Scott's Take: Captain America Vol 1: Our Secret Wars by Chip Zdarsky, Valerio Schiti (Illustrator), and Ben Harvey (Cover Art)

Captain America Vol 1: Our Secret Wars by Chip Zdarsky,  Valerio Schiti (Illustrator), and Ben Harvey (Cover Art) is a prequel story set shortly after Captain America has just woken up from the ice. Captain America, who feels lost and alone in this new country, has been reactivated by the U.S. Army to join a rescue mission to save hostages in Latveria. The country has recently been taken over by the dictator, Dr. Doom. Alongside a new version of the Howling Commandoes and another new Captain America that had not been referenced before, they and the reactivated Captain America are to link up with the resistance. Then get the hostages. Then get out.

 

At least, that was the mission that Steve was told. Of course, the real mission is not that. Not even close to that.  The government knew that Steve is too honorable for the real mission.

 

This is an action-packed thriller with plenty of violence and character development. The physical volume won’t be out until late er this month, as of right now, you can read the whole volume plus more on the Marvel Unlimited app.

 

There will be a second volume set in the present time of the Marvel Universe and that has not been titled yet. It will tie into the One World Under Doom and Armageddon events. According to various interview on Marvel.Com, as since Doctor Doom has left this reality, Latveria has fallen to pieces as various factions seek to control what Doom has left behind. Red Hulk and the U.S. Army will clash with the Avengers and Steve over what remains. Doom has left nukes and even worse things behind. Not much is known about this Armageddon event other than it is going to have massive ramifications and see a new Avengers team assembled to save the world again as the Jed Mackay team has been disbanded.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/42HD9Pm

 

 

As noted, I read this enjoyable book as the individual issues appeared on Marvel Unlimited.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Scott's Take: Marvel: What If...Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force? (An X-Men and America Chavez Story) by Rebecca Podos

Marvel: What If...Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force? (An X-Men and America Chavez Story) by Rebecca Podos is the fourth book in the What If… series, but you could read this one on its own. This one is a complicated time travel book with multiple timelines and flashbacks throughout.

 

Billed as an X-Men and America Chavez story, the main character is actually Kitty Pryde. Kitty Pryde is experiencing flashes of another life. One where she had way different friends and is not a servant of the Hellfire Club (mutant led organization that uses its powers for their own ends) under Emma Frost. These flashes promise a better life.

 

Soon, a stranger, Betsy Braddock, finds her and tells her that she has a psychic trail. A trail that leads into the past. With her help, she can get back the life she should have led. She also needs Pryde’s help to fix her own timeline as she too has a life she should have led.

 

They are not the only ones seeking a way to go back into the past and fix the timelines. America Chavez is as well.

 

They are trying to go back in the past to where the X-Men have lost Jean Grey due to her murder by Dr. Doom and his multiversal counterpart, The Whisper. They want to steal the Phoenix Force and Jean Grey’s status as a Nexus Being. The Whisper knows that if they do that, they will kill everyone who will ever live in this reality. The Whisper does not care. The fact that there are two timelines, one of which were the X-Men are all dead, means the heroes failed to save their teammate. Can the heroes from the broken timelines save Jean Grey and reality?

 

This is a book with extensive connections to X-Men history and is an action-packed adventure with strong character development and romance. I think this book would be hard to follow for people not very familiar with the X-Men as this read takes place over many eras of X-Men history. This is a really good book if you are a fan of Kitty Pryde or the X-Men.

 

It ends on a bit of cliffhanger since there is setup for the last book, Marvel: What If...The Multiverse Was Doomed? by DaVaun Sanders, which comes out in August. Do not read the synopsis for the fifth book before finishing this one.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/48Pq2zc

 

My hardback reading copy came from the Central Branch, aka Downtown, of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026 

Scott's Take: Enemy of My Enemy: A Daredevil Marvel Crime Novel by Alex Segura

 

Enemy of My Enemy: A Daredevil Marvel Crime Novel by Alex Segura is the second book in the Marvel Crime series. The series began with Breaking the Dark: A Jessica Jones Marvel Crime Novel that came out in the summer of 2024. The third book in the series, Truth to Power: A Luke Cage Crime Novel by S. A. Cosby, is scheduled to be released in September.

