TV Review: Wonder Man (2026)

Wonder Man (2026) created for television by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Guest based on the Marvel Comics 

Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a hard-working actor who works too hard on his performances. He tries to dig into his characters' back stories, even on set when the rest of the production is ready to go, not to renegotiate the narrative. He gets fired from his current job. Desperate, he hears a childhood movie hero, Wonder Man, is being rebooted by a German auteur director, so he moves heaven and earth to get an audition. He happens to run into Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) who is also down and out. Williams idolizes Slattery, who helps him out and is also trying out for Wonder Man, though in another role. Slattery has ulterior motives. The Department of Damage Control has taken him into custody and blackmails him into befriending Williams so he can get the dirt on Williams. Damage Control suspects Williams is dangerous, which viewers see at one point when Williams stresses out and causes a bit of destruction in his apartment through some sort of superpower. 

The show has more than a bit of Hollywood narcissism--a story about actors and their tough lives, with lots of name dropping and famous locales. I found that aspect disappointing though I am sure others would enjoy it. On the other hand, I liked the growth of Simon's character, away from a self-defeating perfectionism and self-centeredness. A lot of it is due to his friendship with Trevor, which is all a front at the beginning. Trevor learns to like Simon and hate that he is betraying him. They have good chemistry together and their misadventures are entertaining if not always sensible. The ending is especially satisfying.

Recommended, especially for Marvel fans.

As I write (September 2026), this is only available on Disney+.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Savage She-Hulk Volume 1 written by David Anthony Kraft and Stan Lee, art by Mike Vosburg and John Buscema

In a panic over the success of The Incredible Hulk TV show, Stan Lee quickly rushed out a She-Hulk character. He was worried that the Bionic Woman spin-off from the Six-Million Dollar Man would inspire Hollywood to make a She-Hulk show before Marvel made the character, meaning Marvel wouldn't own the rights to the character. After Lee spit out the origin story, he turned the writing duties over to someone else.

She-Hulk's origin follows Los Angeles lawyer Jennifer Walters. She's a defense attorney going after the mob (and fighting some sexism in the legal system). The mobsters shoot her when her cousin Bruce Banner (aka the Hulk) is in town. He rushes her to the next door neighbor who is a doctor. The doctor isn't home, so Bruce works up a blood transfusion to save Jennifer's life. The situation turns into a problem after Bruce leaves, because his gamma-irradiated blood has given Jennifer abilities like the Hulk. When she gets upset, she transforms into the savage, green-skinned monster of the title.

After Lee's story, David Anthony Kraft decided to take the character in a bit of a different direction. His Jennifer Walters is still in control as She-Hulk, though she struggles to keep the savageness out of her behavior. The mob is still trying to kill her. She loans her car to a friend who dies when the car blows up. Jennifer realizes they were trying to kill her, not her friend. She-Hulk tries to reach the car in time but winds up accused of killing the friend. So Jennifer's alter-ego is branded a criminal and a savage, even though she is innocent and has much more control than Bruce has over his alter-ego.

The story moves along at a good pace and has some interesting twists. Jennifer's dad is the sheriff, so he is after She-Hulk for her "crimes." Buck Bukowski is a district attorney and gives the "lady lawyer" a lot of grief. He's also after She-Hulk since she keeps wrecking his nice sports cars as the story goes along. The legal entanglements make for interesting story fodder.

Since this work was a rush-job from the late 1970s, I had some low expectations. She-Hulk has not always been taken seriously, often intentionally turning her into a fourth-wall-breaking character like Deadpool (though she was in on the act before Deadpool even showed up). The comic hasn't been that successful either, compared to other superheroes. This series is a bit more serious, though not too serious. I found it enjoyable and not as exploitative as I was expecting. Jen is an enjoyable character and as she works through her problems, she definitely grows on the reader.

Recommended if you are a Marvel fan.

Book Review: Daredevil vs. Bullseye by M. Wolfman et al.

Daredevil vs. Bullseye written by Marv Wolfman, Jim Shooter, and Frank Miller and pencils by Bob Brown, Gil Kane, and Frank Miller

This book has separate stories of Daredevil fighting one of his iconic villains, Bullseye.

In the first story, Bullseye makes his first appearance. He show up killing a rich man who won't pay a ransom to be spared. Prepared for this, Bullseye starts a media campaign to support his extortion/murder campaign in the hopes that future victims will pay up immediately rather than face his infallible aim. Bullseye is an expert marksman using virtually anything--guns are okay, but he can use bricks, pens, trash, virtually anything, as a lethal weapon. Daredevil has enough enhanced abilities to dodge the attacks, but can he take down a ranged enemy when he (Daredevil) is more of a melee guy? Bullseye goes for the jugular and the exposure when he fights Daredevil at Madison Square Garden while the circus is in town. The story is exciting but the dialogue is voluminous and slows down the action a bit. Also, it was clearly written in the late 1970s, with a lot of the hip and trendy lingo of yesteryear. It was an entertaining introduction for the iconic character.

