#Amazing Spider-Man 149

[kaijudyke]

alright, as promised, here is my personal venom reading guide as of right now, october 2024. disclaimer that this is not in any way intended to be definitive or universal and i am not an authority, i've just read a bunch of venom comics in the past five or so years and have strong feelings on the matter. there's some early stuff i would consider just objectively important for anyone who wants to read and understand venom, but there's also a lot of stuff that's on here because i personally like it (or not on here because i don't). it's highly subjective and informed by my personal opinions and biases. this is also specifically a guide to (primarily) eddie brock venom comics so if you're more interested in other hosts this will not be of much use to you. i have not read every venom comic in existence (there are a lot of them) and either way this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of The Only Comics You Should Read but if you're looking to start exploring the comics i think these are a pretty good place to start if you have remotely the same sensibilities as i do regarding these characters (which to be quite honest if you're getting your comic book recommendations from tumblr dot com you probably do). long disclaimer sorry but comics are SUCH a big and kind of scary topic. anyway the list is under the cut. starred titles are ones i consider particularly high priority if you're skipping around, either because they're plot-critical or because i think they're especially good. have fun

The alien costume arc — If you're able to read a collected edition you'll probably have an easier time than if you manually jump between comics, but I've included the full list anyway. This is a stupid way to publish a story. Comics are stupid. Unfortunately this one is also essential.

Setup — Mostly regular Spider-Man stuff with minor symbiote subplot; skippable or skimmable for symbiote highlights if desired. I would suggest skimming rather than skipping, since seeing how this arc actually played out in the comics is crucial to understanding the ways in which adaptations have warped people's perceptions of the Venom symbiote and of this storyline, which I personally think is a key part of learning to understand the symbiote as a character—there are some misconceptions you've probably picked up through cultural osmosis that you'll need to unlearn if you want to get to the heart of the character, and this is the place to start.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8

The Amazing Spider-Man #252

Marvel Team-Up #141

The Spectacular Spider-Man #90

The Amazing Spider-Man #253

The Spectacular Spider-Man #91-#92

The Amazing Spider-Man #254

Marvel Team-Up #142-#143

The Amazing Spider-Man #255

Marvel Team-Up Annual #7

Marvel Team-Up #144

The Spectacular Spider-Man #93-#95

Marvel Team-Up #145

★ The Amazing Spider-Man #256-#258 — Even if you decide to skip the rest of the setup, you should read #258.

Marvel Team-Up #146

The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #4

The Amazing Spider-Man #259

The Spectacular Spider-Man #96-#97

Marvel Team-Up #147-#148

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #18

The Amazing Spider-Man #260-#261

The Spectacular Spider-Man #98

Marvel Team-Up #149

The Amazing Spider-Man #262

The Spectacular Spider-Man #99

Marvel Team-Up #150

The Amazing Spider-Man #263

The Spectacular Spider-Man #100

Climax — Absolutely not skippable! You will never understand the core of Venom without reading the end of the alien costume arc.

★ Web of Spider-Man #1

Later takes on the alien costume arc:

★ The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) Annual #1 by Saladin Ahmed — MANDATORY. Essential reading for symbiote sympathizers. I have this comic on display on a shelf above my bed.

Deadpool: Back in Black (2016) by Cullen Bunn (5 issues)

Venom's appearances as a villain in David Michelinie's issues of The Amazing Spider-Man — Important if you want to understand Venom's history and motivations. Also fun!

★ The Amazing Spider-Man #300 — Venom’s first appearance.

The Amazing Spider-Man #315-#317

The Amazing Spider-Man #332-#333

★ The Amazing Spider-Man #344-#347

★ The Amazing Spider-Man #361-363 — Carnage’s first appearance.

The Amazing Spider-Man #374-#375

★ Venom: Lethal Protector (1993) by David Michelinie (6 issues) — Venom’s first solo comic and introduction as an antihero. 

Venom: Separation Anxiety (1994) by Howard Mackie (4 issues)

★ Planet of the Symbiotes (1995) by David Michelinie (5 issues) — An important piece of the puzzle in terms of understanding the symbiote as a character.

Part 1: The Amazing Spider-Man Super Special #1

Part 2: Spider-Man Super Special #1

Part 3: Venom Super Special #1

Part 4: The Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1

Part 5: Web of Spider-Man Super Special #1

Venom: Carnage Unleashed (1995) by Larry Hama (4 issues)

★ Venom: The Hunger (1996) by Len Kaminski (4 issues) — My favorite Venom comic!

Venom (2016) by Mike Costa (22 issues) — Symbrock central. As noted below, #159 and #160 are part of Venom Inc. and should be read in combination with the other relevant comics.

The Amazing Spider-Man: Venom Inc. (2017) by Dan Slott and Mike Costa (6 issues) — Really fascinating as an examination of how different characters view symbiotes.

Part 1: Venom Inc. Alpha (2017)

Part 2: The Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #792

Part 3: Venom (2016) #159

Part 4: The Amazing Spider-Man (2015) #793

Part 5: Venom (2016) #160

Part 6: Venom Inc. Omega (2018)

★ Venom: First Host (2018) by Mike Costa (5 issues) — A story that is interested in the ways in which symbiotes are vulnerable to their hosts in a way a lot of Marvel comics simply aren't. Also once again Symbrock central. Costa is probably the #1 Symbrock warrior, even if Kaminski is my personal hero on that front.

★ Venom: Lethal Protector (2022) by David Michelinie (5 issues) — There are no words I could possibly say that would be sufficient to convey to you how ecstatic I was when this comic was announced.

Venom: Lethal Protector II (2023) by David Michelinie (5 issues)

Venom: Separation Anxiety (2024) by David Michelinie (5 issues)

Supplementary material: 

Venomverse

Edge of Venomverse (2017) (5 issues)

Venomverse: War Stories (2017) (1 issue)

Venomverse (2017) by Cullen Bunn (5 issues)

★ Extreme Venomverse (2023) (5 issues) — Even if you read no other Venomverse comics, do yourself a favor and read the Black Cat story in Extreme Venomverse #2.

Death of the Venomverse (2023) by Cullen Bunn (5 issues)

Venomverse Reborn (2024) (4 issues) — Unfortunately colored by the bizarre nature of current Venom canon even more than Death of the Venomverse is, although neither are bad comics in and of themselves. If you want to avoid all of that entirely you can read from Edge of Venomverse through Extreme Venomverse and stop there. I don't really keep up with post-Cates Venom canon and every time I see anything about it it baffles me so deeply.

★ Superior Carnage (2013) Annual #1 by Cullen Bunn — I'm kind of obsessed with this comic. Please read it.

Hybrid (1996) by Evan Skolnick — Makes up the second half of each issue of the following comics. Definitely dated in some ways, but introduces some great symbiotes and a great host.

Venom: Along Came a Spider (1996) (4 issues)

Venom: The Hunted (1996) (4 issues)

Venom: Seed of Darkness (1997) by Len Kaminski (1 issue) — A oneshot about Eddie encountering a different mysterious shadowy alien being before he ever bonded with the symbiote, written by the author of The Hunger. Not essential reading but it's a fun little standalone sci-fi story with some nice Eddie characterization.

Phenethylamine by Leah Williams, in Marvel Comics Presents (2019) #5 — Not really a recommendation so much as... a public service announcement, I guess. Is this my favorite comic in the world? No, but it would feel negligent not to tell you it exists. There are better comics. There are comics with a better understanding of the characters. But this is the only one that's explicitly about Eddie having sex with the symbiote, so do with that what you will.

[movedto-mrs-bluemarine]

If Sony really loves it's fans (rando user Mrs-Bluemarine on Tumblr.com) they'll include a scene in Beyond that starts off as issue #149 of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN being thrown on screen, stacking high with issue after issue like every other introduction in the movies, the voice over being. "My name is Ben Reilly, and I'm not Spiderman. But I'm this universe's one and only Scarlet Spider"

[ewzzy]

The story you've all been waiting for: the epic saga of AUNT MAY'S PINK HAT! It's a thread that traces through 4 issues and 3 different books all written by Louise Simonson.

It all starts with Sam 'Cannonball' Guthrie buying a hat for his mom while in NYC with the New Mutants in Marvel Team-Up #149.

He ends up helping Spider-Man with an attack from the "Incandescent Man".

Spidey notices Sam is being awful protective of this hat in the midst of the battle.

After the battle, Spidey gets the idea that he should buy a hat for Aunt May to smooth things over. Why does he need to smooth things over?

They haven't been on speaking terms since he dropped out of grad school. That's 3 months later in the first issue of the new Web of Spider-Man series. We've got Louise Simonson writing again and Aunt May is admiring a pink hat herself. She's just getting started.

In the next issue Pete buys a hat for Aunt May at Saks Fifth Avenue...

...and he shows it off at the Bugle...

...and he runs into the same problem Cannonball did where he has to defend it in the midst of battle with the Vulturions.

In this case The Kingpin is watching and he's just as confused as I am about how this became a hat based story.

Pete has to use darts to block the poison darts of his enemy, but loses the hat!

Turns out the Vulturions had also been causing trouble for the Kingpin so he replaces the hat as a thank you. Wild!

It's the 3rd issue of Web of Spider-Man and we're almost to the fireworks factory if the fireworks factory is Aunt May gets a new hat.

The Vulture and Vulturions fight in the sky and Pete basically gives up on making it to Aunt May's birthday party, but MJ won't let him. He's still too scared to face her, but he drops off the hat. It leads to a not-hat-based reconciliation in the main Amazing Spider-Man book but why talk about that?

Now, if that was all this was I wouldn't have written up this too long breakdown. We're moving 5 months later to Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19. Louise Simonson had left Web Of but she's back for the Annual and you know what that means.

Kingpin's hat based plot is revealed. He's used Alistaire Smyth, son of Spencer Smythe the creator of the Spider-Slayer robots, to insert a tracking device into the hat!

Too bad Aunt May lets MJ's Aunt Anna try it on right as Smythe attacks!

Smythe! You kidnapped everyone but the target!

Spidey arrives at the scene and identifies the hat-based technology, but Aunt May thinks he's just stolen her new hat!

Spidey confronts Kingpin who passes all the blame on Smythe. Anyway, Spider-Man defeats Smythe, saves MJ, and Aunt Anna, but totally forgets about the hat.

