What is this book about?

Volume 4 mainly takes place around the events of Marvel’s Civil War.

In case you don’t know, the premise of Marvel’s Civil War involves the introduction of a Superhuman Registration Act in the United States. The act required any person in the United States with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government as a “human weapon of mass destruction,” reveal his/her true identity to the authorities, and undergo proper training. Those who sign also have the option of working for the government, earning a salary and benefits such as those earned by other American civil servants. Characters within the superhuman community in the Marvel Universe split into two groups: one advocating the registration as a responsible obligation, and the other opposing the law on the grounds that it violates civil liberties and the protection that secret identities provide.

This also affects Blade because he also would have to register with the government, otherwise he’d also be hunted down. Blade registers and begins cooperating with S.H.I.E.L.D. (a fictional espionage and law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe).

Various adventures ensue having registered and now working with S.H.I.E.L.D.

The series also revolves around this prophecy that Dracula has been researching for centuries now that he’s trying to fulfill that will resurrect all vampires who were ever ‘killed’ by manipulating Blade and Blade’s father, Lucas Cross. It’s pretty confusing, and to me the least interesting part of the book.

So, then…

Why should you read this book?

Like its title character ‘the Daywalker,’ the new Blade series also walks in two worlds – the supernatural world and the mainstream Marvel Universe. Marc Guggenheim, writer of Blade said this: “For, say, 95% of Blade’s previous incarnations, he was ghettoized in the supernatural corner of the Marvel Universe. He never interacted with any of the non-supernatural Marvel characters. Part of the mandate for this series is to get him out of that corner a bit, get him rubbing elbows with those characters who aren’t vampires, vampire hunters or sorcerers supreme.” And this series coming about during Marvel’s Civil War was a perfect time to carry out that mandate.

In the first couple issues Blade blew up a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, staked Dracula, met face-to-face with Dr. Doom, fought Spider-man, and was ordered to hunt down Wolverine because he became a registered superhuman who now works for the government; just to name a few examples.

Granted, an initial appeal to a character like Blade to select comic fans is the fact that he DOESN’T interact with other Marvel heroes and villains, but, he is a part of the Marvel Universe and it was long overdue that many of the characters in Marvel’s universe finally met up with him.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why this was Blade’s longest running solo book. Maybe people liked the series so much because he interacted with other things other than vampires. After all, Spider-man doesn’t just go against bank robbers, and Captain America doesn’t just go against Nazi war criminals, the Fantastic Four doesn’t just go after beings from other dimensions. Why does Blade have to be pigeon held to the supernatural?

The two issues I’m going to recommend you read, even though you should read the whole series, I’m recommending issues #1 and #10. (Yes they have cameo appearances by Spider-man, and that’s a reason I am recommending it) but that should be enough for you to want to read the rest of the series. Otherwise I’d recommend issues 2, 4, or 5. In issue 2 he meets up with Dr.Doom, in issue 4 he fights a vampiric Santa Claus, and in issue 5 he fights Wolverine.

If you’d like to buy the whole series you can buy the first half here and the second half here.

What is this book about?

For those of you who don’t know, Blade is a superhero vampire hunter. Blade was born in a whorehouse in the Soho neighborhood of London, England at some time in the late nineteenth century. Blade’s mother, Tara Brooks, was a prostitute at Madame Vanity’s Brothel. When his mother experienced severe labor complications, a doctor was summoned who was in actuality Deacon Frost, a vampire who feasted on her during Blade’s birth and killed her. However, this inadvertently passed along certain enzymes in his own blood to the infant. This resulted in Blade’s quasi-vampiric abilities, including a greatly prolonged lifespan and the ability to sense supernatural creatures, as well as an immunity to complete vampirism.

This story takes place after Blade becomes a solo vampire-hunter in New Orleans after he helped Hannibal King defeat their nemesis Deacon Frost. Blade decides to remain in New Orleans.

He comes into contact with the vampire Ulysses Sojourner who was in New Orleans to hold a meeting for the nationwide undead unification, along with his former ally, Morbius, the Living Vampire, who was under Sojourner’s mental thrall.

Why should you read this book?

A Strange Tales miniseries featuring Man-Thing and Werewolf by Night was published in 1998 to tie up plot lines after their individual series had been canceled. Blade’s first volume was just that, his first solo title book under the Strange Tales imprint. Ironically, although four issues were solicited for Man-thing and Werewolf by night, only two issues of this volume saw print, and the conclusions of those storylines were never released. I’m pretty sure this was also the case with Blade’s series as well. Only because, I have the three issues that WERE published under the Strange Tales imprint for his series and I feel like it still ends with unanswered questions. Plus it was never officially released as a “mini-series” with a definitive end to the titles numbering.

