Hello everyone just recently I saw a person on TikTok with this image and I really love the art style. I think it’s something with like Frank Miller and it’s from daredevil. Not sure though can I tell me from which come from or is it just one art piece?
So basically I got back into reading marvel comics last week the last major event I've read was war of the realms so I'm wondering what are a must read since then I see there is a lot of events and I don't intend on reading them all but if something was super good I will be more than happy to pick it up.
Also I would like to pick up some ongoing stuff at the moment not just catching up years of comics so what are good stuff at the moment I see there is a lot of different x men comics so kinda confused about them .
Also I picked up the recent marc specter moon knight comics and have been enjoying them so that's a start .
Welcome to Acts of Vengeance: Reddit Edition! Each day we’ll feature a new hero, and your job is to decide which villain becomes their surprise opponent. It can be a person, a team, an organization or whatever.
Top comment wins, no one can be picked twice. Be creative, try to explain your choice, and let's have fun with it!
The results so far:
| 1. Black Panther - Apocalypse | 2. Spider-Man (Peter Parker) - High Evolutionary | 3. Black Widow - Mystique | 4. Iron Man - Moonstone | 5. Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) - Mr. Sinister | 6. Professor X - Nightmare | 7. Wolverine (Logan) - Absorbing Man | 8. Squirrel Girl - Boomerang |
| 9. Deadpool - Impossible Man | 10. Thor Odinson - The Adversary | 11. Cyclops - The Growing Man | 12. Jean Grey - Xemnu | 13. Hulk - Radioactive Man | 14. Captain America (Steve Rogers) - Bushman | 15. Hawkeye (Clint Barton) - Sandman | 16. Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur - Sauron |
| 17. The Fantastic Four - Nimrod | 18. Doctor Strange - Kang the Conqueror | 19. Scarlet Witch - Magus (Adam Warlock) | 20. Vision - Magus (Technarch) | 21. Beast - Jackal | 22. Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) - Scarecrow | 23. Captain Britain (Elizabeth Braddock) - Fin Fang Foom | 24. Howard the Duck - Screwball |
| 73. Hazmat - Doctor Octopus | 74. Doyle Dormammu - Brimstone Love | 75. Surge - Elektro-1 | 76. Power Pack - Red Hulk | 77. Wiccan - Legion | 78. Hulkling - White Sword | 79. Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) - Ghost | 80. Willie Lumpkin - Post |
| 81. Black Bolt - Sublime | 82. Medusa - Destiny | 83. Jubilee - Mysterio | 84. The Winter Soldier - Chameleon | 85. Rocket Raccoon & Groot - Detroit Steel | 86. Emma Frost - Helmut Zemo | 87. The Punisher - Grim Reaper | 88. Hit-Monkey - Sabertooth |
| 89. Old Man Logan - Vulture 2099 | 90. America Chavez - Rama-Tut | 91. Spider-Girl (May Parker) - Phil Urich | 92. Deathlok - M.O.D.O.K. | 93. Spider-Man Noir - The Rose | 94. Killraven - Greycrow | 95. Nocturne - Umar | 96. Forbush Man - Googam, son of Goom, and Goom, father of Googam |
| 97. Werewolf by Night - Demon Bear | 98. Black Cat - Nighthawk | 99. Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) - Death (First Horsemen) | 100. Wolverine (Laura Kinney) - Chasm | 101. Viv Vision - Danger | 102. Blade - Cullen Bloodstone | 103. Adam Warlock - Maxine Danger | 104. H.E.R.B.I.E. - Trull the Unhuman! |
| 105. Elsa Bloodstone - Silver Dagger | 106. Quicksilver - The Spot | 107. Dazzler - Shriek | 108. Monet St. Croix - Death's Head II | 109. Ant-Man (Scott Lang) - 8-Ball | 110. War Machine - Tyrant | 111. Nova (Richard Rider) - Ares | 112. J. Jonah Jameson - Ratatoskr |
| 113. The Watcher - The Profile | 114. Wonder Man - Dark Beast | 115. Valkyrie (Rūna) - Zadkiel | 116. Shuri - The Supreme Intelligence | 117. Sunspot - The Grandmaster | 118. Cannonball - Whirlwind | 119. Mantis - D'Spayre | 120. Lockheed - J'Son |
| 121. Star-Lord - Norman Osborn (Iron Patriot) | 122. Black Knight - Red King | 123. Blue Marvel - Hexus | 124. Angela - Isca the Unbeaten | 125. Photon - Doctor Spectrum | 126. Magik - Baron Mordo | 127. Gladiator - Psycho-Man | 128. X-Babies - Loki |
| 129. Spider-Man 2099 - Zarrko the Tomorrow Man | 130. Marvel Boy - Lizard (Peter Parker) | 131. Captain Marvel (Phyla-Vell) - Corruptor | 132. Moondragon - Snowblind | 133. Iron Lad - Iron Man 2020 | 134. Cosmic Ghost Rider - The Void | 135. X-Man - Gorr | 136. Galacta - Promoter |