THUS ENDS THE SAGA OF AUNT MAY'S NEW PINK HAT

[marvelousmrm]

Amazing Spider-Man #149 (Conway/Andru, Oct 1975). The first Clone Saga ends as it must — Peter confronts himself! Surprisingly Gwen’s clone wanders off to live a new life. And Peter’s clone is buried under the rubble of the Jackal’s explosion at Shea Stadium, so he’ll obviously never be seen again.

[merrymarvelite]

Cover of the Day: Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October, 1975) Art by Gil Kane & Frank Giacoia

[kudosmyhero]

The Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #149: Even If I Live, I Die!

Read Date: July 13, 2023 Cover Date: October 1975 ● Writer: Gerry Conway ● Penciler: Ross Andru ● Inker: Mike Esposito ● Colorist: Janice Cohen ● Letterer: Annette Kawecki ● Editor: Marv Wolfman ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers

Reactions As I Read: ● why is he called the Jackal? he looks nothing like a jackal, nor does he have any characteristics of a jackal. he looks more like a wingless bat. ● ohhhh so that’s why he chose the name Jackal ● like a "daughter." ooookaaaay…

● 👏👏👏

Synopsis: The Jackal has revealed his identity to be that of Peter Parker's biology professor: Miles Warren. Knocking out Spider-Man, the Jackal takes him and Ned Leeds to his secret lab. There, when Spider-Man revives, the Jackal tells him the genesis of his revenge plot: How he secretly loved Gwen Stacy, and how when she died he was devastated and blamed Spider-Man for her death. When he had Serba clone Gwen's DNA, Serba came back to him when he realizes that he'd been tricked into cloning humans (Which Serba found unethical), Warren would then strangle him to death.

His mind unhinging, he soon blamed the murder of Serba on the emergence of another personality, which he dubbed the Jackal. Creating his costume, the Jackal would then clone Gwen Stacy and recondition her to have the same memories as the original Gwen in the hopes of using her against Spider-Man.

When Spider-Man tries to attack the Jackal again, the Jackal manages to get away. While at the Daily Bugle, Betty Brant is upset because Ned and Peter have been missing for two days. As Mary Jane, J. Jonah Jameson, and Joe Robertson try to comfort her, Peter suddenly enters the room and claims he has no knowledge of seeing Ned and claims he hasn't seen him in a week. But what's this? At the EXACT same time, Peter is in his Spider-Man identity, web-slinging over to Shea Stadium to meet the Jackal for their final battle!

There the Jackal drugs Spider-Man, and when he revives he finds that the Jackal has created a Spider-Man clone for him to fight. To make matters worse, the Jackal has Ned Leeds tied to a bomb primed to go off in a matter of minutes. The clone of Gwen is mortified that the Jackal would resort to murder. Gwen's words strike a chord in Warren who realizes that there was no Jackal, only Miles Warren, and only he could have killed people. Snapping out of his dementia, Warren tries to redeem himself by freeing Ned Leeds. However, he doesn't get clear of the bomb in time, and it goes off seemingly killing him. The explosion causes part of the stadium to collapse on the Spider-Clone as well, seemingly killing the clone of Spider-Man.

Later, Peter Parker and the Gwen Stacy clone pay their respects to the real Gwen's grave. There, the clone of Gwen tells Peter that she realizes that she could never know him like the original has, and decides that it's best that she leave and never return. Peter begins to believe that maybe he is the clone. Peter returns to his apartment, sullen and hurt, but is shocked to find that someone is in his apartment. Rushing up to see who it is, he's happy to see that it's Mary Jane. He lets himself in, and the two begin to make up for their past fight.

(https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_149)

Fan Art: Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy by JackLavy

Accompanying Podcast: ● Amazing Spider-Man Chronicles - episode 05

[lyndaday]

Title Issue No. Comments Continuity Placement Notes

Captain America 164

Marvel Premiere 15

Marvel Premiere 16

Marvel Premiere 17

Marvel Premiere 18

Marvel Premiere 19

The Incredible Hulk 180

The Incredible Hulk 181

The Incredible Hulk 182

Marvel Premiere 20

Marvel Premiere 21

Marvel Premiere 22

Giant Size X-Men 1

X-Men 94

X-Men 95

Captain America 189

Captain America 190

Marvel Premiere 23

Marvel Premiere 24

Marvel Premiere 25

Iron Fist 1

Iron Fist 2

Iron Fist 3

Iron Fist 4

Iron Fist 5

Iron Fist 6

Iron Fist 7

The Amazing Spider-Man 161

The Amazing Spider-Man 162

Iron Fist 8

Iron Fist 9

Iron Fist 10

X-Men 96

X-Men 97

X-Men 98

X-Men 99

X-Men 100

X-Men 101

X-Men 102

X-Men 103

Iron Fist 11

Iron Fist 12

X-Men 104

X-Men 105

X-Men 106

X-Men 107

X-Men 108

X-Men 109

Iron Fist 13

Iron Fist 14

Marvel Team-Up Annual 1 w/ the X-Men

Iron Fist 15

Marvel Team-Up 63 w/ Iron Fist

Marvel Team-Up 64 w/ the Daughters of the Dragon

Marvel Team-Up 65 w/ Captain Britain

Marvel Team-Up 66 w/ Captain Britain

Power Man 47

Power Man 48

Power Man 49

X-Men 110

Power Man and Iron Fist 50

Power Man and Iron Fist 51

Power Man and Iron Fist 52

Power Man and Iron Fist 53

Ms. Marvel 15

Ms. Marvel 16

Marvel Team-Up 69 w/ Havok

Marvel Team-Up 70 w/ Thor

X-Men 111

X-Men 112

X-Men 113

X-Men 114

X-Men 115

X-Men 116

X-Men 117

Ms. Marvel 17

Ms. Marvel 18

Power Man and Iron Fist 54

Power Man and Iron Fist 55

X-Men 118

X-Men 119

X-Men 120

X-Men 121

Incredible Hulk Annual 7

Power Man and Iron Fist 56

Power Man and Iron Fist 57

X-Men 122

X-Men 123

X-Men 124

Marvel Team-Up 89 w/ Nightcrawler

X-Men Annual 3

X-Men 125

X-Men 126

X-Men 127

X-Men 128

Power Man and Iron Fist 58

Power Man and Iron Fist 59

Power Man and Iron Fist 60

Power Man and Iron Fist 61

Power Man and Iron Fist 62

X-Men 129

X-Men 130

X-Men 131

X-Men 132

X-Men 133

X-Men 134

X-Men 135

X-Men 136

X-Men 137

X-Men 138

X-Men Annual 4

Marvel Two-in-One 68 w/ Angel

Marvel Team-Up 100 w/ the Fantastic Four

Power Man and Iron Fist 63

Power Man and Iron Fist 64

X-Men 139

X-Men 140

Power Man and Iron Fist 65

Power Man and Iron Fist 66

X-Men 141

X-Men 142

Power Man and Iron Fist 67

Power Man and Iron Fist 68

X-Men 143

X-Men 144

X-Men 145

X-Men 146

X-Men 147

Spider-Woman 37

Spider-Woman 38

X-Men 148

Avengers Annual 10

X-Men 149

X-Men 150

X-Men Annual 5

Power Man and Iron Fist 70

Power Man and Iron Fist 71

Power Man and Iron Fist 72

Power Man and Iron Fist 74

Power Man and Iron Fist 75

Power Man and Iron Fist 76

X-Men 151

X-Men 152

X-Men 153

X-Men 154

X-Men 155

X-Men 156

X-Men 157

X-Men 158

Power Man and Iron Fist 78

X-Men 159

X-Men 160

Power Man and Iron Fist 79

X-Men 161

X-Men 162

X-Men 163

X-Men 164

X-Men 165

Marvel Graphic Novel: The New Mutants

Dazzler 22

Dazzler 23

Dazzler 24

New Mutants 1

New Mutants 2

X-Men 166

New Mutants 3

X-Men 167

Vision and the Scarlet Witch 4

X-Men Annual 6

Dazzler 25

X-Men 168

New Mutants 4

Dazzler 26

Dazzler 27

Dazzler 28

X-Men 169

X-Men 170

X-Men 171

Wolverine 1

Wolverine 2

Wolverine 3

Wolverine 4

Defenders 122

Defenders 123

Defenders 124

Defenders 125

New Mutants 5

New Mutants 6

New Mutants 7

New Mutants 8

New Mutants 9

New Mutants 10

New Mutants 11

New Mutants 12

X-Men 172

X-Men 173

X-Men 174

X-Men 175

Defenders 126

X-Men Annual 7

Defenders 127

Defenders 128

Defenders 129

Defenders 130

X-Men 176

Marvel Team-Up Annual 6 w/ Cloak & Dagger and the New Mutants

X-Men 177

X-Men 178

X-Men 179

New Mutants 13

Magik 1

Magik 2

Magik 3

Magik 4

New Mutants 14

X-Men 180

New Mutants 15

New Mutants 16

X-Men 181

X-Men 182

New Mutants 17

X-Men 183

New Mutants 18

New Mutants 19

New Mutants 20

X-Men 184

Defenders 131

Defenders 132

Defenders 133

New Mutants 21

Defenders 134

Defenders 135

Defenders 136

Defenders 137

Defenders 138

Defenders 139

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 1

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 2

X-Men 185

X-Men 186

X-Men 187

X-Men 188

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 3

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 4

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 5

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine 6

New Mutants Annual 1

New Mutants 22

X-Men 189

X-Men 190

X-Men 191

New Mutants 23

New Mutants 24

New Mutants 25

Beauty and the Beast 1

Beauty and the Beast 2

Beauty and the Beast 3

Beauty and the Beast 4

Iceman 1

Iceman 2

Iceman 3

Iceman 4

Defenders 140

Defenders 141

Defenders 142

X-Men 192

X-Men Annual 8 (takes place before Xavier is attacked at the end of #192)

X-Men/Alpha Flight 1 (takes place before Xavier is attacked at the end of #192)

X-Men/Alpha Flight 2 (takes place before Xavier is attacked at the end of #192)