 

In this book, Daredevil agrees to represent the Punisher who is on trial for the murder of Wilison Fisk, aka Kingpin, and a cop. The death of Kingpin has started a gang war as various people fight over control of the criminal underworld of New York. At the same time,  there is a deeper conspiracy at work in the Punisher case. Can Daredevil stop this war while trying to uncover the truth?

 

This is action packed legal drama with various villains making appearances and a number of supporting characters. There are also some small tie ins to the first book with Jessica Jones and setup for the third book with Luke Cage. It is not necessary to have read the previous Jessica Jones book at all. The author clearly knows a lot about Daredevil and incorporates stuff from the comics as well as the various Netflix, Disney, television series.

 

The only things that bugged me, at times, was the overuse of animal sounds/metaphors/references. Also, the Punisher does not play a big role in this. I thought he would be basically the second main character and he is not. Unlike a Lincoln Lawyer type series novel, in this case, we do not spend much time at all actually in a courtroom at trial. Instead, the read is focused out of the courtroom while dealing with numerous aspects of the case.

 

I enjoyed this book far more than the Jessica Jones book and I highly recommend it. I am looking forward to the Luke Cage book.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4c4JQ3F

 

 

I read this book through Hoopla by way of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2026

Scott's Take: Godzilla vs the Marvel Universe by Ryan North, Gerry Duggan Gerry Duggan, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), and Leinil Yu (Cover Art)

 

Godzilla vs the Marvel Universe by Ryan North, Gerry Duggan, John Romita Jr. (Illustrator), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), and Leinil Yu (Cover Art), collects a series of one shots (one shots for those who don’t know are single issue stories that are supposed to be self-contained). I read these through the Marvel Unlimited app.  In these one shots, Godzilla crossovers and battles various heroes in various times throughout the history of Marvel.  So, you have the 90s X-men vs Godzilla, 80s Spider-man vs Godzilla, Modern Thor vs Godzilla and more. This is just a fun crossover with various heroes dealing with Godzilla.

 

They don’t seem to connect at all and there are no shared creative teams or story. Most of the reads have good art except for the John Romita Jr for the Fantastic Four. I think his art is blocky. Most of these stories are action packed with humor. Some of which is forced, such as Nick Lowe’s editorial jokes in the Spider-Man story. I think he negatively impacted the story overall, but I also have a negative opinion of him based on his public comments about Spider-Man fans. The only story I really did not like was the Hulk vs Godzilla which goes downhill once he introduces some vague villain from the Godzilla Universe. I’d never heard of the character and the story made no sense. 

 

Overall, I think this is a fun collection that leans heavy into the Marvel Universe and not as much in the Godzilla Universe.

 

By the way, there is another Godzilla series that seems completely separate.  Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe has two issues so far at Marvel Unlimited as that is all they have put up. The collected volume is supposed to be released in March 2026. It seems to be completely separate and has all the heroes teaming up to stop him.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4iHvXdn

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: Marvel Tales by J. Michael Straczynski, Will Robson (Illustrator), Bernard Chang (Illustrator), Elena Casagrande (Illustrator), and Leinil Yu (Cover Art)

 

Marvel Tales by J. Michael Straczynski (usually referred to as JMS), Will Robson (Illustrator), Bernard Chang (Illustrator), Elena Casagrande (Illustrator), and Leinil Yu (Cover Art), is a series of one shots (stand-alone single issue stories) collected here that I read through Marvel Unlimited. Most of these are team ups or vs between two characters except for Spider-Man vs the Sinister Sixteen. Rocket Raccoon and Dr Doom team up, Captain America and Volstagg (Thor’s friend) team up, while there is Ghost Rider vs Galactus, Nick Fury takes on Fing Fang Foom (Space Dragon), and other interesting tales.