And it’s of no surprise that the reason the title came out to begin with was to coincide with the release of the feature length blockbuster hit, Blade. Which so began comic characters matching their movie counterparts. So like, for instance, in the Spider-man films the movie character has organic web shooters instead of mechanical one’s so editors and chairmen gave the comic character organic web shooters as well. In the Superman Returns movie, Superman and Lois Lane had a kid so they gave Superman and Lois Lane in the comics as kid as well. And with the Blade movies, the character could walk around in the daytime, whereas the comic character couldn’t. So to match what was happening, within the movies, editors and chairmen gave Blade the ability to walk around in the daytime. Which I feel was the whole point of creating Blade Volume: 1.

But since it seems as though it was canceled and left without finances to finish the book they had Blade follow Morbius to New York (Spider-man Volume: 2 # 8), where, while teamed with Spider-Man, Blade was bitten by Morbius. Blade’s blood enzymes reacted unexpectedly with Morbius’s unique form of vampirism to grant Blade many vampire strengths while eliminating weaknesses inherent to a vampire, most notably the weakness to sunlight. It was at this time that Blade assumed the unofficial title of “Daywalker” among his prey. Now, officially coinciding with the film. I think they mean’t to do this all along in his own title but it lost funding so they tied it up in a Spider-man book.

I’m not a GIANT fan of this series, but I do LOVE the Spider-man book where Blade gets his ‘Daywalker’ powers. But I feel like those titles go hand in hand and you can’t read one without the other. So yes, I do highly recommend this book. Because although I’m not always keen on comic characters matching their movie counterparts, I do like how this one was handled.

I think the only question I have is, you can clearly see in the enlarged image, on the right, that Blade was walking around in the daytime. But he didn’t get his ‘Daywalker’ abilities until after this particular panel. I don’t know man, the late nineties when Marvel was going bankrupt was an odd time to try and follow comics…

Although, one has to wonder, where is the drama in Blade comics now? He basically can never die. There’s no sense of fear and tension within the book because Blade essentially can’t lose. It’s a little absurd. But, somehow they pull it off nicely where his stories still make for interesting books. After all, Blade has nothing to worry about in terms of sales considering vampires are pretty hott right now…

You can purchase the titles here and the Spider-man issue here.

What is this book about?

This story actually takes place before her first appearance in Inhumans # 5 and before Black Widow Volume: 1. Belova is an amoral spy and assassin who was trained by the same spymasters who trained Natasha Romanoff, the first Black Widow. After the death of her trainer, Pyotr Vasilievich Starkovsky, she is activated as the new Black Widow and deployed to investigate.

Unbeknownst to Yelena, as she grew older, Starkovsky became obsessed with her, paying another woman, Petra, to don Yelena’s costume and satisfy his desires. Petra eventually became psychotic and killed Starkovsky. It was only after Yelena slew Petra and avenged her mentor that she truly accepted her role as the Black Widow.

Why should you read this book?

Because it’s a Black Widow title under Marvel’s Max imprint.

MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system. MAX titles are unique among Marvel’s output in that they are free to feature explicit content.

Regular readers of Now is not the Rhyme should know that I hate censorship, in all forms, especially in my comic books. When Marvel released the Max imprint Former Marvel President and chairman Stan Lee openly criticized the books. Specifically, referring to the Fury miniseries, based on the character Nick Fury, which he co-created, Lee said, “I don’t know why they’re doing that. I don’t think that I would do those kinds of stories.”

And as much as I normally would agree with Stan Lee on things. I can’t help but hate his way of thinking here. It’s one thing to say “I don’t think I would do those kinds of stories,” and it’s another to say I don’t think I would have written my character like that. The Fury miniseries and the series I’m reviewing Black Widow Volume: 3 is a great contrast to make here in regards to what Stan was talking about. Fury took a character that had an already established personality that dates back to the fifties and almost completely retconned that personality solely because someone thought he’d work well written like that under a Max title! So Stan Lee’s right in the sense; he wouldn’t have written stories like that because he created characters with certain personality’s. However, in certain books, like Black Widow Volume: 3 with a character he didn’t create, it presents the opportunity to be able to write stories with a little more reality to them.