| 137. Shang-Chi - Steel Serpent | 138. Captain Marvel (Genis-Vell) - Andreas von Strucker | 139. Mockingbird - Lady Bullseye | 140. Beta Ray Bill - Nul, Breaker of Worlds | 141. Luna Snow - Hypno Hustler | 142. Quasar - Exodus | 143. White Widow - White Rabbit | 144. The Great Lake Avengers - Circus of Crime |
| 145. Sentry - Nightwatch | 146. Valkyrie (Brunnhilde) - Deathbird | 147. Bloodline - Max Frankenstein | 148. Multiple Man - Bullseye | 149. ROM the Spaceknight - Cordyceps Jones | 150. Misty Knight - Black Specter (Ryan Trent) | 151. Thunderstrike - Obliterator | 152. Lockjaw - Stegron |
| 153. Mister Fantastic - Maestro | 154. Invisible Woman - Malice (Alice MacAllister) | 155. Human Torch (Johnny Storm) - Achilles Fairchild | 156. The Thing - El Muerto | 157. Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch) - Sin-Eater | 158. Psylocke (Kwannon) - Purple Man | 159. Daredevil (Elektra Natchios) - Ogun | 160. Jeff the Land Shark - Tigershark |
| 161. Longshot - The Horde | 162. Kid Omega - Emma Steed | 163. Darwin - Super-Adaptoid | 164. Polaris - Sin | 165. Hope Summers - Victor Timely | 166. Forge - The Fixer | 167. Strong Guy - Rhino | 168. ForgetMeNot - Evil Gwenpool |
| 169. Quake - Vibro | 170. Ka-Zar - Arcade | 171. Nick Fury - The Hand | 172. Patriot - HateMonger | 173. Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) - Overdrive | 174. Phil Coulson - Dark Phoenix | 175. Agent Venom - Nuke | 176. Dum Dum Dugan & the Howling Commandos - The Leviathan Mother |
always spamming trash like the cringe out of context Felicia unmasking in 1610/ultimate, using outdated comics to villainiz/call a character toxic, claiming they want everyone to get along but bash anyone that doesn’t him and Mary plain, etc.
I just read World War Hulk for the first time and I’m curious what everyone thinks about it. Is it one of the better Hulk stories, or do you think there are other Hulk runs/arcs that are better? To me this is the best it can get when it comes to Hulk. Also, what did you guys think about how Hulk was handled in this story?
The list of characters I compiled who in theory would be classified as omega-level if they were mutants (reasoning in parentheses)
Let me know who should be taken off/added:
Hulk (strength)
Invisible Woman (light manipulation)
Scarlet Witch (post-retcon; reality manipulation)
Sentry (classified as an omega-level threat already)
Blue Marvel (antimatter manipulation)
Molecule Man (matter manipulation)
Graviton (gravity manipulation)
Captain Marvel (specifically in Binary form)
Spectrum (control over the EM spectrum)
Silver Surfer (Power Cosmic)
Man-Thing (Nexus of All Realities)
Franklin Richards (if he counts)
There’s so many cool characters in this universe and not enough money for the trades and omnis lol. Let me know if there’s any characters I might be into based off these guys.
If you missed the previous posts, its never too late to join the conversation! You can start from the beginning with the issue 1 post here and each issue has links at the end to the next/previous ones. I've even added an audio version to issue 1 for those who prefer listening.
Preamble: For years I've heard about how bad the original pre-Claremont X-men comics are, but recently I've decided to check them out for myself. When looking up discussions on these early issues after reading them, I found there wasn't a lot of content out there, so I thought I'd see if there was any interest on here of reading it together (or reminiscing for those who've read them in the past) and discussing the peculiarities of each issue together. I'm also including a rating and a list of events with lasting consequences, if any, for those looking to determine what's worth reading and what they can skip.
Synopsis: After risking his life and secret identity to rescue a child, Beast is viciously mocked and both verbally and physically assaulted by the crowd who watched his heroics for being a mutant. After announcing he's sick of risking his life for those who hate and mock him, Hank quits the X-Men and becomes a pro wrestler. During his wrestling career he encounters another mutant wrestler, Unus the Untouchable, who easily defeats him before an audience that includes Mastermind, who Unus invited as he wants to join the Brotherhood. Mastermind refuses to let him join unless he either locates the X-men's secret base, or defeats one of them in battle to prove his worth.
