manga influenced work on Ultimate X-Men. There’s something for everyone in the new Ultimate Universe and it’s easily one of the best things to come from Marvel Comics in a long, long time. If there would be any fault to it whatsoever it’s that there aren’t enough titles in the line. Sure, we’ve seen different takes on characters in supporting roles but sometimes there are character who need their own full series and that’s what we’re here to talk about now: the Ultimate Universe is good and we want more.

The following is a list of characters we’d like to see get their own Ultimate stories. Some have been mentioned in the Ultimate Universe or have already appeared and some are just character’s we think would be a good fit. Not everyone is exactly who they are in the 616 universe or even their 1610 counterparts; some of these characters may be a bit of a departure. Time will only tell if some of these happen and there’s a good chance of something bigger for a few of the choices listed here but they all have merit — and we’d love to see these stories come to life.

1) Daredevil

Daredevil is undoubtedly one of Marvel’s best selling characters and it’s a mystery why we haven’t seen Daredevil properly show up in the Ultimate Universe. While we have seen Matt Murdock appear as a priest similar to how he was left at the end of the Chip Zdarsky run, I don’t believe Matt would be the Man Without Fear in the Ultimate Universe but that doesn’t mean the mantle can’t have it’s time. For a spin based on some current ideas in 616, the idea of having Elektra as Daredevil, the Woman Without Fear isn’t a new idea, but having her be the only Daredevil on earth 6160, would be the makings of an excellent Ultimate series.

While having Elektra be in the lead role, I’d imagine Matt would still be present in the pages of the book. Whether he is there as Elektra’s love interest or as a priest to support her spiritual needs, it would be a misstep to not include the two together. If this book would ever happen it could be another huge hit much like Ultimate Spider-Man.

2) Hawkeye

Appearing in the pages of The Ultimates by Deniz Camp, Charli Ramsey is an original character under the mantle of Hawkeye. Charli found the Hawkeye costume in the trash in their debut issue and joined the Ultimates and has been a fan favorite ever since then. At time of writing this article it was announced recently were getting an Ultimate Hawkeye one-shot. While a step in the right direction, Charli has shown so much personality in less than a year and has proven themselves as a worth heir to the name Hawkeye.

Now it may be a bit tricky for any of the Ultimates to go solo now, who’s to say what will happen once The Maker is released from his city, if the Ultimates are successful they may be able to start their own solo adventures. If that is the case, Hawkeye would be the perfect one to strike out solo in a full length or mini series. Hawkeye absolutely deserves it.

3) Fantastic Four

Perhaps the most tricky and yet hoped for book might be a new run on Ultimate Fantastic Four. While the Storm siblings and Ben Grimm are currently confirmed dead due to the Maker’s meddling, Reed Richards still remains with his abilities and intellect just as this universe’s Doom. If the plot to save the rest of them is successful it could lead to Ultimate Fantastic Four, or perhaps a new version of the team could form. It all depends on what happens when the Maker is released.

Now for the hypothetical new team, with Doom being the only surviving member he could still lead a new team. What of the others? I could see some of the other members of the Ultimates joining Doom making a makeshift Fantastic Four. Potentially bring on Jim Hammond’s Human Torch rather than Johnny Storm, you could add Lejori Zakaria’s She-Hulk and perhaps Hank Pym as well — the possibilities are endless and regardless of how any of that goes, Ultimate Fantastic Four would be fantastic to see again in some form.

4) Blade

Next up we have the one and only Blade. A common name among characters who deserve the Ultimate treatment across comic book store chit-chatting. I think one of the biggest possibilities you could do for Blade is to make him a vampire hunting humans similar to that of Ultimate Wolverine currently. You can do that or have him be the origin of all thing supernatural on earth 6160 with Dracula being apart of the Maker’s council.

Another huge opportunity is to finally give Blade his credit where it’s long been overdue. After his last couple of books, it’s a surprise he’s not a bigger character in the 616 universe. Maybe the Ultimate universe could be the stepping stone into making Blade a more prominent character among the most casual or comic readers. Then again a book of Blade hunting down monsters in the Ultimate Universe would be fun regardless of how you position it. Just give us more Blade is really what I’m saying.

5) Gwenpool

Gwendolyn Poole is not actually a character in the Ultimate Universe at the moment, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t be. The idea here would be to have a miniseries similar to Ultimate Spider-Man: Incursion, where Gwenpool jumps to the new Ultimate Universe and is confused about everything as this is something she hasn’t read at all. Given Gwen’s abilities and personality, any title even in the Ultimate Universe with her would be a full-on comedy and could easily find its audience. Throw in Kate Bishop or Jeff the Land Shark and you have a great little adventure. Fans — especially Gwenpool fans — deserve it.

6) The Sentry

In a similar position as Blade, Sentry has not been a hugely active character for Marvel comics in quite a few years. As one of Marvel’s many Superman analogs in the main Marvel universe, Sentry has become a bit lost in the mix and that’s where the Ultimate Universe comes in. There isn’t a Superman analog in the Ultimate universe as it stands and Sentry could become the main one on earth 6160.

As for how to change the Sentry, you could change him up a little bit and split him up from his evil counterpart, The Void. This could be a controversial change to the Sentry but what’s the Ultimate universe without some changes to the source to make it a bit different? The Sentry has a lot of potential to bring in more readers from the movie fanbase as he’s the fan favorite from The Thunderbolts* film but the Ultimate Universe might be a great place to really have some fun with the character.

7) Dr. Strange

While we do have a new Sorcerer Supreme in the pages of Ultimate Black Panther, with the character of Inan, Stephen Strange has not made an appearance in the Ultimate universe proper. Taking a page from DC would be to make Strange akin to that of Absolute Martian Manhunter. Taking a lot of the core concepts but making an almost original character could be something very interesting and Strange would be the perfect fit. Making him a mutant and with a connection to the Ancient One or Dormammu for a twist could be exactly what we need there.

Having Stephen Strange in the Ultimate Universe as a different type of character in a potential ongoing or maxi series could be a huge win for more Ultimate titles as a whole. Despite the argument of quality over quantity, Marvel definitely needs a few more titles in it’s catalogue and you almost can never go wrong with magic.

8) Inhumans

With only a handful of appearances in recent years, the Inhumans have not appeared in a while for Marvel. With their name and reputation tarnished after a failed television show and becoming hated in by comic fans during the Uncanny Inhumans era, they are needing a fresh start. With a large enough cast to fill out their own team book and a rich enough mythology to spare, the Inhumans are ripe for the picking of an Ultimate refresh.

They could keep their base on the moon as well as keeping the cast of characters similar. All you have to do is change some of their dynamics. Having them begin to slowly move to Earth and live amongst the humans, they could become another heavy hitter against the Maker and his council. The possibilities are endless but it’s time for the Inhumans to come back.

9) Ghost Rider

The Spirit of Vengeance is a title passed down from many people over the years. Spanning from an old west phantom to a herald for Galactus, there are many different things you could do with Ghost Rider. With one of the most iconic looks in all of Marvel comics, Ghost Rider should make the jump to the Ultimate Universe as a new potential member of the Ultimates. Having the Spirit of Vengeance help in the fight to take on the Maker and his council could be a massively powerful weapon for Doom and company.

With a ton of different people who could become the Spirit of Vengeance it feels like it might be time for Danny Ketch to return to the mantle. Johnny Blaze could always be the mentor in this reality and the story could always lead to Robbie being a support to the team for a nice little cherry on top. Danny has long been a fan favorite and has been requested to return for a long time. The Ultimate universe could be the right place.

10) Cloak and Dagger

Last but certainly not least we have Cloak and Dagger. One of the best couples in Marvel’s library of character and currently blowing up from Marvel Rivals, this could be the perfect opportunity to throw them in for new readers to discover. The twist with this title would be to make their book a lower stakes romance. With a beautiful love story in 616, it would make sense to keep that going in the Ultimate Unitverse.

The common idea would be to switch Tyrone and Tandy as Cloak and Dagger respectively. It may not be the most original idea but it could always get a lot long term readers to check them out here. Including their origin of fighting drug dealers, they could have a sort of cross country adventure stopping drug lords while finding how they feel about each other. Just something a little different to round out our list here.

Who all do you think deserves their own Ultimate book? Is it time for Marvel to give us Ultimate Moon Knight or Ultimate Heroes for Hire or something new? Let us know in the comments!

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Every year, Marvel Comics introduces new heroes and villains. With 2024 being the launch of the X-Men’s From the Ashes arc, it’s no surprise that several new mutants have appeared on the scene. One group, the Outliers, is stealing the show, but they’re far from the only ones worth talking about. These new heroes have immense potential, with at least one prophecy tied to their stories. Naturally, their powers, styles, and personalities vary quite drastically. Some are bubbly rays of sunshine, while others are obsessed with death, though perhaps not in the way one might expect. Readers have already begun figuring out which characters they love, and which they can do without.

From the Ashes is the latest X-Men event, following the fall of Krakoa. As such, the newest generation of mutants comes at a time of uncertainty, as mutant-kind is forced to reintegrate with humanity. Some heroes are up for the challenge, while others are less certain of what their path in life is going to look like. The bulk of new heroes hail from Uncanny X-Men, or Exceptional X-Men, with a few stragglers coming from X-Factor and NYX. So if you’re not reading all four series, you may have missed their debuts.

10) Xyber (Daniel Choi)

Intro Series: X-Factor

Daniel Choi, aka Xyber, is one of two new mutants introduced during the X-Factor‘s ten issues. He’s the youngest member of the team, and honestly, he’ll tug at your heartstrings. Daniel Choi was a late addition to the team, replacing the ever-shifting roster (things have not been going well for this team, to put it lightly). Unfortunately, this does mean that Daniel was thrown a bit into the deep end. Daniel’s first mission was at the Yardslac nuclear power plant, where he went up against a bunch of armed and dangerous enemies.

Here’s the problem for young Daniel Choi: as a new mutant, he knows that his ability lets him create strong electromagnetic pulses. However, he lacks one serious advantage, as he doesn’t know his own limitations. He must have missed getting assessed by Beast, and that stinks. As such, Daniel is terrified that each major blast he causes could be his last, literally. Daniel lives in perpetual fear that his gift will stop his heart. Poor kid. In a way, we hope we don’t see him again, as he’s better off living a quiet life without action or danger.

9.) Local (Real Name Unknown)

Intro Series: NYX

Local is a new mutant introduced during NYX, and while he never becomes an official X-Men, he does make friends with the likes of Kamala Khan. Readers never got to learn Local’s real name, though we do know that he is some form of techno-path. He can short-circuit surveillance, tie systems together, and create all sorts of merry mayhem in the technological field. This is exactly why Mr. Friend (a puppet of Mojo) targeted the young mutant.

For a few issues there, it looked like Local was either dead or a permanent victim of Mojo’s schemes. On the bright side, the actions of NYX took down Mojo, sort of freeing Local in the process. Local joined in on the fight, ultimately sacrificing himself in the process. At least that’s what they want us to think. Local became part of the city, in a very literal sense, with his consciousness transferring into the city itself. There’s a chance he’ll live on like this, much like Danny the Street in DC Comics.

8.) Axo (Alejandro Mateo Luna)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Alejandro Mateo Luna, aka Alex, is a young mutant first introduced in Exceptional X-Men. He’s a kind soul with the rather unfortunate luck of being an obvious mutant after the rise and fall of Krakoa. Alex has the unique ability to perceive and control emotions around him. More specifically, he can make people confess their biggest secrets or vulnerabilities. He can also make them feel whatever he wants, with the color of his skin changing accordingly. However, it’s safe to say that Alex doesn’t always love or appreciate his ability. Much like the early days for Rogue, he sometimes struggles to turn it off.

Alex is one of three mutants who begin training with Kate Pryde. It all began when a fellow classmate stepped in to try and protect him from being bullied. Instead of helping, she sort of escalated the situation, resulting in Kate stepping in to help out. Since then, they’ve been training with Kate and later Emma Frost and (sometimes) Iceman. As part of this new team, Alex picked up the mantle of Axo. He’s still feeling a bit reluctant about the whole superhero situation, but recent events may change his perspective.

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7.) Melee (Thao Tran)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Remember that student who tried to help Alex? That was Thao Tran. She saw that he was being bullied for being a mutant, and as a fellow mutant, she couldn’t let it slide. As mentioned above, that didn’t go so well. At least it brought her and Axo to the attention of Kate Pryde, who reluctantly agreed to train the three teens. Thao is a stubborn and determined character who believes in speaking up for others.

Thao Tran has two abilities that can work together. First, she can go intangible, allowing her to pass through people and objects. So finding Kate Pryde as an instructor was huge for this young mutant. The second ability is invisibility, but she seems to have even less control over this aspect, at least for the moment.

6.) Bronze (Trista Marshall)

Intro Series: Exceptional X-Men

Trista Marshall is the first new mutant introduced during the events of Exceptional X-Men. She and Kate Pryde met at a concert, where the two had to work together to safely get away from an anti-mutant guard and his wraith. Kate simply wanted to drop Trista off and be done with the whole thing, but Trista had different ideas, having, in her mind, found her new mentor.

When Kate introduced Trista to Thao and Alex, she immediately organized them into a group of three and convinced them they needed Kate as their collective mentor. The rest, as they say, is history. As an aspiring mutant hero, Trista dubbed herself Bronze, a hat-tip to her ability to transform her skin into a bronze-like metal. In this form, she’s quite durable and strong; she just needs to learn how to fight. She can also create retractable cables of the same material, giving her a more ranged attack.

5.) Ransom (Valentin Correa)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

In many ways, Valetin Correa is the most assertive of The Outliers, so he often gives the appearance of being the leader. He hails from Argentina, and he was quite literally born without a heart. That’s not a figure of speech, as there’s a black hole where his heart should be. This black hole heart can absorb attacks and redirect the force out through his hands. Basically, his ability is both offensive and defensive.

Valentin didn’t have the best childhood, having been kidnapped at a young age. Rather than pay the ransom, his parents let him be. Unsurprisingly, the stress of the situation let his powers manifest, killing his captors in the process. That may explain why he opted to go with Ransom for his hero name. Ransom is young and determined, and it’s clear he cares deeply for his crew. He has been seen lecturing them about safety and respecting each other’s feelings. No wonder he often comes off as the group’s leader.

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4.) Jitter (Sofia Yong)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Sofia Yong made her way to America from Singapore. Much like the rest of her new group, we don’t know much about how she got here. Sofia has a very unique ability, in that she can acquire virtually any skill, but only for a minute. She used this to her advantage at school, passing exams and the like. It didn’t go as well when she tried to use it to defend herself against bullies, as she accidentally really hurt one of them. There is one thing that lets Sofia stand out among her new group, as she deals with stuttering when she’s feeling less confident or talking to new people.

Now she’s a member of The Outliers, having been chased by the Hag. Taking on the name Jitter, she has learned the limits of her abilities. Basically, she can learn anything, from physical skills like martial arts and acrobatics to linguistic skills and beyond. Touching upon the same areas repeatedly has given her a better grasp of hand-to-hand combat and acrobatics.

3.) Deathdream (Hotoru)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Hotoru, aka Deathdream, is a powerful mutant who has embraced the darker side of life: death. He died four times on the day he was born, and since then has been able to change his state (alive or dead) at will. He can control spirits but struggles with concealing his inner darkness. We don’t know how Hotoru ended up in the US or with The Outliers, but it’s safe to say he’s found a family with this group. The only time Hotoru has allowed himself to appear vulnerable is with the group, including his attempts at being kind around Calico and her situation.

By controlling the spirits of the dead, something he learned from his deceased mother, Deathdream can do all sorts of things, including letting these spirits inhabit his body to gain access to their abilities. Thanks to his connection with death, Hotoru doesn’t need to worry about things like poison, and he has an accelerated healing factor. It probably helps that nothing will keep him dead for long.

2.) Calico (Becca Constance Simon-Pinette)

Intro Series: Uncanny X-Men

Becca Constance Simon-Pinette is the last of the new mutants introduced in Uncanny X-Men. As part of The Outliers, she goes by Calico. She lived a sheltered life, but the more we learn of her story, the clearer it becomes that she also lived a life of fear and abuse. As such, but the time she runs away with the rest of The Outliers, she’s still firmly denying that she’s a mutant. With time, she does learn to grow and accept that part of herself.

Calico has a psychic connection with her horse, Ember. Honestly, it’s way more complicated than that, as both the girl and the horse are not quite what they seem. She can summon Ember at will, create armor for the two of them, and even psychically create flames. Calico easily has the potential to be the most powerful in her group, but she has yet to work through all of her mental blocks. However, with Jitter and Ember at her side, she can probably do just about anything she sets her mind to.

1.) Granny Smite (Real Name Unknown)

Intro Series: X-Factor

Last but not least, there’s the oldest member on this list. Granny Smite may not be young by any stretch, but she only recently learned of her mutant ability. That makes her of the latest generation, in a warped way. Granny Smite’s origin is pretty tragic. She is both immortal and invulnerable, a fact she didn’t learn until her house burned down, with both her and her husband inside. Granny Smite survived, but her husband did not.

Sadly, that was only the beginning. One incident could be chalked up to luck or a miracle, after all. She was on a plane with her son and his family when it crashed. Everyone died except for her, confirming her ability. Because of this, and because she’s now alone in the world, Granny Smite signed up for X-Factor. Here, she hopes they’ll finally throw her into a situation that will lead to her death. Yeah, it’s dark. That said, Granny Smite has quickly become a fan-favorite character. With X-Factor canceled, many fans have expressed hope for seeing Smite in another series, any series.

The post The Newest Generation of X-Men, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Lex Luthor is one of the greatest villains in the entire DC universe. Part of what makes him such a fascinating villain is that, despite his arch-enemy Superman being one of the most powerful beings in DC Comics, Luthor himself lacks superpowers. Even so, he remains a significant threat. Luthor can contend with the Man of Steel by utilizing his intellect and deadly arsenal. Many of Luthor’s weapons, including the war suit, have allowed him to fight Superman on a near-equal footing. Despite this fact, Luthor is still a bitter and jealous man who envies Superman’s natural gifts and wants them for himself. In numerous attempts to surpass Superman, Luthor has utilized his scientific mind to develop means to grant himself the superhuman abilities he craves.

There have been several times when Lex Luthor has gained superpowers, however, whether by creating them himself or by stealing them from others. Whatever the method may be, Luthor will always use them in his never-ending quest to destroy Superman and the ideology he stands for.

1) Taking the Everyman Serum

Through Luthor’s Everyman Project, anyone had the chance to get superpowers and become a hero. Ironically, however, Lex’s genes were not compatible with the project. Such a setback didn’t stop Luthor from taking the serum anyway, giving him superhuman strength, speed, heat-vision, and more. Luthor used these newfound powers to try to kill Steel and his niece Natasha. To stop his rampage, Natasha was able to reverse the effects of the Everyman serum, leaving him as powerless as he was before. By taking his powers away, Natasha inadvertently saved Luthor’s life, as the serum’s incompatibility would have killed him within six months. By trying to make himself all-powerful, Luthor nearly got himself killed.

2) Becoming the God of Apokolips

During the Darkseid War, Luthor joined the Justice League and was teleported to the New God’s home world, Apokolips. After being stranded on the hellish planet, Luthor was found by a group called the Forgotten People, who mistook him for the prophesied savior of Apokolips, Superman. Luthor lies and says that he is the hero that they were looking for. After Darkseid’s death, the Forever People channeled the omega effect into Luthor, turning him into the new God of Apokolips. This form granted Luthor all the powers of Darkseid, including immense strength, Omega Beams, and control over all Parademons. At first, he used this newfound power to try to kill Superman, but he soon turned his focus to fighting Darkseid’s killer: the Anti-Monitor. In the end, Darkseid’s daughter used the power-stealing abilities of Earth 3’s Superwoman to drain Luthor of the omega effect.

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3) Becoming a Martian/Human Hybrid

When Martian Manhunter was a child, the government abducted him, only for a young Lex to set him free. Hoping to end the conflict between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, J’onn tried extending an olive branch of friendship to the man who once showed him kindness. Any compassion in Luthor had long since died, as he used the moment of vulnerability to spring a trap that let him absorb the Martian into his own body. With all Martian Manhunter’s powers, including super strength, shapeshifting, regeneration, heat-vision, and more, Luthor became the Apex Predator. Luthor would serve the ancient goddess Perpetua in her conquest of the Multiverse until she double-crossed him and stripped him of his power. In a fitting act of karma, the chronic backstabber was betrayed and left as a broken husk in a ruined world.

4) Taking Superman’s Powers for Himself

As part of one of the greatest Superman stories ever told, Luthor finally got the chance to see the world the way his nemesis sees it. In All-Star Superman, Luthor makes a formula that grants him the same power set as the Man of Steel for 24 hours. With this power, he defeats Superman and plans to take over the United States. Then, suddenly, using Superman’s microscopic and X-ray vision, Luthor sees the building blocks of existence, giving him a moment of clarity in understanding how we and the universe are all connected. Luthor’s revelation would be short-lived, however, as Superman uses a gravity gun to speed up the villain’s 24 hours, turning him back into a regular human. And while he claimed that he could have saved the world with this knowledge, Superman knew that if it really mattered to Luthor, he could have saved it years ago.

5) Acquiring Infinite Power

Even when Luthor becomes a god, his human flaws will always be his undoing. By fusing with an all-powerful being within the Phantom Zone known as the Zone Child, Luthor had finally obtained infinite power. With his newfound omnipotence, Luthor sought to finally destroy Superman once and for all. However, the Zone Child made there be one catch to Luthor’s power: he couldn’t use it to harm anyone. And since Luthor had tried to kill Superman, all the cosmic power within him was drained. Even as he felt the power leave his body, the villain still tried desperately to kill Superman, only to be knocked out with a single punch. By giving in to hate once again, Luthor lost the very godhood that he spent his whole life chasing.

The post 5 Times Lex Luthor Got Superpowers appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Right now is an interesting time to be a fan of the X-Men. The Krakoa Era was a revolution, and the X-Men books became the hottest superhero comics of them all in 2019 and 2020. Writer Jonathan Hickman was responsible for some of the best X-Men stories of all time, and the other books in the line were killing it. However, Hickman’s original outline started to change as his collaborators added their own ideas, and he left the books, allowing the other creators to take the story in new directions. However, the Krakoa Era started to peter out without Hickman and the ending was nowhere as great as the beginning. Marvel ended it early, giving the X-Men to Marvel editorial legend Tom Brevoort, who kicked off the new “From the Ashes” era in the summer of 2024. While there was some early sales success, there was nowhere near the esteem that the Krakoa Era got in its beginning.

Marvel fumbled the X-Men by allowing Hickman to leave the X-Men books and stretching out the Krakoa Era to make more money — the X-Men books kept the company going through COVID — and “From the Ashes” continues that fumble. The X-Men books have a load of problems, and it honestly doesn’t really seem like anyone actually wants to fix them. The X-Men are one of Marvel’s greatest franchises, but I don’t think they’re salvageable at this point.

The X-Men Are Dead…

The main problem with “From the Ashes” is that there are no new ideas in the vast majority of the books. The status quo doesn’t have an overarching story behind it, like most of the X-Men runs of the 21st century have. Instead, it feels more like the ’90s books, where the X-Men were pretty much just there. There’s one word that has become synonymous with “From the Ashes” and that’s rehash. X-Men is basically Bendis’s Uncanny X-Men mixed with Morrison’s New X-Men. Wolverine is trying to be Larry Hama Wolverine and failing miserably. X-Factor was basically X-Force/X-Statix mixed with the ’90s government X-Factor team, and X-Force just felt aimless, like the X-Force books before their return in the Utopia Era. Exceptional X-Men was Generation X set in the ’20s. Uncanny X-Men is the most original book of the bunch (and the best), but uses the Claremont method of character based storytelling that builds and builds. Phoenix and Storm aren’t rehashes, although making Jean Grey Phoenix again is definitely nostalgia pandering. Several have already been cancelled, and others are on the chopping block, with ends already announced for most of the second round of books. “From the Ashes” is far from a failure, but there’s really nothing exciting going on in the books. It honestly kind of feels like the line is treading water until the X-Men’s MCU debut film comes along, and the comics will basically echo whatever happens there.

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There’s nothing wrong with simple X-Men stories. Not everything needs to be an era. However, the X-Men work the best when there’s something more than just cool stories. The last time the X-Men were truly great was Grant Morrison’s New X-Men (look, I love the Krakoa Era too, but it was remarkably uneven, especially as time went on) and it worked because Morrison had an idea that evolved the X-Men. The post-House of M era had a massive change, cutting the dross of the mutant race away. The Utopia Era was all about the X-Men trying to survive with greatly reduced numbers. The Schism Era gave Wolverine a chance to lead. Even the bad post-Secret Wars (2015) years had an idea behind them — the Terrigen Mist clouds and the rise of the Inhumans — even if it was a bad idea. “From the Ashes” has nothing like that, and it feels extremely cynical. Tom Brevoort doesn’t seem to have love for the X-Men (or their fans; check out how he answers fan questions on his Substack) and the only idea he seemed to bring was “rehash”. It feels like no one cares about the X-Men at Marvel, other than as a way of boosting sales. The X-Men have a lot of books right now, but no one is excited for the vast majority of them. We’re all waiting for the teams to reunite back at the X-Mansion. That’s the obvious endgame of “From the Ashes” and it’s about as exciting as an empty piece of paper.

…Long Live the X-Men

The X-Men are as cold as Iceman right now. Sales are pretty good, but the massive success of DC’s Absolute line, which started around the same time as “From the Ashes”, quickly overshadowed the X-Men line. While things aren’t completely lost — Uncanny X-Men and Storm are sensational — the line is stale and predictable. We all kind of know where it’s all going to go. Xavier will come back to Earth. The X-Men will kick the humans out of the X-Mansion. The fractured teams will come back together. The only idea behind “From the Ashes” seems to be MCU synergy.

I don’t really know what to do about the line. There’s really no easy fix for the X-Men, because it doesn’t feel like Marvel thinks there’s anything wrong. One of the problems with Marvel is that they only listen to the sales, and not the fans’ complaints. As long as the X-Men books keep selling, Marvel won’t change anything. The irony of that is that’s exactly what happened in the ’90s. The writing got worse and worse, but Marvel didn’t care because the books sold. It wasn’t until things completely fell apart later in the decade that Marvel broke the emergency glass, brought back Claremont, and then got Morrison to fix it all. The X-Men are heading that way again, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone out there who wants to change course.

What do you think about the X-Men right now? Sound off in the comments below.

The post Marvel Really Fumbled the X-Men And I’m Not Sure Anything Can Save Them Now appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Absolute Superman is one of DC’s best ongoing books right now, and it’s super easy to see why. The series follows Superman as he is chased across the Earth by enemies and potential allies alike, almost all of them wanting to use Superman to further their own goals, while he is just looking for a place to belong and a way to help people. The new origin has massively reinvented the character of the Man of Steel, but despite how radically different his circumstances and background are from his main universe version, he’s never acted more like himself. Superman has changed a lot as a character over the years, evolving with the world around him, and yet somehow Absolute Superman manages to roll each and every version of him from across the decades into one beautiful package.