In the next story, Daredevil is trailing an incognito Bullseye, hoping to corner him and find out who hired him to assassinate Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson a few issues back (and not in this volume). Daredevil switches to street clothes and follows Bullseye into a gun store. He foils the robbery but gets beaned when Bullseye throws a golf ball at him. The injury causes Daredevil to lose his radar sense. Daredevil is called out by Bullseye to a TV studio for a duel to the death on air. If Daredevil doesn't show, he'll kill the three daytime talk show hosts. Even without his radar sense, Matt heads off to the confrontation. The battle features a lot of on-again-off-again moments of Daredevil's radar sense, which seems more tied to making the fight more dramatic than to any actual physical cause. I found this less interesting than the first story.

The next story has Bullseye on the verge of a surgery to remove a brain tumor. When the tumor becomes painful, he sees everyone as Daredevil and wants to slaughter them all. He kills the hospital staff and wanders Manhattan, vacillating between trying to keep control and trying to take down Daredevil. Daredevil shows up and has a chance to kill Bullseye but his better nature kicks in.

After the surgery happens, Bullseye is in prison planning to kill Daredevil. Bullseye finds out that he's been replaced as Kingpin's main assassin by Elektra, so Bullseye targets her too. When he makes his escape, lots of fighting ensues. Bullseye's inner monologue is fascinating (Frank Miller wrote it) as he works his way through all his problems. More problems happen as he fights Daredevil, who has a very hard time not killing Bullseye.

The final story has Daredevil giving the extended monologue while he plays Russian Roulette with Bullseye, who is completely paralyzed in a hospital bed. Daredevil is pulling the trigger for his enemy as he tries to make sense of the situation, especially after dealing with a legal case where the son of his client is obsessed with Daredevil. It's another poignant moment in the narrative.

This is a mixed bag of stories, some being more interesting than others.

Mildly recommended, though more strongly if you are a Daredevil fan.

Movie Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) directed by Destin Daniel Cretton

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is back on the friendly neighborhood beat, helping the police to catch criminals, especially organized crime and super-powered types like The Hand, Scorpion, and Tombstone. Peter Parker is on his own, holed up in a rundown apartment where he builds new equipment and scans the police radio for more action. His friends )who don't remember him after Doctor Strange's spell at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home) have gone off to MIT. Ned (Jacob Batalon) is vlogging their academic adventures. Peter watches the videos winsomely, especially for the chance to see the love of his life that he abandoned, MJ (Zendaya). Bigger trouble starts brewing as an unknown assailant keeps attacking Damage Control, a government department that imprisons super-criminals (like The Hand, Scorpion, and Tombstone) and uses the bad guys' technology to make advancements for the good guys. The assailant can jump from person to person, almost as if possessing them. Spider-Man faces off against this new foe, though he has a hard time tracking the villain back to his or her own body. Frank Castle aka The Punisher (Jon Bernthal) helps out with one break-in attempt, providing Spider-Man with a buddy/mentor who is a bit of neither. Spider-Man also has the phone number of a police officer (Liza Colon-Zayas), so he coordinates efforts on that side of the law too.

The plot gets more complicated as it moves on, but describing it would spoil some of the surprises and nice twists. The movie does a masterful job of switching from action set-pieces to plot exposition to character development without any of the moves being jarring or out of place. The movie really shines in the interpersonal relationships. Peter struggles with his desire to reconnect with MJ and Ned. He also struggles with his partnership with The Punisher, whose modus operandi does not fit with Spider-Man's no-kill attitude. But they still have a camaraderie that is believable and interesting, even in the middle of set-piece action sequences. The actors are uniformly great in their roles (which they have been playing for years, so they've had plenty of experience). Usually, by the fourth movie in a franchise, things have gotten stale or they just run on autopilot. This is an exciting story that sets up more to come.

Recommended, highly for Spidey fans.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Vol. 1 by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Volume 1 written by Marv Wolfman and Archie Goodwin and art by Carmine Infantino, Ron Wilson, and Sal Buscema

The origins of Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, are given here along with a lot of other goings on. The book starts with a run of issues from Marvel Two-In-One, a series that featured two superheroes, one of which was usually The Fantastic Four's The Thing, aka Ben Grimm. He's visiting London with his blind girlfriend Alicia and they run into all sorts of problems. One problem is Spider-Woman, who is working as an assassin for Hydra. As the story goes on, she starts to pull out of that situation, trying to live on her own. But that's after almost half this book goes by with the focus mostly on Ben Grimm in London worrying about his girlfriend (who gets captured and goes through a lot of trouble from Hydra). The depiction of London and Londoners is very stereotypical and not too interesting. And, as I said, Spider-Woman is a side character until she gets her own comic book, which does not start until half-wya through this volume.

In her book, she tries to get a normal job to pay for food and housing but has a very hard time since she has no real background or references. Also, she's beautiful but weirdly off-putting, especially to women. Her investigation into her past sets up her origin--she was the human child of Jonathan Drew who worked with a guy who became the High Evolutionary. Young Jessica was dying, so they introduced spider-DNA that saved her life but turned her into something of a monster. The High Evolutionary was working on turning animals into humans, so she's a bit of a departure for him and she doesn't fit in with his hybrids. Eventually she is kidnapped by Hydra, who brainwash her into being an assassin. After getting out from under their thumb, she is on a journey of self-discovery (her previous life was "erased" from her memory by Hydra) and revenge for her father.