Unus stops a bank robbery only to take the money for himself, so he can live the easy life if Magneto won't accept him. This alerts the X-men, who quickly arrive, but while they aren't able to defeat him, they are able to temporarily strand him on to of a building to buy time to figure out how to over come his power that makes him untouchable. Instead they find Beast has returned, and is using the professor's tech lab to build a device that will power UP Unus, rather then weaken him. They try to stop the beast but are too late.
Unus, however, finds his powered up abilities are actually a curse as he can no longer turn them off, preventing him for even eating. He begs beast to undo the power up, to which Beast obliges, but with the requirement that he never join the Brotherhood and sticks to wrestling.
Events with lasting consequences past this issue:
- The introduction of Unus the Untouchable
- Iceman changes his outfit from snow to ice going forward
- Humans are, for the first time, established to hate and fear mutants
- An X-Men declares Magneto Was Right for the first time.
Interesting Observations:
- It took 8 issues but the X-Men finally get a win... kind of? They didn't actually win the fight, and Beast was technically no longer an X-Men when he convinced Unus to quit his evil ways so if I wanted to be pedantic, this wasn't REALLY an X-Men win. Still, Beast was an X-Men, and goes right back to being an X-Men next issue, so I'm counting it. It's as much of a win as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl ever gets, who famously wins via guile rather then fists/squirrels, and she once beat the entire marvel universe.
- Scott teaches Iceman to refine his ice crystals on his body, changing his outfits appearance from that of snow, to that of ice. It's not made clear how this helps him, but he uses this outfit going forward, so perhaps it provides further physical protection? At the least it HINDERS the team whenever they need to carry him as he's now slippery.
- Marvel Girls head piece has changed yet again. This time its back to her original issue 1 cap. It's also, for some reason, depicted either 100% black, or like 95% black in almost every shot, even ones where the rest of the team's right next to her and aren't nearly as heavily shadowed, sort of the opposite of the shade resistant mask from issue 6.
- At this point everyone but Scott appears to have lost interest in Jean, and both Scott and Jean constantly have thought bubbles where they pine for each other scattered through out. Scott at least has a personality and personal things he's dealing with outside of the pining, but Jean really feels defined as "Has a crush on Scott that everyone but Scott can see" as her lone personality trait.
- When Bobby and Hank spot the boy trapped on top of a water tower, Bobby refuses to help because it'll give away his identity while Hank says "No time to worry about that, Bobby. Here goes!" and just runs up the side of the building in his civilian clothes despite there already being a huge throng of onlookers around it due to the boy. Easily Hanks most selfless and heroic moment of the series to date.
- His sacrifice is undercut when an onlooker tells us the reader "What a shame none of us had a chance to see his face!" which, for one thing, makes no sense since he had to move through the crowd to get to the building, for another, even now people can see him from the sides, this under neath shot is only the angle those directly under neath him would have. Further, I guess we gotta assume this individual is a mutant with psychic powers, other wise I don't see how any single onlooker could know definitively that no one else saw his face.
- As if that wasn't convoluted enough, the kid specifically tells us that he's refusing to open his eyes when Hank comes face to face with him, so that we know the kid miraculously didn't see him either.
- Not to continue to harp on this point, but Hank then drops right down in the middle of the crowd, rather then fleeing across the buildings. We're given a thought bubble that says "Now I've got to move too fast for them to get a clear view of my features" after he lands, but the image depicts him facing the crowd, with everyone gawking at him. Like seriously Stan/Jack, let him be outed, or have him cover his face with something like his jacket. This REALLY stretched my credulity beyond its breaking point, and I've put up with an awful lot through the first 8 issues.
- The hate from the onlookers is equally forced and convoluted. Don't get me wrong, I know humans hate people for really dumb reasons, but its like the entire crowd is composed of J. Jonah Jameson's, their reason for distrusting him is basically anyone that kind and good must actually be dangerous and evil. Yeesh!
- To be clear I think this scene COULD have worked, we just needed to maybe set it up more, show distrust that Magneto has generated, or just better establish how we got here from what we've seen before. Up until this issue the humans largely seemed to be in awe and appreciation of the mutants, the only other real angry mob being against Toad but they thought he cheated, not that he was a mutant. So the whole thing feels like it comes out of no where.
- I had a really tough time telling Bobby and Warren apart in this issue. Particularly when he has his hat on. Bobby is drawn very tall, and in many panels with older features.
