Teams and families take center stage as heroes work with their close relations and best friends. Beta Ray Bill, an adoptive son of Odin and defender of Asgard, turns to the former All-Father in his quest to replace his shattered Stormbreaker. Black Widow continues working with her Red Room sister—now dubbed the White Widow—in the latest issue of her solo title, and best friends and honorary brothers, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, team-up for some non-Fantastic Four affiliated adventure to repair their bond. As far as legitimate blood ties go, Cyclops and young Cable have a father-son talk about the latter’s place in the current timeline while battling some wandering Arakkoans. Cyke refuses to hear any talk about resurrecting the older, original Cable in his son’s place. Meanwhile, M.O.D.O.K. brings to life his previously imaginary family with the help of some super adaptoids and gets revenge on his manipulative father. New characters added to the database include Aarkus, the original Vision and member of the Invaders; and Caliban, who appears during his time as a Horseman of Apocalypse.
Book the Week – Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 (Review score: 90 Points; 18 Characters). Characters play Musical Man-Thing and take turns entering the psyche of Dr. Ted Sallis as the world burns around them. The Avengers get an assist from Spider-Man and Madame Web’s Order, but the book mainly focuses on Spider-Man’s turn inside the hull of the Man-Thing connecting with Sallis and the history of the SO-2 Serum. Sallis’ old colleague Dr. Curt Connors played a role in the serum’s success and Connors reveals he knows a little something about experimenting on ones self.
Hero of the Week – Spider-Man (PP) (Review score: 31 Points/5 Appearances; 6.2 Pts/App). Peter Parker snags another Hero of the Week title with an impressive five appearances. Surprisingly, none of those appearances come from his solo title. Apart from the Man-Thing tie-in, he guest stars in Miles Morales: Spider-Man to share his own experience with clones with his young protégé, to check in on Cindy Moon in Silk, and runs afoul of Conan and Rhino’s scheme to fund the Bar with No Name. He also cameos in the first issue of the era-spanning Marvels series.
Antagonist of the Week – M.O.D.O.K. (Review score: 11 Points/1 Appearance; 11.0 Pts/App). Rhino scores 11 points in Savage Avengers, but the top honor for the antagonist goes to M.O.D.O.K. for not just wrapping up his miniseries, but creating his own family, curing himself of the faulty memories and killing his father before returning to AIM to exact his revenge. It’s a shame we only give credit to one Character Development per issue.
Performance of the Week – Black Widow (Review score: 18 Points/1 Appearance; 18.0 Pts/App). Black Widow sets out on her next mission in San Francisco: tracking down bad guy Apogee and learning how he connects to the kidnapping of a girl on the street. She battles her way through a tower of bad guys using a wide array of abilities and gadgets, netting 14 distinct power usages.
Top Characters (by review score). Spider-Man/Peter Parker (31); Black Widow, Captain America, Spider-Man/Miles Morales (18); Man-Thing (17), Silk (13), M.O.D.O.K., Rhino, U.S. Agent (11); Lizard (10)
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Key: TU – Team-Up; LT – Lead Team; SC – Save Civilian; CD – Character Development; DA – Defeat Antagonist.
| Beta Ray Bill #2 (21) |
| Beta Ray Bill – Computer, Durability, Melee, Strength, Vehicle, TU (Skurge), LT, DA (Bar biker) Odin – LT Pip the Troll – Melee, Suit, TU (Beta Ray Bill), DA (Bar biker) Antagonist(s) Skurge – Melee, TU (Beta Ray Bill), CD (Returns from Valhalla to assist Beta Ray Bill), DA (Bar biker) |
| Black Widow #6 (21) |
| Black Widow – Agility, Blunt, Crawl, Deception, Durability, Energy, Ensnare, Explosive, Melee, Projectile, Sense, Strength, Tech, Weapon, TU (White Widow), SC, DA (Giant) White Widow – TU (Black Widow), CD (Adopts the White Widow moniker) |
| Cable #10 (20) |
| Cable – Blade, Telekinesis, DA (Captor) Cable (Young) – Blade, Deception, Gun, Telekinesis, Telepathy, Weapon, LT, DA (Pollux) Cyclops – Energy Offensive, DA (Castor) Emma Frost – Influence, Telepathy Professor X |
