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Fantastic Four (1961) #57-65, Annual #4 - Stan Lee/Jack Kirby

The Fantastic Four - or Three, since Johnny is still out there, with Wyatt and Lockjaw, searching for Crystal - have to contend with the Sandman, who’s wilier than he seems. He just escaped from prison and he’s now looking for a way to release the Wizard.

But soon there might be greater dangers awaiting the team. The Silver Surfer gets an invitation to visit Doctor Doom. He tries to present himself as a lover of peace and a kind ruler, but the Surfer isn’t quite buying it. Just as well, because what Doom really wants is to steal the Power Cosmic to himself.

Of course, the first thing Doom does with it is terrorize the FF by projecting his image in the middle of a storm on top of the Baxter Building.

Ben is the most rattled, especially after Sue and Reed decide to spend the weekend at their cottage and he's alone reading ghost stories.

It passes when Doom shows up in person to attack him. It ends with Doom freezing Ben as a statue while he goes to deal with Reed.

Lockjaw brings Wyatt and Johnny back to New York. Johnny is upset at first, until he realizes something is up. He sends Wyatt with one of Reed’s inventions to unfreeze Ben, while he goes to the cottage. Not even his Nova flame is strong enough to singe Doom, but it buys Reed and Sue some time.

Wyatt, who must be the fifth Fantastic Four by now, uses Reed’s anti-grav gun. It turns off gravity, but leaves Doom unaffected.

So Reed has to resort to mind games. He tells the others the fight is hopeless, which makes Doom decide to let them live. That way, they'll be forced to contend with their failure while Doom goes on to conquer the world.

It's Doomsday and Doom makes several power demonstrations: total darkness in a village, winter in the Greek Islands, picking up a cruise like it's nothing.

Reed is working in a way to defeat Doom, while trying to talk Ben out of facing Doom himself.

He can't reach Johnny, though, and he refuses to believe Doom’s invulnerable to his Nova flame. He is.

The FF reunite and face Doom together, although there’s little they can do besides provide a distraction until Reed’s plan comes together. He designed an anti-cosmic glider and asked the army - with Tony Stark’s help - to build it. It steals some power from Doom, who follows it to outer space, where whatever measures Galactus put in place to prevent the Silver Surfer from leaving his exile are triggered. Doom doesn’t return, but the Power Cosmic returns to the Silver Surfer, who, feeling, once again, that Humanity is beyond help, destroys Doom’s castle.

Meanwhile, the Inhumans are free! The reason Black Bolt doesn’t speak isn’t because he lost his voice; it’s because his voice it’s very destructive. With all other measures exhausted, Black Bolt sends his people to underground bunkers, stands alone in the main square and screams. The city is destroyed, but so is the negative zone barrier.

While the city is rebuilt, the Council of Elders decides that the royal family should leave and explore the world. Good news for Crystal, who really wants to reunite with Johnny. Maximus tries to take advantage of their absence to become king again, but no one gives him the time of day.

The Mad Thinker brings the original Human Torch back. He remembers his creation by Professor Horton and his initial escape from the cement bunker, but not that he became a fighter for justice after that. The Thinker takes advantage of that to sick him against the current Human Torch. Johnny is practicing creating his nova flame in a desolate place, which is convenient when their fight starts destroying the landscape.

The FF find them thanks to Lockjaw, who seems to be able to finding people by locking in their thought waves. He also takes everyone into the Mad Thinker’s lair.

He also created a very advanced AI, Quasimodo, who longs to be human. The Thinker threatens Jim Hammond with Quasimodo, but he refuses to become murderer. The Thinker escapes, the Human Torch is dead once again and Quasimodo is left by himself, trapped inside a computer.

The FF, minus Johnny and Wyatt - who are finally back at school, return to the Baxter Building and are promptly attacked by Reed’s inventions. It’s the work of the Sandman, who also updated his look since last time. During the fight, one of the machines gets damaged and the portal to the Negative Zone opens and starts spilling outside. Hearing the news, Johnny races home and misses the moment Crystal and Lockjaw show up in the middle of the football game. Luckily, Wyatt is there - that’s a dangling plot thread more or less resolved - and talks to her.

Back at the Baxter Building, Reed uses the Negative Zone to scare the Sandman away. Unfortunately, he gets sucked in and there might not be a way out for Mister Fantastic.

The other FF can only watch as Reed gets slowly dragged into the explosion zone. Crystal arrives then, only to find Johnny too distraught to greet her. Once she realizes what's going on, she travels back to the island where the Inhumans are staying - and where they just repelled a communist invasion.

Black Bolt sends Triton back with Crystal and Lockjaw, because navigating the Negative Zone can't be that different from the deep ocean. Triton rescues Reed and he and Sue are reunited, Johnny and Crystal can celebrate.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, another creature escapes the Negative Zone. Blastaar as abandoned by his people near the explosion zone, but he followed Triton out. He sneaks out the Baxter Building and meets up with the Sandman, who was loitering in the roof.

Blastaar can create explosions and introduces himself by blasting off the roof. He fights Johnny while Sandman rolls Ben into the river. His sand particles are dragged away by the current, so that doesn't work out very well for him.

Reed deals with Blastaar with a special helmet that disrupts his powers and he gets sent back to the Negative Zone.

After all the excitement, Reed thinks a vacation is in order. Johnny and Crystal want to stay back to enjoy some alone time together and Triton wants to stay to look after Lockjaw, so it's just Ben, Reed and Sue, since Alicia is out of town.