In comics nowadays there’s a lot of censorship, even more so than there was back in the day. For fear of exposing and influencing children to the dangers of the world. I’m reminded of Joe Quesada’s hero smoking ban. That no character considered to be a ‘good guy’ in the comics can be allowed to smoke in the books. For fear that if they saw Mary Jane Watson for instance smoking that girls and boys alike would suddenly start smoking.

I’m not going to go into the reasons why I think this is more harmful than smoking itself…but I will just make my disgust known for this way of thinking.

Anyway, the reason you should read this title relies heavily on the fact that it’s for mature readers.

Regular readers of Now is not the Rhyme should also know by now that I love things that ooze and drip sex and sex-ploitation. So the fact that this series takes place entirely within an S&M club, is superb.

The plot itself is a little strange and quite frankly a little…forced. But, it’s more about the why to make this story. Why put this character in an S&M club? Why have her mentor fall in love with her? Etc. Etc.

The whole thing served as a psychological mind game for Yelena to start overcoming her inability and lack of confidence of whether or not she could become better than Natasha. Everything from the S&M, the general questioning her attire, Petra trying to take the Black Widow moniker from her, the exercises in submission and questioning of her abilities. This is a great lead-in to who this character is and what she’s all about. The thing is, I actually like her better than Natasha. In fact, I liked Natasha better when was brainswashed.

I mean, this series being under the Max imprint just makes sense. It’s kind of an homage to earlier books when Gene Colan was writing stories with Natasha as the Black Widow and there were so more adult themes, well…nothing like themes you see in Black Widow Volume: 3 but, certainly for the seventies some risque stuff.

This whole character is entirely underdeveloped and should be used more and often.

Anyway, it’s a great book. The book serves as more of a explanation tool for the character rather than her ‘next’ appearance in Black Widow Volume: 1 which embodied more of the tension and action of traditional espionage novels that the character was made for.

I can’t find a trade paperback, but you buy the individual books here.

What is this book about?

Natasha Romanov, a.k.a. the Black Widow, used to be a Soviet spy, fighting on the Cold War front-line, then moving to the West and eventually gaining membership AND leadership status in the Avengers.

This book takes place years later, her time as Black Widow has come into doubt and Yelena Belova, the new Russian Black Widow, seeks to reclaim the mantle she feels was stolen from her Motherland. Trained in the arts of espionage and combat and anxious to prove herself by eliminating Natasha, the original Black Widow. The two battle on in the deserts of the Middle East to obtain a deadly drug that grants super-strength then shortly after kills any who use it.

Why should you read this book?

This title embodies all the tension and action of traditional espionage novels. Plus, the writing by Devin Grayson and artwork by J.G. Jones are career high points for both creators in this book.

The way that each Black Widow dishes out their own form of justice is an analogy of the different viewpoints between comic book stories from the 1960 & 1970’s (when heroes won with little bloodshed), versus the comic book story styles of the last decade of the 1990’s and later, (when heroes are borderline homicidal maniacs, shooting everything in sight). Natasha, shows more experience, patience, and is harder to outsmart; while the new style Black Widow gets to the point faster, and is more unpredictable. With that in mind, we see that each approach has its pros and cons. Which was a pleasant surprise to see Yelena not branded like a villain for having more, radical, views on justice.

The thing that I think I found the most interesting was how Natasha was still interested in teaching Yelena. But I suppose that age old saying of: “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,” rings pretty true here. She’s teaching Yelena hoping to either convert her to “the good side” or just teaching Yelena HER methods in order to outsmart her later if need be. Either way, I underestimated this character. I’m used to seeing this character in the Avengers comics or Daredevil comics and always being a sort of, okay, character…nothing special. Using cliche tactics and typical “James Bond” type moves and methods. But it’s in a solo book where you can really see why the character gets so much publicity, the character is actually brilliant! and Grayson really displays that beautifully.

I think the only thing that I’m somewhat confused about in regards to this book is what was the point of making it? It seems as though Grayson is trying to make a point but I’m not entirely sure what it means. The idea of what the bio-toxin, the Deathless Frenzy, is, strikes a chord in Natasha:

Natasha: How can you call it a “deathless frenzy”?
Doctor: I do not mean the the serum takes no causalities–but rather that the frenzy itself–the rage against personal extinction–is immortal.
Natasha: And so even that, even our private fight against time itself–does not belong to us alone.