Superman’s Changed a Lot

When Superman was first introduced, he wasn’t fighting living blackholes or pulling planets away from dying stars. Instead, he fought injustices that existed in the real world. Superman’s first ever story saw him solving a murder to save a woman who was wrongfully accused, and dropping the real perpetrator outside the governor’s house with a signed confession. His first ever epithet was Champion of the Oppressed, and he fought for the rights and safety of the disenfranchised everywhere. Of course, as he defined what the superhero genre was he also got into more classic adventures, like dealing with mad scientists and alien bugs.

By the time Superman became popular countrywide and World War II raged at its worst, Superman became a symbol to inspire the American public. Post WWII, that connection between Superman and the American Way stuck, and Superman shifted from being a force to fight against the system to being the system itself. While he still ostensibly fought for the people, this was a time period where he moved away from fighting to change the world to beating villains to restore the status quo. However, it’s also undeniable that during this time Superman was written as a bit of a jerk. He was far more self-centered and pulled some legitimately cruel pranks on those he was supposed to be close with, occasionally straight up bullying them. A lot of these stories are definitely products of their times. He would grow out of that attitude into the 1960s on. Also importantly, a large part of this interpretation of Superman was that Clark Kent was an act he put on to keep his true identity secret, which leads into the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era. 

[RELATED: Absolute Superman Introduces Kryptonite & Sets Up Kal-El’s Darkest Defeat]

The modern version of Superman was born following DC’s first multiversal rewrite and laid the groundwork for how he is portrayed today. Now, Superman and Clark Kent are both somewhat exaggerations of who he is, but Clark is the heart of his character. Superman is also the kindest person to ever live, the living embodiment of a better tomorrow here today. He is the man who will always find a way and will never stop believing. As much as Superman has changed over the years, that dedication to fight for the people who need help has always remained consistent.

Absolute Superman Is Everything

Absolute Superman is first and foremost a character who is trying to fight social injustice to save the oppressed. He is the son of farmers who were kicked to the bottom dregs of society because they dared to speak out against the corrupt regime that ruled Krypton, who fought to save as many people as they could when they learned the elites were planning to leave everyone else to die on the exploding planet. Since arriving on Earth, he has done everything in his power to save people from the same elite-run type of society that ended Krypton. And in becoming the champion of the oppressed, Superman constantly comes into direct confrontation with supervillains like Ra’s al Ghul and Metallo. The supervillains and societal injustices have been formed into one entity for Superman to fight.

Along with that, Superman’s true identity is both as the hero Superman and the person underneath. Superman is all that he is, as he never was Clark Kent and has chosen to throw away his Kryptonian name Kal-El, yet his mission as Superman is still so clearly driven out of the heart of the man beneath the S-crest. Another way that the versions meld perfectly in these pages is in how Superman’s powers are portrayed. Similar to his original appearances, he is much weaker than the usual versions of Superman, and yet like today he is powered by the sun and objectively the strongest being on the planet.

Of course, the best way that the different eras of Superman come together into the Absolute one is in how he acts. Superman fights for the disenfranchised because he so deeply cares about them, as he always has, but he also is a bastion of undying hope, even as the world continuously tries to beat it out of him. He is angry and disgusted with the world, like his mid-history self and more cynical versions, but he never lets hatred take him over, and he fights so hard to stop himself from going too far. Superman is fighting to find a way to save everyone, even his enemies, but he’s afraid that he won’t be able to. He might not even believe it’s possible, but he’s still trying. What version of Superman wouldn’t?

Superman has changed a lot over his nearly ninety years of existence. And yet through them all, he has always been a hero trying to make the world a better place. How he’s done that has varied based on time and place, but he never gives up on that mission, even when it seems hopeless, even when everyone tells him it can’t be done. Superman is the man who does the impossible and saves everyone, and Absolute Superman is going to do his darndest to embody that hope for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.

The post Absolute Superman Is the Most Complete Version of the Hero Yet appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Everyone loves a good villain — especially in a story like Batman, where the struggle between good and evil is deeply woven into the narrative’s DNA. But Batman has a villain problem. After nearly three decades of setting the standard for true deviancy, malice, and pure nastiness, many of his adversaries just aren’t that interesting anymore. They’ve become predictable. Unlike in earlier eras, it’s now relatively easy for fans to guess who Batman will be facing in any given title or series. While the Dark Knight’s rogues’ gallery remains one of the most extensive in comics, modern Batman stories tend to rely on the usual suspects. Indeed, the Joker might be the world’s most iconic villain, but there’s only so many times you can read a Joker story before his “schtick” starts to feel stale.

More important than repeat villains, however, is the “villain vibe.” As antagonists become more complicated and complex — often the result of authors injecting their evilness with a healthy dose of sympathetic vulnerability — the once cool, dark, and gritty villain has lost much of their appeal. Rather than wanting to hate the villain (an emotion all good villains can evoke), readers more often find themselves rooting for them, or at least hoping they don’t suffer too much. Indeed, villains are even, at times, more relatable than Batman himself. Who wouldn’t feel for Selina Kyle’s Catwoman, just trying to survive in an unforgiving world, over Batman’s privileged take on why criminals are bad? Fortunately, there’s a solution to Batman’s villain problem — and it’s not that difficult to achieve.

The Older Era Batman Was Way More Fun

Before Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns made “grit is good” a cornerstone of Batman storytelling, the Caped Crusader’s rogues gallery was not only vast but also genuinely interesting in ways that rarely felt redundant, keeping the narrative consistently fresh. Of course, the earlier eras of Batman lore — particularly the Golden and Silver Ages— are often criticized for their over-the-top campiness. While that critique holds some truth, the campy tone was only one aspect of the creative palette. These stories also included elements of the “gloom and doom” that now define the modern era, as well as touches of science fiction, historical themes, and — most importantly — the bread and butter of the Batman mythos: detective work.

[ RELATED: 5 Batman Villains I’m Still Waiting to See in the Movies ]

Ultimately, the variety of those early years contributed to a more compelling Batman narrative. In other words, the Golden and Silver Age Batman comics were far more entertaining, with villains who were significantly more engaging than many of today’s iterations. As a result, Bruce Wayne —Batman— wasn’t always the grim, angst-ridden figure we often see now. While there were periods when he did embody that persona, outside of those, Batman could be inquisitive, thoughtful, humorous, and even humble. Much of that depth was shaped by the villains he faced and the nature of the crimes he sought to solve.

One of the best examples of this can be found in Batman (1940) #47. The story follows Batman as he tracks down Joe Chill, the alleged leader of a large smuggling operation, whom Batman recognizes as the same person who murdered his parents years ago, setting him on his path to become the Dark Knight. To get close to Chill, Batman goes undercover as a truck driver, aiming to verify if he’s indeed the man responsible for his parents’ death and the smuggling scheme.

Instead of resorting to violence, Batman reveals his true identity as Bruce Wayne and confronts Chill, highlighting how Chill’s actions led to his transformation into Batman. Batman lets Chill’s own guilt and fear consume him, all without resorting to violence or lifting a finger. It’s a powerful moment that marks the significant difference between the more humble Batman of the prior era and the recklessly impulsive Batman we often see today.

Batman Needs A Balance of Light and Dark

This is not to say that the more serious villains of today need to be retired, nor that the more absurd villains of yesteryear should make a comeback. Indeed, no one’s looking for the Ten-Eye Man or the Penny Plunderer to return to active criminal duty. However, what should be brought back is imaginative variety, with heroes that are complex and flawed standing alongside those who are simply evil, full stop. That is, there needs to be villains who provide unique, often bizarre, challenges, as well as those who are reflections of profound psychological torment.

This is how it was done in the Batman stories of the Golden and Silver Ages. Indeed, those stories worked because the villains were entertaining first and complex second. Today’s stories often reverse that approach, leading to richer character studies but sometimes sacrificing the pure, dynamic hero-villain clashes that made the early comics so enduring.

The post Have Batman Villains Gotten Boring? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The war for the fate of New York City in Ultimate Spider-Man is already reaching a boiling point, and it’s only just getting started. Gwen Stacy and her Order of Mysterio has declared an open battle against the Kingpin and his men, and as much as Harry Osborn supports his wife, he also wants to stop her from going too far. To do that, he recruits Spider-Man to back him up and make sure everyone is held accountable as they fight to free their home from Fisk and the Maker’s wicked regime. Of course, there are multiple aspects to every side of this war, and young Richard Parker, now called Venom, is caught up in the middle as he tries to help his new girlfriend, Black Cat. Unfortunately, helping her might just mean betraying his dad and everything he stands for.

The Spiders Are Swinging Again

Ultimate Spider-Man #18 starts with Harry and Peter finally reuniting in the Parkers’ hiding spot in Arizona. Not just that, but Harry brought Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson along to help look after the family while Spider-Man and Green Goblin clean up their city. Peter wishes his family goodbye, and loads up with Harry to head back home. Unfortunately for his sanity, Richard snuck on board with his invisible Venom suit. He was texting his newly-minted girlfriend Felicia, who begged him to come back to New York and help her get out of some serious family trouble. What teenage boy/fledgling superhero could ever not respond the same way Richard did?

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Regardless, after they get back to NYC, Harry and Peter hit the streets to take out some low level villains. They also stop by Peter’s house, where they find Otto Octavius squatting ever since Gwen fired him from Oscorp. Peter leaves the insanely smart scientist webbed up in his house for the crime of stealing his slippers, then leave to actually meet up with Gwen. Venom, for his part, swings his way to the place where Black Cat asked him to meet. He expects to find her in some kind of trouble, but instead he finds Kingpin and the rest of the still-loyal Sinister Six waiting for him alongside Felicia. Fisk tells Richard that he doesn’t need to be afraid, and all they want is for him to help them get to Spider-Man. Felicia had been reporting back all of their texts to the Six, and Richard got comfortable enough to slip up and let them figure out he’s connected to the Web-Slinger in some way. Betrayed and hurt, Richard asks Felicia if she lied about the two of them, but she says no. She really does like him, but she smiles and says that this betrayal is just in her nature.

Venom May Be Spider-Man’s Next Enemy

Things definitely aren’t looking good for Richard right now. He obviously doesn’t stand a chance against anyone in that room on their own, let alone if they all work together. Richard probably didn’t give out any sensitive information about his family, but at this point that hardly matters, considering Fisk is intending to squeeze that out of him right now. I can’t imagine Richard willingly telling them anything, but that might not even be an option. When Peter and Harry were kidnapped by Kraven before, he used a mix of torture and drugs to force them to reveal their secrets, and while the hunter is dead, I can’t imagine Fisk doesn’t have similar ways of making people talk. Even if he never tells the villains anything, the best case scenario is that the Sinister Six take him hostage, but maybe Richard and his Peter AI can lead them on a goose chase to give his dad a chance to save his bacon.

Kingpin might be about to learn everything there is to learn about Spider-Man, and it’s hard to imagine a worse person knowing his secret identity. The format for all the Ultimate Universe books is to skip forward to a new month every issue, and I don’t have any idea how they’re going to handle this cliffhanger with that kind of time jump. Still, I am more than excited to find out.

Ultimate Spider-Man #18 is on sale now!

The post Spider-Man’s Latest Threat Will Surprise You (& The Stakes Have Never Been Higher) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Justice League formed for the first time in 1960, and in the last 65 years, they have broken up several times for different reasons. The first teaming of the Justice League occurred in The Brave and the Bold #28 when Earth needed powerful heroes to team up to battle an alien threat known as Starro. After two more appearances in that series, DC gave the team its own title. This original lineup included Flash, Martian Manhunter, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Batman, Aquaman, and Superman, and these heroes became the backbone of the Justice League throughout its run. However, countless DC heroes joined the team in the next six-plus decades.

The Justice League broke up when they stopped getting along. The team split up when different members believed in going in different directions. They also broke up during times of peace when they wanted a break, and even when they fell in terrible defeat and felt they no longer made a difference. However, some of the Justice League breakups are better written than others.

8) Justice League America #113 (1996)

After Superman showed up and took back control of the Justice League from Maxwell Lord, things didn’t go well. There were several spinoff groups, including Justice League Europe, Justice League Task Force, and Extreme Justice, none of which was what the JLA was supposed to represent. This was the 90s, when more extreme comics were becoming popular, but for a team like the Justice League, it just didn’t work. In Justice League America #113, it all finally came to an end.

When this issue started, the main Justice League team was off-planet and in great danger from the alien villain, Flicker. By this time, the team featured mostly B-level members like Blue Devil, Fire, Nuklon, Power Girl, and Metamorpho. They did have Wonder Woman on the team, but she was the only original member remaining. However, the reasons for the team breaking up after this were personal. After this long battle, they decided they needed to take time off to deal with their personal lives. However, this was done behind the scenes so DC Comics could bring back the team with the A-list members after almost a decade of lesser names serving the League.

7) Justice League of America Annual #2 (1984)

The first time the Justice League ever broke up occurred in Justice League of America Annual #2 in 1984. Impressively, this was 24 years after the team formed, and, before this, it was just members leaving and new ones joining. By this point, Aquaman was the only original member left. The team had just suffered a great loss during a war between Earth and Mars, and the Justice League’s headquarters suffered tremendous damage. By this time, Aquaman felt the team was no longer effective in its current form.

Not everyone was happy, and Firestorm was especially angry that Aquaman was firing everybody. Aquaman made a great point. He said the Justice League has to be a team that gives 100% or it can’t exist, and even Firestorm’s other half made him realize they couldn’t promise that. However, that is where this Justice League breakup falls short: it lasted for less than two pages.

Zatanna and Elongated Man (along with his wife, Sue Dibny) agreed to give 100% to the new team, and when Martian Manhunter showed up and asked to join, the new Justice League was formed. Thanks to Steel (Henry “Hank” Heywood III) offering them a base in Detroit, they became known as Justice League Detroit, with Vixen, Vibe, and Gypsy as new members. Sadly, this was one of the most disappointing versions of the Justice League, so this breakup didn’t lead to anything positive.

6) Justice League of America #261 (1987)

In 1987, the Justice League Detroit team came to an end. Unlike the previous Justice League breakup, which was caused by Aquaman feeling the heroes weren’t giving their 100%, this breakup happened for a more dire reason. The public had begun turning on superheroes and no longer trusted even the Justice League. This was the Legends event series, where Darkseid bet the Phantom Stranger that he could turn humanity against its heroes.

What led to this specific breakup was even more tragic. Professor Ivo showed up and targeted the team, and his androids killed Vibe and Steel. There was no public announcement this time. Instead, Martian Manhunter declared the League dead and went after the people responsible, seeking revenge. By the end, Vixen also quit, and Manhunter decided the League needed to continue, but in a different manner, without him. This would lead to Justice League International, one of the team’s most popular lineups.

5) Justice League of America #31 (2009)

This Justice League breakup came thanks to tragedy: Martian Manhunter died. Then, during Identity Crisis, Batman died (more accurately, he was time-displaced, but the League thought he was dead.) Black Canary became the leader, but no one had faith in her, not even her husband, Green Arrow. As a result, Green Lantern (Hal) started his own splinter team and ignored Canary when she forbade him to do so.

After this, Black Canary saw her team falling apart. Roy Harper (Arsenal) quit the team. Green Arrow wanted nothing to do with being on it. Flash left, saying he needed to dedicate more time to his family and the Titans. Wonder Woman and Superman both quit due to other obligations. All Dinah had left was a team with only John Stewart and Zatanna as the A-list members, so she did what she felt was best. She broke up the Justice League.

This resulted in Hal leading his splinter team, which was a lot more violent. There was also a smaller team trying to keep it together, with Zatanna, John Stewart, Vixen, Doctor Light, and Firestorm. They chose to serve without a chairperson and just work as a team, although they didn’t make it very long.

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4) Justice League America #60 (1992)

One of the best iterations of the Justice League in history ran from 1987 to 1992 with Justice League International. This era was so popular that it is what James Gunn is reportedly basing his Justice Gang after in the new DCU. The main lineup made this a little more comedic. While Martian Manhunter was the leader, it included misfit members like Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle, and Booster Gold. Created by Keith Giffen and JM DeMatteis, it all finally ended in 1992 when the team chose to split up.

This breakup came thanks to several dominoes falling into place. The team’s benefactor, Maxwell Lord, disappeared after he was possessed by Dreamslayer and caused the team to become villains for a short time. The Silver Sorceress sacrificed herself to defeat Dreamslayer, and the damage was done. The United Nations withdrew its support of the team, and Martian Manhunter took a leave of absence. Without Manhunter, the rest of the team fell apart.

By the end of the team’s run, Maxwell Lord returned and said he would restart the Justice League in a new form. However, this was a time of turmoil with rival Justice League groups. Superman refused to allow Maxwell Lord to run the team and started his own version. Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, and Blue Beetle all joined Superman’s team, as did a newcomer called Bloodwynd (Martian Manhunter). Other Justice League spinoff teams arrived, but DC canceled those comics after oversaturating the market with the team name.

3) Justice League of America #60 (2011)

This Justice League breakup happened right before the company-wide reboot with the New 52. The team had several roster changes from 2009 to 2011, all ending in Justice League of America #60. The membership here was a mishmash of heroes, with Dick Grayson’s Batman leading the team. As with many Justice League breakups, it all started with some members deciding they wanted something different.

Supergirl announced her departure, and then Donna Troy also said she planned to leave. Jessie Quick was pregnant and said she had to leave, and then Jade also announced her departure. Finally, Batman said he was leaving too, and finally, everyone announced they were out, ending the Justice League just in time for the New 52 to reboot everything. What was perfect was that it was the most peaceful and understanding breakup in Justice League history.

2) Justice League #75 (2022)

The last time the Justice League broke up, it was in a story titled “Death of the Justice League” in 2022. This Justice League formed starting in the New 52 and didn’t break up again until this moment, where they fought the Dark Army before the Dark Crisis event. The entire Justice League, other than Black Adam, were seemingly killed by Pariah in this issue, and the team didn’t reunite when the event was over and the heroes were back.

Instead, this event led to a new team of main heroes in the DC Universe, with the Titans replacing the Justice League as Earth’s greatest heroes. This included Nightwing, Jon Kent, Wally West’s Flash, and more. There was a form of the Justice League that fought in Dark Crisis, but when the event ended, Batman said that there would no longer be a need for that team in the world.

This is one instance where a massive defeat is what ended DC’s greatest team of heroes. It is also the start of something new in DC. While the Titans are still the comic book line’s main hero team, this new era of DC involves team-ups only when they are needed, but no need for an actual Justice League anymore.

1) JLA #120 (2005)

In 2005, Aquaman broke up the Justice League for the second time. However, this time he wasn’t the only veteran because Batman, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and more were there for this splintering. That said, the breakup was caused by a lack of trust between the team’s members, which all broke down originally with Identity Crisis when Batman learned his teammates had wiped his mind to cover up a dark secret.

Batman trusted no one and admitted that this much power on one team could corrupt everyone. In the end, no one trusted Batman either. Green Arrow even accused Batman of destroying the Watchtower to break up the Justice League. By the time the meeting ended, everyone laid out their distrust, and the Justice League broke up with no one on the same page anymore.

What resulted was Aquaman and John Stewart starting a new covert Justice League in its place to watch each other’s backs and keep an eye on Batman. At the same time, Batman made it clear he was going to watch the League members as well, and this started a rough patch where none of DC’s heroes really trusted each other.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

The post Every Time the Justice League Broke Up, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Tony Stark has always taken pride in being a man who’s prepared for every situation. In a universe filled with monsters and gods that threaten to destroy the world daily, he has developed numerous armors to battle such cosmic threats. With dozens of suits, each more advanced than the last, Iron Man has an arsenal that makes him one of the Avengers’ most powerful members. Some suits are designed for specific tasks that they fulfill perfectly, while others are highly adaptable and can be used in various situations. No matter the suit, though, it can’t be ignored that Tony is a technological genius. 

Whether designed to contend with Marvel’s heaviest hitters or just a product of Tony’s obsession with upgrading, these are the ten Iron Man suits that put this human on the same level as gods.

10) The Model 72 “Mysterium Armor”

Made from the special metal Mysterium, the Model 72 armor is one of Tony’s most durable suits. Once, while Tony was wearing it, a Sentinel Zero assassin android made of adamantium tried to kill him with its claws. However, the Mysterium proved to be so tough that the adamantium claws bent on impact like they were made of paper. Iron Man used this suit to help the X-Men fight off a Sentinel invasion. And where earlier models struggled to overpower a single Sentinel, the Mysterium Armor allowed Tony to knock the head off one in a single punch. Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense.

9) The Model 57 “Fin Fang Foombuster Armor”

Standing 20 stories tall, this behemoth of armor was designed to fight the equally gigantic alien dragon Fin Fang Foom. The suit featured repulsor cannons and electrical charges that allowed Tony to inflict considerable damage on the giant fire-breathing monster. However, what it had in size, it lacked in durability, as Fin Fang Foom eventually managed to overpower and dismantle the building-sized mecha. Thankfully, the Fin Fang Foombuster could deploy a swarm of nano Iron Man drones to enter the dragon and defeat it from the inside.

8) The Model 50 “Endo-Sym Armor”

When Tony lost his morality during the AXIS event, he created a synthetic symbiote-like armor that was directly linked to his mind. Being made of a liquid smart metal, the Model 50 could shapeshift into a giant Hulkbuster armor. He could have it latch onto his enemies and imprison them. It was also capable of tanking and absorbing bolts of lightning from Storm. Captain America destroyed the suit during the 2015 Secret Wars, and Tony would finally regain his sense of humanity.

7) The Model 51 “Prime Armor”

The Model 51 is practically Tony’s Swiss-Army-Knife suit. It takes the best features of all his previous armors and combining them into one all-purpose armor. It’s able to achieve its high level of adaptability because it’s made of nanobots that can transform into any tool or weapon Tony needs. The suit can even transform itself into a giant Hulkbuster armor or turn completely invisible. When not in use, the suit can be compartmentalized and transformed into a bracelet on Tony’s wrist, which can be activated with a single thought from its creator thanks to a telepathic link.

6) The Model 68 “Virtual Armor”

One of Tony’s most impressive inventions is the eScape, an entire virtual universe where the only limits were his imagination. Initially, Tony would use the eScape to trap villains in a virtual prison and fight them while he stayed safely behind a computer. However, if there’s one thing that can be said about Tony, it’s that he knows how to bring his ideas into the real world. Tony would convert this universe into a real suit of armor made of hard light holograms that could manifest whenever he wanted and could even create any weapon he could think of. It is the perfect weapon for such a creative thinker and genius.

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5) The Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor”

The Model 73 was designed specifically to destroy machines created using his technology. When the human supremacist Feilong took over Stark’s company and started making a Sentinel army, Iron Man teamed up with the X-Men to stop the villain. When the Sentinels attacked, Tony deployed the Model 73 “Sentinel Buster Armor.” This suit towered over the Sentinels and could stomp and crush dozens of them with ease. The suit’s unibeam could also instantly incinerate the robots. However, it was ultimately overwhelmed by the seemingly never-ending Sentinel army.

4) The Model 22 “Thorbuster Armor”

While Tony, for the most part, is adamant in his hatred of magic, when it comes to creating a contingency plan in case the god of thunder goes rogue, he’s willing to make an exception. When given a powerful energy crystal by Odin, Tony converted it into a power source for his new armor, the Thorbuster. This came in handy when Thor went on a rampage, threatening to wipe out all of humanity. Not only could the Thorbuster tank direct hits from Mjolnir, but it could absorb any energy Thor threw at it to make itself stronger. It was the very first armor Iron Man had created that had allowed him to contend with a god, but it wouldn’t be the last.

3) The Model 61 “Godkiller Armor MK II”

Inspired by the original Godkiller Armor, which was designed by an ancient race to kill Celestials, Tony developed his own version of the massive suit. This turned out to be an excellent idea. When Dark Celestials invaded the Earth, Iron Man was ready to suit up and fight these beings head-on. The Godkiller Armor MK II is so large and powerful that it required eight nuclear reactors to power it. It was capable of interplanetary flight and allowed Tony to battle beings that could warp reality. Unfortunately, it wasn’t built to fight multiple Dark Celestials at once and was eventually destroyed.

2) The Model 63 “Godbuster Armor”

Within the virtual universe known as the eScape, Tony created a suit so destructive that even he feared its full potential. When powerful, god-like AI entities, known as the Controller and Motherboard, took over the eScape, Tony designed a suit that could challenge them. The Godbuster Armor was so strong that it was able to destroy the entire virtual universe, along with the AI controlling it, in a single shot. Tony even created a real-life version of the suit, but he had it destroyed after a single use, as he realized it was too dangerous to exist. No wonder Tony nicknamed it “the ultimate weapon.”

1) The Model 70 “Cosmic Iron God Armor”

The Model 70 Armor was originally a less high-tech suit that Tony made, based on his older suits, because he felt that he relied too much on modern technology. That would all change, however, with the return of Michael Korvac. When Korvac sought to take the Power Cosmic from Galactus to become an all-powerful god, Iron Man tried and failed to stop him. Iron Man, though, tapped into the Power Cosmic himself, and the energy fused with his armor, giving Tony omnipotence. He could warp reality, travel across the cosmos in an instant, and even increase the intelligence of every person on the planet. While Tony meant for the Model 70 to be a return to basics, it had inadvertently allowed him to achieve true godhood.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

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Next month, the Fantastic Four will make their return to the big screen with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The film’s release is nothing short of groundbreaking. For one, it marks the first time in a decade — a period during which Marvel superheroes have dominated the movie industry — that fans will be able to see “Marvel’s First Family” back in theaters. More importantly, it will be the first time the Fantastic Four are officially part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Since the MCU’s debut with Iron Man in 2008, the absence of the Fantastic Four has been particularly striking, especially given that many of the threats and storylines featured in the MCU originally involved the “Baxter Building Quartet” in the comics.

Interestingly, the sidelining of the Fantastic Four in the MCU has also been reflected in the Marvel Comics universe, where one would expect Marvel to have complete creative and editorial control. This represents an ignominious downgrade of Marvel’s first superhero team — a mantle they should never have lost in the first place.

The Fantastic Four – Marvel’s Original “A-Team”

The Fantastic Four should be Marvel’s flagship team because they are its first “go team.” Years before the Avengers and the X-Men were even conceived by Marvel’s creative and editorial staff, there was the Fantastic Four — Marvel Comics’ first full-fledged superhero team. It’s safe to say that without the Fantastic Four’s success, the world might never have known the Avengers or the X-Men. Through the Fantastic Four, Marvel established many themes, elements, styles, and storytelling features that became foundational to the success of the Avengers, the X-Men, and Marvel Comics in general. It’s no wonder, then, that the Fantastic Four are celebrated as “Marvel’s First Family.”

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The Fantastic Four demonstrated early on that superhero teams are anything but perfectly harmonious groups singularly focused on defeating evil. Instead, the series revealed that even heroes who protect their communities can be deeply flawed individuals. The team often faced personal and interpersonal struggles that sometimes hindered their effectiveness, making them far more relatable than the more rigid and idealized portrayals of groups like DC’s Justice Society or Justice League. This nuanced approach to team dynamics would later be echoed to great effect in Marvel’s other “super groups,” such as the Avengers and the X-Men. The Avengers’ origin itself serves as a prime example of how the dysfunctional team dynamic introduced in the Fantastic Four can still overcome its negativity to produce heroic results.