Ben choses a spot at random and it happens to be the same Pacific Island where a random professor was looking for evidence of the presence of Ancient Aliens the Kree on Earth and awakened the Sentry. Despite looking like a Sentinel, this is a living being, bred and trained by the Kree to obey orders. In this case, guard the space port and destroy all invaders.

They fight, but the Sentry can improve their strength to match any opponent, so Sue calls Johnny for help. His flame surprises the Sentry, but it also causes the space port to explode. The FF escape via Lockjaw - with the random professor - and leave the Sentry in their post, amidst the collapsing structure, wondering if they're even any Kree left…

There are, because the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree contacts the FF in their dreams to warn them of the coming of Ronan, the Accuser - that’s his job, he accuses people and passes sentence; doesn’t seem the most fair way to conduct a trial, but we’re still halfway through our civilization evolution…

Ronan teleports the FF inside his special cone for the trial and it goes as well as could be expected, especially considering the accused have little respect for the accuser and even less faith on getting a fair shake. Ronan does have physical superiority and a special weapon, but the fight goes the FF way and he disappears, along with his cone. Reed theorizes his ship must have some sort of fail switch and he was beamed up when he was unable to carry the sentence.

Meanwhile, Alicia has been hearing a strange voice and meets a being capable of walking trough walls, who invites her to come with him… somewhere else.

Thor (2011) directed by Kenneth Branagh

Written by Ashley E. Miller, Zack Stentz and Don Payne

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Clark Gregg, Idris Elba, Rene Russo

Synopsis: The powerful but arrogant god Thor is cast out of Asgard to live amongst humans in Midgard (Earth), where he soon becomes one of their finest defenders.

Did I watch it when it first come out? No. But I watched it later. But not before watching Avengers.

Highlights: Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman have very good chemistry.

Loki. Just, Loki.

Asgard looks very cool.

All the scenes of Thor dealing with modern world are the best.

Worldbuilding Notes: gods are real, but they use science, not magic.

Little things that stood out: you can see the seeds for the Asgard was an imperialistic superpower/Odin was a mighty conqueror stuff later on.

I still don’t know if the Nine Realms are meant to be different planets or different dimensions.

There’s a lot of dutch angles in this.

Hey, it’s Sitwell. And Hawkeye.

The Plan: Loki’s plan to become king seems to step 1: lie about everything, step 2: come out on top.

Infinity Stone Watch: there’s an Infinity Gauntlet in the vault, but it’s hard to catch.

Sequel-bait in the Post-Credits Scene: sets up both Captain America and the Avengers.

The Other Stuff: nothing egregious. The movie is fun, but never gets to the next level.

Ranking (for now) (100% subjective; based on personal enjoyment only):

1. X2 (2003)
2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
3. Spider-Man (2002)
4. X-Men (2000)
5. Iron Man (2008)
6. Fantastic Four (2005)
7. Daredevil (2003)
8. Thor (2011)
9. Spider-Man 3
10. Iron Man 2 (2010)
11. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2008)
12. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
13. Blade (1998)
14. Blade II (2002)
15. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
16. Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer
17. Ghost Rider (2007)
18. Blade: Trinity (2004)
19. Elektra (2005)
20. Hulk (2003)

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) - #47-52, Annual #3-4 - Stan Lee/John Romita/Larry Lieber

Spider-Man gets an invitation to join the Avengers, so team update: all the originals are back, although Giant Man now goes by Goliath.

They can't decide what test to give Peter at first (the test things is new), so a fight breaks out in the meeting room. Then, Iron Man remembers the Hulk is around and the Avengers ask Spider-Man to bring him to their HQ.

Peter finds the Hulk at the Gamma Ray Research Centre. The Hulk is not happy at being attacked with no warning, and Peter has to concede he has a point. He gets hit by some gamma rays and turns back into Bruce Banner, who explains what has happened to him to a sympathetic Peter. When he turns back into the Hulk, Peter can't bring himself to deliver him to the Avengers, not knowing the Avengers only want to meet the Hulk because they feel he needs their help.

Kraven escapes from jail and tries to go after the Green Goblin to get his money. Apparently (this wasn't depicted in his last appearance), the Green Goblin promised Kraven 20k for dealing with Spider-Man. Kraven didn't get it, but he believes Norman Osborn is working for the Goblin. Osborn is out of town, so Kraven goes after Harry and interrupts Flash going away party - he got recruited into the Army.

At least, he gets the best gift: seeing Spider-Man battle Kraven up close!

The Vulture is dying, after an accident in the prison shop. He still has strength to confide in his cellmate where he hid his last pair of wings - which is exactly why Blackie Drago engineered said accident. He escapes prison, retrieves the wings and goes on a crime spree, which Spider-Man tries to stop. His first attempt fails because Peter is battling a bad cold and a fever.

The new Vulture drops him in a snow-covered rooftop, believing to have won. The cold ends up reviving Peter and he slinks back home. A night's rest gets in back in good health, but he has to (pretend) to stay in bed to assuage Aunt May - he’s such a fragile boy!

He has to sneak out because Kraven isn't happy about the publicity the new Vulture is getting. The fight between the two can be highly destructive and Peter has to stop them. It's easier this time, when he can turn the two against each other and get some nice pics in the process.

We get the classic Spider-Man No More story here. Peter’s decision to stop being Spider-Man has been building for a while. He’s tired of Jameson’s crusade against him, tired of not having time to date either MJ or Gwen, tired of not being able to take Norman’s offer of a job. The turning point comes when Aunt May suddenly gets sick.

Upset that he hasn’t there for her, Peter throws his suit in the trash and quits.

