All-New Guardians of the Galaxy: Riders in the Sky Review

Finished reading All New Guardians of the Galaxy: Riders in the Sky, continuing the series as writer Gerry Duggan crafts several stores cantering around each member of the Guardians to show what events transpired on the lead up to the beginning of the series. The book opens with a Gamora story as she finds herself within the Soul Stone as she meets with a part of herself that has been in the Infinity Stone for years along with the remnants of other Guardian allies. The next story puts the focus onto Star Lord who is getting a gyroscope for Rocket when one of his tapes break that takes Peter on a journey to rerecord the tape by fining a radio signal from 1980 deep in space. The following story sees Drax explaining to Gamora why he has become a pacifist when he tried to save a group of slaves that took a horrible turn. The next story sees Rocket and Groot going to get some information for a job before the two are attacked that leads to Groot sacrificing himself to save Rocket. The penultimate story has Richard Rider, Nova trying to find his brother Robbie after finding a message that Robbie was unable to seen before he went to the Nova homeworld of Xander only to be captured by a group of Raptors. The book's final story sees the Guardians one Earth as they try to find any leads to the whereabouts of the Infinity Stone whole also picking up a new team member along the way. Overall this was a great book as it shifts away from the books main story to focus on more character driven stories with the team allowing for some great development an insight to what happen to the team in the time between this series and the one that proceeded it. The art throughout the book is amazing as each of the individual art teams do an amazing job in being to life each of the character centric stories along with the tone and the emotions the each of the character to the forefront incredibly well. 8/10.

Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide: Volume Seven Review

Finished reading Amazing Spider-Man: Worldwide: Volume Seven, writer Dan Slott continues the series as Spider-Man finds himself in the middle of the Secret Empire event as Peter's time as a globetrotting heroes and company CEO comes to and end. The book opens with Peter Parker being interviewed about recent events from his battle with Ben Reilly to using his company's own resources in Symkaria to stop Norman Osborn. The interview is cut short when the new of an oncoming Chitauri invasion along with New York being blocked off from the outside world, Peter heads to the Parker Industries offices in London where he discovers that Doctor Octopus along with a group of Hydra agents have taken over the building as Otto hopes to reclaim to company while also helping Hydra with their plans in world domination. Which includes keeping the heroes occupied in New York and with the Chitauri invasion. The next story centres around Norman Osborn as he try's to regain his Green Goblin persona after his recent defeat by Spider-Man which leads to Norman going to a temple within a mountain range with the hope that magic might be a way to become the Goblin again. The rest of the book sees Spider-Man dealing with the aftermath of Secret Empire as Peter is living on Mockingbird's sofa since the collapse of his company which makes Peter one of the most hated people in New York as he along his friend Harry are dealing with the remaining assets of the company to pay any legal fees and the former employees while Peter is also trying to find a new job which he surprisingly gets for the Daily Bugle. Overall this was a great book as it brings an end to the Parker Industries part of Spider-Man's life in a very interesting way thanks to the inclusion of Doctor Octopus while also setting up the next part of Peter's life back home in New York. The Secret Empire part of the book is great as it brings a nice conclusion to Peter's time as a globetrotting superhero and company CEO by giving each of the different supporting cast that have been introduced great send offs with how they come together to stop Otto and Hydra. The art the the book is great as artist Stuart Immonen does a great job in making the action sequences throughout the book feel suspenseful especially during Spider-Man's fight with Doctor Octopus, while the more the more character driven moments have a great amount of detail within the expressions of each character that works extremely well with the books dialogue. Additionally Greg Smallwood's art for the Norman Osborn centric story does a great job in bring the more magical elements of the story to life extremely well and making the Green Goblin parts feel very foreboding. 8/10.

