Bento Review: Edge Of Spider-Verse

Comic Bento apparently wanted me to horn on the storied work of one James “Jimmy” Impossible, who wrote extensively on all things Spider-Verse.  I mean, he wrote seven long posts chronicling every inch of Spider-Verse.  That was before he went insane trying to do the same with Convergence and the entirety of Secret Wars.  See the efforts of his madness with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Heck, Jimmy covered all the issues in this trade in the third part of his work there.  But I’m writing a review, while Jimmy was giving a plot summary/commentary.  That’s my excuse and I am sticking to it.

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.

Marvel’s ‘Dead No More’ Is Spider-Man Related (Right?)

I thought I saw last week that Marvel’s “Dead No More” teaser was in relation to the return of Steve Rogers as Captain America.  Which made no sense, so I’m glad that whatever I thought I saw was wrong.

Marvel has released a new teaser that you can see above and it is very clear that we are looking for something in the Spider-Man camp of titles.  But who?  Some speculation after the cut.

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – November 12, 2015

 

It was a big week for Secret Wars.  Probably the last one, with the release of Secret Wars #7 and the conclusions of Thors, Squadron Sinister and Infinity Gauntlet.  The only books left now I believe are Secret Wars #8 and #9, Hail Hydra #4 and Ultimate End #5, which is long delayed, I’m guessing because it ties into the conclusion of the main series.

I’ve heard rumors that when Secret Wars was expanded to 9 issues, the actual page count remained the same for the series.  That they basically split an issue that was supposed to be oversized in two to give the creative team more time.  It sure felt that way this week as issue 7 felt like half an issue.  The endings of Thors and Squadron Sinister were ok but had their problems.

Infinity Gauntlet finished strong and has a big jump up the rankings.  Moving from #16 to #9.  While it still annoys me that this series doesn’t tie into the main story, as a self-contained work it is quite good and manages to deliver on the ending, which many of the Secret Wars tie-ins have failed to do.

After the break, this weeks rankings…

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – November 3, 2015

There’s not much Secret Wars left to talk about these days.  Most series are over and the new Marvel Universe has already launched.  Last week saw the conclusions of House of M and Where Monsters Dwell.  This week, for the first time since May, there are no Secret Wars books scheduled.

Since there aren’t many issues, there aren’t really any big movers and shakers.  Monsters dropped slightly as I wonder if this had anything to do at all with Secret Wars or Marvel just used it as an excuse to hype a tame Garth Ennis book?  I don’t think there is one reference to Battleworld in the story.  House of M moved up a bit with a mediocre finale, jumping over a couple of other mediocre books.

After the break, this weeks rankings…

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 26, 2015

I thought I would mix up the intro a bit this week.  If you’re like me you don’t read it and skip over it anyway since it hasn’t changed in months.  It also has been a while since we’ve done a “Secret Wars Power Rankings Reaction” style column where Ryan and Tom tell me I’m crazy.

So after the cut I will incorporate some of that into the beginning of this weeks rankings.  Not a lot changes these days as Secret Wars is supposed to be over now, but due to delays, it is still pushing out a few titles a week even though the new Marvel Universe launched on schedule a couple of weeks ago.  We even have a new title this week, Secret Wars Agents of Atlas.

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 19, 2015

The best part of Marvel’s Secret Wars is that virtually every facet of the massive event starts with an issue #1.  This presents 49 different jumping on points.  Some stories may be based on characters you know, some series may be from another event or world you’ve read about, but all of them are different enough that you can pick up the series and start reading.  With that in mind, we’ve harnessed the powers of Jimmy Impossible (who’s actually reading the entire event) to power rank every single Secret Wars series.  Each week the rankings will change as new issues come out, so come take a look at the latest power rankings after the break!

Marvel Presents For The 3rd Time: Spider-Man 2099 #1

When I was 17, I drank some very good beer.  I drank some very good beer I purchased with a fake ID.  My name was Brian McGee.  I stayed up listening to Queen.  When I was 17.

During my 17th year Marvel also launched their new universe that was set 107 years in the future.  Featuring alternate or future versions of characters such as Spider-Man, Punisher, Doom, X-Men, Fantastic Four and some new characters like Ravage, the year 2099 would become synonymous with Marvel.

The breakout character of the bunch had to be Miguel O’Hara, 2099’s new incarnation of Spider-Man.  Spidey had a new kickass suit designed by Rick Leonardi and prolific comic book writer Peter David was on board to flush out Miguel’s story.  The title proved so popular that Spider-Man 2099 #1 is still the highest selling comic book written by Mr. David.

While the line would eventually peter off, Spidey maintained his popularity and is now back as a mainstay in the Marvel Universe of the present.  After the cut, a spoiler-free look at how this is working out for Miquel in the All-New, All-Different Marvel.

The Secret Wars Power Rankings – October 9, 2015

The best part of Marvel’s Secret Wars is that virtually every facet of the massive event starts with an issue #1.  This presents 49 different jumping on points.  Some stories may be based on characters you know, some series may be from another event or world you’ve read about, but all of them are different enough that you can pick up the series and start reading.  With that in mind, we’ve harnessed the powers of Jimmy Impossible (who’s actually reading the entire event) to power rank every single Secret Wars series.  Each week the rankings will change as new issues come out, so come take a look at the latest power rankings after the break!

Marvel Presents For The 4th Time: Amazing Spider-Man #1

Ugh. That glowing green chest spider. Just ugh.

The All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe begins today.  Yes, Secret Wars is still ongoing.  And with issue 6 out today…it still has 3 issues to go.  But Marvel is soldiering on with the relaunch of their new universe.

With Miles Morales joining the MCU proper and supposedly being THE Spider-Man, Peter jetsets around the world in that horrible new costume.  Does any of this make sense?  Does it hold up?  Will it cause me to abandon Spidey like One More Day?  Find out, (mostly) spoiler free, after the cut.  (I say “mostly” as I touch on the basic premise of the setup for this new status quo, but no real plot points.)