PULL! Mithrandiel’s Latest Comic Reads/Reviews
By: Mithrandiel
It’s the holiday season, which means everything’s a bit more hectic. When everything’s more hectic, I have less time for comics!
Thankfully, I found some time to play catch-up, and wanted to share some of my (brief) thoughts on what I’ve been reading. Enjoy!
Strange Academy: Finals #2
After Emily’s rebellion and overt aggression in the previous issue split the Strange Academy students into two sects, this issue lingers on those who returned to school. Doyle, Zoe and the rest of the gang are assigned school clean-up duty, and after a hard day’s work, get an unexpected lead on their missing friend, Calvin. The students then set a trap for Gaslamp to try and locate their friend, but who ends up setting a trap for who?
Strange Academy continues to deliver an exciting and vibrant narrative, though with the scale of the roster some of the character relationships feel a bit thin. Still, with a properly suspenseful closing page, it easily maintains its hook and I am looking forward to seeing how this arc concludes.
Secret Invasion #2
Well, here we go again! After Maria Hill uncovers the beginnings of a new Skrull invasion, drastic steps are taken to try and identify which heroes have already been compromised. After confronting the first captured Skrull, Maria feels confident she has a new method for determining who among them is not as they appear…but it wouldn’t make for much of an event if they figured it out that quickly, now would it?
There’s likely to be some grumbling from folks with similar complaints as those who opposed Devil’s Reign for being too similar to Civil War. However, I think that re-telling stories can provide a unique opportunity to expand and explore different heroes and narratives. North appears to be very self-aware of the fact that elements of the story are being re-tread, and offers slight tweaks and twists to keep the reader engaged. Good stuff!
Thanos: Death Notes
Thanos. The Mad Titan. The one who wielded the Infinity Gauntlet and extinguished half the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. Iconic bad guy…and while his time in the MCU spotlight has ended, there is still so much more going on with Thanos in the world of comics.
Death Notes is a collection of tales that pieces together rumblings of where Thanos is now. Previously lost to the timestream, Thor had a dream of Thanos’ eventual victory and supreme rule of the multiverses some time ago, and now that nightmare appears to be coming to fruition.
From a haunting encounter with Iron Man to conversations with Death herself, this anthology is a compelling introduction to the next arc involving one of the nastiest baddies in the Marvel Universe. This story continues and is properly kicked off in Thor #29…
Thor #29
Thor has grown increasingly anxious about the vision of his “true end”, showing Thanos leading an army of undead heroes, wielding Mjolnir with the 6 infinity stones imbued into it in one hand, and a mysterious gauntlet with a single, jet-black gem. If that wasn’t bad enough, now Corvus Glaive, one of Thanos’ longtime lieutenants, has abducted Laussa Odinsdottir - heir to the Asgardian Throne.
Setting out to uncover the mystery behind the vision, Thanos enlists one of the original valkyries, Reva, to help him seek out answers.
Following up on Thanos: Death Notes, there’s definitely a sense of dread as you flip through the pages, similar to the early issues of Aaron’s Thor leading up to the iconic God-butcher arc. Certainly interested to see if the hype around Thanos is able to be maintained!
Gargoyles #1
Talk about a throwback - the 90s animated series that occupies no small piece of most millennials’ childhoods has returned to comic form! Dynamite debuted the latest iteration of Gargoyles this past week, and it continues the story of Goliath and his winged crew.
Despite it not having quite the library as longer-running series, there’s still a decent amount of catch-up to do narratively, and you can tell as the introductions come fast and furious, as well as implications of more complex story arcs that new readers may not be familiar with. Weisman makes it pretty clear at a few points that the readers digest version is all you need to know for the time being.
While the initial narrative may be a bit frenetic, it certainly captures that vibe of the Saturday morning cartoon. Definitely worth picking up the 2nd issue to see what else it might have to offer.
Dark Web #1
Things have been pretty rough for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and with the kick-off of the Dark Web event, it doesn’t appear to be getting any better. Ben Reilly and Madeline Pryor, clones with checkered pasts that are now known as Chasm and the Goblin Queen, have decided to team up to enact revenge on those who have had some hand in making their lives miserable.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, AKA The King in Black, is on the hunt for his son and appears to have allied with the Goblin Queen as well. Knowing that Peter is within grasp, Venom appears to have taken over, and things are not looking good for Spider-Man!
Dark Web has some great art, and I love what Wells’ has been doing lately with Spider-Man. However, it can be somewhat challenging to juggle the narrative and characters with all of the clones involved - things get a bit convoluted! Still, seems to be a fun event and I’m looking forward to more!
All Against All #1
A great new indie title, All Against All combines sci-fi with Conan levels of brutality in an effective and spellbinding way.
The parasitic race known as “Operators” have used stronger and stronger bodies to conquer galaxies in the past, but after an extended period of going unchallenged, they have become soft and unfamiliar with the process of adapting to powerful forms to do battle. Now, facing an even more powerful race, they must quickly evolve and return to this effective method of battling their enemies, or face extinction.
It was honestly a real page-turner. Great pacing and stellar, unique visuals really drew me in. As a limited, 5 issue series, I’m really curious to see where it goes. Definitely check this out!
Behold, Behemoth #2
I picked up the first issue of Behold, Behemoth a couple weeks ago because the cover looked interesting, and I was immediately intrigued. Not a lot of questions answered, but not in a way that made me frustrated - more curious.
This issue introduces us a bit more to the threats within the world of Behold, Behemoth, and the threat of the young girl’s powers.
The story features some great art and emotional tension. Still a lot of question marks around certain elements of the story, but I’m more invested than ever in discovering more. Some fantastic stuff here. Definitely look for it at your local comic shop!
What are you reading these days? Feel free to share in the comments, or join our Discord!