Another key distinction was that, rather than concealing their identities, the Fantastic Four embraced their roles as public heroes — operating not just as a team, but as a family. While many of these elements weren’t entirely new to the superhero genre, the Fantastic Four added a distinctly Marvel twist to them. For instance, their frequent interactions with other superheroes helped solidify Marvel’s groundbreaking concept of a shared universe. Then there were their villains. The Fantastic Four introduced some of Marvel’s most iconic antagonists, from Doctor Doom to Galactus. They also explored advanced scientific concepts like the Negative Zone, the Ultimate Nullifier, and cosmic radiation, further enriching Marvel’s lore.

The MCU Killed the Comic Book Star

As Marvel expanded its team titles with the Avengers, X-Men, and later the Defenders—despite the Fantastic Four being one of the key influences in developing the “mighty” Marvel super team concept — it was natural for the Fantastic Four to lose some of their popularity as these other teams gained theirs. This trend became especially noticeable during Marvel’s expansion into movies.

Initially, this occurred in a piecemeal fashion, with Marvel selling the rights to its most popular titles — including the Fantastic Four — to various movie studios, allowing them to produce films based on those characters. However, the film rights for other titles, such as the Avengers, remained with Marvel. The movies released during this early period of Marvel movie adaptation varied widely in quality and appeal, with the Fantastic Four films often cited as some of the weakest.

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After establishing its own movie studio, Marvel Studios, in 1993, Marvel also got into the movie-making business using content from titles it did not license out or had gotten the rights back, including Iron Man and Hulk. Marvel Studios’ efforts eventually led to the release of Iron Man in 2008, marking the beginning of the MCU. Disney acquired Marvel a year later and invested heavily in the expansion of the MCU, whose success has been unprecedented. Indeed, as the MCU gained in popularity, so did the comic book content on which it was based.

That success, however, did not extend to the Fantastic Four, whose rights weren’t under Disney’s license, making them ineligible for inclusion in MCU films. As the spotlight shone brighter on more popular titles and characters from both creative and consumer perspectives, it was inevitable that a once-groundbreaking series like the Fantastic Four would fade into the background. Indeed, as with their early film productions, the effort on the comic side has failed to reignite interest despite the fact that the team was at times under the creative direction of some giants in the field, including John Byrne, Tom DeFalco, and Jonathan Hickman. They were not enough to stop the more than a few Marvel fans from ridiculing it as one of Marvel’s most forgettable groups.

Fantastic Four 2025 – Is it “Cloberrin’ Time” Again?

Their long-awaited arrival in the MCU promises to unlock exciting new storytelling possibilities and reconnect the franchise with its foundational roots in Marvel Comics continuity. Now that Disney has regained the rights to the characters, it’s clear the studio is positioning the team for a more prominent role within the MCU. With growing signs of “superhero fatigue” surrounding the Avengers and X-Men, the timing might be perfect for a fresh dose of family-oriented superpowered fun.

Assuming its entry into the MCU does well, the Fantastic Four film should significantly re-popularize the team’s brand with the public, boosting the comic book franchise. But even if it doesn’t, the Fantastic Four should still be considered Marvel’s flagship team. Not only were they Marvel’s first superhero group, but with over 700 issues spanning more than 60 years, their stories uniquely balance wonder, intellect, and heart in a way no other Marvel team can replicate or replace.

The post The Fantastic Four Should Be Marvel’s Main Team (So Why Aren’t They?) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel has created so many incredible characters since they launched their superhero comics in the early 1960’s, including their heroines. As the years have gone on, those heroines have been some of their best and most powerful characters ever put to the page and have had an impactful history. With so many amazing characters, we want to look at their best heroines and see how they’ve stood the test of time. With hundreds of characters it was hard to pick a few but we went through and ranked the five best heroines in all of Marvel comics. It was no easy task but these are the characters the best represent Marvel as a whole.

The X-Men alone could have their own list of best heroines, but Marvel is so much more than the X-Men and so are Marvel’s heroines. Taking into account power, scale, cultural relevance, popularity and legacy, these are the best of the best among Marvel’s female heroes. Let’s take a look.

5) Captain Marvel

Starting off is Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel herself. Originally known as Ms. Marvel and a female counterpart to Mar-Vell the original Captain Marvel, Carol has gained more power and a lot more character to stand on her own in the years since her debut. With a small stint with the X-Men as Binary and a lot of run-ins with the Avengers, Carol has transformed herself into one of the premiere power houses of the Marvel universe and for good reason.

Once she took the mantle of Captain Marvel, Carol went from just any regular Avenger to a frequent leader of the team. Not being afraid to speak her mind and do the right thing, Carol’s stubborness is one of her strengths as a character. Willing to do what she thinks is necessary is what makes her so much fun as a character and her having the power to back herself up just tops it off.

4) She-Hulk

After being shot by a mobster, Jennifer Walter was saved by a life saving blood transfusion by her cousin Bruce Banner. Due to her cousin being the Incredible Hulk, she was then transformed into the Sensational She-Hulk. Initially created as a gender swapped Hulk, Jennifer became so much more than that. With a much funnier personality and the ability to joke around with her fellow heroes, she became a popular staple for the Avengers and a substitute for The Thing in the Fantastic Four on more than a few occasions.

In a way to make the character catch a lot more attention after a few solo attempts John Byrne gave her the ability to break the fourth wall. Already as strong as her cousin and a lot more confident as a character, giving her the ability to laugh and converse with the audience is one of her biggest strengths while also having the ability to be serious when the situation arises. Throwing all of these elements together you get a whole lot more than a genderbent Hulk, you get a character that can carry a series all by herself and still give the fans what they want.

3) Jean Grey/Phoenix

Jean Grey originally debuted as the fifth and “final” member of the original lineup of the X-Men. Once described as the least powerful member of the team would later become at the time the most powerful cosmic entity in the universe 100 issues later. With the awesome power of the Phoenix, Jean Grey became a standout member of the X-Men from issues #101-129 of The Uncanny X-Men until she became corrupted and turned into the Dark Phoenix. With the saga of both Phoenix and Dark Phoenix, Jean was out of the picture for a while until her triumphant albeit confusing return in X-Factor #1 in 1986.

Whether it’s from her various times as Phoenix or not, Jean is one of the most unique characters in the X-Men. Going from being initially the least powerful member and eye candy for the boys Chris Claremont completely overhauled her and made her the most powerful being in the universe. That and added with her conflicting emotions of not being in control of her power and wanting to have a simple life with Cyclops added more than she was ever perceived as. Having her return later on, Jean’s friendship with Storm became a huge part of her dynamic leading her to some of the highest status moments she’s ever had and is absolutely deserved. Jean carries the world on her shoulders while having the time to fight her own struggles and it shows how incredible she really is.

2) The Invisible Woman

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, is the heart of the Fantastic Four and Marvel’s first lady so to speak. Debuting in Fantastic Four #1 by the greats Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, Sue set the stage for heroines in Marvel comics and is the blueprint. While she’d later go on to become the wife of Mister Fantastic, she stood as her own character with motivations in saving the world and not trying to be a love interest which broke down a lot of barriers for women in comics. I think it’s safe to say every heroine in Marvel wouldn’t exist without her.

While not looking like it, Sue is the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four. With her abilities to create a bubble in your brain in a fight, she can be quite the lethal force if she chooses so. Her choice in remaining as a hero and a mom is what separates her from the rest. Being compassionate for her family is what drives her as a likeable character; she wants to see the good in everyone and will do anything to help them achieve it. The ability to balance her very different family life as Sue Storm is just as impactful as being the Invisible Woman.

1) Storm

What hasn’t Ororo Munroe done at this point? Become the leader of the X-Men? Check. Help save the world from world-ending threats? Check? Briefly be granted her powers back by becoming an Asgardian? Check. Become the Queen of Wakanda? Check. We celebrate Storm on her 50th anniversary as one of the best heroines in not just all of Marvel but all comics. Having started as a new recruit to the X-Men featured in Giant-Size X-Men, Storm has risen above and beyond the ranks, and that’s what earns her the top spot on the list.

Storm has created one of the greatest legacies in all of comics and not just Marvel. Being one of the most powerful members of the X-Men right off the bat is an incredible feat to have alone. Later rising up the ranks as leader without her powers is another to prove how much she can be trusted. Storm is also one of the best teachers of the group. Having come from the streets as a child and losing her powers at a point, she has seen the dark side of life but still powered on like nothing happened. Facing Loki with the promise of getting her powers back and denying them shows how much she will work for what she wants. Storm is a natural leader and will make sure everyone will reach their true potential and that’s what gets her the top spot on this list.

That wraps up our list the greatest Marvel heroines ranked, is there anyone we missed? Let us know in the comments.

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The X-Men’s biggest problem has never been the hatred of mutants or the evil actions of supervillains, but their own inability to advance. It feels like every couple of years the X-Men move through the same plot points and the same arcs, only to be reset back to square one each time. This is of course a problem for every comic book character in some shape or form, but it is especially bad for the X-Men, who spend years carving out an exciting new direction in the face of tragedy, adversity, or hope, only for it all to be immediately thrown back to the comfortable status quo. And nearly every time Marvel resets them, they do so using Jean Grey. Jean is Marvel’s mutant reset button, both emotionally and physically and it’s something that is holding the X-Men back.

Jean is an Emotional Crutch

Jean Grey, especially with the original team, is the heart of the X-Men. She is more often than not the team’s emotional center, being the one everyone can turn to when they need a shoulder to cry on, or someone to understand them. She is phenomenally caring character, who is always there to support her friends and those that she cares for. Most prominently, she and Cyclops are known to have one of the best relationships in Marvel, however, this is perhaps the biggest point where Jean is consistently used to reset a standard. Jean and Scott are Marvel’s premier love story, so they constantly want the two together, but at the same time they repeatedly tear Jean away. These periods always follow the same pattern, where Jean disappears and Scott moves on, such as with Madelyne Pryor and Emma Frost, only for Jean to return and for Scott’s other relationship to immediately fall apart as he runs back to Jean. This has resulted in massively controversial and out of character decisions, such as Scott and Madelyne’s marriage falling apart and Emma and Scott never resolving their own relationship before it was thrown under the rug and forgotten about. 

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Of course, the other most famous example of Jean’s existence resetting someone’s emotions is Wolverine. When he first joined the X-Men, there was a plot point of Wolverine developing feelings for Jean, which were decidedly unreciprocated.  Eventually Wolverine moved on from Jean, developing several other relationships that were both much healthier and far less hated by fans. And yet, every time Jean returns from some convoluted absence, Wolverine almost immediately goes back to harboring intense love for her, which drags up the same tired, old love triangle that nobody really likes. These emotional resets always coincide with a break in the other person’s character, with Wolverine or Cyclops throwing away years of character development to go back to devoting themselves entirely to Jean. Of course, while these moments are annoying, what Marvel does with Jean on a cosmic scale is much worse.

Jean Always Signals a Return to the Comfortable

Take a look at every time Jean returns from the dead and what that does to the X-Men. Prior to the retconing of her original death, Cyclops had happily retired from superheroing and was living with his wife and son, and the rest of the original X-Men were members of other prominent superhero teams. Then Jean returns, and all of that is thrown away for the formation of X-Factor, which saw the original team reconnect. Then Jean died again, and soon after there was the ever so classic storyline of the Phoenix Force returning and corrupting one of the X-Men, thus leading to a beloved character’s tragic death, except this time it was Cyclops killing Professor X. And again at the end of the Krakoan age, it is Jean who restores all of the mutants’ lives, which inadvertently leads to the island of Krakoa ascending to a higher realm. This, against many fans’ wishes, brought the X-Men back to a much more familiar style of heroics, which although I think was for the best for the team, is seen by many as a step backwards yet again.

These are just a scant few examples of how Marvel always uses Jean as a reset button for its mutant characters. So many pivotal moments are defined either by Jean’s death, her return, or something relating to the Phoenix Force. Jean is an incredible character who deserves to be treated as such, but so often she is downgraded to the “person that makes the change that undoes everything” in the X-Men comics. Now, for the first time, Jean is on her own in her own title, and perhaps this means we will get to see Jean be allowed to grow as her own character, instead of being defined as a bulldozer for others.

The post Face It, The X-Men Never Truly Evolve (And It’s All Jean Grey’s Fault) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The X-Men rose to prominence in the ’80s, with multiple books grabbing the attention of readers. The team was at a creative peak as well, with brilliant creators like Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Marc Silvestri, Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne, Paul Smith, and many others giving readers amazing stories. The X-Men were Marvel’s most complicated characters, and the success of the ’80s led the X-Men to some of their greatest stories ever. Then the ’90s happened. On the one hand, saleswise, the X-Men were at the height of their powers, easily beating every other Marvel and DC Comics on the stands. Creatively, things weren’t nearly as good, but this was the case for the vast majority of Marvel comics in the decade of extreme. The X-Men can be pretty overrated at times, and the ’90s are a perfect example of that — they were the bestselling books, but they weren’t always the best books.

However, that doesn’t meant there aren’t some great stories from the ’90s. The X-Men books had some amazing artists, and while some of the writers aren’t exactly beloved, they did a great job at times. Looking at the X-Men books in the ’90s, there are definitely some diamonds in the rough, stories that gave readers the kind of action they desired from the team. These ten X-Men stories are the best of the ’90s, and still stand up to this day.

10) “Onslaught”

“Onslaught” doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to superhero comics, but I’ve always felt the hatred for it was overstated. “Onslaught” is prime Marvel event cheese, a well crafted story that did everything that it promised it would do. Onslaught was a cool villain idea, and definitely presented a challenge for the heroes of the Marvel Universe. Onslaught taking over New York City and sending the Sentinels against the heroes made for some exciting stories, and the Uncanny X-Men and X-Men issues were especially good, as were the bookend issues. Seriously, go back and read Onslaught: X-Men #1 and Onslaught: Marvel Universe #1. They are everything you could want out of Marvel event comics, and if you read the “Phases” issues (there were two type of chapters of “Onslaught” — the main issues were called “Phases” and the less important were called “Impacts”), you’re going to get a pretty good story.

9) “The X-Cutioner’s Song”

1992 was a bad year for the X-Men. Jim Lee, Whilce Potracio, Marc Silverstri, and Rob Liefeld left the X-Men office to found Image Comics. This was a massive blow, because the X-Men line had been built around them the moment that Chris Claremont left. However, Marvel had a plan and “X-Cutioner’s Song” was the cure for losing their biggest talents. Professor X is shot with a techno-organic virus by Cable, with the various X-Men teams scrambling to find the mutant soldier and X-Force. However, things are much more complicated than all of that, and by the time the smoke clears, the true identity of Stryfe is revealed and Apocalypse has come back. “X-Cutioner’s Song” is pure ’90s X-Men goodness, a well drawn story with some big shocking moments. It stands on the shoulders of giants to give readers a cool story, with some killer art from Andy Kubert, Brandon Peterson, Greg Capullo, and Jae Lee. It’s not the best written story, but it’s still a great ride.

8) “X-Tinction Agenda”

In a lot of ways, “X-Tinction Agenda” is the last gasp of the ’80s in the X-Men books despite releasing in 1990. The story saw former X-Factor ally Cameron Hodge team with the Magistrates of Genosha, along with a mind-controlled Havok, to attack the X-Men. The team, along with the New Mutants and X-Factor, jump into action, attacking Hodge in order to save their kidnapped teammates. This is an exciting X-Men story, closing out the Genosha plotlines, and has some amazing art from Jim Lee and John Bogdanove (Rob Liefeld was there too, but no one thinks his art is amazing anymore). Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson did a great job with this story, and it is one of the last great X-Men stories of the Claremont/Simonson era.

7) “Fatal Attractions”

“Fatal Attractions” is a huge turning point for the X-Men books in the ’90s. It brought back Magneto, thought dead since X-Men (Vol. 2) #3, as he prepared the world for his most devastating attack. Magneto begins trying to recruit mutants from around the world who are “worthy of Avalon”, his new space fortress. The X-Men and their allies at their lowest ebb following the death of Illyana Rasputin, and a high-level defection shocks the team. When Magneto paralyzes the world, the team springs into action, leading to one of the most important X-Men comics of the ’90s, X-Men (Vol. 2) #25. When it was all over, Magneto was mindwiped and Wolverine’s adamantium had been torn out his body. “Fatal Attractions” is pretty uneven — the only legitimately great chapters are Uncanny X-Men #304, X-Men (Vol. 2) #25, and Wolverine (Vol. 2) #75 — but those three chapters are pretty amazing, all things told. Plus, it’s one of the most important stories of the ’90s. It changed the X-Men and Marvel’s most popular hero of the ’90s for years to come.

6) “Children of the Atom”

After Claremont and Simonson left the X-Men books, the writing wasn’t the best (well, except for Wolverine (Vol. 2), which had the best writers of the X-books throughout the decade). This lasted until the later stages of the decade, when Marvel got Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle to write X-Men and Uncanny X-Men respectively. I recommend their entire run, but we’re going to focus on two stories on this list. The first of them is “Children of the Atom”, running through Uncanny X-Men #360 and X-Men #80. It kicks off with Charles Xavier, who hadn’t been seen since “Operation: Zero Tolerance”, recruiting a new team of X-Men to battle the main team. That’s pretty much the whole of the story, as the two teams of X-Men clash, resulting in a battle at the site of the X-Men’s first fight with Magneto at Cape Citadel. This story has it all — great characterization, excellent action, and gorgeous art from Chris Bachalo and Brandon Peterson. It’s a simple story, but it’s the best of the best.

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5) X-Men (Vol. 2) #53

Mark Waid had a very short run on X-Men (Vol. 2), leaving the book because of clashes with writer Scott Lobdell. His six issue run is pretty cool in general, and the best issue is X-Men (Vol. 2) #53, by Waid and Andy Kubert. Jean Grey is pulled to the Astral Plane by Onslaught, where the two of them verbally spar, as Onslaught tries to convince Jean Grey that Professor X isn’t everything she thought he was. There’s no big action in this issue, just some really cool moments between Onslaught and the patron saint of the X-Men. The art is in his issue is amazing, and is easily among the best work Kubert did on the title. This issue was so hype back in the day, as it was the first time we actually saw Onslaught, but even without all of that hype, this is still a pretty great comic.

4) “Magneto War”

“Magneto War” ran through X-Men: Magneto War #1, Uncanny X-Men #366-367, and X-Men #86-87, by Alan Davis, Fabian Nicieza, and Leinil Yu. Magneto returns, deciding to hold the world hostage by threatening to reverse the magnetic poles of the Earth. The X-Men spring into action, but they’re not the only ones, as an enemy from Magneto’s past employs Joseph to destroy the Master of Magnetism. This story kicked off Alan Davis’s sometimes maligned run as writer of Uncanny X-Men/X-Men (I’ve always enjoyed it, personally, and definitely recommend it). Davis had to tie up a lot of loose ends established over the ’90s, and this story gave readers the truth about Joseph. All in all, it’s definitely an excellent story, giving readers all of the great stuff that X-Men fans love.

3) Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #268

Chris Claremont’s run on Uncanny X-Men was winding down by the time the ’90s began, both in length and quality (X-Men group editor Bob Harras was pushing the artist’s ideas over Claremont’s own, so not every story was the best), but there are some great stories from this time. One of the best, and most legendary, is Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #268, where Claremont and artist Jim Lee teamed up to tell the story of Wolverine’s first meeting with Black Widow and Captain America. This is one of those classic stories, as it fleshed out the pasts of three of Marvel’s most important characters. It’s all-around excellent, giving readers action, adventure, and some of the best Jim Lee art of his time on Uncanny X-Men.

2) “The Hunt for Xavier”

Joe Kelly and Steve Seagle’s run on the X-books does not get nearly enough credit for just how great it is, and “The Hunt for Xavier” is a perfect example of why, which ran through Uncanny X-Men (Vol. 1) #362-364 and X-Men (Vol. 2) #82-84. The X-Men finally get some clues on where Xavier is, and find themselves facing their greatest challenge yet — the sentient Cerebro, who is also hunting down Professor X. What follows is an action packed epic, as the X-Men have to face an enemy who knows all of their weaknesses. This is peak ’90s X-Men starring the best roster of X-Men of the decade (yes, better than the Blue Team). The art by Chris Bachalo, Adam Kubert, Leinil Yu, and Pascual Ferry is excellent, bringing this mini epic to life brilliantly. This is a vastly underrated story, and every X-Men fan owes it to themself to check it out.

1) X-Men (Vol. 2) #1-3

Chris Claremont and Jim Lee’s final X-Men story together is easily the best X-Men story of the ’90s. It introduced fans to the Blue/Gold Team split, debuted the Acolytes, and made Magneto into the X-Men’s greatest enemy again, instead of his place as an ally of the team, which Claremont had developed since the ’80s. This story made millions of people X-Men fans, and remains highly ranked among X-Men stories. It can be a tad overrated at times, but it’s still a near perfect story to hand to any new fan of the team, even over thirty years later. It contains probably the best X-Men/Magneto fight of all time, and Lee’s art is the best of his decades spanning career.

What are your favorite ’90s X-Men stories? Sound off in the comments below.

The post 10 Best X-Men Stories of the ‘90s, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Predator is enjoying a resurgence in popularity after the release of Prey, its animated follow-up, Predator: Killer of Killers, and the future release of Predator: Badlands. But this triumphant return for the movie monster isn’t just relegated to the screen. The intergalactic hunters have made a return to the comics page, too, with Marvel. The latest additions to the long-running Predator and Alien crossover stories feature the alien hunting the likes of Wolverine, Black Panther, and soon enough, the entire Marvel Universe. These latest additions to the Predator legend join several others since the early ’90s that have garnered attention and delivered some fun stories.

While several classic characters from outside Marvel and DC Comics have had run-ins with the Yautja hunters, like Judge Dredd, Tarzan, and Archie, the big two’s heroes grab more eyeballs.

With the impending release of Predator Kills the Marvel Universe, we thought we’d take a stroll down memory lane and rank the best of these big two crossovers. Some of these choices shouldn’t be a surprise, including the top pick, but all of them are worth your time. Scroll down to see our choices and add them to your own list.

1) Batman vs. Predator

The original superhero crossover with the titular alien hunter was this award-winning tale from Dave Gibbons and the Kubert Brothers, Andy and Adam. It plays out a lot like Predator 2 on the big screen, with Batman in the Danny Glover role, investigating slayings by the Predator while trying to defuse a mob war.

After tussling and almost dying, Batman returns to lick his wounds and heal in the Batcave. This gives the Predator more time to run amok until Batman is out of a full-body cast and into a sonar exoskeleton to increase his strength and counter his temporary blindness. Batman battles the alien and seemingly beats it as a ship carrying other aliens arrives. Tops the list for the art alone, but it’s not a terrible story. That’s a strength shared by the second entry in the list.

2) Predator vs. Wolverine

How it took until 2023 for Wolverine to face the Predator is a big mystery. The matchup is a total win on paper that could easily have the same type of trilogy Batman ends up having. The story certainly spans enough time for Logan to fill three series, starting in 1900 in Alaska and continuing to modern-day in Canada. All aspects of Wolverine’s history come into play, with the Yautja hunting him across the decades, covering his time with Weapon X, the moment his skeleton is coated with adamantium, his time in Japan, and finally an encounter at the X-Mansion that almost leaves Professor X dead.

The 100-year showdown is brutal top to bottom, with Logan taking a beating and continuing. It ends with the Predator realizing he is outmatched, finally using his wrist bomb to take out Logan. This fails, of course, and we’re left waiting for what’s next.

3) JLA vs. Predator

To pit the Predator against the Justice League, DC Comics had to take a few extra steps to make the battle more even. When the Dominators capture the league during a space mission, a group of Predators who have been monitoring things attack and are later given powers similar to the League’s, which forces the heroes to go through some hoops to defeat the super-powered hunters.

The whole story could seem silly at times, but in the end, it is an interesting twist on the concept we’ve seen play out daily. Giving the Predator super-powers, evening the showdown a bit, is worth it to open things up to the imagination. It also fits in with other similar crossovers.

4) Batman vs. Predator II: Bloodmatch

This and the original Batman vs. Predator held an interesting place for your young author, who was just trying to find his way through the world. Where the original showdown was a stylish, simple story that hit on all cylinders, its sequel was lacking. Where the first story just pitted Batman against the hunter, this becomes a super-sized showdown where Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Huntress, and a bunch of mobsters do their best to contend with a murderous Yautja. On the other side, we have other Predator aliens that are opposing the main baddie, causing some confusion for Batman.

In the end, the murderous Yautja is killed by his species while trying to escape Earth in their ship. The pursuing ship is killed in the process, though, so it’s unclear exactly what will happen next. It’s also supremely violent for a Batman comic, which is fine.

5) Superman vs. Predator

Pitting Superman against anybody can be a chore given his superpowers. So when he stumbles upon a ship in the Central American jungle, he joins with S.T.A.R. Labs to investigate. After an alien virus does a number on him, he realizes his powers have been affected by the disease. Not only does this give us an excuse to bring the Predator in for a fight, but it also makes the showdown somewhat even. If Superman had his powers, this would be a short fight. As it stands, the series dropped with three issues back in 2000.

6) Predator vs. Black Panther

Returning to the Marvel Universe for a bit, we get the Predator invading Wakanda for its Vibranium store. Benjamin Percy has been a prime voice to bring these crossovers to the page, with each seeming to take a different route than previous groups when it comes to some of the showdowns. Where Wolverine gives the Predator a classic showdown, the Predator gets a little bit of a new directive in this hunt against Black Panther.

The main goal this time seems to be the Predator’s desire to get his people’s hands on vibranium and competition with opposing factions. T’Challa gets to show why he’s the king of Wakanda, while Shuri also shows that she can be scary when pressed, fighting the invaders. It’s damn cool and a nice companion to the classic storyline delivered with Wolveirne.

7) Predator vs. Spider-Man

The current Marvel crossover featuring Spider-Man and the titular alien hunter gives fans one of the more sadistic villains in the form of Skinner. Unlike past versions of the Predator, Skinner is a sadistic type who only seeks to inflict pain and has abandoned the clan’s honorable side to just kill and maim.

It’s all the stuff you would expect to oppose Spider-Man, who doesn’t seem like a rube waiting to be picked on by school bullies or large alien hunters. Even if it seems like he outclasses the Yautja with his powers, the battle is still fierce and requires Kraven the Hunter to return.

8) Batman vs. Predator III: Blood Ties

The third entry in the Batman vs. Predator series and the unofficial rubber match for the movie monster and the Caped Crusader. This time, Robin is along for the ride, as well as a few villains like Catwoman and Mr. Freeze. The latter’s temperature control saves his life, while Batman puts his freeze gun to good use elsewhere. It’s Batman’s actions and the way he carries himself that put this showdown to bed, with Batman blasting the creature with Freeze’s freeze gun.

