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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 13, 2018 0:16:03 GMT -5
Spider-Man #35"Team Venom"Cover Date: June, 1993 Writer: David Michelline Artist: Tom Lyle Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Black Cat, Aunt May, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr,. "Richard Parker," "Mary Parker," & Cloak (plus various people that are killed by our villains) Official Plot:Carnage and his cronies comandeer an empty warehouse for their headquarters, and the first guest is Demogoblin. Meanwhile, at the Parker home, Peter and Mary Jane argue about what to do with the prone form of Venom lying in their doorway. After Mary Jane storms out, Peter helps Venom onto the couch, and is flabbergasted that the villain wants to seek an alliance with him. Spider-Man knows that he can't tackle Carnage and his team alone, and so goes off to seek advice from Felicia. Instead of advice, however, she offers assistance in the form of the Black Cat. Meanwhile, Mary Jane arrives at the home of Aunt May, seeking comfort. At Carnage's headquarters, though, the Demogoblin has arrived seeking justice. In the end, however, he simply agrees to join Carnage's team. Spider-Man and the Black Cat have also agreed to team-up with Venom. Back at Carnage's headquarters, Cloak has arrived to exact justice on the one who killed his beloved Dagger. He does not fare well, but one of Shriek's attacks alert Spider-Man and his allies to their location. The two groups merge, and once again prove to be too evenly matched. The battle ends when Carnage's team brings down the now-burning roof upon the heroes. As Carnage and his comrades flee, the Black Cat is trapped under the roof and Venom is weakened by the flames. Spider-Man is faced with a decision: save Black Cat, or go after Carnage. Brodie's View: This issue is dedicated to the formings of official team, as both Carnage (Unofficially) and Venom (somewhat Officially) start forming little teams; Carnage, for the added fun of having another psycho in his little "Kill Krew," for Venom, the chance to potentially snuff out Carnage (as our main Anti Hero feels responsible for creating him). However, Spidey, who also wants to stop Carnage and his gang, but doesn't support Venom's methods or end game plan, refusing to join Venom's growing group (The Black Cat does). Meanwhile, the Demogoblin ends up joining up with Carnage's group, although, we'll see some instant friction between the two when it comes to the "Biggah Pictcha," as Carnage doesn't really have one; he simply wants chaos and murder for the sake of chaos and murder (this will later end up ruining things between Carnage and The Joker, when the two were briefly a team in the first BATMAN/SPIDER-MAN crossover). The villains end up being attacked by Cloak, who wants revenge for Dagger supposedly being killed (by Shriek) in Part 2. However, the Darkforce welding vigilante quickly gets overwhelmed by Carnage's group, that is, until the big moment where Venom and The Black Cat (and quickly joined by Spidey) end up at least holding the villains off, until Demogoblin destroys the roof of the building they were fighting in, causing rubble to fall on the Black Cat. Venom is also messed up, which puts Spider-Man with a bit of a dilemma; who does he save, or does he go after Carnage?!? (as if that wasn't obvious....lol) ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) Anyways, that little joke aside, this was a pretty solid issue once again from David Micheline. What needed done got done, and David even has time for a little sideplot action where Mary Jane goes to Aunt May's without Peter, and has to try and explain why (and not sell the fact that he's most likely fighting for his life against a group of psychos (and with one or two in his own group). Tom Lye's stuff, while not great, wasn't that bad either. He was like Ron Lim, but with better detail skills when it comes to depicting regular people. Anyways, in the next issue, we see more moral dilemma-ness from Spider-Man (it's a good issue, though, despite my saying that like it was a bad thing), while the others try and continue the fight. ![>:(](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/angry.png) GRADE: B+
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Ultimo Gallos
Grimlock
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 14,858
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Mar 13, 2018 1:37:38 GMT -5
By the covers alone I would pick up this run in the cheap bins. But it just seems so convoluted in the story and pacing.
BTW I am 6 issues away from having a complete run of all the various Ms Tree comics. No clue if you read that one but it works great for marathon reading.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 13, 2018 2:07:51 GMT -5
By the covers alone I would pick up this run in the cheap bins. But it just seems so convoluted in the story and pacing. BTW I am 6 issues away from having a complete run of all the various Ms Tree comics. No clue if you read that one but it works great for marathon reading. Nice. No, as far as MC goes....it's a cool story, if you like some of the 90's heroes/villains (and it is VERY 90's in spots), as it's basically a group of crazy bad guys running on a rampage through NYC, with a group of various heroes (kinda co-led by Spidey and Venom, who have their own history) trying to stop it. The quality of each part kind of depends on the writing/art team of each of the books involved. I will say, however, only the WEB OF SM stuff has been bleugh so far. The rest has been solid.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 13, 2018 22:49:51 GMT -5
Spectacular Spider-Man #201"Over the Line!"Cover Date: June, 1993 Writer: J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Sal Buscema Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Venom, Black Cat, Aunt May, "Richard Parker," & Cloak (plus various people that are killed by our villains) Official Plot:Spider-Man swings down to save his two allies in the fight against Carnage, the Black Cat and Venom. However, after all three "heroes" are safe, Spider-Man gets an earful first from Venom, then from the Black Cat. Spider-Man and the other two costumed crusaders then part ways. Meanwhile, Carnage's team also has a misunderstanding that is patched up nicely. Peter, with broken ribs and morale, goes to Aunt May's house for advice on how to continue on, and May tells him that no matter the situation, she knows Peter will do the right thing. As Peter leaves, advice received, he finds Richard Parker waiting to tell him that he must fight fire with fire. Peter leaves with these two different messages running through his head. Elsewhere, the Black Cat and Venom narrowly miss Carnage's crew, but another ally returns: Cloak. They also make a plan, of sorts: recruit the toughest fighters they can and crush Carnage where he stands. As Carnage enjoys a walk with his "family", Spider-Man swings through the city reflecting that the average person has never let him down. When he looks down at the street, however, Spider-Man sees that the average person is rioting in the streets. He swings down to help some people, but ends up at the wrong end of a dog pile. Spider-Man erupts vengefully from it and screams that no one will get any mercy from Spider-Man. Brodie's View: In Part 5 of MAXIMUM CARNAGE, we get conflict within both Team Venom and Team Carnage, as Spider-Man decides to abruptly quit (as we see friction on the other side between Carnage and The Demogoblin in the whole Chaos vs. Order debate, as the latter keeps wanting to make a plan, which just pisses the chaotic Carnage off) Team Venom, after the three (and only at that time) members of the team argue among each other in a pretty funny scene (very reminiscent of writer DeMatteis's argue/banter he employed during his late 80's/early 90's run on DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE/INTERNATIONAL book). However, once the laughs stop, the introspection starts, as Spidey still very much wonders how he can work on a team led by not only an ex enemy, but also, in his own way, as much of a psychopath as Carnage. He goes to his Aunt May's, where his "parents" have also been staying. It's here that he gets both sides of his answer; hope from Aunt May, and the fear and hate that leads down the dark path from his "father." To make things worse, before the issue is over, Spidey gets his faith in people temporarily shattered, as he must fight off a large group of people (inspired by Carnage's rampage) looting and destroying part of the city. It's there that he seems to make his decision. On the non Spidey side of things, and in addition to our scenes of Carnage and his crew (now being followed by a potential new member to their group, Carrion, who I'll get into more in the next review, as he only cameos here), we also get to see Team Venom making plans. It's here that Eddie Brock definitely differs from Cletus Kasady, as we've seen that the former Definitely would agree with The Demogoblin in the sense that a plan works best for something like this. He and the Black Cat are officially joined by Cloak, and the three of them plan to assemble more members to take on Team Carnage. Of course, we see more of that unfolding in the next issue, as the two teams once again grow. However, we'll see some pretty surprising members join Team Venom, including another Ex Spider-Man enemy. Before I go, I do want to say that this was a pretty damn good issue, mostly due/thanks to DeMatteis's writing, and the always solid (although, I miss his Hulk) Sal Buscema as the artist. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 15, 2018 21:47:50 GMT -5