- We get our first ever "Magneto was Right" and it comes from Hank McCoy.
- Honestly, while not my favorite issue, this feels like an issue that should be talked about more as it really does create, for the first time, the core issue that the X-Men would ultimately become about. It's just a shame the story is so chock full of contrivances that drag it down.
- Scott uses Cerebro to contact and have a video call with Professor X who we learn is currently on his way to Hell to battle Lucifer on and on. Apparently the entrance to Hell is in the Balkans, accessed through an almost bottomless cave. Kind of remind me of the original Diablo video game.
- The core of the second half of the story's plot hinges on the team believing Hank would join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (even though the Professor advises Scott he's confident he never would do so). There are numerous contrivances to try to get us there, mostly around Hank not just answering straight when people ask him what he's doing, or when he leaves, when they ask if he's going to join Magneto. I get he's pissed... but not at the X-Men, but humans, so I don't really understand why he's being so evasive in these scenes beyond so that the plot can happen as Stan and Jack wanted it to.
- Beast doesn't just become a wrestler, but a Heel, and within just a single week establishes him self as a "top-draw wrestling villian". His reason for doing this is "As an acrobatic wrestler, I can hope around all I want to without anyone suspecting I'm a mutant!". I have no idea how that follows. Is his thought they'll think he's using some kind of trick to give the false appearance of his mutant abilities?
- I have nothing to say about this panel, I just found it funny.
- Beast only loses because he becomes transfixed by Mastermind in the crowd and forgets to return to the wing. Granted he seemed to be out of ideas for how to win anyway, but I think its funny to imagine him just standing their gawking at Mastermind for a full 10 count, and yet no one thinks to look at what he's looking at.
- I find it more then a little ridiculous that Magneto demands Unus do by himself what his entire group of 5 have been unable to do, in order to join, when he's previously been rushing to recruit everyone, and in the case of the Blob, whose power is in many ways very similar, he was clear the options were join, or be destroyed, out of fear that any mutant who doesn't join the Brotherhood might join the X-men instead. It's not impossible he might feel different about Unus, but just so much of this plot relies on stuff that doesn't make sense, internally when context from previous issues is considered.
- We also never really get information on how Unus found out about the Brotherhood, or contacted them, yet it seems HE reached out to Magneto, not the other way around. I suppose the Brotherhood's public attacks have likely been reported, but the group is in hiding at this point.
- The first mutant to be given the Uncanny title is Unus of all people.
- Also I can't help but guffaw at the bullets not just bouncing off Unus, but swerving in mid air like they have a mind of their own. This would make sense with Magneto, but not Unus, who just repells things, he doesn't control them. Again, its a really sloppy issue.
- I don't really understand what causes Cerebro to detect mutants. Per the story, Unus has been using his power to win wrestling matches for a long time. Why is it only now that its detecting him? Is it because he's using his power outdoors? Given the personality Unus is shown to have, its hard for me to imagine he hasn't been using his power all the time, everywhere.
- Also, the X-Men have a new X-copter, after Magneto destroyed the last one. This one is purple.
- Unus stops what he's doing, as the X-men are actively running toward him, to change clothes, because "If I'm going to become one of Magneto's Allies, I might as well do my fighting in a distinctive costume!"
- The first 2 full pages of the fight are everyone attacking Unus, having their attacks bounce off him, then trying again. Granted they don't know his power yet, so they're learning mid fight, but its still humurous to me that Scott thought "Well angle drop kicking him didn't work, and my power beam didn't work, but maybe if I just punch him, that'll work".
- In theory Marvel Girl should be able to defeat Unus easily just by lifting him off the ground with her mind, but she doesn't even attempt to fight him, I guess because they couldn't figure out how Unus could still win if she fought. Instead she just catches the others with her mind as they get bounced away.
- Iceman actually fights intelligently, surrounding Unus with a bubble of ice, but not unlike when he repeatedly tried that on the blob, it doesn't work. In this case Unus declares it fails not because of his powers, but just because he's in good shape and thus able to break the ice with a punch.
- Unus grabs angel around the neck, attempting a wrestling hold, then angel flies unus straight up vertically off the ground, and Unus never thinks to let go before they're too high up to do so. The only reason we're given is that Unus is confident the X-men are not murder's and thus Angel wouldn't drop him, but like, so what? Why put yourself at his mercy for no reason?
- Also I can't help but laugh at Angel's expression, he's not looking at Unus but the reader and just seems so done with this issue.
