The kids are alright. Following our 2020 ruling that characters staring in a solo title or team book get automatically included in stat tracking—so long as that book takes place in the 616—the Children of the Atom get invited to the stat-keeping party. And this is one party they can attend, unlike their invitation to Krakoa given the fact that they seem to be tech-savvy kids simply parading around as mutants. In the first issue by creators Vita Ayala and Bernard Chang, Pixie, Magma and Maggot track down Cherub, Cyclops-Lass, Daycrawler, Gimmick and Marvel Guy to lead them home. But when the Children of the Atom fail to show up, the X-Men’s big guns, and the inspiration for several of their powers, debate reaching out to the kids directly. A new issue of Eternals means a new immortal being gets added to the roster, this time its Thena, the lover of Deviants. Hydro-Man also appears for the first time since his being held as Namor’s captive in Invaders 10 way back in October 2019.
Book the Week – X-Factor #8 (Review score: 48 points; 14 characters). Following their deaths in the previous issue, the members of X-Factor investigate their own murder after being resurrected by the Five. Morrigan, an ancient Celtic Goddess of Death, uses Siryn to haunt the Boneyard with the reanimated corpses of the recently dead mutants. By the end of the issue, Polaris and Prestige are able to break through and reach Siryn, but Morrigan is already fighting to regain control over the team’s friend and ally.
Hero of the Week – Spider-Man (Review score: 23 points; 11.5 Pts/App). It took 10 weeks, but Spider-Man finally gets his first Hero of the Week title in 2021. He’s got a new title, Non-Stop Spider-Man spearheaded by a powerhouse team of Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo, and he’s got a new suit thanks to a new job in his Amazing Spider-Man comic. He’s in familiar territory, working with J. Jonah Jameson and Norah Winters at a news publication, but being a member of the Threats and Menace team and giving them an inside look into Spider-Man’s business will surely come back to bite him.
Antagonist of the Week – Baron Zemo (Review score: 9 points; 9 Pts/App). Baron Zemo ties with Taskmaster in terms of review scores, but he earns the Antagonist of the Week because he uses more powers and makes the most of his short backup story in Non-Stop Spider-Man. Zemo (who should get a push in the comics to coincide with his role in the upcoming Falcon and Winter Soldier Disney Plus series) is tracking down Hydra splinter cells and dispatching them without mercy as he deems them unworthy of living up to Hydra’s original standards.
Performance of the Week – Deadpool (Review score: 12 Points; 12 Pts/App). Happy Birthday, Deadpool. To celebrate, the Merc with a Mouth gets an anthology issue featuring other characters from throughout his history. Cable (several of them) show up, as does Domino, Wolverine and Agent X. His 12 points are not as impressive as one would expect from a roughly 40 page anniversary issue, but it is enough to make his one appearance from the week stand out. He scores a point for his main powers including a Blade, Durability, Fourth Wall, Gun, Heal and Weapon, plus a few others and a Team-Up and Defeats Antagonist.
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Key: TU – Team-Up; LT – Lead Team; SC – Save Civilian; CD – Character Development; DA – Defeat Antagonist.