Web of Spider-Man #102"Sinking Fast"Cover Date: July, 1993 Writer: Terry Kavanagh Artist: Alex Saviuk Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Black Cat, Cloak, Morbius (The Living Vampire!!!), & Nightwatch Official Plot:This issue opens with Venom, the Black Cat, and Cloak recruiting Morbius for their team. It quickly shifts to Peter Parker bemoaning the fact that his ribs are cracked and his wife is nowhere to be found. Little does he know that she's at an inexplicably open dance club downtown. However, the dance club seems to be a popular spot, as Carnage and his cronies want to kill some time- and people- there. Spider-Man, meanwhile, is doing the best he can to help people who have become victims of the deranged mob running the streets of New York. Venom and his vigilantes are also on the prowl, and soon Morbius senses freshly-spilled blood at the dance club. The quartet quickly makes their way there, and soon the respective teams of Venom and Carnage start battling. After Venom saves Mary Jane from Carnage, the twisted killer (Carnage, not Venom) bites a camera revealing their location to Spider-Man. Soon, Spider-Man is at the Deep to hopefully turn the tide of battle. The heroes make a little leeway, but not enough to make it a terrible success. As the villains retreat, the heroes are about to follow when Spider-Man spots Mary Jane cowering in fear. After rescuing his wife from falling debris, Spider-Man insists that his unlikely allies need to help him save the others trapped under the debris. After all the remaining civilians are safe, Venom and Spider-Man's team set off after Carnage. Brodie's View: Well, it's back to Steak Ums, after eating prime rib for a few reviews, as this is the "X-Factor" (going back to the uneven X-TINCTION AGENDA Crossover) of the story, which means lesser writing/art when compared to the other books. That's not to say that either are truly God Awful, but they're definitely lacking when compared to the good stuff we've been getting in the other Spider books. The main story with this one is Team Venom gaining a few new members, including, finally, Spidey, who decides to put his high falutin' principals aside for the greater good (stopping Carnage and his crew). This happens just in time, as the two teams end up fighting in a nightclub (a nightclub Mary Jane just happens to be hanging out at....looking for dudes ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ). The fight ends up in a sort of stalemate, with the villains retreating, and the heroes/anti-heroes helping the injured. That's really the main jist of what happened in this issue. Well, one other thing I'll mention. The other main thing I'll mention about this issue is the addition of Morbius to Team Venom, as, like Venom, Morbius started out as a Spider-Man villain, but over time, evolved into very much an Anti Hero. At this point, I do believe he had his own book as part of the "Midnight Sons" line, which focused on Marvel's supernatural themed heroes (Ghost Rider, Dr. Strange, and various others). A pretty cool addition, but like Venom, someone, I'm sure, Spidey will find having to stop from giving into the Anti side of the Anti Hero class. Anyways, he won't be the last addition to Team Venom, nor the last Anti Hero to join this "team." Of course, the same could be said for Carnage's crew. In the next part, we'll return to Michelline/Bagley greatness, and more characters joining the two teams. Oh yeah....and more fighting, I'm sure. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: C+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 17, 2018 1:48:11 GMT -5
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/cmx-images-prod/Item/5086/ICO000479._SX360_QL80_TTD_.jpg) Amazing Spider-Man #379 "The Gathering Storm"Cover Date: July, 1993 Writer: David Michelline Artist: Mark Bagley Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Black Cat, Morbius, Deathlok, Firestar, Aunt May, Liz Osborne, "Richard Parker," & Cloak (plus various people that are killed by our villains) Official Plot:Spider-Man, Venom, Cloak, and the Black Cat are standing in Saint Estes Home for Boys, where Cletus Kasady was raised. Spider-Man thought the location might give them some clues as to where Carnage might be headed, but it does not. Instead, the heroes decide to obtain Reed Richard's Sonic Gun and Firestar. If they get Iceman, as well, it can be a reunion of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. Anyway, the heroes set off to obtain Firestar and the Sonic Gun. At Ravencroft, Morbius is looking for information on Shriek. The woman herself is at the museum with Carnage and his little crew of killers. Instead of killing people, they're merely causing some property damage. The NYPD's Extreme Emergency Team comes to put a stop to their ruckus, but Carrion comes as well to participate in Carnage's bloodfest. He kills one of the officers, and the rest of Carnage's team make short work of the others. Elsewhere, Mary Jane has barricaded herself in her apartment and the cyborg known as Deathlok is alerted to the mass murder taking place in New York City. Speaking of New York City, Spider-Man's team are on their way to Four Freedoms Plaza. They stop off to stop a carjacking, and Spider-Man wonders whether or not something bigger is making the average person become a psychopath. May and Richard Parker are on their way home from depositing May's social security check, when a man attempt to steal May's purse. Richard knocks him out, leaving May quite shocked. Downtown, Carnage's crew is doing what they do best. They meet some opposition in the form of Deathlok, though this opposition is short-lived as the villains quickly take the cyborg down. At Four Freedoms Plaza, Spider-Man and his team have obtained the Sonic Gun and Firestar. Now, they're ready to take down Carnage! Brodie's View: Yay! Back to Michelline/Bagley goodness here, as we enter the half way point of this crossover. Team Carnage grows by one, as Carrion (the super being that causes whatever he touches to decay....DEEEECCCCOOOOOMMMMMPPPPOOOOSSSSEEEE!!!!) finally makes himself known to the group of psychos and monsters by instantly killing some cops. Needless to say, Carnage can see the possibilities. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Carnage's crew also ends up taking on (and out, at least temporarily) one of the possible future join-ees to Team Venom, and that is none other than the cybernetic warrior known as Deathlok, who foolishly tries to take on Carnage's group alone. He gets owned for that, and strung up on an electronic billboard, seemingly dead. Of course, he'll be back, but it was still pretty cool to see Deathlok in action here (and not being brainwashed/controlled by someone) and lovingly drawn by the always awesome Mark Bagley. Meanwhile, on the Spidey/Venom side of things; the team, recuperating after last issue's battle, decide that they need some hardware in order to take Carnage on better. It's mentioned that Reed Richards has a sonic gun in the Baxter Building, and being that the FF are not available, Spidey, Venom, and The Black Cat break into the BB (and bust through Reed's defenses like they were a child's obstacle course) in a pretty awesome scene. After that, Cloak returns with another important part of Spidey's offense plan against Carnage, and a brand new join-ee to Team Venom, the mutant and Ex "Amazing Friend," Firestar ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) . Needles to say, we'll see Firestar in action in the next part, but I have to imagine readers were hoping Iceman would somehow be brought into this, to get a little "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends" reunion. Sadly, I'll be the one to bust that bubble and say that this doesn't happen in this storyline (it does happen years later). However, we do get some cool heroes joining the cause throughout the next few issues. Oh yeah, we also get some sideplot action with Mary Jane locked inside her own apartment (kinda late for that, MJ ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ), and Aunt May and "Richard Parker" encountering a crazed mob (with "Richard" accidentally killing one of the people). It is interesting how they're trying to do a bunch of work to try to throw people off the scent that "Richard & Mary Parker" aren't exactly who (or what ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ) they claim to be. Obviously, we won't see any of that revealed in MAXIMUM CARNAGE, but rather shortly after (and right before the Clone Saga ![(puke)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sick.png) . As always, David Michelline manages to get a LOT done (and well written to boot) in the time it takes certain writers (coughcoughterry kavanaghcoughcough) to do one major plot point. Good Writers vs. Shitty Writers, I guess. Anyways, I cursed myself for mentioning his name, because we have to deal with another Kavanagh written issue for the next review. Courage. ![:-[](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/embarrassed.png) GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 18, 2018 22:13:07 GMT -5
Spider-Man #36"Hate is in the Air"Cover Date: July, 1993 Writer: Terry Kavanagh Artist: Tom Lyle Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Carrion, Demogoblin, & The Doppleganger (and The Bedrocks, but they don't last long) Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Black Cat, Aunt May, J. Jonah Jameson, Firestar, Morbius, Flash Thompson, Ben Urich, Molten Man, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr,. Deathlok, Iron Fist, "Richard & Mary Parker," & Cloak (plus various people that are killed by our villains) Official Plot:At the Daily Bugle, Ben Urich and Jonah Jameson bemoan the fact that all they can do during Carnage's reign of terror is print what he's doing. Jonah retires to his office, only to find Spider-Man, Venom, the Black Cat, Cloak, and Firestar waiting for him. They've come to have Jonah help them set a trap for Carnage. Jonah complies, and soon Carnage sees an edition of the Daily Bugle with the headline, "Carnage Come Home!". Meanwhile, May, Mary, and Richard Parker have gone to check on Mary Jane and Peter. Some street toughs try to keep them from going inside of the apartment building, but the toughs are quickly beaten by Flash Thompson and the Molten Man. Soon everyone is in Liz Allen's apartment, wondering where the Peter and Felicia Hardy are. Carnage has taken the bait, and he and his crew are at Saint Estes Home for Boys. Carnage tells his "family" what occurred there during his childhood, and as the story draws to a close, the heroes arrive. Elsewhere, a friendly citizen tries to free Deathlok from the sign he's been trapped on. The citizen isn't making much progress, but soon Iron Fist arrives and carries Deathlok away. Back at Saint Estes, the heroes are finally giving the villains what for. Firestar and the Sonic Gun alone do little damage against Carnage, but when combined, they prove to be quite potent. Morbius arrives to help the heroes, and soon the villains are trying to retreat. Venom is about to kill Cletus Kasady, when Spider-Man stops him and Shriek slices the killer's face, unleashing the Carnage symbiote once more, and the battle begins anew. Brodie's View: It's back to shit writing for this one, as it's pretty clear that the SPIDER-MAN book was split three ways between the main writers, and this was the rotation that allowed for the shittiest writer out of everyone involved, Terry Kavanagh, to have two issues in this section ![(puke)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sick.png) . It's too bad, as his stuff is the one thing that keeps this story from being what it could have been, as the other parts/writers have been solid/great. The idea of this particular chapter is pretty silly, as all Spidey and the others needed to do was follow the...well, Carnage, to find the previously named psycho and his group of killers and monsters. However, in a needlessly convoluted fashion, a few of the members of Team Venom sneak into J. Jonah Jameson office, and"convince" the dickish newspaper editor to publish a story that will draw Team Carnage to where the Good Guys need them to be (once again, though, this really could have been accomplished anywhere, as the main crux of this plan is taking out Carnage with both the Sonic gun they "borrowed" from Reed Richards in the last issue, and the power of Firestar. Eventually, the plan does work, and the Sonic gun and Firestar's power does end up weakening Carnage to the point where it looks like Kasady is done for. However, Shriek winds up giving him the motivation to come back better than ever, revealing that the sonic gun doesn't work like it used to, as the symbiote within Kasady has bonded with him to the point that it can't be fully removed from him ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) . Oh yeah, we do get a bit of side action with Spidey's supporting cast being defended from the crazed mob/gangs in the street by Flash Thompson and former villain, The Molten Man. Plus, we see Deathlok being freed from the electronic sign he was strung up on (in the last part) by a new potential join-ee to Team Venom, Iron Fist! Unfortunately, thanks to the shitastic writing by Kavanagh, this doesn't come off near as cool as it should have; none of it does. It's merely a passable issue to further the main plot along somewhat, so, that's what I'm treating this issue as. In the next part, which will have both better writing and art, things get REALLY bad for Team Venom, and Spidey ends up having to make a major decision concerning his morals vs. stopping Carnage once and for all. However, I will say that the ending of the next issue will be the MAJOR turning point for this whole Crossover, as we start to approach its conclusion. Oh, and once more I'll say....No F**king Terry Kavanagh! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) GRADE: C+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 20, 2018 23:20:50 GMT -5