I think, loath to see another manipulated as she had been for so long, Natasha takes strides to teach and “mentor” Yelena by arranging for Yelena to see how her superiors consider her an expendable pawn. The above quote and relation to the bio-toxin is still somewhat unclear, to me at least, but literally the last sentence in the book pretty much drives the point home entirely: “A spy is difficult to stop once she has found what makes her unique.”

Which was also something that I was interesting to say, because I wonder if Grayson was trying to say that spies and soldiers are interchangeable in that last quote. I feel like maybe he could’ve been making similar comments about the lack of display of uniqueness when it comes to soldiers and that it’s possibly one of the reasons they fail and are, at least in the case of the villains army in the book, expendable. That they’re so quick to take orders and hardly if ever question them that they fail in combat because they haven’t figured out something that makes them unique to they continue to fight blindly for someone or thing all the while losing the edge that would otherwise benefit them in the field; which is, I think, purpose.

The story is fast-paced, with lots of surprising twists, and intriguing developments, and the artwork is realistic and beautifully rendered, almost “photo-quality” at times. You can’t go wrong with getting this book! Especially since it touches on so many different topics: femininity, family, history, politics, science, etc.

What is this book about?

Quoted from the previously page from issue # 6: “There are some places you just don’t mess with. Wakanda is one of them. Since the dawn of time, that African warrior nation has been sending would-be conquerors home in body bags. While the rest of Africa got carved up like a Christmas turkey by the rest of the world, Wakanda’s cultural evolution has gone unchecked for centuries, unfettered by the yoke of colonization. The result: A hi-tech, resource-rich, ecologically-sound paradise that makes the rest of the world seem primitive by comparison.

Ruling over all this is T’Challa, the heir to the centuries-old warrior cult that’s served as Wakanda’s religious, political, and military head since its inception: The Black Panther. Anyone who’d dare to make a move on Wakanda must go through him.

And someone does dare. His name is Klaw and—along with his team of super-powered villains—he’s waged an all-out assault on Wakanda, aided and abetted by the Nigandan Army, made available to him by the country’s corrupt Prime Minister, M’Butu.”

This particular volume of Black Panther comics addresses important political issues revolving around the Wakandan nation that it’s remarkable no writer that has written for Marvel before has tried to tap. Where Volume 3 was more about it’s king, Volume 4 seems to be more about the nation itself.

Why should you read this book?

Even though Wakanda has never been conquered and is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, their greatest weakness is in their greatest achievements.

They underestimate their opponents, often times they’re cocky, and they have very little experience when dealing with threats.

Whether it was his plan or not, the writer for Black Panther, at least for issues #1-6; wrote the citizens of Wakanda as being very dismissive towards the Super Villains attack in these books. Which I thought I was brilliant on his part because their attitude towards this impending attack makes perfect sense.

You have a nation that has a reputation for being unconquerable, so a lot of people don’t even bother to try and conquer it anymore; the citizens the Wakandan government puts into position for defense of it’s nation, almost never see combat because a) no on tries to conquer them b) they never attack people unless it’s to defend their borders c) their king usually jumps into battle before he lets his army of African warriors do anything. Plus they have technology the rest of the world could only dream about, they’re more advanced than any country in the world. Of course their citizens aren’t concerned with a super villain attack. They shouldn’t be! You can see their attitude in the way they act and say things in the face of impending doom. Click some of these thumbs you see on this page to see some of their reactions.

I really underestimated Black Panther books. I really did. I always thought they were about race and bigotry, I mean obviously, that’s a prevalent issue in the books…but, like said above, this series in particular was great just because it was more about the nation the Black Panther rules rather than about Black Panther himself. It’s really quite good. I’m a little curious what Volume 5 is all about, now.

The one other thing that I wanted to make mention of is, the villains in this particular series. By the way, the issues I’m specifically recommending are issues # 1-6. The villains in this series are superbly appropriate. I think at least. Let’s evaluate shall we?

Klaw, Rhino, Batroc, Radioactive man, and Black Knight. Klaw is from Belgium, Rhino if from America (technically he’s from a country in the Eastern Bloc but, for sake of argument let’s just go with America), Batroc is from France, Radioactive Man is from Russia (Not Chen Lu this Radioactive Man is Russian) and Black Knight is from England.

What do all these countries have in common? They’re mostly all within the top 10 richest countries in the world! Politically, economically, and globally these villains make more sense than pitting Wakanda against Dr.Doom or Namor. Yes they are both rulers of kingdom’s but, they don’t have nearly as much pull in the global market as these other countries do.

