Welcome back to the Marvel Rundown! This week, return to the halcyon days of the 1970s, as the bouncing blue Beast and Wonder Man team-up in X-Force #49! Then, slide on down to the Rapid Rundown for quick takes on Daredevil #6 and Ultimate Spider-Man #2!
What did you think of this week’s batch of fresh Marvel Comics, True Believers? The Beat wants to hear from you! Give us a shout-out, here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat, and let us know what you’re thinking.
X-Force #49
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Robert Gill
Color Artist: GURU-eFX
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Design: Tom Muller & Jay Bowen
Cover Artist: Daniel Acuña (after Gil Kane, Dave Cockrum, Glynis Wein and Danny Crespi)
X-Force has been one of the most consistent titles across the entire Krakoan era — and for better or worse, that’s meant a very slow burn from Benjamin Percy. There have been points throughout the run where I’ve questioned this approach, but as we reach the climactic end, it feels more and more worth it.
With the exception of Deadpool and Black Tom Cassidy (who Percy nailed from the beginning, no notes there), each character on this roster has gone through an arc of significant growth in the four and a half years since the book started. Subplots have weaved in and out of the book as time has gone on, making this feel dynamic and different from arc to arc. Not everything has worked (and I wish we’d had more time with Colossus), but when it hits, it hits.
Nothing has hit more than the (decade-spanning) slide into villainy from Hank McCoy, the Beast. The seeds have been present since the mid-90s, but it’s been here that we’ve seen the characterization ramp up, to nearly unbelievable ends. This week, Beast has gone so far as to steal nuclear weapons, as a means to hide mutants living on Arakko, so that he may enact some insane plan upon humanity. Dark stuff indeed.
It’s no wonder that this was where Percy chose to bring in a cloned Beast, with the more exuberant personality he had in the mid 70s, at the peak of his Avengers era. Moreover, there was no better time to bring back the stoner comedy duo of The Beast and Wonder Man (Simon Williams), besties that haven’t really hung out since Hank turned serious in the aftermath of the Legacy Virus.
While Robert Gill and GURU-eFX do a great job depicting the acrobatics of this more youthful Beast (as he bounces from rooftop to rooftop to Simon’s arms), we don’t get too much time with the pair. The machiavellian machinations of the elder Beast requires more pages, and the issue ends with X-Force planning to take out both Beasts, assuming the younger one has broke bad as well.
There’s definitely some major decompression here, but it’s interesting what moves forward and what doesn’t. Barely anything happens with X-Force themselves, but then we spend so much time with them thinking about what to do. The time we spend with Hank and Simon is fun, but then that feels rushed along. Percy thrives with his character work, and I love a good quiet issue, but it feels as though this last arc has finally built up to this huge climax… just to keep waiting for something to happen in the next issue. The story isn’t bad, but it feels way too much like writing for trade.
Verdict: STRONG BROWSE. The story is great, but works even better read altogether.
Rapid Rundown!
- Daredevil #6
- Writer Saladin Ahmed’s run on Daredevil has been a bit rudderless in its first six months, with a mishmash of theology and a host of logistical questions about Matt Murdock’s priesthood better left ignored. Here, the big thematics begin to coalesce and some questions are half-answered to quell the pedantic (like me). Unfortunately, those thematics feel achingly familiar—Matt Murdock feels guilty about his double life and takes out his self hatred on criminals. This issue, though, sees the return of Aaron Kuder on art, who treats us to a psychedelic trip through Daredevil’s personal hell courtesy of Dr. Strange. Jesus Aburtov’s color work shines in this issue, leaning into the red and orange of the hellfire that Daredevil so greatly fears. It makes for a stark contrast once a surprising new look is revealed. It’s the strongest issue of the series so far but it still feels like it’s been done before—and without being so on the nose with its supernatural themes. —TR
- Ultimate Spider-Man #2
- Last month’s Ultimate Spider-Man #1 set up one of the most interesting Spider-Man comic premises in many years: an adult Peter Parker who never got powers as a youth has a family, a career, and an Uncle Ben who is very much alive. But now, he’s getting his powers as an established adult, aware as he does that he had another destiny. It’s a fascinating high concept, one that mixes with the revival of the Ultimate Universe and the lingering Spider-Fan angst over One More Day. This week, Ultimate Spider-Man #2 digs even further into what that high concept means for the characters involved, specifically for Peter, his children, his wife, and his living uncle. Which is all a way to say that I think anyone who was hooked by Ultimate Spider-Man #1 will come away from this issue just as engaged with the run as they were after that chapter. It’s well-done, interesting, and perfectly-paced. This issue was written by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Marco Checchetto, colors by Matthew Wilson, and letters by Cory Petit. —ZQ
Next week: Amazing Spider-Man #44 and another awesome installment of Women of Marvel!
Hank and Simon together again just like old times I really hope Beast turns good again redemption after all is the key.
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