She manages to get things settled and fights crime, both organized and random, but not too many super-villains. The writers throw in some romance with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who interacted with her during the London story, though that seems more like filler to show she has some ordinary life. I found the stories just average, with no outstanding character moments or action. She has a very interesting origin but they haven't quite figured out what to do with her.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman written by Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Gerry Duncan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van Meter, and art by Carmine Infantino, Steven Grant, Salvador Larroca, and Barry Kitson

Spider-Woman isn't just some Peter Parker clone. Jessica Drew was the daughter of scientist Jonathan Drew who teamed up with another scientist, Herbert Wyndham, to conduct unlimited research in an isolated area. Young Jessica was exposed to radiation. Combining Drew's expertise in spiders (who are highly resistant to radiation according to this book) and Wyndham's knowledge of evolution, they are able to preserve her life. Jonathan mysteriously drops out of the story and Wyndham goes crazy, calling himself "The High Evolutionary." He evolves lower animals into humans, though they don't get along with the human/spider hybrid that Jessica becomes. She escapes, only to fall into the clutches of Hydra. She's brainwashed into being an assassin for Hydra but leaves that behind, trying to strike out on her own. Jessica has a hard time finding a regular job (with no background or references) but she resists the temptation to turn back to evil. 

This book contains a couple of different stories. The first is her origin as a superhero in the 1970s. After all the backstory, she's in London starving. She struggles with stealing to eat and finding any work at all. She's being followed by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, naturally, falls for her. They don't get along. The next story jumps ahead to Spider-Woman in Los Angeles, where she runs into Peter Parker, who happens to be on a press junket to some scientific labs. They tussle as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Jessica is not up on her superheroes and assumes he's an imitation of her! They come to a peaceable end without revealing their identities to each other.

The book then jumps to stories from the 2010s. In a bit from the A + X saga, she teams up with X-Man Kitty Pride to thwart the Absorbing Man from stealing a bit of non-terrestrial metal that will make him overpowered. The next story is set during a big crossover battle. The Avengers (which Spider-Woman has joined) head to outer space with a coalition of of goodies and baddies to fight the Builders who have a seemingly unstoppable fleet. The Avenger split into two spacecraft, with Spider-Woman on a different ship from Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Jessica dated Clint at one point and had a bad breakup. He's now extra-friendly with Carol, who is also a former close friend of Jessica. So Spider-Woman has mixed feelings about them. The action is exciting and the side of soap-opera is much less interesting. The story has some nice personal moments, especially with Black Widow.

I enjoyed the earlier stories better. They are self-contained and look at Jessica as she seeks a new and better life, a redemption from her past. An evil character turning to good is a favorite storyline for me. The later stories are parts of larger narratives and feel incomplete taken out of their contexts. I like the art better in the later stuff but the story is more important to me.

Mildly recommended.

TV Review: Spider-Noir (2026)

Spider-Noir (2026) created for television by Oren Uziel based on the Marvel Comics character

Ben Reilly (Nicholas Cage) is a private detective in 1930s New York City. He used to be The Spider, a super-hero who fought crime (organized and otherwise). That ended five years earlier when his wife died. Since then, crime is on the rise, especially due to the influence of Silverback (Brendan Gleeson), a crime boss who is on the lookout for new opportunities. One opportunity is the emergence of other superpowered people. Through subordinates, he hires Reilly to tail a guy who can cause fires (like the Fantastic Four's Human Torch). The guy sets fire to Siverback's mansion, so finding the flame guy is more important than ever. Reilly discovers another PI on the case, who winds up getting killed when the situation gets more complicated. Reilly is able to talk his way out of the situation, though he winds up being hired by lounge singer Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), who is more or less owned by Silverback, to find her missing bodyguard who is also developing superpowers. As the situation gets harder and more complicated, will Reilly resume his alter-ego he had hoped to leave behind?

Obviously the answer is yes, though he goes through a lot of angst along the way. Reilly's motto is "With no power comes no responsibility," which he knows deep down is the wrong way to go about things but he's also so burned out and unhappy. Cage gives a good performance, with some of the over-the-top ticks and physicality that he is known for. The PI part of his character lets him bluff his way into and out of situations; the Spider part lets him physically imitate a spider or other insect. 

The show leans into the noir with the down and out detective going up against organized crime, which includes corrupt cops and politicians. The villains are scarred war vets (like Reilly) who have trouble fitting into society, only partly because of their new powers. Plenty of whiskey is drunk and plenty of cigarettes are smoked. The show is available in black and white or color. I watched the first episode in black and white then immediately afterward in color. I didn't think the color added much to the storytelling so I kept with the black and white. The show has dutch-angled shots almost all the time, another trademark of noir films though maybe not as much as here. I found the style enjoyable if occasionally over the top.

