Spider-Man Complete Chronology Update 10 (Spider-Man v Superman Edition)

In an era where Marvel and DC are spending most of their time and resources duking it out for supremacy at the box office, it may be hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago the Big Two had quite a run of crossovers between their respective super hero universes.

The 90’s gave rise to crossovers such as Batman/Daredevil, Batman/Punisher, Batman/Captain America, Batman/Spider-Man…hmm…I guess they should more accurately be called Marvel and Batman crossovers.

Prior to that 90’s boom however, the crossing over of characters between the two companies was few and far between.  After the break we’ll look at two of those starring the two companies biggest hitters (apologies to Batman): Superman and Spider-Man.

As usual, spoilers follow from here on out if you’ve missed out on the last 50 years of Spider-Man and are just getting started.

Spider-Man Complete Chronology Update 9

And we’re back!  This update took longer than I suspected for many reasons.  Some of them personal, some of them ironing out a few continuity issues, but luckily none of them trying to figure out if it was winter and where Peter Parker was working!

It’s a big update consisting of over 90 issues as we make our way through most of 1981-1982.

As usual, spoilers follow from here on out if you’ve missed out on the last 50 years of Spider-Man and are just getting started.

Spiders, Spiders Everywhere Part 10 (Death Of Captain Marvel Edition)

The Death of Captain Marvel is one of those stories that routinely show up on critics “best of” lists, but that you never get around to reading.  Well, it has been that way for me anyway.  But I recently remedied that as I had to read it to see if it fit in with the Spider-Man Complete Chronology.  Given I’m writing about it in this column series and not in a Chronology update, I think reveals the answer to that.

More about The Death of Captain Marvel and it’s place in Spider-Man lore after the break.

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – Final Standings

Well, it is finally over!  Ok, it was finally over back in the beginning of January, but I’ve finally finished my write ups.  With that done, after the break check out our (well, mostly my) final rankings for all the Secret Wars series.

It was a huge event and most will not be insane enough to read it all.  If you are interested in the main story, you can mostly get by with just reading the main series.  Very few of the other series tie into the main event, and those that do are recapped as needed in the lead book.

Outside of that, I’d recommend giving any of the top 15 a shot.  As for the rest, you can likely just pick and choose the series that interest you.  As said, most have no ties to the core book outside of Doom being God and the story taking place in a domain of Battleworld.  And some barely bother with that.

Let us know what’s ranked too high or too low.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 55 (Spider-Island Edition)

If you’ve spent any amount of time reading articles at Gabbing Geek then you probably know I may have an unhealthy obsession with Spider-Man.  So it only seems fitting that for my (at long last!) final Secret Wars post, it would be Spidey related.

After the break a continuation of the Spider-Island story line with the usual twist on the ending, “what if Spider-Man hadn’t saved the day?”

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 53 (What Year Is It? Edition)

Most alternate realities that make up the multiverse at both Marvel and DC Comics are variations on a theme.  There are some completely originally universes, but most are inhabited by Elseworlds and What If? stories that take our familiar heroes and villains and apply a twist.  Maybe the hero and villain have changed roles.  Or our hero was raised in Russia instead of on a farm in the middle of the US.

A common twist is to time displace characters.  For example, what if Batman was around in the days of Jack The Ripper?  In 2003, writer Neil Gaiman transplanted the Marvel Universe to the Elizabethan Era in the hit 1602.  Not surprisingly, a domain of Battleworld gets dedicated to this time period in 1602 Witch Hunger Angela.  Unfortunately, while the original series was a huge success, this Secret Wars version is quite poor.  But to fulfill my contract here at Gabbing Geek, I still need to cover the last two issues after the break.

In much the same vein, the Secret Wars series 1872 takes the Marvel Universe and places it in the old West.  So after the break I’ll also be cluing up the final 3 issues of that series…for better or worse.  (For worse if you ask Ryan.)

Super Bowl 50 – Hulk v Ant-Man For Coke Mini

With the Hulk preferring to appear in Thor: Ragnorak over Captain America: Civil War, it could be a while before we see the green giant share the big screen with Marvel’s smallest hero.  But if the Coke Mini commercial after the break is considered canon (it’s not…) then they’ve already met.

Jimmy Attempts To Read All Of Secret Wars 50 (Civil War Edition)

Way back in the middle of July I reviewed Civil War #1.  Six months and 4 issues later I’ll finally look at Civil War #2-5 after the break.  The series was a bit of a mixed bag starting off but unlike many of the Secret Wars series, really finished strong.  It is currently ranked 12th in our nearly completed Secret Wars Power Rankings.

Spider-Man Complete Chronology Update 8 (Couldn’t Stand The Weather Edition)

Everything was going along just fine until disco came along.  I’m probably not the first person to write that sentence.  For our purposes I refer to the fact that even with 3 monthly books and various guest appearances, the wall-crawlers adventures had been pretty straight forward to put in order.  But then came a couple of issues where Peter went to the disco (and then teamed up with the cast of Saturday Night Live) where everything just went all to hell.

Much, much more on this after the break as I try to put this update to rest, not because I’m happy with it…but to save my sanity.  I can’t imagine what this is going to be like when I get to the 90’s…

As usual, spoilers follow from here on out if you’ve missed out on the last 50 years of Spider-Man and are just getting started.

Expect Everyone Outside Of The X-Men and Fantastic Four In Avengers: Infinity War

Co-directors and gluttons for punishment The Russo Brothers have revealed they currently have 67 characters lined up to appear in the two part Avengers: Infinity War.  My immediate reaction was “Holy $#@*!”  That has got to include EVERYONE.  The MCU regulars of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, new blood like Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange and Blank Panther.  Even the TV crowd most be represented.  Anyone from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, Luke Cage and/or Jessica Jones.  The Captain Marvel movie is scheduled in between Infinity War Parts One and Two so you’d think she’d be involved somehow.  And there are sure to be characters making their debut here as well.  Sounds like a whole lot of awesome.

Joe Russo teases:

“People will not be disappointed in the amount of characters in the movie. The concept of ‘Infinity War’ is that the Marvel universe unites to battle the greatest threat to the world and universe that you’ve ever seen, and we’re going to honor that concept.”

All that said, maybe we need to keep expectations a little in check.  I’m sure we will see a lot of the crowd mentioned above.  And the TV shows do make occasional reference to the movies so they clearly take place in the same universe unlike whatever mess DC has going on.  But keep in mind the phrasing here…67 characters.  There could be villains other than Thanos that appear.  Aunt May is a character.  Night Nurse.  Agent Carter.  Pepper Potts.  The cop picking up Twinkies for his wife before heading over to Nakatomi Plaza.  That S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent with the red shirt on that Thanos kills on an away mission.  You get the point.

And it won’t be any day soon we’ll get much clarification here as Avengers: Infinity War Part One is not scheduled until May 4th, 2018.