Agree with our picks? Have another special story you’d like to see play out on the big screen? Let us know in the comments.

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Every now and again, DC will attempt a brand new initiative to inspire new readers to pick up comics with jumping-on points. There have been plenty of these in the past few years, from the New 52 to All-In, but one of the most overlooked and underutilized of these rebrands was the New Age of DC Heroes. Originally announced as Dark Matter, this new initiative came at the immediate conclusion of the Dark Knights: Metal event, and saw the creation of a whole new repertoire of characters and teams meant to fill some holes DC thought they had in their heroic lineups. Unfortunately, with the sole exception of The Terrifics, none of the series really took off, and the new characters have all faded into comic book obscurity. DC never gave these heroes a chance, but they definitely deserve one now.

The Failed Age of Heroes

The New Age of DC Heroes saw the introduction of a few new characters, including Sideways, Damage, Brimstone, Silencer, a new Firebrand, and a new team lineup for the Challengers of the Unknown. For this, we’ll only be focusing on the totally original characters, as legacy characters are an entirely different discussion. Still, that was four new heroes introduced, and four that ultimately failed to leave an impression. One can argue that that is in part due to their direct parallels to Marvel Comics characters, which all but set them up for failure. A big pitch for this new generation of heroes would be that they would fill holes that DC executives saw in the DC Universe lineup. Unfortunately, they were perhaps way too heavy-handed in filling those holes with Marvel lookalikes. Sideways was meant to fill a suspiciously Brian Micheal Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man sized hole, Damage’s elevator pitch sounds like a discount Hulk, Brimstone very closely resembles older Ghost Rider stories, and Silencer’s practically a more morally ambiguous Black Widow. At least, that’s what the pitch for these characters sounds like, but they are all actually very interesting characters when you look past their obvious design inspirations.

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Damage’s gimmick of turning into what is effectively the Hulk for an hour a day is inherently limiting, but his staunch love of heroes coupled with his desire to escape the life he unwittingly agreed to is a really cool set up to have. Brimstone’s mission taking him around small-town America to fight people who made Faustian bargains like him is such a creative way to introduce an infinite number of villains and characters that can dig into real social issues just as much as they can give great comic book fights. Silencer trying to balance being an assassin with having her family is a dynamic that I will always love, and will support until the day she finds a way to make it work. Personally, Sideways stuck out to me the most. He may look like Spider-Man on the surface, but his portal abilities are so cool. He starts as a somewhat stereotypical high school hero, but there’s nothing wrong with playing into tropes that work. His initial obsession with internet fame definitely felt like it was trying too hard to relate to those darn kids, but his growth near the end of his solo was so emotionally resonant and made me so excited to see more of him.

These Heroes Never Stood a Chance

Unfortunately, only Sideways managed to escape his own solo series, and even that was to join the ranks of Bendis’s Young Justice, which is widely considered to be one of the worst runs with the young hero-focused team. So, it begs the question, with these characters having so much potential, what went wrong? Well, like I said earlier, these characters got a lot of flak right out of the gate because they were so obviously designed to be counterparts to well-established Marvel heroes. Even though they are so clearly their own characters with unique stories to tell, they were constantly being compared to much more storied characters, specifically some of Marvel’s biggest names, and no new character can hope to stand up to Spider-Man or the Hulk. A lot of people wrote these new heroes off entirely before they even came out. Some were turned off by what seems like DC practically copying Marvel’s homework, while others just didn’t want to read what they assumed would be watered down versions of characters they already loved.

With such a clear comparison being drawn, the new heroes were set up for failure. The Big Two publishers borrow ideas and character archetypes from each other all the time, that’s just a part of the creative business. However, the designs here were maybe just a little bit too far for most people to feel comfortable with. Of course, not all the blame can be put on the company for these books not selling. New heroes are notorious for being hard sells with their own series, especially right out of the gate. People usually don’t like to gamble with their entertainment when the familiar and liked is right next to it, after all. DC set these guys up for failure with a bad presentation, but to promote creativity in comic books, we as readers should take some risks with new series sometimes. Even if we don’t wind up liking it, at least we’re sending the message that DC and Marvel shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. 

The post DC Never Gave These Heroes a Chance (And They Should Have) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Thor is one of Marvel’s most storied characters, having starred in multiple books and movies since his debut over 60 years ago. Thor currently stars in Immortal Thor, a name that proved to be a misnomer, since Thor dies in it. Immortal Thor has hewed much closer to Thor’s mythological roots, and writer Al Ewing promises changes to Thor in the next phase of his story with the character. Immortal Thor has been the most inventive Thor comic in ages, and has been very good, but there’s also something that feels rather stagnant about the whole thing. It’s nowhere near a bad comic, but it’s honestly been kind of predictable, and I’m not talking about the death of Thor, which the comic presaged in its opening issues.

If we’re being honest, Thor has been in a rut for a long time. As a solo character, it feels like Thor stories all sort of tread the same ground, and despite the quality of Immortal Thor, the series just feels like more of the same. Thor has become a stagnant character and there needs to be a big change. Marvel fans love Thor; he’s one of the most fun Avengers to read about, and his solo adventures have often taken fans to some amazing places. His fights are always fun to see, and he serves an important role in the Marvel Universe. However, none of that has kept him from falling into the rut he’s in. Can Marvel make Thor feel fresh again? The answer is yes, and the solution can be found in classic Marvel comics.

Thor Is a Much More Versatile Character than He Gets Credit For

Thor was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (well, created is the wrong word, but you get the drift) in Journey Into Mystery #83. One of the things you have to remember about the early Marvel Universe, as well as superhero comics in general, during the Silver Age is how much sci-fi was part of the formula. While Marvel’s Thor definitely had mythological roots, the Asgard of Jack Kirby was a futuristic paradise, and the clothes of the gods who lived there looked more like something out of a sci-fi story than the more traditional garb they wear nowadays. The original Thor stories weren’t the myth-influenced stories we’ve mostly been getting for decades now, but the kind of sci-fi stories that Kirby was known for. Kirby liked to write and draw gods for the modern day — look at his work at DC on the New Gods and the Eternals when he returned to Marvel in the ’70s — and his Thor stories all had that same taste of sci-fi to them. Kirby’s Asgard was a techno-mythological wonderland, where the gods of old used their power and brilliance to create a world unlike the one in the Edda sagas of Iceland. Over the years, the sci-fi influence of Kirby faded, and readers started to get stories that were influenced by the Norse myths than Kirby’s love of techno-gods.

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Asgard went from a futuristic Golden City to one that would be more recognizable to mythology scholars. I remember when it was announced that the MCU would make the Asgardians into aliens, and a lot of fans lost their minds. However, one of the things I loved about the Asgard of the MCU is the way that it echoed the Asgard of Kirby. The MCU captured the sci-fi flavor of Thor that the comics had left behind. I love Walt Simonson’s Thor and many of the runs that took inspiration from it, but they’ve placed Thor into a restrictive environment. Thor is an amazing cosmic character, and just keeping him around Asgard and Earth is wasting the character. There used to be a time when Thor went into space and fought the Silver Surfer. He battled Thanos and the Celestials on their home turf. He was more than just the guy who spoke Shakespearean English and constantly had to deal with the drama of his family. He was more than the King of Asgard. He was a god for the modern age, not one for the feudal age.

As In All Things Comics, Kirby Is the Answer

I loved the fact that Immortal Thor felt like an actual mythological story. While many creators go for half measures, Ewing went all the way and it was sensational. However, as good as the book is, it’s just the same kind of Thor story we’ve been getting for a long time. The last time Thor was great, it was when we had Jane Foster as Thor, and it worked so well because it was a different Thor. The Odinson can still have that kind of energy, and the answer is by doing what Kirby did.

Jack Kirby understood that sci-fi and mythology are two sides of the same coin, and he treated Thor as such. Those old Thor stories are amazing, because they found a way to be ancient and modern. We need more of that from Thor. Thor is sometimes thought of the Superman of the Marvel Universe (not counting the many Superman analogues in the Marvel Universe), and Superman stories go in all sorts of directions. It’s time to get back to Thor doing that. Leave Asgard and the Norse stuff alone for a while. Thor is bigger than all of that, and can work in any kind of story. Creators just need to embrace the creative energy that brought us the character in the first place.

Do you want Thor to evolve? Sound off in the comments below.

The post I Hope Marvel Finally Does Something to Evolve Thor as a Character appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Comic books are a very special medium, unique in a sense that they can convey a story like no other medium can. Where novels rely exclusively on words, art is almost entirely image-based, and movies and TV shows and the like have limitations based on a hundred factors, comic books blend the freest parts of words and art together to tell a story without the practical and budget limitations of moving-picture media. When the art and the words unite to tell a story that can only be told in the comic book format, the trip it takes you on is elevated a hundred times. No current comic uses the strengths and specialties of the comic book medium better than Absolute Martian Manhunter. It is a true work of genuine storytelling and mind-boggling art, which pushes every boundary of the comic book medium, and blends its two main aspects in completely stunning ways.

The Art and Story are One

Every issue of Absolute Martian Manhunter is a visual treat of the highest degree, but issue #4 perfectly encapsulates what I mean when I say that the art and story are indistinguishable from each other. The plot of the issue sees the White Martian casting a white light over the city in the middle of a heatwave, which both figuratively and literally gets people way too hot. Fights and riots and murders break out across the entire city, and all the while everything is painted in a queasy yellow background with a gross white light on them. Agent John and the Martian can’t directly treat the cause, so they do what they can to stymie the symptoms. However, as the days turn to weeks with the unlikely duo near always being out fighting this, only returning to the house to sleep, Bridget’s resentment only continues to fester.

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Again, I cannot overstate how much symbolism and plot is packed into each and every page. One page shows John standing, staring at the white sun with sunglasses on while the Martian cures two small armies of churchgoers of their anger. The only other person who isn’t fighting is a young boy, who is standing directly in John’s shadow, being protected from the sun by him. Every artistic choice is deliberate, and the biggest show of it is with the issue’s depiction of Bridget. At the start her color scheme matches whatever John’s is, but as she gets angrier and angrier, more and more of her panels show her as colored pure red, until she is only ever red. Then, when she finally confronts John about how he’s been avoiding her and is never home, both spouses are completely greyed out, showing how neither one can tell how the other feels or what they’re thinking. John’s eyes especially show this, as Bridget continuously says that she has always known John loves his family because she can see it in his eyes, but she can’t anymore, and the readers see that his eyes show exactly what the Martian is doing.

While the Martian finally manages to break whatever spell the White Martian cast on the city, husband and wife talk. Bridget lets out all of her frustrations and fears, telling John that she doesn’t even know if he loves her or their son Tyler, but now she does. This causes an explosion in John’s mind and soul as he never once ever wanted to give her reason to doubt how he felt, and it’s communicated in a breathtaking explosion of colors. She says she doesn’t know who he is anymore, and John is drawn as the Martian when he replies that he’s who he’s always been.

The Martian undoes the false sun of hate, once again casting Bridget and John in normal lighting, but all is not well. Three separate men all prepare explosive vests and head for powerplants at the same time. Bridget tells John that he should stay somewhere else for awhile, and the first explosion fills the page. She tells him she can’t live with a stranger, and the second explosion paints everything. John’s eyes go as wide and white as the false sun, and the third explosion tells you everything you need to know about his mental state. Then, with all power to the city gone, everything goes dark, just like how John and Bridget are in the dark about how they could ever move forward. The Martian reveals that this must have been the White Martian’s plan all along. The light was only a distraction, letting it drag the entire city into darkness while they were distracted. 

Absolute Martian Manhunter continues to astonish by fluidly mixing its storytelling with its art, showcasing exactly what the comic book medium is capable of. There are things that can only be expressed with words, some things that can only be expressed with images, and some that can only be fully captured when the two work together in perfect harmony. This comic book does exactly that, and I am more excited than ever to see what the next issue has in store. You definitely have to check it out for yourself, because it deserves to be seen.

Absolute Martian Manhunter #4 is on sale now!

The post Absolute Martian Manhunter Is a Perfect Fusion of Art and Story (& You Need to Check It Out) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Wonder Woman is one of the most popular and beloved characters in all of comics, being the archetypal superheroine that all others strive to live up to. She is a member of DC’s Trinity, and so stands shoulder to shoulder with Batman and Superman as the height of heroism in the DC Universe. And yet, despite her undeniable status as one of the greats, her supervillain lineup is one of the weakest in all of DC Comics. Not just that these characters are weak physically, although that is a problem for a decent portion of them, but also that her rogues gallery lacks any of the impact or staying power that Wonder Woman’s contemporaries have. Wonder Woman’s villain cast is weak, and that’s a major problem.

Wonder Woman’s Villains are Forgettable

Despite the fact that she is the most famous superheroine of all time and has stood as a core member of the Justice League since its founding, she lacks the famous rogues galleries that the superheroes around her have. Batman has possibly the most famous rogues of all time, everyone knows plenty of Superman’s enemies, and even characters like the Flash have pretty famous villains they battle against. Joker, Bane, Lex Luthor, Bizarro, Reverse Flash, Gorilla Grodd, everyone knows these supervillains, even people who aren’t fans of the character. Now take a look at who Wonder Woman fights on a regular basis. Honest to God, if I asked a random person off the street to name ten Batman villains I bet they could, but I think they’d struggle to name even five of Wonder Woman’s rogues.

This isn’t to say that Wonder Woman has zero memorable villains. Everyone who’s heard of Diana has heard of her incredible rivalry and friendship with Cheetah, and evil gods like Ares are always going to be remembered for their incredible stances against the Princess of Themyscira. There’s Grail, the daughter of Darkseid, and the Sovereign who are two newer villains I guarantee are instant classics that will be showing up in plenty of incredible Wonder Woman comics in the future. But what about the supervillains beyond them, or the classic WWII baddies she would fight? I refuse to believe the majority of people knew who Dr. Psycho was before the Harley Quinn TV show. And who are the others she traditionally fights? Well, when Tom King assembled Wonder Woman’s own version of the Sinister Six, he included some of the above classics, alongside Wonder Woman’s other memorable villains like Silver Swan and Giganta, but he also included Angle Man. Nobody knew who Angle Man was prior to King’s run.

[RELATED: Absolute Wonder Woman Was Already Great And It’s Only Getting Better]

But that’s just Tom King’s love of highlighting and reinventing obscure characters, like he did with Kite Man, right? That’s a nice thought, until you realize that when you Google Wonder Woman’s villains one of the top responses is Maxwell Lord. Wonder Woman famously only fought him once, when she snapped his neck. She has some classic villains that she goes up against, but she deserves to have a cast that is iconic like Batman’s.

Wonder Woman’s Villains are Physically Weak

One of the contributing factors to Wonder Woman’s rogues gallery being so forgettable is that a large majority of them are far weaker than a character who can go toe to toe with Superman should have to contend with. Every superhero has a laundry list of forgettable and weak villains, that’s just a byproduct of living through the Silver Age, but it really feels like Wonder Woman has a disproportionate amount of them. For every Circe there’s a Mouse Man, Hypnota, and Doctor Poison. I’m not saying that any of these villains are bad characters, I love all of them, but the majority of them are far from physical matches for Wonder Woman. Most are nowhere even close to approaching her level of strength.

It also really seems like Wonder Woman has a disproportionate amount of sorcerers, necromancers, and mind controllers in her gallery. The majority of her villains lack the ability to hit as hard as Wonder Woman. That’s not inherently a bad thing. After all, Superman is renowned for his unmatched strength, and his greatest enemy is Lex Luthor, who is a normal man in terms of power. However, the Man of Steel has dozens of villains who can match him blow for blow. Wonder Woman doesn’t. Besides the standouts like gods and Cheeta, I fully believe a more street-level hero like Batman could defeat about eighty percent of Wonder Woman’s villains. When you’re a hero as strong as Wonder Woman, that’s a clear sign you’re being underutilized.

Wonder Woman is one of the strongest and most skilled fighters in the DC Universe, but she rarely gets a chance to show what she can do. That is entirely the fault of her villains, the majority of which work best from behind the scenes, and would crumble from less than three hits from the Princess of the Amazons. She deserves to fight people as iconic and tough as she is, but she almost always has to settle for less with her rogues gallery. Wonder Woman needs a revamp of her villains, or at least for them to get major boosts to their power and charisma. There’s plenty of potential in all of them, it just has to be unleashed.

The post Wonder Woman Has the Weakest Villains in DC (& That’s a Problem) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Hulk is the strongest one there is, and he smashes any and all who stand in his way. Be they man, monster, or celestial being, the Incredible Hulk will always find a way to be strong enough to bring them down. This even extends to when he battles against actual gods, which has been shown plenty of times during his clashes with Thor and Hercules. Sometimes, however, the Hulk shows us not just that he can go toe to toe with the strongest in the multiverse, but reminds us exactly what being the strongest there is means. Hulk’s power goes beyond normal strength, and when he cuts loose, he demonstrates feats equivalent to just about any god out there. Here are five times that the Hulk’s unfathomable strength made him practically indistinguishable from a god.

1) Shook the Multiverse with A Punch

The U-Foes are some of the Hulk’s most classic foes. The team was a group of power-hungry friends that sought to recreate the spaceflight that gave the Fantastic Four their powers. Bruce Banner attempted to avert this launch, which made the U-Foes swear eternal vengeance on Puny Banner and his green alter ego. In The Incredible Hulk #304, the Hulk was transported to a different dimension by Doctor Strange, where he encountered the U-Foes once again. Ironclad, the member with the ability to control his own density and with strength that rivaled the Hulk’s, immediately rushed him. The two heavyweights clashed, and the force of their blows reverberated across every single dimension. The Hulk had assistance with this feat, but the strength required to send a shockwave across literally infinite dimensions is unfathomable, and definitely shows just how strong these two monsters are.

2) Ripped Apart the Cosmos with a Clap

The Incredible Hulk #126 sees the Hulk once again transported to a different dimension against his will, which seems to happen to the hero an awful lot. This time, he was transported by a group of cultists, who wanted the Hulk to fight the villain Night-Crawler, unrelated to the heroic mutant. The two had a long, drawn out fight that finally ended when Night-Crawler launched a sonic blast at the Jade Giant, which he deflected with a clap. Except the Hulk didn’t just deflect the sonic attack, the force of his thunderous boom tore apart the very cosmos around them, leaving only the rock they stood on. And he did all of that on accident, not knowing his own strength! 

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3) World Breaker Hulk

The World War Hulk storyline was the result of Marvel’s own group of morally grey and way too smart heroes, the Illuminati, jettisoning the Hulk into space because they felt he was too dangerous to let live on Earth. Long story short, he wound up taking over a gladiator-style planet and launching a revenge-fueled invasion of Earth after his ship exploded and killed his wife. Hulk tore through some of Marvel’s strongest heroes with ease that even he never showed before. He crippled Doctor Stranges’s hands, sent the unstoppable Juggernaut flying, and went blow for blow with the Sentry. At the end, however, he learned that his friend and servant Miek allowed the ship to explode to reignite the Hulk’s rage to conquer and destroy. The Hulk was angrier than he’d ever been before, radiating pure gamma energy, and with a single step sent an earthquake across the entire United States. He screamed for Iron Man to take him down before his rage destroyed the world, and he did, but the Hulk very nearly tore a continent apart with a step. If he had thrown a punch, I can’t imagine the destruction that’d been left behind.

4) Punched Through Time

Most of the Hulk’s life is people throwing him around to do whatever it is they want, I’m noticing, which is definitely enough to make anybody mad. The Incredible Hulk #135 saw Kang the Conquerer get in on this action. Wanting to go back in time and finally destroy the Avengers for good, Kang attempted to travel far into the past, only to find himself repelled by a storm in the timestream. Undeterred, Kang realized he only needed someone with enough power to smash through the storm, and there’s no one better at smashing than the Incredible Hulk. Kang convinced Hulk that doing what he said would help rid himself of Puny Banner for good, and the green behemoth agreed without hesitation. Kang launched the Hulk into the timestream, right before the raging storm, but unlike the would-be conqueror, Hulk punched his way through the blockade with next to no effort. Everyone talks about the absurdity of Superboy-Prime punching reality, but nobody acknowledges equally insane feats like the Hulk punching through time. It’s not as insane as the retcon punch, but he did literally punch time so hard it let him through! That deserves some kudos.

5) The Hulk Below All

All of these anecdotes have covered times when the Hulk has shown power similar to that of a god, but this is the time when the Hulk was actually God. The being that rules the entirety of Marvel Comics is the One Above All, their version of God, but while He is pure love and the spirit of heroism, He is not without rage. The Immortal Hulk storyline showed us a thankfully averted timeline where the very manifestation of the One Above All’s rage, the One Below All, merged with the Hulk to bring an end to all of existence. The Hulk was His avatar, the mortal shell that allowed Him to wreck His rage across the endless cosmos that He created with His own hands. The One Below All is the One Above All’s very own Hulk, and thus our loveable green Hulk was chosen to be His hand of hatred. The Hulk was quite literally God and brought an end to everything. This is without a doubt his strongest form of all time, and the time when he smashed more than anyone or anything ever.

So there we have four times when the Incredible Hulk was basically everything but a god, and one time when he actually was one. If this list proves anything, it’s that Hulk is not someone that you ever want to be on the bad side of. Which of these moments was your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 5 Times The Hulk Was Basically A God appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Doctor Doom has decided that if the Avengers won’t bend to his will, then he’ll need his own version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. That’s how we wound up with the Superior Avengers, a group of mysterious characters from the future who all borrow the monikers of established villains. There is a greater mystery behind these “heroes” that continues to play out in Superior Avengers, but what fans have really wanted to see is what happens when the impostor Avengers meet the real deal. That highly anticipated matchup is finally happening; the only question is who will walk away alive. WARNING: Spoilers for Superior Avengers #3 below.

Superior Avengers #3 is by Steve Foxe, Luca Maresca, Mattia Iacono, Kyle Hotz, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Cory Petit. It picks up in the bedroom of Doctor Doom’s son, Kristoff Vernard, who just had a sexual tryst with the leader of the Superior Avengers, Killmonger. She has a complicated history with Victor Von Doom, whom the Superior Avengers blame for ruining their future. While they pretend to serve Doom, the Superior Avengers are secretly working to assassinate him for ruining their world in the future.

Kristoff and Killmonger are interrupted by Doctor Octopus, who says that Graviton has escaped from the Raft. The Superior Avengers head off to Detroit to detain Graviton, but the real Avengers are already on the scene.

The Avengers vs. Superior Avengers: Who Will Win?

Graviton boasts that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves since it’s taking two Avengers teams to defeat him. Captain Marvel says this isn’t going to be one of those times where the heroes fight each other while the bad guy gets away. Killmonger counters that they’re taking Graviton back to Latveria with them, but there’s enough room in Doom’s dungeons for anyone who opposes his rule.

With that setup, we see the two teams square off. Scarlet Witch matches up with Onslaught, and she takes offense to this person wearing Magneto’s helmet in front of her. Onslaught says that while Scarlet Witch doesn’t know them, it was her family that sealed mutantkind’s fate. She retaliates by literally ripping Onslaught in half.

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Sam Wilson’s Captain America faces Abomination, and the villain’s green armor and shield bring back bad memories of Secret Empire‘s Hydra Cap. Captain Marvel attempts to help Iron Man stop Graviton, but she’s interrupted by an attacking Killmonger. Their scuffle is where we learn Killmonger carries an Adamantium blade that was meant for the Black Panther. Vision rushes to aid Iron Man, but his sensors are picking up an anomaly with Abomination. When Vision is confronted by Ghost, his eye rays blast a hole through her. Visions says he didn’t intend to mortally harm her, and his blast wasn’t calibrated to deal a lethal blow. However, that doesn’t take away from the gaping hole in Ghost.

“As for deciding the roster, one of the first characters I landed on was a new female Killmonger, who I thought had a lot of potential to introduce a new dynamic to that legacy—and maybe even go toe to toe with a certain princess,” Superior Avengers writer Steve Foxe told ComicBook ahead of the title’s launch.

He continued, “My hope was to subvert expectations with some of these names, and to surprise readers with what they actually get when they hear ‘Abomination’ or ‘Onslaught.’ I don’t want to spoil too much about any of them, but exploring their unique voices has been a huge chunk of the fun on the book, especially since Luca knocked all of their designs out of the park, pretty much on the first try.”

I’d say expectations were definitely subverted. Readers still don’t know the real reason why the Superior Avengers want Doctor Doom dead, or why they’re pretending to be on his side. Also, are Onslaught and Ghost dead, or are the Avengers being tricked? My money is on this being a ploy by the Superior Avengers, but you never know.

The post Doctor Doom’s Avengers Finally Clash With the Real Avengers, and There’s Some Major Deaths appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Death is a fixture of superhero comics. Once a taboo subject that would lead to compelling stories, the deaths of both major and minor characters have become par for the course. With fans making bets for how long it’ll take for the dearly departed to return, death has become a largely a normalized plot device. While very seldom the death of superheroes stick, some characters return quicker than others much to the dismay of a lot of readers wanting a lasting impact with repercussions. Whether it was for a decade or as little as a few months, there are characters we all knew from the outset simply wouldn’t stay dead.

Becoming popularized by the infamous “The Death of Superman” storyline, many characters would follow suit with their own “Death of” titles. Whether it’s for an upcoming storyline or for a sales boost, the tactic has overstayed its welcome as a plot device and here are six instances of big deaths that we knew wouldn’t last.

1) Superman

Starting off strong with the one that kickstarted the trend, “The Death of Superman” was one of DC’s biggest storylines of the 90’s. This is the best story on the list and it makes sense why. Introducing a new extreme threat for the Man of Steel to stop and die in the process of doing so gave DC a huge hit. Being in the speculator market era with various polybagged covers, it was a huge event to sell to everyone with one drawback: did anyone actually think he was gone for good? It would be insane to kill him off for good.

With weird happenings all over Metropolis and the Fortress of Solitude, the writing was on the wall. Follow that with the emergence of four replacement “supermen”, the real was bound to return and he would. In hindsight seeing the sales boost from this it’s no wonder they followed suit with “Knightfall” over in Batman despite not killing him. This story however works for Superman and Superman only while everything other major hero death since has felt cheap for the most part.

2) Batman

In the events of Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis event, Batman was seemingly killed by Darkseid in issue #6. The death was a bit of an outlier as, for a moment, It did seem possible that Batman really had perished but somehow Batman would survive. Instead of striking Batman with his omega beams, Darkseid instead used the omega sanction which sent him back through time.He also created a clone of Batman and the charred remains were the skeleton the audience saw making people believe the hero was dead. But, this is Batman, one of the biggest heroes in popular culture so we all knew this woudln’t last. It would be revealed one issue later that Batman was alive and stuck with some cavemen in the past. He would of course return properly a little over a year later.

3) Wolverine

Written in 2015 during the no X-Men or Fantastic Four era of Marvel Comics, Wolverine was killed off in The Death of Wolverine. Through losing his healing factor and fighting off one of the men who gave him adamantium, Wolverine was suffocated as he was covered in the molten metal. It was a tragic and controversial end for Logan that was not super popular. However as Secret Wars was on the horizon we would have two Wolverine titles during that time in the form of All-New Wolverine following Laura Kinney as Wolverine and a new Old Man Logan title with a version of Logan still around. That alone was a clue that it was only a matter of time before Wolverine returned properly — and he did. In 2018 fans would get their wish as Logan came back from the dead and has been back to his usual self since then.