Marvel has generally been successful in doing the superheroes-in-a-given-genre treatment (Ant-man as a heist film, Captain America: Winter Soldier as 1970s paranoid political thriller. etc.). This is another example which I enjoyed.

Recommended.

As I publish this (June 2026), the show is only available streaming from Amazon Prime.

Book Review: Daredevil: Yellow by J. Loeb and T. Sale

Daredevil: Yellow storytelling by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

After Karen Page's death, Matt Murdock decides (on Foggy Nelson's advice) to write her a letter explaining how he feels about the situation. The writing is a way to deal with his love of her and his guilt over her death. He goes back to the beginning, which means starting with the death of his own father while Matt was in law school. Jack Murdock was a boxer whose career had a sudden revival with a string of knockouts. Jack's new manager is nicknamed "The Fixer," which turns out to be exactly what it implies. When they get to the fight where Jack is supposed to take a dive instead of his opponent, Jack refuses. The Fixer is upset because Jack wasn't following orders and his wider crime-world connections are unhappy too. Matt, while working hard at his Columbia Law School studies, has also been working hard on his fighting skills. When his dad is killed and the justice system lets the killers go free, Matt goes to his dad's trunk, going through his fighting gear (which includes a yellow robe), and makes his first Daredevil suit out of it. Then he goes to avenge his dad. Meanwhile, he and Foggy have finished law school and open their own practice, hiring Karen Page, who becomes a catalyst for romantic drama between the two lawyers.

Loeb and Sale are a great team, crafting masterpieces like Batman: The Long Halloween. They make a great origin story for Daredevil, incorporating all the classic bits while giving the story more depth and emotion. They have the law firm though courtroom scenes are kept to a minimum. Daredevil has some awkward integration with other Manhattan superheroes and villains. When the Fantastic Four show up at the law firm, have they figured out Matt's secret identity or do they really just need legal help with Reed's patents? The fight scenes are not the main focus but are interesting and do connect to larger themes and narratives. As Matt reminiscences, the seemingly scattershot details fit together as a whole, providing more insight into his personality. 

Recommended, highly for Daredevil fans. 

Book Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol. 3 by D. Slott et al.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Volume 3 written by by Dan Slott and Bob Gale, art by Marcos Martin and Mike Mckone

Looking for better pay, Peter Parker shifts over to the paparazzi section of The DB, formerly The Daily Bugle under J. Jonah Jameson. The new editor is much worse and encourages Peter to go after a Hollywood celebrity in town. Unfortunately, the celebrity has a supervillain stalker called Paperdoll who is in fact a flattened woman who can make other people just as flat (though they die from the condition). Peter struggles with the ethics of the job as he fights the very weird villain. A second story follows Spidey as he confronts The Bookie, a guy who frequents a local bar for supervillains and gets them to bet on pretty much anything. The Bookie might have some information on someone who is framing Spider-Man as a serial killer, so Spidey has a lot of motivation to take him down.

The villains in these stories are a little disappointing. It's hard to imagine them coming back again in future stories. The "Peter Parker trying to get by" story is more interesting and fun.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko

More early adventures of Spider-Man find him fighting "old" enemies like coverboy Doctor Octopus along with new enemies like Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter. The Green Goblin also makes his first appearance though his identity is hidden from readers. This book contains issues 11 through 19 and the initial double-sized annual with the first appearance of The Sinister Six, a villain team-up. Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Vulture, Kraven, Electro, and Sandman gang up on the teen-aged hero, though of course it doesn't work out for them. The annual includes a lot of "pin-up" one-page images of Spider-Man fighting each villain. It also has a bunch of info on the villains and Spider-Man's abilities (back in the time when you could not easily find past issues or possibly read up on things online), along with all other sort of trivia now relegated to fan web pages. 

The narrative emphasis is still on Peter Parker/Spider-Man's personal problems. Aunt May gets seriously ill, forcing Spider-Man on the sidelines while Peter takes care of her, plummeting the reputation of Spider-Man to Jameson's delight and Flash Thompson's chagrin. Thompson tries to start a Spidey-fan club, which only causes more trouble for Peter and for Spider-Man. These issues start the hinting of Mary Jane with Aunt May promising to set up Peter even though he is more interested in J. Jonah Jameson's secretary Betty Brant. These stories are still fun to read even with the over-the-top antics and self-promotion.

Recommended, highly for Spidey-fans.

Book Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol. 2 by B. Gale et al.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Volume 2 written by Bob Gale and Zeb Wells; art by Phil Jimenez, Chris Bachalo, and Barry Kitson

Spider-man's problems continue unabated. Even though J. Jonah Jameson is out of the Daily Bugle (his wife sold it while he was incapacitated by a heart attack), the new owner is even worse--he hates Spider-man, he makes up stories all the time, and he can't remember anybodies' names. The police are mixed about Spider-man's helpfulness, some like him, some don't. He barely has enough money to make ends meet. New villains keep showing up. The latest is a drug addict who accidentally winds up in the lab of Curt Conners (i.e. the Lizard). He assumes the needles there are full of drugs when they actually have animal stem cells. So the drug addict becomes Freak, an evolving and seemingly undying baddie. The Green Goblin-knockoff called Menace is after politicians. Finally, Wolverine shows up to "help out" with one of Spider-man's adventures. 