Plus let’s look at the villains thematically. Pitting Rhino against T’Challa makes sense, I mean what with his nation being in the heart of the Serengeti and actual rhinos roam them. Thematically it makes sense. Klaw makes sense mainly (possibly only) because he killed T’Challa’s father and T’Challa killed Klaw’s father, so there’s a vengeance retribution thing there; maybe there’s another reason that I am not touching on though. Batroc and Radioactive Man, are a little harder to see since I don’t know much about these particular characters, especially this incarnation of Radioactive Man. But I suppose his chemical make-up could (and did!) effect the Vibranium that Wakanda sits on. So pitting him against Wakanda, makes perfect sense. Why it wasn’t Chen Lu I don’t know, why did it have to be a Russian guy? Again, maybe there’s another reason I’m not seeing. Now, here’s an interesting take on the writer’s part…The Black Knight. At some point in the book the writer’s make the point that Africa has been taken over almost entirely by the Christian faith. So, Klaw hires a mercenary that is not only Christian, but who has a profound hatred for Wakanda because they worship an animal instead of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ. Your villain roster encompasses economics, politics, science, religion and even the animal kingdom! It’s amazing.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and fucking read these books. You can pick it up here.

What is this book about?

Brief synopsis on what The Black Panther is all about: The Black Panther is the ceremonial title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe of the African nation of Wakanda. The Panther uniform is a symbol of office (head of state) and is used even during diplomatic missions. The Black Panther is entitled to the use of a heart-shaped herb that grants the person who consumes it enhanced strength, agility, and perception. The present-day bearer of the Black Panther mantle is T’Challa, who has had a lengthy career as a superhero, including a longstanding membership in the Avengers. T’Challa is the son of T’Chaka, who was the Black Panther before him. In the distant past, a massive meteorite made of the vibration-absorbing mineral Vibranium crashed in Wakanda, and was unearthed. Knowing that others would attempt to manipulate and dominate Wakanda for this rare and valuable resource, T’Chaka concealed his country from the outside world. He would sell off minute amounts of the valuable vibranium while sending the country’s best scholars to study abroad, consequently turning Wakanda into one of the world’s most technologically advanced nations.

This story takes place years after T’Challa leaves his active Avengers to return to Wakanda.

Volume 3 picks up when the Panther accepts a Washington, D.C. envoy, Everett K. Ross, and faces multiple threats to Wakanda’s sovereignty. Villains of all kind threaten Wakandan soveriengty and he and Ross do their best at stopping them.

Eventually a villain named Killmonger, a major rival of Black Panther’s, resurfaces, with a plot to destroy Wakanda’s economy. This forces T’Challa to nationalize foreign companies. Killmonger then defeats him in ritual combat, thus inheriting the role of Black Panther, but falls into a coma upon eating the heart-shaped herb—poisonous to anyone outside the royal bloodline, which had a hereditary immunity to its toxic effects.

Later in the series, T’Challa finds he has a brain aneurysm and succumbs to instability and hallucinations. After his mental state almost causes tribal warfare, the Panther hands power to his council and hides in New York City. There he mentors police officer Kasper Cole; an experience that gives T’Challa the strength to face his illness, reclaim his position, and return to active membership in the Avengers, whom he helps secure special United Nations status.

Why should you read this book?

Besides the obvious success as one of the first successful African comic book characters from an American publishing company, you should also read this book because of the tension that was revealed when The Black Panther admits that he first joined the Avengers many years ago to spy on them for the sake of Wakandan national security.

Admittedly, this book at times can be quite annoying because so much of it isn’t taken from the perspective of T’Challa, but the Washington, D.C. envoy, Everett K. Ross. Who, is insanely annoying. To think that the President would hire and assign this immature frat boy type to watch over the King of the most technologically advanced country in the world is the equivalent to having someone from Animal House or that Australian party kid, Corey Worthington, watch over the President of Denmark or Hong Kong. Just really hard to suspend my disbelief there. But, like most media, you have to weed through things to find the true purpose and message and overall crowning achievement for it’s existence.

But yes, without going into too much detail about Black Panther’s race, which yes, is a huge topic in the book, and should be talked about considering it’s impact on not just the African American community but the African nation as well. However, I can’t get around the main point and HUGE revelation, at least for comic book fans, about the Panther’s original plan to spy on the Avengers.