Spectacular Spider-Man #202"The Turning Point!"Cover Date: July, 1993 Writer: J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Sal Buscema Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Venom, Black Cat, Cloak, Morbius, Firestar, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, & Captain America Official Plot:Carnage, Shriek, Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion attack the heroes anew, and Morbius, Venom, and Cloak respond in kind. Soon, Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Firestar are also in the fray. Elsewhere, Mary Jane misses her husband, but we soon come back to the battle. Cloak loses to Shriek and retreats to regain his strength, evening out the numbers between heroes and villains. We then learn that Shriek has the ability to transmit her emotions to those around her, which is why the civilians are acting like psychopaths. One of the psychopaths take down the Black Cat, which leads to Demogoblin beating Morbius. Firestar, Venom, and Spider-Man are busy fighting Carnage, and they decide to kill him if that's what it'll take to bring him down. However, neither Spider-Man or Firestar can deal with what they're about to do, and Carnage is spared. Venom is enraged by their actions, and Spider-Man has to stop him from killing Firestar. He knocks Spider-Man away. While Venom bemoans the fact that it seems like stopping Carnage is up to him and him alone, Carnage and Shriek attack him. They make short work of Venom, and head off to torture him. Meanwhile, the rest of the heroes lay in defeat. However, another hero has come to aid them: Captain America. Brodie's View: The title of this issue is "The Turning Point," and the story within definitely backs that claim up, as things do end up changing in many ways after the confrontation (which started last issue, but finishes here) between Teams Carnage and Venom. However, it's also the Turning Point when it comes to the question of Hero vs. Anti Hero, as Spidey finally plants his feet firmly on the hero side of things, as he stops Firestar from killing Carnage. In the intro to the MAXIMUM CARNAGE trade, writer (and the writer of this particular issue) J.M. DeMatteis states that the main reason he decided to participate in this crossover in the first place, as it's made pretty clear that he has no patience for Anti Heroes like Venom and the like, was showing that there was still a place for the true blue Hero in a world (and this was especially true during this period) ruled by Extreme Anti Heroes like Venom, The Punisher, Wolverine, ect. DeMatteis definitely delivers that in this issue, and no more so than in the very last page, but I'll get back to that in a second. The confrontation last issue, where it seemed for a moment that Team Venom had Team Carnage on the ropes, suddenly turns, with the villains using the inner turmoil between the heroes/anti heroes to start taking heroes out. This leads to Venom and Spidey (begrudgingly, at least in Spidey's case) convincing Firestar to blast Carnage with no mercy as to whether or not he survives the young mutant's onslaught. Firestar does, equally troubled by Spidey convincing her to do this, until both heroes have a change of heart, allowing Carnage to live. This, of course, doesn't sit well with Venom, who attacks Firestar and Spidey for their "weakening," allowed a recovered Carnage and Shriek to double team the crazed Anti Spider-Man, putting him down for the count. The two villains then take the unconscious Eddie Brock with them, with definite plans to torture him to death, leaving a staggered Spider-Man at his lowest point, but that doesn't last long, as Captain F'N America shows up on the very last page to offer his help, and through that, Hope. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Of course, this continues in the next issue (with shitty Kavanagh writing, but at least this is the last issue we'll have to deal with him.... ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) ), as we'll see a complete change as it relates to one of the teams, while setting up the downfall of the other. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 23, 2018 0:05:26 GMT -5
Web of Spider-Man #103"Sin City"Cover Date: August, 1993 Writer: Terry Kavanagh Artist: Alex Saviuk Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Firestar, Captain America, Deathlok, Iron Fist, Venom, Black Cat, Cloak, Morbius Aunt May, "Richard & Mary Parker," Flash Thompson, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr., & Nightwatch Official Plot:Firestar and Spider-Man follow Captain America back to Avengers' mansion. In the monitor room, they watch all the available news footage of the destruction Carnage has made. Firestar is hovering in mid-air by using her powers and Spider-Man is adhering to the supplementary wall-mounted monitor equipment. As Cap studies the footage, Spider-Man and Firestar discuss their aborted decision to kill Carnage (Spectacular Spider-Man #202). Cap notices that the situation monitors took a fraction of a second too long to disengage. This prompted him to run some diagnostics, which ultimately leads to the discovery of some hackers. Firestar gives the solution ".. a manual override security lock will effectively trap the signal link within the Avenger's file program". Then Spider-Man "... generates the proper counter-pulse" to track the source. They soon learn that Iron Fist and Deathlok are behind this. They explain that they're trying to stop Carnage's killing spree and wanted whatever information they had on them. Cap admires their determination and recruits them. Spidey recommends they regroup at 5 AM, since he wants to go home and check on Mary Jane. In lower Manhattan, Cloak, Morbius, and Black Cat follow Carnage's trail of destruction. Felicia wants to stop and help the injured, but is reminded by Morbius that they can't stop for anything. At this point they are attacked by Carrion II, Demogoblin, and the Doppelganger. Carnage and Shriek have taken Venom to the Statue of Liberty. They have chained him up and literally lit a fire beneath him to keep his symbiote at bay. Shriek adds to his pain by periodically subjecting him to her sonic blasts. Soho: Liz Osborn, Normie, Molten Man, Aunt May, Richard Parker, Mary Parker, and Flash Thompson are staying together in Liz's apartment hoping to survive the chaos on the streets. Mary Jane is in her apartment waiting by the window for Peter to return. When he does return, he startles her without thinking. He gets chewed out for putting them both through the emotional wringer. Peter tells MJ that he loves her and they hug, but MJ is still peeved. Then a report comes on the radio describing a riot at a nearby police precinct in the wake of destruction. We return to lower Manhattan where Black Cat, Morbius, and Cloak are not fairing well against their opponents. At one point, Carrion grabs Morbius by the throat. The vampire does not die, but is obviously in great agony from the decaying touch. Cloak separates them and protects the vampire while he recovers. At this point a new participant arrives. Protected by a cursed costume complete with a sentient cape, Spawn – oops, sorry – Nightwatch descends and saves Black Cat from Demogoblin and Doppelganger's dual assault. Morbius recovers and joins Cloak and Nightwatch in the fight. They are able to force the villains to retreat, but Morbius and Nightwatch follow them to the Statue of Liberty. Cloak attends to the Black Cat's injuries and notices many physical similarities to Dagger. Once completed, Felicia informs Cloak she's going home to fully heal. He teleports to Holy Ghost for some reflection on his recent actions. Spider-Man stops by the precinct and stops the riot. He then meets up with Cap, Firestar, Iron Fist, and Deathlok at Avengers' mansion. They then set out to put an end to this madness. Brodie's View: Finally! We reach our last issue of Terry Kavanagh garbage here, and it's all solid/great stuff after this, so, let's try to get through it, shall we? Anyways, this issue shows Team Venom kind of dissolving with its leader being the helpless captive of Carnage and Shriek after the events of the last part. In its ashes, however, a proper Team Spidey starts forming, with actual heroes being mostly involved, rather than the team of mostly anti-heroes and vigilantes that populated the last "Good Guy" team. However, we still see some of the members of Team Venom doing their thing against the rest of Team Carnage (as it's leader wound up kind of abandoning them to torture Venom), and adding a new hero to the fray. That would be Nightwatch, who looks like a pretty blatant rip off of IMAGE COMIC'S super popular character at the time, (and former Spidey artist, Todd McFarlane's biggest creation) Spawn. He, Morbius, The Black Cat, and Cloak try unsuccessfully to take down Demogoblin, Doppleganger, and Carrion before basically splintering, with Nightwatch and Morbius pursuing the bad guys while Cloak and Black Cat go off to recuperate. Meanwhile, we see Spidey, Captain America, and Firestar trying to find Carnage, but finding two new members to their new group instead; Deathlok and Iron Fist, who somehow have been able to hack into the Avengers' computer systems (yeah, it's Terry Kavanagh writing this, so..... ![::)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/eyesroll.png) ). This new team prepares to engage in final battle with our villains, but first, Spidey goes to check in on Mary Jane and the rest of his family and friends, who have been holed up since things broke down in the streets of NYC over the last few issues. Anyways, that's pretty much the important things that happened in this issue, so, let's move on without having to talk any more about Kavanagh's shitty writing. Dude makes David Kraft look halfway competent. How did this dude end up landing one of the Spider-Man books in the first place? ![(puke)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/sick.png) Yeah, so, moving on....in the next issue, we get to see the Good Guys doing their thing against most of Team Carnage, with Spidey once again being faced with a moral dilemma (jeez, what is it with this dude and moral dilemmas....lol?). Oh yeah, and I can finally 100% say NO MORE TERRY KAVANAGH!!! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: C
