Things are not always so black and white in the Marvel universe. Unless of course it’s part of your code name. Black Cat and Black Widow both had books come out this week which featured White Fox and White Widow, respectively. Metaphorically speaking, things aren’t so black and white for Shang-Chi, who uneasily navigates the fine line between superhero and commander of the criminal Five Weapons Society. Other characters to’ muddy up the waters this week include the Chameleon making Teresa Parker question her whole life and the Eternal Phastos who seemingly betrays his family. New characters added to the database include Brother Sabre, Gilgamesh and Kro.
FCL Podcast 05 – Low Key Power Hungry
Book the Week – X-Factor #10 (Review score: 71 Points; 47 Characters). The Hellfire Gala, and the X-Factor series, ends with a murder to shake the foundations of Krakoa. After making peace with Magneto, the Scarlet Witch—the Pretender—ends up dead, found abandoned in the bushes by her son, Speed. Though their series may be over—and their leader may have found a new team—X-Factor’s story continues in the upcoming Trial of Magneto series. Also murder-related, Prodigy solves the case of his own murder and Daken reveals that Aurora enacted revenge on the man who murdered her at the beginning of X-Factor.
Hero of the Week – Captain America (Review score: 20 Points/3 Appearances; 6.67 Pts/App). Captain America caps a strong month with an appropriate Hero of the Week title. He ascends to the second best character overall for Marvel in 2021. Captain America’s latest series, United States of Captain America, begins with Steve teaming up with Sam Wilson, his longtime ally and former Captain America. The duo set out to track down an Cap imposter and meet every day citizens who they have inspired.
Antagonist of the Week – Mordred (Review score: 9 Points/1 Appearance; 9.0 Pts/App). Though Mordred misses out on claiming the Ebony Blade, he still manages to create the Ebony Crown with the artifacts under his control. This earns him his first Antagonist of the Week, with one book left in the miniseries.
Performance of the Week – White Fox (Review score: 14 Points/1 Appearance; 14.0 Pts/App). White Fox recruits (see, deceives) Black Cat to help her rescue Taegukgi, her Tiger Division teammate and South Korea’s national hero. Though the similar characters get off to a rocky start, by the end of their rescue mission Fox and Cat develop somewhat of antagonistic friendship.
Top Characters (by review score). Captain America (20); White Fox (14); Black Widow, Shang-Chi (12); Black Cat (11); Cable (10); Eye-Boy, Mordred (9); Black Knight, Prodigy, Spider-Man/Peter Parker (8)
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For those keeping track of their own review teams, full statistics can be found in the below character reviews. Please use these results to determine your score and let us know how you performed. To become a Sanctioned Review Agent you can support us via the Fantasy Comic League’s Patreon page. Make sure to tweet any questions or comments to @FantasyComicLG on Twitter while using the #FantasyComicLeague tag!
Key: TU – Team-Up; LT – Lead Team; SC – Save Civilian; CD – Character Development; DA – Defeat Antagonist.
| Beta Ray Bill #4 (9) |
| Beta Ray Bill – Artifact, Blade, Weapon, DA (Muspelheim monster) Pip the Troll Antagonist(s) Skurge Surtur – CD (Returns) |
| Black Cat Annual #1 (33) |
| Black Cat – Agility, Business, Claws, Claws Offensive, Explosive, Melee, Speed, Thief, TU (White Fox), DA (Mongdal) Luna Snow – Ice Offensive, TU (Black Cat) Nick Fury Jr. – Vehicle Nighthawk – Explosive, Melee White Fox – Agility, Claws Offensive, Deception, Espionage, Melee, Morph, Sense, Speed, Suit, Tech, TU (Black Cat), LT, DA (Maidens) |
| Black Knight: Curse of the Ebony Blade #4 (23) |
| Black Knight (DW) – Blade, Magic Offensive, Melee, Rage, Sense, Vehicle, TU (Elsa Bloodstone) Black Knight (SPoS) Elsa Bloodstone – Creature, Melee, Strength, TU (Black Knight) Antagonist(s) Mordred – Artifact, Blade, Morph, Shield, Shield Defensive, Weapon, CD (Forges the Ebony Crown), DA (Black Knight) |