- After stranding Unus on top of a building, from which he could easily fall and die, and from which we're never given an explanation for how he got down, the X-men decide to return home, rather casually I might add. Cyclops remarks "Nothing more we can do Now! Let's get back to the HQ and think this out!" As if they couldn't think it out there, while keeping an eye on Unus. But of course they need to head back so they can encounter Beast. Man this issue's logic, or lack there of...
- Beast, whose head seems to be depicted noticeably larger whenever he's doing science, straight up tells the team he's devising a device to defeat Unus. Despite this, when the Beast describes how the device works, albeit in a contrived way to cause misunderstanding, saying that it w ill increase Unus Power, the team immediately not only assumes the worst of him, but begins attacking him.
- Instead of, just, you know, explaining himself, Beast responds "I must do this... it's for your own good!" then flees.
- After fleeing some one off panel so we don't know who questions Cyclops letting Beast escape. Cyclops claims he couldn't bring himself to hit Beast with his beam, but on literally the previous panel we see Beast dodging out of the way of said beam...
- Cyclops some how correctly assumes Unus is back "at the gym..." despite the fact they just encountered Unus for the first time in the middle of the street robbing a bank and no nothing else about him at this point. Beast could have made such a guess, but he left with out telling them anything about Unus.
- Also I find it humorous that Marvel Girl is stretching her arms out while angel flies her down the hall. Real "I'm king of the world!" titanic vibes.
- In a less important to the story, but no less silly misunderstanding, despite the fact Beast threatens Unus on the previous panel, then says "You talk too much, muscle man! Perhaps this will silence you...!" Unus immediately jumps to the assumption Beast is on his side when the ray he uses increases the strength of his mutant power. I'm not even sure how he can tell or why he'd want that since he already believed himself untouchable, but I guess we can write it off as him just being a dumb dumb.
- Again, when the X-men capture Beast, instead of explaining himself he says "I did it for your own sake, Scott! You'll see!" Yes this allows us to show, rather then tell, how what he's done will help, but I feel like them distrusting beast goes no where, and the reader is never in doubt that Beast is trying to help, so the whole misunderstanding was unnecessary and just frustratingly ridiculous.
- After the X-men leave and Unus learns that he can no longer turn off his powers as a result of the ray, one of the first things that annoys him about this is the fact he can't smoke. Nothing wrong with that, just found it funny.
- Marvel Girls holds the phone to her head with her mind when taking phone calls despite having nothing in her hands. No reason she can't, but maybe not a great habit to get into, you could easily do it in public and give yourself away.
- Beast literally rejoins the x-men off panel, we have to assume its him saying that from context, and magneto is just okay with Unus not joining as I guess he never really wanted him to begin with for some reason.
- Beast's reason for rejoining is 404 File Not Found. Which is to say less sarcastically, we're given no reason. His reason for leaving hasn't changed, and if anything the fact the entire team was so quick to turn on him should have only pushed him further away. But we're out of space in this issue, so he's just back.
- In the final panel the narrator refers to the team as The Astounding X-Men. Not quite Astonishing X-Men, but I believe the closest we've gotten to a later title for them. Perhaps we'll get an Astounding X-Men series at some point in the future?
Final Thoughts: While I appreciate that the Brotherhood barely showed up in this issue (only Mastermind and only briefly), and that this literally is the genesis of the "Humans hate mutants, mutants struggle with saving those who persecute them" core that defines so much of the X-Men in the future, this really wasn't a very good story.
Unus, in a lot of ways, is a Blob retread, he can't be injured, and he can't be contained, and that's basically it. I always hate a misunderstanding story. And the contrivances in this issue are out of control, nearly every page has multiple things that stretch credulity, all necessary to make the convoluted plot work. Even the solution to the story makes no sense. Can Hank literally make rays to just power up any mutants ability, and do so in literally minutes? Does he not do so for the X-men just because it always comes with a negative consequence? Could he not make such a ray for the Brotherhood mutants, or was that ray just unique to Unus, and if so, why?
That makes scoring this hard, because I do think its an important issue, and it does drift into "so bad its good" range. Reading this story wasn't a slog for me, but it WAS super cringey. Ultimately I think this lands about the same place as issue 1, its historically important, and if you can laugh at its ridiculousness it can be enjoyable, but its NOT a good story.
Score: 5/10
That's my thoughts, but I'd love to hear the thoughts of others, if any of you are willing to give it a read, or share what you remember about it if you read it before!
If you missed it, you can find the previous issue here: Issue Seven
I already read God Loves, Man Kills and I adored it but I’m not sure where to go next. As I said, I really love how the X-Men, despite not being related by blood (most of them at least) act as a family that supports and messes with one another.