Spider-Man’s absence is the opportunity the Kingpin had been waiting for. He decides it’s time to finally unite the city’s gangs under his leadership. Peter is able to ignore the crime wave at first, but he walks into an attempted robbery and can’t walk away. The victim reminds him of his uncle and he remembers why he started being Spider-Man in the first place. He steal his suit back from Jameson - who had it hanging in his office like a trophy - and gets back in the action.

After Spider-Man busts another couple of robberies, the gangs aren't happy with the Kingpin. They try to fight him, but his size isn't just for show - it’s all muscle. He's also quick enough to hold his own against Spider-Man.

And he's not afraid to get his hands dirty, despite preferring to stay in the shadows.

Kingpin has his men bring him Jameson. He wants to intimidate him to stop publishing about the Kingpin’s existence. He uses Foswell - who decided to give up clean living and try to untie the gangs again himself; Kingpin is mot too impressed with him either - to try to reason with Jameson, but he refuses to back down.

Spider-Man followed them to Kingpin’s lair, but he’s caught in a gas cloud. Kingpin decides to dispose of him and Jameson by locking them up in a room and filling it with water. Peter makes a web bubble and he’s ready to take down the Kingpin once the door is open. Jameson, I’m sorry to say, acts like a coward the entire time - but it’s only his life on the line, not his money 🙄

Kingpin escapes, but Foswell, feeling like he couldn’t abandon Jameson, is killed by some goons.

Meanwhile, Ben Urich and Ned Leeds step up at the Daily Bugle, leaving Betty to wonder why she keeps falling for guys who like danger…

The annual is a big Spider-Man/Human Torch team up. Where they constantly heckle each other.

The Human Torch is rampaging through Manhattan and Spider-Man is the only one who can stop him! Except, Johnny is actually shooting a movie and Peter just made a fool of himself. Especially, after the Daily Bugle publishes photos of the whole affair (these were not taken by Peter, btw).

Still, the publicity generates interest in a movie featuring both heroes fighting and Peter heads to Hollywood, hoping for a big pay day. Things are going well - he and Johnny strike a truce, but Peter’s spider-sense keeps going off.

And for good reason. The movie thing is just a plot from the Wizard - last seen mind-controlling the Thing with the Frightful Four - and Mysterio - last seen tricking Peter into believing he lost his mind - who want Spider-Man and the Human Torch to destroy each other. The Wizard attacks Peter disguised as the Human Torch and their plan seems to be working. Peter and Johnny fight, but they’re both holding back. The Wizard gets impatient and sends a ray their way that exposes the evil duo.

Peter and Johnny stop fighting, and start working together to get past the Wizard’s traps. The evil guys get arrested and Peter even gets some reward money for his troubles.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) directed by Louis Leterrier

Written by Zak Penn

Starring: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt,

Synopsis: Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into whenever he loses his temper.

Did I watch it when it first come out? No.

Highlights: I always like a good credits sequence as backstory.

The Hulk shows up about 20 minutes in. He and Abomination look very good.

I really like Liv Tyler, but there’s something so ethereal about her that makes it weird when you put her in a real-world setting.

Like the ambiguous ending.

Worldbuilding Notes: super soldier program in WWII.

apparentely, this one is set what the same time as Iron Man 2 and Thor.

Little things that stood out: you know Blonski is a freak because Abomination has no pants.

The Leader set up won’t pay off for a long time.

It’s weird Betty doesn’t really get a mention later.

The Plan: trying to turn the Hulk into a weapon is not the best idea; trying to do the same with Abomination is somehow worse. Wondering how Ross’ reputation survived that.

Infinity Stone Watch: still none.

Sequel-bait in the Post-Credits Scene: still just the Avengers.

The Other Stuff: I still don’t care about the Hulk as protagonist ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Ranking (for now) (100% subjective; based on personal enjoyment only):

1. X2 (2003)
2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
3. Spider-Man (2002)
4. X-Men (2000)
5. Iron Man (2008)
6. Fantastic Four (2005)
7. Daredevil (2003)
8. Spider-Man 3
9. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
10. Blade (1998)
11. Blade II (2002)
12. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
13. Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer
14. Ghost Rider (2007)
15. Blade: Trinity (2004)
16. Elektra (2005)
17. Hulk (2003)

Strange Tales (1951) - #147-158 - Stan Lee/Denny O'Neil/Roy Thomas/Billy Everett/Marie Severin

Doctor Strange gets a new team. The art is still good - especially with Severin, - but we find Strange dealing with money problems - and this is not Peter Parker. That’s not interesting.

Fortunately, the Ancient One’s former best friend is evil and has just stolen the Book of the Vishanti, so let’s focus on that.

Kaluu and the Ancient One grew up in Kamar Taj a few centuries ago. Their village was peaceful, but they started studying magic because they wanted more. The Ancient One genuinely wanted to help his people, but Kaluu had other ambitions.

They cast a spell to make Kamar Taj an utopia, but Kaluu also starts mind-controlling the other inhabitants, until he launches war against a nearby village.

The Ancient One tries to stop it, but Kaluu puts him under a spell and turns him into a living statue. The Ancient One can still reach the divine powers and they rain down destruction over Kamar Taj. Kaluu finds refuge in another dimension and is now able to return due to the war between Dormammu and Eternity.

He can't get inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, so he send a horde of demons to attack Strange and the Ancient One. His master advises Strange to wait until all the demons are inside the barrier to attack them, to lull Kaluu into a false sense of security, but Strange can’t beat to watch the Ancient One under distress.

Kaluu makes his way inside, but finds the Sanctum empty.