X-Men 193

X-Men 194

New Mutants 26

New Mutants 27

New Mutants 28

Nightcrawler 1

Nightcrawler 2

Nightcrawler 3

Nightcrawler 4

New Mutants 29

Power Pack 11

Power Pack 12

X-Men 195

Secret Wars II 1

New Mutants 30

New Mutants 31

X-Men 196

Longshot 1

X-Men 197

X-Men 198

New Mutants 32

New Mutants 33

New Mutants 34

X-Men 199

New Mutants Special Edition 1

X-Men Annual 9

X-Men 200

New Mutants 35

X-Men 201

Defenders 143

Defenders 144

Defenders 145

Defenders 146

Defenders 147

Defenders 148

Defenders 149

Defenders 150

Avengers 263

Fantastic Four 286

Defenders 151

Defenders 152

X-Factor 1

Longshot 2

Longshot 3

Longshot 4

Longshot 5

Longshot 6

New Mutants 36

X-Men 202

Power Pack 20

New Mutants 37

X-Men 203

X-Men 204

X-Men 205

New Mutants 38

New Mutants 39

New Mutants 40

New Mutants 41

X-Factor 2

X-Factor 3

X-Men 206

X-Factor 4

New Mutants 42

New Mutants 43

X-Factor Annual 1

New Mutants 44

New Mutants Annual 2

X-Factor 5

X-Factor 6

X-Factor 7

X-Men 207

X-Men 208

X-Men 209

X-Factor 8

X-Men 210

X-Factor 9

X-Men Annual 10

New Mutants 45

X-Men 211

X-Factor 10

New Mutants 46

Thor 373

Power Pack 27

Thor 374

X-Men 212

X-Factor 11

Daredevil 238

X-Men 213

New Mutants 47

New Mutants 48

New Mutants 49

New Mutants 50

X-Men 214

X-Factor 12

X-Men 215

X-Men 216

X-Men 217

X-Men 218

New Mutants 51

Mephisto vs. Fantastic Four

Mephisto vs. X-Factor

Mephisto vs. X-Men

X-Factor 13

X-Factor 14

X-Factor 15

Thor 377

Thor 378

X-Factor 16

New Mutants Annual 3

New Mutants 52

Fallen Angels 1

Fallen Angels 2

Thor 379

Fallen Angels 3

X-Factor 17

Thor 380

Mephisto vs. Avengers

Fallen Angels 4

X-Factor 18

X-Factor Annual 2 (takes place after pg. 6 of #18, before the jump to “the next morning” on pg. 7)

X-Factor 19

X-Factor 20

Fallen Angels 5

Fallen Angels 6

Fallen Angels 7

Fallen Angels 8

X-Men 219

Fantastic Four vs. X-Men 1

Fantastic Four vs. X-Men 2

Fantastic Four vs. X-Men 3

Fantastic Four vs. X-Men 4

X-Men Annual 11

New Mutants 53

New Mutants 54

X-Men 220

X-Men 221

X-Men 222

X-Men 223

New Mutants 55

New Mutants 56

New Mutants 57

X-Men 224

X-Factor 21

X-Factor 22

X-Factor 23

X-Factor 24

X-Factor 25

Power Pack 35

New Mutants 58

X-Men 225

X-Men 226

X-Men 227

New Mutants 59

New Mutants 60

New Mutants 61

X-Factor 26

X-Factor 27

X-Men 228

Excalibur: The Sword is Drawn 1

New Mutants 62

New Mutants 64

New Mutants 65

New Mutants 66

X-Men 229

X-Men 230

X-Factor 28

X-Factor 29

X-Men 231

Marvel Comics Presents 1 *(Wolverine story only)

Marvel Comics Presents 2

Marvel Comics Presents 3

Marvel Comics Presents 4

Marvel Comics Presents 5

Marvel Comics Presents 6

Marvel Comics Presents 7

Marvel Comics Presents 8

Marvel Comics Presents 9

Marvel Comics Presents 10

Wolverine 1

Wolverine 2

Wolverine 3

X-Factor Annual 3

X-Men 232

X-Men 233

X-Men 234

Power Pack 39

Power Pack 40

New Mutants Annual 4

Excalibur 1

Excalibur 2

X-Men Annual 12

Excalibur 3

X-Factor 30

X-Factor 31

X-Factor 32

X-Factor 33

X-Terminators 1

X-Factor 34

X-Terminators 2

X-Men 235

X-Men 236

X-Men 237

X-Men 238

New Mutants 67

New Mutants 68

New Mutants 69

New Mutants 70

X-Men 239

X-Factor 35

Excalibur 4

Excalibur 5

X-Terminators 3

New Mutants 71

X-Factor 36

X-Men 240

X-Men 241

X-Terminators 4

New Mutants 72

New Mutants 73

Excalibur 6

Excalibur 7

X-Factor 37

X-Men 242

X-Factor 38

X-Men 243

X-Factor 39

New Mutants 74

Excalibur 8

New Mutants 75

[superheroes-semidaily]

Scarlet Spider / Spider-Man / Ben Reilly

Marvel, created by Gerry Conway and Ross Andru

The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October 1975)

Peter Parker's first of many clones, who has alternated between a free spirit, worthy successor, maddened rival, and existential loner.

Superpowers: Superhuman strength, agility, reflexes, and stamina / Extrasensory awareness of danger ["Spider-sense"] / Ability to cling to surfaces

Gadgets: Wrist-worn web-shooters

Talents: Skilled martial artist / Proficient scientist and inventor

Fun fact: It is claimed that Ben has died and returned more than any other mortal in the Marvel universe, thus earning him the favor of Lady Death herself

[levisgeekstuff]

De Kloon-saga

Toen ik met deze website begon, was één van de ideeën om duidelijke leesgidsen te maken voor grote verhaallijnen. Zo kan je makkelijk zien welke comics je erbij moet nemen om eens lekker door te lezen. Met Batman: Knightfall ging dat zeer vlot en ook Het tijdperk van Apocalypse viel al bij al nog mee om overzichtelijk te krijgen. Mogelijks heb ik na die twee artikels iets te veel zelfvertrouwen gekregen, want het volgende project werd de Kloon-saga uit de Spiderman series. Wel, dat ging iets minder vlot (🙈😅). Maar goed, bij deze mijn poging:

De originele kloon

Het verhaal begint eigenlijk al in de jaren ‘70 met de ‘originele’ kloon-saga. Die liep in de Amerikaanse comics van Amazing Spider-Man 139 tot 150. In het Nederlands is het echter al ietsje ingewikkelder. Het verhaal begint in de zwart-witte ‘Wonderbaarlijke Spinneman’ albums van uitgeverij Classics/Williams. In nummer 8 begint het verhaal, maar na nummer 12 werd de reeks stopgezet na het faillissement van de uitgever. In dat laatste nummer zaten de Amerikaanse Amazing Spider-Man 147 en 148. Vlak voor het einde van het originele kloon-verhaal dus… 

In 1979 pakte Oberon de draad weer op met Spiderman, maar zij kozen voor andere uitgaven dan Amazing Spiderman 149. Ook Juniorpress stapte iets later in de comic-wereld, maar ook zij sloegen in hun nieuwe Spectaculaire Spiderman reeks de bewuste nummers over en kozen met Amazing Spider-man 181 voor een makkelijker instappunt voor nieuwe lezers. 

Het zou uiteindelijk nog tot 1995 duren vooraleer we het slot van dit verhaal in het Nederlands te lezen kregen. In het allerlaatste nummer van Spectaculaire Spiderman koos Juniorpress er voor om eindelijk Amazing Spider-Man 149 en 150 op te nemen. 🥳

Terugkeer van de kloon

Ongeveer twintig jaar na de originele Kloon-saga was het volgens Marvel tijd voor een grootschalig vervolg. Geïnspireerd door de 'dood' van Superman en Knightfall bij Batman, wou Marvel ook iets met een grote, tijdelijke impact doen in de Spider-Man reeksen. Ze hadden immers gezien dat dit soort 'events' goed waren voor de verkoop bij de concurrentie. Het enige probleem met de Kloon-saga is dat ze gaandeweg de pedalen een beetje verloren... Oorspronkelijk zou Ben Reilly ten tonele verschijnen, zou er twijfel ontstaan over die de echte Spiderman is en zou Ben het overnemen. Daarna zou Peter Parker dan toch de echte blijken te zijn en terugkeren. Maar tegen dat het zover was, waren de verkoopcijfers bij Marvel inderdaad flink gestegen. Dat deed hen besluiten om Ben langer aan boord te houden. Peter Parker werd vervolgens uit de serie geschreven en Marvel wou definitief verder met de nieuwe Spiderman, Ben. Hoewel Ben Reilly best een populair personage was, viel het bij de lezers toch niet in goede aarde dat Peter Parker daarvoor moest wijken. Uiteindelijk zou Marvel dus weer de koers moeten bijstellen en zou Peter alsnog terugkeren. Dat alles maakt dat het originele verhaal, dat ongeveer een jaar zou duren, uiteindelijk liefst 4 volledige jaargangen zou vullen in álle Spidey-series. 🙈

In deze leesgids ga ik uit van hoe je volgens mij de verhalen het best kan lezen. Dat is niet noodzakelijk de volgorde waarin ze zijn verschenen. Ik deel het op in de aparte verhaallijnen:

De verloren jaren In het verhaal ‘De verloren jaren’ volgen we de belevenissen van Ben Reilly, de originele kloon. Wat is er met hem gebeurd nadat hij in een schoorsteen was gedumpt? Dit verhaal is in de Lage Landen verschenen in Web van Spiderman 108, 109 en 110.

Kracht en verantwoordelijkheid Daarna stappen we over naar Spiderman Special 17. Daarin zien we de terugkeer van de kloon in het leven van Peter Parker.  

De banneling keert terug Ben Reilly is terug en neemt de identiteit van Scarlet Spider aan. Dat zien we in Web van Spiderman 100 en 101. Aansluitend zou ik hier Spiderman Special 18 lezen, met enkele verhalen uit de Amerikaanse Spider-Man Unlimited.

Terug uit de afgrond Voor het volgende verhaal moeten we overstappen tussen verschillende series. Deel 1 van ‘Terug uit de afgrond’ lees je in Spectaculaire Spiderman 186, deel 2 staat in Peter Parker 140. Voor deel 3 moeten we weer terug naar Spectaculaire Spiderman 187 en het laatste deel vind je in Peter Parker 141.

Het levensweb en Web des doods In Web van Spiderman 102, 103 en 104 begint ‘Het levensweb’ en maakt slechterik Kaine zijn opwachting. Dan gaan we weer verder naar de serie Spectaculaire Spiderman nummers 188, 189 en 190 waarin we afscheid nemen van een legendarische vijand van Spidey. Het vervolg daarop lees je in Spiderman Special 19 met ‘De erfenis van Doctor Octopus’.

Rook en Spiegels We gaan door met ‘Rook en spiegels’ in Peter Parker 142 en 143. Ook het vervolg daarop lees je in Peter Parker 144.