 

These are fun interesting stories. Some of which are funny. I enjoyed all of them. My favorite was Rocket and Doom’s team up but The Volstagg, Nick Fury ones made me see the characters in a new light. The Spider-Man was the funniest. The plot in the Spider-man has various heroes like Thor, Strange, more trying to share a nice dinner while villains are eating in the same French Restaurant.

 

Each team up or vs are fun reads that shake things up by putting characters together who usually don’t get to team up except for Hulk and Strange. They team up a lot. I think this is a read worth reading.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3XFHGzv

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: Fantastic Four: War Zone by Greg Cox

 

Fantastic Four: War Zone by Greg Cox is a prose novel which I read through Hoopla which was a reissued version of the original story which came out a long time ago. Don’t be fooled by the stylings of the graphic novel cover as this is a regular novel.

 

In this adventure, creatures from the Negative Zone are entering their universe and threatening Earth. Someone has opened a portal into the positive universe and seeks to invade. It looks like Blastaar and Annihulus are back to their old tricks again. It’s up to the Fantastic Four to save the day. Again.  While Reed and Ben go to shut down the portal from the Negative Zone, Johnny and Sue will defend New York from the invaders and protect the Fantastic Four’s portal so Ben and Reed can come home.

 

This is a fun read with a writer who really knows each character. Each of the Fantastic Four are given multiple chapters from their POV. There is a lot of detail written in to each scene. It’s a read that constantly switches from one group to another. There is also a lot more violence as well as a higher civilian death count than a typical Marvel read as the consequences of invasion are felt by the people of New York.

 

I have never found Annihulus that interesting, but this writer has piqued my interest in learning more about the character.  This was a really good read set some time in the past of the Fantastic Four as both Valeria and Franklin are little children. I think this read would be a good basis of a movie at some point.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3I6QTwF

 

As stated in the review, my digital reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: West Coast Avengers Vol. 1: The Gospel of Ultron by Gerry Duggan, Danny Kim (Artist), Arthur Hesli (Colorist), and others

 

West Coast Avengers Vol. 1: The Gospel of Ultron by Gerry Duggan, Danny Kim (Artist), Arthur Hesli (Colorist), and others, collects the first five issues of the series and comes out July 22nd. This series will only be two volumes. Unfortunately, before the trade is even released, they have cancelled this series citing low sales. Obviously it is not being given a second chance with readers with the trade since why would people buy the first volume of a killed series?

 

This series sees a new team of West Coast Avengers (basically California Avengers) attempting to reform villains. One of the biggest recruits to this program is Ultron. Ultron has spread himself into separate programs to prove which way is superior. There is a good Ultron who has joined the Avengers, an evangelistic one who has founded a church dedicated to turning humans into robots, and there are other Ultrons. Also, Hydra Cap is back….

 

The team consists of Spider-Woman, War Machine, Iron Man, Firestar, and Blue Bolt. Iron Man is his usual funny self and I enjoyed his presence. Firestar has one of the most compelling story arcs as her time as a double agent for the X-men has led to her have an alcohol problem and a severe hatred of all robots.

 

The rest of the characters get some moments, but they did not stick in my mind as I read this as it released through the Marvel Unlimited app. The art was above average and worked for this book.  The ending, which is a setup for the second volume is rather abrupt.

 

The second volume titled, War of Ultron, should release December 2025.  I liked this series, but I did not like Akerman’s Iron Man which had two relaunches in ten issues. It seems Iron Man is going to be reset with a new status quo which is another reason this series is being killed.