4) Ms. Marvel

In an attempt to save Mary Jane Watson, Ms. Marvel was killed as she shape shifted into Mary Jane. It was a tragic moment for fans of Kamala Khan who in her short time was a very popular hero. Kamala’s death was a huge loss to all who loved her and for many, Ms. Marvel was one of the best Marvel creations in recent years. Until they turned around and brought her back to life as a mutant just a few months later. Previously an Inhuman, it was the character’s co-creator G. Willow Wilson who revealed she was supposed to be a mutant from the start but was denied due to the mutant embargo. Killing off — and then bringing back — Kamala paved the way for the character to get that pivotal reset of sorts. She stayed dead for a month or two until it was announced she was back.

This particular death was met with a lot of concerns with the big one being “what was that point?” It was revealed a bit prior that Wilson’s intent for Kamala to be a mutant is why she became a mutant in the Ms. Marvel television series and to make the comics reflect that Kamala was killed for the span of a week in the universe, give or take. Now that she’s back and an X-Men all is good but the event itself still leaves a sour taste for many, particularly since it’s a death that everyone knew wouldn’t really stick.

5) The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)

In 2011 Marvel did the unthinkable and killed the Human Torch in Jonathan Hickman’s legendary run. Acting as a climax of sorts to the story, Johnny would sacrifice himself to save the rest of his family from a horde of Negative Zone creatures. With no way to save himself, the loveable goof of the team was gone. With that as the end to issue #587, the series saw the aftermath his death and how everyone grieved in #588 which ended the series for the time.

While Spider-Man joined in place of the Human Torch at Johnny’s request, there’s no way Marvel actually killed the fan favorite right? You would be correct, so much so that Johnny never actually died and was still stuck in the Negative Zone being revived constantly. While the characters believed him to have died, we the audience didn’t. The lack of believability ultimately lessened the emotional weight of losing the beloved member of the Fantastic Four for fans.

6) Literally any member of the X-Men

Who hasn’t died in the X-Men? Almost everyone in the X-Men at the very least once. If you’re Jean Grey, that number is too high. At any point in the X-Men’s history someone will be dead or recently returning from dead, it’s that common for them. What’s a devastating action for any character that dies and returns is tough as is, but for the X-Men that’s what they call Wednesday. It has become so popular they figured out a way to revive themselves constantly when they were in Krakoa. It’s gotten so ridiculous that no X-Men death has any real stakes anymore. Fans just don’t buy it, and for good reason.

What are some of the other death in comics you know wouldn’t stick? Let us know down in the comments.

The post 6 Superhero Deaths We Knew Wouldn’t Stick appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Batman is a symbol of hope and someone who fights crime for those the justice system has failed. It’s those failures that helped create Batman as it is. With the ever present trauma of his parents murder and wanting to fight his “never-ending war” on crime, Bruce Wayne has endured a lot in his life. But while the character has a long history of suffering, mental health awareness has come more to the forefront in society in recent years and, as such, there’s been more examination of Batman’s own need for some therapy. Indeed, there are more than enough times Bruce Wayne should have just paid for a couple of sessions to work through is issues, but instead he takes to the streets of Gotham and fights criminals as a way to grieve.

While Batman going to therapy would probably change a lot about the character and radically reshape some of his iconic stories (and the title would most likely turn into a superhero version of The Sopranos) there are key moments where it would have helped the vigilante greatly to get some help. Here are five times Batman should have called a therapist, but just fought bad guys instead.

1) The Death of Jason Todd

One of the most impactful deaths for Batman came with Jason Todd’s death at the hands of the Joker. After Dick Grayson while Jason’s time as Robin was short lived his death would haunt Batman for decades and for good reason: it was a particularly gruesome demise. If being beaten to death by a crowbar wasn’t enough, a warehouse exploding on top of the kid will do that. With nothing to lose Batman hunted down and planned to kill the Joker right after the event. The combined might of Superman and the fact that Joker was parading around as an Iranian Ambassador to get diplomatic immunity prevented Batman from getting his justice-wrapped revenge. Batman quit the pursuit and returned to Gotham with a darker edge towards petty criminals.

While Joker may have used the crowbar for the actual act, it was the fans of the book who pulled the metaphorical trigger. The same people who loved Batman at the time also had the ball in their court to give him the second most traumatic event besides his parents deaths. It created the darker eras of Batman to come and perfectly set up the excellent “Under the Red Hood” storyline in 2005. It’s hard to image now that Jason was once unpopular but without this story we would have never gotten Red Hood, though it would certainly be interesting to see how Batman’s relationship with his resurrected son would be different had the Dark Knight sought some help in the first place.

2) Becoming Batman to Begin With

The death of Martha and Thomas Wayne is the catalyst that lead young Bruce Wayne to later become the Batman. It’s perhaps the most well-known and iconic heroic origin story ever and it’s one that has stood the test of time, having been set in place since the Golden Age of comics as well as retold in “Batman: Year One”. It’s a core staple of the character we all know and love but maybe instead of growing up to travel the world, training to ultimately become Batman, he should have asked Alfred to take him to a therapist. Or, since Bruce was just a child, maybe Alfred should have signed him up for therapy himself.

A young Bruce Wayne that got the needed emotional support following the death of his parents doesn’t necessarily lead to a world without Batman, either. It just might lead to a very different approach for the Dark Knight, one that could be really cool to see explored.

3) The Gotham War

Where do I even begin with Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War? Following a lot of trauma for Batman during the back-to-back arcs of “Failsafe” & “Bat-Man of Gotham” something in Bruce snapped. Later revealed to have been subliminal messaging from Zur-En-Arrh, a twisted version of Batman, Bruce to lost his mind and proceed to go to war with Catwoman. Disregarding everything Selina had said to Bruce with her method of keeping Gotham safe by reducing crime, Bruce decided to wage war on everyone she aligned herself with and most of the Bat-Family. It was not a good look for him and with him losing his hand right before things popped off he should have taken some time off and maybe talked to someone about it all. Losing a limb alone should have been enough to prompt that, honestly.

With a lot of mixed reviews of the event, this goes down as one of Bruce’s more memorable flipouts. Whether Chip Zdarsky had planned for Bruce being out of character during the event or not or was retconned due to backlash is up for debate. What is for sure is Bruce was deeply struggling at point and he desperately needed help. Thankfully he got help from his family a few arcs later and a little too conveniently, it worked out for the Dark Knight. Still, a sit-down with a professional would have been very useful.

4) Cold Days

“Cold Days” by Tom King has the potential to be one of the biggest cult classics from King’s run. With the premise of 12 Angry Men, Bruce Wayne realizes he screwed up and beat up Mr. Freeze wrongfully. Buying his way onto the jury as Bruce Wayne, he slowly gets the court to believe Freeze’s innocence. What spawned the outburst from Batman? Being left at the altar by Catwoman during the Wedding (or lack thereof) issue. He was in so much more pain the he normal and took it out on Freeze. Not a cool moment from Bats.

King’s run on Batman is divisive for a lot of reasons but despite a lot of the hate, this story remains a surprisingly positive point for everyone. It stands out as a story where we follow Bruce as Bruce Wayne rather than Batman, which we need more of in general. It also might be the closest to emotional awareness that we really see from the character. “Cold Days” is a quick and easy read in King’s run with just three issues and a precise story, it makes for one of the most unique stories the Dark Knight’s ever had. But I’m sure Freeze would agree therapy would have been better than getting his butt whooped by Batman having a black suit Spider-Man moment.

5) Killing the Joker(?) in The Killing Joke

The most cryptic ending to any Batman story, Batman: The Killing Joke is a firm staple for fans of Batman. After Joker nearly fridges Barbara Gordon leading her to become Oracle, Batman is sent over the edge with the Joker. Coming out just mere months before “Death in the Family” this was the first time in 1988 where Batman almost killed the Joker (supposedly.) The shadowy panel of Batman putting his hands on the Joker has been interpreted a plethora of ways. Personally I think it looks like Batman may have gone to strangle the Joker or even kill him. No matter, Joker did survive despite how you read the book and that should have a wakeup call for Batman. After this, Batman should have taken his young sidekicks out of action and sat himself down to talk about his own feelings as well. It could have changed a lot of things for the character — and those in his orbit.

What do you think, should Batman seek therapy? Why or why not? Let us know down in the comments.

The post 5 Times Batman Should Have Sought Therapy (But Fought Bad Guys Instead) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With such a comedic and fun personality, it’s easy to forget that Spider-Man faces off against some truly evil and monstrous villains that would make even the bravest of heroes’ skin crawl. From horrific lab experiments to sadistic serial killers, Spider-Man has some of Marvel’s scariest villains as members of his rogue’s gallery. Some of these villains torture and maim indiscriminately. In contrast, others have all their hatred and cruelty targeted towards Peter and his loved ones. Many of them have left Spider-Man broken or forever changed by the nightmares he endured, but that still doesn’t stop him from getting back up to fight these monsters.

These are the villains Spider-Man has fought with the most chilling abilities, designs, and personalities.

10) Morlun

Morlun is a being feared not just by Peter Parker but by every Spider-person in the multiverse for his unending hunger. A member of a group of vampire-like creatures known as the inheritors, Morlun and his kind feed on the life forces of people with animal powers, with a particular taste for those with spider powers. With his incredible strength and immortality, Morlun has nearly killed Spider-Man on multiple occasions. And even when Morlun is defeated, it’s only a matter of time before he returns for another hunt.

9) Vermin

Edward Whelan was a genetic scientist who Baron Zemo used as a lab rat for his experiments. These experiments would turn Edward into a feral rat/human hybrid known as Vermin, who wanted nothing more than to eat human flesh. Now living in the sewers, Vermin grabs unsuspecting victims and drags them into the tunnels below to devour them. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, he can also telepathically command swarms of disease-ridden rats to do his bidding. 

8) Paperdoll

A lesser-known villain, Piper Dali, aka Paperdoll, is still utterly terrifying. As her name suggests, Paperdoll can flatten her body out to be as thin as paper, an ability she uses to slip through narrow spaces, blend in with her surroundings, and make her hands razor-sharp. She can also make other people similarly two-dimensional by draining them of all their organs. Furthermore, she is an obsessive fangirl who uses her powers to stalk her favorite actor and kill anyone who gets too close to him.

7) Demogoblin

When the Hobgoblin tried selling his soul to the demon N’astirh in exchange for power, N’astirh instead decided to have another demon take over the supervillain’s body. This demon was soon exorcised from Hobgoblin but remained in the mortal realm, taking on the name Demogoblin. Now wanting to redeem himself and get back into heaven, Demogoblin began killing sinners. Unfortunately, Demogoblin sees everyone as sinners and deserving of death no matter how tame their “sins” are.

6) Kindred

While Kindred’s origin as an undead clone/child of Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy is controversial, there’s still no doubt that he is a terrifying villain. After being raised from the dead by Mephisto, Kindred sought to ruin Spider-Man’s life through both physical and psychological torture. His most notable powers include controlling giant centipedes and resurrecting the dead. The latter ability Kindred used to repeatedly and viciously murder Spider-Man before reviving him to restart the torturous process.

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5) The Lizard

While the Lizard is undoubtedly one of the most tragic villains in Marvel Comics, it doesn’t exclude him from also being one of the deadliest as well. Kurt Conners constantly tries to suppress his other half’s bloodlust, but the Lizard within can never be held back for long. Over the years, the Lizard side has become increasingly animalistic and vicious, evolving into something far more monstrous. To finally sever the last of his remaining humanity, the Lizard devoured his own wife and child.

4) Massacre

In a universe with all manner of demons and monsters, sometimes the scariest thing of all is just a man with a gun. After an explosion killed his wife and lodged shrapnel into his brain, Marcus Lyman lost the ability to feel empathy and became a ruthless killer. Taking on the name Massacre, Marcus would live up to his name. He would kill numerous people without hesitation or remorse. The only motivations he has shown for doing this are financial gain and cold indifference.

3) The Thousand

This guy is the ultimate nightmare for anyone with arachnophobia. Carl King was an old high school bully of Peter Parker and was present when the radioactive spider bit Peter, witnessing him use his powers for the first time. Driven by jealousy, he took the dead spider and ate it. But instead of getting the powers of a spider, Carl was turned into a sentient swarm of spiders. Now known as The Thousand, he could enter a person’s body and devour their insides. He would then use the now-empty body as a skin suit and walk around undetected before bursting out to attack.

2) Green Goblin

No villain has brought as much pain and suffering to the wall-crawler’s life as the Green Goblin. Norman Osborn became an insane supervillain when a chemical accident gave him increased strength and intelligence but also drove him mad. Since then, the Green Goblin has committed countless crimes with sadistic pleasure, most of which centered around making Spider-Man’s life a living nightmare. Some of his most heinous acts against Spider-Man include killing Ben Reilly, burying Aunt May alive, and, of course, murdering Gwen Stacy, the love of Peter’s life. 

1) Carnage

Few villains in all of Marvel Comics are as twisted and horrifying as Carnage. Even before bonding with the symbiote, Cletus Cassidy Kasady was a prolific serial killer who killed his grandmother when he was just a child. By the time he bonded with the carnage symbiote, Cassidy had already tortured and killed dozens of people, and his newfound partner only increased his bloodlust. Since becoming Carnage, he has slaughtered countless more people in both large-scale massacres and brutal individual killings with utter glee and sadism.

The post The 10 Most Spine-Chilling Spider-Man Villains appeared first on ComicBook.com.

The Fantastic Four are in some serious trouble. After their worst enemy, Doctor Doom became Sorcerer Supreme, one of his first orders of business was to “cure” The Thing by stripping him of his powers. This was, of course, a lie and plot by Doom, as not only are Thing’s powers gone, but the rest of the Four’s are fading as well. The only way to stop Doom is to restore their abilities, and the only way to do that is to reexpose Ben to cosmic rays the same way they were the first time. Marvel’s First Family tried going to an alternate universe and going back in time to when they first got their powers, but so far nothing has worked. That was until Valeria Richards came up with the perfect solution. If they want to expose Thing to cosmic rays, their best option is to go straight to the source. The Fantastic Four need to go back to the Big Bang.

The Fantastic Jump Back to the Start Everything

The idea came to Valeria at the end of their last attempt to restore Ben’s powers. Now, traveling back to the explosion that kicked off everything sounds insane, and it is. After all, Reed points out that no ship could possibly survive even a single second there without being incinerated, and that’s why Valeria plans for them to only be there for a few nanoseconds. The plan is to go back in time just long enough to expose Thing to the cosmic rays, then immediately return to the present before they become the universe’s first toast. Sue can use the last of her powers to create a shield that will hopefully buy them enough extra protection, and Johnny can absorb enough heat to hold everything together. It’s a longshot, but it’s their only chance to get the power they need to stop Doom from ruling the world.

Of course, nanoseconds are way too short a timeframe for any human to react, so they’ll need a robotic pilot to bring them home. They nominate their longtime buddy and robo-assistant HERBIE, who is more than happy to help however he can. They upgrade HERBIE’s processors so he can think fast enough to handle everything, and the Four load up in their ship. Ben tells Reed that he doesn’t have to go, as Reed won’t be able to do anything like the others, so he’d only be risking his own life. Mr. Fantastic tells Ben that there’s no way he would ever let them take this kind of risk without him, and the family gets ready for their shortest adventure yet. Having said everything they need to, they launch themselves back to the start of it all.

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They land at one times ten to the negative thirty-two power seconds, right after our concept of physics has kicked in. Ben is exposed to the cosmic rays as planned, but as HERBIE tries to bring everyone back to the present, the time engine fails. In the slowest motion possible, HERBIE realizes that the Big Bang damaged their ship way beyond expectations, and they have nanoseconds before they are torn apart. Of course, HERBIE was modified for exactly this type of thing. He reconfigures the ship to transport just the five of them back to the present, but realizes that won’t work either, they’re too much matter. Without hesitation, he sends the Four back, and sacrifices himself so they can live. In his last moments, HERBIE realizes that with his enhanced brainpower, he can truly understand what love is for the first time. He’s always loved the Fantastic Four, and now as he sees that he is truly alive, he gives up that life to save the people he loves most. HERBIE swallowed up by the Big Bang, but the Four return to the present, all of their powers restored.

Everything’s Over, But There Are Still Questions

Later that night, Valeria and her dad talk about something that was bothering both of them: baryogenesis. Effectively, every currently accepted model of the Big Bang says that matter and antimatter should have been released evenly, thus destroying each other and leaving nothing left. However, for some as of yet unknown reason, matter won out and we have our universe. HERBIE and their time ship were extra matter that got added into the universe-making explosion, and Valeria is understandably freaking out, thinking they may be the very reason that the universe exists at all. Reed, however, calms her down, and points out that when they made a new HERBIE from his old save data, his new version stated that if he ever did sacrifice himself, he would want it to be out of love. Reed concludes that there’s no way to know if what they did accidentally led to the creation of everything, but if it was, then the universe was made on the foundation of love, and that’s not such a bad thought.

So there we have it, the Fantastic Four might be the reasons the Marvel Universe exists. Honestly, it’s a beautiful story that also symbolizes how they are the characters that put Marvel on the map. In a way, they did help create the Marvel Universe, and they are nothing if not the ultimate showing of love. 

Fantastic Four #33 is on sale now!

The post The Fantastic Four Just Redifined the Big Bang appeared first on ComicBook.com.

With the end of Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell approaching, the excitement remains high for this take on Matt Murdock in his elder years. This short-lived series has already been making waves as a popular “What If” scenario and has led to a lot of great reception both critically and with fans. While not an original concept by any means, Cold Day in Hell is a high octane thrill ride for the old Hornhead. With a lot of stories exploring older versions of superheroes and to bid time for the final issue here are five book to read if you like Cold Day in Hell.

Exploring older, more mature versions of characters is something that comics does surprisingly well. Be it Marvel, DC, or other publishers, stories that look at the futures of these characters are classics and if you find yourself wanting more after Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell, here’s what you should explore next.

1) Old Man Logan

Starting off out list we have Old Man Logan but not the one you’re thinking. The original by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven is a classic but there is another take on the concept: the often overlooked series of the same name by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. Taking place after the events of Secret Wars (2015), Logan or a very similar version of Logan from “Old Man Logan” is transported into the main 616 continuity and goes on adventures in place of the main Logan who was dead at the time. Taking Logan from the world where he lost everything and everyone he loved and moving him to a new world of possibilities was a bold but creative move from Lemire and Sorrentino.

As fun as Logan is in the normal continuity as a grumpy old man is, an even grumpier and older version of him takes the cake for a great lead. While the element of the war torn world is gone, the sentiment of preventing that future is the core of the book and even lead to a spinoff following Hawkeye in Old Man Hawkeye.

2) The Dark Knight Returns

What list of older versions of superheroes in alternate timelines would be complete without Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns? Taking place in the 1980’s, The Dark Knight Returns shows us what happens in Gotham City when Batman forces himself into retirement due to failing to save Jason Todd. In the span of ten years, Gotham becomes corrupt and run down as a city, with a gang known as the Mutants claiming the land for themselves Bruce Wayne dawns the suit for one more ride and what starts as a way of cleaning the city back up leads to him finding another Robin, the return of the Joker, and ends with the big debate between “Who would win, Batman or Superman.”

In four issues, Miller created the blueprint for dark dystopian Elseworlds stories for all of comics and to this day remains one of the best. What started as a huge fanbase for this universe has now become very divided with each new entry in the series. From The Dark Knight Strikes Back to the controversial prequel All-Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder all the way to DKIII: The Master Race, there are plenty of options if you are craving more of Miller’s take on the dystopian Dark Knight but your best bet is the original.

3) Spider-Man: Life Story

The most recent entry on our list is Spider-Man: Life Story. Written in 2019 by Chip Zdarsky and legendary Spider-Man artist Mark Bagley, life story tells the story of a Peter Parker who ages in real time as Spider-Man over the course of six decades. Bagley’s art add a familiar element to the story like being greeted by an old friends you’ve known for a long time and shows how being Spider-Man changes Peter’s life for both better and worse. With each issue taking place in a different decade, Zdarsky masterfully combines all the big elements from Peter’s life in 616 into a tight script showing him becoming more and more world weary.

Due to how the book is laid out, this may be one of the hardest books to put down once you start it and it is absolutely worth binge reading it. The series was followed up with an annual explaining what J. Jonah Jameson was up to after he disappeared in the second issue and is a devastating read.

4) Kingdom Come

Back with another classic with have the soul-crushing Kingdom Come written brilliant by Mark Waid with art by Alex Ross. Set in an Elseworld where the need for the Golden Age of heroes are becoming less and less prominent in a world of indistinguishable gun-toting heroes and villains Kingdom Come shows the world what happens when heroes return and the fallout from it. This is far and away the most emotional heavy story about regret and failure that explored the human psyche through preacher Norman McKay as he observes the future with The Spectre.

What was initially written as a critique of the 1990’s era of comics basing the looks of the “new” heroes off of designs you’d see by artists like Rob Liefeld Kingdom Come is one of the most beautiful stories about the power of superheroes. In a world that grows darker and darker, you need hope to get you through that darkness and Kingdom Come does exactly that with the return of an older Superman.

5) Jupiter’s Legacy Vol 1 & 2

Last but certainly not least we have Jupiter’s Legacy Vol 1 & 2 by Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Existing in a world long before the world’s superheroes were forgotten about, Jupiter’s Legacy follows the story of the burnt out adult children of this world’s lead superhero, The Utopian. After his brother sets him up for failure and tricks his son into defeating his father, it’s up to Chloe Sampson the daughter of The Utopian to stop her uncle and older brother from taking over the world. With the help of Hutch, the son of the superhero Skyfox, the two attempt to stop the tyranny created by the rest of the family of The Utopian in what’s regarded as Mark Millar’s grand epic.

Jupiter’s Legacy has now surpassed it’s original 12 issues with a total of six volumes that recently wrapped up over the span of three generations in the story. Following the Star Wars method of the middle story first, the prequel, and finally the sequels, Jupiter’s Legacy is a one of kind comic achievement that deserves it’s spot here. With more than enough legacy to keep you entertained for a good long time, Millar and Quitely created one of the best original takes on the superhero genre in a grounded reality.

That wraps it up for the list on books to check out if you’ve been enjoying Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell. Are you excited for the finale of Cold Day in Hell? What other stories would you recommend that are in the same vein, let us know in the comments.

The post 5 Comics to Read if You Like Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Wonder Woman, Batman, and Superman stand as the absolute pinnacle of heroism in DC. They are called the Trinity, the three most important and influential heroes of all time. It stands to reason that, as the three heroes pushed to stand above all the rest of DC’s incredible cast, that they would have some of the best stories. At the very least, they would have stories that are able to tell you who they are, stories that capture the heart of their character in such a way that every fan can point to it and say that this is the story that shows why they love this character. Batman and Superman have these universally acclaimed and beloved stories in spades, but somehow, for some reason, Wonder Woman lacks this kind of comic.

Superman and Batman have plenty of stories each that capture the essence of their character in such a way that it changes how everyone looks at them, and all future stories try to emulate the version of the character present within those pages. For the Man of Steel, the most obvious and immediate answer is All-Star Superman, which may very well be one of the greatest comics of all time. It captures the humanity and care Superman has so beautifully, and all Superman media looks to it in reverence. Similarly, if I were to name every defining Batman story we would be here all day and night. To name just the most popular, there are The Killing Joke, Batman: Year One, and The Dark Knight Returns, all of which are stories that show Batman at his most dark and caring, which is the purest embodiment of his character. These stories represent everything the characters stand for, and none of Wonder Woman’s stories have anywhere near this level of iconicness.

Wonder Woman’s Best Stories Don’t Measure Up

This is not to say that Wonder Woman lacks good or even great stories, but even the best among her catalogue pale in comparison to the level of grandeur the World’s Finests’ stories have. Whenever this question is brought up the same several contenders are mentioned, and for good reason, but each of them lacks something vital that pushes it over the edge from great to legendary. The Legend of Wonder Woman is a fantastic modern retelling and rework of Diana’s earliest Golden Age adventures set in World War II, but for a large portion of its criminally short run Wonder Woman was way too passive of a character. Wonder Woman: Year One is widely regarded as one of the best tellings of her origin, and while there is truth to that, the plot of the story very much feels like a watered down version of George Perez’s landmark run and is too rushed. Justice League Dark volume two is a great story led by Wonder Woman, but it’s far from a Wonder Woman focused story as she shares the spotlight with plenty of other characters.

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The closest thing people agree on as being the definitive Wonder Woman story is George Perez’s post-Crisis Wonder Woman volume two, which set the stage for how everyone would view the character forever onward. Its first arc, “Gods and Mortals” is as cited as the place to start reading the character. However, while this run is undeniably important for Wonder Woman’s history and mythos, it is also undeniably dated. Its storytelling structure is very, very text heavy in a way that only 1980s comics can be, and even ignoring that, sometimes it makes weird choices. Like how it aged-up Steve Trevor and made him into a father figure for Diana when every other version of the character has him as her main love interest, which is just bizarre and a little bit gross. And even then, this is an entire run, not one definitive story like the Batman and Superman ones mentioned above.

Why Doesn’t Wonder Woman Have an Iconic Story?

Despite her insane popularity and importance to the DC Universe, Wonder Woman seems incapable of having a story as iconic and defining as her contemporaries. Unfortunately, there may be a reason for that. If I were to ask a random person off the street what Batman or Superman’s origin story is, they could tell me most of the details with next to no issue. However, if I did the same with Wonder Woman, I am confident that I would be met with a lot more blank stares and non-confident guesses. Superman and Batman are deceptively simple characters with incredibly defined starting points. Just by looking at how the characters started you know exactly what they want and how they plan to achieve it, and from those starting points you can tell any number of stories because you know exactly who they are. Even when continuities are rewritten, their origins are so set in stone that nobody needs to retell them, we all already know.

Wonder Woman, on the other hand, has her origin retold and fundamentally changed what feels like every other year. Much like the other two, Wonder Woman is a character with clear and simple desires; she is a woman who embodies sisterhood, love, and the endless pursuit of peace in a world that tries to convince her it is not worth saving. And yet, every origin she is featured in keeps contradicting others and trying to one-up them. Wonder Woman’s stories keep poking and prodding at each other in an attempt to agree on why she is how she is, which keeps them from ever thinking about moving beyond that and showing us who she is. Nobody can agree on her past and some even argue over who she is, so nobody can charge ahead boldly with her future.

Of course, that can’t be the only reason keeping Wonder Woman from having this iconic story she deserves. But I don’t know what other reason there could be, aside from DC itself not being willing to invest in Wonder Woman as they should. She is one of their Big Three, a superhero who has inspired millions and can change the world with her stories, but she still doesn’t have the defining story that shows people who she is. Absolute Wonder Woman is shaping up to be just that, but I can’t in good conscience give that book the title, no matter how incredible it is, because it’s so fundamentally different from the main Wonder Woman. At the end of the day, Wonder Woman deserves a fantastic story, and we all need to take up arms and shout it from the rooftops until it happens.

