#i think hes going to need something fun after the events of across the spiderverse

[gideonnavsenormousbiceps]

it's so sad that there isn't comic con in Miles' universe. Miles had unopened figurines, he would fucking love comic con.

[erigold13261]

That ask with Miles and Yinu got me thinking… how would Yinu act if she/he/they (assuming Yinu might go trans later on in life) were in Miles’ shoes? As in Vinyl City’s spider? Would Yinu even be a hero?

Now that is a good question, because in all honesty it is hard to truly know what Yinu would turn into (gonna just use she/her for now, but I am leaning towards Yinu transing later on because I really like the idea now lol. Also spoilers for Spiderverse, probably both "Into" and "Across." Most likely nothing major but still gonna reference stuff).

It all depends on how situations play out. Is Yinu bitten as a very young child and then looses her dad? Are one of her parents a spider person and passes that down to Yinu like Peter B. Parker did with Mayday? (....Mayday as in his daughter, not Mayday nsr lol). Does Yinu get powers later on but still lose her dad as a child, or does he die after she gets her powers now?

These different situations would most likely change how Yinu uses her powers.

-Loosing Papa young means she is more spoiled and protected by Mama, especially if Yinu gets her powers later on and hides them. This situation would most likely lead to Yinu using her powers a bit more selfishly. However, I can see her losing Neon J as a canon event that makes it so she uses her powers more responsibly. Like he would be the Uncle Ben moment or whatever it is called I think.

I think after loosing Neon J, or whoever is her Uncle Ben momen, would make her a much better hero, but she might also be selfish at times. Maybe a bit more of an antihero? A vigilante more so? Something along those lines.

-Loosing Papa young but having inherited her powers means that Mama already knows of the powers so there is no need for Yinu to hide them. I personally like the idea of Papa giving Yinu her powers because the idea of a silent spider in the night is fun, so that would mean Mama has to somehow teach Yinu how to control her powers without actively being able to show her how.

I think this situation would lead to something more like the Incredibles/Frozen, where Mama is so scared of losing Yinu from her being a superhero that she scares Yinu into not using her powers and staying out of the public light. Probably making Yinu not trust her own abilities in the process just to keep Yinu from wanting to be a hero. It's selfish and manipulative, but Mama wants Yinu alive and safe, and Yinu being young would think this is normal and not use her powers at all, or at least not in public. I doubt she would become a hero because she would be told that things happen for a reason and she should just let them play out.

I think at some point she would figure out this isn't true and she should be helping people, which causes a fight/screaming match between Mama and Yinu, because if Yinu does the whole secret identity thing, Mama will be able to figure it out easily.

-Loosing Papa later in life and getting bit would mean that Yinu is a lot less spoiled and selfish. Like, she is still probably a rich kid, having both her parents be famous musicians, but she is also taught how to be kind and care for others. And even has both parents to lead in example for her. Loosing Papa would be her Uncle Ben canon moment thing, and this is probably the closest to Miles' situation that we will get for Yinu. She would be a hero I think in this situation.

-Loosing Papa later in life and also having inherited his powers would mean Yinu would have been taught how to be a good spider person and how to use her powers responsibly. She would definitely be a hero in this version, and a very selfless one at that. Even more selfless than the one that's closest to Miles' situation.

Honestly, she might not even loose Papa in this situation (or any situation where she inherits her powers) because wouldn't that mean Papa is in Peter's/Miles' shoes and not Yinu? Yinu would be in Mayday Parker's shoes and I don't know if she has an Uncle Ben canon moment like OG Spider people do. Papa might also be healthier as a spider person compared to his OG self (doesn't mean he won't loose in a battle and die though, which I think in this case would also be a situation close to Miles).

-Actually, it would be funny if Papa was a spider person who hid his identity from his family, and Yinu got bitten later on by a spider from a different universe like Miles. She ends up fighting along side her father without realizing it's him because he is silent. Don't know why he wouldn't realize it's Yinu, maybe she also doesn't talk to mimic her spider man or something.

But imagine Papa lifting the mask up as he is about to die to try and talk to this new person to let them know they need to tell his family what happened to him, only for Yinu to lift her mask and reveal it's her. Such a heartbreaking scene as the two realize this is their last moment together, and how is Yinu going to explain this to Mama.

Neon J could be the captain or whatever who dies for one of Yinu's canon moments. Or like, she is who she is trying to save once she realizes he is supposed to die after seeing the spider society.