Strange and the Ancient One are travelling in the time stream to Ancient Babylonia - when the Book of the Vishanti was first created and where Kaluu has hidden it.

The book only has defensive spells, but also works as the ultimate defence: when Kaluu uses a spell against Strange, it reflects back to him. Kaluu is stuck in stasis and the Ancient One sends him to the end of time.

With Dormammu gone, the Mindless Ones finally break the barrier keeping them out of this universe. Clea tries to call Strange for help, but is unable to contact him.

Instead, Umar, Dormammu's sister, comes back from exile. Her power is equal, if not superior, to Dormammu’s, so he tricked her and sent her to the void between dimensions. She deals with the Mindless Ones and then consults the Lamp of Lucifer to learn what happened to her brother (the family resemblance isn’t there, though; she looks like a powerful, attractive woman, Dormammu’s head was always on fire).

She wants to conquer the World and Strange is the only one strong enough to stand in her way, so she sets a trap, using Clea as bait.

She calls Strange to the Dark Dimension and tells him that Clea was taken by the Mindless Ones. She tries to pass herself as good, compared to her brother, but Strange doesn't quite believe her.

He goes searching for Clea among the Mindless Ones, but she's behind a mystical barrier. Once he crosses it, he finds that Clea was just an illusion created by Umar. Strange keeps looking and he's helped by Veritas, the cloaked, silent incarnation of truth. Umar fears them because she can bear to look at her real self.

With Veritas help, Strange makes it inside Umar's castle. He's hoping to use her mirror to locate Clea, but Umar sends a deadly spell. However, Strange is capable of travelling at the speed of thought and reflects the spell back to Umar.

Strange escapes through the dimensions with Clea, although that's not distant enough from Umar. With the Ancient One's help, they make it to Earth.

The Ancient One uses a vanishment spell to send Clea away and keep her safe from Umar. Distraught, Strange vows to defeat Umar and his master has to restrain him to keep him safe. He sends Strange to the place beyond Time to free Zom, the only creature with the power to confront Umar.

He’s a giant sort of monster, he was imprisoned by Dormammu centuries ago and he wants to destroy everything. Strange gets Zom to follow him to the present, where he immediately targets Umar as the most powerful being around. She decides to retreat to the Dark Dimension, where no one can challenge her, and now, Strange and the Ancient One have to deal with Zom.

He attacks the Ancient One, who sacrifices himself to protect Strange. He leaves his disciple with two warnings: look for the forelock and someone’s coming.

The forelock is the lock of hair growing in Zom’s forehead, which Strange destroys. This releases evil into the hearts of magic users around the world, which, in turn, brings about the Living Tribunal - a giant, yellow being with a floating, three-faced head; he looks very cool - who imprisons Zom again and judges that the Earth must be destroyed.

Strange tries to talk them out of it; when that doesn't work, he challenges the Living Tribunal to a duel. His magical abilities are such that, even if Strange doesn't have the power to afflict a cosmic being, the Tribunal is impressed enough to grant Strange some time to deal with the evil magic users just awakened.

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #41-46 - Stan Lee/John Romita

John Jameson is visiting his dad, after a few months of quarantine. In his last space trip, he came back covered in spores. They seemed to not cause any effect and have since disappeared, but foreign entities would love to get their hands on John.

And that's where the Rhino comes in. He's not just a big guy in a rhino suit who can charge as well as the Juggernaut; he was experimented on by a shady spy organization (that might have been just two scientist with delusions of grandeur) until he developed a thick rhinoceros hide and strength. once he has his powers, Rhino turns on the scientists and strikes out on his own.

His first job is to kidnaps John, but Spider-Man is after him. They're matched in strength, but Spidey is quicker and smarter and Rhino is carted off to jail - at least, until he breaks out, because the police can't take his suit off.

John is very grateful about Spider-Man saving him again, unlike Jameson Sr., who goes on another rant about what a menace Spider-Man is.

Betty is back in town. She and Peter meet, but the spark is gone and she gets engaged to Ned. Peter suddenly only has eyes for Gwen Stacy, who is quite pleased with that.

But Peter can't attend her party because he already promised aunt May he would finally meet Mrs. Watson's niece. And, guess what? Mary Jane is hot. She's fun, likes to party and uses way more slang that what I can understand. She also doesn't seem to concerned when Peter is too busy to go out with her (unlike Gwen).

Meanwhile, Jameson is feeling vindicated. Spider-Man robbed a bank, in plain view of dozens of witnesses, and his son is a super-hero. The space spores activated and now John has superstrength. It comes with some side-effects, so NASA gets Tony Stark to build him a suit that'll keep things under control.

Well, the physical effects, at least. Instigated by his father, John goes after Spider-Man and refuses to hear his explanation. He didn't rob the bank; he prevented a robbery. His spider-sense alerted him that one of the money bags being deposited contained a bomb, so he had to act quickly and wait to be vindicated when the bank confirmed no money was stolen.

To his chagrin, Jameson has to agree that last part his true. He tries to talk his son to reason, but John is obsessed with beating Spider-Man. He escapes his handlers and it takes a massive electric shock to get him back to normal.

Peter is hanging out with Mary Jane when news that the Rhino escaped jail breaks. He’s trying to think of an excuse to get away, when she suggests they should check the action out (in case you’re wondering if the retcon of her always knowing Peter’s Spider-Man would make sense). Peter excuses himself to go take some pictures, but doesn’t get the Rhino. A beat cop was to pull him out of the way of a driverless truck, but he got some pics and a sample of the Rhino’s hide.