U.S.Avengers: Cannonball Run Review

Finished reading U.S.Avengers: Cannonball Run, writer Al Ewing brings an end to the series as the team find themselves dealing with the events of Secret Empire with them being scattered across the world. The book opens with the U.S.Avengers in Washington DC fighting the oncoming Hydra forces which includes the teams own Red Hulk as Maverick is being controlled by Hydra thanks to them injecting him with nanites. With the battle lost Toni Ho decides to hack into Enigma's suit to teleport her and Squirrel Girl away from being captured by Hydra which leads the two finding themselves in France where they meet a group of heroes based in Europe who are trying stop stop the Hydra forces in Paris. Meanwhile Toni finds herself as a prisoner of Hydra as she soon discovers that her cell mate is a severely wounded Roberto Da Costa. The next part of the book sees the team dealing with the aftermath of Secret Empire as Roberto meets with Senator Kevin Krask about the current state of the world since the Hydra takeover of America and the Senator trying to get A.I.M. to work for the American government. With this being against Roberto's original deal with general Maverick, he quits as the leader of A.I.M. leading to Krask to lose his temper before Smasher comes to Roberto asking for his help in finding her boyfriend Cannonball who has been taking to a planet of Glenbrook that looks like a classic American town, this leads to Roberto calling the U.S.Avengers together to find their lost teammate. Overall this was a good book as it sends the U.S.Avengers in the middle of the Secret Empire event as by show a different aspect to the event with how Hydra is trying to expand across the world along with a look as how they treat their prisoners who oppose them. The book does a good jobs in giving a nice amount of character intrigue within the European heroes and the world of Glenbrook, while the book also gives Toni a great amount of development thanks to the what that the situation she finds herself in with Roberto parallels that of her father's and Tony Stark's when they first met. The art throughout is great as the art team is able to bring each of the character interactions to life extremely well by the way the characters able emote along with the different character and location designs that works with the books story. 7/10.

The Mighty Captain Marvel: Band of Sisters Review

Finished reading The Mighty Captain Marvel: Band of Sisters, within the events of Secret Empire affecting the Marvel Universe writer Margaret Stohl tells the story of what was happening on the Alpha Flight Space Station during the event. The book opens with Captain Marvel showing three new Alpha Flight cadets around the space station while also getting a group of comic heroes together including the Ultimates and the Guardians of the Galaxy as they prepare for the oncoming Chitauri fleet. Once the heroes are able to stop the first wave of Chitauri and Captian America activates Earth's planetary shield trapping the heroes with no help and little resources outside of the planet while oncoming Chitauri waves are making their way to Earth. The last story of the book deals with the aftermath of Secret Empire as Carol along with Jessica Drew Spider-Woman and Jessica Jones as the three spend some time together while Carol try’s to figure out her next step in life after the Alpha Flight Space Station was destroyed. Overall this was a great book as it expands upon the events of Secret Empire by showing how the heroes trapped outside of Earth’s planetary shield leading to some great character moments with how Carol and the rest of Alpha Flight are dealing emotionally with being unable to contact Earth along with the constant waves of Chitauri that outnumbers the heroes. The character interactions throughout are great from the way that it helps to develop new and exciting characters, with some of the dialogue being ripped straight out of the main Secret Empire book while that does help to place the book time wise to the event it does feel a bit off when reading both books concurrently. However the book’s art by Michele Bandini during the Secret Empire story is amazing as it’s able to make the Chitauri threat feel foreboding thanks to the size and scale of the fights with the alien fleet along with making character moments feel extremely impactful even the moment that are taken from the main Secret Empire book are surprising more impactful in this book thanks to the amazing art. While the rest of the book’s art does an amazing in capturing the more character focus moments of the last story in the book. 8/10.

Avengers: Unleashed: Secret Empire Review

Finished reading Avengers: Unleashed: Secret Empire, continuing the series as writer Mark Waid sees the Avengers meeting with a newly reformed Doctor Doom before transitioning to the events of Secret Empire. The book opens with the Avengers in the middle of a fight with a monster that they are are able to defeat thanks to the intervention of a Doctor Doom who has come to the Avengers for help more specifically Nadia's help as Doom has discovered that something supernatural is happening in a girls leadership camp. The following story sees the team being picked off one by one by Avenger X who is absorbing each of the heroes own powers. The next part of the book dives into the Secret Empire event beginning with a story that catches up with Thor who has found herself trapped in a different dimension after being teleported away during a battle in the beginning of Secret Empire. While in the dimension Thor befriends Hecla, a native to this world who try's to help Thor in getting back home. The second Secret Empire story puts the focus on to the Avengers that have been formed by Hydra as Doctor Octopus leads the team into a fight against a group of alien creatures who are trap on Earth due to the shield around the planet. The final story within the book sees the team pairing up as Sam talks to Thor about not being Captain America anymore while Vision asks Hercules about being immortal after seeing his future self. Along with Spider-Man and Wasp working through their differences to stop a group of circus animals running loose. Overall this was a great book as it tells a group of smaller stories with the Avengers allowing for a great amount of character interactions within the team while also expanding upon the events of Secret Empire by showing how the Hydra Avengers team works as a unit along with a great story on where Thor disappeared to. There is an amazing amount of comedy throughout the book especially during the first couple of stories in the book with the situations the team find themselves in along with the characters reactions particularly those of Spider-Man and Wasp's. The art throughout the book is amazing as by artist Phil Noto and Mike Del Mundo are able to bring a sense of emotion within each character's interactions which accompanies the he extremely well designed action scenes and creature designs. 9.5/10.