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 25, 2018 1:03:41 GMT -5
Amazing Spider-Man #380"Soldiers of Hope"Cover Date: August, 1993 Writer: David Michelline Artist: Mark Bagley Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, Carrion, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Black Cat, Morbius, Deathlok, Nightwatch, Molten Man, Firestar, Iron Fist, Captain America, Aunt May, Liz Osborne, "Richard & Mary Parker," Norman Osborne Jr., & Cloak Official Plot:Carnage is inside the Statue of Liberty torturing his "dad" Venom with a combination of fire and sonics. Morbius and Nightwatch appear, having followed the Doppelganger and Demogoblin from Manhattan. As you can imagine, Carnage does not like uninvited guests, so he tries to kill them. When dawn breaks Nightwatch retreats with Morbius as the sun greatly weakens him (Morbius). A strategic retreat is preferable to fighting them alone. Carnage sends his "kids" to look for "mommy" while he resumes his fun. The remainder of "Team Spidey" is unaware of their teammates' location and begin searching for them - and Carnage. Spider-Man questions why he's still involved. Mary Jane is furious at him for putting himself at risk, especially since Captain America could replace him. Peter agrees with her, but feels that this is the only decision that he could make. Instead of finding Carnage, they find Shriek, whose ability to transfer her psychic energies to those around her has caused the riots. They attack her all at once, and she manages to hold her own until Cap knocks her out with his shield. They begin to quell the rioting and looting as best they can. Spider-Man in particular finds that his involvement is worthwhile when he is able to stop a crazed mother from throwing her children off the roof. His sudden appearance reminded her that her children play with Spider-Man toys and fights off Shriek's influence. Spidey feels justified in risking his life because neither Cap nor anyone else would have been able to save the children in time. Doppelganger and Demogoblin find Shriek webbed to a lamppost and free her. They become engaged in a lengthy battle with the Cap, Iron Fist, and Deathlok. When the tide turns to the villians, the citizens that have broken her hold, stand up to them. This turn of events is broadcast over the radio, reminding MJ that Peter was right. At this point, Shriek informs the heroes that her influence has been – up to this point – minimal. When she concentrates, she is able to work a crowd into a frenzy. The heroes manage to fight off her influence, but the remainder of the crowd succumbs to her powers. The heroes stand back to back and prepare for the impending attack from the crowd. Brodie's View: Wow! We get our reward after having to put up with several (well, it seemed like several) issues by He Who Will No Longer Be Named, and it's a great issue, perhaps the Best issue of this whole deal by Michelline/Bagley. The reason this issue is so great is that after dealing with several issues with Anti Heroes, we get to see the team formed at the end of last issue, which I will call Team Spidey: Spider-Man, Captain America, Firestar, Iron Fist, and Deathlok, being heroes, and actually calming the rioting in the streets (well, in a particular neighborhood) until Shriek (who has been amping and stoking all of this hate) turns her power on High, and turns the crowd into a murderous mob, targeted at our heroes. That happens throughout the story, but that's not the whole story, as Michelline is great at juggling plot threads (as we saw in his MTIO run). We also get Venom being tortured by Carnage, and with the help of Demogoblin, Carrion, and Doppleganger, the foursome are easily able to fight off Morbius and Spaw....I mean, Nightwatch, who foolishly tried to attack the villains alone. Once that was done, Carnage sends his helpers to help Shriek (and then he manifests Wolverine claws to torture Venom some more ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ), which is good, as Shriek had been pretty quickly taken down by Team Spidey, and more specifically, Cap's shield, which knocks her out briefly in a great moment. There are some pretty great moments all through this issue. You can tell that Michelline was fully on board with the plan to make Heroes and true heroism relevant by the end of this, after indulging a bit in early 90's EXTREMISM for the first half. Each of Team Spidey get their own little great moments, convincing looters and rioters to stop by just being....Good. Spidey gets the best one of these, as he convinces a mother to not kill her children by tossing them from the top of a building, ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) which pretty much ends his inner struggle over being a part of this whole deal....at least for now. This was definitely the best issue in this whole deal, and we'll see if the last few parts can top it. Speaking of the next issue, in it, we get the build up to THE FINAL BATTLE, or at least the final battle between teams, as I think you can guess who the three characters are that this will boil down to in the end. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 27, 2018 23:57:11 GMT -5
Spider-Man #37"The Light"Cover Date: August, 1993 Writer: J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Tom Lyle Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Carrion, Demogoblin, & The Doppleganger Guest Star/s: Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Venom, Aunt May, Firestar, Morbius, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr,. Deathlok, Iron Fist, "Richard & Mary Parker," Captain America, & Cloak & Dagger Official Plot:Spidey and his crew have apparently fought their way out of their predicament as they are now no longer surrounded by crazed New Yorkers (continuity glitch here). In the midst of the chaos, a television reporter gets a curt statement from Captain America on the situation. She is then instructed to get out of the warzone. In Liz Osborn's apartment, the Parker and Osborn family watch the televised chaos on the television. Richard Parker, Peter's father goes on a rant about the decline of morality in the world, citing this an his proof. Mary Jane stands up to him and reminds him that the heroes almost calmed down the crowd until Shriek drove them insane again. Aunt May watches the proceedings with an approving eye. MJ states that the heroes will prevail, and that she doesn't want to hear another negative thought from Richard. In the Statue of Liberty, Carnage continues to torture Venom. Venom begs for his life against his offspring. Carnage laughs at him and grabs Mr. Fantastic's sonic weapon that he acquired along the way and fires. Instead of a sonic beam, part of the symbiote erupts from the barrel. This frees Venom from his chains, allowing him to knock Carnage aside. This clears a path for Venom to finally escape from his captor. Carnage is angry that he was so easily tricked. At the Holy Ghost Church, Cloak is begging for some Divine intervention. He can't understand the forces that drew him back to the church or what he's feeling at the moment. He is beside himself worrying that people are dying while he stays on the sideline dealing with this emotional turmoil. Shriek and her "children" (Doppelganger, Demogoblin, and Carrion II) watch Captain America and the remaining heroes fight the riots that she instigated. She thinks out loud that they're fighting for an illusion. She states that as a child, she was frequently abused by "trusted people"; the heroes never saved her. At the street level, Iron Fist employs a meditative technique he learned in K'un L'unn to project a wave of calmness over the crowd. It works for a very brief time, but the sheer numbers cause him to loose concentration. He is saved by Spider-Man when the crowd rushes him. When asked, Iron Fist explains to Spider-Man what he did. Spider-Man follows up with "can you teach me that?". Iron Fist responds "Yes, in eight to ten years". This was not what he wanted to hear and begins to punch a chimney to vent his frustrations. He then remembers something that Aunt May had told him and stumbles on the solution. On another rooftop, Shriek has become bored with watching the rioting and prepares to leave. At this point Carnage appears and is angry that she's starting mayhem without permission and begins to throw her around with the symbiote's tendrils. The Doppelganger, who has become inexplicably protective of Shriek, attacks Carnage. Carnage drops Shriek and easily defeats him, kicking him off the roof. He is seen hitting the street, leaving an appropriate crater in the ground. At this point, "Team Spidey" appears and informs Carnage that they've cleared the streets of all innocent bystanders while they were having a family squabble. Carnage and Shriek put aside their differences and descend to the street to have a final showdown with the heroes. Before the next battle begins, Cloak appears and warns Carnage that his darkness will not spread any further. And then from within his cape, Dagger emerges. Brodie's View: All hell breaks loose, as we build before our final battle/s in Part 12 of MAXIMUM CARNAGE. Thank goodness that J.M DeMatteis is the writer for this last wave of the story, so, we're in at least solid territory from here on out ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) . Team Spidey must deal with the crazy mob that Shriek created at the end of last issue, while Team Carnage prepares (while also having a bit of a meltdown that distracts the villains while the heroes get their shit together....bad news for them) for the previously mentioned final battle. To make things even worse for our villains, well, at least Carnage, is that Venom winds up escaping from Carnage, after tricking Kasady into thinking he had completely destroyed Eddie's symbiote with Reed Richard's sonic gun. Venom splits to heal, but we most definitely will be getting one more Venom/Carnage fight before all this is done. We also finally get to see Mary Jane not acting like a mope/shrill witch, as certain shittier writers ( I won't name any names ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ) depicted her as being through most of this, by busting out Peter's super negative "father." Of course, little does Mary Jane know, but her/Peter's troubles are just beginning. One of the main things that happens in this issue, and the thing that really kicks our final battle into happening, and that's the return of Dagger, who we/Team's Venom/Spidey thought had been killed in Part 3 by Shriek. It will be revealed that she somehow was able to hide/recover within the folds of Cloak's....cloak. Needless to say, the Dagger/Shriek confrontation will be happening next issue, as well as our BIG SHOWDOWN between our Heroes and Villains. I will say that it doesn't exactly go down as one would expect, but it definitely ends as one would think....well, almost. Once again, I will say that it sets up what one would think, especially how all of this started, the final fight would end up being between. GRADE: B+
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Post by MrElijah on Mar 28, 2018 8:23:00 GMT -5
I've always enjoyed Firestar 90s costume over her Avengers one.
