#Universe X Omnibus

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

A TRIBUTE TO KUROSAWA'S GREATEST MASTERWORK -- FROM THE WORLD OF "EARTH X."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on a double-page spread of the Seven Silver Samurai, loyal protectors/defenders of the Land of the Rising Sun, from "UNIVERSE X" Omnibus Vol. 1 #1. June, 2001. Marvel Comics.

"Lord Sunfire's father, the original Sunfire and sometime member of the X-MEN, was assassinated shortly after the death of the Avengers, but the newly-created pact between those who became keepers of the pieces of Creel lived on.

To guarantee that an assassination attempt like this would never happen again, Tony Stark created the Seven Silver Samurai to help the heir of the eastern Orient bring peace to his feuding lands.

Sunfire has since wondered if these seven heroes might not be prototypes of the Iron Avengers, who serve a similar purpose in America.

Lord Sunfire's robot bodyguards are now the extended will of their master, Sunfire."

-- MACHINE MAN (X-51), story/script by Jim Krueger & Alex Ross

Source: Facebook (an old post of mine, repurposed for Tumblr).

[starwarsbookclub]

Star Wars Omnibus: X-Wing Rogue Squadron Volume 1 | pages 5 & 292 Dark Horse Comics | Michael A. Stackpole; Peet Janes; Dave Nestelle

[rei-ismyname]

Summers Protocols

I know I'm not alone on this - I could read an entire Guide to the Marvel Universe Omnibus-type collection of Summers Protocols for every conceivable threat in existence, especially if it's written by someone with as much wit and attention to detail as Kieron Gillen. Al Ewing would be perfect, his lore knowledge is 👌👌👌.

The footnotes full of Easter eggs and dry humour, the implications behind the two listed appendices especially the 05 references and his groupings of different types of assets and threats (I wonder if the appropriate Mutants are aware they're grouped as ANGELS and ICEMEN? It'd make commanding large groups much easier.) The Xavier files (Chuck's protocols for taking down each of the X-Men) were only scandalous at the time because he was so secretive about it - this is much more impressive and almost certainly has a section of similar content. After all, superbeings get mind controlled, mesmerized, bodyjacked etc quite frequently. It'd be foolish not to.

I think it captures Scott's personality well too. Maybe there's a fic out there that explores the concept. There's been dull small scope releases in a broadly similar sphere - a SHIELD file and threat assessment on each of the 198 written by Val fucking Cooper comes to mind, but that was dry and humourless as shown above. Maybe that ship has sailed - Krakoa was the time to do it. Scott still definitely has files like this, but the collaboration and stakes that comes with being Captain Commander of a nation would be both framing device and source of drama/humor.

[fyrebendyr]

folks, i did it

a 316 page (158 printed front and back) omnibus of x-men lore. i compiled numerous sources, both fan sites and official pages, to put all of the information in one place. i have separate categories, all organized. these include:

x-men main timelines/universes

x-men team rosters/generations

x-verse family trees

x-verse alien races

important objects in the x-verse

important places in the x-verse

explanation of the mutant power levels

(yes i have gotten tested for autism)

[siflshonen]

The Greatest Robot on Earth: Astro Boy and Pluto Part II

Part I is here. This side-by-side continues in part III here, or you can read the whole thing on Ao3.

Side-by-Side Comparisons

“The Greatest Robot on Earth” and Pluto

The best place to start in comparing these series is their summaries. This summary for “The Greatest Robot on Earth” comes from the 2002 Dark Horse release: 

“In the novel-length "The Greatest Robot on Earth," a wealthy sultan creates a giant robot to become the ruler of all other robots on Earth. But in order for that to happen, he must defeat the seven most powerful robots in the world, including Astro Boy, who must have his horsepower raised from 100,000 to 1,000,000 to face the challenge! And his sister, Uran, also flies in to lend a helping hand!”

Well, besides the fact that Uran doesn’t actually fly, I suppose that’s true enough. Gotta love marketing copy.

And here is Viz’s summary for Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, vol. 1: 

“In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case - and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets.”

An ideal world, eh? Well, I’m all about subverting surface appearances, so I like it. Anyway, right off the bat, we can tell that these two series aren’t the same genre, aren’t using the same principal characters, and aren’t concerned with the same stakes. They seem to only have one thing in common: the word “robot”.

The following pages for “The Greatest Robot on Earth” are from the Dark Horse Omnibus. In most cases, I have used pages from Viz’s Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka, but there are a few pages from the fan scans. Why? Because I own the physical manga, didn’t want to pay for all the volumes again in a digital version, and realized that the images in the fan scans were cleaner and bigger than most of the ones I could get from cracking the spine of my books and mooshing them on the scanner.

Pluto at Its Most Faithful

Mont Blanc died first in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and in Pluto he fares no differently. Of course, in true dramatic Urasawa fashion, Pluto chooses to begin with the fiery discovery of Mont Blanc’s head tucked within his killer’s calling card to establish the mystery and suspense of this work rather than start with a quaint lumberjacking-scene-turned-robot-fight like the original.

Urasawa and Nagasaki’s choice to include human victims in Pluto also immediately raises the stakes in a way that “The Greatest Robot on Earth” never did or would. It also immediately changes the type of exploration within the world that the series would do, given that the robots of the extended Astro Boy universe are believed to follow Asimov’s Laws.

Greece’s Hercules, spelled Heracles in Pluto’s English translation, is a straightforward warrior-type in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and he sasses the crap out of Epsilon when he shows up to speak with him just as he does in Pluto. He then gets trounced by Pluto after a drawn-out fight. 

In Pluto, Hercules still fits the original warrior archetype, but with the addition of his very own character arc! His rivalry and friendship with Brando is new and refreshing, and his blooming respect for Epsilon pairs nicely with his own discovery of his humanity and personal beliefs as it relates to combat, war, and victory.

They called him the god of victory, after all, not necessarily bloodshed. He may have lost his fight with Pluto, but he went down believing he won and with a newfound appreciation for life and the bravery it requires to not fight. His manager Al Haft(a) is an easter egg character.