====

But yeah! Those are some situations I can see happening. However, this kinda goes into the idea that either the NSR universe is more tame or just more human when it comes to magic. Because honestly, powers like how Spiderman has is probably something that can actually happen in the NSR universe, or at the very least be explained away by some in-universe explanation.

I don't really know how a situation would arise where the NSR universe as is ends up in the Spiderverse. However, I just thought of this, but what if each district was it's own universe and each charter was a spider person?

Like Yinu comes from a world with importance put on plants and so has plant based spider powers, Tatiana is like a fire spider and crystals, Eve is some kind of illusion spider/dream spider, 1010 could be some kind of tech spider similar to Margo or something. This could be a fun AU to try and work with.

B2J would probably be the main characters of this AU instead of Yinu though. Somehow both of them get powers they share, maybe both bitten by the spider or Mayday bites Zuke for some reason because she is scared or just being Mayday and that's how they share powers, which is why they aren't wanted in spider society, they are an anomaly maybe (I don't know if there is a comic with 2 spider people from 1 spider, if there isn't though, this would be a good anomaly honestly in my opinion).

[greatwyrmgold]

I still haven't found/made time to watch the Spiderverse movies, but a lot of people had fun speculating about how Skitter might look as a spiderperson, so I decided to look up a list of Canon Events to figure out what Wildbow characters fit them best. According to the wiki, known Canon Events not associated with any specific character are:

Becoming an orphan or losing at least one parent or one loved one.

Being bitten by a radioactive spider or gaining spider-powers by another means.

Causing (directly or indirectly) the death of a loved one (ie., Ben Parker) early in their superhero career.

The death of a police captain close to them (ie., George Stacy).

Becoming bonded to a symbiote.

Separating from the symbiote, which becomes Venom.

The symbiote and spider-power stuff are Marvel gunk that's about equally sane to slap on any non-Marvel character, which leaves us with losing at least one parental figure, causing the death of a loved one, and the death of a police captain they care about.

The police captain thing is obviously going to be a problem if we take it literally, since the only named police captain/chief/etc across all of Wildbow's works is Laird. With that caveat in mind, let's get to theorizing!

Spider-Worm

Alright, hear me out: Spider-Bitch. Obviously, Rachel was taken from her mom at a young age, and we have no idea what happened to her dad. Close enough. And she felt guilt over her part in Rollo's death, so that could count. And as for the police captain stand-in...her last adoptive mother was a hell of a disciplinarian?

Alright, clearly we need to start with the "police captain" thing if we want that to be anything. IIRC, closest thing to a police captain who dies in Worm is the PRT captain who Coil shot before getting a vial. If Piggot liked him enough, that would qualify handily. And we know basically nothing about her life before Ellisburg, so sure, maybe she's an orphan and accidentally shot her aunt in a fight with a Master or something.

PRT Directors Calvert and Tagg are also kinda police-chief-y, but not great choices because they're both assholes with no friends. Maaaybe the Undersiders count as close to Coil, for a twisted version of the Canon Events? It's probably a good angle to take for Spider-Taylor, but not very strong on its own.

If we broaden the "police captain" to include leaders of superhero teams...well, surprisingly few of them die in Brockton Bay. Excluding bit-parts like Bastion, I think it's basically just Aegis and Alexandria? Alexandria doesn't have many friends, the ones she does have don't have any loved ones whose deaths they caused, and the ones who you could maybe argue something in there for would make boring spider-people. Oh wow, Contessa has her PtV and webs? What now?

Which leaves Aegis. The most obvious potential spider-people to care about his death would be his fellow Wards. The Brockton Bay Wards who are not known to have two living parents are Clockblocker, Shadow Stalker, and Aegis himself. Shadow Stalker is unlikely to care much about people she killed early in her superhero career unless it's, like, her little sister or something, and Clockblocker's confirmed parent is dying of cancer, so I'd say he fits better.

Bonus: Clockblocker is the most likely Brockton Bay resident to embrace Spidey's quippiness.

Spider-Pale

Lucy. She has a dead parent, there are plenty of people whose deaths she (and Avery and Verona) been unable to stop which weigh on them, and you could make a pretty compelling argument that John was the Kennet council's equivalent of a police captain.

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a side character who fit better, but Lucy is a main character and she fits better than most characters I'll be mentioning today.

