In November 1961, four intrepid explorers were changed by mysterious cosmic rays. Marvel’s “First Family” of Marvel heroes and featured in cartoons, videogames, and live-action movies.
Story Titles: “Prisoners of Doctor Doom!”, “Back to the Past!”, “On the Trail of Blackbeard”, “Battle!”, and “The Vengeance of Doctor Doom!” Published: 10 April 1962 (cover-dated: July 1962) Writer: Stan Lee Artist: Jack Kirby
The Background: Back in 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby debuted the dysfunctional Fantastic Four as a counterpart the Justice League of America. Despite some debate over the team’s creation, the issue popularised the “Marvel Method” of writer/artist collaboration and subsequent issues introduced pivotalMarvel characters as enemies and allies of the relatable team. Without question, one of their most important villains was the egomaniacal Doctor Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, the ruling monarch of Latveria who was driven to destroy the team and prove his intellectual superiority over Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. Lee and Kirby sought to create a truly engaging villain in Dr. Doom, inspired by classic depictions of Death and bolstering his characterisation with an inflated ego and thirst for power. While Dr. Doom’s primary adversaries are the Fantastic Four, he menaced the wider Marvel universe, gaining God-like power more than once, in addition to brief spells as a morally ambiguous anti-hero and journeys beyond the stars and reality. Naturally, as the Fantastic Four’s most recognisable villain, Dr. Doom has heavily featured in the team’s ventures outside of comics, being a principal villain in cartoons and videogames, though his depiction in live-action has ranged from disappointing to down-right insulting.
The Review: Our first glimpse of one of Marvel’s most enigmatic and menacing villains comes with the masked, hooded Dr. Doom literally playing with his toys amidst tomes on demons, science, and sorcery and boasting to himself of his superiority compared to our colourful heroes. Half a world away, New York City is struck by an unexpected power cut that affects every building save the towering Baxter Building. With no threat to focus their energies on, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch and Benjamin Grimm/The Thing gripe with each other, forcing Mr. Fantastic and his lover, Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl, to intervene and scold the two like they are children. Their bickering is suddenly interrupted when Dr. Doom ensnares the Baxter Building in a gigantic net dropped from his helicopter! Coated with asbestos so durable that even the Human Torch cannot burn through it, the four are left at the mercy of Dr. Doom, whose voice chills Reed as he remembers the tragic story of his old college roommate, Victor Von Doom. Fascinated by the occult, the unseen Doom mixed science with the dark arts and constructed a machine to contact the netherworld, only to be horrifically scarred and expelled from the school when the machine exploded. Humiliated, Doom fled to the frigid wastelands of Tibet to seek deeper, darker secrets and Reed assumed he was dead and is therefore shocked to find Doom alive and demanding Sue as a hostage!
Dr. Doom kidnaps the Fantastic Four and, bizarrely, sends them to run errands in the distant past!
Naturally, the Thing reacts in anger and receives a few thousand volts for his outburst. Realising she has no choice but to acquiesce to Dr. Doom’s demands, Sue bravely volunteers herself to buy her family time to plan. Now holding the ace, Dr. Doom demands the remaining three board his ship and they’re forced to obey, ending up tapped in a mechanical prison and transported to Dr. Doom’s impressive, medieval stronghold in Latveria. In Dr. Doom’s throne room, he holds them off with his pet tiger and reveals that he wants them to take his time machine into the past to steal the legendary treasure of Edward Teach, the notorious pirate known as Blackbeard, since Dr. Doom cannot use his magnificent creation because someone must operate the controls. Dr. Doom promises to return them (he needs the treasure, after all) and to release Sue even if they fail, and the three promptly travel through time and space via a simple glowing square. The three waste no time acquiring period-appropriate attire and head to a local bar, where they’re immediately drugged and shanghaied onto a rival pirate ship. Once they awaken, a good old-fashioned donnybrook breaks out and the crew are in awe of the three’s incredible powers. Their standoff is soon interrupted by a rival ship, which they assume is Blackbeard. The battle goes swiftly thanks to their awesome superpowers and, before long, the ship and its treasure is captured, with the crew praising their mighty commander, the Thing, whom they dub “Blackbeard” in a fun predestination paradox. Though victorious, Reed shares the booty amongst their crew and trick Dr. Doom with an empty treasure chest, but things go awry when the Thing suddenly decides to stay in the past where he can be more than a reviled freak and orders his men to restrain Johnny and Reed!
Despite all his contingencies, Dr. Doom is driven to flee by the Fantastic Four’s awesome powers.
Thankfully, a twister strikes the ship, ransacking it and scattering the crew. Mr. Fantastic rescues the Human Torch before he drowns and they wash up on land to reunite with a remorseful Thing, who regains his senses and apologises for his momentary madness right as Dr. Doom decides to retrieve his foes. Dr. Doom praises them and reveals that the gems are mystical artifacts that once belonged to the ancient wizard Merlin, which he plans to use to conquer the world. However, Dr. Doom is stunned to find the chest filled with useless chains and, with the egotistical villain distracted, the Thing strikes. Unfortunately, Dr. Doom anticipated this and the Things shatters a sophisticated robot decoy and the three are left trapped in a death chamber. While Dr. Doom gloats, the Invisible Girl takes the chance to short circuit his equipment, freeing her family before they can suffocate. Realising Dr. Doom’s entire fortress is full of booby-traps, Reed leads his family in bypassing death traps such as voracious crocodiles and Johnny creates a circle of flames to try and smoke Dr. Doom out. Unimpressed, and perfectly fine with his fortress burning his secrets, Dr. Doom flees with his “rocket-powered flying harness” no less determined to plan a new world-conquering plot. The Human Torch is massively outclassed by Dr. Doom’s technology and barely saves himself from a fatal fall. Angered that Dr. Doom escaped, the Thing vows to handle the masked maniac next time and Reed reassures a despondent Johnny that they’ll dedicate their lives to tracking the villain, and others like him, down.
The Summary: Dr. Doom is one of my favourite Marvel villains. He’s a scheming, egotistical, self-absorbed madman with delusions of grandeur whose ambition often exceeds his grasp. He’s revered as a monarch in his home country and influential enough to topple governments and menace anyone from the Fantastic Four to the mighty Avengers! So, imagine my disappointment to find he’s merely a run-of-the-mill villain of the week here. Sure, Dr. Doom gets a bit more backstory than most villains of this era, but it’s painfully rushed and has little impact on the story. There’s no in-depth portrayal of Dr. Doom’s hatred of Reed or his vendetta against the Fantastic Four. Indeed, Dr. Doom targets them primarily to prove his superiority and coerce them into stealing treasure for him, which his robot duplicate could’ve done! Rather than stewing in his fortress for years, fostering a hatred for Reed and planning how to counter the Fantastic Four’s powers, Dr. Doom has barely any emotional connection to Reed since Mr. Fantastic hardly factored in his accident. There are no fist curling cries of “Richards!” here, no attempts to torture and humiliate his old roommate, and no desire to humble the Fantastic Four or destroy their reputation. Instead, Dr. Doom simply kidnaps them (a feat easily accomplished by a simple net!) and forces them to do his bidding by, of course, taking Sue hostage. While Sue isn’t written as an air-headed bimbo in this issue, for a change, and gets a chance to show her maternal side in chastising Ben and Johnny, she’s reduced to a mere damsel in distress to force the others to obey Dr. Doom. Still, she does take advantage of his distraction to mess up his equipment and free the others, showing she’s a fully capable superhero when she’s not distracted by Reed’s opinion of her.
Despite Dr. Doom’s visual appeal and maniacal genius, he’s just another run-of-the-mill villain.
Unfortunately, rather than focus on Dr. Doom and develop a villain with a deep-rooted rivalry with Reed, The Fantastic Four #5 mostly focuses on a bizarre time travel adventure! As if this idea wasn’t ludicrous enough, the jaunt is further padded out by unnecessary drama when the Thing randomly decides he likes the adulation he receives in the past and betrays Reed and Johnny to stay there! It’s a fleeting moment barely worth the panels devoted to it, and I can’t help but think this time would’ve been better served with Dr. Doom lording his superiority over Sue or using his mixture of science and magic (something barely touched upon here) to best the Fantastic Four’s powers. Latveria isn’t even named here; we get no sense of her people or Dr. Doom’s reputation and his abilities are painfully limited to “mad scientist”. Dr. Doom’s fortress is said to be a fortified castle filled with death traps, but we barely see these and they’re easily circumvented by the Human Torch and Mr. Fantastic. Dr. Doom still comes across as a conniving, scheming villain smart enough to install robot duplicates and whose backup plans have backup plans, but it’s disappointing to see his first plot to simple be stealing jewels. We learn all-too late that they’re Merlin’s property, but again the magical nature of Dr. Doom’s abilities is hardly a factor, so he just comes across as a common thief who happens to own a time machine. He doesn’t provide his enemies with a return module and instead simply gets lucky that the three have succeeded when he randomly decides enough time has past, he resorts to taking a woman hostage, and he doesn’t even seem to care that his castle is at risk of being destroyed. Ultimately, The Fantastic Four #5 is an important story since it marks the start of Dr. Doom’s epic saga but it’s by no means the best or most engaging Dr. Doom story.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
What did you think to the first appearance of Doctor Doom? Were you impressed by his menacing appearance and advanced technology? What did you think to the bizarre time travel plot and the Thing’s brief moment of madness? Were you surprised that the connection between Reed and Dr. Doom was downplayed? What are some of your favourite Dr. Doom stories and moments? Whatever you think about Dr. Doom and the Fantastic Four, leave a comment below and check out my other Fantastic Four content.
Released: 25 July 2025 Director: Matt Shakman Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Budget: $200 million Stars: Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, and Ralph Ineson
The Plot: On a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic parallel Earth, the celebrated superpowered adventures, the Fantastic Four, are called to save the world when a mysterious silver entity (Garner) heralds the arrival of the planet-consuming Galactus (Ineson).
The Review: In keeping with the whole “Multiverse Saga” the MCU was going through at the time, The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place on an alternative version of Earth, Earth-828, a world that’s essentially a live-action version of The Jetsons (1962 to 1963; 1985 to 1987). This world is very much trapped in the swinging sixties, but with a super fun sci-fi twist. Flying cars are everywhere and the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building is kitted out with all sorts of funky, throwback tech, including their adorable and much appreciate robot helper, Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics/H.E.R.B.I.E. (Matthew Wood). This world doesn’t seem to have any superheroes apart from the titular team, who are so beloved and world renowned that they’ve monopolised space travel and saved the world countless times from the likes of the sadly excised Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost (John Malkovich) and the maniacal Harvey Elder/Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser). The Fantastic Four are more than just superheroes, though; they’re celebrities and even politicians, establishing the “Future Foundation” to share their knowledge with other world leaders and broker peace dealers while also hosting science programmes and advertising products. In a welcome change of pace, their origin is largely glossed over with a montage: four years ago, Doctor Reed Richards (Pascal) led his wife, Susan Storm (Kirby), her hotshot brother Johnny (Quinn), and ace pilot Benjamin “Ben” Grimm (Moss-Bachrach) on a space expedition and, due to an unforeseen event, the group were forever changed by cosmic radiation. In another nice change of pace, the team has been active for four years at the start of the film and well acclimatised to both their powers and their celebrity status. Thus, while it’s clear Mister Fantastic still carries a lot of guilt for his friend’s transformation into a gruesome rock-thing (and it’s implied this is why the team hasn’t returned to space since their ill-fated voyage), Ben has accepted his appearance and is a cherished national treasure.
The dynamic between the team is not only at the forefront, but better and richer than ever before.
As the team live in the limelight, it’s no surprise that the world is deeply invested in the Invisible Woman’s surprise pregnancy, an event that brings Reed much joy but also sees his over analytical brain kick into overdrive babyproofing the building and running countless tests to ensure their baby hasn’t been negatively affected by their mutated DNA. This concern also comes from a place of guilt (he clearly worries his mistakes may harm Sue and the baby) but also doubt as he finds himself out of his depth concerning fatherhood and Reed, being the smartest man alive, is thrown off when he doesn’t know all the answers. The Human Torch and the Thing delight in ribbing Reed about this, which is just one way First Steps perfectly captures the spirit of these characters being more than a team: they’re a family. Rather than Johnny being a mean-spirited prankster or an egotistical skirt-chaser, he’s seen to be surprisingly smart in his won right, approaching problems from a different angle and figuring out a way to communicate with the implacable Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer when she comes heralding the destruction of the world. While Johnny and Ben bicker at times, it’s nowhere near as hostile as in previous films and is very light-hearted, with Johnny giving backhanded compliments about Ben’s rock beard that see him rock the unconventional look. The group has fantastic chemistry together, with Reed and Sue working perfectly as a duo and yet still butting heads when contemplating Galactus’s outrageous demands. Nowhere is the team’s dynamic more apparent than when they take the Excelsior into space to confront Galactus and work in harmony to guide and maintain the ship. Later, they work in unison to collaborate with the world’s governments on defence plans, though they constantly underestimate Johnny and are therefore stunned when he figures out the Silver Surfer’s native tongue and attempts to parlay with her.