Believing Spider-Man dead, Rhino goes after John again. In the meantime, Peter goes to Dr. Connors and asks for help creating something that could end the Rhino’s powers. Connors thinks the Lizard might be the only one strong enough to fight the Rhino, but Peter tells to think about his family.

They create a serum and use it on Spider-Man’s webs. When the Rhino’s all webbed up, they stick to him long enough that his hide melts away.

Working in the serum seems to have awakened the Lizard inside Dr. Connors. It comes out when he's waiting for his family at the train station. He runs before he fully transforms, but not before they see him. Luckily, Peter's there saying goodbye to Aunt May, who's going on a seaside vacation, and can swing by as Spider-Man and reassure Mrs. Connors he'll find her husband.

The Lizard still wants to create an army of super-reptiles and destroy the human race, but first he'll deal with Spider-Man. He robs a jewellery and, since he's the only one know to scale walls, Spider-Man gets the blame.

Peter tracks down the Lizard and makes sure he's seen also scaling a wall to clear his name. The fight doesn't go his way: he injures his arm and needs to wear a sling for some time. Peter’s worried someone might connect him to Spider-Man because of it, but that’s unnecessary.

The Lizard breaks into Connors lab. He wants to steal his notes and use the serum that turned him into an intelligent lizard on other reptiles - he doesn’t remember he’s Connors - but he doesn’t understand them. He’s able to control other reptiles and uses them to fight Spider-Man, who prevails, despite being one arm down. He tricks the Lizard into fighting him in a cold storage space, which sends the Lizard into hibernation. Peter wraps him in web and carries him to Connors lab, where he feeds him the antidote serum. The Lizard turns into Dr. Connors and the Connors family is reunited again.

Connors wished there was something he could do to repay Spider-Man, but he has no idea what a superhero could need.

Well, maybe a job. Peter and Harry managed to become good friends, despite Flash’s barbs aimed at Peter, and Harry offers to talk with his dad about getting Peter a job in his lab. That would be nice, but Peter has no idea how he would reconcile a regular job with Spider-Man. Still, Harry offers Peter a room in his new pad and Peter is happy to accept, once he realizes Aunt May is also looking forward to move with Anna Watson. (They’re also planning on selling the house that they had to pay rent on…)

In between the real life drama, Peter has to deal with the Shocker. He used to be an unsuccessful safe cracker, until he built himself a pair of gauntlets that create shock waves - not electrical shocks, like I thought. Pity Peter can’t call T’Challa and borrow some Vibranium. He deals with the Shocker by webbing his thumbs, so he can’t activate his gauntlets.

There’s also Foswell, who’s still a good guy, but has been following Peter around to figure out how he takes all those pictures of Spider-Man. He begins to suspect Peter is actually Spider-Man, until he hears the two talk in an alley about sharing the pics money - that was a little ridiculous, but Peter turns out to be a good enough actor.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) directed by Sam Raimi

Written by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Alvin Sergent

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, James Franco, Thomas Haden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rosemary Harris, JK Simmons,

Synopsis: A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.

Did I watch it when it first come out? No. Partially because of the reviews comparing it to The Last Stand and how they were both overstuffed.

Highlights: James Franco seems to be finally having fun in this role.

Eddie Brock only needs two lines to reveal what an ass he is.

Overall, not as bad as feared. It definitely has one too many antagonists.

Worldbuilding Notes: aliens are real, but only Dr. Connors notices it.

Little things that stood out: Eddie going to a church to pray that Jesus kills Peter is 🤌

Being cast in the other woman role, you wouldn't expect Gwen to be such a nice, sweet person , but she is.

The Plan: the fact that there isn’t a single unifying evil plot is what brings the movie down. Harry wants to turn into the Green Goblin and get revenge. Sandman just wants to steal a bunch of money for his daughter. Eddie wants to take Peter’s place and then revenge. The symbiote is just trying to survive.

The Other Stuff: apart from everything already mentioned, the effects in the aerial fights are not good - obvious CGI is way too obvious.

Ranking (for now) (100% subjective; based on personal enjoyment only):

1. X2 (2003)
2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
3. Spider-Man (2002)
4. X-Men (2000)
5. Fantastic Four (2005)
6. Daredevil (2003)
7. Spider-Man 3
8. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
9. Blade (1998)
10. Blade II (2002)
11. Ghost Rider (2007)
12. Blade: Trinity (2004)
13. Elektra (2005)
14. Hulk (2003)

Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #31-38, Annual #2 - Stan Lee/Steve Ditko

Peter is swinging around, bored because there's no crime. But, not to worry! Xandu just mind-controlled two goons into stealing Doctor Strange’s half of the Wand of Watoomb. The mind-control makes the goons more or less immune to Strange’s spells and Spidey’s punches, but he and Strange manage to reach Xandu and take to wand from him.

Strange takes the magic power out of the Wand and erases Xandu's memories and ambition, so that's one problem solved.

Peter soon has other things to worry about: college is starting, Aunt May is sick in the hospital and there's no crime to take photos of.

The Master Planner might help solve that last problem. He has a lair on the river bed, his gang has been committing robberies all over the city and his real identity is… Doctor Octopus! (Last seen trying to detonate a bomb over Forest Hills.)

College is also not to the best start, but Peter doesn't even notice. He's so worried about Aunt May that he comes off as aloof and stuck up to his new colleagues. Flash being around and talking bad about him doesn't help.

Gwen Stacy thinks Peter must not be so bad, but she's annoyed he won't give her the time of day.