| Fantastic Four #31 (22) |
| Brainstorm – Tech Human Torch Invisible Woman Mr. Fantastic – Intellect, Reality, Stretch, Suit, Tech, TU (Thing), LT Powerhouse – Vehicle, CD (Starts therapy) Thing – Melee, Reality, Suit, TU (Mr. Fantastic) Antagonist(s) Wizard – Tech |
| M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games #4 (15) |
| Dr. Monica Rappaccini M.O.D.O.K. – Creature, Intellect, Projectile, Tech, Telekinesis, Telekinesis Offensive, Will Power, LT, CD (Creates his fictional family out of Super-Adaptoids), DA (AIM) Scientist Supreme Superia Taskmaster |
| Marvels #1 (59) |
| Aarkus – TU (Captain America) Aero – TU (Captain America) Agent Venom Black Cat – TU (Captain America) Captain America – Magic, Melee, Shield, Shield Defensive, Shield Offensive, Suit, Tech, TU (Storm), DA (Soldiers) Captain Marvel Daredevil – Agility Human Torch – Flight, TU (Captain America) Iron Man – Energy, Flight, TU (Thor), DA (Sea dragon) Iron Torch – Flight Miss America – Flight Mr. Fantastic Namor – Flight Punisher – Explosive, Gun, Weapon, DA (Gangsters) Spider-Man (PP) – Agility, Crawl, Melee, Webs Storm – TU (Captain America) Thing Thor – Flight, Projectile, TU (Iron Man), DA (Sea dragon) Toro – Flight Antagonist(s) Vulture – Flight, Gun, Weapon |
| Miles Morales: Spider-Man #X (21) |
| Spider-Man (MM) – Crawl, Energy, Energy Offensive, Ensnare, Invisibility, Melee, Sense, Strength, Webs, TU (Spider-Man), LT, DA (Bumbler) Spider-Man (PP) – Agility, Durability, Ensnare, Melee, Sense, Webs, TU (Spider-Man) |
| New Mutants #17 (28) |
| Anole Cosmar – Reality Karma – Artifact, Creature, Invisibility, Possession, Sense, Telepathy, Telepathy Offensive, CD (Asks Dani to be her partner in the Crucible) Mirage – Creature, Invisibility, Melee, Projectile, Telepathy, Telepathy Offensive Roma – Artifact, Teleport Scout Wolfsbane – CD (Joins Shadow King to mentor the young kids) Antagonist(s) Shadow King – Influence, CD (Makes it his mission to heal broken minds on Krakoa) |
| Savage Avengers #20 (35) |
| Conan – Blade, Business, Ensnare, Melee, Thief, TU (Rhino) Spider-Man (PP) – Agility, Crawl, Durability, Ensnare, Melee, Sense, Strength, Webs, SC Antagonist(s) Angar the Screamer Kulan Gath – Heal Orb Red Ghost Rhino – Appendage, Appendage Offensive, Business, Durability, Melee, Rage, Strength, Thief, Weapon, TU (Conan) Tatterdemalion Toad |
| Silk #2 (11) |
| Silk – Agility, Crawl, Ensnare, Melee, Strength, Weapon, Webs, SC, CD (Receives a new therapist) Spider-Man (PP) |
| Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing #1 (90) |
| Black Panther – Claws, Energy, Suit, TU (Spider-Man), LT, DA (Spores) Blade – Blade, DA (Spores) Captain America – Melee, Shield, Shield Defensive, Shield Offensive, Will Power, TU (Lizard), DA (Spores) Captain Marvel – Energy, Melee, DA (Spores) Ghost Rider (RR) – Flames, Vehicle, DA (Spores) Ghost-Spider – Webs, DA (Spores) Hulk (JW) – Blunt Iron Man – Flight Madame Web – Sense, LT Magik – Teleport Man-Thing – Absorb, Appendage Offensive, Blunt, Claws Offensive, Deception, Demonic, Ensnare, Flames, Heal, Melee, Morph, Plants, Stretch, Teleport, TU (Spider-Man), DA (Spores) Silk – Webs, DA (Spores) Spider-Girl – Webs, DA (Spores) Spider-Man (MM) – Energy Offensive, Webs, TU (Black Panther), DA (Spores) Spider-Man (PP) – Influence, Melee, Webs, TU (Lizard), SC, DA (Spores) Spider-Woman – Energy Offensive, DA (Spores) Thor – Flight, Lightning, DA (Spores) Antagonist(s) Lizard – Claws, Claws Offensive, Melee, Morph, Sense, Strength, TU (Spider-Man), LT, DA (Spores) |
| U.S. Agent #5 (11) |
| U.S. Agent – Intellect, Melee, Projectile, Shield, Shield Defensive, Shield Offensive, Strength, Weapon, SC, DA (U.S. Agent) |
| X-Men Legends #3 (27) |
| Angel – Appendage Defensive, Flight, Projectile Beast – Agility Caliban Cyclops – Energy, Energy Defensive Iceman – Flight, Ice, Ice Defensive Marvel Girl – Flames, Flight, Sense, Telekinesis, Telekinesis Defensive Antagonist(s) Apocalypse – Tech, Teleport, TU (Cameron Hodge) Cameron Hodge – TU (Apocalypse), CD (Receives a new robot body from Apocalypse) |
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