Secret Empire Review

Finished reading Secret Empire, spinning out of the pages of both of writer Nick Spencer's Captain America series the Marvel event sees Steve Rogers reveal himself as the new Hydra leader leaving all of the heroes in shock and in a difficult position. The book opens with Captain America as the current head of S.H.I.E.L.D. coordinating the heroes around the world as a group of villains are attacking New York, while the heroes in space are defending against a Chitauri wave heading towards the planet as they wait for the new planetary shield to be activated, and S.H.I.E.L.D. fighting against Hydra forces in Sokovia. This leads to the American president to call for a state of emergency which puts Steve in temporary leadership of the country and when the day is seemingly won with the planetary shield working along with the Hydra and the villains in New York retreating, Steve reveals himself to the world as the leader of Hydra. This is when Baron Zemo who has Darkhold with him along with the villain (Blackout) are able to shut off New York by putting a dome around it trapping its population within a different dimension and with the planetary shield up and running, stopping any of the heroes on the Alpha Flight Space Station from getting home to stop Steve, while also being a target for the constant wave of Chitauri coming towards Earth. This causes the AI Tony Stark to call all the remaining heroes of the world to converge at Washington DC with the hope that they might be able to beat Hydra. However the heroes lose to Captain America and his Hydra forces which leads to them hiding out in a secret base just outside of Las Vegas while Hydra has taken over the country unopposed as Inhumans, the Mutants who didn't go to New Tian and anyone who disagrees with Hydra's regime has found themselves in a Hydra prison. When news of the remaining heroes current hiding near Vegas, Hydra plans an attack on the city with the hope to reinforce their power and prevent any opposition to them, only for this to lead to the heroes splitting up with two different plans in stopping Hydra as Black Widow finds herself being joined by the Champions as she plans on assassinating Steve Rogers. Meanwhile a different group of heroes follow Tony Starks plan in trying to find the scatter parts of the Cosmic Cube with the hope that they can use it on Steve to turn him back to normal as it was Kobik, the sentient Cosmic Cube that turn Captain America into a Hydra agent with the group's first stop being to recruit a reluctant Sam Wilson to bring down Hydra as their plan soon comes to the attention of Hydra. Overall this was an amazing book as writer Nick Spencer crafts a story that pits the heroes of the Marvel Universe again a common enemy in the form of a Hydra version of Captain America who has taken over America leading to some great interactions between characters from thanks to the way that the heroes argue with one another with their views on how to beat Hydra which leads to them splitting into different group even after the whole superhero community has already been fractured. To the way that the book is able to make time to put some focus onto the way that Steve Rogers and his allies within Hydra by show how being in charge of America along with being a influence to the rest of the world is affecting them especially with the threat to the remaining heroes. The book also does an amazing job in being able to jump between several different storylines within the book at ease by giving each group of heroes and Hydra enough time to develop their own story and some great character development along the way while still having room for twists and surprises leading to an epic conclusion that feels extremely worthwhile. The art throughout the book is amazing throughout the book as the entire art team does an incredible job in bringing to life the action set pieces that makes every hit cont while also being very effective thanks to the way the art put the focus into these scenes. Additionally within all of the character driven moments the art works greatly in the way it's able to show each character's emotions and reactions to the books events and conversations with one another. 9.5/10.