The stories are interesting enough though the new villains lack something. They do not come off as iconic or especially menacing. They are a big problem. Spidey has the usual comic quips and bad luck which is fun. They've gotten the essence of his character down. I'll keep reading.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Vol. 1 by D. Slott et al.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Volume 1 written by Dan Slott, Marc Guggenheim, Bob Gale, and Zeb Wells; art by Phil Jimenez, Steve McNiven, Salvador Larroca and others

In the aftermath of the highly controversial One More Day, where Aunt May is shot resulting in Peter and Mary Jane (who had been married for many, many years) making a deal with the demon Mephisto to save Aunt May. Mephisto demands to erase their marriage, which they agree to, resulting in a very unpopular reboot. The storyline was the end of J. Michael Straczynski's run on Spider-man, which had plenty of flaws besides this ending. 

Peter Parker is back to being a 25-year old loser in life because he can't get the balance between regular life and Spider-man superheroics. New York has required superheroes to register so they can do their thing, something Peter resists because he values his secret identity. He's been out of the hero-game for months but is drawn back in when a new villain, Mister Negative, shows up. His agenda is unclear but his thugs keep running across Peter's path, forcing Peter to suit up and deal with the situation. Complicating things is the female superhero Jackpot (who is registered), who seems an awful lot like Mary Jane Watson, who is supposed to be in California pursuing her acting career. Another complication is a mugger with a Spider-man mask working the alleyways, tarnishing the hero's reputation. Just what J. Jonah Jameson likes!

As a reboot, this gets back to basics. Peter has a down-and-out life (he's moved back in with Aunt May until he can afford an apartment) with no luck in girlfriends, even when his friend Harry Osborne sets him up. Some cops like Spider-man and some don't; the same goes for the general public in New York. Even with all the things lined up against him, Spider-man is still upbeat and full of quips and jokes, to the annoyance of allies (the cops and Jackpot) and enemies (too many to mention). The fun of classic Spider-man stories is captured while providing some good new things and some dubious new things.

Recommended, especially for Spider-man fans--I will read more!

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 by S. Lee et al.

Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1 written by Stan Lee and art by Steve Ditko

The origin story of Spider-man first appeared in the final issue of Amazing Fantasy. He was so popular that Marvel started his own comic book. The first ten issues are printed here along with Spider-man's origin story. It is amazing to see how many iconic villains were created right at the start--The Vulture, Doctor Octopus, Sandman, The Lizard, and Electro. Spidey even goes up against Doctor Doom! Stan Lee's writing style is quite hyperbolic, claiming his new hero is the greatest invention ever and each issue is even better than what went before. As a hero, Spider-man is quite different from what went before. He's a nerdy teen who is bullied at school and can't get dates with any girl he likes. He has a lot of personal problems that other heroes never seem to deal with. His plight is endearing and makes his swagger and joking as Spider-man a nice contrast. The art by Ditko is action-packed and catches all the fun nuances of the story (even if J. Jonah Jameson looks too much like Hitler early on). The old stories have a lot of dialogue and text, delivering a lot of story along with action scenes that Lee can't help but overpraise in his text. 

Overall, this trip to Spider-man's first adventures is fun and a must for fans!

Recommended, highly for web-heads.

Book Review: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars by J. Shooter et al.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars written by Jim Shooter, penciled by Mike Zek and Bob Layton

In the first mega-cross-over event in comics history, all the major heroes in the Marvel cannon at the time (1984) are secretly whisked away to Battleworld far across the universe. That world was created by the Beyonder, a god-like being from another universe that happened to see through a crack between his universe and Marvel's. Seeing the heroes and villains of Earth contending with each other over their desires, the Beyonder (who does not experience desire since anything he wants immediately he has) pits the group of heroes (including the X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four (minus Sue), and Spider-Man) against a group of villains (including Doctor Doom, Doctor Octopus, Galactus, the Absorbing Man, Magneto, Kang, the Enchantress, and others). The Beyonder offers the people their greatest desire if they kill their enemies. The all-out war is no simple affair since the X-Men still feel put off by humans (even superhumans like the Avengers); Magneto is lumped in with the heroes since his desires seem similar (even if his behavior is radically different); the villains have a hard time uniting under one leader and are often at odds. A lot of dramatic possibilities are played out as the twelve-issue series runs its course.

Forty years later, the story has not aged well. The all-out war is an interesting idea and the dynamics play out okay. The dialogue is very clunky, with a lot of weird nicknames for characters--Wolverine is "Wolvie," Hulk is "Hulkie," Magneto is "Maggie"!!! Some of the jokes I am sure were pop-culture gold in the 1980s and are now trivia answers today. A couple of characters are killed only to come back in the very next issue, a grating trope if ever there was one. A maudlin love triangle is introduced between Colossus, the Human Torch, and a woman from Battleworld that does not really develop in any interesting ways (other than Colossus breaks up with Kitty Pride on his return from Battleworld). The series was a massive hit, spawning a sequel the next year. And it introduced Spider-Man's black costume (actually the symbiote) and had Ben Grimm leave the Fantastic Four with She-Hulk subbing in from the Avengers' roster. The whole is entertaining in a nostalgic way but I am not going to reread it.