The post Why Doesn’t Wonder Woman Have an Iconic, Definitive Story like Batman and Superman Have? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Harley Quinn has been in an odd position within the DC Universe for a while now. She is no longer a villain, but she’s not quite a superhero either. DC CCO Jim Lee once described Harley as the “fourth pillar” of the DC Universe, emphasizing how highly the company views her. The character has achieved such exponential growth in the last few decades, and DC didn’t know what to do with her. Harley became too likable, DC couldn’t keep her a supervillain or the Joker’s abused girlfriend forever. She’s now in a confusing anti-hero position, yet the character feels wasted in that role despite some genuinely funny comics.

Maybe this is nostalgia speaking, but Harley was a more enjoyable character when she was a villain and causing havoc. DC had to evolve the character as she couldn’t stay stagnant, especially since she became somewhat of a role model. Yet a big appeal of her character was that she was a villain, and when you take that away, you lose a lot of what made that character great in the first place. This isn’t to say Harley can’t be compelling as a hero, but after many years as a sort-of superhero in the comics, we are clamoring to see a villainous Harley again.

Did DC Need To Move Harley Away from Villainy?

While Harley Quinn has always been a fan-favorite ever since she first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, it was the Batman Arkham games that exploded her popularity. It evolved the character from a cartoon side-character to one of Batman’s main rogues’ gallery. From there, her popularity grew, leading her to become one of the faces of the Suicide Squad, a team she had no association with until 2011, and the onslaught of merch. Even though the character was gaining new fans at this period, some of the early Suicide Squad and the Arkham games lean too heavily on the villainous side of Harley Quinn. There was the infamous comic where Harley blew up an innocent, which felt too out of character.

Harley Quinn’s main hook was that she was a female version of the Joker, was an underling, and had a childish personality that hid her true competence. Her villainous actions contrast with her personality, making her an enjoyable villain to watch and read. There’s tragedy to the character, as she’s trapped in an endless cycle of abuse by the Joker. It was secretly a dark backstory that the original animated series hid through jokes and Harley’s mannerisms. Her abuse is what made the character compelling, but there’s only so much readers can take of Joker’s treatment of Harley before the idea gets uncomfortable. DC needed to move Harley away from the Joker, yet the company didn’t need to move her away from villain-y completely.

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DC possibly made Harley more heroic because her backstory as an abuse victim may seem problematic if she remained under the Joker’s thumb. It wouldn’t make sense, at least in a marketing sense, to have DC’s “fourth pillar” be a villain and a victim. This is especially true given how close to home Harley’s abuse hits certain readers. Nonetheless, it could be argued that she was never meant to be a fully sympathetic character. The Mad Love comic confirmed that Harley always used her looks and seduction to get what she wanted, highlighting how she was morally dubious before the Joker got his hands on her. Her growing up past Joker shouldn’t mean she should suddenly become a hero. When DC made Harley more heroic, her immature personality no longer read as fun or lighthearted, and instead, it became silly. It’s one thing for Superman or the Flash to say a zany one-liner while saving someone. It’s another thing when Harley acts like an oversized child all the time, especially when her villainous actions aren’t serving as a contrast.

Other Media Makes Villain Harley Work Better than Hero Harley

The original Batman: The Animated Series and the recent Batman: The Caped Crusader cartoon demonstrated how Harley can work as a villain without the Joker. The classic animated show from the 90s offers redemption for the character in several situations, and she would often run back to the Joker. However, she would also commit several crimes with Poison Ivy, keeping her in as a criminal yet away from the Joker. Caped Crusader establishes Harley as her own villain, independent from the Joker, who has yet to appear in the series. She has her own motivations and isn’t trapped in her abusive girlfriend role. The show even highlights Harley’s profession as a psychiatrist, an underrepresented aspect of the character’s backstory.

Even her acting as a villain sidekick for the Joker in the Arkham game series feels more aligned with the character’s original intention. She remained villainous even after the loss of the Joker, essentially taking over Joker’s position in the villain hierarchy. The Gotham Knights game also had Harley acting independently again, adapting her to be more manipulative and intelligent. Gotham Knights is Harley at her most malicious, which may not match with some people’s sympathetic view of the character. Nevertheless, the character works best when she isn’t fully empathetic, especially when she has evil intentions. While Harley’s portrayal as an abuse victim is a sensitive topic, her history as a victim shouldn’t deter authors from making her villainous. Bad guys work best when they have a tragic history, and Harley Quinn’s sympathetic backstory makes her more complex and engaging to read, particularly as a villain rather than a hero.

The post I Think DC Is Wasting Harley Quinn By Making Her a Hero appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While the multiverse concept has been experiencing mainstream popularity in the past decade, comic books have long embraced the boundless potential of alternate universes, offering creators a canvas to explore realities far stranger than our own. These parallel dimensions often twist familiar heroes and narratives into new and frequently bizarre configurations. While many alternate realities offer darker takes or “what if” scenarios, some dive headfirst into the truly outlandish, presenting worlds governed by peculiar rules or populated by characters that defy conventional explanation. These strange corners of the multiverse showcase the medium’s capacity for unrestrained imagination.

The allure of peculiar parallel comic book worlds lies in their creative audacity. They provide a unique lens through which to view established characters and tropes, often subverting expectations in delightful or disturbing ways. From dimensions where the laws of physics seem to have a sense of humor to realities that parody our own in surreal fashion, these universes highlight the innovative spirit that thrives when comic creators are allowed to explore the truly weird.

1) Earth-C-Minus (DC Comics)

DC Comics’ Earth-C is an alternate reality populated entirely by sentient, anthropomorphic animal versions of familiar superhero archetypes. Its premier super-team, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, comprises figures such as Roger Rodney Rabbit (Captain Carrot), who gains super-strength from cosmic carrots, Peter Porkchops (Pig-Iron), a pig transformed into living metal, and Felina Furr (Alley-Kat-Abra), a feline mistress of magic, embarking on lighthearted adventures filled with puns. Earth-C-Minus, an even more peculiar offshoot first glimpsed in Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #14-15, is home to the “Just’a Lotta Animals,” a team featuring Super-Squirrel, Batmouse, and Wonder Wabbit.

The characters and environments within Earth-C-Minus are rendered in an intentionally crude art style reminiscent of a young child’s hurried doodles. The physical laws governing this secondary dimension are portrayed as even more exaggeratedly cartoonish and rudimentary than those of Earth-C. This commitment to an ultra-simplified aesthetic and an amplified level of absurdity makes Earth-C-Minus a standout example of comic book creators pushing the boundaries of silliness into a realm of strangeness, offering a brief but memorable glimpse into a universe built on the most basic elements of cartooning.

2) Earth-8311 (Marvel Comics)

Marvel Comics presents its own notable entry into anthropomorphic alternate realities with Earth-8311, the home dimension of the one and only Peter Porker, also known as the Spectacular Spider-Ham. In a clever inversion of the classic Spider-Man origin, Peter began life as an ordinary spider. He gained his porcine superhero form after being bitten by May Porker, an anthropomorphic pig scientist. In addition to Spider-Ham, Earth-8311 is brimming with animal-themed counterparts to mainstream Marvel heroes and villains, including well-known figures like Captain Americat, the mighty Hulk Bunny, the swift Deerdevil, and the nefarious Ducktor Doom, ensuring a constant stream of visual gags and pun-laden names.

The adventures within Earth-8311 are consistently characterized by their slapstick humor and a relentless barrage of animal-centric wordplay. Storylines frequently parody iconic Marvel tales but infuse them with a distinct barnyard sensibility, creating scenarios that are both recognizable and hilariously skewed. The visual of a cartoon pig web-swinging through a city populated by other talking animals is inherently comical, and Spider-Ham’s enduring popularity, especially after his cinematic appearances, underscores the broad appeal of this deliberately silly and creatively vibrant alternate universe.

3) The “Milk Wars” Universe (DC Comics/Young Animal)

The 2018 “Milk Wars” crossover event forged a temporary reality by merging the mainstream DC Universe with the more eccentric characters and themes of its Young Animal imprint. This bizarre transformation was orchestrated by the insidious corporation “RetCo,” which aimed to impose universal conformity through its range of mind-altering dairy products. The resulting universe saw iconic DC heroes drastically reimagined into retro-pastiche figures: Wonder Woman became “Wonder Wife,” an idealized 1950s homemaker embodying domestic subservience; Batman was recast as a brooding, authoritarian priest presiding over a “Holy City” version of Gotham; and Superman morphed into an unnervingly optimistic strongman devoted to promoting RetCo’s milk.

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This universe’s distinct atmosphere arose from its sharp satire of nostalgia, consumerism, and corporate control, all manifesting as a surreal distortion of beloved characters. The aesthetic deliberately blended wholesome 1950s advertising imagery with an underlying sense of dread and homogenized emptiness. The “Milk Wars” reality was less a stable alternate timeline and more a universe being bizarrely rewritten by an external force, offering a thought-provoking and visually jarring commentary on superhero archetypes and the pressures of societal conformity, with the unpredictable Doom Patrol playing a key role in resisting this enforced blandness.

4) The Mojoverse (Marvel Comics)

Originating from an entirely separate dimension, the Mojoverse is a chaotic society pathologically obsessed with television ratings and gladiatorial forms of entertainment. Its undisputed ruler is Mojo, a grotesque, spineless, multi-legged alien tyrant who maintains his power by broadcasting an endless stream of sensationalist content. He frequently abducts beings from other realities, most notably the X-Men, forcing them to participate as unwilling stars in his deadly televised spectacles for the amusement of his equally bizarre populace. Key characters such as the swashbuckling Longshot, the multi-armed assassin Spiral, and the warrior Shatterstar all have complex origins tied to this media-saturated dimension, often depicted as rebels fighting against its oppressive and vapid culture.

The Mojoverse functions as a biting satire of media consumption, the pursuit of celebrity, and the corrupting influence of entertainment driven solely by ratings. Mojo himself embodies the most venal aspects of a media executive, devoid of empathy and driven by an insatiable need for viewership and control. The entire concept of a society enslaved to the whims of a television producer, where life and death are merely programming choices and suffering is monetized, establishes the Mojoverse as an uncomfortably prescient corner of Marvel’s vast cosmology.

5) Earth-66½ (Marvel Comics’ Not Brand Echh)

During the late 1960s, Marvel Comics produced Not Brand Echh, a satirical series that lampooned its own characters, creators, and competitors, effectively creating the temporary reality of Earth-66½. This universe was populated by hilariously distorted versions of Marvel’s biggest stars: “Spidey-Man” was a klutz, “Ironed Man” (Stark Naked) had armor that constantly malfunctioned, “The Inedible Bulk” was a perpetually whining green giant, and “Dr. Deranged” bungled his spells. In addition, the Fantastic Four became “The Fantastical Four” with members like “Mr. Fantastical” and “The Human Scorch.” Every story was steeped in self-deprecating humor, fourth-wall breaks, and an anything-goes sensibility.

The artwork of Not Brand Echh often exaggerated features comically, and the narratives gleefully deconstructed superhero tropes with playful absurdity. This wasn’t a universe with its own internal dramatic logic, but rather a funhouse mirror reflecting the sillier aspects of the Marvel Universe itself. Its commitment to parody and its often surreal gags made Earth-66½ a unique space where Marvel could laugh at itself, presenting a world governed by comedic chaos rather than heroic convention, making it a truly bizarre and fondly remembered experiment in self-satire.

6) The Fifth Dimension (DC Comics)

Quite distinct from the concept of alternate Earths within a multiverse, the Fifth Dimension, often referred to by names like Zrfff, is an entirely different plane of existence with its own incomprehensible physical laws. It is famously home to beings of nigh-omnipotent reality-warping power, most notably Superman’s mischievous antagonist Mr. Mxyzptlk, and Batman’s self-proclaimed “number one fan,” Bat-Mite. For these powerful imps, our familiar three-dimensional reality is primarily a source of amusement and a playground for their whims. Because of that, their frequent visits to Earth typically involve the imposition of cartoon logic, surreal transformations, and widespread chaos.

These interventions are usually driven by their own desire for entertainment or a misguided attempt to “assist” their favorite heroes in baffling ways. The physical laws of the Fifth Dimension itself are portrayed as entirely fluid and malleable, completely subject to the will of its potent inhabitants and beyond the grasp of human understanding. This realm represents a wellspring from which pure strangeness can irrupt into the DC Universe, driven by entities who view our existence as little more than narratives to be played with.

7) Earth-2301 (Marvel Comics’ Mangaverse)

In the early 2000s, Marvel Comics embarked on an experimental publishing initiative known as “Mangaverse,” which aimed to reimagine its flagship characters through the narrative conventions of Japanese manga and anime. This project resulted in the creation of Earth-2301, a universe where familiar heroes and villains often possessed drastically altered origins, appearances, and power sets. For instance, in this reality, Spider-Man was depicted as a young ninja belonging to the clandestine “Spider-Clan.” Meanwhile, the Hulk manifested as a city-destroying rage monster akin to Godzilla and Iron Man was typically portrayed as the pilot of a sophisticated mecha suit.

Other character reinterpretations further embraced exaggerated anime tropes. Storm, for example, was depicted as a literal weather-controlling witch, and a version of Doctor Strange summoned oversized spirit creatures to do his bidding. The Mangaverse was characterized by its dynamic, hyper-stylized artwork and narratives that often prioritized high-octane action and melodramatic emotional beats. This fusion of established American superhero archetypes with overtly Japanese pop culture aesthetics resulted in a universe that was visually distinctive and often narratively outlandish, standing as a bold, if divisive, experiment in cross-cultural creative blending.

Which other truly bizarre alternate comic book universes make your head spin? Share your weirdest picks in the comments below!

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DC, as a company, has a very big focus on the legacy of its characters. Ever since the Silver Age began and Barry Allen took up the mantle of the Flash, DC has been unafraid to push forward and introduce new characters who carry on the mantle and mission of the heroes who inspired them. Not only that, but these new characters make the name their own, creating their own version of the classic characters that have their own fanbase, and fans are well known to argue over which version of which beloved character is the best. However, there are some who argue that DC places too much emphasis on the legacy of their characters, and that ultimately drags them down. Some argue that this focus on legacy can’t work because DC never allows their characters to truly change or move on. So let’s discuss the pros and cons of legacy in DC, when it works, and when it doesn’t.

Why Legacy Is So Important

As we established above, the legacy of its heroes has been an important aspect of DC since the Silver Age at least, where characters like Green Lantern and the Flash were replaced with new versions that had the same name, but were wildly different characters. However, this isn’t really a legacy change in the way we see it today, as neither one was originally connected to their predecessor, with the original characters being from a different Earth (Jay Garrick was actually a comic book character in Barry’s world, initially). The first instance of a character taking over the mantle of another hero they were directly connected to is Ted Kord becoming the second Blue Beetle, having been an apprentice to the original Dan Garrett. This set the stage for the major characters to follow suit in passing on the torch to the next generation.

While plenty of characters involved legacy in some way, DC really made legacy a core part of their identity in the post-Crisis era and throughout the ‘90s. The start of the modern age of comics saw major shakeups to every major hero. Wally West became the new Flash, Kyle Rayner became the only Green Lantern, Tim Drake became Robin, Connor Hawke became Green Arrow, and even Wonder Woman was temporarily replaced twice in that time period. We saw “Reign of the Supermen” where people fought over who would take Superman’s place. “Knightfall” showed Batman giving up then reclaiming his name, with the following “Prodigal” arc showing that Dick Grayson was the true heir to Batman’s throne. These changes were massive and sweeping, and for the most part beloved. They showed that DC’s heroes weren’t just people, they were ideals to strive to become. It promised a future even beyond the lives of the beloved characters, where they would live on and the hope they inspired could never die out. There are plenty more legacy characters I could name, but the important thing is that most of DC’s most popular heroes have legacies of some kind, and they are important to uplift the character to new heights. They make the DC Universe feel more real. At least, when used correctly.

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DC Has a Legacy Issue

All of the beloved examples above are about legacy when it works, but there are plenty of times in comics, especially modern ones, where legacy characters fall flat. The problem with DC’s current legacy characters is twofold. The first part is that most of the pre-New 52 legacy characters (Wally, Connor, Dick) had their dead-mentors return to the role alongside them, sharing the name, which isn’t a problem in and of itself. Fans were and are willing to accept them sharing the title because each version felt distinct and like they had their own niche. Unfortunately, their stance as their mentors’ equals was wiped away with the New 52 reboot, which saw many of those legacy characters either wiped from existence or returned to their previous hero identities. For many years these characters suffered in a character limbo, which leads us to the second part of the problem, being the newly introduced legacy characters.

Let’s use Jace Fox Batman as an example. He was introduced in the wake of the Future State event, which showed a potential not-so-distant future for the DC Universe and has since made his modern day debut. However, he never really caught on, and there’s a reason for that. Fans already had an abundance of characters they saw as being Batman’s successor, the forerunners being Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne, and while Jace is a great character he lacked the build up and presence the older characters had. The same is true for all the new legacy characters in some capacity. Most DC heroes had a “next generation” version introduced twenty or thirty years ago, but because of the status quo nature of comics the originals always return, so that next generation is always just left with the promise of the future.

Unfortunately, that promise of the future falls apart when newer characters are introduced who are promised the same thing. DC continuously introduces more characters who are said to be the successors to the titles, when there are already characters who have claims to that. Because the originals will never leave, it leaves the two waves of legacy characters fighting to occupy the same space in comics, and because they’re fighting for the same spotlight, either neither gets enough or one hogs it all and the other is left to languish. This exact issue is going on with Tim Drake and Damian Wayne right now for the position of Robin, where Damian is the main Robin, and so Tim is just sitting there with nothing to do. 

Legacy has always been important to the DC Universe, but it’s become a bit of a having your cake and eating it too scenario. DC wants to keep the old versions of their heroes around and introduce the next generation, but that just leaves the multiple new generations they’ve introduced fighting for any scraps of attention they can. Legacy will always be one of DC’s best aspects, but nowadays it feels like its characters are only focused on their legacies that will never arrive because they can never move on from their eternal comic book headliner role. Something has to give eventually, or all of DC’s best characters will only continue to sit in this nothing-burger position that satisfies nobody.

The post Is DC Too Focused on Legacy? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

After the superhero team’s debut in Thunderbolts*, there are many more incredible team members from Marvel Comics we’d love to see appear in live-action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2025’s Thunderbolts* featured Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes’ Winter Soldier, John Walker’s US Agent, Ava Starr’s Ghost, and Alexei Shostakov’s Red Guardian as the team’s first line-up in the MCU. This group was then rebranded as the New Avengers, opening the door for an honest-to-goodness Thunderbolts team to appear in the MCU, which could include some brilliant team members from the comics.

The Thunderbolts first appeared in Marvel Comics back in 1997’s The Incredible Hulk #449. They were introduced as a group of flamboyant new heroes who replaced the Avengers following their presumed deaths, however, they were later outed as Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil. While they began as villains, masquerading as heroes actually convinced the Thunderbolts to carry out good deeds and seek redemption, which is exactly what occurred in the MCU’s Thunderbolts*. Marvel Studios’ line-up was brilliant, but it would be great to see some of these iconic Thunderbolts members from Marvel Comics also join the MCU.

7) Flash Thompson’s Agent Venom

Eugene “Flash” Thompson has been a part of the MCU since 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, played by Tony Revolori, but he is yet to assume his Agent Venom moniker. Flash became Agent Venom after bonding with the Venom Symbiote in 2011’s The Amazing Spider-Man #654. Soon after, he became a member of the Red Hulk’s strike team-like Thunderbolts alongside Deadpool, Elektra, and the Punisher, all of whom had conditions that are incurable. It would be great to see Flash Thompson finally become Agent Venom, giving Revolori a more dramatic role, and bringing the Symbiote officially into the MCU.

6) Donnie Gill’s Blizzard

Since Agents of SHIELD is not considered canon to the MCU’s official timeline, it’s possible that Donnie Gill’s Blizzard, who was played by Dylan Minnette in the Marvel Television series, could be reintroduced. Blizzard became a member of Abner Jenkins’ Thunderbolts team, the second iteration, in 2004. Jenkins had been a member of the original group, and decided to form a new team to follow in the first’s footsteps, redeeming villains such as Speed Demon, Radioactive Man, and Nighthawk, alongside Blizzard, into heroes, though Donnie Gill soon turned back to a life of crime.

5) Satana Hellstrom

Human and demon hybrid Satana Hellstrom joined Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts team during the Heroic Age in 2010. She was recruited by Cage and Doctor Strange and joined the team on a time traveling adventure. Since Sydney Lemmon’s debut as Ana in Marvel Television’s Helstrom series wasn’t positively-received, it would be great to see the daughter of Marduk Kurios, the demon who repeatedly poses as Satan, and her brother, Daimon, reinvented for the MCU. Both these magic-wielding antiheroes would be incredible additions to Thunderbolts teams, especially with the MCU focusing more on supernatural characters and stories.

4) Abner Jenkins’ Beetle

Before he formed his own Thunderbolts team, Abner Jenkins was recruited into Baron Zemo’s Masters of Evil and became a founding member of the Thunderbolts. Originally known as the supervillain Beetle, who wore an armor-plated suit that made him strong enough to fight the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. Jenkins rebranded himself as MACH-1 when he joined the Thunderbolts, and took on different monikers – MACH-2 through X – with each upgrade of his suit. Jenkins is one of the longest-running and most prominent Thunderbolts members, so he deserves a place in the live-action MCU.

3) Karla Sofen’s Meteorite

Alongside Abner Jenkins, Karla Sofen was also a founding member of the Thunderbolts in Marvel Comics. She started her villainous career as Moonstone, who gained her powers by fusing with a Kree-designed “gravity stone.” She became Meteorite in the Thunderbolts team, and then later took on the moniker of Ms. Marvel when she joined the Dark Avengers, so it would be fantastic to see Sofen debut in a possible Captain Marvel 3, teaming up with Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Kamala Khan. Meteorite was regularly the Thunderbolts’ field leader, so she could have a bright future in the MCU.

2) Melissa Gold’s Songbird

Prior to the release of Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*, rumors began circulating that Geraldine Viswanathan’s “Mel” could, in fact, be the MCU’s iteration of Melissa Gold, aka Songbird, an original member of Marvel Comics’ Thunderbolts team. She wears a bird pendant on a necklace in the 2025 movie, perhaps hinting at her superhero identity. Songbird is one of the most well-known and popular Thunderbolts members, so it would be brilliant to see Viswanathan fully embody this identity in the MCU’s future, showing off her supersonic abilities and becoming a prominent member of the Thunderbolts for years to come.

1) Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider

We’re all waiting for Johnny Blaze’s Ghost Rider to make his debut in the MCU, and Thunderbolts* opened the door. Although better known as part of teams such as the Midnight Sons, the Legion of Monsters, and the Defenders, Blaze teamed up with the Thunderbolts from 2014’s Thunderbolts (Vol. 2) #20 onwards, joining forces with the likes of Red Hulk, Deadpool, Elektra, and the Punisher, all of whom have already appeared in the MCU. With Mephisto’s MCU debut speculated to be imminent, it may not be long before Johnny Blaze cuts his deal with the demon and becomes Ghost Rider.

Which characters do you want to see join the MCU’s next Thunderbolts team? Let us know in the comments!

The post 7 Great Thunderbolts Members Still Not in the MCU appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Thor has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a hot minute. His first solo movie was released in 2011, almost exactly a year before The Avengers, and pitted him against his brother, Loki, who sought to take control of Asgard. Thor would fight his sibling again in The Avengers before wrestling with the Dark Elves in Thor: The Dark World. Despite being one of the worst-received MCU movies at the time, the sequel did well enough for a third Thor movie to be greenlit. Thor: Ragnarok featured Hela as the main villain and also included appearances from the Executioner, Surtur, and the Grandmaster. Of course, Ragnarok was a smash hit and paved the way for Thor: Love and Thunder, which swung for the fences by casting Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher.

With all that in mind, it’s hard to believe that the God of Thunder has many more foes to face in the MCU. However, the character’s comic history is much more expansive than his live-action one, meaning that, as long as he stays active in the MCU, there will be more intense battles in his future.

1) Jormungand

Thor already has experience with giant animals in the MCU, thanks to Hela’s friend Fenris Wolf. In the comics, the beast is Loki’s offspring, and he has a sibling, Jormungand, the Midgard Serpent. The snake-like creature calls the oceans of Earth his home after being banished from Asgard by Odin. He comes up for fun now and again, though, making life difficult for the God of Thunder with his enormous size and strength.

2) Ulik

When outside threats aren’t attacking it, Asgard seems like a pretty safe place in the MCU. The comics tell a different story, with the Rock Trolls posing a threat to the Asgardians whenever they leave their caves. Ulik is the strongest Rock Troll, and he has serious beef with Thor after trying to steal the hero’s hammer. While he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, Ulik never backs down from a fight.

3) Enchantress

Shockingly, Enchantress hasn’t made her way to the MCU yet, and it’s possible that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is to blame. The character’s sister, Lorelei, appears in the show and covers the same ground Enchantress would. However, it’s been many years since Lorelei showed up, and her sister’s the better sorceress anyway. She consistently uses her power to get under Thor’s skin, and he always has to come up with unique solutions to beat her because brawn alone isn’t enough.

4) Ragnarok

Tony Stark and Thor always butt heads, but they respect one another. Well, Iron Man goes too far during the Civil War event, creating a clone of Thor to give his side of the conflict a heavy hitter. Ragnarok doesn’t work as intended, though, killing Goliath by blasting a hole right through him. The clone returns a couple of other times, and Thor usually gets the better of him. However, when it comes to Ragnarok, the mental side of the battle is just as important as the physical one.

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5) Mangog

Odin’s past comes back to bite his sons when Hela returns in Ragnarok, and the comic version of the All-Father doesn’t do much better. He creates Mangog after wiping out an entire race, with the creature being a physical manifestation of their hate. Mangog wages war on Asgard and does plenty of damage. At one point, Jane Foster’s Thor even throws him into the sun, and he still comes back for more.

6) Serpent

Thor and Loki aren’t the only ones with an evil sibling, as Odin’s eldest brother, Cul Borson, aka Serpent, is just the worst. He wants to control the Nine Realms and doesn’t care who he has to kill to achieve his goal. Serpent also has a trick up his sleeve, being able to turn into a giant snake-like creature that packs a serious punch. Thor is able to kill his uncle in his strange form, but he succumbs to his wounds, proving that Serpent isn’t someone to mess with.

7) Ares

Thor is going to have a run-in with a Greek figure in the MCU sooner rather than later when Hercules catches up to him. However, Zeus has another son whom he can send after the God of Thunder, Ares. The God of War doesn’t get along with Asgardians, and the battles between him and Thor in the comics are legendary. The God of Thunder even has to team up with Hercules at one point to bring Ares down.