As for MC, it's okay. It had some moments, like Cap appearing when the chips are down.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 28, 2018 22:49:35 GMT -5
I've always enjoyed Firestar 90s costume over her Avengers one. As for MC, it's okay. It had some moments, like Cap appearing when the chips are down. MC is a mixed bag as a storyline to be sure; there are some parts of it that are pretty awesome, and some that are just....Meh/garbage. Of course, you could say that about most of the BIG CROSSOVERS Marvel had from Secret Wars on. As for Firestar, I agree totally, and I really wish I had Fabian Nicieza's NEW WARRIORS run from the 90's, as I would most certainly take that on, review-wise. It's definitely a hidden 90's/Cheap Bins gem.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Mar 28, 2018 23:11:25 GMT -5
Spectacular Spider-Man #203"War of the Heart"Cover Date: August, 1993 Writer: J.M. DeMatteis Artist: Sal Buscema Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage, Shriek, Demogoblin, & Carrion Guest Star/s: Venom, Cloak & Dagger, Iron Fist, Firestar, Deathlok, & Captain America Official Plot:Both heroes and villains are surprised to see Dagger alive again. She explains that Shriek's attack caused her light powers to feed back into themselves and caused her to explode, dispersing her essence. She instinctively found her way into the dark dimension of Cloak's cape, which provided her an opportunity to pull herself together. She states that the love they have for each other (platonic? romantic? not stated) kept her sane long enough to do this. Shriek doesn't believe any of this – specifically the "love keeping you sane" part - and attacks her again. Dagger responds with equal force, but without malice. Carnage and Cloak keeps their respective sides from entering the battle for a completely different set of reasons. Dagger weakens Shriek. Instead of killing her in retaliation, she users her light powers to bring out the repressed portions of her mind in an effort to help her regain her sanity. This works for a few moments until her anger returns and she tries to obliterate Dagger again. She is saved by Spider-man. Carnage approaches Shriek and begins to question her. He was concerned that she was going to switch sides. She assures him that she doesn't really believe any of that "love" stuff and doesn't trust any of the heroes. Pleased that they're back together again, Carnage turns around to discover that the heroes are gone. Well almost all of them. Spider-Man stands alone in the middle of the street and challenges all four of them to a final confrontation. Spider-Man holds his own against the four of them for a while, but eventually is overwhelmed by sheer numbers. As they prepare to finally kill him, Spider-Man's allies return. This show was a distraction to allow them the time to cobble together a special device. It channels Iron Fist and Dagger's combined powers through Deathlok into a bio-feedback device that amplifies the human brain's calming alpha waves. They focus the device on Shriek, whose power unconsciously transfers a powerful calming wave over her allies. Carrion is the first to completely succumb to the effects of the device and reverts to Malcolm McBride. Demogoblin tries to escape, but is stopped by Spider-Man. In his weakened state, the goblin passes out before he can retaliate. Shriek is experiencing a state of complete euphoria and encourages Carnage to not fight the wave. Carnage refuses to give in, writing in pain from being forced to confront long-forgotten memories of abuse. After all this time, hope and healing are concepts that are beyond his comprehension. The feedback eventually overloads the device, causing it to explode. When the smoke clears, they collect Shriek and Demogoblin preparing to take them back to the Vault. McBride will go a physician to ensure that the carrion virus has been purged from his system. Iron Fist discovers that Carnage died as a result of the feedback. Later, Spider-Man sits alone in Central Park trying to process what just happened. Yes the right side one, but he didn't want Carnage dead. At this point Venom appears behind him, angry over the death of Carnage; he wanted to be the one to kill him. Emerging from the nearby pond, Carnage announces to his most hated adversaries that he's alive and well. Venom is overjoyed at this turn of events; Spider-Man is not. Brodie's View: Dagger returns (well, she returned at the VERY end of the last part, but this is her full on return), and the final Team Battle kicks off in the penultimate chapter of MAXIMUM CARNAGE. Unfortunately for Team Carnage, the dysfunctional nature of that team ends up leading to their defeat, as Carnage and Shriek having a little conference is what gives the heroes the chance to grab the ace up their sleeves; a kind of Good Ray that blasts Carnage and his crew with positive energy (yes, I know it's kind of corny, but DeMatteis makes the most of a cheesy Deus Ex Machina). This is after a limited attempt at this by Dagger to do this to Shriek, as she uses her light powers to try and heal the damage done to Shriek, mentally and emotionally. This almost works, but Shriek's hate is too powerful, and she rejects Dagger's help. However, she can't resist the "Good Ray," and it ends up taking out Team Carnage (and seemingly killing Carnage in the process, but we'll get back to that in a second). Before all that occurs, we get the great moment where after Carnage and Shriek have their little talk, the villains turn to see Spider-Man alone, and he is able to duck and dodge their attacks long enough for the rest of Team Spidey to get "The Good Ray Gun" in place, and once that happens, it's all she wrote, as one by one, the team of psychos fall, save for the main man himself. Unfortunately, Carnage's craziness/hate is so deep that he ends up causing the device to explode, which, once again, seemingly kills him, as the heroes find a dead body with the Carnage symbiote stretched over his head. However, as Spidey bids good bye to the rest of the heroes, and goes to Central Park to reflect. It's there that the last conflict is set up, as Spidey is confronted by Venom, who is still pissed over not playing a part in Carnage's demise. However, the very last page reveals that Carnage is very much alive, and wanting that final fight, which Venom is more than happy to oblige ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) . In the next review, which is also the last chapter of this story, we get the three way fight between Spider-Man and his two "children," which very much puts an end to a few things as far as this blood feud is concerned. And then, it's on to Time Traveling Avengers. ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 1, 2018 0:47:02 GMT -5
Spider-Man Unlimited #2"The Hatred, The Horror, and The Hero!"Cover Date: August, 1993 Writer: Tom DeFalco Artist: Ron Lim & Mark Bagley Featured Character(s): Spider-Man Villain/s: Carnage Guest Star/s: Venom, Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Aunt May, "Richard & Mary Parker," The Black Cat, Morbius, Nightwatch, Liz Osborne, Norman Osborne Jr., & The Avengers (The Black Widow, The Vision, Thunderstrike, & Sersi) Official Plot:Spider-Man is caught in the middle of a battling Carnage and Venom. Carnage has been weakened by the Alpha Magnilluminizer and flees the scene. Spider-Man wants to call for back-up but Venom punches Spider-Man and chases after Carnage alone. Peter goes to the hospital to have his ribs wrapped and meets up with Mary Jane. Meanwhile, Carnage returns to Riker's Island Prison where it all began for him but Venom is right behind him. Venom saves a guard from Carnage's wrath and continues to follow him. Peter has a talk with his father and suits up again to find Carnage and Venom. Carnage is being tormented by ghost of his victims when Venom meets up with him. Venom is about to finish off Carnage when Spider-Man intervenes. Venom attacks Spider-Man but they soon realize Carnage is gone. They soon find Carnage in a cemetery digging up his mother's corpse. Spider-Man realizes that Carnage has finally lost it. Venom is intent on killing Carnage but Spider-Man will not allow it. Even though Spider-Man stopped Venom from killing Carnage again, Carnage tries to kill Spider-Man. The Black Cat shows up at just the right time to catch Carnage by surprise and save Spider-Man. Carnage tries to flee with his mother's casket but is attacked by Venom. Venom ends up pushing Carnage and himself into some generators causing an explosion. Spider-Man pulls Kasady's burned body from the flames. The Avengers Quinjet arrives and they put Kasady in a stasis container. Maximum Carnage is over. Brodie's View: Things come full circle in this, the last chapter of the MAXIMUM CARNAGE storyline, as Carnage, Venom, and Spider-Man all converge in Central Park. Carnage's brain has been fried from the "Good Ray" he was hit with in the last chapter, and thus is not firing on all cylinders. Not that this bothers Venom at all, who is trying his level best to kill his "offspring," with Spidey having to both battle and protect the deranged Kasady. However, Venom nails Spidey early on, which re-injures the ribs that have been troubling him since shortly after this whole thing started. This forces the web slinger to have to step away from the conflict to get taken care of, medically, while Venom continues to pursue Carnage. This allows us to take care of some subplot business (with Mary Jane and his family/"family"), as well as briefly checking in with Morbius and Nightwatch, who end up parting as somewhat "allies." Morbius would continue his anti hero ways, even to this day, while Nightwatch's fame pretty much ended with Spawn's (the character he was a straight rip off, at least visually, of). Meanwhile, Carnage goes back to Ryker's Island, which is where he originally was put in a cell with Eddie Brock, which is how he got the symbiote in the first place. However, he doesn't stay long, as Venom is in hot pursuit, and the two (with Spidey joining them) end up meeting again in the cemetery where Kasady's mother is buried. This is important, as Spidey and Venom find Carnage trying to dig up his dead mother ( ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ), which makes Spidey realize that what little cheese Carnage had on his cracker had slid off. This realization forces Spidey to once again save Carnage from Venom's wrath, and actually puts doubt in Brock's mind about his vengeance quest against Carnage (as well as his hatred of Spider-Man to begin with). Carnage repays this by trying to attack Spidey, but The Black Cat suddenly swoops in and saves her former boyfriend. Finally, Venom ends up tackling Carnage into some nearby generators, which seemingly kills both men in a giant explosion. However, as we find, Carnage has just been taken out of the fight for good, and Venom is able to slip away, fully completing his transition from villain to anti-hero. The Avengers comes to collect Carnage (to put him in containment), and Spidey realizes that this whole ordeal is finally over, as is MAXIMUM CARNAGE. This was a solid ending to this whole storyline, as DeFalco, like Michelinie and DeMatteis, is a pretty damn good writer when he wants to be, and with the help of artists' Mark Bagley and Ron Lim, delivers a cool and effective ending to this whole deal. MC was kind of a mixed bag as a story, as while some parts where very good; some....weren't. I'm sure you can go back through these reviews and see which is which, so, I won't go into too much detail on it. The next review will go back to my original review plans, and we'll dive deeper into the 90's, as Kurt Busiek delivers one of the best Avengers story of the Post 1990 era: AVENGERS FOREVER!!! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 2, 2018 2:34:52 GMT -5