In real life, Greece participated in the Gulf War, but disagreed with the 2003 Iraq War and did not participate. Meanwhile, Australia participated with the goal of growing closer to the USA. In Pluto, these stances were swapped in their representative robots.

Personally, I think Epsilon (sometimes called Photar in the Astro Boy anime adaptation dubs) is the most surprising figure in these page comparisons if only because he didn’t actually change that much between works. Instead, it is Wassily who exploded onto the Pluto scene with his very own expanded story and Bora trauma. Yes, the disembodied hands scene is in both.

Pluto’s Epsilon looks just like Monster’s Johan, which is funny—Urasawa seems to use Tezuka’s Star System method across his works. In English, Johan and Epsilon are voiced by the same guy, too.

Speaking of, Bora is native to “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and he is still a bomb. In “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, his creator takes the time to tell the sultan that he created him just to beat Pluto and, by extension, the sultan. In Pluto, Bora’s existence and purpose is to exact vengeance on a broader scale.

Uran’s changes between series are actually really straightforward. In the postscript of the physical Pluto manga’s volume 6, essayist and critic Gorot Yamada laments the fact that Urasawa avoided the “ero-kawaii” of Uran confronting Pluto in nothing but Atom’s briefs and calls it a “minor weakness” since it is representative of Urasawa’s relatively gentler hand in showing “cruelty or eroticism” when compared to Tezuka.

I can’t begin to tell you how funny I think this criticism is, although I do believe that Urasawa does have, overall, gentler sensibilities than Tezuka. But still. I don’t think we’re missing much by keeping Uran in her clothes. She’s still a snot, she’s still a braggart, she’s still good-hearted, and she still makes her big brother look like a square and a stick-in-the-mud. Writing precocious little girls and sweet stories of unlikely bonding moments are a few of Urasawa’s specialties, so I don’t find it surprising that he took the Uran by the hair-horns and maximized her existing character traits.

Spiritually, she feels consistent to me, though her basic actions are decidedly different: Pluto’s Uran doesn’t fight or try to fight Pluto, doesn’t want Atom to fight Pluto at any point, doesn’t ever hate Pluto, and has empathy-based powers (separate from that, she may just be smarter and more emotionally intelligent than the original Uran). 

However, the sequences in the park and the underpasses where she befriends Pluto strongly resemble Uran’s near-naked adventures in the streets of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and that’s fun.

Abullah is where things get spicy, and that’s mostly because the only real change to his character was the addition of his human backstory and discovery of hatred. In Pluto, he is Tenma and Abullah’s science project who believes he is a human scientist (which he isn’t), but he’s actually also got a split personality! That’s a lot. There’s just so much going on with that. But still, where Pluto’s twist falls on the scale of wild twist bullshittery lessens considerably once you know how this character is portrayed in the original, I feel.

In “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, Abullah is a robot butler disguised as a scientist disguised as another scientist. Not to pooh-pooh the original’s Scooby-Doo antics, but, by comparison, Pluto’s reveal is actually quite nice, logical, and thematically consistent. It also gives Tenma a chance to look cool and not just pathetic.

Professor Ochanomizu is the best character. Don’t argue with me. In Astro Boy, he has a big heart and a big temper to match, and he gets knocked around more than Wile E. Coyote in a Looney Tunes segment. He spends most of “The Greatest Robot on Earth” being kidnapped and hanging out with the sultan, but Pluto spreads the wealth by letting the other roboticists be the damsel in distress throughout the plot.

In Pluto, he’s mostly characterized by doing kindly old man shit (do you recognize that robot dog and how it definitely influenced Ochanomizu’s design for Bobby?), but it is absolutely the kind of stuff the original Hiroshi Ochanomizu would do. He gets treated with more on-screen respect in Pluto than in Astro Boy, but only because he isn’t as cartoony. The animation team made damn sure to have the physics of his stomach work not like those of an innocent-at-heart anime girl’s titties when he’s enthusiastically running to the next big important thing, and that’s exactly the right spirit for a creator to have towards this character. A+ job, M2.

Also, in the manga only, Ochanomizu is the facilitator for the single most entertaining referential gag in all of Urasawa’s works: the police dog car diagram. This was cut in the anime.

In the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 5, manga critic and lecturer Tomohiko Murakami observes that “Urasawa’s depictions of Professor Tenma and Professor Ochanomizu almost appear to be [his] perspective on two different aspects of Osamu Tezuka’s character.” I don’t necessarily disagree, especially given the commentary Tezuka gave regarding Atom’s status as a “monster”, but I think that Ochanomizu and Tenma also more generally represent the “dark” and “light” side of progress and science. This is likely what Tezuka intended for them, too, back when he was writing the series.

But Tenma is just a hot mess. For the duration of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, he was more or less emotionally stable up until the “death” of Atom (and guess what? He totally enabled Atom’s increase in strength to 1,000,000, despite Ochanomizu constantly advising Atom not to do), though his general moodiness and instability is a defining character trait for much of the series. He gets better over time, but make no mistake: he is an eccentric, reclusive, and vain disaster man.

In Pluto, Urasawa lets Tenma’s disaster qualities shine alongside his signature ego, moodiness, cynicism, and destructive tendencies. This man self-sabotages like it’s his job. He also flings his creations around willy-nilly and never thinks about the consequences, and that’s why he has a hand in a significant number of the most harmful and destructive events in the extended Astro Boy universe somehow, including in Pluto.

Tenma’s rejection of Atom at the dinner table in Pluto is way classier than his breakdowns in the original Astro Boy manga, but I liked the gravitas of the scene and the over-the-top vibe of the fancy dinner in the sunset. Tenma’s portrayals throughout different series run the gamut from “frenetic cartoon maniac” to “vanilla un-stellar dad” to “Phantom of the Opera”, and this is a nice lean towards the latter end of the scale.

His constant contest over ownership of Atom/influence over Atom with the Ministry of Science (and specifically one Hiroshi Ochanomizu) extends beyond “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, though, and I think elements of their more direct conflicts are very present throughout Pluto. I love an old man fight, and it seems Urasawa does, too.

But goddamn is it satisfying to see Ochanomizu tell Tenma to shove it where the sun don’t shine.