When the Silver Surfer heralds Galactus, the team desperately try to find solutions to the threat.
The Fantastic Four’s elation at their pending arrival is dashed when the Silver Surfer suddenly arrives to warn the planet of its eventual destruction at the hands of Galactus. While immediately smitten by the stoic, metallic alien, Johnny tirelessly goes over recordings to learn her origin and try to save the world from another angle. With the world under threat, Reed reluctantly agrees to refit the Excelsior and utilise his faster-than-light technology to get intel on Galactus, assuring the world that they will confront and defeat the treat as ever. Despite Sue being heavily pregnant, she joins them for the jaunt, arriving in time to see a faraway world decimated by Galactus’s titanic world-breaker. The Silver Surfer greets them and dispassionately allows them to converse with her master, easily evading their futile attacks and chasing them through a wormhole when they flee following Galactus’s demands, yet she vehemently defends her master when the team oppose him. It’s only when Johnny reminds her of her tragic past and the bargain she made with Galactus, and the countless lives she’s ended in serving him, that the Silver Surfer is taken off the board (no pun intended). Rather than being some stupid space cloud or shying away from his outrageous appearance, Galactus is a towering, God-like celestial being who is intrigued by the Fantastic Four’s curiosity and bravery but nonetheless determined to devour their world since he’s driven by an insatiable hunger. However, Galactus offers to spare the Earth if the four hand over Sue’s child. Franklin (Various/Ada Scott), whom the world-eater sees is a being of such vast cosmic power that he could be his successor. Naturally, Sue and the others strongly reject this offer, causing the world to turn against them since they refuse to sacrifice one life for billions. While Sue is outraged that Reed would even consider the possibility of acquiescing, he steadfastly refuses to entertain the idea, and she eventually placates the masses with the promise that the team will do whatever it takes to fend off the looming threat.
The Nitty-Gritty: I was surprised to find that First Steps is sent entirely on Earth-828 and that the team appear to be natives of this world. I suspected that they would’ve been trapped there somehow and even speculated that they’d fail to save their world and be driven to the mainstream MCU by the end. Instead, the Fantastic Four inhabit this retro sci-fi world and act is its guardians and leaders, with the Thing exchanging pleasantries with the Yancy Street locals, Sue acting as a diplomat, Johnny being a poser boy, and Reed teaching science. This world has become so reliant on the fantastic Four that they’re almost powerless without them as they dictate politics and defend the masses from numerous supervillains. The world is thus amazed to learn that the team couldn’t defeat Galactus and turn to anger and resentment when a shellshocked Reed makes the bizarre choice to tell them of Galactus’s demands. This raises many ethical and moral quandaries that the film briefly touches upon, with the public largely calling for Franklin to be sacrificed and the team desperately exploring other options. Reed finds himself at a loss to think of alternative plans but ultimately embraces the uncertainty about Franklin’s destiny and fatherhood, taking inspiration from Sue’s speech to adapt his teleportation technology in a desperate bid to move the Earth. This sees the second act of the film emulate classic doomsday movies as the team scramble to assemble giant devices and conserve energy to enact the plan, only for it to be immediately undone when the besmirched Silver Surfer returns from a black hole and wrecks their toys. I love seeing Reed’s hopeless desperation as he struggles to conjure up the formulas to present alternatives, and that Ben and Johnny remained optimistic, searching for other ways to defend themselves and eager to take the fight to Galactus if necessary.
For the first time, these bizarre characters were done justice in live-action.
Though it’s a shame the Fantastic Four aren’t based in the mainstream MCU, this unique world allows them to take centre stage and steal the show. For the first time since the 1994 movie, the team have been ripped right out of the comic books, sporting throwback outfits that appear functional and comfortable. While I usually prefer practical suits wherever possible, the Thing has never looked better, perfectly emulating Jack Kirby’s art style and sporting some nifty threads throughout the film (including his iconic trenchcoat and hat). While First Steps largely deals with the interpersonal drama between the team and preparing for Galactus’s arrival, they do get a chance to shine in fun montages, including a recreation of their first appearance and numerous good deeds. Of all the team, Sue really impressed here. Not only was she a strong-willing and believable matriarch and team member, but she displayed some awesome feats of power, being so desperate to protect Franklin that she threw even mighty Galactus off-balance. Sue’s powers are represented wonderfully here, appearing as shimmering tricks of light rather than cartoonish bubbles or blue aura, while Johnny’s flame effects also looked better than ever. Reed was a little short-changed as his stretching powers are used sparingly, but his genius intellect and leadership skills were emphasised instead. Reed is a little awkward and analytical at times, but he also isn’t afraid to tackle Galactus when diplomacy fail, strategically targeting vents on the giant’s back to slow him down and get his attention. Reed’s smarts also enable the construction of the main generators the team initially hope to use to teleport Earth to safety, led to the creation of the versatile H.E.R.B.I.E., and see the team fly around in a super sleek modified Firebird IV. However, it was Galactus that caused me to smile from ear to ear as we finally got to see him in all his glory and watching him nonchalantly stride through the streets of New York City, absently swatting away the Fantastic Four’s attacks, was like seeing Alex Ross’s beautiful artwork come to life.
After refusing Galactus’s demands, the team pushes their fantastic abilities to the limit to fend him off.
Desperate to come up with a solution that doesn’t involve handing their newborn son over to a cosmic being, Reed hits upon the idea of co-ordinating the world’s resources into building teleporter relays to get the Earth to safety. When the Silver Surfer destroys all but one of these and flees after being grief-stricken by the Human Torch, Sue begrudgingly agrees to use Franklin as bait and the team enact a risky plan to first convince the Mole Man to shelter the city’s inhabitants and then lure Galactus onto the teleporter pad and send him to parts unknown. At first, the plan works: Galactus heads to baby Franklin despite the obvious signs of a trap, barely registering when the team attack him. Thanks to Sue’s forcefield, Johnny temporarily blinds Galactus, allowing Franklin to be switched for a decoy. Right at the last second, almighty Galactus senses something’s wrong and reacquires his target, easily snatching Franklin from the Baxter Building and finally readying himself to be free of his cursed existence. In a fit of motherly rage, Sue unleashes her full power upon Galactus, restraining him long enough for Reed to rescue the baby and then overexerting herself to force Galactus into the teleporter. When Galactus attempts to reemerge in a rage, Johnny prepares to sacrifice himself for his family, only for the Silver Surfer to take his place, determined to atone for presumably eons of death caused by her master. Though Galactus and the Silver Surfer are teleported away, Sue’s efforts prove fatal and, despite Reed’s desperate attempts, she dies on the street. However, it turns out Franklin really does have some cosmic significance as his mere touch brings Sue back to life, much to the relief of her family. Although the team is uncertain what the future holds for Franklin, they resolve to face it together and spend the next four years raising him as a normal boy, only for Sue to be shocked when a cloaked, iron-masked figure (Robert Downey Jr.) suddenly appears before the boy in the mid-credits sequence…
The Summary: I was really looking forward to The Fantastic Four: First Steps and the team’s introduction to the MCU, having previously speculated on casting and the direction the film should go. While the movie obviously went in a very different direction, I think this was for the best as it allowed the movie to be solely focused on the team, their relationship with each other, and how they react to the crisis at hand. The retro sci-fi aesthetic of Earth-828 resulted in a unique visual treat, one that expertly brings Jack Kirby’s characteristic art to life while also showcasing the Fantastic Four’s incredible powers. was surprised, maybe even sceptical, when Galactus was chosen as the antagonist, but I was so happy to finally see him brought to life with near-perfect fidelity to the source material. Depicted as a somewhat tragic and apathetic force of nature, Galactus simply is and I really enjoyed how disinterested he was in “little people”, at least until he senses Franklin’s awesome potential. The sense of scale given to Galactus was honestly awe-inspiring and terrifying and it was super fitting to see the middle half of the film resemble end of the world movies. I also liked the twist of using Shalla-Bal as the Silver Surfer and Julia Garner captured the tortured essence of the herald well. The chemistry between the four leads was easily the best we’ve ever seen from live-action interpretations of the characters, with them portrayed as a well-established and celebrated group and a functioning team and family dynamic. I loved the changes made to Johnny’s character, how he was a quick study and not just some hotshot with a hard on, and that Ben had fully come to terms with his position while still showcasing some regret when tempted by beautiful schoolteacher Rachel Rozman (Natasha Lyonne). Reed and Sue were the main draws for me, though. Sue was such a strong character, both in her convictions and her raw power, and I loved seeing Reed struggle with considering the worst decisions and being at a loss to think of alternatives. For me, this was the most faithful filmic adaptation of Marvel’s First Family to date, one that perfectly represented their unique family dynamics and presented them as an intelligent, quirky, and formidable team to hopefully make an unforgettable impact in the wider MCU.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Did you enjoy The Fantastic Four: First Steps? How do you think it compared against the previous live-action films? Were you surprised to find it set on an alternative Earth? Did you enjoy the cast, their chemistry, and the way their powers were represented? Were you glad to see Galactus finally brought to life in full armour? Would you have given up your child to save the world? Where would you like to see the MCU take the Fantastic Four? Let .e know your thoughts on The Fantastic Four: First Stepsin the comments, go check out my other Fantastic Four content, and donate to my Ko-Fi to support the site.
Story Title: “Act 1: The Suit” Published: 19 July 2000 (cover-dated: September 2000)
Story Title: “Act 2: The Unicorn” Published: 16 August 2000 (cover-dated: October 2000)
Story Title: “Act 3: The Photograph” Published: 20 September 2000 (cover-dated: November 2000)
Story Title: “Act 4: The Conspiracy” Published: 18 October 2000 (cover-dated: December 2000)
Story Title: “Act 5: The Betrayal” Published: 15 November 2000 (cover-dated: January 2001)
Story Title: “The Truth” Published: 31 January 2001 (cover-dated: February 2001)
The Background: Debuting in 1938, Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman wasn’t just an immediate hit with readers, he was also the first-ever costumed superhero, inspiring every single colourful crimefighter that came after him. Oddly, despite co-creating and bringing to life some of the industry’s most recognisable and beloved characters, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee struggled to emulate the success of the Man of Steel. Over the years, many Marvel characters have been positioned as the company’s parallel to Superman, with none really making much of an impact. Robert “Bob” Reynolds/The Sentry, however, is perhaps the closest Marvel came to this endeavour. First conceived of by Paul Jenkins and Rick Veitch back in the late-1990s, the Sentry was pitched as an over-the-hill superhero struggling with addiction and was cleverly positioned as a “forgotten” hero from Marvel history. Easily one of Marvel’s most overpowered heroes, the Sentry was also a figurehead for mental illness thanks to his drug addiction and psychotic split personality, though this often led to him being seen an aggravating and inconsistent character. Despite some bad-ass moments and turning the tide in many conflicts due to his awesome power and unpredictable nature, Marvel’s insistence of reverting to the status quo meant the character has had more downs than ups over the years, to the point of fading from the spotlight. Indeed, as of this writing the Sentry has only ever appeared in supporting roles in Marvel videogames, with no animated appearances to his name, though the character did make the jump to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of Lewis Pullman, in 2025.
The Review: We first meet Bob Reynolds when he’s awoken by a lightning storm that triggers memories of an aggressive alien menace known as “The Void”. After reassuring his wife, Lindy Lee-Reynolds, Bob retrieves a bottle of liquid and is haunted by scattered memories that emulate the art style of the legendary Jack Kirby. Through them, we learn that a young, naïve Bob stumbled upon the mysterious “Professor’s” secret serum and drank it, fashioning a golden costume and blue cape and fighting both crime and supervillains as “The Sentry”. As Bob struggles to reconcile these memories, torn between them being fanciful delusions made from a comic book and real-life recollections of his battles against the Void alongside the Avengers, he remembers dispelling the Void with “the power of a million exploding suns” and the shadowy villain’s vow to return one day. Plagued by self-doubt, Bob’s memories shift to a decidedly darker, more Frank Miller-esque style as the Professor runs down his strengths and weaknesses. The serum supercharged his molecules, causing each atom to be slightly out of shift with time, granting him a “hyperstate of consciousness” and rendering him functionally immortal thanks to the power of the Sun. His only weakness was that his powers were tied to the serum, though the Sentry ignored the Professor’s warnings of him becoming addicted to the drug in favour of saving the galaxy from the Void. Desperate to regain a more coherent sense of himself and to be “vigilant” once more, Bob swigs from the serum and is immediately wracked by pain and spasms. Visions of the Void see Bob branded a common junkie and lectured about the emptiness of life so, when Lindy discovers him delirious and with an empty botte nearby, she naturally assumes he’s fallen off the wagon. Refusing to see her lover destroy himself before her eyes, Lindy walks out, leaving Bob to fool himself into thinking he’s slipping back into his costume and answering “the Sentry Signal” when, in reality, he’s simply put on a jacket with a crude cape pegged to the back! Still, he can fly, at the very least, so he heads to New York City (vaguely remembering when the Void reduced Manhattan to a smouldering crater) and is confronted by Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. Though Bob speaks to Mr. Fantastic as an old friend, Reed has no idea who he is, though the word “unicorn” triggers something in the curious adventurer.