Spider-Ward

The fun thing about Ward is that it's set after the apocalypse. Basically anyone without two parents confirmed alive could qualify if they get along with police officers and/or senior heroes.

Rain is probably the best choice. He's wracked by guilt for killing people during the mall fire, he's raised by his aunt and uncle, and he has so many powers that adding weak precognition and wall-climbing and stuff wouldn't seem out of place. The only problem is the police chief equivalent, but one of the Fallen officers can probably qualify.

Spider-Twig

...I can't think of any authorities who aren't either mad scientists or literal nobility. I guess you could pick an experiment, but I don't remember any who both die, have meaningful relationships with other people, and have the seniority to substitute for a police captain.

Spider-Pact

Laid is a police chief and he dies. Pick a Behaim, any Behaim. Chrono-Spider.

Conclusion

If you want to make Spider-Skitter, I don't think that's a bad idea. But there are plenty of other alternatives, from Bitch to Clockblocker to Precipice. And that's neat.

[ericsonclan]

The Comfort of a Blanket

Summary: The twins and Tenn watch a movie and have a pleasant evening together until something happens to Minnie's blanket.

Read on A03: 

Minnie sat on the couch enjoying the comfort of her blanket as she watched a movie with her siblings. They were watching Spiderman: Into the SpiderVerse for the millionth time. It was one of Tenn’s favorite movies so whenever he could convince them they would sit down and watch it. Tenn’s eyes were glued to the screen as he watched the different heroes face off against Kingpin. His body leaned forward and his arms wrapped tighter and tighter with each second of the film. Sophie wasn’t paying much attention to the TV; her focus was entirely on her sketchbook.

The sound of her pencil racing across paper could be heard faintly behind the loud action scene. When they had started this watchthrough of the movie, Sophie had been hit with a bolt of inspiration. Quickly mumbling that she was drawing different people from Ericson Diner with their own superspider designs, she’d gotten completely lost in her art, only occasionally glancing up before being hit with another wave of inspiration. They were getting towards the end of the movie when Minnie leaned forward to grab the popcorn only for a drink to be tipped over, the contents of which landed directly on her blanket.

“Shit!” Minnie jumped up to her feet, causing her siblings to also stir and look over with concern. Sophie haphazardly tried to grab the remote, pausing the movie after a minute.

“Are you okay, Minnie?” Tenn looked back at his older sister who looked devastated by the event that had played out.

“I’m fine,” She let out a sad sigh, lifting up her blanket “I can’t say the same for my blanket though,” She carefully examined the stain that was forming where the drink had spilled. Renata had given her this blanket and now she had ruined it.

“Don’t worry, Minnie. We can wash it. “ Sophie walked over to stand beside her.

“I don’t want it to get damaged or anything though,” Minnie had a worried expression on her face as she looked at her twin.

“That won’t be a problem,” Sophie gently took the blanket from her sister’s hands before motioning Minnie to follow her to the laundry room. “If we use this setting and grab-'' Sophie grunted as she stood on her tippy toes to reach the laundry detergent, letting out a happy noise when she had succeeded, “Grab the unscented tide pods,” Sophie glanced over at her twin who gave her approval before she tossed the blanket into the washer along with the detergent.

With a few button presses the washer began its progress, slowly spinning around the blanket.

“Is everything okay?” Tenn called from the back living room.

“Yeah, everything’s okay,” Minnie replied, walking back with Sophie so they could finish up the movie. They only had about fifteen minutes left which felt unusually long for Minnie as she waited impatiently for the washer to be done. When the credits had rolled the three siblings sat around for a moment, not sure what to do next.

“People are going to flip out when they see these,” Sophie carefully placed away her sketchpad with an excited smile.

“So, what do we do next?” Minnie asked, hoping her siblings would come up with some good ways to pass the time.

“We could do that art challenge that I’ve seen lately,” Tenn nervously fidgeted with his fingers as he spoke.

“Oh, which one?” Sophie immediately perked up whenever art was involved.

“It’s the one where one person draws someone in the room then they pass the paper to the next person who draws them and so on until everyone has been drawn,” Tenn explained the rules as carefully and clearly as he could, hoping his sisters would agree to the idea.

“Sounds fun to me! What about you, Minnie? You game?” Sophie looked over at Minnie who seemed less excited at the idea. Unlike her two other siblings she sucked at art, especially drawing.