Mildly recommended--this is a fun mashup for Marvel fans that you can jump into without reading a long backlist of issues.

Book Review: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 by G. Simone

The Uncanny X-Men Volume 1: Red Wave written by Gail Simone, art by David Marquez and Javier Garron

After the mutant island nation of Krakoa is wiped out, mutants are back on the run. Charles Xavier has also died, leaving no positive leadership and no group known as the X-Men. His Westchester school has fallen into the hands of a nefarious agency that turns it into a prison for mutants though the conversion is still in progress. Rogue and Gambit have married and are on a second honeymoon in Mexico when they get pulled back to the States to help out some fellow mutants in Louisiana. The call came from Jubilee who is tired of trying to hide her powers. Nightcrawler and Wolverine join up too. The informal team visits a mutant child dying in a hospital and then meets a quartet of mutants, one of whom may be the "Endling," the mutant who will see the last of the mutants die in a near future. Possibly by one of the many hunters sent by the nefarious agency that wants to put the four kids into custody.

The story shakes things up by having Rogue in charge of the team. She's okay as a leader but doesn't have presence that Professor X, Storm, or Cyclops has. She does okay but she does not do anything outstanding. Things move at a good pace but there is very little joy or excitement on display. Simone is a good writer but this is only average work. I don't think I will continue this series.

Mildly recommended.

TV Review: Daredevil Born Again Season 1 (2025)

Daredevil Born Again Season 1 (2025) created for television by Matt Corman and Dario Scardapane based on the Marvel comics character

Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) goes through a harrowing experience in a pre-credits sequence: Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) is brutally murdered by Bullseye (Wilson Bethel). After throwing Bullseye off the roof, Matt hangs up his Daredevil costume and moves to a new law firm while Karen Page (Deborah Ann Wohl) moves out of town. A year later, Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) decides to run for mayor of New York City on a "make New York a better place" promise. He wins the election, which does not sit well with Matt. The two men confront each other and promise if the other returns to their former ways, he will take him down. The tension ratchets up as a new street artist, Muse (Hunter Doohan), makes displays lionizing the vigilantes Fisk despises and lambasting the politics Fisk engages in. Also, Muse is killing people and using their blood in his artwork. The situation only gets worse from there as Murdock and Fisk both try to protect their city.

D'Onofrio and Cox give great performances. Their confrontation scenes are among the best in this new series. But the series suffers from bailing out on the Murdock-Nelson-Page dynamic which is not recreated in Matt's new law firm, though they try to. Fisk becoming mayor is a little hard to believe since he would more likely find dirt on politicians and manipulate the system that way rather than come out front and center. He does some interesting things, slowly or quickly corrupting his subordinates depending on how receptive they are to his ways. Also, his wife Vanessa (Ayelet Zurer) has returned though they are in couples counseling (also some of the best scenes in the show). As a villain, Muse is underdeveloped and winds up more of a plot mechanic than an interesting (if diabolical) character. The show ends with a cliffhanger ending because, of course, they want to make another season. I will watch a new season but this is not as good as the previous Netflix seasons, so I am not very enthusiastic for more.

Mildly recommended.

As I write (October 2025) this is only available on Disney+.

TV Review: X-Men '97 (2024)

X-Men '97 (2024) created by Beau DeMayo based on the 1990s series based on the Marvel Comics

This series, a continuation of a popular cartoon from the 1990s, starts with the X-Men in crisis. Professor Charles Xavier has died, leaving a leadership gap for the team. Cyclops/Scott Summers naturally thinks he has to step up as leader, though he is reluctant since his wife, Jean Grey, is pregnant and soon to give birth. He was hoping they could live a more normal family life. The problem gets worse when Magneto shows up at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with Charles's will. Xavier has bequeathed the leadership of the school and the team to Magneto. None of the X-Men are happy about the situation (except maybe Rogue). Scott feels he has to stay to make sure Magneto behaves. The narrative plays out from there.

This ten-episode arc covers a lot of ground. Scott and Jean have their baby though the infant is kidnapped and infected with a cyber-disease and has to travel to the future with the time-traveling mutant Bishop to get cured. Storm loses her powers in a fight and winds up on a journey of self-discovery. Jean discovers that she is a clone of the actual Jean Grey created by Mister Sinister, leading to lots of complications. The island country Genosha, set up as a mutant refuge, is trying to join the United Nations but is under attack both politically and literally. The stories move at a breakneck pace. If I hadn't read some of these story arcs in the comics, I think I would have been a little lost (seeing the movies helps a bit too). The series leans on nostalgia and prior knowledge too much, with a lot of characters lacking any development or depth. 