Which of the Thor villains on this list do you want to see show up in the MCU next? Are there any others that you hope make the jump to live-action? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 7 Strongest Thor Villains That Still Need an MCU Appearance appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ever since the gamma bomb gave a body to Bruce Banner’s repressed self, the Hulk and him have been at each other’s throats. The oldest Hulk stories all focus on Banner’s attempts to go into isolation and or cure himself, while all the Hulk wants is to be left alone. Over the years, they’ve learned to work together and have saved and endangered the world as a team many times, but that partnership is well past over. This volume of The Incredible Hulk has shown the Jade Giant’s attempts to trap Banner within his own mind and take over their body forever. After 25 issues, the Hulk has gotten his wish, but without Banner’s human heart, is the Hulk anything more than a monster of rage? That’s the question that his teenage sidekick Charlie Tidwell needs to answer for herself.

Hulk Is Finally in Control

After months of forced transformations, burying Banner deeper and deeper inside of their shared mind, the Hulkscape, each time the Hulk finally succeeded in trapping Banner and taking full control of their body. Now with no Banner to control him half of the time, Hulk and his friend Charlie are free to live however they want to live, which means away from everyone else. Still, Hulk’s life isn’t all peachy keen either. An ancient entity called the Mother of Horrors is trapped behind the Green Door that Hulk closed during the modern classic Immortal Hulk run, and her child, the Eldest, has chased Hulk all over the country to capture him and force him to reopen it. With the Strongest One There Is evading capture so far, the Eldest has turned to abducting other gamma mutates, such as Doc Samson and Hulk’s own son Skaar.

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Hulk, for his part, is growing especially paranoid, hearing the Eldest’s voice in his head. When he notices someone near their camp, he assumes it’s another of her assassins and charges. It turns out to be none other than Bucky Barnes, the Winder Soldier, Captain America’s best friend and one of Charlie’s idols. Bucky isn’t here to fight, but came looking for Banner to see if he had answers about the missing mutates. Hulk just tells Bucky to leave because Banner is gone, and he’s never coming back. Bucky can’t exactly argue with a Hulk who refuses to listen, so he goes, but not before giving Charlie a piece of advice. He says that between the Eldest and the powers of Lycana, the first Skinwalker that Charlie has bonded with, the two of them are in serious danger. Except the Hulk never recognizes danger and will blindly charge ahead because Banner isn’t there to ground him. Bucky says that a Hulk without Banner is just a monster, and Charlie should get out while she still can.

Without Banner, Is Hulk a Man, Monster, Or Both?

That night, Charlie can’t get Bucky’s words out of her head. Hoping to prove him wrong, she uses her mystical powers as Lycana to enter the Hulkscape to find Banner. Instead of whatever she was expecting, Charlie finds a ruined, apocalyptic world with sinewy pillars of bone and massive skulls, and at its center is a massive, zombie-like Hulk head. Banner weakly calls for her to leave, but Charlie insists that she’ll help him and show everyone that Hulk and her aren’t monsters. Except when she sees what Hulk has done to Banner, her spirit drops. Tears roll down her face as she says that this can’t be true, that Hulk would never do something this evil, but Banner just begs her to leave before Hulk notices. We never see what Charlie does, but she is jettisoned from the Hulkscape, and she screams that the Hulk is a monster. Not wanting to be like him, she transforms into her winged-wolf form and flies away, giving the Hulk what he’s always wanted. To be alone.

The Hulk is the embodiment of Bruce Banner’s repressed rage. He is raw and powerful and unyielding, but now he has turned himself into something else: an uncaring entity. No matter how much he looked like a monster, Hulk always had an element of humanity that drove him to help people as much as he hurt them. He always had a kind, merciful heart, just like Banner. Except now he’s cast all parts of Banner away, including his humanity. The Hulk wants to be nothing more than a monster, but he’s going up against the Mother of Monsters. If he wants any chance of surviving or getting Charlie to trust him again, he’s going to have to embrace that human part of himself before he kills it for good. Banner has always needed the Hulk, and now the Hulk has to realize he needs Banner before it’s too late.

The Incredible Hulk #26 is on sale now!

The post The Hulk Finally Got Rid of Banner, But Is He Just a Monster Now? appeared first on ComicBook.com.

While studios like Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney continue to dominate the superhero box office with characters from the DC and Marvel Comics pantheons, a wealth of compelling figures from independent publishers and other creative houses remain largely untapped for truly great cinematic adaptations. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, companies such as Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Valiant Entertainment rose to prominence, offering creators more ownership and the freedom to explore grittier, more mature, or simply unconventional superhero narratives that often stood in stark contrast to mainstream fare. Leading the independent comic book revolution, these publishers birthed iconic characters who garnered massive fan bases and critical acclaim, selling millions of comics and defining new archetypes.

Despite their impact in print, a considerable number of influential superheroes have either never received a film adaptation or have seen their cinematic potential squandered in poorly executed projects that failed to capture the spirit of the source material. Still, the unique visual aesthetics, mature thematic explorations, and often groundbreaking narrative structures characteristic of these properties represent a largely untapped reservoir for innovative cinematic storytelling. This list focuses on seven such characters who are still awaiting a definitive and truly great cinematic interpretation.

1) Spawn

Al Simmons’ tragic transformation into the demonic anti-hero Spawn began in 1992, rapidly establishing him as a flagship character for Image Comics. A betrayed government assassin, Simmons bargained with the demon Malebolgia in Hell to return to Earth, only to find himself a supernaturally empowered Hellspawn five years later, his body scarred and his memories fragmented. The 1997 live-action film starring Michael Jai White aimed to translate the dark, urban fantasy of Spawn but ultimately fell short due to a weak script, inconsistent tone, and visual effects that struggled to realize the comic’s grim aesthetic. While an acclaimed HBO animated series provided a more mature and faithful rendition, a definitive live-action movie has been a long-cherished hope, with creator Todd McFarlane discussing a Spawn reboot for years, a project that has seen multiple creative teams attached but has yet to materialize.

The depth of Spawn’s mythology, exploring themes of damnation, free will, and the grim realities of a celestial war fought on Earth’s streets, provides a rich tapestry for a filmmaker willing to embrace its inherent darkness. Furthermore, modern cinematic techniques could finally bring the fluid nature of his living symbiotic costume and necroplasmic powers to life, alongside a truly menacing Violator. Such an adaptation would need to delve into Al Simmons’ profound psychological torment and his reluctant heroism, offering a complex supernatural thriller that the character has always merited.

2) Dragon

The massive, green-skinned, fin-headed amnesiac known only as Dragon first appeared in his own series, The Savage Dragon, in 1992, after creator Erik Larsen had used the character in earlier independent works. Discovered amidst a burning field in Chicago, Dragon possesses incredible strength, durability, and a potent healing factor, all of which he applies as a dedicated officer of the Chicago Police Department, battling an endless parade of bizarre “super-freaks.” Uniquely, the comic unfolds in real-time. Dragon ages, marries, has children (who also age and develop powers), and characters die permanently, all under Larsen’s singular creative control for decades. A more kid-friendly animated series based on The Savage Dragon aired on the USA Network in the mid-1990s, but a live-action cinematic take on the superhero has never come to pass.

Translating Savage Dragon to film would involve navigating a unique blend of gritty police procedural and wildly over-the-top superhuman violence. The visual distinctiveness of Dragon himself, alongside his truly outlandish rogues’ gallery, could create a striking screen presence. Beyond the action, a compelling narrative could explore his perpetual search for identity, his unwavering commitment to justice in a city that often fears him, and the human drama that unfolds as he builds a life and family amidst constant chaos, all against the backdrop of Larsen’s ever-evolving universe.

3) The Goon

Eric Powell’s The Goon is the iron-jawed enforcer of Lonely Street, a grim town perpetually under siege from zombies, bog lurkers, nefarious cults, and all manner of supernatural terrors, often at the behest of the Zombie Priest. With his wisecracking sidekick Franky usually by his side, The Goon dispenses brutal justice with his fists. The comic series The Goon, primarily published by Dark Horse Comics, is lauded for its singular fusion of slapstick comedy, genuine emotional depth, Lovecraftian horror, and Powell’s textured art style. For many years, a CG-animated The Goon feature film has been in active development, championed by David Fincher and Blur Studio. Unfortunately, the movie has faced persistent funding challenges despite passionate fan support, including a successful Kickstarter campaign for a story reel.

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A feature-length adaptation of The Goon, particularly one that maintains the integrity of Blur Studio’s initial vision, holds the prospect of a cinematic experience unlike any other. The key would be to balance the grotesque creature designs and brutal action with the surprising heart and melancholy that often underscores The Goon’s tough exterior. Powell’s unique world, filled with memorable characters and a darkly humorous atmosphere, could finally reach a wider audience through a film that embraces its distinctive blend of horror, comedy, and noir-infused storytelling.

4) X-O Manowar

Aric of Dacia, a Visigoth warrior from the 5th century locked in brutal conflict with the Roman Empire, finds his destiny irrevocably altered when he is abducted by the technologically superior alien race known as the Vine. Enslaved aboard their vessel, Aric endures years of hardship before leading a bloody revolt and seizing the Vine’s most sacred artifact: Shanhara, the sentient X-O Manowar armor. Upon his escape and return to Earth, he discovers that due to relativistic effects, sixteen centuries have passed. Created by Jim Shooter and Bob Layton in 1992, the character X-O Manowar is a foundational hero of the Valiant Universe. While Valiant Entertainment has actively pursued cinematic adaptations for its properties, with Bloodshot being released, a dedicated X-O Manowar film remains trapped in development limbo.

The saga of X-O Manowar presents a compelling cinematic canvas, blending elements of historical warfare, alien invasion epics, and high-tech superhero action. Aric’s profound displacement as a “barbarian in a spaceship” offers a unique character arc as a man of ancient honor and brutal pragmatism wielding one of the universe’s most powerful weapons in a bewildering modern world. A film could explore themes of colonialism, the weight of power, and the definition of civilization, all while delivering the visual spectacle of the Shanhara armor and the vast cosmic conflicts inherent to the Valiant lore.

5) The Darkness

Jackie Estacado, introduced in 1996 within the pages of Witchblade before starring in his own ongoing series, The Darkness, is a young hitman for the Franchetti Mafia family. His life takes a drastic turn on his 21st birthday when he becomes the chosen host for The Darkness, a primordial entity of shadow that grants him the power to create virtually anything he can conceive from ambient darkness, from deadly weapons and impenetrable armor to legions of goblin-like creatures called Darklings. In addition, The Darkness offers Jackie superhuman strength and regeneration but also carries a critical vulnerability to light and a constant struggle against the ancient power corrupting influence. 

Created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl, The Darkness is known for its mature themes and visceral action. While two successful video games translated his story into an interactive medium, a planned film adaptation by Dimension Films in the mid-2000s ultimately did not materialize. Yet, bringing The Darkness to the screen offers the potential for a visceral and stylish supernatural crime thriller with strong horror undertones. After all, Jackie Estacado’s journey, from a hardened mob enforcer to the reluctant master of an ancient force, is rife with dramatic conflict, allowing for an exploration of power, temptation, and the perilous balance between humanity and monstrous abilities.

6) Empowered

Adam Warren’s Empowered, which debuted as a series of graphic novels in 2007, stars the titular superheroine whose formidable alien-designed “hypermembrane” supersuit is unfortunately prone to tearing and damage. Critically, the suit’s immense power is directly linked to Empowered’s self-confidence. As a result, her pervasive anxieties and crippling self-doubt frequently render it ineffective at crucial moments, leading to her often being captured and humiliated by supervillains in scenarios she terms “distress gallery” appearances. The series is a masterful blend of superhero satire, action-comedy, surprisingly deep character development, and mature themes, tackling issues like body image, performance anxiety, and the inherent absurdities of superhero tropes with both sharp wit and genuine empathy.

A screen version of Empowered would find fertile ground in its sharp meta-commentary on superhero tropes, coupled with genuine affection for its quirky ensemble, including Emp’s supportive boyfriend Thugboy and her pragmatic demon-spawn bestie Ninjette. The project would need to translate the visual comedy inherent in Emp’s easily shredded costume and her awkward predicaments, while also capturing her genuine desire to do good and her relatable journey towards self-acceptance. Such a treatment could yield an unexpectedly heartfelt and uniquely body-positive superhero comedy for adult audiences.

7) Pitt

The character Pitt, created by artist Dale Keown, made his ferocious debut in 1993, quickly becoming a fan favorite during the Image Comics boom. Pitt is a towering, grey-skinned alien-human hybrid, the result of genetic engineering by an extraterrestrial race known as the Creed, who designed him to be their ultimate warrior. Possessing incredible superhuman strength, near-invulnerability, and razor-sharp claws on his massive hands, Pitt also exhibits a surprisingly child-like mentality. After violently escaping the Creed’s control, he crash-lands on Earth and eventually forms a protective bond with a young human boy named Timmy Nielsen, often acting as a reluctant and frequently misunderstood guardian against various monstrous and superhuman adversaries. 

The comic series Pitt is celebrated for Keown’s exceptionally detailed and dynamic artwork, which vividly portrays Pitt’s raw power and the brutal nature of his battles. However, despite his memorable design and initial popularity, Pitt has never been translated into a live-action film. The core of a Pitt film would lie in the striking contrast between his immense destructive capability, and his almost gentle personality, particularly in his interactions with Timmy. This dynamic allows for an exploration of themes like nature versus nurture, alienation, and the capacity for connection in unexpected places.

Which other non-Marvel or DC superheroes do you believe are long overdue for a great movie adaptation? Share your picks in the comments below!

The post 7 Superheroes That Still Need a Great Movie (That Aren’t Marvel or DC) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Soon, Image Comics will be introducing readers to the world of Si Spurrier and Vanesa Del Rey’s The Voice Said Kill, a new series that feels like a collision of Fargo and Deliverance. Taking place in the Louisiana bayou, a pregnant park ranger, a criminal matriarch, and a shrooms-loaded hunter will find themselves all in each other’s immediate orbit, and it’s going to be absolute chaos. ComicBook has your exclusive first look at the anticipated new series thanks to a new preview, but it gets even better, as we’ve also got special commentary on each part of that preview from Spurrier and Del Rey, and you can check out the full preview and breakdown of The Voice Said Kill #1 below.

Let’s start with The Voice Said Kill #1 page 13, which depicts a key conversation between two mothers who would go to any lengths to protect their children. Neither one likes the other, and things will spiral between them later on, but at this point, things haven’t flown off the handle just yet.

“A conversational moment during issue 1. I love the way the smoke leads the eye across the page, dividing these two women from each other. In this scene we’re beginning to understand the stakes our leading ladies share. They couldn’t be more different, and yet they’re both mothers. They would do anything – anything – to protect their children, and although they despise each other they find a perilous common ground in that simple, savage maternal determination,” Spurrier said.

“This is one of the moments when Vanesa’s art becomes almost impressionistic, dreamlike, breaking down into cleverly arranged lines that imply the idea of an expression, the sensation of a person, rather than slavishly rendering everything in tedious realism. When things get nasty a couple pages after this, you better believe the detail ramps up and the room gets real claustrophobic real fast,” Spurrier said.

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Next, let’s take a look at page 28, which carries you effortlessly into the city and makes you feel as if you’re staring at the skyline from a nearby window. The immersiveness on display is impressive, and while the page is silent, it still says a lot for those paying attention.

“And here’s a silent page. So still and sultry. You can feel the stickiness of the air. The crickets tzz-tzz-ing in the long grass. This sleepy bayou town, crumbling and defeated, still bearing the signs of Katrina’s violence. So much of our story is about the human (specifically white American) arrogance of that old mythology: we can tame the wild. Spend any time in the bayou and you know what a load of shit that is. You can trick yourself, you can make your mark on the borders of the wilderness, but you know – deep down: the tide will rise. The moss will grow. The storms will come. A week, a month, a year: you were never here. Our heroine Marie understands this better than anyone. So when we crash-cut to her, puking her guts out, the only thing that feels alive and vibrant and painful in this tired old town, we know: this is big,” Spurrier said.

We also have the new Cover B variant for The Voice Said Kill #4, which was created by the talented Emma Price. “One final treat. Attached is the variant cover for issue #4 – as yet unseen. This is by our series designer, the multi-talented Emma Price, who has an uncanny knack for arresting images that make you stop, double-take and investigate. (Her work puts me in mind of Mike Del Mundo, which is no small compliment.) Designers are rightly becoming more visible as key elements of the collaborative team, and when one of them turns out to be a damn fine illustrator too, it’s nice to be able to give her a platform,” Spurrier said.

Vanesa Del Rey said, “The story involves psychedelics. I was inspired by actually taking psychedelics myself. The things I’ve seen in the sessions… The abstraction of the hanging trees, the moss, the patterns on the leaves and flowers remind me of fractals I’ve seen when I’ve taken psychedelics. The fact that it is set in an estuary ecosystem was part of that too. It makes the swamps kind of like an in-between place…and psychedelics take you outside of your body to sort of an in-between state. And in a way being pregnant does that too!”

The Voice Said Kill #1 will hit comic stores on July 23rd, and you can check out the official description below.

“Fargo meets Deliverance in a sweaty swamp-thriller from VANESA DEL REY (Black Widow, The Creeping Below) and SI SPURRIER (Coda, X-Men). The wet heat of the Louisiana bayou. Alligator poachers prowl the mudbug mire. A park ranger, heavily pregnant, raises a hateful mug of moonshine with a criminal matriarch. And one deadly sonuvabitch, out of his mind on shrooms and retribution, loads his rifle for the Human Hunt and screams down the stars. Presenting 4 extra-length issues of fever-dream cajun crime.”

Are you excited for the new series? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things comics with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!

The post Image Comics All-Star Team Breaks Down The Voice Said Kill Preview (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Superman is in a rough spot. Lois Lane has depleted her Kryptonian powers, Lex Luthor is an enemy again, Pharm and Graft are on the loose, and he’s still an erupting volcano in a cape with his Red Kryptonite infection. Unfortunately, for Superman, things are only going to get worse from here. Not only does he have to convince Metropolis’s night-bound superhero Marilyn Moonlight that he’s not a threat to their beloved city, but something much, much worse is waiting for him in the future, but they’re not going to wait there for long. Darkseid’s corrupted Legion of Super-Heroes is coming to finally introduce themselves to the hero who previously inspired them, and they’re bringing the pain and despair that makes up their new world with them.

Superman Versus Everyone

The start of Superman #27 sees an enraged, Red-K poisoned Superman tearing his way through Stryker’s prison to find Lex Luthor, only to be confronted by Marilyn Moonlight, who is convinced he’s gone off the deep end. However, even when his rage is flowing through him more powerfully than a locomotive, Superman will always follow his moral code. He manages to rein himself in and convince Marilyn not to fight him, pointing out that Lex, Pharm, and Graft are gone, and it’s likely that Lex is somehow controlling when and where Marilyn can appear. The pair take off to find the villains, and the leaders of the Lex Luthor Revenge Squad aren’t hard to find, given they’re stomping through downtown in a giant SuperCorp robot, screaming for Lex to face them.

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As they fight, however, Lex speaks, knowing that Superman can hear him. He reveals that letting the villains go, infecting Superman with Red Kryptonite and sending Marilyn Moonlight to confront him was all a part of Lex’s plan to escape Metropolis. He did enjoy working with Superman, but after recovering all of his memories, he has to leave in order to figure out who the new Lex Luthor is. He reveals that Marilyn’s powers are the cure to Superman’s condition, and that the only way to defeat the robot is to smash it with the SuperCorp logo. Superman does so, symbolically and literally severing his ties to the company, and Lex says goodbye. In the fallout of the action, Marilyn Moonlight has been freed from her curse to only appear at night, Mercy has become the head of the newly renamed LexCorp, and Lex has slipped off to parts unknown, using sign language to avoid Superman tracking him down. Superman, disappointed but unsurprised, thinks that he’s returned to a familiar status quo, but the future is far from the idyllic land he thinks it is.

Darkseid’s Legion is Coming

In the far flung future, the Time Trapper is held captive by Darkseid’s Legion, who drag him to where they are keeping their other prisoner, Booster Gold. They reveal that Booster is the key to their plans, as after his journey to the Absolute Universe through the rift Darkseid’s death left in the Watchtower, he is basically a battery of Omega Energy. Time Trapper reminds the Legion that he is still Doomsday, and breaks free from his chains to escape, intent on finding the World Forger. The epilogue to Justice League Unlimited #8 shows him doing just that, where the two immortal beings realize together that time itself is coming undone, and that their universe is coming to an end at the hands of Omega Energy.

The Legion, meanwhile, allow the Time Trapper to flee without chase, saying that they know where he’ll wind up in the end regardless. Instead, they decide it’s finally time for them to introduce themselves to Superman. In the correct timeline, Superman inspired the Legion of Super-Heroes, and they stand as the defenders of the veritable utopia of heroes in the 31st century. They literally represent the better tomorrow that Superman is fighting for. This new Legion, however, is living proof that the tides of reality have shifted from hope to hate, and are a sick nightmare version of how things should be. Once Superman’s greatest allies, the Legion is coming to end the man who should have inspired their existence, and tear down everything Superman stands for along with him.

Superman #27 is on sale now!

The post Superman’s Worst Future is Coming to Ruin Him appeared first on ComicBook.com.

In Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #5, written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Stefano Raffaele, Kylo Ren’s descent into darkness reaches a chilling new low that echoes the infamous actions of his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. This issue plunges Kylo into the heart of Naboo, a planet deeply significant to his family’s legacy as the home of his grandmother, Naboo Queen and senator Padmé Amidala, and the place where his grandparents secretly married. While Kylo’s quest to solidify his identity as Supreme Leader has placed him on a one-man journey to follow in Vader’s footsteps, his actions on Naboo are an irreversible step toward total and unforgivable darkness. Much like Anakin’s slaughter of the Jedi Younglings in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith marked his point of no return as a Sith Lord, Kylo’s brutal murder of the Naboo resistance fighters cemented his commitment to the dark side. This act, so deeply opposed to everything Padmé and Anakin once stood for, ensures that Kylo Ren is charting a path from which there is no redemption, severing any remaining ties to the light his family once represented.

Kylo Ren’s Attack on Naboo Represents His Irreversible Embrace of the Dark Side

Kylo Ren’s arrival on Naboo is presented as an ultimatum: the planet must learn to defend itself or face destruction. Despite this order, Kylo infiltrates a gathering of Naboo people, and pretends to be someone who will lead them in their fight against the First Order. Though a subconscious part of Kylo does want to hurt the First Order as a way to act out against the path he chose, he ultimately coerces the citizens to fight for independence, even when they express that fighting may not be the right answer for them.

RELATED: Kylo Ren Fundamentally Misunderstands the Meaning of Legacy, Destroying Everything Anakin Skywalker Held Dear

After manipulating them into attacking the First Order, which leads to a victory thanks to his inside information, Kylo reveals his true nature and quickly turns on the innocents, slaughtering the very people he forced into fighting in the first place; the very people who truly represent his legacy not as Vader’s heir, but as Padmé’s grandson.  

This sensless destruction of Naboo, a world cherished by his grandmother and the very place where his grandparents’ love story began, marks Kylo’s complete rejection of his heritage. Anakin’s turn to the dark side was solidified by his murder of the Jedi Younglings, an act that irrevocably severed his ties to the Jedi Order and everything he once believed in. Similarly, Kylo’s deliberate and brutal attack on Naboo, a symbol of innocence and hope in his family’s past, signifies his total embrace of the dark side. He has crossed a threshold, committing an act that neither Padmé nor Anakin (in his redeemed form) would ever forgive, solidifying his identity not as a conflicted heir, but as a true successor to Vader’s legacy of destruction.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

The post Star Wars Gives Kylo Ren His Own Jedi Younglings Massacre Moment appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Marvel’s zombie franchise returns, and it’s getting the Red Band treatment. First introduced in 2005, Marvel Zombies featured a universe where Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were turned into zombies. The franchise has popped up from time to time since then, and was adapted into an episode of Marvel’s What If…? animated series on Disney+. A Marvel Zombies spinoff series is also scheduled to release just in time for Halloween. With that in mind, a new Marvel Zombies comic book series is also coming around the same time, and the publisher is amping up the horror with a Parental Advisory.

Marvel announced Marvel Zombies: Red Band, a five-issue limited series by writers Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan, and Marvel’s Stormbreaker artist Jan Bazaldua. Parker and Sheridan make their Marvel Comics debut next week in Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin #1. As for Marvel Zombies: Red Band, it will be labeled with a Parental Advisory and polybagged with a warning for explicit content. Previous comics to get the Red Band label include Blood Hunt, Wolverine: Revenge, Blade, Daredevil: Unleash Hell, and Punisher.

“Writing Marvel Zombies: Red Band is nothing short of a dream come true for Griffin and I,” Parker said. “As lifelong fans of the Marvel Universe and its storied past, as well as writers who have made their love for the genre of bloodsoaked horror a matter of public record, this project could not be more in our sweet spot. With Jan Bazaldua and the rest of the unbelievable talent bringing this crazy book to life, we are rewriting Marvel history in new and terrifying ways, and we sincerely hope you’ll join us.”

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“Ethan and I are like mad scientists combining so many different things we love on Marvel Zombies: Red Band,” Sheridan added. “The result is this viscera-drenched, blood-soaked, gut-covered epic spanning across all the biggest events in Marvel history. It really should be clear, we have so much appreciation for the Marvel Universe… which is why it is such a shame that we have to rip it to shreds in the kind of disgusting fashion that one can only find on the other side of a freshly torn open polybag. See you there, True Believer.”

Covers by Greg Land, Ryan Brown, Clayton Crain, and Scott Koblish feature the zombie versions of the Fantastic Four. The description of the first issue of Marvel Zombies states it will follow the origin story of the Fantastic Four, where it looks like they become zombified after gaining they’re extraordinary abilities. The Fantastic Four return to Earth with a hunger for human flesh, and readers will get to see which heroes reach their full potential, and which heroes will be torn limb from limb.

MARVEL ZOMBIES: RED BAND #1 (OF 5)

• Written by ETHAN S. PARKER & GRIFFIN SHERIDAN
• Art by JAN BAZALDUA
• Cover by GREG LAND
• Variant Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
• Virgin Variant Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
• Variant Cover by RYAN BROWN
• Retro Zombie Variant Cover by SCOTT KOBLISH
• On Sale 9/17
• THE DEAD RISE AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME!
• It was the most important space flight in the history of the Marvel Universe – four intrepid heroes took off into the unknown and returned changed, gifted with great abilities…and hungering for human flesh! Travel back to the birth of a Marvel Universe parallel to our own but chock-full of horror since its very inception! Which heroes will rise to become the champions we know and love? Which will be torn limb from limb? And which will devour the scraps?

MARVEL ZOMBIES: RED BAND #2 (OF 5)

• Written by ETHAN S. PARKER & GRIFFIN SHERIDAN
• Art by JAN BAZALDUA
• Cover by GREG LAND
• On Sale 10/22

Marvel Zombies #1 goes on sale September 17th, followed by Marvel Zombies #2 on October 22nd. Let us know your thoughts on the Red Band series in the comments below!

The post New Marvel Zombies Series Comes With a Parental Warning for Blood and Horror appeared first on ComicBook.com.