Apparently, their dynamic is so popular that it inspired a completely new series set in the alternate universe where they not only go to college together, but are best friends. If you want something fluffier than Pluto where the old men aren’t old, go read Atom: The Beginning, I guess.

And, like, sure. This is all great. But sans the extended old man drama, many of these side-by-sides have been pretty faithful to “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and that is NOT what Makoto Tezka asked for.

Pluto as a Remix of Astro Boy

North No. 2, called Monar in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, is generally the same robot as in his original portrayal, but instead of just going to fight Pluto, he stars alongside new character Paul Duncan in a brand new story about pianos and music and being blind and growing past trauma to accept others into the heart. Tezuka’s Kuroo Hazama (Black Jack) was even there in Paul Duncan’s memories. It had everything: crying old people and kids, medical drama, orphan trauma, mama trauma, prostitution implications, castles, the emptiness of fame and fortune, singing, an android dreaming of more than just electric sheep, long monologues, and an emotional goodbye where one character stares longingly (even if he can’t actually see anything) at the other knowing they shall never return.

I’ll just say it: Turkey’s Brando is a total red shirt in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”. Meanwhile, Urasawa gave him a family, a love of Turkish drinking culture, a friendship and rivalry with Hercules, and a penchant to dabble in illogical forces like luck, and a classic tearjerker death. Urasawa gave him the world. 

In the anime, Brando is among my favorites. Y’all can swoon over your twink Epsilon or whatever, but it’s Brando over randos for me!

Chochi Chochi Ababa transformed into Saddam Hussein—er, Pluto’s King Darius XIV. One is a cartoon villain who provides an opportunity to learn a basic moral lesson, and the other is a motherfucking war criminal. I think that's a sufficiently mature new twist on an old concept.

Of all the characters present in Pluto, Atom himself is likely the one that gave Urasawa and Nagasaki the most grief, if only because he is the one and only Astro Boy, hero of justice, and if his portrayal wasn’t popular, they’d probably be sent to manga hell forever.

For me personally, one of the most gratifying details regarding his portrayal is how quickly he will lie while maintaining the lie that robots can’t and don’t lie. This line of thinking, as well as the implication that Atom follows Asimov’s Laws more because he wants to, not because he has to follow his programming, is something that became more and more apparent the longer the original Astro Boy ran even if none of the other characters directly said anything about it. Speaking as a fan, I also think it’s nice that Urasawa makes the most of upholding Atom’s observed personality traits throughout adaptations. That he made Atom a deeply curative flavor of an insect kid is a grounded, but nice touch.

(It may also be worth noting that Osamu Tezuka had a known fascination with insects. The “Mushi” in Mushi Productions means “insect”. I don’t know how intentional that was, but it seems Pluto’s Atom may have been intended as a chip off the ol’ Tezuka block whether he was his “monster” or not.)

But as lovely and detailed as Urasawa’s embellishments on these characters is, this is still not what Makoto Tezka asked of him. So far, these characters are strikingly similar to the existing “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and apparently, if Tezka’s interview in the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 2 is to be believed, he told Urasawa multiple times to keep revising until he made it his own! It seems Atom really became Urasawa’s monster, too!

[spidermannotes]

Two Massive DC/Marvel Omnibuses Coming this Summer

Covering around 25 years of DC/Marvel crossovers, the two comic book giants are giving fans young and old the chance to appreciate classic characters together in memorable tales.

Press release:

The vast and varied history of DC versus Marvel returns to print for the first time in decades with two massive volumes collecting the universe-bending comic book crossovers between the greatest characters in pop culture! These fantastic stories, originally co-presented by the two powerhouse comic book publishers, have been highly sought after and hard to find for most readers—but they’re making their return in DC Versus Marvel Omnibus and DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus,both publishing on August 6, 2024.

Who would win: Superman versus Spider-Man? Batman versus Captain America? The X-Men meeting the Teen Titans? DC Versus Marvel Omnibus collects crossovers between the core DC and Marvel characters, from 1976’s Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man to 2000’s Batman/Daredevil. Included are stories from some of comics’ most revered talents, namely Dennis O’Neil, George Pérez, Dan Jurgens, Chris Claremont, Walter Simonson, J.M. DeMatteis, Mark Bagley, Gerry Conway, John Romita Jr., and more. DC and Marvel fans alike can’t miss these thrilling pieces of unearthed comic book history!

DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus features stories, first told in 1996, of the two superhero universes fused together into a new Amalgam Universe, combining DC’s and Marvel’s heroes, villains, and mythologies. The result was a series of unforgettable one-shot comic books starring the likes of Dark Claw (Batman and Wolverine), Super Soldier (Superman and Captain America), Iron Lantern (Iron Man and Green Lantern), and many more! These stories, from creators such as Peter David, Dan Jurgens, Mark Waid, Dave Gibbons, Ron Marz, José Luis García-López, Gary Frank, Bill Sienkiewicz, Claudio Castellini, and more, represent one of the most fun and unlikely periods in comic book history, and now are available in one omnibus. Included in this volume are the historic DC Versus Marvel miniseries and its sequels, perfect for fans of both DC and Marvel!

DC Versus Marvel Omnibus collects Batman/Captain America #1, Batman/Daredevil #1, Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire #1, Batman/Spider-Man #1, Daredevil/Batman #1, DC Special Series #27, Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger #1, Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances #1, Incredible Hulk vs. Superman #1, Marvel and DC Present Featuring the Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans #1, Marvel Treasury Edition #28, Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights #1, Silver Surfer/Superman #1, Spider-Man and Batman #1, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man #1, and Superman/Fantastic Four #1.

DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus collects DC Versus Marvel #1-4, DC/Marvel: All Access #1-4, Unlimited Access #1-4, Bat-Thing #1, Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, Bullets and Bracelets #1, Challengers of the Fantastic #1, Doctor Strangefate #1, Iron Lantern #1, Legends of the Dark Claw #1, Lobo the Duck #1, Speed Demon #1, Spider-Boy #1, Super Soldier #1, Thorion of the New Asgods #1, X-Patrol #1, and more, plus a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes material.