The animation does a good job looking like something from thirty years ago without looking cheap or rushed. The action sequences are creative, hewing to the X-Men's random set of abilities and applying them as best they can in given situations. Rogue is an exception--she never using her absorbing power, she just flies around and punches a lot of stuff.

Mildly recommended--this needs a bit of context to be appreciated. Of course, the series ends on a cliffhanger implying another season to come.

Book Review: X-Men Marvel Epic Collection Vol. 12 by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men Marvel Epic Collection Volume 12: The Gift written by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, pencilled by John Romita, Jr., Steve Leialoha, Paul Smith, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Dave Cockrum

This omnibus edition covers X-Men publications mostly from 1985, including Uncanny X-Men 189 to 198, X-Men Annual 8, X-Men and Alpha Flight 1-2, and Nightcrawler 1-4. 

A lot of these are episodic one-offs, showcasing two or three of the X-Men on an adventure. Claremont is a good writer but has a lot of dialogue in his stories. Even Wolverine talks a lot. The highlight of the collection are a two-parter called "The Gift" featuring most of the X-Men and the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight. They all wind up in a wintery, isolated Canadian location where an amazing city has sprung up in a bubble of warm weather. Unbelievable healing has happened in the city--Cyclops can control his eye-blasts without any tech, Rogue is free from her absorbing powers (so she can touch people), Wolverine no longer has berserker rage, etc. Loki has given this "gift" to them in hopes of appeasing some even higher-up gods, though things do not work out for him. The very promising cover image of Doctor Doom fighting the X-Men is a later story and a bit of a disappointment to me. 

Woven through the stories is Storm's tragic situation--she has lost her power and returns to Africa to find out what to do. Another ongoing plot is Colossus and Kitty having relationship problems. And 1985 was the year the Beyonder showed up and had an epic story line that involved all of the Marvel universe, so he shows up in a few stories.

The collection ends with a four-part adventure for Nightcrawler, who gets sucked into other dimensions where he encounters a lot of whimsical situations and action. He fights a shark-man who is also a magician bent on gaining Nightcrawler's teleportation powers. It is very silly but also very fun.

This set is a mixed bag. Some stories I liked, some I didn't. The cover promises more than the content delivers which was disappointing for me. Otherwise this is a fine if less famous bit of the Chris Claremont X-Men era.

Mildly recommended.

Los Angeles 2025

We did a lot of random stuff in the Los Angeles area in addition to the theme park visits.

We visited a playground near the Rose Bowl that was fun, but not big fun. A lot of summer camps were there swapping in and out of the playground.

Spinning for fun

Dad takes a spin

We went up to Griffith Observatory, balked at the parking cost, and did a quick shot with the Hollywood sign before going back down the hill.

Sign alone

LA as seen from Griffith Observatory

Us with the sign

We went downtown to Grauman's Chinese Theater, a famous venue in Hollywood that has the Walk of Fame outside its courtyard and the footprints of Hollywood celebrities inside its courtyard.

Less famous but colorful El Capitan across the street

We did not go to see this movie

Proof I was there

We saw lots of celebrities' marks.

Harrison Ford on walk of fame

Harrison Ford in concrete

Roy Rogers, Trigger, and his pistol

Abbott and Costello and me

Comparing hand sizes with Black Widow

Comparing hand sizes with Thor

Harry Potter gang

Could be a Potter

Not far away is a branch of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum but only posed outside with the Hulk (they have a 4D exhibit with Marvel characters inside but we were not sold on going inside the museum).

Can I hold him back?!?

Strangely unworried about the situation

Another store even further away had some recreations of famous villains, like the Predator.

Predator ready to get me

We saw a BTS-related billboard (along with several posters of the same).

Can you really love Jin more?

Back in Pasadena, we had custom coated and filled cream puffs at Beard Papa's.I had the green tea eclair with vanilla filling. Yummy!

Green tea 

Movie Reviews: MCU Catch-up

Marvel Cinematic Underperformers

I finally made myself catch up on some of the Marvel movies that did not perform well at the box office, were critical bombs, were audience bombs, or some combination of the three. Here goes!

The Marvels (2023) co-written and directed by Nia DaCosta

Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), is a Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers (Brie Larson), fangirl. Kamala is also the hero of Jersey City, using her special light-solidifying powers to fight bad guys. What she really wants is to team up with her idol. Meanwhile, Monica Rambeau (Teyona Parris) works with Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) on an orbital platform that is monitoring intergalactic travel and protecting the Earth. Captain Marvel is investigating a wormhole. All three heroes' powers are used at the same time and become quantum entangled, resulting in them swapping places with each other. Captain Marvel starts by fighting some Kree then she keeps flipping with Monica at the space station and Kamala at her home in New Jersey. The plot spins out from there as a representative from the Kree home world seeks to save their planet by stealing resources from other planets, especially planets that Captain Marvel holds dear, since she was the one to damage the Kree home world in the first place. 

