I'm just bummed that Hickman is writing more Marvel books because he left his X-Men storyline (which IMO is the best X-Men story in a damn long time) before it was completed. I could have sworn he said he was done with Marvel.

 

He was basically forced off.

Ok, that’s not fair. He had a plan, he was asked if they could go off plan and he left. This new book is likely not going to crossover all that much or use anyone in high demand other than Strange. That’s good. Hickman has had issues with his books being hijacked by Marvel, who (in their defense) is paying his paycheck.

Look at his history with them. Secret Warriors he had mostly to himself, though he did have to acknowledge Siege and do a tie in issue. But even then the run ended up ending early and chunk of it gets delegated to the SHIELD minis.

Fantastic Four is left alone, but he does mostly ignore Fear Itself, which seriously threatened to derail his plans. He’s allowed to finish the run and it goes down as one of his best works.

Ultimates starts strong but he’s forced to leave the book to pick up Avengers, short circuiting his storyline. It gets a rushed ending.

Avengers is publicized as The Next Big Thing. Within sight of the end he has Aaron’s Thor crapping all over his book, Reminder’s Cap run undercutting the central relationship in the book, Remender’s AXIS hijacking Iron Man, and Fraction and Robertson’s F4 runs complicating New Avengers.

Then you get HoX/PoX, something that clearly meant the world to him and he finds his plans hijacked yet again.

 

Venom's Children Combine Into One Monstrous Symbiote



"Madness is a symbiotic force unlike any other in the Marvel Universe. There is nowhere that Liz Allan can go that Madness cannot follow, no one she can ask for help that Madness cannot destroy, and nothing she can do to stop the brutality of its onslaught."

Well, it looks like a deranged hydra symbiote.

 

So its Hybrid but worse... the design is not doing it for me, the idea seems kinda basic, I hope I'm wrong it's actually a good well crafted story but it looks like edgy crap.

 

We have how many different symbiote crossovers in the last several years? It just isn't exciting anymore.

 

So it’s the life foundation symbiotes somehow including Scream who isnt alive per sey anymore, toxin and mayhem?

 

Comixology has a big Avengers sale running now. Almost all eras represented.

If you don't have it, picking up the five Busiek Avengers Assembled volumes is a top suggestion. His run still holds up. Lot of all time greats in the sale like the Korvac Saga. You can also catch up with the Aaron run if you feel the need to do that.

 

The Avengers’ New Enemies Include a Biblically-Accurate Angel: Meet the Ashen Combine

Marvel announced Avengers #3 will debut a new team of supervillains known as the Ashen Combine. Included on the roster of deadly enemies are Lord Ennui, a literal embodiment of atrophy with the powers to drain an entire city's life; Idol Alabaster, a menacing godhead; Citysmith, an artist who can shape and mold cities like clay; The Dead, who commands an army of ghosts and Meridian Diadem, a living dungeon who consumes prisoners.













They look unusual enough.

 

So do they combine?

They look like d&d villains, maybe marvel is taking notice of how big d&d is now. Interesting if a little strangely powered, I wonder if they'll last.

 

The full cover--

 

I finished The X-Men today. I'm a little mixed on how I feel about the direction the series took. Like Neal Adams artwork was absolutely amazing and put a breath of life into the run that was starting to look a bit stale. Roy Thomas managed to right some truly amazing stories, but they seemed hindered at times for one reason or another. For example, after Professor X dies some random FBI dude shows up and tells the team they need to split apart. That all lasted 2 issues and the FBI dude was never heard from again, making that whole plot seem pointless. It was also weird for Mesmero to show up, worshipping Magneto, but then have it turn out he was using a robot imitation to trick the X-Men.

A lot of the stories had interesting back-up ones on the origins of our team, but they were disjointed. Cyclops got like 5 issues, Ice-Man had 4-5, Beast had I think 3, while Angel was relegated to 3 and Jean didn't get anything. I get we saw her arrival in the premier, but still, she deserved something. It also made no sense when they were advertise Angel as being after Ice-Man, but then we get Beast's story and Angel was already part of the team. I thought I had missed something at first and then it happened again when they said the next issue was going to be about Cyclops being a wanted man, only for it to be some filler story with Blastaar.

Anyway, I highly enjoyed the Havok and Living Pharaoh story, on top of the return of the Sentinels. The Sauron story was good while the Savage Land tale felt a bit rushed. Then we get a stand alone issue that introduces Sunfire, which seemed to end prematurely. Next issue brings back Professor X without any rhyme or reason under the pretense that it was Changeling pretending to be Professor X who died, even though none of that gels with what was established previously. Like why would Charles leave them a farewell letter saying he had cancer if he was using a kagemusha? Just more proof that Xavier is a complete asshole who only cares about his own ambitions. The rest of the issue was mediocre while the finale revolving around the Hulk of all people was equally disappointing. Neal Adams didn't even get the pleasure of drawing the finale, which was super lame.