DC Versus Marvel Omnibus (9781779523259) and DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus (9781779523266) will both be published on August 6. The two volumes will each have a direct-market-exclusive cover available only in local comic book shops, while supplies last.

[gorogues]

Spoilers for comics in April!

These are from the official solicits for that month, which you can see in full at Adventures In Poor Taste.

SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL ARKHAM ASYLUM #4 Written by JOHN LAYMAN Art by JESÚS HERVÁS Cover by DAN PANOSIAN Variant cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI Variant cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA $4.99 US | 32 pages | 4 of 5 | Variant $5.99 US (card stock) ON SALE 5/7/24 It takes more than a boomerang to survive a riot at Arkham Asylum, and all its super-powered rioters. This in particular sucks if a boomerang is your weapon of choice, and your name is Captain Boomerang. So, to survive you join up with some allies. But be careful who you join with, because nobody is to be trusted, and your allies just might be worse than your enemies. Presenting the most brain-bending, backstabbing, boomeranging-est episode yet of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League! Each print issue includes a redeemable code for a bonus weapon doll digital token in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League inspired by the comics. Get the new Mad Hatter weapon doll digital token with issue #4. Paying subscribers with a DC Universe Infinite Annual or Ultra subscription (U.S. only) who read the digital issues of Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum will also receive these bonus digital codes.* *Terms Apply. See dc.com/suicide-squad-faq for details. DC UNIVERSE INFINITE is not intended for children.

Ah Digger, never change.

This next book reprints some Webtoons strips, which has a new Mirror Master.

RED HOOD: OUTLAWS VOLUME TWO Written by PATRICK R. YOUNG Art by NICO BASCUÑÁN, JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ VÉJARES, and SEBASTIÁN FRANCHINI Cover by VASCO GEORGIEV $14.99 US | 208 pages | Softcover | 6″ x 9″ | ISBN: 978-1-77952-689-2 ON SALE 7/2/24 Jason Todd, Bizarro, and Artemis know what it means to play second fiddle to the Justice League…but now, that is even more the case as they’ve been contracted into work-for-hire duty by none other than Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. All aboard the Watchtower as the new Outlaws tackle a meddling Medusa and take a trip to the Mirror Dimension to face Mirror Master himself (along with some other Bizarro versions of our great trio). Can the Outlaws handle the twisted reflections of themselves? Or will they succumb to pressure from all (literal) angles?! Collecting episodes 12-22 of WEBTOON’s smash-hit series, optimized for a brand-new reading experience in print. Your new favorite series continues!

And we're finally getting a William Messner-Loebs Omnibus! For those not familiar with it, this (partially) covers the run which introduced Hartley's reform and coming out. However, this particular volume won't contain the coming out issue; that'll probably be in the next one.

THE FLASH BY WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS AND GREG LaROCQUE OMNIBUS VOL. 1 Written by WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS and MIKE BARON Art by GREG LaROCQUE, BUTCH GUICE, and others Cover by GREG LaROCQUE $125.00 US | 986 pages | 7 1/16″ x 10 7/8″ | Hardcover | ISBN: 978-1-77952-581-9 ON SALE 6/18/24 Following the death of Barry Allen, Wally West will don the red suit and become the new Fastest Man Alive. Kid Flash no more, Wally must pave his own path forward and live up to the legacy of the man who saved the universe. Collects The Flash #1-28, The Flash Annual #1-3, Manhunter #8-9, Secret Origins Annual #2, and pages from Invasion! #2-3, featuring over a dozen never-before-collected issues.

[usagirotten]

Marvel Comics Celebrates Godzilla’s 70th Anniversary with “Godzilla: The Original Marvel Years

In a monumental celebration of Godzilla’s 70th anniversary, Marvel Comics has announced the release of “Godzilla: The Original Marvel Years,” a hardcover omnibus that brings together the classic 1977-1979 series. This special edition, created in collaboration with Toho International, marks the first time these iconic comics are available in full color. The omnibus features all 24 issues of the original series, penned by Doug Moench and illustrated by Herb Trimpe and Tom Sutton. Fans can look forward to seeing Godzilla clash with some of Marvel’s most beloved superheroes, including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers12. A Legendary Collaboration Marvel’s partnership with Toho International has allowed for a unique blend of American comic book storytelling and Japanese kaiju culture. The series originally ran from 1977 to 1979, during which Godzilla became a significant figure in the Marvel Universe, battling both heroes and villains alike3. Exclusive Content and Artwork The hardcover edition is adorned with a stunning cover by Junggeun Yoon, capturing the essence of Godzilla’s might and the vibrant energy of the Marvel Universe4. This collection not only revisits the past but also includes new variant covers featuring Godzilla in epic scenes with Marvel characters like the X-Men, Deadpool, and Venom2. A Must-Have for Fans “Godzilla: The Original Marvel Years” is a must-have for both Godzilla enthusiasts and Marvel fans. It offers a nostalgic journey through the golden age of comics while celebrating the enduring legacy of the King of Monsters. The omnibus is set to hit shelves in October 2024, just in time for Godzilla’s milestone anniversary5. Marvel’s tribute to Godzilla’s 70th anniversary is a testament to the kaiju’s lasting impact on pop culture and its ability to transcend genres and generations. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to the world of Godzilla, this collection promises to be an exciting addition to your library.  

Godzilla rises from the depths in the United States—and the Marvel Universe! See the towering scourge of Tokyo march across America and battle some of the best and brightest the House of Ideas had to offer, including the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Champions, Nick Fury and the mechanized monster fighter, Red Ronin!”   Read the full article

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Weeks in Review (July 16-29, 2023)

Legendary announced a pair of Monsterverse comics during a panel at San Diego Comic Con. They've said nothing further since, and no one posted the panel online, so I have less to tell you than I'd like. Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted is the obligatory prequel comic for the film. From the pages they showed off, it looks like Zid has art duties again (well-deserved) and the monsters that Kong is fighting could be the "swamp kitt[ies]" cut from Godzilla vs. Kong. Release date is February 27. Monsterverse Declassified is going to spotlight some of the series' original monsters, with the previews showing Behemoth, Amhuluk, and Tiamat. (Supposedly Scylla, Doug, and the previously-unseen Abaddon will be in it too.)