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4kBRBz0

 

I read this through the Marvel Unlimited app.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: Ultimates Vol 1: Fix the World by Deniz Camp and Jonathan Hickman, Illustrator Juan Frigeri

Ultimates Vol 1: Fix the World by Deniz Camp and Jonathan Hickman, illustrated by Juan Frigeri, is a new series set in the new Ultimate Universe. I read this through Marvel Unlimited. This book collects seven issues of the hit series.  In this book, Tony Stark, Captain America, Doom (Reed Richards), and Thor are building a resistance to the Maker’s Council that secretly runs the world. The world is being run by supervillains and most of the population have no idea. Their secret war takes them to the White House and across the globe. The heroes have their work cut out for them.

 

Each issue for the most part has a simple mandate-- establish a new hero in the Ultimate Universe-- and that is done extremely well. There is action, humor, plenty of beautiful art work, and great character work. New heroes are introduced and existing heroes are redefined to make them different in this universe. The creative team incorporates even less known characters such as the 1st human torch (not to be confused with Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four who eclipsed him in popularity). The Maker’s Council is full of dangerous individuals such as the Hulk and more.

 

Teen Tony Stark and Captain America have fresh spins put on these established heroes. Captain America struggles with the fact that America no longer exists as the Maker has split the world into territories which he has given to his people. Most people living in what was America do not even know that America exists since the council has wiped a lot of information from the world. Teen Stark is a more optimistic and sunnier version of Iron Man. There will be a second volume, but that does not have a title or a release date yet.  I look forward to reading.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4gW0nG9  

 

 

As noted, I read this through the Marvel Unlimited App. As always, nobody has any expectation of me reviewing anything.

 

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom? by Mike Chen

 

What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom? by Mike Chen is the third What If… book. It is way different than What If… Loki Was Worthy? A Loki And Valkyrie Story (did not review) and What if… Wanda Maximoff And Peter Parker were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch And Spider-Man Story, but still worth reading.

 

In this tale, a Moon Knight from somewhere in the multiverse and is the host of Venom arrives and attacks the Moon Knight of the Earth that this tale is primarily told on. The Venom hosting Moon Knight takes over the body of the Moon Knight of that Earth and forces the consciousness of Steven, Jake, Knoshu to flee to the previous Venom hosting body. The Moon Knight of the Earth that was attacked, is now controlled by Venom, while the previous hosting Moon Knight attempts to free him. It is a complicated setup.

 

While this is going on, America aka The Watcher, from the previous books continues to watch the events unfold in this book. Also, the big bad villain of the previous 2 books and caused those events, is finally revealed here.

 

This results in a read where more than five narrators are in the book and switching back and forth. This is a more complicated read than most in the series to date. Moon Knight and Venom are represented heavily through here. One can tell that the author is a big fan of Moon Knight. I feel like Venom gets a bit of a short stick, but is still important. What Venom wants is hard to explain without ruining the novel.

 

What If… Marc Spector Was A Host To Venom?  is a fairly dark action packed read that has some scenes ripped straight from some comics I have read that were recreated here. This is a lot of allusions to previous Moon Knight stories and some to Venom. Having characters having conversations in their head while talking to people outside of their head at the same time is a difficult thing to balance and the author does a good job. One really needs to focus during the read since there is so much going on.

 

One plot point for this read was not handled well and made some plot holes. Severe Spinal Degradation is referenced for one of the characters, but has no impact on the physical capabilities of the character. The Spinal Degradation is supposed to be bad enough to cause the loss of height for one character, but has not slowed them down prior to this read or in this novel. Clearly, this should affect the character far more than simply causing a loss in height, and yet, there is no explanation of why it has not done other typical things.

 

The ending could have been handled better. It is a set up for book 4 as nothing is fully finished here. The reveal of the big bad was also a little lame in my opinion because I do like the character they are using. This character is heavily exposed right now in numerous games and other venues for a movie coming out next in the Avengers series.

 

I also found America’s parts pointless so far. She spends most of the novel saying she needs to do something to stop the big bad, but does nothing until the end of the third novel. She says she is now going to act, but one must wait for book 4 for her to do anything.