Een sterfgeval in de familie Het dramatische verhaal uit de Amerikaanse Amazing Spider-Man 400 lezen we in Spectaculaire Spiderman 191. De ‘Naschokken’ van al die dramatische gebeurtenissen zien we in Web van Spiderman 105.

Het teken van Kaine Het volgende hoofdstuk draait om de derde (!) kloon, Kaine. Het ‘Teken van Kaine’ begint in Peter Parker 145, 146 en 147.

Gwen Stacy? Yep, Gwen Stacy is terug! Tenminste, in dit verhaal in Web van Spiderman 106. De saga gaat vervolgens verder in Spectaculaire Spiderman 192 met ‘Tussen twee vuren’. In Web van Spiderman 107 zien we dan weer de komst van een nieuwe Groene Trol.

Het proces van Peter Parker Het drama houdt aan voor Peter Parker. De opbouw naar een voorlopig hoogtepunt van de kloon-saga lees je in ‘Het proces van Peter Parker’ in Spectaculaire Spiderman 193, 194 en 195. 

Maximum Clonage Alsof het voor de lezers in 1995 nog niet duidelijk genoeg was dat ALLES in de Spidey-comics rond klonen draaide, kwam er met ‘Maximum Clonage’ nog een cross-over bovenop. De intro daarvan lees je in Spiderman Special 20. Daarna gaat het verhaal verder in Peter Parker 148, 149 en 150. 

Oef

Ja, oef. Hier zit het moeilijkste gedeelte van de Kloon-saga er op. Juniorpress had op dit punt ook door dat het constant wisselen tussen reeksen om een verhaal te kunnen volgen niet ideaal is. Ze besloten vanaf 1996 de Spiderman reeksen te bundelen in één serie. Ergens jammer dat het langlopende Spectaculaire Spiderman op deze manier haar 200e nummer zou missen, maar anderzijds ook een logische keuze. 

Oef? Nou ja. Uitgeef- en verzamel-technisch wordt het vanaf hier misschien wel duidelijker. Het verhaal zelf is echter nog lang niet ten einde. Zo zien we in nummers 1 en 2 van de nieuwe maandelijkse Spiderman serie het kloon-verhaal tot een climax komen.

Scarlet Spider

In Amerika werden alle Spiderman-series vanaf hier vervangen door Scarlet Spider-series. Bij ons kregen we die naamsverandering (en promotiestunt) niet, maar werden de verhalen uit die comics wel netjes verzameld in Spiderman 3 en 4.

Ben Reilly

Intussen zijn we op het punt gekomen waar Peter Parker zijn leven als Spiderman volledig heeft opgegeven en Ben Reilly definitief de fakkel overneemt. Technisch gezien zijn de verhalen vanaf dit punt geen onderdeel meer van de kloon-saga, maar algemeen worden ze er wel als onderdeel van beschouwd. Deze verhalen zijn allemaal netjes afgerond te volgende in de Spiderman-serie tussen nummer 5 en 17. Daar zijn, vooral in het begin, een aantal heel leuke comics bij met werk van oa. Dan Jurgens en John Romita Jr. Maar daarna komt er toch ook gewoon echt veel bagger langs. Sommige nummers heb ik me letterlijk moeten doorworstelen. Maar hey, je wil de héle saga toch gelezen hebben? Of niet? 

Wie toch eens een deeltje zou overslaan, let er best wel op om terug te zijn in Spiderman 16. Samen met nummer 17 vormt dit verhaal het slot van de Ben Reilly periode en de terugkeer van Peter Parker. Oef (bis)!

Checklist

Originele kloon: Wonderbaarlijke Spinneman 8-12 Spectaculaire Spiderman 196

Verloren Jaren: Web van Spiderman 108, 109, 110

Kracht en verantwoordelijkheid: Spiderman Special 17

De banneling keert terug: Web van Spiderman 100, 101 (evt.) Spiderman Special 18

Terug uit de afgrond: Spectaculaire Spiderman 186 Peter Parker 140 Spectaculaire Spiderman 187 Peter Parker 141

Het levensweb: Web van Spiderman 102, 103, 104 Web des doods: Spectaculaire Spiderman nummers 188, 189, 190 Spiderman Special 19

Rook en Spiegels: Peter Parker 142, 143, 144

Een sterfgeval in de familie: Spectaculaire Spiderman 191 Web van Spiderman 105

Het teken van Kaine: Peter Parker 145, 146 en 147

Web van Spiderman 106 Spectaculaire Spiderman 192 Web van Spiderman 107

Het proces van Peter Parker: Spectaculaire Spiderman 193, 194, 195 

Maximum Clonage: Spiderman Special 20 Peter Parker 148, 149, 150 

De Verbanning: Spiderman 1

De grootste verantwoordelijkheid: Spiderman 2

Scarlet Spider: Spiderman 3, 4

Ben Reilly: Spiderman 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

[kitausuret]

Part 2!

(Spectacular Spider-Man #2, Glory is hired on as JJJ's secretary)

(Spectacular Spider-Man #3)

(Spectacular Spider-Man #7, because you have to be dressed to the nines if you're going to get kidnapped by Morbius)

(Amazing Spider-Man #172)

(Amazing Spider-Man #178)

(Marvel Team-Up #79, in the most gorgeous belted coat)

(Spectacular Spider-Man #32, this is probably my favorite outfit of hers)

(Amazing Spider-Man #230, I love this headband)

(Spectacular Spider-Man #146... can you tell I like Glory in that color?)

(Spectacular Spider-Man #149)

🎉 Glory Grant Outfit Appreciation Post 💖

Amazing Spider-Man #140 (first appearance)

Marvel Team-Up #30

Amazing Spider-Man #142

Amazing Spider-Man #158

(Amazing Spider-Man #163... she is part of the friend group now 😌)

(Amazing Spider-Man #164)

I have more to add, but if anyone has panels they'd like to share please do so as well! I'm not even through the '80's for her comic appearances yet.

[sciderman]

amazing spider-man #149

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

April 24th - The Scarlet Spider

The Scarlet Spider is an alias used by several different heroes active at different times.  The initial Scarlet Spider had been Ben Reilly, a genetic clone of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) created by the villain known as The Jackal.  The Jakal’s sinister machinations managed to convince Peter that he was actually the clone and not Ben, leading to a brief time in which Ben acted in the role of the Amazing Spider-Man.  The truth of it all eventually came to life and Ben ended up attempting to continue his role as a super hero, now under the guise the Scarlet Spider.

Later, Peter himself took on the role of the Scarlet Spider after his various Spider-Man costumes had been ruined.  Some time after this, an FBI agent named Joseph Wade briefly acted as a third Scarlet Spider whilst under the evil influence of Dr. Octopus.  Spidey was able to defeat Wade and helped him become free of Dr. Ock’s influence.  

In the wake of the Super Hero Civil War, a trio of clones derived from the fallen hero, Michael Van Patrick, operated as the ‘Scarlet Spiders’ utilizing the Iron Spider armor created by Tony Stark.  These three heroes acted as part of the Avengers Initiative program.  

Finally, the most recent iteration of The Scarlet Spider has been Kaine Parker.  Like Benjamin, Kaine is a close of Peter created by The Jackal.  Kaine was actually the first clone of Parker The Jackal created, yet he discarded him because he possessed physical deformities.  Kaine would go on to become both an adversary and ally to Spider-Man.    It looked as though Kaine had been killed during the Grim Hunt storyline, but later reappeared alive.  He would go on to adopted the Scarlet Spider identity, operating as a crime fighter in New Mexico before returning to New York as a member of a new iteration of The New Warriors.  

Ben Riley first appeared the pages of Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #149 (1975); Joe Wade first appeared in Amazing Scarlet Spider #1(1995); whereas the clones, Michael, Van and Patrick first appeared in Avengers: The Initiative #3 (2007); and Kaine Parker first appeared in the pages of Web of Spider-Man #119 (1994).  

[sineala]

Tony Stark and Arthuriana

Coming to you by special request, a very long post about 616 Tony's interest in Arthuriana, with a focus on all of Tony's run-ins with Morgan le Fay!

I feel like I should disclaim the extent of my knowledge here, which is that I still haven't managed to read anywhere near every issue of Iron Man -- at least, not yet, anyway -- so I'm just going by the things I know I've read, and Morgan le Fay's Marvel wiki entry is frustratingly under-cited, so it's very possible I've missed something relevant, but I'm pretty sure I've got the big stuff down. My other disclaimer here is that I'm not as big an Arthurian nerd as Tony is, which is to say that most of my familiarity comes from modern retellings -- T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset -- and not so much the usual classic sources on the Matter of Britain, though I've read bits and pieces of them.

(This is because I wanted to read versions of them that were as close to the original as possible but so far have not ended up finishing any of them because, well, that's hard. So I've never read the Mabinogion because I do not know Welsh. I've got the Norton Critical Edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which is probably the best student edition if you're looking for something without modernized spellings, as I was. I've also got -- well, okay, it's my wife's but I'm borrowing it -- a relatively recent Boydell & Brewer edition (ed. Reeve, tr. Wright) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which is, you guessed it, in Latin with a facing English translation. I haven't gotten very far in it because, in case you didn't know this about Latin texts, the beginning is pretty much always the hardest, so I gave up and read some Plautus adaptations instead. Anyway, if for some reason you too want to read Geoffrey of Monmouth in the original Latin I'd recommend that one, but I can't recommend any particular English translations because I've never read one by itself. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting Latin prose recommendations in this post. I mean, maybe you did; it is me, after all.)

Okay. Right. King Arthur. Here we go.

We've got:

Flashbacks to Tony's childhood in late Iron Man volume 1

A brief discussion of Morgan's origin story and Avengers #187

Iron Man vol 1 #149-150: Doomquest

What If vol 1 #33: What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?

Iron Man vol 1 #249-250: Recurring Knightmare

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1-4

Avengers vol 3 #1-4: The Morgan Conquest

Civil War: The Confession

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11: Time Is On No One's Side

In terms of universe-internal chronology, we know from Iron Man #287, from 1992, that Tony has been a fan of King Arthur since childhood. This is an issue of a fandom-favorite arc which features Tony having a lot of childhood flashbacks, including the famous "Stark men are made of iron" line (in #286) that for some reason MCU fandom decided it loved; I mean, seriously, I've seen that quoted in way more MCU fic than 616 fic. But slightly later, in #287, we get an entire page devoted to Tony's love of King Arthur.