“I don’t know,” She paused when she saw Tenn’s face fall. “Ok, I’ll give it a shot.”

Sophie and Tenn looked over at each other, overjoyed that Minnie had agreed. Sophie soon ran off to find some paper, returning swiftly with a handful of pencils and paper. Tenn was the first up.

After finding a good angle to draw from he started his sketch of Minnie. His eyes became laser focused on the paper as he drew. After ten minutes he turned around his paper, proudly displaying his art.

“That’s really good!” Sophie exclaimed, leaning forward to get a closer look.

“It really is,” Minnie agreed, impressed that he was able to get so many of her features right.

Tenn looked away, the smile on his face growing at his sisters' praise. Minnie was up next. Picking up the pencil she began her sketch what she was sure was going to turn out to be a disservice to Sophie’s face. Her tongue stuck out slightly as she concentrated on her sketch, erasing a section before trying again. After about fifteen minutes she had decided it was as good as it could be and reluctantly showed it to her siblings. Sophie grasped the paper, bringing it closer to her face.

“I love it,” She whispered, staring at her sister’s art.

“It’s hideous,” Minnie mumbled, falling back into the couch.

“I think it’s good,” Tenn offered his sister a gentle smile which she returned.

“I’ll be right back. I gotta add these to the collection,” Before Minnie could object Sophie was gone, her feet loudly banging on the steps as she ran upstairs. After a few minutes she returned, a huge grin on her face.

“Alright, I guess it’s my turn,” Sophie plopped herself back in her spot, snatching up the pencil as she stared at her brother. She studied his face for a few minutes before she started. Her pencil lightly brushed against the page as she worked, her eyes lighting up as she continued to draw. After around twenty minutes she dramatically turned around the paper, revealing a beautiful black and white sketch of Tenn. He looked so peaceful as a kind smile played on his lips.

“Holy shit, Soph, your art just keeps getting better and better!” Minnie exclaimed.

Sophie nervously played with her cap at Minnie’s compliment, a shy smile on her face. “Aw, thanks,”

Minnie paused when she heard the washer signalling that the cycle had been done. She got up from her spot and made her way over to the laundry room, switching the blanket over to the dryer.

“Make sure to put it on the gentlest cycle,” Sophie’s voice carried over from the back living room.

“Ok, got it,” Minnie double checked the setting. Starting up the cycle, she returned to her siblings.

“So what’s the next game?” Sophie kicked her legs lazily on the side of the couch.

“I could get my guitar and we could make up some songs,” Minnie offered to which her siblings immediately agreed. Getting up, she made her way to her room where her black acoustic guitar laid proudly on its stand. Securing the strap, she made her way back to where her siblings were already trying to come up with some fun lyrics.

“So how are we going to do this?” Minnie asked as she tuned her guitar.

“We should each come up with one line of lyrics and then the next person goes until we complete a song.” Sophie suggested, sitting up from her spot.

“Alright,” Minnie took a few more minutes tuning her guitar then began to strum some notes for her siblings to start out the song.

“There once was a dog that was a poodle,” Tenn began to sing softly.

“He looked like a day old noodle,” Sophie sang out, not caring that her voice wasn’t any good.

“And he had buggy pupils,” Minnie added.

The song continued on from there. Each sibling struggled to find a good sentence to add to the song when it was their turn. After it had finished they decided to play a few more rounds which went just as well as the first time.

“Oh, Minnie, can you play that song you wrote the other day?” Tenn asked, leaning back in his chair as he hugged a couch pillow.

“Sure,” Minnie replied with a gentle smile on her lips. The song started out slow and quiet as Minnie’s voice gently entered in. Soon the whole room was filled with her singing as her siblings sat back, completely taken in by the song. After a few minutes the song had finished. Sophie quickly requested one of her favorite songs of Minnie’s. The three of them sat around, the melody of the guitar and the soft cadence of Minnie’s voice the only things audible in the room. Tenn and Sophie kept making requests until Minnie stated that she needed a little break. Her fingers absentmindedly strummed the guitar as she chatted with her brother and sister.

Suddenly she paused, the faint tune of the dryer cycle being done could be heard from the laundry room. “I hear it calling to me,” She gently placed down her guitar, rising to her feet. “Blankie!”