Avengers Forever #1"Destiny Made Manifest"Cover Date: December, 1998 Writer: Kurt Busiek (With help from Roger Stern with the plot) Artist: Carlos Pacheco Featured Character(s): The Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Scarlet Witch, Firestar, & Justice)/Temporal Avengers (Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Wasp, Goliath/Hawkeye, Captain America, Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), & Songbird), & Rick Jones Villain/s: Lord Immortus, Tempus, Immortus' Time Army Guest Star/s: Kang The Conqueror, The Supreme Intelligence, Libra, The Beast, The Time Keepers (Ast, Vorth, & Zanth), S.H.I.E.L.D (Various scientists), Galactic Avengers Battalion (Jonz Rickard, Hammer Troopers, Repulsor-Troopers, Shieldsmen, & The Microswarm), Centaurians (Various; many of them die) Official Plot:Opening on the distant planet, Beta Centauri IV in the 26th Century of Earth-9812, a dozen Centaurian rebels furtively haul crates of armaments through back alleys. Preparing to strike a spaceport, they are suddenly frozen in time and space. As the phenomena unfolds planet-wide, multiple spaceships resembling Avenger Quinjets descend upon and destroy the cities. Deploying from the ships are squadrons of specialized soldiers based on Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and Ant-Man respectively, enacting a full-scale ground assault against the immobilized populace. The survivors awaken and encounter Jonz Rickard, commander of "Galactic Avenger Battalion Theta-4". As well as the might of his troops, Rickard wields a mysterious force to break the unsuspecting masses. Not far away, three robed alien figures stand in disapproval... Back in the present, another Quinjet arrives at a new research facility amidst the ruins of Blue City on the Blue Area of the Moon. Recently the scene of an Avengers' incident involving zealous alien militants, the team utilizes its clearance to bypass the S.H.I.E.L.D. and Starcore staff to gain audience with the building's resident "prisoner", the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Given the extraterrestrial super-computer's familiarity with the energies permeating their suddenly-afflicted brother-in-arms, Rick Jones, the Avengers interrogate and uneasily concede to leave Rick under its watch for further study. As the heroes exit, the Intelligence has a brief yet ominous dialogue with a cryptic robed figure, skulking in the chamber's shadows. In Limbo, Immortus solemnly looks upon this unfolding scenario. Gesturing, he freezes time and space on the Moon, dispatching his giant henchman, Tempus, to execute Rick Jones in the space between moments. As the creature begins drawing the life from Jones's body, another force expectantly negates Immortus's doing, creating a localized pocket of restored free-flowing time. Rick's surprise protector stands revealed as Kang The Conqueror. Outraged by this interference, a heated exchange occurs between Kang and the projected form of Immortus wherein the Conqueror also destroys the time lord's massive lackey. However, Tempus being created from the very stuff of Limbo itself, only serves as a greater portal for Immortus's "Army of the Ages", spilling forth in countless hordes from his shattered remains. Arming himself, Kang wages a single-handed defense. Nearby, Rick stirs to consciousness as the Intelligence and its shrouded ally realize a prophetically crucial moment is upon them. With that, the robed figure traverses the battlefield, laying hands upon Jones, unleashing seven bolts of strange yet somewhat familiar energy from him. Coalescing, these anomalies appear to be the forms of seven very confused Avengers... Brodie's View: Holy Crap! Where to even start with this? Well, first off, I will say that I'm not really going to try and recap the plot of this in detail, as there is SO much going on in this mini series. I will give a bit of background, though, before trying to talk about the things that happen in this issue. The 1990's were not a good time for The Avengers, as they kind of suffered in the wake of The X-Men becoming THE team for Marvel during this period. Marvel would try to "X-Men-ize" the team in the mid 90's, before just saying F*** it and handing the reigns over to IMAGE artists/creators Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld (along with THE FANTASTIC FOUR, and main Avengers, CAPTAIN AMERICA and IRON MAN) for a year. The reaction to this was mixed, as I think many readers were "90's" out by this point, and wanted a return to the classic characters they grew up loving. Once this little experiment, also known as HEROES REBORN, ended, Marvel decided to relaunch the books they loaned to the artists that once abandoned them to form IMAGE, and return them to the classic feel of the 70's/80's, but still will sort of a 90's sensibility. Cue Kurt Busiek, who very much was a writer with his foot planted in both eras (also demonstrated in his great series, ASTRO CITY), and with classic AVENGERS artist, George Perez, they brought the book back to the greatness it had known before those pesky mutants began to steal their thunder. Along the way, Busiek decided to pair up with Ex X-MEN artist, Carlos Pacheco, who, being a huge Avengers fan, was chomping at the bit to draw a series depicting what had once been Marvel's greatest team (well, not counting the FANTASTIC FOUR ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ). So, with the writing/art team in place, Busiek decided to craft a story involving one of the things he had loved from the classic AVENGERS tales from the 70's, time travel, and in particular, the conflict between Avengers' villains, Immortus and Kang The Conqueror. This is made even crazier by the fact that Immortus and Kang are the same person, just separated by eons of time, as at some point, Kang decides that he's tired of conquering, and becomes the time manipulating Immortus. However, as we find in this issue, Immortus serves a group of entities known as The Time Keepers, who see an alternate timeline's vision of an Avengers team being turned into oppressors, rather than heroes. This happens due to another major player in this whole storyline; former perennial sidekick, Rick Jones. After helping to create The Hulk, Jones ended up becoming a sidekick to both Captain America, and through him, The Avengers during their early days as a team. He ended up becoming involved in the classic story, THE KREE-SKRULL WAR, and at the end of it, had submerged powers awakened in him by the leader of The Kree, The Supreme Intelligence (A giant alien brain/computer responsible for the genetic manipulation of his own race), which caused him to manifest heroes from the past to help him (and helped end that whole conflict). However, since then, Rick had not had such good times; he ended up being paralyzed by an Apocalypse controlled Hulk, and then shortly before this story starts, ended up falling into a coma from a mysterious illness. It's this illness that brings The Avengers into this whole story, as they bring the comatose Jones to the Intelligence to try and help him. It's here that Immortus sends one of his agents to try and take Jones out once The Avengers leave, as The Time Keepers consider Jones' hidden powers a danger to every timeline. Of course, Rick has two people looking out for him; both former Avengers villains. One is Libra, who was once part of the super-villain team known as Zodiac, but as we reveal, works to preserve the balance between Good and Evil. The other, of course, is Kang, who Busiek does a great job with in this miniseries. Seriously. He makes Kang The Conqueror into a SUPER Boss in this, and makes him a villain almost worth rooting for....almost. He ends up killing Immortus' agent, the time freezing Tempest, which causes Immortus to send an entire army of soldiers from the various timelines against him (and to take out Jones). However, Kang and Libra retaliate by forcing Rick's powers to kick in once again, but instead of just summoning past comic book heroes, he ends up summoning a team of Avengers from various points in time (including future Avengers such as Genis, the son of the original Captain Mar-Vell, who had taken his father's mantle, as well as Songbird, who at this point was a member of the former team of villains known as The Thunderbolts). I'll get more into the rest of this team of Avengers in the next review, but I will say that the issue starts with a CRAZY ass battle (we get a few of these throughout this), as these time displaced Avengers must team with various enemies in order to protect the life of Rick Jones. To steal a phrase from Good Ole' J.R....it's gonna be a Slobberknocker! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 2, 2018 23:38:05 GMT -5
Avengers Forever #2"Now Is The Time For All Good Men..."Cover Date: Janurary, 1999 Writer: Kurt Busiek (With help from Roger Stern with the plot) Artist: Carlos Pacheco Featured Character(s): Temporal Avengers (Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Wasp, Goliath/Hawkeye, Captain America, Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), & Songbird), & Rick Jones Villain/s: Lord Immortus & Immortus' Time Army Guest Star/s: Kang The Conqueror, The Supreme Intelligence, Libra, & S.H.I.E.L.D (Various scientists) Official Plot:Flash-assembled from throughout time and space by a mysteriously-empowered Rick Jones, the Avengers are thrown into the middle of a battle on the Blue Area of the Moon between Kang The Conqueror and Immortus's "Army of the Ages". Kang directs them to align with his effort to save Jones. Confused by this circumstance, the Avengers await Captain America to make their play, only finding him more out of sorts than usual. Snapping to, the Wasp takes command, ordering the unlikely team to lend the Conqueror support. As the fighting in the Supreme Intelligence research facility progresses, the Wasp and Giant-Man make some startling realizations about their new teammates, particularly Captain America's apparent superhuman strength and the improbable appearance of a "Yellowjacket" that could very well be Giant-Man himself during a period of mental instability. Even as his forces press their assault, Immortus attempts to collapse Kang's force bubble, hoping to trap the resistance in chronal stasis. Rick accesses cognitive mastery over his strange new gifts and is able to counter Immortus's pincer maneuver. Realizing stalemate afoot, the time lord withdraws his army. Capitalizing on their brief respite, Kang strategizes with the Avengers, urging them to remove Rick from Immortus's potential grasp quickly. Facilitating this course of action, the Intelligence and his elusive ally, revealed as the Zodiac's Libra, offer their assistance. As Libra leads the heroes on an inconceivable egress bending all sorts of scientific laws, they are allowed a quiet moment to recount everyone's individual story. Libra relays how he is still alive since his seeming demise amid Zodiac's criminal exploits, inadvertently raising flags when he outright denounces claims that he has since encountered the Avengers under the moniker "Moonraker". Yellowjacket confirms suspicions that he is indeed Doctor Henry Pym from years in the past, pulled from across time on the day of his wedding to the Wasp. Both the present-day Wasp and Dr. Pym are disquieted, realizing that this is nothing less than an erratic amnesiac persona made manifest and given a second lease on life. Songbird, seen as a former super-villain turned would-be hero, recounts an experience from what would be the team's future, telling of a "recent" struggle against Oort The Living Comet and his Solar Squadron. Hawkeye also verifies assumptions that is also from years in the past and not just sporting a new look since joining with Songbird's present-day teammates in the Thunderbolts. Bereft of his ubiquitous