Toho is finally letting Togen's 4K scans of some of its Godzilla films out of satellite TV jail as tie-ins to Godzilla Minus One. Godzilla (1954) and Mothra vs. Godzilla are coming to 4K Ultra HD on October 25, with Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, and Destroy All Monsters on November 22 and Godzilla vs. Hedorah and Godzilla vs. Biollante. Expect them to be as English-unfriendly as Toho's other releases - but a vague promise of "unused special effects footage", combined with some very crisp-looking photos in a recent book, means there's a chance the Frontier Missile sequence from Godzilla vs. The Thing will be included with Mothra vs. Godzilla. That'd be a godsend, considering how elusive an uncropped, uncut, high-quality version of the scene has proven to be.

These releases will easily be the best Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, Astro-Monster, and Biollante have ever looked on home video. But with Togen shutting down, it's unclear when the rest of the pre-Shin films in the series will get upgrades. (It's also unclear when Toho will permit anyone outside Japan to use these versions for streaming or home video.) So this announcement feels bittersweet to me.

We have a release date for GAMERA -Rebirth- (September 7), a second trailer, and a reveal for the final monster: Viras! As @starestream pointed out, there's a lot of Legion in that design (along with Iris in Zigra). And as Maser Patrol pointed out, this is the same enemy kaiju lineup that Trendmasters chose for its toyline back in 1998. Poor Barugon, no one wants to taste the rainbow (and it probably hurts that he's so visually similar to Jiger too). To be honest, this trailer didn't do much for me; a bit too chaotic. Hopefully it'll be easier to tell what's happening in the show proper.

Bandai, of course, has readied Movie Monster Series figures of Viras, Zigra, and Guiron already. We're also getting a prequel manga set 100,000 years before the show.

Decades after his rampage through the Marvel Universe, Godzilla is barging into the world of DC (where he'll finally meet Batman). Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong is a seven-issue limited series launching October 17, written by Brian Buccellato (who also penned the short "Fight or Flight" comic that will be included in Legends of the Monsterverse: The Omnibus later this year) with art by Christian Duce. The inciting incident is a battle between the Justice League and the Legion of Doom, which tears a hole in reality to let the Monsterverse through.

I'll confess, I was more jazzed for last year's Power Rangers crossover, thanks to the tokusatsu link. This could just be more of Warner Bros. Discovery bashing its toys together. I'm most curious to see if the Legion of Doom makes a bid to conquer the Monsterverse, which with Godzilla and Kong out of the picture is far less prepared for them than the DC universe is for a couple of giant monsters. Superman beats them all, as Ken Yano once said.

Hiya is stepping further out of S.H.Monsterarts' shadow with a figure of the female MUTO, a character long neglected by toymakers. They showed her off at San Diego Comic Con. Playmates meanwhile releases an ad for Titan Tech Rodan - I'm glad they're not giving up on this delightful subline.

Summer Smash concludes IDW's middle-grade Monsters and Protectors storyline, which has spanned the entirety of their second go-round with Godzilla. You can tell it was supposed to be another miniseries; Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, and Mothra send Mecha-King Ghidorah and the Xiliens packing pretty quickly. Art's still great though.

Godzilla Rivals will persist into October with Vs. Mechagodzilla, the magnificent machine being the last of the Toho's Big Five to headline one of these comics. The intriguing logline:

IS YOUR CITY BESIEGED BY KAIJU? DO YOU LIE AWAKE AT NIGHT ANXIOUSLY LISTENING FOR THE MONSTER SIRENS? HAVE YOU HAD ALL YOU CAN TAKE OF GIANT LIZARDS, MOTHS, PTERODACTYLS, AND SHRIMP? THEN CALL TRACER TECH TODAY! OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART ANTI-KAIJU TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED DOZENS OF CITIES AROUND THE WORLD TO FEND OFF THE THREAT OF MONSTER ATTACK. San Palomar, California. It’s a sleepy city with not much going on. That is, until Tracer Tech built their new corporate headquarters there, displacing lifelong citizens and forcing out local businesses. But what is the source of Tracer’s amazing, almost alien technology, and why has it put San Palomar in Godzilla’s sights? And what can a couple of local kids like Alex and Jaz do to protect their city when the King of the Monsters and its robot doppelgänger clash?

SRS Cinema has opened preorders for The Whale God, revealing this cover art by Bob Eggleton. Special features aren't anything spectacular (they're vaguely described, but I think a couple of essays are included, plus the obligatory trailers). Should be out by the end of the year.

The disc replacement program for Cleopatra Entertainment's misbegotten Shin Ultraman releases has resulted in an only marginally better product. The opening montage has subtitles now... but like the rest of the movie, they're just copied from the English dub. Dubtitles in 2023... and for a film that already has a perfectly good official English translation, no less. Oh, and they threw in some new visual glitches too. If your local library picks up a copy, I recommend telling them about the disc replacement program (as I've done), but don't give these clowns your money.

[batmannotes]

Two Massive DC/Marvel Omnibuses Coming this Summer

Covering around 25 years of DC/Marvel crossovers, the two comic book giants are giving fans young and old the chance to appreciate classic characters together in memorable tales.

Here is the official press release:

The vast and varied history of DC versus Marvel returns to print for the first time in decades with two massive volumes collecting the universe-bending comic book crossovers between the greatest characters in pop culture! These fantastic stories, originally co-presented by the two powerhouse comic book publishers, have been highly sought after and hard to find for most readers—but they’re making their return in DC Versus Marvel Omnibus and DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus,both publishing on August 6, 2024.

Who would win: Superman versus Spider-Man? Batman versus Captain America? The X-Men meeting the Teen Titans? DC Versus Marvel Omnibus collects crossovers between the core DC and Marvel characters, from 1976’s Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man to 2000’s Batman/Daredevil. Included are stories from some of comics’ most revered talents, namely Dennis O’Neil, George Pérez, Dan Jurgens, Chris Claremont, Walter Simonson, J.M. DeMatteis, Mark Bagley, Gerry Conway, John Romita Jr., and more. DC and Marvel fans alike can’t miss these thrilling pieces of unearthed comic book history!

DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus features stories, first told in 1996, of the two superhero universes fused together into a new Amalgam Universe, combining DC’s and Marvel’s heroes, villains, and mythologies. The result was a series of unforgettable one-shot comic books starring the likes of Dark Claw (Batman and Wolverine), Super Soldier (Superman and Captain America), Iron Lantern (Iron Man and Green Lantern), and many more! These stories, from creators such as Peter David, Dan Jurgens, Mark Waid, Dave Gibbons, Ron Marz, José Luis García-López, Gary Frank, Bill Sienkiewicz, Claudio Castellini, and more, represent one of the most fun and unlikely periods in comic book history, and now are available in one omnibus. Included in this volume are the historic DC Versus Marvel miniseries and its sequels, perfect for fans of both DC and Marvel!

DC Versus Marvel Omnibus collects Batman/Captain America #1, Batman/Daredevil #1, Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire #1, Batman/Spider-Man #1, Daredevil/Batman #1, DC Special Series #27, Darkseid vs. Galactus: The Hunger #1, Green Lantern/Silver Surfer: Unholy Alliances #1, Incredible Hulk vs. Superman #1, Marvel and DC Present Featuring the Uncanny X-Men and the New Teen Titans #1, Marvel Treasury Edition #28, Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights #1, Silver Surfer/Superman #1, Spider-Man and Batman #1, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man #1, and Superman/Fantastic Four #1.

DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus collects DC Versus Marvel #1-4, DC/Marvel: All Access #1-4, Unlimited Access #1-4, Bat-Thing #1, Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, Bullets and Bracelets #1, Challengers of the Fantastic #1, Doctor Strangefate #1, Iron Lantern #1, Legends of the Dark Claw #1, Lobo the Duck #1, Speed Demon #1, Spider-Boy #1, Super Soldier #1, Thorion of the New Asgods #1, X-Patrol #1, and more, plus a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes material.

DC Versus Marvel Omnibus (9781779523259) and DC/Marvel: The Amalgam Age Omnibus (9781779523266) will both be published on August 6. The two volumes will each have a direct-market-exclusive cover available only in local comic book shops, while supplies last.

[savage-kult-of-gorthaur]

THE LATE AVENGERS OF EARTH-9997.

PIC INFO: Resolution at 1482x1778 & 975x1250 -- Spotlight on penciled sketch art of the late AVENGERS (sans Captain America), all killed by the Absorbing Man, artwork and/or character designs by Alex Ross, from "Universe X Omnibus" Vol. 1. June, 2001. Marvel Comics.

OVERVIEW: "In a way, the death of the Avengers was not the fault of Crusher Creel, who after absorbing the super-computer Ultron, was able to compute the perfect solution for killing the final assembly of the World's Greatest Heroes. No. Their death, according to Captain America... was the fault of Captain America.

When Cap killed the original Red Skull, he discovered that the Super-Soldier formula that gave him and the entire Super-Soldier program powers was, in fact, part of a Nazi front. Ironically, Steve Rogers owed his abilities to his enemy. The guilt Cap felt over the Skull's death and the breaking of his moral code convinced him that he was not deserving of team membership any longer.

And so, when the Avengers tried to defend Washington D.C. from Creel, they did so without the aid of Captain America. And when they died, they did so without the Living Legend of WWII... leaving Cap, a man who no longer believed himself worthy of the title "Avenger," alone to avenge them."

-- X-51, a.k.a., MACHINE MAN (script by Jim Krueger)

Rest in Power, Earth-9997 Avengers: Giant-Man, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, Hawkeye, and Vision.

Sources: www.pinterest.com/pin/385339311848120437 & www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1176686.

[bornangelauthor]

Feeling Like a Burden Again...

TLDR: I'm feeling bad for not contributing more to my household, please go buy my books and tell your friends about them. (art and info at the end)

Long Version: To preface, there is nothing anyone has done to make me feel this way. It's just my brain being a brat.

When you're the spouse who suffers with chronic pain and a chronic illness THEN you get seriously hurt, like possible caste or surgery injury, it's hard not to feel that way.

~ I have Hashimoto's Disease (Hashimoto's thyroiditis) which is where the immune system attacks the thyroid for not doing it's job in turn causing an autoimmune disorder.

~ I have knee-cap degradation in my right knee, which I get bi-annual injections to keep from getting worse. They also keep mentioning a possible knee-cap replacement, but haven't decided to do it.

~ I also suffer from Migraines, after several concussions, which are triggered by weather, lack of sleep, stress, some headphones, perfumes, the devil's lettuce (cause I'm mildly allergic), and so many other things.

~ And to top it off, because of my thyroid (and bad genes) I have PCOS and have a cycle that is so far from normal that I must take medication to make them happen.

All of that leads me to having many "bad" days, and not as many good ones. I put on a brave face and handle all the household and author stuff as best I can, but it is a constant struggle. To combat the depression that comes from that and the sheer amount of ick that's going on in my flesh prison, I write and I create art for my writing (sometimes taking commissions). I have published 9 books with the 10th out for preorder and ARC signups too... But sales have been slim to none for the last few months, which leaves me feeling like a burden.

Why? Because my migraine meds alone (which I have to pick up tomorrow) are $90.85 USD (UPDATE: just got a text saying they'd only be $6, thank God!), on top of everything else I spend on my books (like ads, proof copies, editing, etc.) and doctor's visits ranging from $15-$50 a visit. It leaves me feeling like a leech and a burden.

Why put this out on the Internet? Because there is something you can do. If you like Urban Fantasy, Crime Noir, or Paranormal Romance Books, you can read my books. They're available through Amazon (Not KU... yet), iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Everand, Fable, Hoopla, Kobo, Libby, Overdrive, Smashwords, Tolino, & More!

Mortal Instrumets X Lucifer X Buffy X Supernatural A Brief Sum Up: The Saga:

The Born Angel Universe is an Urban Fantasy Saga about Angels and Demons who live semi-harmoniously among humans. It’s a combination of Nephilim, Angels, and other preternatural nasties that live in the mortal world and are policed by the Preternatural and Mythical Creatures agency which is run by a Council of Nephilim (these ones are called Angekæ in this AU). It consists of 2 series. The Kalista Chronicles and the Created Angel Chronicles/Novels.