| Amazing Spider-Man #61 (39) |
| Spider-Man (PP) – Agility, Business, Crawl, Energy, Ensnare, Melee, Strength, Webs, CD (Joins Threats and Menaces), DA (Boomerang Revenge Squad) Antagonist(s) Boomerang Bullseye – Gun Hammerhead Hydro-Man – Grow, Melee, Morph, Water, Water Offensive, CD (Joins the Boomerang Revenge Squad) Kingpin – Business, Tech, LT Madame Masque Owl Shocker – Energy, Melee, Weapon, CD (Joins the Boomerang Revenge Squad) Silvermane Speed Demon – Melee, Speed, CD (Joins the Boomerang Revenge Squad) Tombstone |
| Children of the Atom #1 (33) |
| Cherub – Appendage Defensive, Flight, Sonics, DA (Hell’s Belles) Cyclops – Precision Cyclops-Lass – Energy, Energy Offensive, Precision, LT, DA (Hell’s Belles) Daycrawler – Teleport, Teleport Defensive, DA (Hell’s Belles) Gimmick – Energy, Energy Defensive, Projectile, DA (Hell’s Belles) Maggot Magma Marvel Girl Marvel Guy – Influence, DA (Hell’s Belles) Nightcrawler Pixie – Flight Storm Wolverine |
| Conan the Barbarian #19 (8) |
| Conan – Blade, Durability, Melee, Strength, Weapon, SC, DA (Silver Ape) |
| Daredevil #28 (8) |
| Daredevil – Melee, Sense, DA (Prisoners) Elektra – Melee Antagonist(s) Kingpin Typhoid Mary |
| Deadpool Nerdy 30 #1 (35) |
| Agent X – Durability, Melee, TU (Deadpool) Cable Cable (Young) Deadpool – Blade, Business, Durability, Fourth Wall, Gun, Heal, Melee, Thief, Weapon, TU (Agent X), DA (Drug scientist) Diamondback – Business, Explosive, DA (Stilt-Man) Domino – Business, DA (Stilt-Man) Wolverine – Claws, Claws Defensive, Claws Offensive, Durability, Melee Antagonist(s) Stilt-Man – Gun, Melee, Stretch |
| Eternals #3 (16) |
| Druig – CD (Becomes the Supreme Leader of Polaria) Ikaris – Energy Defensive, Flight, Sense, SC Kingo Sunen Sersi Sprite – Magic Thena – Blade, Projectile, Telepathy, DA (Tzaigo) |
| Immortal Hulk #44 (31) |
| Doc Samson – Claws Hulk – Durability, Morph, Personality, Strength, Weapon, CD (Dies) Puck Rick Jones Shaman Antagonist(s) Ironclad – Durability, Melee, Size, Strength, DA (Hulk) Leader Vapor – Flight, Morph, Toxin, DA (Hulk) Vector – Energy Offensive, DA (Hulk) X-Ray – Energy Offensive, Flight, DA (Hulk) |
| Non-Stop Spider-Man #1 (21) |
| Spider-Man (PP) – Agility, Crawl, Durability, Ensnare, Melee, Sense, Strength, Tech, Weapon, Webs, SC Antagonist(s) Baron Zemo – Agility, Assassin, Blade, Gun, Precision, Projectile, Weapon, DA (Hydra splinter cell) |
| Strange Academy #X (8) |
| Doctor Strange – Business, Flight Doctor Voodoo – Business Scarlet Witch – Business Antagonist(s) Loki |
| Taskmaster #4 (20) |
| Black Widow Nick Fury Jr. – Deception, Gun, Melee, TU (Taskmaster) Okoye – Blade, Melee, Weapon, LT Antagonist(s) Taskmaster – Blade, Deception, Melee, Sense, Stealth, Tech, TU (Nick Fury Jr), DA (Okoye) |
| Wolverine: Black, White and Blood #4 (30) |
| Storm – Elements, Flight Wolverine – Agility, Claws, Claws Defensive, Claws Offensive, Durability, Gun, Heal, Melee, Sense, Stealth, Strength, Vehicle, TU (Sauron), DA (Reavers) Antagonist(s) Mystique – Agility, Durability, Gun, Melee, Morph, Whip Sauron – Claws Offensive, Flight, Telepathy, TU (Wolverine) |
| X-Factor #8 (48) |
| Aurora – Flight, Melee Egg – Biokinesis Elixir – Heal Eye-Boy – Melee, Precision, Sense, LT Hope Summers – Energy Northstar – Flight, Speed, LT Polaris – Flight, Magnetics, Magnetics Offensive Prestige – Creature, Strength, Telepathy, Telepathy Offensive Prodigy – Intellect, Melee, Sense, Tech Professor X Siryn – Claws, Deception, Magic, Morph, Sense, DA (Daken) Tempus – Reality Antagonist(s) Daken – Claws, Claws Offensive, Sense Proteus – Reality |
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