Triggered by cloudy memories, Bob tries to reconnect with a world that’s forgotten his heroics.
While Bob remembers Lindy accepting his superhero life right before their wedding, Mr. Fantastic talks the incident over with his family, perturbed by the sudden appearance of a golden unicorn that Bob gifted to Reed, who was his best friend. Disturbed and curious, Reed discovers a VHS tape in the unicorn that contains a warning from himself about the Void, but the tape explodes before the Fantastic Four learn anything tangible. Meanwhile, Bob (who “becomes” the Sentry the more he recalls his fragmented past, with his rudimentary costume even being revitalised) visits Doctor Robert Bruce Banner/The Hulk. Unlike the others, the Hulk remembers “Golden Man” as his “best amigo”, though Bob is disturbed to find the Green Goliath hasn’t evolved past his savage, childlike demeanour. Bob shares his concerns regarding a conspiracy surrounding him and convinces the Hulk to stand by him when the Void returns. Bob then meets Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who doesn’t remember Bob, sees only a blank piece of paper when Bob shows him a photograph he once took of the Sentry, and brands Bob a “fruitcake”. However, as he goes to leave, Bob begs Spidey to investigate further. As the world is thrown into turmoil, Peter’s memory is jogged after he confirms that multiple publications have been excised from public record. Additionally, Doctor Stephen Strange confirms the Void’s threat to Reed and, though he refuses to elaborate, he does magically conjure a memory of the Fantastic Four and Dr. Strange erasing everyone’s memories of the Sentry and Reed forcing Dr. Strange to keep that information hidden. Bob has a psychic parlay with Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X, causing Professor X’s memories resurface, and the X-Men to be put on alert. Similarly, Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man remembers the Sentry, leading Bob to fly into a tirade about how he inspired all the world’s superheroes and was simply forgotten. Bob remembers that the Avengers staged an intervention regarding his overreliance on the serum and the lingering threat of the Void, with all begrudgingly agreeing that the Sentry, despite his many good deeds, should disappear. Since Tony stood up for him, Bob begs him to get the others onboard before flying to a desolate area of the city, his impressive super suit finally reformed. He returns to his long-forgotten fortress, the Watchtower, while his scarred and disabled former sidekick, Billy Turner/Scout, awakens from a disturbing nightmare.
Despite fragmented memories of betrayal, the Sentry rallies to oppose the Void’s return.
Inside the Watchtower, the Sentry reunites with its Centrally Located Organic Computer/C.L.O.C. to investigate a subliminal message being transmitted around the world by a small, bug-like transmitter that’s powered by the same serum that gives the Sentry his incredible abilities. Thanks to a “self-modifying loop virus”, C.L.O.C. cannot directly aid the Sentry without being destroyed, so the Sentry disables the crude device himself. This leads to a brief and near imperceptible shift in the fabric of reality and, suddenly, kids discover their Sentry memorabilia, Billy finds his old costume, and people are filled first with relief at remembering their hero…and then horror as they also remember the Void. They also remember the Sentry dying in battle (at least, as far as the public were concerned), marking the end of a “Golden Age” of heroes. This event also sees the Sentry remembering Reed condemn him as a traitor and a criminal, claiming that Bob accepted bribes from the criminal underworld to fund his addictions and then mislead the public into thinking he was a hero while also profiting from his violent impulses. Angered at this betrayal and slander, the Sentry reconciles with a remorseful Lindy, only for her to be attacked and threatened by the Void. Gleefully, the Void spitefully monologues about his scheme to bathe the world in darkness and devour every living soul in the universe, saving his hated foe until last just to make him suffer. With that, the Void tosses Lindy aside and conjures an alarming and devastating hurricane out at sea that threatens the mainland. The Sentry makes a quick public address to announce his return, protest his innocence, and warn that the storm signals the return of the Void. After calling for a mass evacuation, the Sentry pleads with his superpowered cohorts to stand by his side once more against the threat on Liberty Island. Though he’s uncharacteristically afraid, the Hulk is the first to arrive out of gratitude for all the support the Sentry once showed him. Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and all the city’s costumed protectors then arrive soon after, alongside Billy Turner. When Mr. Fantastic arrives, the Sentry berates him for his betrayal, though Reed’s still got some gaps in his memory and is adamant that he’d never betray his best friend like that.
A remorseful Bob is forced to sacrifice his reputation to keep the Sentry, and the Void, forgotten.
Faced with the Void’s pending arrival and the potential end of the world, the Sentry steels himself, with friends and foes at his back, for the assault. The Void attacks with “infinitendrils” that sap even the Sentry’s abilities and confidence. The trinkets the Sentry gifted to his allies barely keep them from succumbing to the Void’s influence and unnamed heroes and untold civilians die as the Void’s attack decimates the city. During the chaos. Dr. Strange prompts Reed to remember when the Void attacked Manhattan in the past, causing catastrophic damage and leaving a pile of slaughtered bodies in his wake, only for Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman to discover the Void and the Sentry were one and the same! In the face of the Void’s destructive power, which left a million people dead, and faced with a man they’d known and respected and could clearly see was suffering a psychotic episode that manifested in a separate personality, Reed and Bob came up with a plan. After Bob shared his concerns about himself and admitted to his addiction, the two constructed the hypnotic transmitters to ensure that no one, not even Bob, would remember the Sentry, thus keeping the Void at bay. Thus, at Bob’s insistence, the Sentry’s death was faked, his funeral staged, and his reputation tarnished to ensure that the people who loved and admired him so much would submit to the hypnosis. In the present, the physical and existential battle between the Sentry and the Void rages, breaking even the Hulk’s super-tough body, until Reed intervenes. Although the Void whispers poison in Bob’s ear, fuelling his confusion and anger, Reed triggers Bob’s memories, much to the Void’s anger. Desperate to live and to wreak havoc, the Void threatens to take full control of Bob’s body, so the Sentry rushes back to C.LO.C. alongside his allies. After a moment’s hesitation, the Sentry orders C.L.O.C to reactivate the transmitter and Bob gets a brief moment to reconcile with his best friend before their memories are wiped. In the aftermath, the devastation is blamed on a “temporal anomaly” and Bob returns to his mundane life with Lindy. However, when they stop for a bite and are served by Billy, a flash of a memory suggests the Sentry may not be completely forgotten…
The Summary: This was my first time reading the Sentry’s debut story arc and I was quite excited to get into it. I don’t know much about the Sentry, but I remember his debut being quite a big deal and have seen it being talked about, and seen him pop up in a few crossover events and such, so I was eager to get into this and see if it lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, I really don’t think it did and I was left a bit disappointed. For starters, it bugged me that the story wasn’t contained in a five or six-issue arc. Instead, we have five issues laying the foundation for the Sentry and the Void, a couple of team-up stories that take between #5 and The Sentry vs. The Void #1, and that standalone resolution to the arc. This was a story clearly written for trade collections, which is fine on paper as that’s my preferred way to read comics, but it’s pretty damn arrogant of Marvel Comics to assume that people are going to be this heavily invested in their brand-new superhero right off the bat. Luckily, the central concept has a lot of legs to it, and I did enjoy the story as a very different, more cerebral superhero tale. It’s always engaging and interesting when comic books are more than just big superhero fights or cosmic events, and the Sentry’s debut definitely delves more into the psychological thriller genre as Bob, Reed, and the reader try to piece together the truth about this strange and apparently forgotten character. The mystery of the Void was equally well done and I liked that he was perceived as a world (well, universe) ending threat and the sense of desperation behind him. The idea that someone or something was so dangerous to all life that even the Avengers and the Fantastic Four blurred their morals to erase the minds of everyone in the world is very powerful and still holds up now, even knowing the truth about the two.
The Sentry is a bit of a Gary Stu and changes long-running aspects of Marvel continuity.
I liked that Bob is presented as an out of shape everyman. He’s a nobody whose wife barely seems to tolerate him and who’s haunted by nightmares and faded memories that could just as easily be comic books he read as a kid. When something (it’s not clear what) triggers the revival of the Void, Bob’s ordinary life is turned upside down and his body undergoes a slow and dramatic change upon drinking the mysterious serum that makes him an all-powerful demigod. I’m not sure how this transforms his costume or why a simple potion can give him such incredible power, but Bob’s memories, personality, and sense of self worth return the more he indulges in the serum and the more he meets with his old allies. Even his physical appearance changes, returning him to the superman physique he enjoyed in his prime, and his trip down memory lane changes many preconceptions of existing Marvel heroes. The Sentry is said to be the “first” costumed superhero, the one who inspired all the others, and his deeds were almost incalculable. He tamed the Hulk, was best friends with Reed Richards, scored Peter Parker his first Pulitzer Prize, and saved the world countless times. Indeed, this debut story goes out of its way to really hammer home that the Sentry was the bastion of all that’s good in the world, that no one could compare to him, and that he was the example others lived by. He had an elaborate headquarters in the heart of New York City, a kid sidekick, and all kinds of gadgets, making him very much a child’s perfect amalgamation of what makes a good superhero. It’s a bit grating, to be honest, primarily because we don’t really get to see any of the Sentry’s past deeds. We simply hear people talk about them and how great he is, with little evidence to back it up since even Bob barely remembers fact from fiction. Equally, we never get to see any of the Sentry’s incredible and much-touted powers beyond a few brief glimpses. Sure, he can fly and take a hit, but I’m not sure what “the power of a million exploding suns” means or how it scales with, say, the Hulk or Thor Odinson.
A unique and engaging story, but one that didn’t live up to its full potential for me.
I really enjoyed the panels that reflected other artists and key eras in comic book history. They went a long way to keeping up the ruse that the Sentry was a long-forgotten hero from Marvel’s glory days, dusted off and reinserted into mainstream continuity. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that we should’ve gotten more of these. They could’ve helped flesh out Bob’s backstory and past exploits, his relationship with Billy, and maybe retroactively insert him into key moments in Marvel history. Instead, they’re just fun panels that don’t live up to their potential, which is a shame. While you could argue that the mystery surrounding the Void, how stubbornly cagy Dr. Strange was and how fragmented records were, hinted towards the final reveal as much as Bob’s obvious unstable mental state, I think it landed really well. There’s a degree of responsibility on the reader’s part to understand that things aren’t quite what they seem. When the heroes assemble to help repel the Void in the finale, they’re not necessarily standing with the Sentry against the oncoming storm. Instead, they’re observing him violently lashing out as the Void reasserts control. While I would’ve liked more panels devoted to the destruction, it’s painted as the greatest threat the world has ever seen and one that the heroes are unable to stop through conventional means. It’s only by appealing to the man they once knew that the heroes manage to contain the Void once more, convincing Bob to make the ultimate sacrifice one more time since his powers and mentality are too unstable to be trusted. It’s a very unusual and dramatic end to a superhero story and paints the Sentry as a very fragile and complex character, one who would continue to suffer from his mental health issues and addictions in subsequent appearances. Unfortunately, I do feel the execution was a bit lacking and the story didn’t quite live up to its full potential. This seems par for the course with the Sentry, who doesn’t seem all that relevant these days, which is also a shame as I really think there’s something here and that it’s a very unique way to introduce a new superhero and supervillain.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
What did you think to the Sentry’s debut story, and the character in general? Were you surprised and excited by the unusual depiction of the character? Did you guess that the Sentry and the Void were the same person or was it a surprise for you? What did you think to the Sentry being retroactively inserted into Marvel continuity? Do you agree that the story fell a little flat in the end or were you intrigued to see more? What are some of your favourite moments involving the Sentry? Which of Marvel’s Superman knock-offs is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on the Sentry, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Marvel content on the site.
In 1995, Marvel Comics created “National Superhero Day” and, in the process, provided comics and superhero fans the world over with a great excuse to celebrate their favourite characters and publications.