She was off like a shot, sliding across the floor as she entered the laundry room. She quickly opened up the dryer door, sweeping up the warm mess that was her blanket. She gave it a fast examination and noticed that the stain was gone. Moving it towards her face, she inhaled the blanket’s scent. Her nose was overcome with the sweet and spicy smell that she had grown so fond of: cinnamon.

It still smells like Renata.

The smile on Minnie’s face grew as she strolled to the back living room, happy that her blanket was okay.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 27 August 2018

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #4 focuses largely on flashbacks to the case the agents were working before whatever’s currently happening happened and...I’m not really sure of anything that’s going on. I think that’s kind of the point, unsure as to how everything is supposed to connect and what any of it all adds up to. Great art from Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina, though.

| Published by AfterShock

Beyonders #1 is off to a great start. Between this and The Lost City Explorers, it seems like AfterShock right now has pseudoarchaeology stitched up and it’s wonderful. Paul Jenkins, Wesley St. Claire, and Marshall Dillon kick this one off with a wee bit more crunch, though there’s a very interesting upheaval this issue that will make you wonder what’s going on.

| Published by AfterShock

Blackwood #4 brings this series to an end and it is dark. Very dark. Evan Dorkin, Veronica & Andy Fish have crafted a wonderful horror story here, with some interesting twists, and one hell of an ending.

| Published by Dark Horse

Bone Parish #2 takes a deep dive in to some of the foundational moments of the Winters clan, even as they begin to deal with the fallout of one of their dealers dying from an overdose. This is great stuff. The art from Jonas Scharf and Alex Guimarães is incredible. Great detail and atmosphere, perfectly bringing to life the premise and characters from Cullen Bunn.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Brothers Dracul #5 circles back around to the beginning of the story, as we reach the end of this interesting retelling and interpretation of the intersection of both the historical and legendary story of Vlad the Impaler, from Cullen Bunn, Mirko Colak, Maria Santaolalla, and Simon Bowland. There’s an interesting twist here that certainly paints Vlad’s action in a different light, and I hope we see it followed up upon in a second series.

| Published by AfterShock

Cyber Force #5 is a nice change of pace as Bryan Hill, Matt Hawkins, Atilio Rojo, and Troy Peteri introduce us to another old familiar face. This incarnation of the team definitely is taking its time to be brought together, but when the storytelling is as entertaining and the artwork is as gorgeous as this, it doesn’t really matter. To note, though, this is not the kind of decompression that feels empty or padded, it’s just fleshing out characters and their lives more than what we’ve seen before.

| Published by Image / Top Cow

Daredevil Annual #1 presents a standalone story of Misty Knight’s days as a detective and her first meeting with Daredevil. It’s good. It feels a bit more like a pilot for a Misty Knight series than necessarily a Daredevil tale, but, as I said, it’s good. The art from Marcio Takara and Marcelo Maiolo is nice. I really like Takara’s style which gives me hints of Phil Hester, Jim Mahfood, and Tomm Coker.

| Published by Marvel

Dungeons & Dragons: Evil at Baldur’s Gate #5 is another fun one, with a focus this issue on Boo. I’ve really enjoyed this series, with Jim Zub giving the party a bit of a breather between larger adventures and giving a great look at them as individual characters. Great art, too, including this issue from Francesco Mortarino and Jordi Escuin.

| Published by IDW

Edge of Spider-Geddon #2 gives us a view into another alternate Spiderverse, circling back around to SP//dr, and giving us a new twist on the power and responsibility rubric and VEN#m. It’s nice to see Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson play with more technological horror, with some incredible artwork from Alberto Alburquerque and Tríona Farrell.

| Published by Marvel

Euthanauts #2 is a thing of beauty. Nick Robles and Eva De La Cruz are seriously delivering some of the best art in comics right now with this series. The page layouts, character designs, use of colour, and incorporation of lettering choices from Aditya Bidikar, just elevate the storytelling immensely. Not even to mention how Tini Howard is making the weird science seamless in the dialogue. This is great.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Exiles #7 concludes the Old West-ish arc with cowboy T’Challa. Drop dead gorgeous artwork from guest artist Rod Reis. His depiction of the ultimate villain here shows some nice influence from Bill Sienkiewicz.

| Published by Marvel

Extermination #2 brings the fight to the school, even as the team (and the reader, although it’s not a bad thing) is still confused as to what is really going on. I love this, the tension that Ed Brisson, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia are building is palpable, and the hints of kid!Cable’s actions are chilling. Also, the art is just phenomenal. 