array of trick arrows, Hawkeye begins to tell about his exploits following the Kree-Skrull War before feeling he's needlessly bringing up old news. Captain Marvel gives a terse account of disposing of the carcass of the cosmic entity Eon after its being used in a ploy against Earth by Ego the Living Planet. Rick recognizes the futuristic Captain as the modern-day ne'er-do-well son of his former partner, Mar-Vell. Captain America becomes quiet and reserved when it reaches his turn. Coupled with the superhuman feat she witnessed earlier, the Wasp correctly surmises that Cap is also from their past, a brief yet specific era wherein after witnessing the Secret Empire infiltrate high-ranking U.S. political offices, he would become morally dejected and temporarily abandon his role. Assessing their situation, the Avengers overwhelmingly agree to not play defensive and run. Libra counsels that their most effective vantage point would be to seek refuge in Kang's pan-temporal city-stronghold of Chronopolis. Wending through various points in history, Libra and the Avengers eventually come across Kang's fortress. However, it seems they've arrived to late, as an armada of Immortus's attack ships is currently laying siege! Brodie's View: Starting at the exact point last issue ended, with Kang fighting off Immortus' Time Army, and the former Zodiac member Libra sparking the latent powers within Rick Jones (who is Immortus' true target), which summons a team of Avengers from throughout the time stream, to help them. The Avengers are as follows: Giant Man (Hank Pym) and The Wasp from the "Present," Captain Marvell (Genis, the son of the original Mar-Vell) and Songbird from the future, and Yellowjacket (also Hank Pym, but a deranged Pym who thinks he's actually a separate person from Pym, and from the events surrounding AVENGERS #60), Hawkeye (Who is dressed in his Goliath costume, but without those powers, and from around AVENGERS #97/8), and Captain America (but a demoralized Cap, after finding out that the government he served was totally corrupt, and around the time of CAPTAIN AMERICA #175). This mismatched group of Avengers must quickly assemble to help a group of enemies against a much worse one, to save the life of Rick Jones. They manage to turn the tide, forcing Immortus to temporarily retreat, with Kang going off on his own to try and stop his future self. This allows Libra to explain somewhat what is happening, and why they would be siding with longtime enemies like Kang and The Supreme Intelligence (and...well, him) in the first place. The team also sorts out what time periods each originated from, which fills us in on what points of Marvel history each of these characters came from, and what the implications of those origin points are. Of course, there will be inner drama between these characters as this story continues, particularly as it relates to the Pyms, and Captain America trying to regain the "Eye of the Tiger" after having his whole purpose seemingly destroyed. However, first, they must try to survive Immortus' constant attacks and mind games, and those will continue in the next issue, as they must band together once again to stop Immortus from destroying Kang's time citadel. This will lead to our first, but not our last example of Kang fighting himself in a manner of speaking, as he will have to do battle with his future self....Immortus. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 5, 2018 1:56:44 GMT -5
Avengers Forever #3"City at the Heart of Forever"Cover Date: February, 1999 Writer: Kurt Busiek (With help from Roger Stern with the plot) Artist: Carlos Pacheco Featured Character(s): Temporal Avengers (Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Wasp, Goliath/Hawkeye, Captain America, Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), & Songbird), Kang The Conqueror, & Rick Jones Villain/s: Lord Immortus & Immortus' Time Army Guest Star/s: Libra & Anachronauts, (Raa, Wildrun, Sir Raston, Apocryphus, & Ssith of the Serpent Men---All die), Official Plot:Discovered approaching the outskirts of besieged Chronopolis, the Avengers and Libra must combat Immortus's drone fighter ships. Gaining a momentary foothold, they are then ambushed by Wildrun. While the Red Wolf is wounded, dazed and confused, Hawkeye mistakes him for his more familiar descendant. Wildrun regains his senses enough to relay the sad events of the battle, particularly the gruesome gradual chronal decay of his teammates in Kang's elite Anachronaut guard and the alleged death of Kang's beloved Ravonna. Deep within the bastions, Kang is sipping wine and overseeing safe placement of his replica time machine of the Sphinx, symbolic of his time as Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Unsurprised to find the Avengers behind his walls, they confer once more with Kang divulging that Immortus is after the Heart of Forever, the "trans-chronal engine that allows Chronopolis to exist in every branch of the timestream simultaneously." Cooling off from his rant, Kang offers the adventurers the remaining comforts of his home to rest and recoup before the onslaught begins anew. During this period, the Avengers get to know each other a bit better. Hawkye receives an upgraded bow while Rick, still handicapped from a pre-existing altercation with the Hulk[3], is outfitted with a weaponized "battle chair", allowing him full mobility and constant protection. Before long, Immortus's "Army of the Ages" is upon them again. As the clash unfolds, Rick's "battle chair" comes under heavy fire, rendering it useless. Moments from being killed by a Viking aggressor, he is able to harness enough of his sporadic powers to fix his paralyzed legs and enact some Captain America-trained self-defense tactics. However miraculous, this victory is short-lived as Kang orders his forces to retreat. He implores the Avengers to escape in his Sphinx, while holding Immortus from reaching the Heart of Forever for as long as he can. Reaching the final barricade, Kang braces himself. In an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation, he is bludgeoned by the warclub of Tempus and pinned to the ground. Immortus strides past his giant servant, unlocking the chamber housing the Heart of Forever as Kang yells defiantly. Thrusting his hands into the arcane device, Immortus transmutates it into the Forever Crystal, taking the totality of Chronoplois and its inhabitants into itself; leaving him alone in a void with a near-omnipotent artifact and the Avengers very much on the run... Brodie's View: Once again, the "Time Avengers" must join forces with one of their greatest enemies, Kang The Conqueror, against Kang's future self, Immortus, who wants to take out Rick Jones for the sake of the time stream (as the powers that were awakened in him by first The Supreme Intelligence, and then Libra, ended up leading into the Rick/The Avengers becoming an oppressive force in many other future time lines). This leads the team to Kang's city that sits outside of time itself, Chronopolis, where they quickly are forced to help defend that city from Immortus' army. We find that while Rick is a target, another reason Immortus wants to conquer Chronopolis has to do with the thing that allows the city to exist outside of time, a lovely MacGuffin known as The Forever Crystal. The Forever Crystal will actually allow Immortus to alter time, whereas, any changes in the past without it will just create a divergent timeline, rather than changing the future (sorry, I've always loved the whole time travel/alternate reality concepts, and one reason this mini series rocks so hard is that it is chock full of all of that shit). Immortus does end up taking Chronopolis (as while The Avengers are able to somewhat turn the tide at the beginning, which gives us a bit of exposition time, as well as character interaction between these time displaced Avengers) and The Crystal, and seemingly taking out Kang. The Avengers and Rick, however, manage to escape Immortus' grasp, as they end up stealing Kang's time travel device (which is modeled after the Sphinx), and vanish into the time stream itself. Before this happens, however, we get to see two pretty kick ass battles, with The Avengers teaming up with Kang's doomed army, as well as the Conqueror himself. Along the way, Rick's powers end up healing his crippled legs, allowing him to join the fight as well. As we'll find out by the end of this mini series, this was all to set up Rick once again becoming a major player in the Marvel Universe for a while, but I'll get more into that as we get to it. In the next review, we'll see The Avengers traveling to various spots in the time line, in order to try and figure all of this out, as well as trying to stay two steps ahead of Immortus. This will allow for some pretty awesome little nods to the pasts/futures of not only things involving The Avengers, but other Marvel characters as well, including a hidden group of Avengers that existed in an alternate 1950's. Needless to say, we've only just gotten started with the fun here. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 6, 2018 1:22:52 GMT -5
Avengers Forever #4"Running Out Of Time"Cover Date: March, 1999 Writer: Kurt Busiek (With help from Roger Stern with the plot) Artist: Carlos Pacheco Featured Character(s): Temporal Avengers (Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Wasp, Goliath/Hawkeye, Captain America, Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), & Songbird), & Rick Jones Villain/s: Lord Immortus, Kang The Conqueror (past version), Skrulls, & Skorpsmen Guest Star/s: Libra, The Avengers (Earth-9930--Thundra, Jocasta, Living Lightening, Black Panther, Killraven & The Crystal Dynamo), Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt, Two Gun Kid, The Avengers (Earth-9904--3-D Man, Gorilla Man, Human Robot, Marvel Boy, & Venus), Steel, Thunder, Nightwing, and a T-Rex Official Plot:Piloting Kang The Conqueror's replica Sphinx time-machine through the non-space of "The Timestream" (think: Star Wars "hyperspace effect"), the Avengers attempt to evade Immortus's reality-destroying Forever Crystal. Having decimated Kang's Chronopolis refuge, the time-lord aims to murder Avenger associate, Rick Jones, for undisclosed reasons. Tiring of Libra's cryptic "assistance" and generally frustrated, Hawkeye lashes out at the blind criminal-cum-supermonk. Feeling he is no longer wanted or needed, Libra turns a corner and takes his leave of the heroes. Having chased off their guide, the Wasp chastises the Archer. Fortunately, the dual Dr. Hank Pyms (older Giant-Man and mentally-damaged Yellowjacket) intuit Kang's crazy sci-fi/ancient Egyptian dashboard, detecting three "chronal anomalies". Surmising these as potential hotspots of Immortus activity, the Avengers break off into mini-squads. Utilizing Kang's smaller Chronosphere modules, they investigate with a sense of the "upper hand", believing the Limbo Lord unsuspecting them. Staying behind and out of reach, Rick reluctantly becomes "home base". Giant-Man and the demoralized Captain America conduct a search into a disturbance in the first half of the twenty-first century (Earth-9930). Arriving in wartorn Manhattan, Cap swiftly urges proceeding with an active stance, lending aid to the people on the street fending off alien invasion. Fighting against the cybernetic Skropsmen, Cap finds his blindspot open. Miraculously, two throwing stars eliminate a potential attacker. Turning, a group of Avengers stand revealed. The team of this era is an unlikely gathering of survivalists, consisting of Killraven (timely thrower of stars), the Femizonian warrior Thundra, traditional villain Crimson Dynamo and "mainstay" Avengers: Living Lightning and Jocasta, visibly pregnant and bearing a resemblance and powerset closer to that of the Vision. Leading this eclectic bunch is an