Story Titles: “A Time of Marvels”, “Monsters”, “Judgment Day”, and “The Day She Died” Published: 9 November 1993 (cover-dated: January 1994) to 22 March 1994 (cover-dated: April 1994) Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross
The Background: In 1939, pulp-magazine publisher Martin Goodman created Timely Productions, expanding his reach into the increasingly popular medium of comic books. Timely’s first publication, Marvel Comics #1, was spearheaded by the first appearances of Jim Hammond/The Human Torch and Prince Namor McKenzie/The Sub-Mariner, and went on to sell over 900,000copies. This success was followed by Captain America Comics #1 selling over a million copies just two years later, the same year that Goodman’s wife’s sixteen-year-old cousin, Stanley Lieber, was named interim editor under the pseudonym “Stan Lee”. Though superheroes declined in popularity after the Second World War, Goodman continued to publish Westerns, horror, and war comics under Atlas Comics before rebranding to Marvel Comics in 1961. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby then ushered in the “Marvel Age” of comics with the Fantastic Four, kick-starting a slew of costumed superheroes and Marvel’s distinct narrative style. These colourful heroes caught the eye of artist Alex Ross from an early age; known for his startlingly photorealistic artwork, Ross later cemented his position in the industry with Kingdom Come (Waid, et al, 1996). However, his big break came when he teamed with writer Kurt Busiek to produce this four-issue miniseries that reframed many of Marvel’s most iconic moments through the eyes of a common man. Marvels was an award-winning, widelypraised miniseries that inspired a much grimmer counterpart story in 1995, a follow-up series in 2008 (though Alex Ross did not return), and a sister-series in 2021.
The Review: Marvels followers budding photographer Phil Sheldon who, at the beginning of the story in 1939, is eager to go to Europe and make a name for himself as a war photographer. While his friend and fellow cub reporter, a youthful J. Jonah Jameson, scoffs at the futility of the war, he shares his own lofty aspirations of one day owning the Daily Bugle and making his own headlines. While Jameson heads off to cover a labour dispute, Sheldon attends a press conference hosted by noted scientist Phineas T. Horton, who unveils his revolutionary “synthetic man”, a robotic creation indistinguishable from the real thing except that it bursts into flame when exposed to oxygen. While the reporters initially mock the demonstration as an elaborate hoax, they react in horror when this “Human Torch” moves and appears sentient. Subsequent sensationalist headlines – the “power of the press”, as Sheldon puts it – slander Professor Horton and see him bury his creation lest it prove to be a danger. While shopping for a gift for his betrothed, Doris Jacquet, Sheldon rushes to investigate a disturbance, hopeful for the big break that’ll get him shipped to Europe, only to the find the Human Torch running amok through the streets of New York City. While the ridiculously fickle New Yorkers brush the event off as an elaborate prank, Sheldon is shaken by his second sight of the flaming man and is therefore the only person to take reports of a “Sub-Mareener” seriously. Over the next few panels, both the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner raise the ire of everyday folk with their antics, but they captivate Sheldon, who turns down the chance to cover to war to stay and follow these ever-prominent “Marvels”. As awe-struck as he is by such costumed super-men, Sheldon can’t help but question what their presence means for mankind, who suddenly seem secondary in the evolutionary chain. Thus, when the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner inevitably come to blows in what’s likened to a battle between Gods, Sheldon shares the same fear as his fellow citizens, despite protests from the likes of officer Betty Dean, who vouches for Namor’s character.
Photographer Phil Sheldon witnesses the terrifying and awesome debut of the “Marvels”.
As the two titans battle, hijacking the airwaves and causing a great deal of property damage, Sheldon is angered at them for making humanity feel so helpless. The conflict is ultimately resolved by Officer Dean, who cools the differences between the two, though Sheldon echoes the same bitterness of his peers at both superhumans escaping any punishment for their actions. In the face of his helplessness, and intuiting that such occurrences will only escalate, Sheldon reluctantly suggests pushing back the wedding and, resenting him, Doris opts to call the whole thing off until he feels more like a “man”. By winter, the press was alive with reports of Captain Steve Rogers/Captain America’s colourful adventures; kids and adults alike revelled in his Axis-smashing antics. While at the cinema, Sheldon’s musings that Cap is so accepted because he’s not perceived as a threat are given further credence when the entire audience (him included) applaud news reports of the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner teaming up to battle the Nazis. Just like that, the Marvels are celebrated, national heroes; the public debates which of them is better and stronger and Sheldon’s perspective has changed enough to rekindle his relationship with Doris. His elevation is short-lived, however, when it’s suddenly reported that Namor has turned on the Allies and waging his own war against America, a war that sees him flood New York with a catastrophic tidal wave! The Human Torch confronts him and Sheldon’s right there to snap some pix, now revelling in witnessing such a titanic clash, only to be injured by flying debris and lose an eye in the process. Surprisingly, he feels no ill will towards the Marvels and instead chooses to focus on the bigger picture – the war and his impending wedding, specifically. After the wedding, Sheldon finally gets to cover the war in Europe and is right there when Cap, the Human Torch, Namor, and the rest of their superpowered Invaders, storm a Nazi compound, noting in a letter to Doris that the Marvels aren’t some temporary fad; they’re here to stay.
While the Avengers and Fantastic Four are celebrated, even Sheldon hates and fears Mutants.
Some decades later, an older and more experienced Sheldon is convinced to cover a battle between the Avengers and the Masters of Evil. Cap has just returned from his icy sabbatical, inspiring the awe and admiration of Sheldon and the public. By this time, sights such as Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man, Thor Odinson, and Doctor Hank Pym/Giant-Man cutting through the city skyline and dwarfing mere mortals are commonplace but no less impressive. Sheldon hopes to publish a book of his photos of their heroics, convincing his publisher to take a shot on the idea based on how inspirational Marvels like the Fantastic Four are. While mulling over his opening text, Sheldon’s swept up by an angry mob who descend upon the X-Men, convinced that the Mutant teenagers tried to kill an innocent construction worker. Sharing the sentiment that the Mutants are dangerous killers, Sheldon literally casts the first stone, left shaken by the words of Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops (“They’re not worth it”) and pondering why Mutants illicit such hatred and distrust compared to the other Marvels. He concludes it’s because Mutants are genetically predisposed to be the next step in human evolution, thereby conjuring fears of death and redundancy in everyday folk. Ruminating these matters at home with his kids (who idolise the Marvels), Sheldon is gifted a writing assignment covering an art exhibition hosted by blind sculptress Alicia Masters. He’s also right there for when Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic announces his engagement to Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl, landing Sheldon another book deal with Jameson for every photo he takes of the colourful couple and landing him on the guest list for the wedding. With major shake-ups occurring in the Avenger’s roster and the likes of Matt Murdock/Daredevil making a splash downtown, to say nothing of the wedding drama, Sheldon almost forgets about the Mutant problem…save for the abundance of anti-Mutant graffiti plastered around town.
Sheldon sees the worst of humanity when the Mutant problem escalates into all-out paranoia.
Sheldon’s stunned when he returns to his quiet suburb and finds an angry mob literally grabbing pitchforks to hunt down a Mutant in the area. His first thought is his family but Sheldon’s shocked to come home and find his children sheltering a Mutant child, Maggie, a frightened little girl who’s the anthesis of everything Sheldon had so firmly believed about her species. Suddenly likening the persecution of the Mutants to the horrors of Auschwitz, Sheldon resolves to protect the girl from their friends and neighbours, who wouldn’t think twice to burn their house down to get to her. While his family keep Maggie safe, Sheldon reads up on Mutants and tries to find some way to help her, only to be met with dead ends and realise that the government wants to lock them up, at best, and execute them, at worst. Sheldon realises that the X-Men could help but falters, worrying they would remember him as another angry human, and meanders through even Reed and Sue’s wedding, his thoughts so preoccupied by Maggie’s fate. His concerns are only exacerbated when a television debate between Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X and Bolivar Trask sees the unveiling of his Mutant-hunting Sentinel machines and the outing of Professor X as a Mutant. Driven into a frenzy by fear, hated, and paranoia, an all-out riot breaks out. Sheldon’s right there, recording evidence of man’s inhumanity to man, as the monstrous Sentinels fly overhead, and is distraught to return home and find Maggie left to keep them safe and unable to comfort his kids when they worry about her safety. Within a mere two months, the fickle public begin to turn on the Marvels, holding them accountable for their actions and questioning their methods. Their primary target is Tony Stark, who bankrolls the Avengers and pays Iron Man to be his personal bodyguard, and the Avengers, who had recently been framed by evil doppelgängers. Disturbed by how sordid the Marvels have become, Sheldon throws himself into his work, determined to keep his family fed and sheltered, but unwittingly drives a wedge between him and Doris and the girls.
Sheldon’s incensed when the public slanders the Marvels even after they defeat Galactus.
The Marvels’ bad press is only escalated by Jameson’s personal vendetta against Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Sheldon comes to question his perception of the Marvels once more. However, he and the entire city are horror-struck when the skies burst into flames, asteroids fill the horizon, and a mysterious “Silver Surfer” arrives, seemingly heralding the onset of judgement day. Once again, despite their distrust and slander, the people must put their faith in the Marvels and be mere spectators as the Fantastic Four raced to confront the Silver Surfer, only to be dwarfed by the might and terror of the titanic Galactus! To the stunned horror of the public, the Fantastic Four lose the battle and none of their other defenders appear to help, leaving them to contemplate their end and watch, helplessly, as Galactus constructs an elaborate device around the Baxter Building. The people celebrate as the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer attack Galactus in full force, but Sheldon decides to leave the scene and be with his family, realising that the Marvels could fail and that he would rather be with his loved ones at the end. Luckily for him, and everyone, the Fantastic Four fend Galactus off with the Ultimate Nullifier but, rather than being celebrated as heroes, the team – and all Marvels – are further slandered by Jameson’s derogatory headlines. Sheldon’s protests fall on deaf ears and even he’s disgusted to find teenage photographer Peter Parker gleefully selling incriminating photos of Spider-Man to Jameson. His contempt for the public reaches a boiling point as Sheldon heads to cover a battle between the X-Men and Count Luchino Nefaria, snapping at them for slandering the very people, even Mutants, who save their lives. Still, by the 1970s, the public turn to his book of photographs for comfort after the Avengers are stuck in another galaxy determining the fate of all reality, begrudgingly guilty for questioning their methods. Now feeling his age, Sheldon takes on an assistant, Marcia Hardesty, though even this can’t help lighten his increasingly sour mood as he repeatedly sees the Marvels questioned, persecuted, and smeared by the courts, the public, and Jameson.
Sheldon ultimately decides to leave the awe and drama of the Marvels behind.
After the Fantastic Four again fend off Galactus, Sheldon desperately tries to turn opinion in favour of the Marvels, only to be dismissed as an overworked old man. Sheldon resolves to use his skills as a reporter to clear Spider-Man of Captain George Stacy’s death, interviewing a bystander who unashamedly blames Stacy’s death on Spider-Man. Sheldon’s as sceptical as the cops he meets with; however, while they have evidence that suggests Doctor Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus caused Stacy’s death, they can’t prove anything without questioning Spidey. Confident that the underappreciated Marvels will handle a crisis happening at the Sun, Sheldon interviews some more people, all of whom believe Spidey’s a menace, and even questions Jameson, revealing the cantankerous publisher feels inadequate against such Marvels and is therefore determined to besmirch them, guilty or not. Jameson’s attitude makes Sheldon seriously consider an offer to write for the Daily Globe and he takes the first boat to Ryker’s Island to talk with the captive Dr. Octopus, only to find the stubborn scientist unwilling to co-operate with his inquiries. With no roads left, Sheldon visits Stacy’s daughter, Gwen, finding that, while she did initially blame Spider-Man, she no longer does. Reinvigorated, Sheldon regularly meets with Gwen; she’s with him when Namor invades New York with an army of mechanical attack craft. Rather than being terrified, Gwen marvels at their beauty and Sheldon realises that lives like hers are what the Marvels are fighting for and resolves to rework his new book into championing the heroes, flaws and all. Sheldon’s conviction turns to dread when he goes to Gwen’s to pick up some of her father’s journals and witnesses her being kidnapped by Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. Sheldon follows in a taxi and witnesses the brutal battle between Spidey and the Goblin, sure that good would triumph over evil, and is crushed when Gwen’s knocked from the bridge and dies when Spidey tries to save her. Angered that Gwen’s death is buried under Jameson’s anti-Spidey campaign and left disillusioned by the Marvel’s failure, Sheldon loses interest in his book and grows resentful of the world moving on without a care. However, he realises that Marcia still sees the good in the Marvels and ultimately hands the assignment to her, retiring to be with his family and leaving the Marvels behind.