Which I have to say was brilliant on the author’s part. You have this character that existed and was loved by the fans and fictional peers for almost over 40 years, then to drop a bomb on them like this was really a great take on the character. This series in particular really sold me on some things I was very confused about in regards to the Black Panther. Like why would a guy in Africa wear an all black costume that covers his entire body in the weather like that? Why does he wear a costume at all? Why a black panther motif? Why would the king of a country join a group of super-heroes?

All these questions are answered in the book.

I say that finding out Black Panther was a spy is an important reason to read these books is because it’s reminiscent of real-world national security. Do we, as Americans, do the same thing? Do we befriend other countries to spy on them? Fearful for what kind of technology and weaponry they have? Like Black Panther did to find out the legitimacy of American super-heroes?

Thinking about it, this series is actually very different than most of the comics I’ve read recently. This character and series is actually very political than anything else, which I feel is rare in comics. Whereas other books I’ve been reading are deeply rooted in family, sociology, philosophy, math, feminism and love; this was actually quite a breath of fresh air. And maybe it’s assumption, but I feel that the people who are usually into politics are too ‘mature’ and analytical to feel that reading a Black Panther comic wouldn’t be something they’d be able to get into to.

Truly a great series. This book really made me look at the character in a new light and makes me consider picking up future books where he appears. Specifically if you’d like to read the story in particular where he admits to being a spy then read you should probably read issues #1-8, and probably #9 as well. You can buy the book here.

Also, I just have to say, issue #25? Also a great story. It ties in with a cross-over event that was happening at the time called “Maximum Security.” You don’t need to read that series in order to understand issue # 25 which is great because the cross-over with the Black Panther series was actually quite eloquent. It’s said quite often that editors of these cross-over events force their writers to tie-in with what’s going on in that cross-over hoping for readers to pick-up that tie-in and gain more sales in the process. Which as you can imagine writers hate because if they have a plan for a story they now have to force something they don’t want into their story which can sometimes feel out of place simply because the writers heart isn’t into it. Not the case with # 25. It tied in elements from old Black Panther tales and explained why the alien invasion happening in Maximum Security makes sense to tie into Black Panther comics. 100% worth the read, even if Maximum Security is only worth 75% of a read.

What is this book about?

The series follows a group of mismatched superheroes and supervillains — Hank Pym, the Wasp, Gravity, Medusa, Firebird, Alyosha Kravinoff, Venom (Mac Gargan), The Hood, Deathlok and the Space Phantom —who have been abducted by a cosmic entity, supposedly The Beyonder, to the alien Battleworld for unknown purposes.

For those of you who don’t know, in the 1980’s a comic book series called Secret Wars was published wherein a cosmic entity called the Beyonder observes the mainstream Marvel universe. Fascinated by the presence of superheroes on Earth and their potential, this entity chooses a group of both heroes and supervillains and teleports characters against their will to “Battleworld,” a planet created by the Beyonder in a distant galaxy. The Beyonder then declares: “I am from beyond! Slay your enemies and all that you desire shall be yours! Nothing you dream of is impossible for me to accomplish!” Battles are fought, things happen, blah blah blah, etc etc etc…

Then in 2006, the series Beyond! came out. Where heroes and villains are again, transported to “Battleworld” by who they think might be the Beyonder but are unsure this time since Hank Pym claims he’s heard from reliable sources that the Beyonder is dead.

So the heroes and villains do what they can to get off the planet without creating unnecessary bloodshed and figure out who is pulling the strings this time around.

Why should you read this book?

Because of the social commentary surrounding this quote. (PS: Major spoilers within the remaining text).

Deathlok: Nice to finally know who’s been messing with us.
 
The Stranger: My reasons are my own but rest assured, they exist.
 
Deathlok: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they kill us for their sport.”
 
The Stranger: “Sport”? You think I brought you here to play with you? I brought you here because I fear you. My power, and the power of my ilk came with hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of years of scientific advancement. You…you’re doused with radioactivity that should kill you. Or you’re the product of a googolplex-to-one genetic coding error that should have resulted in stillbirth…but instead of dying, you thrive. The Earth. One little planet. An insignificant speck in an ocean of space. And yet, Galactus shrinks from power. The Kree, Skrull, and Shi’ar give you a wide berth, whenever possible. The pheonix force manifests there. The sorcerer supreme calls it home. I barely scratch the surface. There is a saying among beings of great power, the translation is difficult…”When the apocalypse comes, all that will remain are cockroaches and human beings.”

