Alien #7 by Phillip K. Johnson

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Alien (2021-) #7Alien (2021-) #7 by Phillip K. Johnson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marvel’s first foray into the Alien universe begins its second arc with a visit to a terraformed colony of religious fundamentalists. A premise reminiscent of the original idea behind Alien 3, before it was switched to a penal colony.

Our main protagonist has a medical condition that is eating her from the inside…and, well, the inevitable metaphor is not lost on the reader. Will she have something else eating her from the inside by the end of the story?

This is a slow build, as any Alien story should be, with the xenomorph only arriving at the end, as the ship that was bringing the company’s lawyers to sign over ownership of the colony crash lands, all hands presumably lost to an infestation of Aliens.

As this series has been throughout, it’s brilliantly written and beautifully illustrated, with some truly stunning cover art.

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The United States of Captain America #4 by Christopher Cantwell

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The United States of Captain America #4The United States of Captain America #4 by Christopher Cantwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This issue was a definite improvement over the last, with some much needed humour being added by the presence of John Walker. However, the real good stuff here is the backup strip, by Alyssa Wong, which introduces us to Arielle Agbayani, the campus Captain America.

This strip is beautifully illustrated by Jodi Nishijima and sees the campus Captain America teaming up with other girls on campus to bring a serial abuser, who repeatedly gets away with harassing the female students because his rich parents financially support the college, to justice.

It’s a story that could have easily been mishandled but it’s executed very well.

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Death of Doctor Strange #1 by Jed Mackay

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Death of Doctor Strange (2021) #1 (of 5) (Death of Doctor Strange (2021-))Death of Doctor Strange (2021) #1 (of 5) (Death of Doctor Strange by Jed Mackay
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, this is annoyingly good. I say “annoyingly” because I only picked this up because I collect Peach Momoko variant covers, but I thought I might as well actually read it… See, I wasn’t going to get this series. Sure, I was interested, I like Doctor Strange, a lot, but I already read way too much…but after reading this I’m going to have to pick up the whole series.

I’m a sucker for a mystery, and that’s what this is. Doctor Strange has been murdered and there’s only one man qualified to investigate and find out who the murderer is…is Doctor Strange.

The writing is sharp, the art is great and the variant cover by Peach Momoko is stunning!

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X-Men Legends #7 by Larry Hama

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X-Men Legends (2021-) #7X-Men Legends (2021-) #7 by Larry Hama
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a classic slice of old school Wolverine action, which is exactly what you’d expect from an X-Men Legends issue written by Larry Hama. Wolverine and Jubilee are on the trail of some missing young mutants, which brings them into conflict with Lady Deathstrike and the Hand…because of course it does.

Which is not a complaint, this is great stuff! It’s also well drawn by Billy Tan, although I would have preferred to see him inked by someone else, but it seems that it’s increasingly common to have pencillers ink themselves, or to just skip straight to colours, these days. I guess it saves time and money…

I’m still not sure that there’s really a point to this book, other than nostalgia, but it’s pretty enjoyable stuff.

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X-Men: Onslaught Revelation #1 by Simon Spurrier

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X-Men: Onslaught Revelation #1X-Men: Onslaught Revelation #1 by Simon Spurrier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So, apparently Way Of X was a five issue mini series. Who knew? Certainly not me. And this? This is essentially Way Of X #6, serving to do little more than wrap up the story begun in Way Of X. And, while there’s nothing wrong with that, it does feel a little disappointing, and a little rushed. Way Of X was superb, the best new X-book since the new line began, and now it’s over, and everything has been neatly wrapped up. Onslaught is defeated and Krakoa can move on like nothing ever happened.

This is disappointing because it felt like it was setting up what was wrong with Krakoa. It’s long been clear that something is rotten at the heart of Krakoa. Something, for example, is very wrong with Beast. But, I guess, with Inferno starting this week, things need to be wrapped up more quickly. And, well, that’s a shame, because I would much rather have had them take their time to explore this stuff.

Still, what’s done is done, and this is still great. I just wanted more.

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X-Men #3 by Gerry Duggan

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X-Men #3X-Men #3 by Gerry Duggan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia can make anything look epic, but Duggan hands them a script which is pretty epic anyways, so, you know, epicness abounds!