 

While I enjoyed it, I don’t think this book would be a good place for non Moon Knight fans to start since it is very complicated.

 

There will be a fourth book in this series that will bring in the X-Men. Some details are revealed here at the end of this book, but as those are spoilers, I am not going to reveal that limited information here. While we do not yet know what the What If… question will be, or the identity of the author, the book is scheduled to come out in the fall of 2025.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/49EBFs4

 

 

My hardback reading copy came by way of the Audelia Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2025

Scott's Take: What if… Wanda Maximoff And Peter Parker were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch And Spider-Man Story by Seanan McGuire

What if… Wanda Maximoff And Peter Parker were Siblings? A Scarlet Witch And Spider-Man Story by Seanan McGuire is the second What If book in a loosely connected series. There is barely any connection to the first book,  What If… Loki Was Worthy? A Loki And Valkyrie Story. The narrator is supposed to be the same, but because this second book has a different author, this “The Watcher” is radically different.   There is also a background villain doing shenanigans, but not really that plot relevant. I enjoyed this book way more than the first one. This story was way more original and more comic book based. The MCU influence on the first one was very heavy and was telling yet another story about what could happen if Loki became worthy.

 

In this story, thanks to a series of events, the Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man grew up together. The cover plot synopsis and what the book is are not the same. The book blurb stuff does not happen until much later in the book. One has to be at least halfway through the read before one starts encountering any of the book blurb stuff.  The plot is actually more of a life story. It tells how they became a family, growing into their powers, losing Uncle Ben, and how they handle early adulthood and their college years.

 

There are a number of guest stars from the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Avengers. Spider-Man is a main character in this novel, but the focus is more on the Scarlet Witch as the main protagonist.  Despite being billed as a duo book, Scarlet Witch is favored more than Spider-man in this story, but he is very important to the plot. There are a number of adult mentor type supporting characters including Doctor Strange. In his case, he is depicted more like his early comic book appearance vs how he is written now. There is a clear sliver age influence to this read. 

 

I really enjoyed this novel, but I wish it was longer since there are events alluded to in this novel that are not fully fleshed out. Also, the ending is rather rushed. I felt like there was a lot more that could have been written.

 

There is a third book coming out in this series from yet another writer.  What If… Marc Spector was a host to Venom by Mike Chen is scheduled to be released on October 22nd.  Marc Spector is one of the personalities that make up Moon Knight. Somehow the dangling plot threads from the first two books are supposed to be connected in that read, but I don’t think they will matter that much.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3Y57t53

 

My hardback reading copy came from the White Rock Hills Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire by Various Authors

Jessica Jones: Playing with Fire by various authors is an eBook that was originally an audiobook. I read the eBook version. It’s a strange book to review because this is a collaboration novel where each of the various authors write a chapter before handing it off to another author to keep the story going. So, each of the authors involved contribute multiple chapters to the read though they may not be consecutive chapters. Overall, it works pretty well here.

 

In this novel, Jessica Jones is supposed to be taking things easier and not getting emotionally invested in her cases. Focusing on getting better with her issues is what her therapist wants.      But this is the tormented Jessica Jones we all know and love.

 

Jessica is hired to find a missing twenty something and does. It’s a simple open and shut overdose on the surface. She should just walk away and call it a job. But, she still has questions like why would a kid who is allergic to opiates take an opiate? Why would a kid who was making plans commit suicide?

 

Clearly inspired more from the Netflix series than the comics, this noir style detective book is fun. However, readers should be warned that there are horror aspects to the read once the main villains are revealed. They are not villains she usually encounters. In fact, these villains are, as far as I know, a first and ones that Jessica has never encountered before anywhere.

 

Jessica Jones is really likeable here as she struggles with her complex PTSD and alcoholism. Luke Cage, Matt Murdock, and Foggy also guest star for a good portion of the novel. I really enjoyed this read.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3WgRlv4

 

My digital reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App through the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: X-Men: Season One by Dennis Hopeless

X-Men: Season One by Dennis Hopeless, released in March 2012, is part of a series of books under the “Season One” tagline. These reads are designed to be a modern expansion of the origins of various heroes. Instead of totally rewriting the origins of the characters, the goal here is to add to the original origin story.