One of the reasons I like comic books is because they simultaneously make humanity feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things yet extremely significant despite the grand scheme.

I feel that this book centers around the character, Gravity. (Don’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of him, he’s a new character that popped up a couple years earlier; very short lived). But, the writer, Dwayne McDuffie, felt as though he was a perfect vessel to bring across the very point for why I want you to read this book.

See, without giving away the ending to the book it turns out that Gravity is really important in the universe and was chosen to be transported to Battleworld for specific reasons, possibly more so than the other characters. Which is interesting because hardly anybody, including hardcore comic fans have barely heard of him.

So why is a character that no one has ever heard of in the real world or in the Marvel Universe so important? Well, I suppose that’s ultimately the decision of the writer of Beyond!, but, I personally feel that McDuffie chose this obscure character to point out that no matter how small and unknown you are, your life and your decisions are of great importance to the universe and have a significant impact on it.

The Stranger even states, that “I brought you here because I fear you,” “…but instead of dying, you thrive. The Earth. One little planet. An insignificant speck in an ocean of space,” The Stranger is scared of a small planet in the vast universe because he recognizes and also I think kind of respects our impact on the universe.

I’ve always said, that, our decisions or indecision affects everything around us on a level our human brain can perceive and on a molecular level which our human brain cannot. Regardless of whether you can understand the effect you have on the things around you and as part of this universe, matters not. So long as you willing to perceive that you do. Becoming self aware and open minded to the decisions and indecision that could and will most likely effect something else.

A close friend of Now is not the Rhyme, wrote a blog post once that really affected me. What he wrote was minimal and nothing I haven’t heard before, however, as my reaction describes, I realized that every person’s vote counts. Which, chalk it up to me being naive and taught from fellow hardcore anarchists, but I just didn’t believe for a long time it did until I began to realize that the very concept that he was telling his reader’s to do filters into quite literally every molecule in this universe.

Which made me really respect Beyond! not just for it’s geeky awesome story that brought together oddly mismatched cult favorite characters but also told a significant intellectual important story with a moral explaining that contradictions are normal and that they define humanity. And what I mean by that is, to think the universe revolves around us isn’t doing us any good but it also is. For, to realize your importance and your affect on things in this universe you must be narcissistic while being altruistic.

Now, for the nerdy parts I loved…

Spider-man, dies in the first issue:

Marvel is so transparent. They throw Spider-man into comics because they know people will buy the issue that he appears in. So it was so hilarious to me that they killed him in the first issue. Then later in the series fans get an even more “fuck you” from Marvel by revealing he wasn’t actually Spider-man, but the Space Phantom. So all those Spider-man fans who bought the book just because he was in it (like I did), didn’t even truly see their favorite character in the book. Oh man I love Marvel.

The greatest selection of characters ever put together period:

Mini-Quinjet RIP:

So after Hank Pym unshrinks a Quinjet that he had tucked away to fly themselves out of the jungle they’re trapped in, Deathlok recommends not to fly because it will attract attention. Hank Pym, appreciating the advice but decides to fly anyway are then attacked by Dragon-man who was apparently on Battleworld and rips the Quinjet apart making for the the shortest Quinjet flight ever.

The surprise appearance of Deathlok:

I was wrong THIS was possibly the greatest selection of characters ever put together period:

The floating head line-up treatment throughout the series in the beginning of the book:

At the beginning of each book the producers of the book would write up a page of what happened in the previous issue as well as line up the cast of characters you’ll see in the book and I just thought the treatment was cool from start to finish since in the first book it showed Spider-man in the roster when it turned out it wasn’t him so then they replaced him with the Space Phantom.
 
Then, when Hank Pym was thought to have killed everyone they replaced the line-up with this image:

These two pages (click on below image to open them [RSS readers go to actual post]):

Personal friends of mine know that Sam Kieth is my favorite author/artist of all time. Even fellow friends and fans of Now is not the Rhyme should know that I am by now. So when I came across the below video I got really excited because this motion comic idea that Marvel has isn’t new. Because it’s been done before, by my man, Sam Kieth. Which is, (what shouldn’t surprise you), also my favorite movie of all time. It’s called The Maxx. (You can actually watch installments of the video online for free on MTV, where it used to air.)

The video below, alas, is not a Sam Kieth project. But it does resonate within me some warm heartfelt feelings I have towards The Maxx and the early pioneers of motion comics.

Marvel’s first motion comic installment stars the character Spider-woman. Here is a brief synopsis for the really cool trailer you are about to watch.