The narration reads: "Over the next few years, I learned as my father intended. Discipline of body. Strength of character. But in what free time I was allowed, I worked my way through the school's library. At thirteen, I discovered Mallory [sic], who showed me a whole new world. A world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Of chivalry and honor. And the fantastic deeds -- of armored heroes."

The art shows Tony as a child sitting under a tree, reading a book labeled Mort D'Arthur by Mallory [sic] -- no, don't ask me why nobody at Marvel checked how to spell either the name of the book or its author -- and daydreaming of King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, knights, et cetera. Just in case you somehow missed the extremely blatant hint that we are meant to understand that Tony's knight obsession heavily influenced him becoming Iron Man as an adult, we see one of his armors mixed in with all the drawings of knights. So, yes, canonically Tony is Iron Man at least partly because he's a giant King Arthur nerd, which I think is so very sweet. I love him. He's such a dork!

(This issue is currently in print in the Iron Man Epic Collection War Machine, should you need your own copy.)

This isn't actually the only reference to Tony as a King Arthur fanboy in this era of canon, either; a little later, in IM #298, we see that one of Tony's passwords is actually "Mallory." (Yeah, no, they still couldn't spell. But it's cute.)

But in terms of actual publication order, this is definitely not the first time we have seen in canon that Tony is into Arthuriana, as I'm sure you all know. I would assume, in fact, that giving Tony a childhood interest in Arthuriana is because Doomquest is one of the most beloved Iron Man story arcs of all time, and that all started at least a decade before IM #287 here was published.

The villain of Doomquest -- the one who isn't Doctor Doom, at least -- is Morgan le Fay. Yes, that Morgan le Fay. Yes, Arthur's evil half-sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, all of this King Arthur stuff is canonically real history on Earth-616. Morgan's first appearance in Marvel, per the wiki, was in Black Knight #1 (1955), which I have not read, and judging by the summary I feel like this is probably just supposed to be a straight-up comic retelling of Arthurian legends for kids; I don't think Marvel really had the whole Marvel Universe in mind as a concept in 1955, so I'm not sure this was meant to connect to anything else. I feel like this is another one of those instances of Marvel discovering that they can write comics about characters in the public domain for free -- like, I'm pretty sure that's how we also ended up with, like, Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology wedged into 616.

As far as I can tell from the wiki, the first time Morgan tangled with the Avengers (or indeed the larger 616 universe) in any way actually predated Doomquest -- it was in an early arc in Spider-Woman (#2-6) and then Avengers #187, which came out in 1979, actually right when Demon in a Bottle was happening over in Iron Man comics. If you read #187, Iron Man is not in it because he's off the team due to his drinking problem and also his accidentally murdering the Carnelian ambassador problem. So Wonder Man's filling in instead. This issue is part of Michelinie's rather sporadic Avengers run, which makes sense, I guess, considering where we see Morgan next.

Anyway, Avengers #187 is the classic issue where Wanda is possessed by Chthon, but what you may not remember from Chthon's backstory (I sure didn't!) is that he was summoned by Morgan le Fay because she was the first person who tried to wield the Darkhold to summon him. As you can imagine, this did not work out especially well for her and her followers and they had to seal Chthon away in Wundagore Mountain, which was where Wanda found him. (The Spider-Woman stuff is only slightly earlier and also appears to be about Morgan and the Darkhold; the Darkhold is not one of the areas of 616 canon I am especially conversant with, alas. It's on my to-read list.)

Doomquest, as you probably know, was a classic Iron Man two-parter in Layton & Michelinie's first Iron Man run that set up Tony and Doom as rivals; Doomquest itself was IM #149-150, in 1981, and then in their second IM run they came back and did a sequel in 1989, Recurring Knightmare (IM #249-250), and then the much later four-part sequel to that was the 2008 miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which was also by Layton & Michelinie but generally does not seem to be as popular as the first two parts. They've all been reprinted, if you're looking for copies; I have a Doomquest hardcover that collects the first four issues and then a separate Legacy of Doom hardcover. Currently in the Iron Man Epic Collection line there's a volume called Doom, which confusingly only collects the 249-250 part of the storyline (as well as surrounding issues), because for some reason the first Layton & Michelinie run isn't in Epics yet but the second one is. So the beginning of Doomquest isn't currently in print, as far as I can tell. I'm sure you can find it anyway.

So what's Doomquest about? Okay, so you remember how Doctor Doom's mother's soul is stuck in hell for all eternity? Well, Doom's obviously interested in getting her back, and the strategy he has embarked on is to try to team up with other powerful magicians who can help him out, and he thinks Morgan le Fay would be a good choice, for, uh, his quest. Doom's quest. A Doomquest, if you will. (If you've ever read Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, you're familiar with the part where he later ends up waylaying Strange for this and they go to hell together. And if you haven't read Triumph & Torment, you really should, because it's amazing.)

So Doom is off to his time machine to go team up with Morgan le Fay and Tony thinks Doom is up to something -- Doom has been stealing components for his time machine from a lot of people, including Tony -- and he follows him and it turns out one of Doom's lackeys has a grudge and wants to trap Doom in the past forever, and Tony gets caught up in it. Now they're both in Camelot. Surprise! #149 is actually all setup; they don't get to Camelot until #150.

IM #150 begins with Doom and Tony thrown back into the past; there's a fandom-famous splash page of them locked in combat, only to realize that they have found themselves in Camelot.

They are then discovered by knights; Doom would very much like to attack them, but Tony, who naturally would be happy to LARP Camelot forever, persuades him to play nice. Also Doom thinks Iron Man is only Tony's bodyguard so he keeps referring to him as "lackey," much to Tony's annoyance. Somehow everyone thinks they're sorcerers. Can't imagine why. The knights take them to meet King Arthur himself, and Tony has clearly had his introduction all ready to go, as he introduces himself in a timeline-appropriate manner, says he's here to apprehend Doom, and demonstrates his "magic" by levitating Arthur's throne. Doom's response is essentially "I'm the king of Latveria," which is, y'know, also valid. So they're guests at Camelot for the night while Arthur figures out what to do with them.

We then have a page devoted to Tony alone in his room, musing sadly about how alien he feels, how he doesn't know if he'll ever get home, how he could never fit in here without his beloved technology. Then a Sexy Lady shows up to keep him company for the night, and he decides maybe it's not all bad. Thanks, Marvel. I guess they can't all be winners.

Doom is using his evening much more productively; he compels one of the servants to tell him where Morgan's castle is, because he's still interested in having that team-up. Then he jets off. Literally. He has a jetpack.

The next morning Arthur's like "one of you is still here and one of you has punched a hole through the castle wall and flown off to join Morgan so I guess I know which of you is more trustworthy." He then explains to Tony who Morgan is, because Tony professes ignorance, because clearly we had not yet retconned in Tony's love of Arthuriana. Tony offers to go fight Doom and Morgan with Arthur; meanwhile, Morgan and Doom have teamed up and Morgan has offered to help get Doom's mother out of hell if he commands her undead armies against Arthur because for Reasons she can't command them herself anymore. So that's a thing that happens.

So, yes, it's Tony and Arthur versus Doom and Morgan. Fight fight fight!

Tony tries Doom first but then decides to hunt Morgan down, and in the ensuing fight we get what I think is Tony's first ever "I hate magic," a complaint that we all know he still makes even to this day.

Anyway, Tony freezes a dragon with Freon (mmm, technology) and Morgan gets upset and disappears, so the battle comes to an end, and of course Doom is extremely mad at Tony because he blames Tony for Morgan not sticking around to save Doom's mom, because I guess Doom trusted her to keep her word? Weird. (Like I said, for the next chapter of Doom saving his mother, go read Triumph & Torment.)

Doom says if he and Tony work together, the components in both of their armors can send them both home. So Tony has to trust Doom. Which he does, because he really has no other choice. They build a time machine and Tony makes Doom agree to a 24-hour truce when they get back, so they can both get home. So it all works out okay, and they end up in the present, and Doom tells him, ominously, that they will meet again. Okay, then. That concludes the original Doomquest. It's fun! You can see why fandom likes it.

So that's all well and good, but you might have noticed that Tony's ability to get home hinged on Doom actually being trustworthy. And Doom was. But what if Doom hadn't been? What if he'd just stranded Tony in Camelot forever As you may have surmised from the form of that question, that is in fact a question Marvel asked themselves, because, yes, there's a What If about this! What If v1 #33 is "What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?"

The divergence point from canon, as you can probably guess, is the very end of Doomquest. Instead of Doom bringing Tony home, he deceives him and leaves him in Camelot. And since Tony cannibalized a lot of the tech from his armor to make the time machine, he doesn't have a way to go home.

This is not a story where Tony comes up with a way to go home after all. He really doesn't get to go home. But instead of drowning his sorrows in mead -- because, remember, Demon in a Bottle has already happened and Tony is sober now -- he decides he might as well just play the hand he's dealt. So with what's left of his armor, he defeats some enemies that Morgan rounds up to send against Camelot. And for his services, he's knighted. He is now Sir Anthony.

Tony acknowledges that he is both living the dream and would also like very, very much to go home.

He does end up having some fun in Camelot; it's not all miserable. But he obviously doesn't want to be there.

So if you're at all familiar with King Arthur, you know how this goes, right? Arthur fights Mordred and Mordred kills him. And that does happen in this version. Except Tony is right there, and with his dying words, Arthur asks Tony to rule Camelot... and Tony agrees.

So, yes, Tony Stark becomes king of the Britons after Arthur's death and he never goes home again. The end. Man, I love What Ifs.

Heading back to main 616 continuity, there is still more of this arc to go. The original Doomquest was only two issues, yes, but it was popular enough that Layton & Michelinie did a sequel a hundred issues later, in their second run of Iron Man, and that's Iron Man #249-250, Recurring Knightmare. (In the intervening issues were Denny O'Neil's IM run, specifically the second drinking arc (#160-200), and then Layton & Michelinie came back and most famously gave us Armor Wars (#225-232). I would have to say that Armor Wars is definitely the standout fandom-favorite arc of their second IM run; for their first one, I think a lot of people would have a hard time choosing between Doomquest and Demon.) But anyway, yes. Recurring Knightmare.

Recurring Knightmare is... well, the best way I can describe it is "a trip." It is definitely a sequel to Doomquest, and it is also definitely not a sequel you  would ever have expected to see for Doomquest.