aged and weathered Black Panther, explaining that the newcomers may have just arrived in time for mankind's final struggle. Appearing in Tombstone, Arizona in 1873, Hawkeye, Yellowjacket and Songbird seek out another irregularity. Disguised in clothing of the era, the trio head into town to find Kang The Conqueror harassing Old West gunfighting heroes, Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid. Through some quick realization, Songbird removes her party from the scene, clarifying that they are witnessing a previous Avengers adventure. Rationalizing that the scenario will be resolved through its natural course of events, they return to the nearby cave where the Chronosphere is stashed- only to find it missing... The Wasp and Captain Marvel materialize in suburban California, 1959. Getting into contemporary attire, they peruse a local newsstand, finding word of Presidential-hopeful, Richard Nixon, campaigning a fairgrounds celebration. Speculating that Immortus may have designs on the contentious politician, Wasp shares her ideas with the alien Captain. However, their conversation is also overheard by an innocuous attendee with a secret agent-like watch communicator. Maneuvering through the crowd and finally glimpsing Nixon, Captain Marvel's "cosmic awareness" unexpectedly triggers, exposing the Vice President to him as a shape-shifting alien Skrull agent! Looking for a safe place to change into fighting gear, the duo duck into a convenient tent. Noting their actions is the mysterious stranger, performing a costume/identity swap of his own. Captain Marvel and the Wasp's tent is then ripped down by a quintet of heroes calling themselves... The Avengers?! Brodie's View: We start to really getting into time travel/alternate timeline fun in this, the 4th part of this great little mini series. Hiding outside the time stream in Kang's Sphinx shaped time machine, the time Avengers try to figure out what to do. Libra and Hawkeye get into it, after Clint tires of the former villain's vagueness, as it relates to their situation, and ends up decking him, and Libra splits. However, as Libra probably intended, this allows one of the Avengers, The Wasp, to take charge of things, and quickly they are able to detect time anomalies that they suspect might have been caused by Immortus. Janet splits the team into three groups (with Rick Jone staying put into the time machine, where Immortus can't detect him): Cap and Giant Man head into an alternate future, Hawkeye/Songbird/Yellowjacket head to the old west (where they witness the events that led to a time travel story involving Kang in the 130's of the original AVENGERS run), and The Wasp and Captain Marvel heading into an alternate 1950's. All three of these little side stories are pretty great in their own way. In the case of Hawkeye/Songbird/Yellowjacket in the old west, it was both a chance to acknowledge an Avengers story from the past, as well as getting appearances by Marvel's western comic book characters. Captain America and Giant Man's story is equally as interesting, as they end up going into the WAR OF THE WORLD inspired storyline that was featured in the KILLRAVEN series. As a matter of fact, Killraven even makes an appearance, as he his part of what seems to be the last superheroes left on the planet; a loose group calling themselves The Avengers, and being led by an old Black Panther. Cap and Giant Man try to help these Avengers against the martian invaders. Equally as interesting is The Wasp and Captain Marvel's story, as they happen across what appears to be Richard Nixon (who was the VP at the time), who is giving an early campaign speech, as he would run for President in the following year. However, two major things happen that end up leading to a conflict that will happen in the next part. First, Captain Marvel's cosmic awareness ends up detecting that the person posing as Nixon is in fact a SKRULL (!!! ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ). The two Avengers attempt to investigate this, but they are detected by a group of heroes that confront the two at the very end of the issue; a group that is also calling themselves The Avengers (Double ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ). Needless to say, all of these stories will continue in the next part, which will start to kick the story towards its most interesting part, where Kurt Busiek does his level best to fix the many plot holes left by various writers over the years. It's pretty awesome. ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Apr 8, 2018 0:24:00 GMT -5
Avengers Forever #5"Past Imperfect....Future Tense"Cover Date: April, 1999 Writer: Kurt Busiek (With help from Roger Stern with the plot) Artist: Carlos Pacheco Featured Character(s): Temporal Avengers (Giant Man (Hank Pym), The Wasp, Goliath/Hawkeye, Captain America, Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell), & Songbird), & Rick Jones Villain/s: Lord Immortus, Kang The Conqueror (past version), Skrulls (Posing as Richard Nixon), Space Phantoms (Posing as The Black Rider, Reno Jones, Kid Cassidy, & 2 F.B.I Agents), & Skorpsmen Guest Star/s: The Avengers (Earth-9930--Thundra, Jocasta, Living Lightening, Black Panther, Killraven & The Crystal Dynamo), "Freemen" (Earth-9930--M'Shulla Scott, Old Skull, Carmilla Frost, Volcana Ash, & Hawk), & The Avengers (Earth-9904--3-D Man, Gorilla Man, Human Robot, Marvel Boy, & Venus) Official Plot:Floating outside time and space in Kang The Conqueror's replica Sphinx, Rick Jones monitors three separate Avenger away-teams. Each is investigating a point of "temporal disturbance" in hopes of gaining insight to the mysterious, yet aggressive, campaign of Immortus. Giant-Man and Captain America fight alongside The Avengers of the early to mid 21st Century against an overwhelming alien invasion. They battle in the streets of Manhattan down to the very last man, woman and child. The Avengers take down a number of the Martian Walkers as the dronelike Skorpsmen retreat to the Mothership. As the invaders take to the sky, Jocasta reports back to the Black Panther that all of their pursuit aircraft is destroyed. Determined not to face extinction, T'Challa boasts rather bloodthirstily that they will somehow prevail. He apologizes to his dear friend Cap for how things seem, sadly reinforcing the demoralized funk doubly time-ripped Steve Rogers is already exhibiting. In 1959 California, the Wasp and Captain Marvel stumble upon a shapeshifting Skrull agent impersonating Presidential hopeful, Richard Nixon. Pulling out of a crowd to formulate a plan, the duo is dropped upon by a team calling themselves "The Avengers". Momentarily taken aback, the Wasp tries to explain the situation to the heroes. Confused and taking the anarchronists for Communist super-agents, the "50s Avengers" attempt to subdue. A quick round of classic "misunderstanding brawl" ensues until 3-D Man and crew realize that they should just listen. Together, the two groups of Avengers refocus on the Skrull impersonating the Vice President. Outside Tombstone Arizona in 1873, Hawkeye, Songbird and Dr. Pym's younger, mentally-unstable Yellowjacket self deal with their Chronoshere being stolen from a remote cave. Suddenly, a cackling hologram of the alternate Kang actively contending in this era taunts the heroes, detonating an explosive collapse of the cavern. Using her solid-sound powers, Songbird saves her teammates. Emerging from the debris, Hawkeye chaperones a quarrel of the other two. Catching their attention is a trio of horsebacked gunfighters appearing to be the Black Rider and The Gunhawks: Reno Jones and Kid Cassidy. Erring on the side of avoiding an altercation, Hawkeye extends a friendly hand. That evening, the two groups make camp under the stars. Hawkeye, an Old West aficionado, probes the gunslingers for details. Through the course of his seemingly innocent inquiry, it's revealed that the cowboys are actually Immortus's own shapeshifting Space Phantoms! Back in 1959 California, two FBI agents impede the Avengers' confrontation of the Skrull Nixon. Still reeling from Venus's "love zap", Captain Marvel's cosmic awareness is still realigning. Focusing, he fires photonic blasts at the agents, forcing them to revert to their true Space Phantom selves. As the 50s heroes take it to the otherdimensional henchmen, Rick Jones advises Wasp and Captain Marvel that disturbance activity in their timeline is escalating wildly. "Nixon" concludes his speech. Exiting the podium, he is greeted by a bearded general. Shaking hands, the "General" forces the Skrull to drop the disguise. The alien is pelted with garbage, its death called for, as fear and hysteria grip the audience. Calmly, "General Immortus" holds the Forever Crystal and walks the fairgrounds, culling the reality around him from existence. Captain Marvel and the Wasp return immediately to their Chronosphere as Rick frantically urges them to return to the Sphinx. Marvel engages the jump drive as the wave of white blank nothing comes upon them... Brodie's View: We get continuations of all three of our little mini stories (with our time lost Avengers separated into three groups, and investigating abnormalities in the time stream), as well as certain events that raise even more questions as to what exactly is going on here (and what has been going on all along, even though this isn't revealed until a few issues later). In the "War of the Worlds" Earth that Cap and Giant Man were sent through, the battle continues against, of course, the Martian Invaders, with both the Avengers of that world (led by a much older Black Panther) and the remaining populace. However, unlike "our Avengers," the humans/Avengers of Earth 9930 are fighting for keeps, as they are straight killing the martians and their solders, which bothers Cap and Hank somewhat. However, being as this is the disillusioned Cap from the early 70's, he begrudgingly accepts this, as normally Captain America would have tried to persuade The Panther to find another way. In the Old West, Hawkeye, Songbird, and Yellowjacket end up encountering a hologram of a Kang (The Conqueror) from the past, that tries to kill them for intruding on his territory. However, they are saved by what appears to be three cowboys from Marvel's former Western line. I say "appears to be," as Clint quickly figures out that these three aren't who they appear to be, and forces them to reveal their true forms as....Space Phantoms. This is cool, as it reveals that there was more than one, and as we'll find out later, they have been QUITE busy over the years, especially as it relates to The Avengers. Meanwhile, in the 1950's, we get The Wasp and Captain Marvel fighting a group of superhumans calling themselves The Avengers. This was really cool, as it's interesting to think that The Avengers was an idea before the team we all know formed. The coolest of these was The Human Robot, and, of course, 3-D MAN (!!!). It would have been interesting to read a regular series about these characters, but it would have to be the 616 version of a team like that, as they don't survive long enough in this issue to have the possibility of having future adventures, as Immortus shows up and erases that entire time line with the Forever Crystal ( ![:o](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/shocked.png) ). We get a cliffhanger at the end of the issue, as The Wasp and CM try to get the hell out of that alternate reality before they are erased along with that reality. In the next issue, we'll see continuations of the first two storylines, while we get the reveal of whether or not Janet and Genis make it back to Rick Jones (They do), and barring that, what ends up coming next (It's cool....Trust me ![;)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/wink.png) ). GRADE: A
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