The plot of the movie is a little convoluted as each main character works on some of her own flaws. The trio visits a variety of planets, some of which strain at the edge of plausibility considering they are in the same universe. The movie has a fun and light-hearted tone with Kamala, who has that innocent wonder and excitement as a young superhero. Danvers is mostly serious and dark-hearted, dealing with what she has done (the Kree call her "The Annihilator" which she does not like at all, though probably deserves). Bridging the gap between the characters is tricky and more or less fails. The tonal shifts are huge swings that don't hang together, much like the planet where everyone sings and dances doesn't jive with the near-dead Kree home world. 

I can see why the film did not perform well, though it is not as bad as I thought it would be. That being said, it is still a hot mess with unequal amounts of good and bad parts.

Barely recommended--Only for Marvel completists or Kamala Khan fans.

Madame Web (2024) directed by S. J. Clarkson

In 1973, Constance Webb (Kerry Bishe) is in Peruvian Amazonia searching for a legendary spider. She hopes it will cure all sorts of illnesses and ignores all the legends about a race of spider-enhanced locals who can jump through the trees and have super-strength. She treks through the jungle with some local helpers and Ezekiel (Tahar Rahim). She finally makes the find and Ezekiel turns traitor, shooting her even though she is 8 months pregnant. He takes the spider for himself, presumably to profit from it back in the United States. After Ezekiel leaves, the spider-natives show up and keep Constance alive long enough to deliver the baby. 

The story then jumps ahead thirty years to the life of Constance's daughter, Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a paramedic who is sarcastic and lacks interpersonal skills. Her ambulance partner is Ben Parker (Adam Scott), who does a bit of wisecracking to help balance out their team and bring some levity to the movie. They go to a bridge accident where they have to cut a guy out of his car. Ben drags the guy from the car but it falls with Cassie inside. She has a near-death experience that unlocks a power that lets her see future events. She sees another accident scene where a co-worker dies and tries to stop it from happening. That doesn't work and she's given a week of leave to deal with her new visions of the future (assumed to be some mental health problem). Ben recommends she come to the funeral, which puts her in the path of three young girls who have been targeted by Ezekiel because he has had nightmares of them killing him every night. 

The story has a lot of promise, bringing a new character in whose only superpower is seeing the future. She can't crawl up walls or use super-strength, just a knowledge of future events that she could change. The first examples of her visions are confusing and disorienting for Cassie (and for viewers). They never get more coherent or easier to follow. Johnson's performance lacks luster and the writing isn't that great either, leaving Cassie as a less likable character than she should be. Viewers see the three teenage girls in the bad guy's dreams as cool spider-style fighters but they never get to be those characters other than in the dreams. As an origin story for them, this movie is disappointing. The young girls don't seem that heroic either even though they grow into it more by the end. So they are unsatisfying too.

The villain was the most interesting character. He has the strength and wall-crawling of Spider-man but obviously does not have the heroic self-sacrifice. He's obsessed avoiding the three girls killing her, so much so that he kills and blackmails others to get what he needs. The movie hints that he might be the cause of his own problems when it is implied that they girls get their power from contact with him. But maybe that was an unintentional hint since that very interesting possibility goes nowhere (though that was what I was most interested in).

Not recommended--this wasn't a total turkey but there are so many other average-to-better superhero films that this winds up close to the bottom of the stack. Maybe they were hoping for sequels with a team led by Cassie, but that did not pan out. 

Kraven the Hunter (2024) directed by J. C. Chandor

Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Sergei Kravinoff, the titular Kraven the Hunter. His father Nikolai (Russell Crowe) is a Russian crime boss who is raising his sons (there's also Dimitri (Fred Hechinger)) to be part of the business. Dimitri is not very manly, even as a young boy, whereas his older brother Sergei shows signs of what their father thinks is greatness. After their mother dies, Nikolai takes them on an African hunt. Sergei is attacked by a legendary lion, who carries him off. The nearly dead Sergei is discovered by Calypso, granddaughter of a local woman, who gives him a special magical drink from her grandma to restore his strength (and a Tarot card, which enables them to reconnect years later). Sergei is evacuated by helicopter, dies in a hospital, but then comes back to life with a strange glow in his eyes. Brought back home, he decides to leave, so Dimitri bears the burden of their father's ambition. As adults, Sergei is a secret assassin known as "The Hunter" who has a long list of targets and a blood-soaked method of killing them. He comes back to London for his brother's birthday and gets pulled into a mafia war between Nikolai and The Rhino (Alessandro Nivola), an ambitious crime lord who wants to take over as much business as he can.

The movie has a lot of exciting action sequences. Taylor-Johnson does a good job in the lead, portraying a sympathetic yet morally-compromised character. He lives for the hunt and for his own very narrow sense of justice. He's much better at being an antihero than Venom in his films. Calypso is little more than a plot device to move Kraven's agenda forward, which was a little disappointing. The Rhino character is more interesting as a mafia don than at the end when he turns into the comic book version of the character, which was unconvincing even if it did provide a big fight scene at the end. The ending after that fight dragged out a lot longer than it needed to. While this isn't a bad movie, it is definitely a B-movie in the superhero genre which is already chock full of better stuff. It failed at the box office due to viewer burnout with the genre and the obscurity of the character.

Barely recommended--this is more for completists or R-rated action fans.