| Black Widow #8 (23) |
| Black Widow – Blade, Durability, Espionage, Explosive, Melee, Suit, Tech, Weapon, TU (White Widow), LT, DA (Olio goons) Spider-Girl – Espionage, Invisibility, Webs, TU (Black Widow) White Widow – Gun, Melee, Weapon, TU (Black Widow), DA (Olio goons) |
| Cable #11 (51) |
| Cable – Blade, Computer, Plant, Teleport, Vehicle, TU (Cable), LT, CD (Returns), DA (Monster) Cable (Young) – Influence, Telepathy, Vehicle, TU (Domino), CD (Supports the resurrection of his older self) Cyclops – TU (Domino) Deadpool – Fourth Wall, TU (Cable) Domino – TU (Cable) Egg – Biokinesis Elixir – Heal Hope – Influence, TU (Cable), LT, CD (Reunites with Cable) Magik – Teleport, TU (Cable) Marvel Girl – Telekinesis, Telekinesis Offensive, TU (Domino) Prestige – TU (Cable) Professor X – Telepathy Stepford Cuckoos – Melee, TU (Cable) Tempus – Reality Antagonist(s) Proteus – Reality Stryfe |
| Daredevil #31 (23) |
| Daredevil – Blunt, Melee, Weapon, DA (Prison guards) Elektra – Melee, Projectile, Rage, Strength, Weapon, DA (Thugs) Antagonist(s) Bullseye – Assassin, Gun, Weapon Hammerhead – Melee Kingpin (IL) Kingpin (WF) – Melee Typhoid Mary – Blade |
| Eternals #5 (29) |
| Druig Gilgamesh – Durability, Energy Defensive, Melee, Teleport Ikaris – Durability, Energy Offensive, Flight, Melee, Strength Iron Man Kingo Sunen – Tech Phastos – TU (Thanos), CD (Betrays the Eternals) Sersi – Deception, Durability, Telepathy, Telepathy Offensive, LT Sprite Thena – Tech Antagonist(s) Thanos – TU (Phastos) |
| Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man: Chameleon Conspiracy #1 (30) |
| Silver Sable Spider-Man (PP) – Ensnare, Melee, Vehicle, Weapon, Webs, SC, DA (Chameleons) Antagonist(s) Black Ant Chameleon – Deception, Morph, CD (Reveals his origin to Theresa Parker) Doctor Octopus Electro – Energy Offensive Foreigner – Gun, Melee, Weapon, TU (Jack O’Lantern) Jack O’Lantern – Melee, Vehicle, TU (Foreigner) Kindred Kraven Kraven (LS) Taskmaster |
| Marvels #3 (30) |
| Human Torch Invisible Woman Mr. Fantastic – Sonics, Tech, Vehicle, TU (Baltroc the Leaper), LT Nick Fury Thing – Gun, Vehicle, TU (Baltroc the Leaper) Winter Soldier – Gun, DA (Soldier) Antagonist(s) Batroc the Leaper – Melee, Vehicle, TU (Mr. Fantastic), DA (Soldier) Kro – LT M.O.D.O.K. (GT) – Gun, Vehicle, TU (Mr. Fantastic) Red Guardian – Melee, Projectile |
| Shang-Chi #2 (31) |
| Brother Sabre – Agility, Artifact, Deception, Melee Captain America – Melee, Projectile, Shield, Shield Defensive, Shield Offensive, TU (Shang Chi), DA (Iron Fan) Shang-Chi – Agility, Artifact, Deception, Explosive, Intellect, Melee, Shield, Strength, TU (Captain America), LT, DA (Iron Fan) Sister Dagger Antagonist(s) M.O.D.O.K. – Telekinesis, Telekinesis Offensive Puff Adder Viper |
| United States of Captain America #1 (17) |
| Captain America – Agility, Melee, Projectile, Shield, Shield Offensive, Vehicle, TU (Falcon), LT, SC, CD (Expresses a crisis of faith in the American Dream) Falcon – Flight, Speed, TU (Captain America), SC, CD (Takes up the mantle of Captain America once more) |
| X-Factor #10 (71) |
| Aurora – CD (Reveals she killed her murderer) Beast Cannonball Captain America Colossus Domino Egg Elixir Emma Frost Eye-Boy – Intellect, Magic, Magic Offensive, Sense, Sleuth, LT, CD (Learns new ways to harness his powers), DA (Murderer) Frenzy Gambit Gimmick – CD (Makes it to Krakoa) Hope Iceman Jubilee Karma Kate Pryde Kid Omega Magik Magneto Manifold Mr. Fantastic Multiple Man Northstar – Speed Penance Polaris – Magnetics Prestige – Sense Prodigy – Computer, Intellect, Melee, Sense, Sleuth, CD (Gets revenge on the man who murdered him), DA (Murderer) Professor X Psylocke Rictor Rockslide Rogue Scarlet Witch – CD (Dies) Shatterstar Siryn Speed – CD (Discovers his mother’s corpse) Synch Tempus Thing Wolverine (JH) Wolverine (LK) Antagonist(s) Daken – CD (Agrees to cover up Aurora’s killing of her murderer) Doctor Doom Mystique Proteus – Teleport |
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