The Summary: I’ve long criticised the hypocrisy of Marvel Comics’ everyday citizens. The people, especially New Yorkers, are a fickle and judgemental bunch, easily swayed by a few headlines and news reports. They can literally be dodging Galactus’ footsteps one day and then will laugh it off as a hoax the next. They can witness Spider-Man saving people from a burning building and yet fully believe Jameson’s claims that the wall-crawler started the blaze. They’ll come out in droves to cheer the wedding of Reed and Sue and applaud the star-spangled heroics of Captain America, but hurl bricks at Mutants and accuse them of all sorts in the same breath. They are a terrible, unappreciative, unreliable bunch of ingrates who don’t appreciate that these heroes put their lives on the line to save not just them, but the entire world and even the whole universe! Marvels is a perfect examination of this phenomena, with our equally culpable main character witnessing first-hand as Joe Public fear the likes of the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner because they’re “different” and then cheer them on when they fight to defend America’s interests. Much of the public’s fickle nature isn’t just because of Jameson’s outrageous headlines, either; people, even Sheldon, feared the Marvels in the 1930s simply because of the existential threat they presented. This evolved and escalated once Mutants came along, with the species inarguably representing the next step in humanity’s inevitable extinction and thus causing the public to hate and fear them out of paranoia of being replaced (or the simple fear of death). Yet, Marvel’s civilians can never be appeased; they even turn on celebrated heroes like the Avengers for “abandoning” them and treat many of the Marvels as disposable celebrities. Their everyday, awesome feats lose their grandeur for many, who just become inconvenienced by their battles, and public opinion wildly fluctuates throughout the decades represented here as a result, even spilling over into paranoid violence when Mutants and shapeshifters become commonplace.
Flawed photographer Sheldon finds his awe of the Marvels tested over time.
At the heart of it all is flawed photographer Phil Sheldon. Phil’s a complex character, for sure, echoing the awe and fear of his peers at the sight of the Marvels and feeling small, insignificant, against these God-like figures. His opinion regarding the Marvels fluctuates throughout the story, with him praising and celebrating them during their “Golden Age” and profiting from their antics, never losing his faith in their good deeds even when it costs him an eye. Yet, like the public, Sheldon hates and fears Mutants. Unlike the average Joe, Sheldon contemplates why this is and realises he doesn’t really know, beyond that aforementioned existential dread. When he discovers Maggie hiding in his house, fully accepted by his well-meaning kids, he finally realises that he’s as guilty of persecution as the Nazis he once so heartily rallied against and privately defends Mutantkind. His perception changed for the better, Sheldon comes to see the worst in humanity: while they accuse Mutants of being dangerous, he sees only heroes trying to defend the innocent and angry mobs tearing their neighbourhoods apart out of sheer paranoia. Haunted my Maggie’s unresolved fate, time and weariness with the public’s everchanging opinions takes its toll on Sheldon. He remains in awe of the Marvels but focuses on them so much that he neglects his family, desperate to figure out what it is about them that distracts him so much. When Galactus arrives and the end of the world seems nigh, Sheldon realises that none of that matters; all that matters is being with the ones you love. This attitude leads into him becoming very short-tempered when people question or slander the Marvels, snapping at the unappreciative public for not realising that they owe their lives to the same people they’re dragging over the coals. Unfortunately, Sheldon lives long enough to see the best and worst of both humanity and the Marvels, realising with gut-wrenching finality that these “Gods” are as flawed as the everyday man. He comes to put all his faith in Gwen’s innocence and is thus heartbroken when Spider-Man fails to save her, but comes to see that his time with the Marvels has come to an end and that it’s time to let those concerns go to focus on what really matters.
Alex Ross’s beautiful artwork brings some of Marvel’s most epic moments to glorious life.
Of course, what really makes Marvels shine is Alex Ross’s frankly gorgeous artwork. Every panel is painstakingly hand-drawn and painted to bring these colourful, outlandish superheroes to life. Unlike many of his peers, especially later in life, Alex Ross doesn’t try to reinvent these characters or make them more “realistic”; he simply presents photorealistic interpretations of their classic costumes, with the sole exception that he depicts Namor as being completely naked. This can be hit and miss; Spider-Man, for example, looks phenomenal under Ross’s penmanship but Thor and Iron Man struggle somewhat with their more outlandish designs. Still, Ross delivers some gorgeous full-page spreads, recreating Reed and Sue’s wedding, showing the battles between Namor and the Human Torch, and bringing these incredible moments to life from a street level perspective. Nowhere is this represented better than in Galactus’s arrival. Despite being faithful to Jack Kirby’s original design, Galactus cuts an intimidating and awe-inspiring figure here, towering over skyscrapers and constantly framed as though a Titan has risen from the Earth. While the story primarily focuses on Sheldon’s family life during this bout, the glimpses of the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer’s battle against Galactus deliver a sense of scale and realism not often seen in comics. This is further echoed in the coming of the Sentinels and Spider-Man’s battle with the Green Goblin, events where Sheldon is merely a bystander amongst the faceless masses watching history unfold, powerless to intervene. Ross fills every panel with little cameos and an amazing attention to detail, basing many characters’ likenesses off real-world celebrities and figures, and his work really makes you appreciate the craft and effort put into every panel, no matter how small. Marvels is a dramatic and compelling distillation of the first thirty-years-or-so of Marvel Comics, linking major events on a realistic timeline and giving us a glimpse at how these heroes, Gods, and villains are perceived by the common man. It’s a startlingly bleak tale at times, criticising our hypocrisy and inclination towards hatred and violence, but also an uplifting story. Sheldon, and many characters, celebrate and are inspired by the Marvels, championing them even when a small, volatile minority try to slander them. It’s the perfect snapshot of what life in Marvel’s New York City can be like and a great way to witness such iconic moments from a street-level perspective.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Have you ever read Marvels? If so, what did you think to it? Are you a fan of Alex Ross’s artwork? What did you think to the presentation of Marvel’s fickle public? Did you relate to Sheldon as a protagonist and enjoy his growth throughout the series? Which “Marvel” is your favourite? How are you celebrating National Superhero Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below and be sure to check out my other superhero and comic book content.
The Background: For decades, few videogame publishers were as synonymous with Marvel Comics as Activision, who produced adaptations Marvel’s most popular properties. While some were better than others, Activision’s efforts were largelypraised, especially after they partnered with Raven Software on the X-Men Legends games (2004; 2005). Activision and Raven Software expanded their scope to the rest of the Marvel universe with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006), a largely successful team-based brawer praised for improving upon its predecessors. Though now delisted, it was followed by a sequel three years later, courtesy of Vicarious Visions, which tweaked the gameplay with team-based attacks to encourage experimentation. Though Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2(2009) was praised for its branching storyline, the stripped down roleplaying mechanics were criticised. While it was also delisted in 2020, fans were clamouring for a follow-up and, just ten years later, Team Ninja stepped in to work alongside Marvel in reviving the franchise. Seeking to place additional emphasis on combat, the developers explored the cosmic scope of the Marvel universe by including the Infinity Stones and lesser-known characters and chose to make the title a Nintendo Switch exclusive after developing a close relationship with Nintendo. Although Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order was the sixth best-selling game in its first week and was later bolstered by extensive downloadable content (DLC), it was met with mixed reviews that praised the colourful action but criticised its lack of innovation.
The Plot: While battling Nebula and Ronan the Accuser, the Guardians of the Galaxy stumble upon a plot by the mad titan, Thanos, to collect the six Infinity Stones. Although they scatter the Stones, Thanos’s acolytes, the Black Order, pursue the gems, prompting an alliance of Earth’s mightiest heroes to retrieve them first.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: Like its predecessors, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order is a team-based action role-playing game in which players assemble a squad of four heroes from across the Marvel universe to battle various nefarious baddies, primarily the titular Black Order, who are hunting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones on behalf of their master, Thanos. The game offers five save slots, two initial difficulty levels, and a base roster of thirty-six playable characters, with many being encountered as you play through the story and joining your alliance either after fighting alongside you or being freed from some kind of mind control. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers three controller configurations, thankfully none of which involve motion controls, and allows you to toggle overlays, notifications, tips, and other onscreen elements from the “Settings” menu. These include altering the camera placement, which enables a lock-on feature by pressing in the right stick, though the camera generally remains more focused on whichever character you’re controlling rather than offering a bird’s eye view as in the last two games. Although you can fight alongside friends either locally or online, you switch between your teammates with the directional pad (D-pad) when playing alone and your computer-controlled partners are very useful in a fight, attacking, enabling team attacks, and reviving defeated characters without any input from you. Pressing A sees you interact with the environment to activate consoles, pick up or move certain objects, and talk to other characters. You jump with B, executing a double jump, swinging from webs, or flying depending on which character you’re playing as, and throw light attacks with X and heavy attacks with Y. These can be strung together to perform basic combos and you can also perform a mid-air attack and throw objects (like bombs and missiles) by pressing Y. You block incoming attacks by holding the Z trigger and tap it to dodge, and collect glowing red orbs from defeated enemies or smashed crates to restore health, blue orbs to refill your Energy Point (EP) gauge, and credits to spend on upgrades.
Combat is thick, fast, chaotic, and constant thanks to loads of enemies and character abilities.
As in the last two games, each character has specific abilities tied to their superpowers or superhero traits. You activate these by holding the Right trigger and selecting an icon using the D-pad; using Abilities drains your EP, however, and each Ability comes with a different cost. However, these attacks allow you to stun, stagger or deal elemental damage to enemies using Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s webs, Thor Odinson’s lightning, and Doctor Robert Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s incredible strength. Many characters have projectile attacks in their arsenal, such as Wade Wilson/Deadpool firing guns and Scott “Slim” Summers/Cyclops blasting his eye beams, while others cause splash damage or specific buffs, like Piotr Rasputin/Colossus being able to reflect projectiles and Wanda Maximoff/The Scarlet Witch healing her allies. Some, like James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, have passive abilities that allow them to automatically regenerate health as they walk around; others, like Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider and Ororo Munroe/Storm, specifically deal in elemental damage. Character’s Abilities can also be mixed and matched by holding ZR and pressing one of the face buttons (or pressing A when prompted); this sees two characters attack in a combo for additional damage. As you dish out and take damage, you’ll also build the Extreme (EX) Gauge). Once full, you can press L and R up to three times to have two to four of your teammates perform a devastating combination attack that’s great against bosses. While the various cannon fodder you fight are easily dispatched, larger commanders and bosses need their “stun” meter drained before you can really put a beating on them and others (and certain treasure chests) require specific combination attacks to breach their shields. Defeating enemies sees your characters gain experience points (XP) to level-up, increasing their statistics (attack, defence, etc), though you can also use the various Orbs you find to manually level-up. Each character’s special Abilities can also be further enhanced using Ability Orbs and credits, reducing the EP cost and increasing their damage, among other benefits. You can also earn “Team Bonuses” depending on your team selection: pick a group of X-Men, for example, and your strength or resistance stat will increase, while picking characters of royalty ups your maximum energy stat.
Search for chests to gain currency and other expendables to upgrade and buff your alliance.
Although you can’t equip gear to your characters, the boss battle against the Destroyer armour sees you temporarily empowered by Asgardian magic and you can eventually equip your team with “ISO-8” crystals, coloured stones that enhance their attack power, resistance to elements, or critical hit ratio, among others. You can further upgrade these with credits and ISO-8 capsules, though some of the rarer ones will also debuff you (for example, your attack my increase but your defence will decrease accordingly). You’ll also inevitably gain access to the Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) Lab, which acts as the game’s skill tree. By spending credits and Enhancement Points (EP), you can further increase your team’s overall attack, defence, resistance, vitality, and such and even unlock additional ISO-8 slots (with more being earned by levelling-up). You can also enter the S.H.I.E.L.D. Depot from the main menu to purchase additional costumes and social icons by spending S.H.I.E.L.D. Tokens. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 is pretty forgiving (on the “Friendly” difficulty, at least), with multiple checkpoints in each area. When you activate a S.H.I.E.L.D. checkpoint, your team is fully healed, and you can swap or enhance them if you wish. If a teammate is defeated, you can hold A to revive them, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you absolutely have to. Not only are revives limited, but downed characters will eventually return to full health even before you reach a checkpoint so it’s not worth risking another character taking damage by healing a partner. Exploration generally leads you to treasure chests or special walls that require a special combination attack to open, or to a “Rift” challenge that takes you away from the main game to tackle a special challenge (usually a boss rematch or enemy gauntlet) for extra rewards. Your path is incredibly linear most of the time, hence why there’s no map, and the game’s primary focus is on chaotic combat and visually manic team-based attacks. Unlike in the last two games, you can no longer grapple or throw enemies (though you can still send them flying off certain platforms) and there are no character-specific team-up moves, meaning the action can quickly get quite tiresome.
Sadly, puzzles are practically non-existent, with only Rifts offering additional challenges.