An era of Star Wars storytelling that began in 2021 is coming to an end. The High Republic began as a line of novels and comics, and quickly grew to include the Disney+ series The Acolyte. We’ve transitioned through Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III of The High Republic, spanning centuries before the name “Skywalker” took over the galactic franchise. But all good things must end, and that’s the case with The High Republic. While we wait to see what Marvel and Lucasfilm have planned for what’s to come after The High Republic, we can take a look at the final chapter.

ComicBook has the exclusive lettered preview of Star Wars: The High Republic – The Finale #1 by Cavan Scott and Marika Cresta. It takes readers up into the atmosphere above Coruscant, where a fleet of starships are hovering above the golden city. Our narrator is Jedi Master Keeve Trennis, marshal to the Stormwall Defense Fleet. Keeve’s squad is returning after a successful victory at the Battle of Eriadu, defeating the Nihil. However, everyone on the ship is treating the win as if it’s a funeral.

One person who isn’t feeling somber is Lourna, who appears hostile towards Keeve Trennis. The reason for this is that Keeve pushed Lourna to be better than she was. Lourna took the winning shot against an enemy who was using their fears against them, but Keeve is feeling doubt that it was the right decision. Any other time, the Jedi would have tried to save the Nihil. But that’s something to worry about at another time. For now, Keeve has been summoned to the Jedi Temple, and she’s being joined by Sskeer.

Once they reach the Jedi Temple, Keeve is reunited with Terec and Ceret. The twins report that they had a successful mission taking out the Nameless, restoring peace to the galaxy. However, a cost was paid for this triumph, and while Terec and Ceret still have each other, it’s a cost that they will have to carry with them for the rest of their lives.

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Marvel has relaunched its Star Wars line of comics. There is a new Star Wars ongoing series that takes place after Return of the Jedi, as well as another series featuring Doctor Aphra. It’s unknown at this time if there will be a line of comics dedicated to stories outside the Skywalker Saga, similar to The High Republic.

“THE END OF THE BEGINNING! The final battle between the Jedi and the Nihil has been fought, sacrifices have been made and the dust settles,” the description of Star Wars: The High Republic – The Finale #1 reads. “As friends and allies gather for one last celebration, a decision is made, and a fate sealed. Guest-starring faces from across the best-selling multimedia initiative. All roads lead to Dalna.”

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Finale #1 goes on sale Wednesday, July 30th. Let us know your thoughts on the preview in the comments below!

The post Star Wars Says Goodbye to The High Republic Era, But What Comes Next? (Exclusive) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Superman, Spider-Man, Invincible, some of the biggest names in all of comics, as simple as they are iconic. They’re names that are not only catchy but they sum up who the character is and often what they do. But not every superhero wins the proverbial jackpot when it comes to a great superhero identity. For every Invincible, there’s always a Rex Splode just around the corner. Whether it’s a corny name for the sake of it, or the character couldn’t think of anything else there are always terrible names among the heroes in comics.

A lot of these heroes may have had great intentions when they came up with their names. Many were names they briefly went by as they were teenagers. Much like the one email address we all have that was made a long time ago that you wish you could change, these names were just bad choices that stuck. Here are seven of the worst superhero identities. Prepare as we dive in to some terrible names.

7) Kid Arachnid

In theory Kid Arachnid isn’t a bad name for Miles Morales, but it also just kind of sucks. What started as a way to distinguish Peter and Miles from each other in their costumes just ended up as something that’s over complicated and a mouthful. It’s not even the kid part that’s bad, it’s arachnid. You could have just gone by Kid Spider-Man or Spider-Kid but no, Kid Arachnid was born. At least Richard didn’t use this name in Ultimate Spider-Man.

Thankfully this name didn’t last and is now mostly forgotten. Now both Peter and Miles are sharing the title of Spider-Man and it just works. It’s a win-win. Unlike most of the other entries, Miles actually got to drop the terrible name which is something not a lot of heroes with regrettable names can say.

6) Ghost-Spider

Speaking of characters stuck with their awful names we have Ghost-Spider. Same deal with Miles; they can’t call her Spider-Gwen in universe because it would give away part of her name. But Ghost-Spider? Who came up with that? The same person who came up with Kid Arachnid obviously. Before Gwen lived on Earth 616, she went by Spider-Woman yet she can’t share the name with Jessica Drew?

If they didn’t want two people sharing Spider-Woman for some reason, why didn’t they try to go with something a bit simple? I’d hope at some point in the future Gwen and Jessica Drew can work something out on using the Spider-Woman name together but that does us no good for now. At least her costume is cool.

5) Man-Thing

Based on the story of how this character came to be, I understand why he’s called Man-Thing and not Swamp Thing. That doesn’t mean Man-Thing gets a pass from a weird name choice.

Everything aside Man-Thing does have a name that evokes 50’s horror movie titles and it does work for the effect. It just seems like a missed opportunity to not have something with swamp, bog, or something else earthy and spooky in the title. Man-Thing is such a cool character; he deserves a suitably cool name to match.

4) Marvel Girl

Jean Grey was part of the original lineup of the X-Men. With members like Cyclops, Angel, and Iceman, those names perfectly reflect their abilities. But then there’s Jean as Marvel Girl. Marvel Girl doesn’t show off Jean’s talents of abilities in her name at all. Sure she was a marvelous girl when she was introduced but it doesn’t have the same power or ring to it as the other original members. At the same time Beast also had a weird choice due to looking human despite having big feet. Maybe the early X-Men just weren’t great with names.

While Beast’s name made more sense as the years went on, Jean’s did not and for the most part has largely been dropped. Often resulting in her just being referred to as Jean or if she’s Phoenix, she would go by that. At least she did get a much better name with Phoenix and still uses it today but Marvel Girl always stood out as the odd X-Men out of the original five.

3) Speedy

In no way is Speedy a bad name at all, but as a sidekick for Green Arrow and not the Flash? Then it becomes more than a little head scratching. It would have been one thing for Roy Harper to be the only one who used the name and could free it up for the Flash, but Mia taking it after Roy is very odd. Mia Dearden may be the most underrated sidekick of the Emerald Archer but she should come up with something a bit better for her sidekick name.

Of course, Speedy isn’t the only weird superhero identity in the Green Arrow family. There’s also Arrowette, which while it is more on theme, it’s just another odd choice. Maybe Mia lucked out with Speedy after all.

2) Ass-Kicker

Ass-Kicker from Kick-Ass almost made the top slot on this list. Being one of the high school friends of Dave Lizewski, Kick-Ass himself and seeing the rest of his friends become superheroes, Ass-Kicker was born. While it was a last ditch effort to join in on the fight with Kick-Ass and his league of super friends of sorts, Ass-Kicker is just a terrible name even if it’s played for laughs.

1) Drake

You’d think with the intelligence Tim Drake has been portrayed to have, he would have thought of a better identity than his own last name. Having been Robin, and later Red Robin, Tim continued the bird trend but landed on Drake? Tim is supposed to be the smartest out of all the Bat Family, Batman included, yet he does maybe the dumbest thing he’s ever done with this superhero identity.

Thankfully the reaction to Tim becoming “Drake” was pretty negative and the title was very quickly removed and is now mostly an in-universe joke/jab at Tim’s dispense. The response to this name has even led other fans to suggest the name Cardinal to keep in with the bird theme. If DC ever let’s Tim go out on his own again, I hope he has a better name than Drake.

What are some of the titles you all couldn’t stand for your favorite superheroes? Let us know down in the comments.

The post 7 Worst Superhero Identities, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Crossovers have always been a staple of comic books. Whether they become friends or enemies, there has always been something fun and exciting about having one’s favorite characters from different franchises break the corporate barrier and come together to have epic adventures. As one of the quintessential teams of Marvel Comics, Earth’s mightiest heroes, the Avengers, have found themselves at the center of plenty of crossovers. Many of which had them meet some of the most iconic heroes and villains in pop culture. And when you take characters and ideas from different worlds and smash them together, you are bound to get some crazy and unique stories that are out of this world.

These are five times the Avengers have come face-to-face with characters from other popular franchises, resulting in equally bizarre and epic stories that pushed the envelope of what could be done in a crossover.

5) Godzilla: King of the Monsters

In the late ‘70s, Marvel Comics published Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which ran for 24 issues and saw Japan’s most iconic giant monster wreaking havoc across the United States. Throughout the comic’s run, heroes like the Fantastic Four and the prehistoric duo Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur tried their best to fight Godzilla, but they were no match for the atomic monster. Godzilla’s rampage was eventually halted in the series’ final issue as the Avengers assembled to take down the titanic terror. Godzilla proved himself to be more than a match for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, as even Thor found himself struggling to prevent the beast from knocking over the Empire State Building. While the Avengers were ultimately victorious, this would not be the last time they faced the king of the monsters: on June 18th of this year, the first issue of Godzilla vs. Avengers was published for the rematch of the century.

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4) Attack on Avengers

Godzilla wasn’t the only giant monster from Japan that the Avengers have faced off against. In the short story “Attack on Avengers,” published in the magazine Brutus, the Marvel Universe found itself the target of an invasion by the monstrous titans from the hit manga and anime Attack on Titan. The story is only eight pages long and begins amid the battle as the Avengers fight iconic titans, such as the Armored Titan and the Female Titan. Heroes like Spider-Man and Iron Man do their best to avoid the titan’s attacks by exploiting their weak spots. In contrast, other heroes, like the Hulk and Thor, overwhelmed the invaders with their superior strength. Unlike other crossovers on this list, however, this story has no conclusion. Instead, it ends on a cliffhanger as the Guardians of the Galaxy arrive to join in the fight against the titans.

3) New Avengers/Transformers

In 2007, the Avengers met and teamed up with the Autobots to defeat the evil Decepticons. While initially, the Avengers attack the Autobots, assuming that they are evil, the two sides quickly become allies when they realize they share the same goal of stopping Megatron from taking over the world. In one of their stranger plans, the Decepticons abducted Spider-Man in the hopes of harnessing his radioactive blood to make themselves stronger. Just the idea of Transformers and the Avengers is already wild enough on its own, but the series has many other memorable moments, including Iron Man bringing in his Transformer-sized suit to fight the Decepticons and Dr. Doom teaming up with Megatron. 

2) Aliens Vs. Avengers

In one of the darkest and most insane crossovers of the last decade, the four-issue mini-series Aliens Vs. Avengers shows a world ravaged by the xenomorphs from the Alien film franchise. Set years after the initial invasion and conquest of the xenomorph swarm, the few surviving superhumans must find a way to escape Earth and fight the alien menace. Some of the last heroes of humanity include Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Miles Morales, and Captain Marvel, who must fight a desperate battle for survival. Part of what makes this story truly bizarre is the extreme adaptations the xenomorphs undergo to pose a serious threat to the Avengers, including developing immunity to magic. Adding to the craziness of this entire crossover story arc, the story also features the blending of xenomorph and mutant DNA, Mr. Sinister creating a facehugger gun, and a xenomorph Venom.

1) Amalgam Comics

While other crossovers have characters from different franchises just meet each other, the short-run imprint titled Amalgam Comics created an entirely new universe based on the characters of Marvel and DC. The story centered around the merging of the Marvel and DC Universes, creating an all-new world of fused heroes and villains. These included Superman and Captain America fusing to become the Super Soldier, Batman and Wolverine combining to become Dark Claw, and many more. Even the Avengers merged with the Justice League to become the JLA (Judgement League Avengers). Many of these amalgamated characters had their own short comic runs featuring fun and unique stories that explored the endless possibilities a universe like this could entail. And while this universe hasn’t been seen in decades, it still stands out among fans as one of the most ambitious and crazy crossover events in comic book history.

The post The 5 Craziest Avengers Crossovers Ever, Ranked appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Ironheart is one of the new generation of Marvel Comics superheroes, making her first appearance in 2016 in the page of Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3). Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Ironheart is Riri Williams, a genius who had big dreams to invent her own Iron Man armor and become a hero. However, she had no money and didn’t have the tech needed, so she “borrowed” it from the M.I.T. University Science Center, which caught the attention of Iron Man himself. He offered to sponsor her to become a new hero, and she eventually became part of the team of teenage heroes known as The Champions.

Riri Williams also made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she helped out Shuri, who had taken up the mantle of the Black Panther, in her battle with Namor. Now, Ironheart has her own Disney+ series, and it might be time to catch up on her best comic book appearances to understand why Ironheart is such a special Marvel hero.

1) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #12

This was the comic book where Iron Man met Ironheart for the first time. It was all accidental. Riri Williams made her armor and stopped a prison breakout, but damaged it. She faced arrest for stealing the equipment needed to work on it from M.I.T., and Iron Man heard about it when he was visiting and set out to find Riri and see what she was up to. He arrived at her home and demanded that she show him and her mother what she was working on. Riri Williams was 15, and Tony Stark was impressed. This was where he gave Ironheart his blessing, and she set out to become a hero.

2) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1

The main Iron Man series ended just two issues after he met Riri Williams, and then Tony Stark ended up in a coma after the events of Civil War II. This led to the next series, which was still called Invincible Iron Man, but it now had Ironheart as the comic’s main hero. This is an important issue as it reveals Riri Williams’ backstory and the death of her stepfather and her best friend Natalie by a drive-by shooter while a 12-year-old Riri watched in horror. The first issue also has Tony’s final gift before his coma — an A.I. to help Riri with her armor.

3) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #9-10

Ironheart became a major hero thanks to her role in freeing Latveria from the rule of dictator Lucia Von Bardas. She went to Latveria to attack after SHIELD asked her to and declared herself the country’s new monarch. When SHIELD showed up, Riri brokered a peace treaty between Latveria’s armed forces and SHIELD, ensuring the country could have its first free elections. This was the moment Riri showed her brain was just as important a weapon as any armor she created. Humorously, Riri noted this was just her fifth fight.

4) Champions (Vol. 2) #19

Ironheart joined her first team during the Secret Empire event series when Captain America revealed he was with Hydra and overthrew the American government. Riri worked with The Champions and the Underground, attempting to fight back against Hydra. After that ended and the country began to return to normal, Ironheart officially joined The Champions. She joined along with the new Wasp. This was a huge moment since it was the first time that Ironheart felt she had a superhero family where she belonged.

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5) Ironheart #9

MCU fans have got to see the great teaming of Ironheart and Shuri, and that happened in the comics first when Riri Williams went to Wakanda on a mission and met Shuri for the first time. This was an interesting meeting as well, since Riri was in a hurry to get help and was frustrated that it seemed Shuri didn’t understand the urgency, and Riri was quite rude. However, the two heroes finally get on the same page and develop a great relationship that allows them to fight Shadow Monsters together and become a fun pairing.

6) Champions (Vol. 4) #5

Ironheart was a big part of the Outlawed storyline. This series introduced a law banning underage superheroes from operating without an adult hero sponsor. Any hero caught was arrested by a group called CRADLE (headed up by Dum Dum Duggan.) However, the entire law was created by the evil Roxxon Corporation and their main goal was to shut down the Champions. Riri immediately quit and put her armor away since her identity was public knowledge. However, all it took was CRADLE to attack her friends to bring her back into the fight, and Champions (Vol. 4) #5 was where the team, with Ironheart by their side, finally stopped Roxxon and got the law repealed.

7) Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5

To catch up on what Ironheart is doing as she gets older and more secure in her place in the Marvel Universe, the two-part team-up in Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5 shows how much of a hero she has become. Iron Man needs help, and none of his armors are working anymore. He has an old model that isn’t very protective, and he calls in Ironheart to help him. She finds herself fighting an old enemy in Lucia von Bardas and has to fight to defend the people of Chicago, and it is Ironheart — not Iron Man — who saves the day.

The post 7 Essential Ironheart Comics You Need to Read appeared first on ComicBook.com.

“Magneto Was Right” is a phrase that carries a lot of weight depending on when you look into its origins. In the classic sense cemented by the X-Men comics and later animated series, Magneto is the harder edge in the fight for mutants, but he is still respected by his friend Charles Xavier. Their destinies were forever entwined early on, and they became closer over time, even when they’re fully at odds. It is also strongly implied to mirror the words of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, one side opting to work peacefully before getting violent, and the other seeing violence as the only final option.

While seeing their differences was much easier in the old days when Magneto was more of a cartoonish comic villain, he has shifted and evolved his villainy since, inspired by his experiences alongside the X-Men. He has become far more of an anti-hero at times, even making him the only one on the right side of history at times. Despite “Magneto Was Right” shirts making their debut in arguably the character’s most genocidal moment, and Cyclops co-opting it after Avengers Vs. X-Men, the phrase is strong and heavy with truth. He’s also currently going through some major changes due to Resurrection-Linked Degenerative Sickness, forcing him into a chair in a similar fashion to Xavier in the years prior. It’s a good moment for reflection on the character and a point to see just where he could go next.

We’re going to take a look at the times Magneto was truly right in X-Men history. It might be a hard pill to swallow at times, but it doesn’t change facts. Magneto was right! We can prove it!

1) God Loves, Man Kills

There is no better story to kick off this list than God Loves, Man Kills. It puts Magneto and his righteous anger to work in a situation that mirrors a lot of the real world. After a group called the Purifiers kill a pair of mutant children and Magneto lays them to rest, he goes on a warpath and ends up working with the X-Men despite their protests. William Stryker is to blame for all of the strife, and he sends the Purifiers to attack the X-Mansion, taking Xavier captive to brainwash him and use his power to kill mutants.

Throughout the story, which is one of the best X-Men stories to capture the pure dynamic between Magneto’s beliefs and Xavier’s, we see how right Magneto is. He even almost convinces Xavier to join his brotherhood before he comes back to his senses.

2) Age of Apocalypse

Another twist on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto and proof of Magneto being right is Age of Apocalypse. While Age of Apocalypse is far from the normal Marvel Universe, it shows how strong that friendship is and what each lends to the other. After Xavier’s kid, Legion, accidentally kills him while trying to kill Magneto, the Age of Apocalypse comes to be, where Magneto now leads the X-Men and opposes the forces of Apocalypse.

It’s an interesting look at the character and his heroic side, showing that despite his radical views and terroristic past, even he can’t stomach the mutant-led world of Apocalypse. He opposes him, works to save everybody from nuclear destruction, and starts a new world from there.

3) House of X

Seeing Xavier and Magneto team up to rule over Krakoa might be a moment that got a lot of people back into the X-Men comics. It’s the first time that both are focused on the same goal and are working together to establish and maintain a mutant society on the living island. Xavier now has the confidence and singular focus on mutantkind’s survival, opting to live separate from the human world. For Magneto, he took some time to dull his knives while demonstrating that mutants will have a new relationship with the rest of the world at that point. It’s a shock to the system for the characters and one for longtime readers of the comics. The only drawback is Magneto’s lack of fangs in this form, though he demonstrates his power in the follow-up, Inferno.

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4) Axis

Dropping around the same time as Magneto’s solo series that created a mood for vengeance for the character, lashing out against anti-mutant groups and murderers. AXIS also places the master of magnetism in a lead role of sorts, especially in the early fight with Red Skull.

The crossover captures the perfect bit of retribution delivered by the character. While facing off against the Red Skull, he opts to beat the former Nazi to death after helping the Avengers and X-Men to defeat him. No powers, no tricks, just pure violence. The violent side of Magneto comes out, and he ends the Skull with just his fists. A powerful moment where you’ll be hard pressed to hate the former mutant terrorist.

5) Genosha

Magneto’s attack on Genosha and his eventual founding of a mutant colony on the former apartheid nation both stand as news we want to see play out, and a worst-case scenario due to what follows. While Magneto takes over and builds up a nation of 16 million mutants, his efforts are undermined by the eventual genocide initiated by Cassandra Nova in the “E is for Extinction” storyline in New X-Men.

You could view the Wild Sentinel attack that killed so many as a response to Magneto’s fights for the island, but it also confirms it as another right choice by the mutant radical. Mutants have always been targeted and always will be targeted, even if they create a state of their own.

6) Trial of Magneto

The first moment where Magneto is shifted into less of a cartoonish villain, the Trial of Magneto opens up a lot of real estate for the Holocaust survivor. He sees how his actions and his feelings toward humanity are almost identical to how the Nazis felt about his fellow Jews during the Holocaust. So to start fresh, he decides to turn himself in and stand trial for his string of crimes over the years. This leads him to take over the Xavier School for a while, portraying himself as Xavier’s cousin, and also allows him to reconnect with his kids, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

7) Acts of Vengeance

After inching back to more extreme views and seeking defenses for mutants against humans, Magneto starts to look at the other villains for possible partners during Acts of Vengeance in 1989. But even though he has turned back to more villainous pursuits, he still has no time or patience for some.

When he finally decides to strike and put the villains’ plans at risk, his big target is the Red Skull. He singles out how Red Skull worked with Hitler and was treating mutants like the people in concentration camps. So to ensure he can’t interfere, Magneto places Red Skull in a buried crypt and walls him inside.

8) House of M

If Magneto managed to win the day and take over the world, the resulting storyline might look a bit like House of M. It’s a world where Magneto is named leader of the world’s mutants and is granted reign over Genosha. In this world, the tables have turned, and mutants are the ones in control while humans are judged as inferior to the homo sapien superior.

Yes, it is the result of some mischief by the Scarlet Witch and her break after Avengers Disassembled. But it is also meant to represent the heart’s desires for those who are affected. So in the end, this is Magneto’s world and it would seem he’s very right within it.

9) Secret Wars

Finally, the real first moment where Magneto is put in the driver seat of his story is Secret Wars. In the event, he begins being mixed in with the heroes, due to the Beyonder seeing his main goal is to help mutants. That’s his first pro to check off the list. He also gets the approval of Captain America as an ally, which is another big check mark. While Secret Wars doesn’t leave Marvel changed the way other events have over the years, it is an early example of Magneto being true to himself and true to his cause.

Do you agree with our choices? Do you think Magneto was actually very, very wrong? Let us know in the comments.

The post Magneto Was Right (& Here Are 9 Times That Prove It) appeared first on ComicBook.com.

Comic book fans love some good sequential storytelling, but you can never underestimate the value of a compelling one-and-done story. These types of tales can take many shapes, but they typically come in a one-shot, standalone comic. There are several fan-favorite Marvel Comics one-shots released during the publisher’s long history, featuring clashes between Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains. But most of the time, it’s the quieter stories that stand the test of time. One-shots usually get overlooked, but there are several of them that deserve revisiting, especially since they come from some A-list creative talent and feature big-name superheroes.

The list of forgotten Marvel one-shots includes X-Men, Spider-Man, some street-level vigilantes, and even a crossover with DC. What they all have in common are stories that resonated with readers throughout the years, and it doesn’t hurt that some of the biggest names in comics helped bring them to life.

7) The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans

If you had to pick the two biggest superhero teams in comics in the early ’80s, they would undoubtedly be the Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans. These aren’t the Avengers or Justice League we’re talking about, but at the time, they were more popular than both teams. The Uncanny X-Men replaced Charles Xavier’s original team and featured the likes of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus, while the Teen Titans underwent a similar transformation, adding Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire.

Written by Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont and penciled by Walt Simonson, the team-up between the Uncanny X-Men and New Teen Titans saw Darkseid attempting to use the Dark Phoenix to open up the Source Wall. When fans think of collaborations between Marvel and DC, The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans is the pinnacle of that partnership.

6) The Punisher: The End

Frank Castle is known for starring in brutal, bloody, and violent stories, and The Punisher: The End is definitely one of these. The one-shot takes place under Marvel’s MAX imprint for mature readers, in an unspecified point in the future. The world has gone straight to hell after several countries launched nuclear weapons against each other. While all that was happening, Punisher was finding shelter in a bomb shelter in a prison. He comes out of the shelter a year after the bombs have gone off and makes his way to New York City to assassinate the group responsible for humanity’s demise.

The Punisher: The End comes from longtime Punisher writer Garth Ennis and artist Richard Corben. As violent as Frank Castle is, it’s rare to see him really unleash his brand of revenge in the main Marvel Universe. However, MAX allowed it to all hang out with Punisher electing to shoot out justice before his last dying breath. Plus, there’s the touching end with Frank making his way to Central Park for a disillusioned reunion with his dead family.

5) Uncanny X-Men #201

It’s a fight for leadership of the X-Men between Cyclops and Storm in 1985’s Uncanny X-Men #201. We’re still dealing with our Uncanny X-Men team from earlier, except now, Cyclops is a father with Jean Grey’s clone, Madelyne Pryor. X-Men fans will recognize that the baby is the time-traveling Cable. Madelyne wants Cyclops to leave the X-Men so they can go be a family, while Cyclops doesn’t trust Magneto to lead the X-Men.

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Storm comes up with a compromise: she and Cyclops have a duel for leadership of the team. The duel helped cement Storm’s place as a leader, and fans got to see two of the more powerful X-Men trade powerful blows.

4) Elektra Lives Again

Frank Miller flexes his creative chops on Elektra Lives Again, a graphic novel that spins out of his run on the Daredevil ongoing series. As the name indicates, it marks Elektra’s return from the dead. Matt Murdock has been having dreams of Elektra’s resurrection, and they turn out to be more than mere dreams. But Elektra isn’t the only Daredevil supporting character to get a revival.

The Hand have orchestrated Bullseye’s death, only to bring him back as their mind-controlled puppet. Daredevil and Elektra have to fight against an army of Hand ninjas to prevent this from happening.

3) X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills

Chris Claremont is back again with a graphic novel that pits Marvel’s merry mutants against televangelist William Stryker. At the time, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills joined Marvel’s growing list of graphic novels. The X-Men have to contend with Stryker manipulating the masses into believing that mutants are ungodly and therefore, should be wiped off the face of the Earth. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum is Magneto, who believes that humans should bow down to mutants. The X-Men and Magneto have to work together to defeat the villain.

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills was adapted into a feature film, 2003’s X2: X-Men United, with Brian Cox playing William Stryker.

2) Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33

Peter Parker: Spider-Man #33 features a touching tale between Peter Parker and Uncle Ben that spans years. Peter spends the anniversary of Uncle Ben’s death by attending a New York Mets baseball game, a tradition the two used to share. Uncle Ben was always excited for the games, yet as Peter grew older and older, he lost his love for going. A lot of this is attributed to the Mets always losing, though Uncle Ben tried to remind Peter that lessons can be found in a loss.

One year, Peter tries to get out of going to the game, though Aunt May forces him to go. Peter has a grumpy look on his face the entire game, until the Mets rally and win. He gets to share a special moment with Uncle Ben, something he looks back on proudly.

1) Hawkeye #11

Matt Fraction and David Aja are credited with one of the more influential Hawkeye comics ever made. Hawkeye helped lead to a resurgence in Marvel comics that felt like indie titles, with stories that didn’t necessarily tie into the goings-on of the main universe. Plus, it also served as inspiration for the Hawkeye show on Disney+.

“Pizza is My Business” in 2013’s Hawkeye #11 featured Pizza Dog, the stray dog taken in by Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. Lucky the Pizza Dog has to solve a murder, so we get to follow the issue from Lucky’s perspective. Aja uses art to tell the storm beautifully, and fans get a new appreciation for man’s best friend at the same time.

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