Much like #149, #249 is pretty much just setup. Fun setup, but the big action is in the next issue. We open with Doom in Latveria, on his throne, pondering which of his servants he should have disintegrated. Anyway, he's just hanging out there when a mysterious object appears. In California, Tony is suited up and entertaining the crowd at a mall opening when the same object also appears! He takes it to his lab. Please note that this is after the Kathy Dare incident, so Tony is still recovering and is walking with a cane. Doom sees on the news that Iron Man has found the same object, which cannot be carbon-dated, and he shows up at Tony's house. He criticizes Tony's taste in art.

Anyway, Doom basically orders Tony to work with him. Tony refuses, and then Doom sends some robots to attempt to steal Tony's version of the object because he thinks if he has them both he will be powerful. Doom manages to steal it, and when he puts the pieces together, both he and Tony disappear.

So where do they go, you might ask? Camelot?

Not exactly. The future! There is a great callback to the Doomquest splash page.

It turns out they are in London in 2093. Merlin brought them there. Tony still hates magic. And in the future, King Arthur is still there, except he is now a child, because he has been reborn. But he does remember Tony from Doomquest, at which point Tony kneels. Doom, of course, is not impressed. He asks why they have been brought to the future.

The answer is that things are going wrong in the future. If you do not personally remember United States politics in the 1980s, I need you to google the words "Strategic Defense Initiative" right now. I'll wait.

Back with me? Okay, so this is a future where Reagan's Star Wars program actually happened the way he wanted it to, and the satellites are still hanging around the Earth in the future and messing everything up, and Arthur and Merlin need Tony and Doom's help to stop them. Doom once again flies away with his jetpack, of course.

Tony is game to help, but he's not in an armor that can stay in space for long. This is when Merlin takes him and Arthur to the mall and Tony manages to get everything to upgrade his armor at Radio Shack. You see what I meant about this issue being weird.

Tony is out in space trying to disarm the SDI platform, which is where he runs into his future descendant, Andros Stark, who is in armor you will probably recognize from Iron Man 2020. He is referred to as "the resurrected spawn of Iron Man 2020" so I assume he's actually directly related to Arno rather than a direct descendant of Tony; Wiki confirms that Arno is his grandfather. This is all from way before Arno was contemporaneous with Tony in canon. Anyway, he's fighting Tony.

Oh, by the way, Future Doom exists. Future Doom would like to rule this future Earth and for some reason Andros would like to help him. Meanwhile, Present Doom finds out from Merlin that he can't leave except by magic and he can't leave without Tony, so he is reluctantly on Tony's side.

They need help from the Lady of the Lake, except the lake has been paved over and is now a parking lot. Merlin makes the lake come back and then of course they get Excalibur. Arthur is a kid, so he can't wield a longsword; Doom assumes he's going to take it because he is basically a king, and he's pretty grumpy when the sword picks Tony. Tony then uses Excalibur to destroy the space lasers, and I bet that is a sentence you never thought you would read. It's pretty cool. Tony concludes that magic has its good points. Tony stops Andros and Doom stops, uh, himself, and the world is saved and they get to go home. Also, Doom finds out Tony is Iron Man, but when Merlin sends them back he conveniently erases their memories, so neither of them remember anything about this and Tony's secret is still safe. And that's the sequel to Doomquest.

And if you think that's weird, wait until you see Legacy of Doom.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is a four-issue miniseries from 2008, also by Layton and Michelinie. Even though it's from 2008, it's set during a much more classic time in Iron Man, continuing on from where we left off in this Doomquest saga. We start with a framing story in 2008. Tony, who has Extremis now, is busy scrapping some of his older armors and reviewing his logs when he suddenly remembers that there was a whole thing with Doom that happened that he seems to have forgotten about until right now. So the whole thing is narrated by Tony in flashback.

Tony's in space fixing a satellite when a hologram of Doom shows up and summons him to Latveria. It's not really clear why Doom needs Tony's help in particular here, but Doom tells Tony that he's discovered that Mephisto would like to bring about the end of the world, which Doom finds, and I quote, "presumptive." So Doom has his Time Cube, and with it he takes Tony to hell.

(Yes, I promise this is relevant to Doomquest. There will be some Arthuriana shortly.)

Doom brings Tony to Mephisto, and it turns out it's a setup! Doom trades Tony for an item he wants from Mephisto, leaves, and Tony's going to be trapped in hell forever! Oh no! (I mean, he's not. But it's quite a cliffhanger.)

At the beginning of issue #2, we find out what the Arthurian connection is, which is that we learned that after the events of Doomquest, Morgan had been granted sanctuary by Mephisto in exchange for a shard of Excalibur that she had somehow stolen. Doom still wants Morgan's help with some magic -- he doesn't mention what it is here, but he says he needs someone of Pendragon blood, and that'd be her -- so he traded Tony to Mephisto in exchange for, I'm guessing, Morgan and the Excalibur shard.

I have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but Legacy of Doom #2 is one of my favorite issues of Iron Man ever, solely because of the next scene. We return to Tony in hell. Howard Stark is also in hell, and he is now a demon, and Tony has to fight him. Mephisto brings popcorn and watches. This is the one time in canon when Tony actually confronts his father, and okay, yes, it's a fistfight in hell and Howard is a demon, but that's comics for you. Howard spends several pages insulting Tony -- specifically insulting his masculinity, but that's a whole other essay -- until he finally insults Maria too, and that's when Tony fights back, because his mother taught him to be good. Honestly if you're a Tony fan I'd recommend this issue just for that scene.

Anyway, we go back to the Doom and Morgan plot, and Morgan casts the spell Doom wanted, which was fusing the Excalibur shard with Doom's armor. Then Doom sends her back to Camelot rather than hell, because he's still mad that she never helped him get his mom out of hell like she said she would.

Tony freezes Howard with Freon -- yes, the same trick he pulled on the dragon back in Doomquest -- and tells him, "You're no father of mine." It is immensely satisfying.

(I had been going to mention that I thought it was a shame that neither canon nor fandom seems to have really engaged with this confrontation, and I know canon never believes in narrative closure but fandom sure does -- and then, anyway, it occurred to me that since the framing story of Tony remembering this is set when Tony has Extremis, there's a very good chance that he no longer remembers remembering it. Goddammit, Marvel.)

(If I got to retcon one canon thing about Tony, I think "the entirety of World's Most Wanted" is up there. I mean, okay, a lot of things are up there, but WMW is definitely on the shortlist.)

Okay. Tony has now engineered his way out of hell, and he's back with Doom in Latveria. Doom has Excalibur. Doom would very much like to fight him. While wielding Excalibur. You get the sense that this is going to be bad. Another cliffhanger!

Legacy of Doom #3 opens with Tony destroying Doom's lab to buy time and running away from Doom and Excalibur. I should probably mention that Doom still doesn't know Tony is Iron Man (anymore), so he thinks he is dealing only with Iron Man, Tony Stark's lackey. Meanwhile, some scientists at SI think there's something weird going on with space. Meanwhile meanwhile, Tony is in a forest taking a breather when a mysterious old man walks up to him.

It's Merlin! Surprise! Merlin wants Tony's help to stop Doom from doing whatever he's doing with Excalibur. The sword makes you invincible and the scabbard makes you invulnerable, so Merlin sends Tony to Scotland on a fetch quest for the scabbard. Doom has now magically sent the sword in search of the scabbard, so the sword flies away to meet it and Doom follows. Turns out the thing that's wrong with space is a thing that's going to hit Earth at the exact place Tony and Doom are. What a coincidence! So Tony and Doom get trapped in a stone circle and fight some stone warriors and then Tony ends up with the scabbard. And by "ends up with," I mean it fuses to his armor. Next issue!

Legacy of Doom #4 is when things really, really get weird. A giant demon made of eyes (???) appears, and this demon is apparently what Doom had been preparing to fight (because it's mad that Doom stole one of its spellbooks), and now he can't, because the sword and the scabbard aren't together. Thanks, Shellhead.

That's when Merlin shows up and says all is not lost. They can defeat the demon... if they put the sword into the scabbard.

"But I'm the scabbard now!" Tony says, uncomprehending.

"Yes," Merlin says. "You are."

Then Tony gets it.

So, yes, Doom has to, um, penetrate Tony. With Excalibur. I love comics. I love comics so much.

So that's a thing that happens.

And then Tony flies off and, I guess, resolves to never, ever think about any of this again.

We head back to the framing story, in which Tony, now having remembered all of this, flies to Britain, buys the land the lake is on, and paves it over, presumably so it will be there for Merlin to bring back in Iron Man #250. The end.

Whew.

Okay, yeah, I know I didn't have to summarize the whole thing, but Legacy of Doom here really is one of my favorite Iron Man miniseries. And I just want to share the love. Please read it. It's great.

But the Arthuriana fun doesn't end there! In fact, now we get an Arthurian-themed arc that actually isn't in Iron Man comics. It's in Avengers! Iron Man is involved, though.

(There is also apparently a Morgan arc in Avengers #240. I actually haven't read it. It seems to be yet another Spider-Woman arc. I get the impression that this isn't really Arthuriana other than having Morgan in it fighting Jess, though, so it doesn't seem quite as relevant. Morgan also apparently has some appearances in FF, Journey into Mystery, and Marvel Team-Up, but those seem like more of just basic villainy. Also, probably not involving Tony.)

Kurt Busiek's 1998 Avengers run, volume 3, is in large part the kind of Avengers run that is a nostalgic love letter to older comics. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains and good triumphs over evil. The Avengers all live in the mansion and are BFFs. I love it. It does assume that you are already a fan of the Avengers, because it starts out by summoning pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger and is available to the mansion, and that is... a lot of people. Thirty-nine, by my count. Also, when the entire team is magically whisked away, we are treated to the following narration, as Steve disappears: "And Captain America's last thought, as the world goes white around him, and he with it -- is that Iron Man would hate this."

The narration doesn't tell you why Iron Man would hate this, or how Captain America would know that Iron Man hates this. This is not explained later on. But if you have read comics -- or if you have read the above summary of Doomquest -- you know that Tony is absolutely, one hundred percent, thinking, "I hate magic." And Steve knows it.

The reference is not relevant to the plot; if you don't get it, you'll be fine. But that's what I mean when I say this is a nostalgia run. There are definitely Easter eggs for people who have read a bunch of comics. Busiek does this a whole lot in his work -- there's a reason you can buy an annotated edition of Marvels -- and, yeah, it happens here too. Just know that there will be references you're not getting, if you're new to comics.