Because of its focus on hectic combat, there’s even less room for puzzles than there is for exploration in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3. Puzzles boil down to activating a console to open a door or making a platform move and that’s it. Sometimes, you’ll hold A to move a block and avoid lasers or cannons, but mostly you’ll be timing jumps between said lasers to progress and simply hurling missiles at those cannons. Sometimes, you’ll rotate statues or press switches to progress; others, you’ll be avoiding toxic ooze in Hel or solving door puzzles at the Raft or in Avengers Tower. After hopping across the rooftops of New York City, you’ll infiltrate the heavily fortified fortress of the Hand, dealing with ninjas that drop from the sky and hidden arrow hazards. When in Wakanda, Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) corrupt T’Challa/The Black Panther’s defences, leading to an exasperating section where you must avoid snipers and being roasted by a giant panther statue’s energy blast. When transported to the Dark Dimension, you must use portals to reach new areas and defeat waves of demonic enemies to lower magical barriers and progress. Some attacks also screw up your controls or temporarily freeze you; some enemies are best defeated by tossing explosives at them; and many missions have an additional character fighting alongside you who’s often unlocked afterwards. However, a lot of the additional features of the previous games are missing; you can talk to other characters, but there are no dialogue options or character-specific interactions. There are no trivia quizzes, no optional side missions beyond the Rifts, and no character specific challenges to unlock extra stuff for each character. There aren’t even hub areas, in the traditional sense, with characters just appearing around S.H.I.E.L.D. checkpoints at times, though you can destroy a fair bit of the environment, and some encounters have you fleeing towards the camera as bosses chase you or present you with unwinnable battles.
Presentation: Whereas the last two games primarily based their aesthetics on the comics books, especially the Ultimate comic line, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 adheres very closely to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), especially in the visuals of its locations. I was hard pressed, for example, to tell the difference between Asgard here and the Asgard to the MCU, with both the golden city and the rainbow bridge, the Bifrost, appearing almost exactly as they’re depicted in the films. The same is true for Wakanda, the Dark Dimension, and Knowhere, all of which are virtually indistinguishable from how they appear in the MCU. There are some differences, of course: Taneleer Tivan/The Collector’s museum, for example, uses coloured cube cages and Wakanda leans much more into traditional architecture than the pseudo-futuristic science of the films (likely because Black Panther(Coogler, 2018) released a year before this game was made). Xavier’s School for the Gifted is lifted almost exactly from the 20th Century Fox X-Men movies (Various, 2000 to 2020), however, including a hedge maze, 1:1 Cerebro room, and basketball court that doubles as a landing pad for the Blackbird. While the Dark Dimension and the cosmic mind trip that is Sanctuary also heavily borrow from the bizarre cosmic imagery of the MCU, the Raft and Avengers Tower are much more akin to their comic book counterparts, though they’re comparatively bland locations, lacking fun areas like the Danger Room or Wakanda’s Necropolis (though you do pass through Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man’s Hall of Armours in the tower). Although you only make a brief stop in Attilan to try and get help from the Inhumans, the architecture is far more visually interesting than that awful television show, seemingly being comprised of Celestial technology, and I enjoyed the ominous gothic presentation of Hel, with its restless Viking warriors and damaging sludge. Unfortunately, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 continues the trend of having disappointingly bland and forgettable music, opting for generic themes for each location, event, and character that are lost amidst the constant fighting.
A visually impressive brawler that takes obvious inspiration from the MCU films.
The game also opts for an almost cel-shaded, action figure-like aesthetic for its colourful cast of characters. While many again both look and sound like their MCU counterparts, there are some exceptions: Peter Quill/Star-Lord, for example, looks nothing like Chris Pratt and the X-Men are far closer to the comic books than Fox’s films. Despite you assembling a custom team of heroes, cutscenes depict either everyone or characters specific to the location you’re in (the corrupted Doctor Stephen Strange in the Dark Dimension, for example) as they’re better suited to advance the plot against the local baddies. With the game shifting to a more third-person perspective, you’re closer than ever to the action and can see more of the environment than in the previous games. However, this comes with some drawbacks: mainly, there are far less opportunities or incentives to explore. Second, environments are painfully linear, with dead ends or locked doors barring your progress. Third, and most frustrating, is the camera, which easily loses track of your opponent/s and often lumbers you with wireframe representations when the foreground blocks the view. Thankfully, you won’t be falling down pits and rarely have to worry about onscreen hazards, but it can be aggravating trying to figure out which platforms and crates can be jumped on and which can’t. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers a diverse cast of characters, each with their own idle poses and quips, though these do inevitably repeat. The game’s also surprisingly light on Easter Eggs: you’ll spot Deadpool singing away as he makes tacos in the X-Mansion, but not much else, and there are no optional missions or choices to encourage replaying missions. It’s a far cry from the first game, where there was always something to collect or an additional character to help out. Instead, it’s basically all combat, all the time in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3. Luckily, the game looks pretty good (everything’s very colourful and true to its inspirations) and performs really well, though there are some long load screens and it is annoying being forced to continue your game every time you challenge a Rift.
Enemies and Bosses: All the usual suspects appear here as disposable cannon fodder for you to endlessly beat up, with many of the game’s goons sharing traits across the various locations. You’ll encounter Kree, Ultron Drones, agents of A.I.M., and Doombats who all pack various energy blasters. Ultron’s clones are the worst for this, relentlessly firing energy blasts and crashing through windows. The Raft’s unscrupulous prisoners attack in large groups, as do the restless Viking warriors who populate Hel, tossing axes from afar and luring you into toxic goop. Gargoyle-like Fire Demons also dwell here, offering a greater challenge with their swoop attack and fire breath, not unlike the monstrous Outriders and Mindless Ones who make up Thanos and the dread Dormammu’s forces, respectively. Alpha Primitives, Hydra goons, and towering Sentinels also appear, with the latter firing huge energy blasts from the palms and best attacked by throwing their explosive energy cores back at them. No matter where you are and what enemies you fight, more powerful commanders will also appear. Larger, tougher, and sporting a stun meter, these commanders should be your top priority as they’ll charge across the screen, cause shockwaves, and generally offer a far greater challenge even when you’re at a higher level. These minions often fight alongside their masters, generally so you can recover some health and EP to better damage the bosses, and will endlessly spawn in one of the additional modes unless you destroy their teleporters. Some of the game’s challenges or story-based missions charge you with defeating a certain number of enemies to progress. Other times, bosses appear in these waves, and you must occasionally flee or purposely lose some fights. This happens when Cain Marko/The Juggernaut comes tearing through the X-Mansion, for example, and in early encounters with the Black Order, who cannot be beaten or will chase you, raining lightning or other attacks from the sky and across the ground.
Few bosses require more than just hit-and-run tactics, even when augmented by an Infinity Stone.
There are loads of bosses to fight in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3, with some returning from the previous games, some teaming up, some having a couple of phases, and all boiling down to whittling down their stun bar, unleashing an EX attack and/or your most powerful Abilities, and avoiding damage until you can repeat this. The first ones you’ll face are Nebula and Ronan the Accuser, who often appear as a duo in optional challenges. Nebula is faster and more nimble, wielding blades where Ronan uses a massive warhammer. Both set a standard all bosses follow, which is that they’ll use either a jumping slam or an explosion of energy (or both) to send you flying. While quelling the riot in the Raft, you’ll encounter a version of the Sinister Six, with some unique variations to each battle. Flint Marko/The Sandman, for example, flings waves of sand and erupts his big sand fist from the ground as a large sand creature. You must use A to mount the nearby cannons and unload on him to chip away at his stun meter. Maxwell “Max” Dillon fights alongside Eddie Brock/Venom, raining lighting and electrocuting you with bursts of electricity, before he’s eaten by Venom and starts busting out electrically-enhanced symbiote powers. Venom joins the team after this fight and is tested against Quentin Beck, who first brainwashes Mile Morales/Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman, and Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel to fight you and then unleashes a poisonous mist, teleports about, and confuses you with duplicates, Doctor Otto Octavious/Dr. Octopus is fought in a two-stage fight where you must first avoid his tentacles and scurry charge and then attack each arm to stun him. Finally, you’ll battle Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin for the Time Stone. The Green Goblin swoops overhead and lingers slightly out of reach, peppering the arena with his pumpkin bombs, charging at you, and freezing time to bombard you. He’s noticeably weak to his pumpkin bombs, however, so try and toss them at him before they explode in your face! After battling into the Hand’s fortress, you must first free Elektra Natchios from the Hand’s influence and then face Lester/Bullseye and Wilson Fisk/The Kingpin in separate fights. You must take out the ninjas feeding Elektra power, avoid Bulleye’s spread of razor sharp and explosive cards, and dodge the furniture and massive energy beam thrown by the Power Stone-enhanced Kingpin. The Kingpin also charges like a rhino, leaps at you to cause shockwaves, and even rips up stone columns to use as melee weapons!
Gigantic bosses and the quirkier villains help mix-up the otherwise tedious combat.
Avengers Tower is then attacked by Ultron and his drones, who assist him in battle. Not that he needs it as the Mind Stone allows Ultron to mess up your controls, to say nothing of his signature face and palm beams. Ultron then grows to gigantic proportions, sweeping the area with his eyebeams before Clint Barton/Hawkeye intervenes and Ultron merges with Ultimo. This is the first giant boss battle in the game and sees you blasting Ultimo with cannons and avoiding his massive swipes. The Infinity Sentinel is comparatively smaller, but no less dangerous thanks to its own face beam and missiles. Though you can damage it with Sentinel cores, it’s finished in a cutscene by Erik “Magnus” Lehnsherr/Magneto, who then tosses debris and throws you off balance with magnetic pulses while Juggernaut pummels you and Raven Darkholme/Mystique tosses daggers. After surviving Mystique’s Danger Room trials, you face Magneto, now even tougher thanks to the Power Stone, before being chased away and banished to the Dark Dimension by the Black Order. There, you battle past Loki Laufeyson (who boasts elemental attacks and duplication tricks) to eventually face the dread Dormammu, who wields the Reality Stone and is the second giant boss. You must subdue his minions and avoid his flame bursts, whittling down his magical barrier either directly or be destroying three nearby orbs, all while dodging his giant fists and ground spikes. The brief fight with Maximus Boltagon is far easier, even though the mad Inhuman carries a massive energy cannon and you must take cover in Thane’s energy bubble to avoid Maximus’s barrage of lasers. Ulysses Klaue/Klaw awaits in Wakanda and his sound-based energy blasts and waves must be overcome to rescue and recruit James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier. You then fight past A.I.M. to confront their master, George Tarleton/Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (MODOK), who uses the Soul Stone to turn the Dora Milaje against you and attacks with a slew of appendages, from buzzsaw arms, poison gas, failing tentacles, and his signature forehead blast.
Battles with the empowered Black Order, Thanos, and Thane offer some of the most enjoyable challenges.
Though your goal in Hel is to confront Hela, you’ll actually battle the fire demon, Surtur, in another giant boss battle. This was a bit of a difficulty spike for me as Surtur’s flaming sword has a long reach and he causes the ground to erupt in flames, to say nothing of stun locking you with repeat sword strikes! Best him and Hela sets Johann Schmidt/The Red Skull on you, with the Nazi madman firing a powerful revolver and sapping your health with his “Dust of Death”. Hela gives the Red Skull a boost, protecting him with a shield and allowing him to fire a Bifrost-like laser, before placing his consciousness into the Destroyer armour. Though bolstered by Hydra forces and boasting a sweeping face beam, you can get a power-up from glowing crystals to overcome this destructive force. Finally, you venture to Knowhere and must run the Black Order gauntlet to retrieve the Infinity Stones, with checkpoints between each fight. Ebony Maw is first, firing a spread of projectiles and rocks and using the Soul Stone to create portals to trip you up. Supergiant tosses dark spheres and a golden homing shot that messes up your controls, though you can toss explosive cores from her minions to deal big damage. Cull Obsidian infuses his battleaxe with the Power Stone, sending out waves of purple energy and massive purple shockwaves, though he’s far slower and also susceptible to the nearby bombs. Corvus Glaive is much faster, landing multiple hits with his lance and using the Reality Stone to spring spikes form the ground and conjure duplicates who fill the arena with energy waves that can stun lock you. Finally, Proxima Midnight takes her fellow’s teleportation trick to the next level with the Space Stone and fills the arena with lightning bolts and strikes. All these powers are then recycled when you face Thanos, who gathers the six Infinity Stones into the Infinity Gauntlet to rain meteors, teleport, mess up your controls, freeze time, and fire his signature eyebeams. Thanos then joins you to battle Thane, who usurps him and boasts similar powers, though also upgraded by the Infinity Armour. Thane exhibits superhuman speed, traps you in a cube, fills the arena with portals and flames, and explodes in fury, though both battles were fun challenges rather than impossible tasks.