The Kalista Chronicles (Left side of pic):

Follows the Daughter of the Devil and prophesied next Judge (head) of the Council as she goes from teenage outsider who just wants to make her parents proud to (eventually) Judge of the Council. She is stereotyped, mistreated, and schemed against by a Fallen Angel, someone her dad once held as a brother. This starts her journey. There are 5 books in this series, with a sixth coming in October PLUS an Omnibus titled “The Devil’s Daughter” releasing in June exclusively to KU!

The Created Angel Chronicles/Novels (Right side of pic):

This follows Angels on a quest to root out the Underworld, the preternatural Mafia, and the Triumvirate of Evil (3 corrupt angels) who run it. Each book follows a different Angel as the “torch” if you will gets passed to them. This is the Created Angel Chronicles/Novels. There are 4 books out and the 5th dropping in April, (Arc signups are open!)

I've rambled on enough, Thank you for reading, enjoy some art from the books: (All art made by me in DAZ Studio)

[b-else-writes]

The Great CLAMP Re-Read Part 3: Tokyo Babylon

Part 1 (RG Veda) | Part 2 (Man of Many Faces)| Part 4 (Duklyon) | Part 5 (Clamp Detectives)| Part 6 (Shirahime)| Part 7 (X)| Part 8 (Chunhyang) | Part 9 (Miyuki-chan)| Part 10 (Rayearth)| Part 11 (The One I Love

The CLAMP 90s series. Perhaps their greatest work ever. Tokyo Babylon ran from 1990 to 1993, concurrent with RG Veda, the CLAMP School, Shirahime, Chun-hyang, AND X. It makes you wonder how X and Tokyo Babylon shaped each other (but more on that later). Tokyo Babylon (and X) is also set in the same universe as the CLAMP School reflecting CLAMP’s early interest in crossovers. Planned out as 7 volumes, it consists of 11 big stories and 3 annexes. I read the omnibus versions which contain lots of coloured art, but the original print run is a beauty in 80s and early 90s graphic design.

While I'd never read this before, it's famous enough (two OVAs, a drama CD, and a live action movie), that I went in knowing some of the big spoilers, but not details. So while my reading was coloured by the knowledge of its tragic end, it still felt revelatory to me. It is the first CLAMP work where I think they had gotten their storytelling pinned down enough to consciously think of how to write a story that ties together on a thematic level, in every stage, and it's phenomenal. Heavy spoilers.

Synopsis: Onmyoji and thirteenth head of the Sumeragi clan, Subaru Sumeragi is called upon to solve occult mysteries in post-bubble Tokyo. It's a time of glittering lights, a rotten economy, and city populated by lonely people desperate for an answer to their problems as the millennium draws near. Joined by his fashionable twin sister Hokuto and the kindly but strangely sinister vetenarian Seishiro Sakurazuka - who is in love with him - the overly sacrificing and empathetic Subaru must solve these problems and learn how to live - but Tokyo is not a kind place, especially to those with gentle natures.

The Story: On its surface, Tokyo Babylon begins as a "case-of-the-week" style story, where Subaru has to solve an occult case and learns something. Its a deceptively simple premise that allowed for CLAMP to explore pressing social issues of their time (which still feel resonant due to the sensitive way they explored them), while also building upon Subaru's character development through this, and the suspense of Seishiro's true nature. We observe Subaru grow through his failures and learn more about the limitations of his empathy. No case feels pointless in how it develops Subaru as a person, and his relationship to Seishiro. The dread we feel about Seishiro's connection to Subaru grows that we almost believe we might just get out of this. It's just excellently plotted out.

The comedy is well-timed and CLAMP know when to pull back from it to allow the emotional aspect to come through. Every case is incredibly gripping and I even cried reading "Old". I have seen some suggest it would have been more effective to have a massive twist rather than seed Seishiro's psychopathy throughout, but I actually think this works on a thematic level, and finding out Seishiro is a murderer, the bet, and Hokuto's death, still hit like a gut punch. It's a brilliant usage of seeding information without the full context until the end. I have no complaints here. It's a poignant story of Tokyo in the early 1990s and its destructiveness, while never losing its humanity.

The Themes: Do you know why the cherry blossoms are red. Tokyo Babylon is a story about well, Tokyo. It's about how modern city living that pursues only personal gain and conformity leads to human loneliness, and loneliness is a trap that destroys us all. We can never know someone else's pain, which leads to loneliness - but to recognize that is also freeing because it means we cannot judge and be judged for it. Having empathy is good, but too much and for the wrong people and not for yourself, can only lead to death. Subaru forms his self-identity through others, in contrast to his self-actualized twin, remaining aloof and detached from his own self - this is why Seishiro's betrayal breaks him, because Subaru doesn't know how to live as his own person. It is also what causes his loved ones so much harm in how little he loves himself in comparison to others.

Its a fascinating interplay between community and individuality, the reality of modern life of trying to be someone while also needing to generalize, without ever really settling on either side. Hokuto is right that they're not the same person, but Subaru is also right that they are deeply connected, as all people must be. Where it does come down hard is that humans are not the villains but Tokyo is, in what it represents - greed, selfishness, cruelty, and apathy. "Things like this happen in Tokyo everyday". It is intensely tragic and yet, strangely, incredibly life-affirming. Despite everything Subaru suffers, people are not born and made evil and everyone should be taken for who they are, not a faceless mass. Including ourselves.

The Characters: Like the plot, everything in the characters is tied into the story of Tokyo. Seishiro is Tokyo: the slick, cool-cut well to do man in a suit with no empathy and a taste for violence. He's Subaru's mirror - charming AND connected to people, and yet not. Nobody is special in Seishiro's eyes, nobody deserves to be treated as anything but an object. And then we have Subaru, poor sweet Subaru who is so empathetic and yet so detached from the world and himself because he's so focused on only his job, on not being an individual. He is what Tokyo wants him to be, filled with self-loathing and frankly suicidal impulses that he shouldn’t be alive if others are not.