Captain America: Secret Empire Review

Finished reading Captain America: Secret Empire, expanding upon the main events of Secret Empire by exploring more of the store of Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson with how they are being affected by the Marvel event. The book opens with Sam Wilson on the road after quitting Boeing Captain America when he hears the news that America has been taken over by a Steve Rogers lead Hydra. This leads to Sam beginning to help people leave the Hydra occupied country before a group of heroes including Scott Lang, who Sam help to get his daughter Cassie out of the country, have come asking for Sam's help with the hope to beat Hydra. Juxtaposed with Sam's story the book also focuses on Hydra's leader, Steve Rogers starting with him being interviewed by the same journalist who has interviewed him before during the first superhero Civil War. Before continuing with Steve's story as by showing how the Hydra leader deals with the political leaders of the world along with the people close to him. Overall this was a great book as it accompanies and expands upon the Secret Empire even extremely well by showing how the current state of the Marvel universe is having an effect on both Sam and Steve along with the people close to them. The Sam Wilson centric part of the book does a great job in showing where Sam has been since he stopped being Captain America and how the events of Secret Empire has made him question that discussion while showing how he has been helping people leave the country that is currently being lead by Hydra. While the Steve Rogers part of the book does a great job in showing how Steve's new role as the leader of Hydra is having an effect on the world around him as he's being questioned by the media, other political leaders and his former friends how have lost faith in him since being revealed as a Hydra agent. The art throughout the book is great as the entire art team is able to bring each of the very character driven stories to life extremely well thanks to the way that the books dialogue and the drama that comes with it is conveyed through the books artwork. 8/10.

Ultimates 2: Eternity War Review

Finished reading Ultimates 2: Eternity War, concluding the series as writer Al Ewing puts the main focus of the book onto Galactus as the Lifbringer finds himself in the middle of a cosmic war with the fate of the multiverse at stake. The book opens in the middle of Marcel's Secret Empire event as the Ultimates along with a large group of heroes are fighting of wave upon wave of Chitauri heading to Earth while the heroes are also shut off from their home thanks to a planetary shield on the planet. This leads to America Chavez going to find Galactus for help only for the Lifebringer to to decline as he shifts his focus to building his own team that his dubs the Eternity Watch after going to Ego and giving the sentient planet his own body to help fight against the threat of Logos and the Dark Celestials. Meanwhile the Maker uses this as an opportunity to implement his plan to turn the multiverse into one single universe which plays into the hands of the First Firmament who currently has Eternity as its prisoner. Overall this was a good book as it it brings a end to the series and the concept of the Ultimates within the main Marvel universe to a very satisfying conclusion for the more cosmic elements and characters of the book. The art throughout the book is great thanks to the way the whole art team is able to bring to life the different cosmic elements within the book along with the action set pieces by giving them a great sense of scale and wonder. 7.5/10.

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - Into the Twilight Review

Finished reading Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - Into the Twilight, starting a new Spider-Man series with Peter Parker at the core as writer Chip Zdarsky takes Spider-Man back to New York working with different Marvel heroes while also dealing with the return of a surprising person. The book opens with Spider-Man back in New York while catching up with Johnny Storm as the make plans before Spider-Man finds himself stopping a bank heist with the help of Ant-Man, who's suit is currently malfunctioning which leads to the two heroes going to Mason, the brother of the Tinkerer who helps the heroes of the Marvel universe with their different technological equipment. While with Mason, Spider-Man is reintroduced to Uatu from his days at Horizon as the group try to the person who was able to hack into a Stark phone that the bank robbers had, which leads to Peter taking a trip to Chicago where he meets with Ironheart who is eventually helps him. Meanwhile back at Peter's apartment, Johnny is waiting for him when he notices that Spider-Man's "sister" Teresa has come to find Peter for help as she is being hunted down by a S.H.I.E.L.D. offshoot known as the Gray Blade after stealing vital information of the worlds heroes and villains detailing their strengths and weaknesses. The news of Teresa soon gets outed to the public which leads to J Johan Jameson to investigate while also using the story as a linchpin to gain more attraction to his blog dedicated to his views on Spider-Man. Overall this was a good book as it scales back Spider-Man's adventures to his home in New York from his globetrotting adventures in the Amazing Spider-Man book which allows writer Chip Zdarsky  to put the focus on the relationships that Peter has within the superhero community along his friends and family thanks to the return of Teresa that makes his mission more personal. The book does an amazing job in giving each character some great development especially with Jameson within the final part of the book where his interview Spider-Man takes a turn when the two begin to argue which leads to a shocking reveal allowing for the prospect of some intriguing future interactions. The art throughout the book is amazing as the action set pieces to character driven moments where the emotions of each character are being conveyed constantly hits it mark especially during the ending part of the book with how the interview that Jameson is conducting breaks down. 7.5/10.