Face front, True Believers! It’s time for the Marvel Rundown. We have a real scorcher this week as Ms. Marvel’s adventures in the past go sideways with Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse. With the world on the brink of destruction, can Kamala get back to the present?! Meanwhile in the Rapid Rundown, the hunt continues with Predator vs Spider-Man #3, dark secrets come to light in Spider-Man and Wolverine #2, Peter returns to New York in Ultimate Spider-Man #18 Stay frosty, readers! As the Marvel Rundown begins now!
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Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse #1
Writers: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
Artist: C.F. Villa & Rafael Loureiro
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Adam Kubert & Laura Martin
Kamala Kahn’s time-travel adventure continues as the David-less Legion transports them both to the Age of Apocalypse, specifically right before the events of the finale, X-Men Omega. With Legion being drained by the Phoenix Force, they begin to seek a new power source and that draws them to the M’kraan Crystal. Meanwhile, Kamala continues to come to terms with her mutant identity with the help of AoA-Rogue.
At this point in these Giant-Size one-shots. There is a noticeable story telling pattern taking shape. Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly lean into this rhythm of Legion’s backstory, meeting the X-Men of the time, Ms. Marvel having doubts and getting reassured, and then taking to the main battle at the crux of the story arc. This framework is effective and helps keep the story moving at a brisk pace, albeit somewhat repetitive in structure.
This is the first of the Giant-Size stories that doesn’t directly deal with a Claremont classic. In fact, we skip almost all of the 80’s in favor of the Age of Apocalypse. Which is fine, given that it’s yet another anniversary of the seminal 90’s event. It’s just odd that it skips Mutant Massacre or X-Tinction Agenda. Of course, this is likely not just because of the Age of Apocalypse anniversary but also to help tie into the upcoming Jeph Loeb and Simone Di Meo X-Men of Apocalypse (we will get back to that in a moment).
Either way, Giant-Size Age of Apocalypse is aided by not reminding the reader of an all-time classic for the entire issue. Don’t get me wrong, the original Age of Apocalypse event is a lot of fun and enjoyable, but it’s no Dark Phoenix Saga. The downside is that the Age of Apocalypse is a much larger story in its structure and as such key moments and characters are hardly present. Honestly, not much makes this world feel like the Age of Apocalypse besides the costume designs and general dystopian setting. We don’t see Weapon X, Prelate Summers, Nate Gray, and we barely see Apocalypse. That said, Jackson and Lanzing continue to develop Kamala, but it is starting to feel a bit repetitive. I don’t know if these story beats for Kamala feel repetitive because the writers feel like they need to restate the story so far due to fact that this story is being told through a series of one-shot stories without much connecting them beyond the Giant-Size banner and Ms. Marvel on the cover. That or they are padding out this character growth while being as subtle as a bag of hammers.
The art by C.F. Villa & Rafael Loureiro is solid. One of the strengths of the original Age of Apocalypse is the character designs and Villa and Loureiro nail them. The storytelling is clear and concise throughout the issue. Well, mostly. Ms. Marvel’s new mutant abilities are still poorly defined, and it seems no artist can figure out how to illustrate them. They look to be the hard-light abilities from the MCU, BUT there isn’t much clarity, and, in this issue, it implies there might be more to them than that. Something so much more that makes it dangerous. That is less on Villa and Loureiro and more on the editorial, not setting a style guide for this.
Now, let’s get to the back-up Age of Apocalypse Revelation Story by Jeph Loeb and Simone Di Meo. This back-up tries to establish a deeper connection between AoA Sabertooth and Weapon X, but I’ll be honest it made zero sense when I read it. The story is definitely Loeb trying to be “mysterious” but it will never pay off and the art by Di Meo looks pretty but lacks fundamental storytelling elements as character just pop in and out of panels and nothing is ever clearly established. I have been vocal about my lack of interest in the upcoming X-men of Apocalypse story and this back-up did little to help assuage my concerns.
This Giant-Size series feels like it is supposed to be the story where Kamala accepts her mutant identity and develops her power while learning the history of mutant-kind, but the character growth has been stalled, the powers are ill defined, and the history lesson is uneven. It is a well-written and illustrated series of issues. Marvel’s putting some of their top talent on these books for a reason. Yet, this is the mid-point of this storyline, and I find myself once again questioning if this comic is doing what it sets out to do effectively.