| Published by Marvel

Harbinger Wars 2 #4 is kind of the end to this, but the ramifications and fallout are all supposed to appear in the Aftermath issue. That being said, Matt Kindt, Tomás Giorello, Renato Guedes, Diego Rodriguez, and Dave Sharpe go all out for the spectacle in this final confrontation between Livewire and X-O Manowar. It is still kind of insane how Capshaw could possibly consider what GATE and OMEN have done as being “good”, especially in light of Palmer going absolutely batshit insane, but it does lead to interesting set-up for future conflicts.

| Published by Valiant

Hillbilly: Red-Eyed Witchery From Beyond #1 begins the next adventure of the black-eyed tramp. I get a bit of a Beowulf vibe from Eric Powell’s set-up and I’m interested to see where it goes. This series sees Powell passing on the artistic duties to Simone Di Meo, Brennan Wagner, and Warren Montgomery and it’s an interesting visual shift from the washes of Powell’s own work in the original series. I quite like Di Meo’s style, which reminds me a bit of James Harren and Troy Nixey.

| Published by Albatross Funnybooks

House Amok #1 is something I’m not sure I can describe. It’s kind of a family drama, but if that family were all collectively sharing a hallucinatory experience or delusion. It’s a very interesting concept that’s only partially revealed by Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, and Aditya Baker, but it leads to a very compelling start here. Gorgeous artwork from McManus and Loughridge.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Hunt for Wolverine: Dead Ends #1, like all four of the Hunt for Wolverine mini-series, is kind of a bit of treading water. I cannot say it or any of the previous series are bad, taken on their own separated from this “event”, they’re usually quite good, but as a whole it’s kind of disappointing. It’s a search for Wolverine that kind of comes up empty, acting as a prequel to the return of Wolverine, despite already having returned in Marvel Legacy and hopped across numerous different titles, before apparently being used for evil, as per throwaway bits in the fourth issues of those previously mentioned minis that didn’t necessarily connect with the plots of those minis. It feels a bit scattered and unnecessary, unfortunately, especially when it comes to comparing notes, coming up with the organization we already knew was behind it, and a bit of hand-waving mystery and grandstanding that still tells us a whole lot of nothing. It’s sound and fury. All of which is a bit of a shame because I otherwise generally enjoy the work of Charles Soule and Ramon Rosanas.

| Published by Marvel

Isola #5... Just look at the artwork. Karl Kerschl and Msassyk just keep delivering page after page after page of beauty.

| Published by Image

Jessica Jones #2 reaffirms that this is one of the best things that Marvel is currently publishing, with the next two chapters in this story. Kelly Thompson’s dialogue, narration, and banter throughout this issue is spot on, propulsive, and funny as hell when it needs to be, but what elevates it is that this isn’t your typical talking heads approach. The characters are doing stuff, like hunting sea monsters, instead of sitting at a desk or whatever. It’s a refreshing change that overall just makes this all the better. Not to mention Mattia De Iulis’ stunning artwork. It’s slick and polished with a line style that somewhat reminds me of Paul Gulacy and a bit of Rick Mays, and an approach to shadow and colour similar to Frazer Irving. This is a great series that really shouldn’t be missed.

| Published by Marvel

Judge Dredd: Under Siege #4 wraps up this entertaining series from Mark Russell, Max Dunbar, Jose Luis Rio, and Shawn Lee. I really like Dunbar’s take on Dredd and the Russell’s idea of people creating their own law in the absence of law is an interesting philosophical counterpoint to the idea of man naturally sliding towards a state of chaos. Even the mutants striving for society is an interesting challenge to the typical idea of things falling apart.

| Published by IDW

New Mutants: Dead Souls #6 concludes the series with Illyana putting the pieces together for what actually has been going on, it isn’t a pretty picture. This has been a great series from Matthew Rosenberg, Adam Gorham, Michael Garland, and Clayton Cowles and the revelations this issue are heavy. The implications for the X-universe is huge and I want more.

| Published by Marvel

The New World #2 essentially reveals itself as a romance comic, amidst the ultraviolence and social engineering. Didn’t really see that coming, but it’s an interesting move. Trippy art from Tradd Moore, Heather Moore, and Ludwig Olimba.