The High Evolutionary is a big bag of d***s, and the X-Men have no choice but to turn down his helpful offer to wipe out the human race for them. Which, you know, is probably for the best. It turns out the Rogue has beef with his daughter too, and it’s nice to see Rogue finally getting some attention after all this time. She never felt like a good fit in Excalibur and her presence makes a lot more sense here.

The art is really the main attraction here though, and Larraz and Garcia could make the opening of an envelope look cool.

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X-Corp #5 by Tini Howard

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X-Corp #5 (X-Corp (2021-))X-Corp #5 (X-Corp by Tini Howard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is odd…I had no idea this series was ending and now it seems to have finished. Suddenly. Out of the blue.

I guess this was inevitable, the series got off to a bad start. The first few issues were dull and confusing, and an X-Men book that was more about corporate takeovers than superhero adventures was always going to be a tough sell. But cancelling it now really makes the whole thing feel pointless.

So, this comic is ok. The writing’s solid and the art is decent, but it’s not something I can recommend to anyone else because…well…it’s over already. Unless I’m wrong and it isn’t. But I do wonder if any of the plot threads in this comic will be picked up elsewhere.

Right now it feels like a lot of promising new X-books are fizzling out, and that’s a worrying trend.

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Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #16 by Ethan Sacks

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Star Wars: Bounty Hunters (2020-) #16Star Wars: Bounty Hunters (2020-) #16 by Ethan Sacks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This issue feels a lot more like a Bounty Hunters book than it usually does. By that I mean that the focus isn’t so much on Valance, and Boba Fett, Zuckuss and Dengar also feature prominently. As such it’s a far more enjoyable read. It helps that it closely ties into the events of War of the Bounty Hunters, although you really do need to be reading the main book to get the full story here. Valance also works much better when played off Fett than he does with Dengar. Or maybe, you know, Fett’s just cooler.

Villanelli also does a great job on the art here, with Prianto’s colours doing a lot to aid the storytelling.

All in all this is a big improvement for this series and I’m hoping it continues.

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Warhammer 40.000: Sisters of Battle #2 by Torunn Gronbekk

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Warhammer 40.000: Sisters of Battle #2Warhammer 40.000: Sisters of Battle #2 by Torunn Gronbekk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This feels disappointing after Kieron Gillen’s thoroughly excellent Marneus Calgar series, but it’s probably just…ok. The art is ok, the writing is ok. It’s ok.

Which is a shame, because I expect a lot of people who enjoyed Marvel’s first foray into the world of 40K will be put off by this. The real problem is that it’s pretty much impenetrable. Gillen did a great job of making this universe accessible to new readers, but I’m fairly familiar with 40k and I have no real clue who anybody is or what’s going on in this comic.

The art doesn’t help. It’s not bad, it’s just, as I said, ok. And after the jaw droppingly gorgeous cover art, it again disappoints.

All in all, this is exactly what I’d expect from a licensed comic book set in the world of Warhammer 40,000. The problem is that the previous series gave me so much more, and this series can’t help but feel like a let down in comparison.

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Kang The Conqueror (2021) #2 by Collin Kelly

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Kang The Conqueror (2021) #2 (of 5)Kang The Conqueror (2021) #2 by Collin Kelly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is fascinating, truly fascinating. You’ve got to wonder, is this the origin of Kang or an origin of Kang? This gives us a Kang who becomes Iron Lad, but almost certainly not the same Kang who became the Iron Lad from Young Avengers. Which, perhaps, isn’t surprising, as Kang is all about variants.

I suspect, however, that this story isn’t going to have a happy ending, and may well loop back to where it began, with Kang travelling back in time to try and set his younger self on the right path and avoid the mistakes he made. An attempt, that we’ll know, is doomed to failure. You see, Kang is both literally and figuratively his own worst enemy.

This is a clever and engaging series, steeped in the history of the Marvel Universe, referencing continuity without ever feeling bogged down by it. It doesn’t feel like it’s trying to create one whole narrative out of Kang’s convoluted history, but instead weave together a tale made of elements from every version of Kang.

The art is also excellent, making this series, so far at least, a real treat.

If you enjoyed the MCU’s first taste of Kang in the Loki series on Disney+, do yourself a favour and try this series out.

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