 

In this case, readers begin with the first team of X-Men gathered by Professor X. This story is told mostly through the perspective of Jean Grey, the first female X-Men, as she learns to accept her gifts and learns to become part of a team. The team consists of Angel (rich pretty boy with wings), Iceman (team jokester with ice powers), Cyclops (closed off team leader who skills is launching concussive blasts from out of his eyes), and Beast (genius with superhuman physical abilities). Jean, Cyclops, and Angel have a teen love triangle because that is what high school age teens do when not doing superhero stuff. The usual teen love triangle drama ensues as they face off against Magneto, Unus the Untouchable, and others.

 

The art is pretty cool and displays the action well. It also does a good job of illustrating the character moments well too. There is drama, action, and character exploration as the team struggles to find themselves as individuals as well as work together as a team. This is a good story for people who want to explore the early days of the first X-Men team in the comics.

 

Overall, I highly enjoyed this read.

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4djltxL

 

My reading copy came from the North Oak Cliff Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2024

Scott's Take: Spider-Man: Great Power, Great Mayhem

Spider-Man: Great Power, Great Mayhem is a book of ten short stories by various authors. This middle school age level Spider-Man stories, teenage Spider-man (Peter Parker) faces off against several of his foes while getting help from Thor, Iron Man, and Dr. Strange.

 

None of these ten stories are connected in anyway. The art is good and the writing is good for this kind of thing. Giving each writer a handful of pages does not allow for much breathing room for a story. In these tales, there is not really any character development. Instead, the focus is on the action.

 

Overall, this is a great little collection of Spider-Man stories that, while limited by the format, are pretty fun overall.

 

 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/42e75BP

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App through the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple © 2024

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Super Hero’s Journey by Patrick McDonnell

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: The Super Hero’s Journey by Patrick McDonnell:   Reviewed by Jeanne Growing up, I was an avid consumer of comics—or funny books, as we called them.   I spent hours with various DC heroe...

Scott's Take: Doctor Strange Vol. 1: The Life of Doctor Strange by Jed Mackay

 

Doctor Strange Vol. 1: The Life of Doctor Strange by Jed Mackay is about Dr. Strange returning from the dead and settling back into his life. Life is good. He is married to Clea again and is enjoying being the consulting hero that other heroes come to with magic problems. Of course, this nice life can not last forever.

 

Someone or something is murdering high profile magical bad guys causing power vacuums to form in the bad guy community. Many, including Wong’s new team, think Dr. Strange’s wife, Clea is behind the murders. Not only is Clea violent with a history of killing folks, several of the current victims played a role in killing Dr. Strange and that makes her an obvious prime suspect. The fact that most of these bad guys were extremely powerful means only a few people in the universe could have killed them. That means whoever did it is extremely dangerous.

 

This a fun action packed read features cameos from various heroes. One of my favorite cameos was with Spider-Man as he needs Stephen Strange’s help getting his soul back which he lost in a game of chance to a demon. The current Spider-Man title, which I have nothing good to say about, is subtly made fun of here. It’s not often that writers in the same company go out of their way to bad mouth a title being put out. It is done here and quite funny along with being accurate.

 

Moon Knight is also a great guest star as Stephen Strange is willing to set aside his personal dislike of Moon Knight and the fact that his wife, Clea, likes him in order to help Moon Knight save a group of children that are being magically kept asleep continuously against their will. Their personal dislike is set aside for the greater good to rescue the innocent.

 

Various other heroes also have cameos in this tale told from Clea, Stephen, and Wong’s perspective. Various situations are dealt with in a variety of circumstances as the issue builds to the end where a major villain is introduced. His introduction should have major ramifications as one of Dr. Strange’s major life events has a new twist introduced.