Aunt May's condition turns out to be quite serious: she was exposed to radiation and she's being poisoned. Peter realizes it must have been caused by the blood transfusion he gave her and quickly leaps into action.

He calls Dr. Connors (aka the Lizard) for help. Last seen in Florida, trying to help Batwing, he has, conveniently, since moved to New York.

He and Spider-Man start working on a serum to cure Aunt May. One of the essential components is rare, but Connors is able to order it.

Peter is able to pay for it by pawning some of his science equipment. Unfortunately, Doctor Octopus wants the serum too and his gang steals it.

Spider-Man goes on a rampage, trying to interrogate every criminal in the city, until he finally reaches Doc Ock's lair.

He sets a trap with the serum as bait, but, in the fight with Spider-Man, some heavy machinery falls and pins Peter down.

Doc Ock escapes, but Peter is trapped in a flooding room, with the serum out of arms reach.

He almost gives up, but he can’t fail Aunt May (or Uncle Ben, in a way), and finds the strength to free himself, defeat the rest of Octavius’ gang still around and make it to Connors’ lab.

The serum is ready and good and Aunt May is saved.

Peter drops by the Daily Bugle’s offices to sell some photos (although he doesn't feel as forgiving of Jameson’s everything as he usually does) and runs into Betty. She's worried about his bruises and Peter takes the opportunity to act like an ass towards both her and Ned, hoping she'll finally be done with him.

Kraven - last seen being part of the Sinister Six - is determined to finally hunt Spider-Man. He tries to bait him by dressing as Spider-Man and misbehaving around the city - starting with harassing J. Jonah Jameson in the street.

Peter, at first, is more worried about making sure Aunt May is fine once she's back home, but he starts being concerned with his reputation. When she spends the evening with her neighbour Anna, Peter goes out looking for the fake Spider-Man.

Kraven lures him to an empty building he has booby trapped and uses a potion to dull the spider-sense. Well, it isn't enough. Peter bests him and leaves Kraven to the police. He does confess he was the fake Spider-Man, as he had promised.

Molten Man - he who was covered in an experimental metallic alloy - avoids prison for good behaviour. He took the time to improve himself: he's not gonna rely on his strength alone, but use his brain.

That means committing robberies wearing a disguise. Spider-Man interrupts the first one, follows him with a spider-tracer and Molten Man is back on jail, thanks to Peter's photos.

When he goes to the Bugle office to drop them, he's almost afraid to face Betty, but he there was no need to worry. Betty’s gone - she only left Peter a photo he had given her.

Also, Ned has left, moved to the West Coast. Peter tells himself he doesn't care Betty made her choice.

Nestor G. Fester is a loser who wants to discover the secrets of the origin of life, despite having flunked science class. He found a meteorite and hammered it open, only to get hit with a mysterious gas that gives him superpowers. What's a guy to do in these circumstances? Get fancy costume, call himself the Looter and embark on a life of crime.

He does well for a while, but Nestor's superpowers aren't permanent and he needs to find another meteorite. He and Peter end up at the same science exposition and that chance encounter dooms the Looter's crime career.

Peter is trying to rehabilitate his reputation at school, but he fears cliques have already formed and he's, once again, stuck on the outside. He strucks out with a girl, Sally, when she confides she likes he's a brainy guy - in a roundabout way, Peter feels that's what ruined his relationship with Betty.

Gwen is also less than impressed. First, he keeps accidentally ignoring her. Then, she comes to believe he’s a coward, when she sees him run away from danger.

Professor Stromm is released from prison for good behaviour, but the truth is he has been planning his revenge from the man responsible for his imprisonment: Norman Osborn (it even seems Stromm wasn't a criminal before).

He builds a couple of robots - they look like Bouba and Kiki; one has tentacles, the other a death ray - and sends them to destroy Osborn factories. Stromm wants to bring him financial ruin first.

Spider-Man is on the scene, which leads Jameson - he knows Norman from the club - to put the blame on him. Norman isn’t happy, he’s rather the blame rest on Stromm, so he can be rid of him for real. Btw, the second thing Norman say to Harry is to shut up, so their relationship is great.

Peter deals with the robots and follows Stromm to his lair. Someone points a gun at him from a window; it doesn’t hit, but he’s dead from a heart attack anyway.

We come to the end of the Ditko run with Joe Smith. He wants to be a champion boxer, but he’s not very good at it. One guy at the gym takes pity on him and offers to be his manager. He gets Joe a movie role: he has to dress up as a monster and beat some extras. There’s an accident on set, and the combination of a chemical spill and an electric shock give Joe temporary superstrength, that gets exacerbated by his rage. He goes on a bit of a rampage, fights Spider-Man, but things turn out fine. The movie director loves the footage he got and wants to expand Joe’s role.

Things aren’t going so well for Peter. Norman wants to get rid of Spider-Man and put a prize on his head on the underworld. Peter deals with the many goons coming after him, but it doesn’t help his mood.

People at school still aren’t keen on him. He tries to start something with Gwen that’s supposed to be a cute slap-slap-kiss deal (there’s no actual slapping), but comes across as mean, more than anything else.

Peter runs into Ned at the Bugle. Turns out, he and Betty didn’t elope after all. He also doesn’t know where Betty is and blames Peter for it. Peter acts like an ass in response - no ulterior motive this time and, idk, Peter’s not at his best. The thought bubbles do their share to smooth his attitude, but his actions need improvement.

Not the best ending to what is deservedly an iconic run.

X-Men (1963) #17-28 - Stan Lee/Roy Thomas/Jay Gavin/Werner Roth

The X-Men survive their fight with the Sentinels, but Hank and Bobby need medical attention. They have to navigate going to the hospital without revealing their secret identities or their close relationship with the Professor.