Jessica Drew is back on Earth. But what’s left of her life? Take a peek at what’s in store for the SPIDER-WOMAN Marvel Motion Comics series right here. One of the most highly anticipated series in Marvel history, the SPIDER-WOMAN Motion Comic by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev will make its world premiere at San Diego Comic-Con.

What is this book about?

The Science of superheroes by Lois H. Gresh and Robert Weinberg takes a lighthearted but clear-headed look at the real science that underlies some of the greatest superhero comic books of all time. Each chapter presents the story of the origin of one of more superheroes and asks questions that lead to discussions about the limits of science, the laws of nature, and the future of technology.

Why should you read this book?

Because it both uplifts and destroys the spirit of the comic book and non-comic book reader. Whatever you like, science or science fiction this book caters to both minds.

It’s hard to talk about this book without not wanting to give away anything. But, I’ll give you a low-down on what he says is possible or impossible and let you decide if you’d like to continue reading the book.

Superman:
Scientists say, visitors from another planet are possible, but Superman is not.

The Fantastic Four:
Scientists say, their powers are too bizarre to explain, therefore they are not scientifically possible.

The Hulk:
Scientists say, the Hulk is actually entirely possible!

Batman:
Scientists say, Batman is actually entirely possible as well. In fact, Batman comics were the reason why we have some of the inventions we have today. Namely: jet packs, spy camera’s, high diode lasers, miniaturized utility equipment, pass keys and pick locks, gas capsules, miniature portable explosives; granted, some of these ideas were already in the works but it was the inspiration young scientists learned from Batman comics to look into the future of these technologies listed above.

Aquaman and Submariner:
Scientists say, Aquaman and Submariner have a high probability that they are entirely possible!

Spiderman:
Scientists say, that he isn’t necessarily improbable. But inaccurate. Spiderman shares a couple similar traits to that of actual Spiders, but not many. He’s a psuedo Spiderman. Scientifically still however, he is for the most part improbable. However, the idea of an insect being radioactive is not inaccurate. Many insects can survive radioactivity, whether or not it would be passed on in the manner in which Spiderman acquired his powers, certainly not.

Green Lantern:
Scientists say, that the power source that fuels the Green Lantern ring and battery is very probable. Their weakness to the color yellow and the texture of wood? Is actually entirely 100% possible.

Ant Man/Giant Man/The Atom:
Scientists say, they are not possible.

The Flash:
Scientists say, is for most part probable.

The X-Men:
Scientists say, are more than possible; they’re quite probable in our future.

Last but not least…what blew my mind and what will blow your mind as well…

Donald Duck comics. Yes that’s right. Disney’s Donald Duck. Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, The Chipmunks, Uncle Scrooge, etc. etc.

Scientists say…are entirely 100% scientifically accurate. You heard me. (If you want to know how and why…read the book. It’s an amazing quick read and extremely informative for the comic geek and non alike.)

Below are some amazing quotes from the book that might entice you more to want to read it:

“Scientists say every race of beings in the universe wants to discover intelligent life elsewhere. They base their assumption on our behavior. But, aliens, being alien, probably will have little or nothing in common with us. They might not be curious, or a vast number of them might not want to use their resources to contact other races in space. Instead, they may spend their money on the poor, the homeless, and the hungry.” – Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of superheroes

“Reading comic books requires some suspension of disbelief. When we pick up a comic, we need to be willing to give the author some leeway in his writing. Except in extreme cases, we have to be willing to accept some compromises. In comics, odd coincidences are allowed to help the plot move. Characters can change their minds suddenly, because, though most of us hate to admit it, we do the same thing. Situations are resolved in most books by the end of the story because readers like tidy conclusions.” – Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of superheroes

“One of the basic premises of superhero comics is coming up with real-world remedies for imaginary troubles.” – Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of superheroes

“Comic book fans have always complained about the genre’s lack of respect. They feel comics deserve more attention than they receive in the media and that the general public should realize that comic aren’t just for kids. The success of a few graphic novels in the mainstream has spurred hopes that someday comics will achieve some measure of respectability. Maybe. Someday. When comic books writers give the same care and attention to all story elements-including the science-that writers of other forms of literature apply their work.” – Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg, The Science of superheroes

If you would like to buy the book, you can find it here.

Discussion: What would you like to see in a comic book that would make it more appealing to you? What turns you off about comic books now? (Please leave your comments below, do not message or IM me with your answers)