 

There is also a short tale that is kind of separate from everything else and features a different artist where Stephen Strange comes to the aid of Nico of the Runaways. It apparently is set in the past since it reads like they are meeting for the first time. However, they have teamed up several times. Also, Nice for a period was working as a teacher at Dr. Strange’s school.  

 

This is a really fun read and I look forward to reading volume 2 when it comes out next year. I continue to really enjoy everything Jed McKay writes.

 

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023

Scott's Take: Scarlet Witch: Vol. 1: The Last Door by Steve Orlando

 

Scarlet Witch: Vol. 1: The Last Door by Steve Orlando is a new series where the Scarlet Witch has moved to a new town. She has opened up a shop to help people with their problems by way of magical items she sells such as potion, elixirs, and more. There is also some sort of teleportation door affixed to her shop that allows people from all over the world with nowhere else to go to arrive at her shop so that she can help them in addition to her local walk-in customers.

 

Each issue in this collected volume introduces a new supporting character with a new problem or a new guest star. The final issue is mostly a setup for the Contest of Champions Event. As those of us who have read other series already know, and Wanda does not, her former mentor, Agatha, has gone evil. So, the fact that Agatha is visiting in the last issue of the volume is not just because, supposedly, Agatha is worried about her former protégé.

 

The guest stars are drawn from Wanda’s complicated family tree are featured for an issue here and there and are moved on with nothing more said about them. Wanda faces villains that are powerful in their own right, but would not seem to be much of a challenge for her if she was not holding back. She is, in different ways, for the reasons that come clear during the read and does casually performing massive spells.

 

There is humor, action, and drama in interesting storylines accompanied by pretty art. This series is continued with Volume 2: The Magnum Opus.

 

Sometime after that book is released, the series is scheduled to be relaunched as Quicksliver and The Scarlet Witch. This is planned to be a buddy cop style series dealing with Magneto’s death. Before he died, Magneto sent a letter to Wanda that was supposed to read by his children, Wanda and Pietro (Quicksilver), after his death. But, Wanda burned it before Pietro was able to read it. Pietro is peeved about this and there are consequences. This upcoming series is undercut in some ways by Marvel and their marketing choices since we already know sometime next year Magneto will be resurrected. It’s hard to mourn a character when Marvel has already announced his return.

 

My reading copy came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023

Scott's Take: New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 1: Everything Is New by Al Ewing

New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 1: Everything Is New by Al Ewing was published back in 2016 when the Secret Wars had just finished. Marvel made the publishing decision to sideline the big-name Avengers to give the reading public a bit off a break from them. However, the world still needs Avengers.

 

In New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 1: Everything Is New, Sunspot (X-Men and Avenger and will be a main character in X-Men 97 on Disney+ sometime next year) has already taken over the group A.I.M. (a group of mad scientists dedicated to global domination). He is incredibly wealth and used part of that to buy A.I.M. He plans to now use their mad science for good alongside a new group of Avengers he has formed. He also bought an island and told world that his new group of Avengers will protect the world now. Of course, a hero buying a terrorist organization makes people very nervous and that’s before the bad guys get involved.

 

The new team consists of Hawkeye (Clint), Wiccan (Billy, one of the Scarlet Witch’s sons), Hulkling (a Kree-Skrull hybrid), Songbird (former supervillain turned hero). and others. There is also a ton of mad scientists acting as support. Add in a number of villains including one major villain ( that if you read the name now, it would a spoiler) as well as an evil space wizard, and others. Then, make this group a force of time traveling Avengers, and you have tons of weird story possibilities showcased with great art by Gerardo Sandoval. The problems are huge, but Sunspot has ambitious plans to handle them. 

There are two more volumes of this series along with a sequel series. New Avengers: A.I.M. Vol. 2: Standoff is the second volume of the series.

 

My reading copy came from the North Oak Cliff Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Scott A. Tipple ©2023