Warren gets a call from his parents, telling him they miss him and want to visit the school. Both he and the Professor try to dissuade them, but they won't budge, so Warren goes to the school alone.

Alas, some mysterious assailant is already hiding there and knocks Warren out. And the other X-Men, as they trickle in to check out what happened.

Only Bobby escapes, but only because he's too sick to leave the hospital.

The mystery guy puts the X-Men in a sealed steel capsule and sends it floating up to space.

He reveals himself to Warren's parents when they arrive and it is… Magneto!

Last seen being dragged to space by the Stranger, Magneto and Toad were left in a deserted museum-like planet. Once the Stranger’s attentions were elsewhere, Magneto escaped in an old spaceship, leaving Toad behind. Magneto is done with sidekicks, he’s decided he’s powerful enough to conquer the World alone.

He uses the power of “magnetic attraction” to convince Warren’s parents to take a nap. Since they have a mutant child, Magneto figures he can scan their cellular makeup, replicate it and create an army of mutant slaves for himself. It’s unclear where he get the equipment necessary to make this all work, but it is working.

Meanwhile, the X-Men are trying to escape the floating capsule - with Jean’s telekinesis to stop it going up and Cyclops beam to open it - and the Professor contacts Bobby to come to the school. He’s still weak, but the doctor gave him a dangerous, never tested drug and he’s feeling better. He stops Magneto’s machine by putting an ice barrier around Warren’s parents, which halts the scanning process. He then distracts Magneto long enough for the other X-Men to arrive.

Magneto thinks victory is his, but the Professor used his mental powers to call the Stranger and Magneto flees.

Warren’s parents are none the wiser that anything weird is going on, after the Professor also uses his powers on them.

On their day off, Bobby and Hank go on a double date with Zelda, from the Bohemian cafe, and her friend. She and Hank don't exactly hit it off, and then they run into Calvin Rankin, who's been stalking her. Hank and Bobby try to fight him off, but he has their exact powers and they don't dare reveal themselves.

The truth is Calvin is a mimic and when he realizes he ran into two X-Men, he follows them, so he can acquire the full set of powers.

Only it's a five-on-one fight, so Calvin grabs Jean and runs. He takes her to an abandoned mine, where he has a cosy living space, and spills his backstory. Calvin's dad was a scientist. One day, while messing around in his lab, Calvin spilled some chemicals on himself and gained the ability to copy other people's talents. When he discovered his powers, Calvin's father moved them to the mine and started building a machine that would allow Calvin's powers to become permanent. Unfortunately, he was killed in a cave in and Calvin needs the X-Men’s powers to dig to the machine.

So, he took Jean as bait. His plan works, but the machine was never meant to give him powers, but to take them away (he should be noted that Calvin grew up to be an arrogant man with anger issues).

The machine is destroyed and the Professor’s takes Calvin’s memories away, hoping he can get a new start.

Scott decides is finally time to leave the X-Men and go search for a doctor who can help him control his power beam. But he can’t walk a block without running into the Blob and Unus robbing a bank while pretending to be X-Men.

Cyclops is reunited with his team, Blob and Unus run away and an anti-mutant mob forms, so the team has to hide.

Blob and Unus weren't working on their own. Lucifer has been pulling strings from afar. He proceeds to mental attack Professor X, paralysing him. Jean has to use a mental.amplifier to communicate with him and she learns of the Professor’s first meeting with Lucifer, many years ago.

Turns out, Lucifer isn't a mutant or even human. He's an alien scout, preparing for an alien invasion. The Professor met him when he was controlling a city in Tibet. Xavier quickly joined a rebel group and helped them infiltrate the citadel, but Lucifer got away, after dropping a concrete slab on top of the Professor.

Lucifer is now ready to extend his mental control worldwide, with the use of the machine Dominus, which is beamed down to Earth from the last conquered planet.

After equipping the Professor with a beam-distorter helmet, the X-Men travel to the Southwest and manage to infiltrate Lucifer's lair. They get captured, they escape, they argue if the mental command not to touch the machine really came from the Professor or it was a trick.

But they destroy the robots necessary to operate Dominus. Lucifer is throw into another dimension as punishment and the X-Men return home without the means to clear their name.

Count Nefaria, who has tangled with Iron Man and the Avengers before, has reformed his criminal gang, the Maggia, and recruited five super-villains (although they're all second rate Iron Man/Human Torch bad guys: Eel, Unicorn, Porcupine, Scarecrow and Plantman). He decides to also recruit the X-Men as allies. For that, he sends his guys to Central Park with pretend X-Men doubles, so they can lure the real ones one by one - they're all holidaying in the city at the moment.

They get captured and transported to Nefaria's dungeon, where he tells them he plans to steal Washington (the city) and ransom with back. He gives the X-Men the choice to be his allies… or his scapegoats.

Nefaria's plan starts with enclosing the city in a crystalline dome. He then sends images of the X-Men to Congress to demand a hundred million dollars, otherwise the dome's crystals will start removing oxygen from the air.

The army contacts Xavier for help, who's finally alerted to what is going on. He sends a mental message to the X-Men, telling them to comply with Nefaria's demand, so they are sent to retrieve the ransom money.

Also after them go the five villains, who are planning on double crossing Nefaria under the leadership of the Unicorn. Once the X-Men return with a bag full of bonds, things devolve into a three-way fight with the army.