Additional Features: Unlike in the previous two games, you won’t be finding data logs, action figures, or meeting certain requirements to unlock new attacks or costumes. You just fight over and over, earning whatever you need to unlock, buy, or upgrade whatever you wish and finding some concept art in treasure chests. A far harder (but more rewarding) “Superior” difficulty unlocks upon clearing the game alongside an additional “Nightmare” mode, accessible via the “Curse of the Vampire” campaign. You also unlock Thanos and can freely replay any mission on any difficulty (though you must start a new save to play on “Superior”) to grind and enhance your characters and ISO-8. Dimensional Rifts transport you to special challenges (not unlike the S.H.I.E.L.D. Simulator discs from the first game) that are often rematches with bosses or gauntlet challenges, though far tougher and gifting better rewards if you succeed. There are also three additional modes; however, though you can play a taster of each, you must purchase the expansion pass to fully unlock them. “Curse of the Vampire” adds vampiric enemies to the main story in “Nightmare” mode and offers a “Gauntlet” mode where you battle waves of enemies and bosses against both a time limit and a range of debuffs (including limited health restoration and draining EP). You can also tackle an “Endless” mode that’s pretty self-explanatory, and unlock additional characters like Frank Castle/The Punisher and Eric Brooks/Blade…if you buy the DLC. “Rise of the Phoenix” sees you form a four-person team and go head-to-head with a friend or the computer in three-round Danger Room scenarios. These see you tackling bosses again or wiping out hordes of enemies, awarding additional buffs and effects if you meet certain criteria (such as using any Ability or Synergy attack four times). You can only tackle the first challenge without the DLC, so I didn’t get very far, but this could be a fun distraction for those looking to test their skills against a friend. “Shadow of Doom” adds an epilogue story campaign that sees you return to Wakanda to oppose Doctor Victor Von Doom’s invasion. Dr. Doom’s Doombots endlessly spawn unless you destroy their teleporters, and you even battle the arrogant dictator in the recycled Necropolis, with him teleporting, firing lasers form his palms, and having his health restored by his Doombots. You’ll add Marvel’s First Family to your roster (alongside an alternative Thanos and other characters) by buying the expansion pass and battle Annihilus, a gigantic Celestial, and even “God Emperor” Doom!
The Summary: I quite enjoyed the first two Ultimate Alliance games. They were mindless and largely repetitive, but I liked the large cast of characters and all the different references and locations from the comic books. Still, I put off Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for some time, mainly because I was annoyed by it being a Nintendo Switch exclusive; however it turned out to be a decent enough brawler. Despite the different development team, a few tweaks, and an apparent disconnection from the previous games, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 offers a lot of the same gameplay and enjoyment as its predecessors, which is great for long-time fans of the franchise. Unfortunately, it doesn’t improve on these elements in a meaningful way and actually removes some content that I found enjoyable from the last two. There are no optional missions, for example, no alternative endings, no choices, and no character-specific challenges beyond fighting and levelling-up. I found this made the tedious combat even more aggravating after a while as I wasn’t being rewarded with gear or costumes or anything other than stat boosts. Even the skill tree was limited since you must grind to acquire enough credits and expendables to enhance your team, and I found the ISO-8 mode to be more confusing than engaging. The game also does little to improve the boss battles. Very few were very innovative or required more of you than to strike fast, avoid shockwaves and projectiles, and unleash your Extreme attack. The giant bosses were more of a challenge and I liked the final fight against Thanos and Thane, but I was hoping for a bit more complexity, especially given the possibilities offered by the Infinity Stones. There is a fun selection of characters, but they don’t offer much more than what we saw in the last two games and actually offer less as there are no character-specific team-up moves. While I enjoyed the visual influence from the MCU and the variety, I feel like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3 played things a little too safe by relying so heavily on combat and not mixing up the gameplay with a few other puzzles and challenges. Overall, it’s a good enough game and a worthy entry in the series, but it’s a shame that the developers didn’t try to be a bit more innovative and offer some more incentive to keep slogging away in endless fights.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you enjoy Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order? How do you think it holds up against the previous two games? Which characters did you choose for your team? Were you disappointed that the combat was so similar to the last two games and the bosses so repetitive? Did you ever conquer all the Rift challenges? What did you think to the MCU influences and the final battle with Thanos and Thane? Did you ever play through the DLC? Would you like to see another Ultimate Alliance game? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other superhero content across the site.
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Story Title: “Rolling Thunder” Published: 6 August 2008 (cover-dated: October 2008)
Story Title: “Blood Red” Published: 24 September 2008 (cover-dated: November 2008)
The Background: Created by legendary Marvel duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the depiction of Doctor Robert Bruce Banner transforming into the monstrous Incredible Hulk was inspired by a story of a hysterical mother summoning superhuman strength to rescue her child and classic screen monsters Frankenstein’s Monster and Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde. Initially appearing as a stone-grey creature, the Hulk has appeared in many forms and at different levels of strength and intelligence over the years. We’ve seen an old, dictator-like Hulk, an intelligent gangster Hulk, a “Smart Hulk”, and even a “Devil Hulk” so why not a Red Hulk? The idea of a Red Hulk can be traced back to Kenny Johnson, producer of the popular and iconicIncredible Hulk television series (1977 to 1982), who lobbied for the colour change since red is commonly associated with rage, the Hulk’s defining characteristic, only to have his logic dismissed. However, a mere thirty-odd years later, then-Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada officially introduced a red variant of the Green Goliath, one whose identity was kept a closely-guarded secret for about three years. A dangerous, intelligent, and tactically-savvy villain who grew hotter the angrier he got, the Red Hulk was eventually revealed to be Banner and the Hulk’s long-time enemy, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, a cantankerous military man who hounded both characters for decades. Naturally, General Ross appeared prominently in the Hulk’s ancillary media, appearing in cartoons and live-actionmanytimes, but the Red Hulk (or “Rulk” as he’s colloquially known) has not only been a card-carrying member of the Avengers but has also appeared in Hulk-centric cartoons and even unexpectedly appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, courtesy of Harrison Ford.
The Review: Our story begins in Russia, where Doctor Leonard Samson/Doc Samson and Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk investigate the sight of a fierce battle between the Hulk and his monstrous rival, Emil Blonsky/The Abomination. Begrudgingly, She-Hulk allows Samson to recreate the fight, deftly surmising and reenacting both character’s movements based on footprints and the surrounding devastation. It’s Doc Samson’s learned belief that the Hulk was unusually vicious, that he sought to beat the Abomination to death no matter what damage he caused in the process, and that, with his foe at his mercy, the Hulk drew a pistol and shot the creature at point-blank range. General Ross, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) commander Maria Hill, and S.H.I.E.L.D. director Anthony “Tony” Stark/Iron Man, who are also present, question the legitimacy of such an outrageous claim. However, when Hill reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. does make a weapon big enough for the Hulk to fire and Doc Samson points out the residual Gamma radiation, the evidence, however unlikely, becomes difficult to ignore. She-Hulk and Samson also note that the Hulk is apparently emitting so much radiation that he’s scorching the earth with each footprint. The team’s squabbling and theorising is interrupted by Russia’s equivalent to the Avengers, the Winter Guard, led by Anton/The Red Guardian, who demand to take charge of the investigation. Despite being invited by the Russian government, the Red Guard have issue with their unauthorised personnel, like Samson, who reacts by starting a fight with the Red Guardian. Not to be outdone, Mikhail Ursus/Ursa Major, Boris Vadim/Crimson Dynamo, and Sasha Roerich/Darkstar join the fracas, with the bear-like Ursa clawing She-Hulk’s arm and Iron Man blasting the mech-armoured Crimson Dynamo right in the face. The battle is violent but short-lived as General Ross discovers a survivor, a traumatised boy who can only repeat the word “Красногоin” (or “red”) over and over.
A mysterious Red Hulk murders the Abomination and trashes the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier,
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Maria shows Stark a version of the gun used to kill Blonsky, a weapon he had no knowledge of. However, their discussion is interrupted when She-Hulk is suddenly attacked by a monstrous, Hulk-like figure. Though Stark barely glimpses the creature, he sees that it’s red, not green, and is stunned when the unconscious and badly beaten She-Hulk is dumped at his feet. Stark armours up and meets agent Clay Quartermain, who’s been injured by the monster but no less determined to bring him, and any and all Hulks, down. Iron Man’s orders are cut short when the Red Hulk suddenly tackles him through a wall. Noting the strange contradiction of a Hulk that growls like an animal but apparently wields a pistol and systematically targets a Helicarrier, Iron Man scrambles to fend off the brute’s vicious attack and deploy his spare armours to help stabilise the Helicarrier and catch the jets that tumble from it following the Red Hulk’s attack. Though his armour’s severely damaged, Iron Man is saved from a plummet by She-Hulk, who reveals that the Red Hulk wiped S.H.I.E.L.D.’s secure files with a sophisticated virus, and that the Red Hulk threatened her with an eloquence not shown to Stark. Despite Iron Man’s best efforts, the gold-plated Helicarrier crashes in a New Jersey field (with, surprisingly, no causalities). Iron Man’s attempts to formulate an effective counterattack are put on hold when Maria shows him video footage of General Ross and Doc Samson meeting with Bruce Banner, who’s held captive in the Gamma Base located in Death Valley, Nevada. The footage confirms that there is another Hulk out there, one very different from Banner’s mindless alter ego, and Banner suggests it’s someone who’s previously been exposed to high levels of Gamma radiation. However, Iron Man’s enraged when a crucial exchange between Banner and Ross is rendered unintelligible and orders Maria to clean up the recording. Later, Iron Man is brought to a meat packing plant where Agent Quartermain has been found dead alongside a severely torn, Gamma-irradiated coat belonging to Doc Samson, framing the superhuman psychiatrist as the Red Hulk.
The Red Hulk easily overpowers A-Bomb and even the rampaging Green Goliath!
Elsewhere, the Red Hulk blindsides perennial sidekick Rick Jones outside Gamma Base, transforming him into his own Gamma monstrosity, the A-Bomb. It’s in this fight that we learn just how intelligent the Red Hulk is. While A-Bomb can only bark childish threats, the Red Hulk is goading, intelligent, and aware of his surroundings. Although Gamma Base recognises the Red Hulk as an authorised entrant, its defences fire on A-Bomb and Red Hulk takes advantage, swiping a massive cannon and taking great pleasure in riddling the armoured monster with bullets. When A-Bomb spits claims of his invulnerability, the Red Hulk gleefully tests his theory by pummelling him into the ground. The sheer force of the assault sends seismic shocks through the entire base and triggers Banner’s transformation into the Hulk when his cage attempts to gas him. As the battle rages, the base unleashes its Adamantium-taloned harpy robots (modelled after Banner’s long-time love, Doctor Betty Ross) to carry the two away. Unfortunately, the machines are no match for either monster’s strength, though the distraction separates them long enough for the Hulk to confront his red-skinned doppelgänger. Before the two can lock horns, however, the Red Hulk casually punches out Uatu the Watcher, who randomly popped up due to the significance of these two immensely powerful beings coming to blows (and, I guess, to show how tough this new Hulk is). After humbling the cosmic overseer, the Red Hulk finds the Hulk enraged by his appearance. The Hulk sees his red double an imitation and challenger to his title of “The Strongest One There Is”, a title he vehemently seeks to defend as aggressively as ever. Red Hulk, however, dives into the fight with relish, determined to make the Hulk pay for years of death and destruction, and for waging war against the entire planet after his return from Sakaar. Though the Hulk’s no longer as intelligent as his “World Breaker” persona, his strength only increases with his anger. However, the Red Hulk weathers the beating and easily grabs the Hulk’s wrist, breaking his arm and causing him to pass out.