Final Verdict: BROWSE
The Rapid Rundown
- Predator Versus Spider-Man #3
- Writer Benjamin Percy has low-key made a maxi-series of the Predator VS mini-series. Starting with Predator vs. Wolverine to Predator vs Black Panther to the soon to be released Predator vs the MCU, but before we start digging graves, the alien hunters from space have to deal with everyone’s favorite wallcrawler. Predator Versus Spider-Manis not for the kids, as this book goes hard with the stabby/killy nature of the Predators. The Beat’s previous Marvel Rundown by D. Morris does a great job of writing about the violence and gore of this series, so I’ll just pick up the blade from here. SPOILER ALERT: Percy has a talent for writing dark, violent stories, and this isn’t any different as he adds an outcast serial killer to the Predator mythos, to combine the stereotypical brutal and violent nature of the Predators with that of a sadistic sociopath is a crazy concept that works in a big way. And a comic wouldn’t be a comic without art, and the art team of penciler Marcelo Ferreira, inker Jay Leisten, and colorist Frank D’Armata are doing their thing with an incredibly vibrant and actualized Spidey. The way that Spidey battles with the Predators is beautiful in a fluid action style that is both quintessential comic storytelling with Renaissance level styling. With this last bit, I don’t want to go too deep, but the inclusion of Kraven the Hunter is a perfect element to the story as he hunts the hunters. Only Wu-Tang is for the kids, and this book isn’t the typical Spidey book with its dark tones that are reminiscent of The Death of Jean DeWolff or Kraven’s Last Hunt A solid read. – GC3
- Spider-Man and Wolverine #2
- If one thing is clear about Marvel in 2025, it is that many of its books are designed based on a mathematical equation of which properties sell reliably. In the case of this team up, it’s hard to imagine Marc Guggenheimwalking in with a story that he was dying to tell. The fact that it deals directly with Peter Parker’s secret agent parents—perhaps the single most ill-conceived retcon in Marvel history by Stan Lee no less—is evidence. To Marvel’s credit, they put the inimitable Kaare Andrews on art duties. Despite its basic appeal I’ve long wanted regular team-ups between Wolverine and Spider-Man, who are a terrific, odd couple with the potential to be an iconic pair like Batman and Superman. This miniseries has not tapped into that full potential, though. The star here in this all-out brawl of an issue is wild art. Andrews exaggerates and foreshortens in massive panels and spreads that rock the book off its visual axis. As much as the inclusion of the parents made me groan, it leads to a compelling reversal with Wolverine the one trying to stay grounded and compassionate and Spider-Man consumed by rage. And when Spider-Man unleashes his full strength and knocks Wolverine’s adamantium jaw out of place, it’s hard not to admire how Guggenheim and Andrews are letting each other go off. Brian Reber goes with mostly flat colors that give the book a retro visual appeal, with pops of red and orange that play off the literal flames of the scene and the fire raging inside Peter Parker. This 20-page fight is light on dialogue, but Travis Lanham makes the most of it, visualizing Peter’s mental state and punctuating Kaare Andrews’ contorted and weighty imagery with crunchy SFX that play off of and integrate with the action. It’s a solid comic but I’m not sold on the story it’s telling yet. – TR
- Ultimate Spider-Man #18
- Finally, the book about Spider-Man is about Spider-Man again. Ultimate Spider-Man #18, by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Marco Checchetto, puts Peter back in the spotlight and gives fans some much-needed time with the matured Web-Head. Peter heads back to New York, leaving his family behind, meaning that, once again, Mary Jane is doing nothing in this book. So far, that’s been its biggest detractor; despite giving Spidey fans everything they want in a family-oriented Peter, Hickman doesn’t seem interested in exploring the drama of it all and relegates MJ and May to passive figures in Peter’s life, while his son gets a more active role. The issue features a small montage of Peter taking out classic interpretations of Spider-Man villains, which only makes me yearn for more focus on Spider-Man being a hero rather than the Green Goblin plotline that the book is diving into. Not that Gwen as Mysterio wasn’t an interesting twist, but we could have done without this issue and focused instead on how Peter has improved as Spider-Man, or how his actions are creating a real mess for the Kingpin, or on introducing more Ultimate versions of classic Spider-Man villains. Or even having a more interesting dynamic with Peter and Harry after Harry reveals he faked his death. There’s a brief moment where we learn that Otto has been staying at the Parker residence, but this is played for laughs more than anything else, so miles may vary on if it lands with you. The cliffhanger for the issue involves Richard and Black Cat in a way that tees up something interesting for the next issue. It’s undoubtedly a great cliffhanger for the next issue, but we’ll have to wait and see if anything happens from it or if it leads to more of nothing- LM
That’s it for this week’s Marvel Rundown! Be sure to as Godzilla battles the God of Thunder and the X-Men hold a Hellfire Vigil for the fallen. Not enough rundown for you! Be sure to read past reviews from the Rundown team!