It's so tragic to watch Subaru finally grow into a person, but to do so to the one person who will hurt him. Subaru wants to to love Tokyo so badly, that it kills his sister, the one person he SHOULD have been pouring his love into, the person who could love him back and expect nothing in return, the person who would allow him love while not dissolving himself in it. And Hokuto is just a showstopper, funny, kind, witty and cool. She's Subaru's northstar, the empathy and humanity where he cannot, almost co-dependent. I love characters that reflect one another and the themes.

The Art: The visual storytelling and panelling are fantastic. Tokyo Babylon offers a sparser and more distinctly black and white look than RG Veda, with a stronger emphasis on emotional paneling that breaks into beautiful spreads. It creates an almost wood-block, timeless appeal (despite the fashion) that is neither too busy nor too simplified. Anything to do with the Bet and especially the finale is incredible. Subaru surrounded by cherry blossoms? Haunting. The fashion is impeccable, I love the bold design choices in the covers and spreads. The character designs in and of themselves are quite simple (and I don't love the seme-uke look of Seishiro and Subaru), but the personality-costuming is so well done and tell stories themselves. And the use of Hokuto and Subaru being identical to conceal the twist? Masterful character design. My only complaint is some of the scanned photo backgrounds are jarring against the lovely drawn art.

Questionable Elements: Subaru is 16 and Seishiro is 25. That being said, I do think from their interviews and the actual text, we aren't meant to ship them, and it's not unrealistic to be a teen and fall for an older person only for it to majorly fuck you up because they abuse their greater knowledge to harm you (which hey, might be a theme!). Some of the way issues are handled is dated, but not too badly. Again, I’m not going to comment on whether this is queer representation or not, since I don’t think that has ever been CLAMP’s intention. Despite the stereotypical seme and uke stuff, the relationship feels real and tangible (which is why the payoff works). My real gripe is Hokuto getting fridged, though it's handled better than expected (still. let's stop killing women to make men sad).

Overall: A beautiful tragedy and an ode to human alienation, identity, and empathy. I went into this expecting to like it, and ended it never the same. It is genuinely a fantastic, fully complete thematic work from them that speaks as a reflection of the time it was written, and yet remains resonant. I know some people find it edgy, but I actually don't think edge is its intention, it's dark and it's tragic but never misanthropic. Yes, Subaru enters the adult world broken, but his refusal to become like Seishiro and to continue to count himself amongst humanity despite everything, reaffirms that life and people have value (notwithstanding his behaviour in X).

You can see so much of their ideas crystallize here that they’ll repeat across X, Xxxholic, etc. We're all just lonely people and we hurt each other in our loneliness, and it's important to recognize that in ourselves and take care of ourselves for it. We have value as individuals AND through others. Read it!

[ao3feed-peggysouson]

Broken Crown

by JustAShark In which Baron Von Strucker is looking for people carrying the x-gene for his experiments. To his surprise, he finds that one of Hydra’s enemies, the chief of the East Coast SSR, has it. So he has a brainwashed Michael Carter- who he calls an Autumn Hunter- collect the target. The target is none other than one Jack Thompson, who has been hiding the truth of several family member’s abilities all his life. Words: 929, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 1 of And So We Fall Fandoms: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel (Comics) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Multi Characters: Jack Thompson (Marvel), Wolfgang von Strucker Relationships: Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa/Jack Thompson, Jack Thompson/Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter/Jack Thompson Additional Tags: A weird mesh of the Weapon X Omnibus novels and the MCU, Hurt No Comfort, (for now) - Freeform, Whump, Threesome - F/M/M, Post-Season/Series 02 Finale, Kidnapping, Canon-Typical Violence, for now, It gets darker as we go through the series tho, Nazis, semi canon compliant, Historical Inaccuracy, POV Jack Thompson (Marvel), Jack Thompson Needs a Hug (Marvel), Jack Thompson Lives, For the moment anyways, Struker’s mutant experiments, Bisexual Male Character, Polyamorous Character, Human Experimentation, whuch is only mentioned here but will get more explicit later on in the series, Michael Carter Shot Jack Thompson, Brainwashed Michael Carter, Mutants, Mentioned Magneto, Eugenics (I guess??), Just disturbing nazi bullshit tbh, Disturbing Themes, This was me practicing my writing. It spiraled from there I’m sorry, My First Work in This Fandom, Song: Broken Crown (Mumford & Sons), How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Possibly Unrequited Love read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57874360

[omniversecomicsguide]

Not sure how much of an impact Rom actually had on the Marvel Universe?

See the ROM READING ORDER, 1978-1994: SPACEKNIGHT OF GALADOR for his compete comics chronology, plus the parts of the MU he interacts with and the characters introduced in his series!

Featured cover art:

ROM AND THE X-MEN: MARVEL TALES #1 (2024) by Nick Bradshaw & Richard Isanove

This one-shot collects Rom #17-18, 31-32 - his interactions with the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Grab this or the freshly released Rom: The Original Marvel Years vol.1 Omnibus for more Rom reprints!

[emmym1]

If you need a timeline order reading list for Laura Kinney I have one! 😅

Hi there! So currently i'm reading through the X-23 Omnibus Vol. 1 (which collects X-23 (2005) #1-6, X-23: TARGET X #1-6, X-23 (2010A) #1, X-23 (2010B) #1-21, CAPTAIN UNIVERSE/X-23 #1 and DAKEN: DARK WOLVERINE #8-9) So that's kind of the order i'm going through right now . The omnibus does (thankfully) have some recap pages explaining what she's been up to inbetween certain runs. But i do think a timeline order reading list definitely would come in handy, especially as I'm planning to read X-23: Deadly Regenisis after being done with the omnibus as i've heard it takes place around the same timeperiod of the comics collected in the omnibus. I think it also would come in handy if I want to visit some of the other runs she appears in somewhere down the line! I think currently the plan I have in mind (subject to change) is to focus on her solo stuff first mostly (I'm planning to read Avengers Arena once i'm done with Deadly Regenisis because it follows up on both Avengers Academy and Laura's journey in the marvel comics) before venturing out to some of her appearances in other series! TL:DR: I definitely wouldn't mind a timeline order reading list for her!