The final week of January was packed with a lot of releases from both Marvel and DC Comics. It was very difficult to decide which comics to do individual reviews for as there were so many on my pull list to talk about. To make sure I talked about the comic books that did not get their own solo review I’ve put together a round-up with reviews for Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1, Wonder Girl #7, and X-Men #7.
In case you missed it reviews for Amazing Spider-Man #87, Devil’s Reign #3, and Superman & Robin Special #1 along with a full review of the first four chapters of Detective Comics’ “Shadow Of The Bad” event.
MARY JANE & BLACK CAT: BEYOND #1
Creative Team
Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: C.F. Villa
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Review
It was long past time for a story where we finally got to see Mary Jane Watson and Felicia Hardy have their own story without Peter Parker involved. Even though Peter is the reason that MJ and Felicia team-up for a superhero heist adventure he does not factor into how things end up turning out. Which was for the best as Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 was able to focus in on the relationship between MJ and Felicia.
Throughout this adventure where MJ and Felicia where forced into a grand heist by Parker Robbins, the man formerly known as The Hood, we saw how they built a greater respect for one another. Credit to Jed MacKay not running away from how past Spider-Man creators never got MJ and Felicia having a contentious relationship. That is exactly where we see things begin. But as the heist goes along and they get deeper into the story the trust grows.
This made how MacKay and Villa were able to use the great superhero heist tone they hit throughout their Black Cat run work so well here. With Black Cat’s crew as back-up we saw how Felicia was able to have MJ use her strengths to participate in a way they believably overcome all the villains the pair go up against. Which speaks to the understanding how to maximize Black Cat’s character and how MJ can work in that type of story.
By the end of Mary Jane & Black Cat: Beyond #1 Felicia and MJ’s relationship improving all worked as a great payoff to both their arcs. If you are a fan of the Spider-Man franchise this is definitely a comic book I recommend checking out.
WONDER GIRL #7
Creative Team
Writer: Joelle Jones
Artist: Leila Del Duca
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Review
Its easy to tell when a creative team gets last minute word their comic book is being unexpectedly canceled. That news usually leads to the final issue of the series to be rushed due to not getting the time previously believed to be had for the various character arcs and story beats to develop. Sadly, that was the case with Wonder Girl #7.
Its unfortunate because there were a lot of big moments with Yara Flor that felt like were planned to be major but didn’t Joelle Jones didn’t get the chance to execute that plan. This made it so Wonder Girl #7 only had time to solidify Yara’s journey as Wonder Girl after going to war with Olympus. That journey is the best part of this issue as Yara still being new to this world is what drives a lot of the action. Even with the knowledge and skills she was able to rapidly gain she doesn’t yet have as seen with the fight with Eros. As the most developed relationship in this run Jones maximize the emotional weight of Yara and Eros leads to the former being set up for a bigger arc in the upcoming Wonder Woman event.
Because this is Yara’s title all the other characters like Donna Troy, Cassandra Sandmark, Artemis, and Potira that were set-up to have big parts in the story did not. There just simply wasn’t time for Jones to do more with these characters. It’s really unfortunate because the first time we see the three Wonder Girls didn’t get any sort of meaningful screen time together. The same goes for Yara’s reunion with The Esquecida Amazons being rushed so we don’t get the payoff that’s been built up for this aspect of Wonder Girl since the series launched.
On a more positive note Leila Del Duca continued to hit on the style that Jones established in the first few issues of this series. There were some rushed panels towards the end of the issue but overall Duca’s artwork was very good. It got over the chaotic battles that Yara, Donna Troy, Cassandra Sandmark, and The Esquecida’s were fighting against the Olympic Gods. Duca was also made sure the emotional impact of the battle between Yara and Eros paid off visually to how their relationship was built up by this point.
With all that said, you definitely feel how rushed this ending to the Wonder Girl series was. Wonder Girl #7 wasn’t meant to be the end but Jones and Duca did their best to provide some form of conclusion to the beginning of Yara’s journey. Hopefully the Trial Of The Amazons will be able to provide more of a full arc for Yara as she interacts with the rest of the Wonder Woman franchise for the first time.
X-MEN #7
Creative Team
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Review
X-Men #7 does not fix the problems the previous issue had with the introduction of Scott Summers as Captain Krakoa. What this issue does excel at is continuing to establish the X-Men as superhero team and develop several major storylines. In particular, the developments with where Cyclops and Jean Grey stand with the Quiet Council after the X-Men events of X of Sword, Hellfire Gala, and Inferno drives a lot of interest.
This issue honestly had some of the best character work that Gerry Duggan has written for the X-Men franchise. The previously mentioned situation with Cyclops and Jean not trusting the Quiet Council is a development that has been slowly building up in the background. The latest action that sent warning signals involving one of the psychics on the Quiet Council erasing the memories of Ben Urich is just the latest questionable decision. When you add this into how Inferno ended it won’t be surprising if Scott and Jean will use the Captain Krakoa gimmick to do their own investigation into the Quiet Council.
The chimeras unleashed by Doctor Stasis that the X-Men battle worked well into further developing Orchis as a massive threat. This is something that Orchis needed after how we learned two of their members, Nimrod and Omega Sentinel, are on their own side. X-Men #7 was able to show us the strength that Orchis has as Dr. Stasis was able to overwhelm the X-Men to the point that Cyclops death at their hands was the most important death in the Krakoa era. They are now in position to an even bigger threat, which should terrify Krakoa given what recently has happened with the Inferno event.
Pepe Larraz artwork was phenomenal throughout X-Men #7. This was easily some of Larraz’s best artwork to date. The double page spread of Cyclops using a street signal light to take out many Dr. Stasis chimeras with one optic blast was breathtaking. Its moves like that where you are reminded why Cyclops is the leader of the X-Men. That along with the other action sequences that make use of the rest of the X-Men’s powers, with Synch once again standing out with his powers growing to now possibly being an Omega Mutant, all flowed together extremely well.
When combining all the plot developments and phenomenal artwork X-Men #7 is easily the best issue of this series to date. Duggan and Larraz really nailed everything they were looking to do with the story. They gave weight to Cyclops latest death and why he is now Captain Krakoa while showcasing him at his best as the leader of the X-Men. That along with developments around Orchis and other sub-plots make this a can’t miss X-Men issue.