Jean is sent ahead to deliver the ransom to Nefaria and make sure he dispels the dome. While she's with him, a mysterious figure shows up and starts messing with Nefaria's controls. He decides to cut his losses and runs with the money to his ship, pursued only by the Unicorn - the other villains escaped the army and went somewhere else.

But there's no need for Nefaria and the Unicorn to fight: the bag it's another false image and they're soon apprehended by the Coast Guard, sent by the mysterious man.

He turns out to be Professor Xavier, who has invented a pair of metal leg supporter that allow him to walk again for a short time.

But that reveal gets overshadowed by a letter from Jean's parents. Since she has graduated from Xavier's school some time ago, they think it's time for her to start college. So, it's a bittersweet farewell, especially for Warren and Scott.

They are soon distracted by giant locusts razing farms upstate. They're the work of a mad entomologist who wants to prove his theories on insect mutation are right. So he created some giant insects, set them loose and plans on “discovering” the way to stop them and getting the approval he craves.

Jean stops him by tying together the antennae he uses to control his giant insects. Yeah, Metro College is real close and she's back on the mansion by the next weekend.

El Tigre is a treasure hunter. He finds half of a powerful amulet in some Mayan ruins that gives him the power to mentally control others - starting with his two assistants, who want to murder him (it's okay, he kinda deserves it).

El Tigre follows the other half of the amulet to New York. His new powers alert Cerebro and the X-Men are on the trail.

El Tigre causes various commotions in the city with his powers, but the X-Men caught up with him in a museum. El Tigre reunites the two halves of the amulet, gaining its full power: he becomes Kulkután, the winged-serpent God of the Ancient Mayans.

Kulkután returns to San Rico, where he wants to rebuild the Mayan Empire. His powers call to the Mayan descendants, who come to the site of the pyramids and start rebuilding the city and mining for gold.

The X-Men follow Kulkután. They have to brave the jungle and the locals and get close enough to get the amulet off him, but the amulet is protected. Beast figures out the amulet gets his powers from a statue of the winged serpent, that gets its power from the Sun, so Bobby covers it with ice, cutting Kulkután off from his source of power and returning him to El Tigre.

All would be well, but Cyclops accidentally hit Angel during the fight, and Angel seems convinced that it was on purpose, because they both have feelings for Jean…

He apologizes later, but it doesn't help with Scott's self-doubt.

Meanwhile, Jean just met another student state at Metro College: it’s Mimic! There’s another lab accident and he recovers both his powers and his memories.

At the same time, the Professor senses another menace (it’s the Puppet Master - last seen turning himself into a statue - trying to mentally control him again) and decides it's time to recruit a few more X-Men. Wanda and Pietro are Avengers now, Spider-Man is a loner ans the Human Torch is wandering the Himalayas with Wyatt, but the Mimic is available.

The Professor even makes him deputy leader after Cyclops quits! What was supposed to be a training session devolves into an all out fight as the Puppet Master takes control of Mimic. He beats the X-Men, but only because Xavier telepathically told them to hold back.

When the Puppet Master orders Calvin to go search for the Fantastic Four, the X-Men go looking for the Puppet Master.

They find his lair and defeat his defensive android (courtesy of the Mad Thinker), but the Puppet Master brought Mimic to him. Still, despite being ordered to, he can't bring himself to kill the X-Men.

It's Angel who manages to sneak behind the Puppet Master and destroy the Mimic doll, freeing him.

Calvin sticks around. The Professor is helping him expand the range of his powers and he stays deputy leader, although his clashing with Cyclops over leadership styles. Also, the others don't appreciate Calvin's grandstanding.

The mutant menace the Professor feared seems to be approaching. Banshee emits high pitched sonic waves with hypnotic properties.

The plan from the mysterious Factor Three is to have Banshee knock out the X-Men and his partner Ogre sweep in and kidnap Professor X. Ogre isn't a mutant, all his abilities are from gadgets, so Mimic can't use his powers.

But the X-Men are prepared. They foil the kidnapping attempt and capture Banshee.

But Banshee isn't working with Ogre and Factor Three of his own free will: they had strapped him with an explosive headband. Once it's removed, he's more than willing to work with the X-Men and tell them everything he knows…

Marvels (1994) #2-3 - Kurt Busiek/Alex Ross

It's time to take another look at the Marvel Universe through the eyes of freelance photographer Phil Sheldon.

He's still enamoured with the Marvels: there's the Avengers, there's the Fantastic Four, there's the return of Namor and Captain America. Everyone knows they're the good guys, here to protect the people…

…unlike those damn mutants. They're dangerous and here to replace us.

It's interesting to see the way Phil buys into the bigotry, without much second thought.

Until his daughters hide a mutant in their home and she turns out to be just a little girl.

Phil has quite a bit of reflecting to do now.

The live TV debate between Xavier and Trask happens the same day as Reed and Sue's wedding. After celebrating costumed heroes in the afternoon, the threat of the mutant menace and the Sentinels leads to a riot in the evening. The little mutant girl runs away from the Sheldon home, not wishing to cause more problems, and Phil can't even lie to his daughter and say he believes she might be fine.

The public sentiment starts to turn on the Marvels. The Avengers are declared public enemies - although that's retracted. Iron Man and Tony Stark seem to be in trouble with the government. The X-Men are to blame for everything.

And then Galactus arrives. No one what's happening. Are the Fantastic Four even doing anything? Has anyone seen the Avengers?

At least, Phil realizes he needs to be with his family. He also seems to be the only one still believing in the Marvels.

So, this ends in a melancholic note. Busiek does a good job marrying the tone of the Silver Age with a more cynical modern look. And the art is just top notch.