Anyway. So Busiek's run actually starts out with an Arthurian arc, #1-4, "The Morgan Conquest." The name is a dead giveaway. Yes, Morgan le Fay is back. Again. For once, Doom is not involved.

The Avengers are all back from their sojourn on Counter-Earth after fighting Onslaught -- don't worry about it -- and mysterious things are happening. There are a lot of monster attacks. So pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger is summoned to the mansion, at which point we learn from Thor about some mystical artifacts that are being stolen. (They are the Norn Stones and also the Twilight Sword. That sounds like something from a Zelda game, doesn't it?) The Avengers go to try to stop this, end up in Tintagel, and then they run into Mordred. He wants to capture Wanda, presumably for Magic Reasons. Morgan le Fay casts a spell on all of them, reshaping reality. Yes, all of them. Surprise!

So now all the Avengers are living in a medieval castle and/or town; Morgan is their queen, and thanks to the power of mind-control they are all basically living in Ye Olden Times. The Avengers are all some variety of knight, except for Wanda, who is chained up in the dungeon so Morgan can steal her magic and use it to fuel all this reality-warping.

Wanda calls for help, and that snaps Steve (Yeoman America!) out of the mind control (or altered reality or whatever you want to call it) pretty fast, because Steve's always been very good at resisting mind control, and then Steve promptly goes and snaps Clint out of it, because I guess Steve is also good at inspiring people to snap out of mind control. "Oh, man!" Clint says. "Not another alternate reality! Not again!" (I assume he's referring to Counter-Earth? Maybe?)

So Steve and Clint go around reassembling the Avengers and orienting them as to reality. They get Jan and Monica easily, but then Steve insists on trying to get Tony because, I guess, he likes Tony and would really like to hang around Tony, who is half-naked and asleep in his bedroom, and certainly I am reading nothing whatsoever into this. Clint tells Steve it's not going to work. Tony has historically been fairly susceptible to mind control; it was only pretty recently at this point that he'd been doing Kang's bidding in The Crossing. But the more serious impediment is that this is Tony Stark and he would obviously like to LARP being a knight forever and ever. Tony, therefore, does not believe Steve, and throws him and Clint out of his bedroom and into the barracks.

"Iron Man's a good guy, normally," Clint says. "But he's waaay too into his whole nobleman/lord of the manor trip. That spell musta hit him right where he lives!"

Clint speaks the truth, clearly.

Anyway, they go around and manage to make pretty much every Avenger in the room other than Tony snap out, and attempt to rebel against Morgan while Tony is stil fighting them because he is Still A Knight. There's a lot of punching, because some of the Avengers still aren't free; they weren't ones Steve found.

The day is saved when Wanda manages to channel Wonder Man and break free. This gives the Avengers a fighting chance against Morgan and the Avengers are all lending Wanda their power when Tony finally snaps out of it and is on the side of good. 

Then they take Morgan down, go home, and attempt to figure out which of these thirty-nine people should be on the active Avengers team. Hooray.

But that's not the end of Morgan le Fay showing up to screw around with Tony's life! There's more to come! Not much, but there is one that I know of, and at least one more memorable reference. 

(I haven't read all her appearances or anything, but one of them definitely involves Tony; I can't swear that he doesn't appear in any of the other books Morgan shows up in, but it'd be a cameo for him, because I only know of one more arc that she's in in a book that Tony stars in.)

In a few more years, we have now entered the part of Marvel Comics history where Brian Michael Bendis writes all the Avengers books at the same time for, like, seven years running. It was sure A Time. There were a lot of word bubbles.

And the thing about Bendis is, Bendis looooooves Doomquest. If you're familiar with the very end of his tenure at Marvel where he made Doom be Iron Man after Tony got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, you have probably figured out already that he likes Doom. But he also likes Doomquest, specifically.

I mean, if nothing else, the giant splash page in The Confession where Maleev redrew the climactic Doomquest fight while Bendis had Tony talk about how deeply meaningful to his understanding of the world this all was -- and how it allowed him to predict Civil War -- was probably a big clue, right?

As far as I am aware, Morgan le Fay makes exactly one more appearance in Tony's life. And that's in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11. Only one of those issues is named, so I'm going to assume the arc is named after it: Time Is On No One's Side.

You remember Mighty Avengers, right? The deal with the Avengers books at the time was that after Bendis exploded the mansion and made the team disband in Avengers Disassembled, the main Avengers book was no longer called just Avengers. Instead, the main Avengers book was New Avengers, and that was the only Avengers book. Then Civil War happened, Steve got killed, and New Avengers became the book about what was left of the SHRA resistance (i.e., Steve's side) after the war. So about halfway through New Avengers, Mighty Avengers starts up, and Mighty Avengers is about an extremely fucked-up and grief-stricken Tony Stark trying to run the official government-sanctioned Avengers team, with Carol's help. This is the comic with the arc where Tony turned into naked girl Ultron. You remember.

So, anyway, there's this Mighty Avengers arc where Doom is Up To Something (there are symbiotes and a satellite involved) and somehow Tony and the Avengers end up in Latveria, punching Doom. Also, by the way, Doom is visiting Morgan in the past because he likes her. The Avengers attacking his castle made him have to come back to the present, so he's kind of cranky. And he fights Tony, and in the course of the fight, his time platform explodes and sends Doom and Tony and also the Sentry to... the past.

This is one of those times where you should definitely look up the comics if possible because the way the past is visually indicated here is that it's colored with halftone dots the way you would expect old comics to be colored, although they have modern shading and color palettes. It's very charmingly retro.

So the three of them are stuck in New York in the past, and naturally they would like to leave. There's one person in this time who has a time machine and it is, of course, Reed Richards. Doom and Tony have a lot of banter in this arc; I think it's entertaining.

Sentry has to be the one to break them all into the Baxter Building because of that power he has where no one will remember him. So they do that, travel forward in time, and end up in Latveria in the present again except Doom is gone and also things are currently exploding where they are.

Doom, of course, has made a side trip to visit Morgan again and he asks her to help him build an army, because I guess this is what their relationship is like. So the rest of the Avengers are captured by what look to me like Mindless Ones and are in a cave in magic bondage, because comics. Jess comments that at least they aren't naked, because she too is remembering that memorable New Avengers trip to the Savage Land. Doom threatens Carol in some creepy sexist ways and eventually it turns out that Tony and the Sentry are fine and everyone kicks Doom's ass. Business as usual.

And the last page of the arc is Morgan alone, wondering where Doom is. So technically Morgan and Tony don't come face to face here, but I think she counts as being at least partially responsible for ruining Tony's day here. And then Secret Invasion happens and Tony has a very, very bad day.

There are a few more Morgan appearances after this, but, as I said, I don't think any of them involve Tony. She shows up in Dark Avengers, apparently, which was one of the post-Civil War Avengers titles I didn't read, and I know that recently, on the X-Men side of things, she's been in Tini Howard's Excalibur one, which I have only read a little of. No Tony there. Just a lot of Morgan and Betsy Braddock and Brian Braddock and the Otherworld.

If you are interested in Morgan's other appearances, you might like this Marvel listicle that is Morgan le Fay's six most malicious acts. I pulled some of the Darkhold backstory from their discussion, but it's not really focused on Morgan and Tony.

So there you have it! That's everything I know about Tony's love for King Arthur and every run-in I know about that he's had with Morgan le Fay! One of two terrible people in Tony's life named Morgan! Actually, I don't think we've seen Morgan Stark in a while. I wonder if he's alive. There should be a Morgan & Morgan team-up. I should probably stop typing and post this.

The tl;dr point is that you should all read Doomquest and its sequels, especially Legacy of Doom. They're great!

[animusrox]

LETTERBOXD

1.   Avengers: Endgame 2.   Parasite 3.   Waves 4.   1917 5.   The Lighthouse 6.   The Last Black Man in San Francisco 7.   The Farewell 8.   Midsommar 9.   Shazam! 10.   Uncut Gems

[Grade A]

11.   El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie 12.   Knives Out 13.   I Lost My Body 14.   The Nightingale 15.   Joker 16.   The Death of Dick Long 17.   Ready or Not 18.   Jojo Rabbit 19.   Just Mercy 20.   Dragged Across Concrete 21.   Cold Pursuit 22.   Marriage Story 23.   Hotel Mumbai 24.   The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind 25.   Arctic 26.   The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot 27.   Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 28.   Klaus 29.   A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 30.   American Factory 31.   Ford v Ferrari 32.   The Public 33.   Alita: Battle Angel 34.   The Report 35.   In Fabric 36.   Her Smell 37.   Hustlers 38.   Under the Silver Lake 39.   Happy Death Day 2U 40.   Bombshell 41.   A Vigilante 42.   Apollo 11 43.   The Two Popes 44.   Long Shot 45.   The Irishman 46.   The Amazing Johnathan Documentary 47.   Doctor Sleep 48.   The Current War 49.   Jumanji: The Next Level 50.   Toy Story 4 51.   Ad Astra 52.   Gloria Bell 53.   Dark Waters 54.   Them That Follow

Click Keep Reading For My Full List

[Grade B]

55.   Pain and Glory 56.   Hala 57.   It: Chapter Two 58.   Dolemite Is My Name 59.   Our House 60.   American Dreamer 61.   The King 62.   The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part 63.   Terminator: Dark Fate 64.   Little Women 65.   Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 66.   Judy 67.   Us 68.   Child’s Play 69.   Honey Boy 70.   Haunt 71.   Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark 72.   The Laundromat 73.   Wrinkles the Clown 74.   The Addams Family 75.   Teen Spirit 76.   Ma 77.   Missing Link 78.   Annabelle Comes Home 79.   Spider-Man: Far from Home 80.   One Child Nation 81.   Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans 82.   Between Two Ferns: The Movie 83.   The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil 84.   The Wind 85.   Portrait of a Lady on Fire 86.   Crawl 87.   Brittany Runs a Marathon 88.   Wounds 89.   Queen & Slim 90.   Good Boys 91.   The Peanut Butter Falcon 92.   Pokémon Detective Pikachu 93.   Rocketman 94.   The Beach Bum 95.   Brightburn 96.   The Hole in the Ground 97.   Aladdin 98.   Justice League vs. the Fatal Five 99.   Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened 100.   Fyre Fraud

[Grade C]