| Published by Image

Paradise Court #2 continues to be an entertaining horror comic from Joe Brusha, Babisu Kourtis, Leonardo Paciarotti, and Taylor Esposito. This gives us the part of the story where our protagonist is experiencing the horror and everyone else is telling her she’s just imagining it, but it’s still well told and well illustrated.

| Published by Zenescope

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons #1 is about as perfect a crossover of two properties as you can get. Morty trying to get into D&D because he thinks it will get him laid is the perfect in to the world of the game and the cartoon, perfectly blending the two for fans of both without alienating or diminishing either. Jim Zub, Patrick Rothfuss, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Robbie Robbins are faithful to both and in doing so deliver a wonderful beginning to this story, that also educates along the way.

| Published by IDW & Oni Press

Runaways #12 is easily one of the best issues in what has already been an exemplary series. Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Carmagna focus here on forgiveness, acceptance, and second chances, with some truly beautiful character work between Gert & Victor and Nico & Karolina. If you don’t have a giant grin on your face by the end of the issue, I question your humanity.

| Published by Marvel

Submerged #2 is still weird, very weird, but there’s some really good bits in here demonstrating some of the emotional manipulation that family members sometimes employ. Beautiful, ethereal artwork from Lisa Sterle and Stelladia.

| Published by Vault

Venom: First Host #1 is somewhat strange to see in light of where Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman have taken the character, but this limited series from Mike Costa, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy, Dono Sánchez-Almara, and Clayton Cowles serves as both an interesting addendum to the symbiote’s history and as a continuation (and likely capstone) to the previous creative team’s run. It’s pretty decent.

| Published by Marvel

Web of Venom: Ve’Nam #1 is a one shot fleshing out the backstory of Rex Strickland and the SHIELD experiment that bonded the early symbiotes to soldiers set loose during the Vietnam War. It’s an entertaining tale with some nice guest stars and sweet art by Donny Cates, Juanan Ramírez, Felipe Sobreiro, and Clayton Cowles. I particularly like the scratchy, faded look in the art to make it look a bit “old”.

| Published by Marvel

X-23 #3 is great. Mariko Tamaki has nailed the characters and the art from Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard is incredible. The page designs alone elevate the storytelling immensely.

| Published by Marvel

The X-Files: Case Files - Hoot Goes There? #2 concludes the second of this new approach of a series of mini-series and it’s...weird? Funny, but weird. Definitely taking a page out of some of the more outlandish episodes of the series, where you question whether or not what you saw happened actually happened. Still, it’s entertaining, which is all that really matters. Fun from Joe and Keith Lansdale, Silvia Califano, Valentina Pinto, and Shawn Lee.

| Published by IDW

X-Men Blue #34 looks like it largely serves as a capstone to Cullen Bunn’s work with Magneto over the past four years or so, as he winds down his run here and continues to tidy the characters up a bit before he’s done and hands the reins off to the next band of storytellers. It feels like there’s a lot more here that he would have like to have told, but what we get here is still excellent. The hints at the next stage for Magneto and mutantkind are intriguing. Great art from Marcus To and Matt Milla. 

| Published by Marvel

X-O Manowar #18 gives an interesting transition from this flashback of Aric’s pre-Shanhara life to his return to Earth, focusing on how ideas, people, and culture keeps changing. Matt Kindt delivers a pretty chilling reaction to it. All with some nice artwork from Trevor Hairsine, Brian Thies, and Diego Rodriguez. 

| Published by Valiant

Other Highlights: Deadpool: Assassin #6, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #255, KINO #9, Marvel Two-in-One #9, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Shattered Grid #1, Modern Fantasy #3, Moon Knight #198, Ms. Marvel #33, Red Sonja #20, Rick & Morty #41, StarCraft: Scavengers #2, Star Wars: Lando - Double or Nothing #4, Star Wars: Poe Dameron Annual #2, Star Wars Adventures #13, TMNT: Bebop & Rocksteady Hit the Road #5, Wayward #28, X-Men: Grand Design - Second Genesis #2

Recommended Collections: 2021 - Volume 1, 30 Days of Night, Big Trouble in Little China: Old Man Jack - Volume 1, Black Cloud - Volume 2: No Return, DuckTales Classics - Volume 1, Eugenic, Factory, Femme Magnifique, I Hate Fairyland - Volume 4, James Bond: Hammerhead, Judas, Killer Instinct, Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses - Volume 2

d. emerson eddy is not the very model of a modern major general. Nor a scientist salarian for that matter.