With that said, I did enjoy the series as a whole even with its mediocrity. Yes, it is by far the weakest of the Silver Age runs I have read so far, but I am glad to have gone through it. There were a lot of brilliant stories and concepts. I just wish there was more of a focus on what they wanted to do with it as it was all over the place from a writing point of view. The separation plot should have been at least a year long venture to make the reunion feel special. I can't lie though, I am glad to be through these issues so I can start rereading the Claremont run and get to do it all in order.

 

Uncanny Spider-Man turns Nightcrawler into the new Spidey

Little odd choice imo.

 

@DrTraveler you’ll be happy to know that the last Epic Collection for Peter David’s Hulk run is releasing this week.

 

Awesome. I’ll have to pick those up. I recall reading his run as it came out. Smart Hulk and the Pantheon is peak teenage DrTraveler reading.

 

https://www.marvel.com/articles/com...nlimited?cid=EML_20230419_CMX_MarvelUnlimited

Important news for Marvel Comics fans who purchase and redeem comic books digitally.

The Marvel Comics app (operated by Comixology) will be shutting down on June 2, 2023. Starting May 2, the ability to purchase comics will be removed from the Marvel Comics app ahead of its June shut down date.

While we are disappointed fans will no longer be able to use the app starting in June, we know many readers have built up incredible digital libraries of Marvel comics on the app. To support our loyal fans, we will be making digital comics purchases made prior to May 2 on the Marvel Comics app (operated by Comixology) available and accessible on the Marvel Unlimited app. No Marvel Unlimited subscription purchase will be required to access your previous Marvel Comics app digital comic library.

iOS users will need to create and link your Marvel Comics app to a Marvel account to be able to access their Marvel Comics library in Marvel Unlimited. Marvel Comics app users with a linked Marvel account will then be able to access their library of existing purchases and redemptions in the Marvel Unlimited app. Instructions on how to create and link a Marvel account are available here. (Android users will not need to do the linking because they already have a Marvel account).

And for readers who want to read even more Marvel comics, Marvel Unlimited is a one-stop destination that offers paid subscription plans for access to over 30,000 comics spanning the entire Marvel Universe with new issues of Marvel's must-read series released weekly, 3 months or sooner after they hit shelves. Single digital comic book purchases are not available on the Marvel Unlimited app.

Digital redemption codes from Marvel print comics purchased in comic shops will also be able to be redeemed in Marvel Unlimited via Marvel.com/redeem starting May 2, no subscription required. To find your local comic shop and purchase Marvel print comics with digital codes, visit comicshoplocator.com.

For more information on how to prepare for this change and how you’ll be able to access your library in Marvel Unlimited soon, please read the FAQs for account linking.

Here are the key dates for Marvel Comics app users to navigate this change:

• May 2: Marvel comics will no longer be able to be purchased on the Marvel Comics app (digital redemption codes may be redeemed in Marvel Unlimited via Marvel.com/redeem).
• May 2: Digital comics purchases made prior to May 2 will be made available and accessible on the Marvel Unlimited app.
• June 2: The Marvel Comics app will be shut down. You must link your Marvel Comics app to a Marvel account before this date to have digital comic libraries available and accessible on the Marvel Unlimited app.

After May 2, 2023, users will be able to purchase Marvel Comics through Amazon as well as select Marvel digital comic graphic novels will be available for purchase through Google Play Books, Apple iBooks, Nook as well as select digital library services. We are working on more options for digital comics readers and more information will be available in the coming months.

For additional comics, users can sign up a subscription for unlimited access to Marvel Unlimited, with over 30,000 comics available to read, for only $5 per month for the first 12 months. Use code UNLIMITED at checkout (terms and conditions apply). A subscription will not be required to access existing digital comic libraries from the Marvel Comics app that have migrated to Marvel Unlimited.

Please visit our FAQs for more information and additional resources regarding migrating your account and accessing digital comics redemption codes from print comics. If you have any questions, please contact Marvel Customer Support at help.marvel.com.

 

Not surprising. I was expecting once Marvel Unlimited got to a good level of functionality. I assume it got there. That or they got to some sort of relevant contract date for working with Comixology on their app.

 

Well that's mildly anxiety provoking. I do have quite a collection. As long as it's a frictionless transition, I don't really care. I'm wondering if the Marvel Unlimited app will now be the only place to get weekly digital Marvel comics. I'm guessing that's what's happening.

 

Just another thing that shows why digital is inferior to physical releases.

 

  They're honoring purchases and letting people port them over to the Marvel Unlimited app, without needing a subscription. This is actually them handling the situation incredibly well, so I'm not seeing how someone could take that approach in regards to this.