101.   High Life 102.   6 Underground 103.   Captive State 104.   Blinded by the Light 105.   Captain Marvel 106.   Climax 107.   Greta 108.   Hagazussa 109.   Last Christmas 110.   Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw 111.   Black and Blue 112.   The Kid Who Would Be King 113.   Nightmare Cinema 114.   Little Monsters 115.   The Upside 116.   The Art of Self-Defense 117.   Richard Jewell 118.   Polar 119.   Fighting With My Family 120.   Glass 121.   Abominable 122.   Knock Down the House 123.   Escape Room 124.   The Aftermath 125.   Where’d You Go, Bernadette 126.   John Wick: Chapter 3 127.   The Dead Don’t Die 128.   The Lion King 129.   El Chicano 130.   Yesterday 131.   Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 132.   Lucy in the Sky 133.   In the Tall Grass 134.   Motherless Brooklyn 135.   Reign of the Supermen 136.   Dora and the Lost City of Gold

[Grade D]

137.   Godzilla: King of the Monsters 138.   Five Feet Apart 139.   The Good Liar 140.   Playing with Fire 141.   Triple Frontier 142.   The Goldfinch 143.   Triple Threat 144.   The Kitchen 145.   21 Bridges 146.   Iron Sky: The Coming Race 147.   Pet Sematary 148.   Charlie’s Angels 149.   3 from Hell 150.   Luce 151.   Gemini Man 152.   Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 153.   I Trapped the Devil 154.   Anna 155.   Zombieland: Double Tap 156.   The Best of Enemies 157.   Countdown 158.   Harriet 159.   Late Night 160.   How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 161.   Always Be My Maybe 162.   Tolkien 163.   Stuber 164.   Don’t Let Go 165.   Miss Bala 166.   Farming 167.   Polaroid

[Grade F]

168.   47 Meters Down: Uncaged 169.   Dumbo 170.   Wonder Woman: Bloodlines 171.   Frozen II 172.   Dark Phoenix 173.   Batman: Hush 174.   Booksmart 175.   Men in Black: International 176.   The Secret Life of Pets 2 177.   Satanic Panic 178.   Wonder Park 179.   Black Christmas 180.   Primal 181.   Rambo: Last Blood 182.   Angel Has Fallen 183.   The Curse of La Llorona 184.   The Angry Birds Movie 2 185.   Jexi 186.   Shaft 187.   Isn’t It Romantic 188.   Mercy Black 189.   The Prodigy 190.   Velvet Buzzsaw

[BOTTOM 10]

191.   UglyDolls 192.   The Intruder 193.   Replicas 194.   Serenity 195.   Hellboy 196.   The Hustle 197.   The Souvenir 198.   Cats 199.   Sextuplets 200.   The Fanatic

[generic-hufflepuff1]

My Tma favorites (per entity per season)

In honor of the finale of Tma, I'm looking back and going through the seasons and picking out my favorite episodes. I'm sorting them by entity and Im gonna write a little piece at the end of each fear as to why I picked that episode.  It is relatively spoiler free but still keep your wits about you.  

Also this is only up to Mag 197

The Stranger

Season 1: 1 Anglerfish tied with 34 Anatomy Class 

Season 2: 77 The Kind Mother

Season 3: 83 Drawing a Blank, with 96 Return to Sender as a close second

Season 4: 128 heavy Goods

Season 5: 182 Well being, but 165 Revolutions is very very good

Overall: 1 Anglerfish

So all the of The Strangers’ episodes are really evocative and well written and I have to say that it was a very, very close call for almost every single season and I still cannot really decide if I truly like Mag 1 more than Mag 34 but I have to say that Mag 1 is so very good at drawing you into the world and works as a stand alone piece.  

The Buried

Season 1: 2 Do Not Open

Season 2: 66 Held In Customs

Season 3: 97 We all Ignore the Pit

Season 4: 132 Entombed

Season 5: 184 Like Ants

Overall: 2 Do Not Open

I love Mag 2 as the protagonist straight up did not have any of this bullshit.  And they even got a mike drop moment with the frozen key.  Like in this house we stan Joshua Gillespie.  His determination to not have to deal with that shit is so incredibly strong that it sticks with you.  

The Web

Season 1: 16 Aracnopobia

Season 2: 69 Thought for the Day

Season 3: 81 A Guest for Mister Spider

Season 4: 136 The Puppeteer 

Season 5: 172 Strung Out

Overall: 81 A Guest for Mister Spider 

Honestly Mag 81 is absolutely brilliant and serves to contextualise so much of season 1 and 2 and ends up being incredibly important to the world as a whole.  That plus the delivery and excellent premise gives it a slight edge over Mag 172 that is a pure exploration of the controlling and manipulative nature of addiction

The Vast

Season 1: 21 Freefall

Season 2: 75 A Long Way Down

Season 3: 91 The Coming Storm

Season 4: 124 Left Hanging

Season 5: 174 The Great Beast

Overall: 174 The Great Beast

So the first half of season 5 does an amazing job of truely fleshing out each fear and the Vast is no exception.  The split between the two protagonists makes it clear that The Vast is not just about big things or empty space but deep existentialism and the fear of the inevitability of life.  

The Spiral

Season 1: 26 A Distortion

Season 2: 74 Fatigue

Season 3: 85 Upon the Stair

Season 4: 126 Sculptors Tool

Season 5: 177 Wonderland, tied with 187 Checking Out

Overall: 187 Checking Out

This one was difficult as Mag 177 and Mag 187 as both of them lingered in my head for literal weeks after listening to them.  In the end Mag 187 was so completely mind boggling in how it completely changed my perception of the Distortion.  And is a masterclass in writing a character twist.  

The End

Season 1: 29 Cheating Death

Season 2: 70 Book of the Dead

Season 3: 94 Dead Woman Walking

Season 4: 155 The Cost of Living

Season 5: 168 Roots

Overall: 168 Roots

I have quite literally experienced some version of what the victims are describing.  But more than that the realisation of the implications of this domain for the world as it elevates the episode much higher than any of the Ends other appearances as eventually the other entities will fear the End just as the mortals do.  

The Flesh

Season 1: 14 Piecemeal

Season 2: 58 Trail Rations

Season 3: 90 Body Builder

Season 4: 131 Flesh

Season 5: 171 The Gardener

Overall: 171 The Gardener

Everything about Mag 171 just speaks to me.  From the visual it conjures, to the brilliant use of botany metaphor to describe various body image issues, to Jared’s simple but weighty request.  This episode lives rent free in my brain at all times.  This is the first time that I have zero contenders for my favorite of an entity.  

The Corruption

Season 1: 32 Hive

Season 2: 68 The Tale of a Field Hospital

Season 3: 102 Nesting Instinct

Season 4: 153 Love Bombing

Season 5: 164 The Sick Village

Overall: 32 Hive

Although Mag 164 does have a very particular place in my heart and in the history of literature due to its topic and the precise time it came out, but it does pale compared to just how brilliant Mag 32 is.   As the first real mention of the entities it reveals just little enough to keep the suspense whilst providing just enough answers that it's obvious in hindsight.  But once more none of that matters in the face of “There is a wasps nest in my attic” the shere delivery of this episode has placed it in many people's favourite lists.  

The Slaughter

Season 1: 7 The Piper

Season 2: 42 Grifter’s Bone

Season 3: 105 Total War

Season 4: 125 Civilian Casualties

Season 5: 163 In the Trenches 

Overall: 42 Grifter’s Bone

Mag 42 is very interesting.  I’ve mentioned in some of my other posts that Im pretty sure that Jonny Sims finds some fears harder to write and the Slaughter is definitely one of them but I’ve only come to this conclusion by looking at how frequently they show up but listening to the show you would never be able to tell and Mag 42 is one brilliant example of this it is a brilliant way to expand on how the Slaughter manifests.  

The Desolation

Season 1: 37 Burnt Offering

Season 2: 67 Burning Desire

Season 3: 89 Twice as Bright

Season 4: 139 Chosen

Season 5: 169 Fire Escape

Overall: 67 Burning Desire

I find Mag 67 so intensely interesting as it leads into one of the major themes of Tma, that love can and will defeat and overpower even the most gripping fear.  The simple love of a simple man sowed just enough doubt to destroy an avatar of destruction.  Tma is filled with similar moments but personally this one is my favourite.  

The Dark

Season 1: 25 Growing Dark

Season 2: 63 The End of the Tunnel

Season 3: 86 Tucked In

Season 4: 143 The Heart of Darkness

Season 5: 173 Night Night

Overall: 173 Night Night

I remember the reaction to Mag 173.  It was so incredibly powerful to watch most of the fanbase (myself included) react in exactly the same way the characters did to the reality of this domain.  First with dawning realisation, then anger followed sudden confusion at where to direct that anger.  It was quite eye opening to say the least.  

The Hunt

Season 1: 10 Vampire Killer, with notable mention to 31 First Hunt

Season 2: 56 Children of the Night

Season 3: 112 Thrill of the Chase

Season 4: 133 Dead Horse

Season 5: 176 Blood Ties

Overall: 112 Thrill of the Chase

I absolutely love Mag 112.  It is such a brilliant idea, and as a result I end up valuing it a bit more than Mag 133 or 10 which are particularly telling for me as it proves that the Hunt is weirdly the fairest of the entities and absolutely condones fighting back and even killing its avatars or that it just cares about the circular nature of the hunt.  

The Eye

Season 1: 23 Schwartzwald

Season 2: 53 Crusader

Season 3: 82 The Eyewitnesses

Season 4: 138 The Architecture of Fear

Season 5: 183 The Monument

Overall: 138 The Architecture of Fear

Oh Smirke.  Poor naive and enlightened Smirke.  I love Mag 138 more than the other Eye related episodes because it is due to this character that we even have a metric through which to observe the world of tma

The Lonely

Season 1: 33 Boatswain’s Call

Season 2: 48 lost in the Crowd

Season 3: 92 Nothing Besides Remains

Season 4: 159 The Last

Season 5: 170 Recollection

Overall: 170 Recollection

Covid lockdown hit me quite hard and I have not seen a single piece of media that captures the feeling of having hours and days drift into each other quite like Mag 170 so along with Mag 164 it has a very strange place in my heart.  

The Extinction

So this one is a bit of a different situation so im gonna simply list my top five in order

175 Epoch

149 Concrete Jungle

65 Binary

157 Rotten Core

156 Reflection

Mag 175 is another example of a statement that my mind will drift to if I leave it alone for too long.  From the vivid visuals to the subtext of the descriptions to the delivery of every line it is easily one of the best episodes of Tma in my personal opinion.