Though he humbles Thor, the Red Hulk is outsmarted by the Hulk, his true identity left a mystery…
The Hulk awakens atop the Golden Gate Bridge and avoids a public execution by biting the Red Hulk’s gun. For his insolence, the Red Hulk decides to let his foe live with the knowledge that he’s not the strongest and knocks him into the bay, trigging the San Andreas fault. Thor Odinson then confronts the monster, only for the God of Thunder to be stunned when the Red Hulk shrugs off a blow from the mighty Mjöllnir. Savouring the chance to beat a God to death, the Red Hulk backs his words with blows powerful enough to draw blood and knock Thor flying. Thor fights back, not realising his foe is a different Hulk to the one he knows and is therefore left speechless when the intelligent Red Hulk gets around Mjöllnir’s enchantment by launching them out of Earth’s atmosphere. In zero gravity, the Red Hulk humbles Thor by beating him with his own hammer and dumping him on the Moon. After the Fantastic Four seemingly confirm that the Red Hulk is Doc Samson and A-Bomb pulls the Hulk from San Francisco Bay, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Ben Grimm/The Thing, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Prince Namor McKenzie/The Sub-Mariner, and Ares, the God of War, arrive to help save the city. While the Hulk initially rejects their assistance, he begrudgingly agrees to let them get San Francisco under control so he can confront the Red Hulk in Monument Valley. The Hulk’s efforts are aided by the returning Thor and A-Bomb, with the latter revealing the Red Hulk’s weakness (that he gets hotter the madder he gets) and restraining Thor so the Hulk can settle the score alone. Smartly, the Hulk absorbs the Red Hulk’s horrendous assault, causing the monster to overheat and grow weaker. The Hulk then asserts his dominance and knocks the Red Hulk out with a single punch. He then parts ways with Thor as friends before wandering into the desert, exhausted and reverting to Banner. However, when A-Bomb turns back into Rick and tries to reveal the Red Hulk’s identity, he’s shot in the back by Doc Samson. Both Samson and General Ross express disappointment with the Red Hulk, who they leave lying in the dirt as his eyes snap open…
The Summary: First of all, I have to say that I love Ed McGuinness’s artwork. His work is always hyper-stylised and very bold and cartoonish, and he draws a wonderful Hulk and Hulk-like creatures, with them all being brutish monsters full of life and personality. You can tell so much about each of the Hulks in the way Ed McGuinness draws them: A-Bomb is constantly hunched over, as though weighed down by his armoured scales; the Hulk is always bulging and ready for a scrap; and the Red Hulk stands tall and confident, with a condescending smirk plastered to his face most of the time. The glue that holds this story together is the mystery of who the new Red Hulk is. At first, Doc Samson believes the Hulk is behind the Abomination’s murder. This is an odd hypothesis given he knows as well as General Ross that Bruce Banner is locked up in Gamma Base, but not one without merit; after all, Doc Samson himself once split Banner and the Hulk into separate beings. Naturally, given he was a bit of a dick around this time, Iron Man’s primary thought is to his culpability; he snaps and rages at Maria Hill about the Hulk-sized weapons S.H.I.E.L.D. developed and is desperate to ensure he can’t be held accountable for the murder. The evidence seems to ring true, but for the use of a gun and the scorched footprints, though She-Hulk remains unconvinced that her cousin was capable for such a cold-blooded act. Little moments throughout the story give some hints towards the Red Hulk’s identity, but there are numerous red herrings as well: Rick Jones, for example, seems tormented at the events, initially framing him as a suspect. We see that both Samson and Ross are authorised Gamma Base personnel, and that the base’s security recognises the Red Hulk’s iris. The garbled security footage seems to implicate Samson, as does his tattered coat, and the story even ends with the suggest that Doc Samson is the Red Hulk…until it’s revealed he’s not. But then again, General Ross is also seen standing over the Red Hulk’s unconscious body and he was right there when the Red Hulk attacked the Helicarrier, and he later turns out to be the Red Hulk! Indeed, the ending suggests more that Samson and Ross were in league with the Red Hulk, rather than being him, and I’d be interested to know or try and remember exactly how they explained how Ross and the Red Hulk could be in the same place at the same time (though it was probably a Life-Model Decoy).
The Red Hulk is an overpowered, egotistical, and incredibly dangerous Hulk.
As for the Red Hulk…well, this is a glorious showcase. Doc Samson’s intuitive nature reveals that the Red Hulk is a formidable foe, capable of beating even the super-tough Abomination into submission and fighting with a ferocity and power comparable to the Hulk. The Red Hulk is also seen to be tactically minded, launching an all-out assault against Iron Man’s fancy-pants gold Helicarrier and even wiping S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files. The Red Hulk’s intelligence is showcased in his eloquence; he delights in goading and taunting his foes as he fights them, displaying a familiarity with each and the defences of Gamma base. He repeatedly demonstrates a personal vendetta against the Hulk, first happy to frame him for murder and then delightedly besting him in a straight-up fight, even going so far as to break the Green Goliath’s arm and wish to publicly execute him. This, as he says, is payback for the Hulk’s years of death and destruction and more recent assault against the entire planet. The Red Hulk sees the Hulk as the true threat and is determined to stamp him out, but he’s also out to prove himself the superior being in mind and body. And what better way to do this than by not just beating the piss out of the Hulk and kicking him to the bottom of the San Francisco Bay, not just by punching out the Watcher, but by besting Thor in combat! Seriously, the Red Hulk is so massively overpowered it’s not even funny. Not only does he outmatch and humiliate Thor, even using insane logic to rob him of Mjöllnir, the Red Hulk completely disrespects and disregards the God of Thunder like he was nothing. A vindictive, calculating, ferocious opponent, the Red Hulk is so much than just another “Smart Hulk”. His blows have a purpose, striking at weak points and mixing pure power with tactical precision; he knows what he’s doing and enjoys doing it. His only weakness, one he doesn’t seem to realise, is that his body temperature rises exponentially when he gets mad, weakening him significantly. Well, it’s not his only weakness: he still needs to breathe, but that isn’t much of an issue considering he effortlessly trounced Thor while holding his breath.
The Hulk doesn’t care who his new foe is. He just wants to prove he’s the strongest!
The Red Hulk’s debut starts off as a showcase for the new Hulk on the block and a superpowered murder mystery. The investigation into the Abomination’s murder, the murder weapon, and the mystery of what’s happened to drive the Hulk to such an uncharacteristic action frames the first issue and a half. Once the Red Hulk makes his presence know, there’s some brief confusion as even Banner states that he’s been split in two and assumed different forms before, but then the crux of the story becomes trying to work out who this new Hulk is. Thus, everyone’s favourite Jade Giant doesn’t factor into the story for a few issues. Indeed, it’s up to the decidedly Hulk-like A-Bomb to carry the load when the Red Hulk targets him, but the action really ramps up when the two Hulks come to blows. I’m not sure what happened between Green Scar’s return to Earth and this story, but the Hulk has regressed to his mindless, child-like persona and is therefore at an initial disadvantage against his more tactile-minded doppelgänger. The Hulk’s driven to fight the Red Hulk out of a sense of pride (“Hulk is Hulk!”, after all) rather than to protect others, but his need to prove himself superior aligns with defending his few friends (such as A-Bomb) and allowing Iron Man and the others to save San Francisco. Thanks to Ed McGuiness, the Hulk-on-Hulk action is dynamic and interesting; it’s not just a senseless brawl as both Hulks weather their opponent’s onslaught to tire them out or strike when the opportunity presents itself. The Red Hulk, especially, stands out by using an enemy’s momentum against them and mixing brain with brawn, while the Hulk is naturally more savage and only tries a different tactic after seeing how dangerous his foe is. The art definitely makes his story a visually enjoyable experience and I did like the intrigue surrounding the Red Hulk. The red herrings and revelations are kind of odd knowing what I know now about the character, but it’s always nice seeing 2008-era Iron Man get his smug face smashed in and I loved that an intelligent Hulk proved to be such a threat. There’s definitely enough here to make me want to read up on what happened next with the Red Hulk and the lingering plot threat regarding Doc Samson, and the mixture of action and mystery were highly entertaining all-in-all.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Did you enjoy the Red Hulk’s explosive first appearance? Do you think the writers went a bit over the top in showcasing his threat, power, and intelligence? What did you think to the murder mystery sub-plot and who did you think the Red Hulk was? Were you impressed by the way the Hulk defeated his doppelgänger at the end? Which alternative version of the Hulk is your favourite? What are some of your favourite Red Hulk moments? Tell me your opinions on the Red Hulk in the comments and be sure to check out my other Marvel and Hulk content.
In November 1961, Marvel Comics readers witnessed four intrepid explorers be forever changed by mysterious cosmic rays. Marvel’s “First Family” of superheroes were the first of many colourful superheroes for Marvel Comics and are more than deserving of some attention today.
Writer: Stan Lee – Artist: Jack Kirby
Story Title: “The Coming of Galactus!” Published: 9 December 1965 (cover-dated March 1966)
Story Title: “If This Be Doomsday!” Published: 11 January1966 (cover-dated April 1966)
Story Title: “The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!” Published: 10 February 1966 (cover dated May 1966)
The Background: In 1961, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced readers of Marvel Comics to the dysfunctional Fantastic Four in a direct response to DC Comics’ Justice League of America. While the team’s creation has been contested by both, Lee and Kirby popularised the “Marvel Method” of writer/artist collaboration and brought comic fans real and relatable characters who introduced pivotalMarvel staples in the following years. Perhaps none are more crucial than the cosmic devourer of worlds himself Galactus. Created by Lee and Kirby and debuting in this trilogy of issues, the entity once known as Galan had Biblical connotations and was specifically designed to challenge pre-conceived notions of “good” and “evil”. Many subsequent stories have characterised Galactus as a force of nature, if not the universe, as inevitable and necessary as life and death. A complex being who spreads genocidal destruction to satiate his never-ending hunger, Galactus is typically served by equally mighty “heralds”, most notably Norrin Radd/The Silver Surfer, and either at the forefront or lurking in the background of Marvel’s cosmic crossover events. Galactus has brought to life in Marvel’s various animated ventures, often appears in Marvel videogames, and was notoriously represented as an indistinct swirling cloud in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer(Story, 2007) before finally being brought to life in live-action in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2025.
The Review: The Fantastic Four’s greatest threat begins with them still struggling against Marvel’s newest batch of bizarre costumed superhumans, the Inhumans. Specifically, Maximus Boltagon/Maximums the Magnificent (or, more accurately, Maximus the Mad) has set off the dreaded “Atmo Gun”. While this has no effect on his Inhuman brethren, it’s caused deadly planet-wide vibrations that threaten all human life. While even the hyper-intelligent Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic cannot fathom the cause of such an event, Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt, leader and monarch of the Inhumans, immediately confronts his insane brother, a creature so vile and spiteful that he’d happily destroy every human just so the Inhumans could walk the Earth uncontested. For his mad schemes, Maximus earns a swift backhand from the dangerously mute Black Bolt and is both astonished to find the Fantastic Four still alive and dismayed when his brother easily disables the Atmo Gun’s effects. Regardless of the pleas of the beautiful, red-headed Inhuman Medusalith Amaquelin/Medusa, who’s pledged her life, heart, and loyalty to Black Bolt, Maximus refuses to accept any similarities between the two races. Stubborn to the end, he throws off the Inhumans restraining him and lunges for the Atmo Gun once, more, maliciously reversing its effects before anyone can stop him. The result is the entire Inhuman sanctuary, Attilan, being encased within an impenetrable “Negative Zone”. Thinking fast, the Fantastic Four race to safety and escape before they are also trapped inside, leaving Johnny Storm/The Human Torch heartbroken at being separated from Crystal Amaquelin, Medusa’s pretty little sister who Johnny immediately fell for and who unwittingly brought the two groups together in the first place. Johnny reacts with anger, desperate to burn his way back into Attilan and pleading with Reed to find some way to be reunited with Crystal. However, Johnny’s left to despondently realise that there’s no hope and, sympathetic to his plight, Ben Grimm/The Thing secretly vows that none of them will ever give up hope that the two can see other someday.
Johnny’s anguish at being separated from crystal is supplanted by Galactus’ dreaded arrival.
With the Inhuman saga wrapped up for now, the story then switches to the vast depths of the cosmos where we’re introduced to the enigmatic Silver Surfer for the first time. Deftly dodging a meteor shower as he rides through the void, the Silver Surfer catches the watchful eyes of the Skrulls, who react with panic at detecting his presence, knowing that where the Silver Surfer rides, mighty Galactus is sure to follow. Using their incredible technology, the Skrulls “[black] out” their solar system, apparently causing the dreaded Silver Surfer to pass by. Thus, the Silver Surfer rockets to our solar system, spotting a lush and fertile planet that will satisfy his master’s needs. Meanwhile, while returning from Attilan, the Fantastic Four are stunned to see a second Sun appear in the sky and then flames seemingly engulf the atmosphere. When the Human Torch investigates, the predictably fickle and understandably panicked New Yorkers blame him for the phenomenon and attack. Thankfully, Reed, Ben, and Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl arrive on a suitably Kirby-esque sky cycle and the Thing quickly quells the enraged mob, and Reed ushers them back to his lab to investigate further. A time jump apparently occurs between panels as Reed is suddenly sporting some five o’clock shadow and working himself into a stress, snapping at Sue for interrupting him and, predictably, upsetting her since he’s too busy trying to figure out what’s going on to pay attention to his wife. More concerned for her husband’s wellbeing than the mysterious rocks that’ve now appeared in the sky and determined to not be shut out, Sue forces her way into his lab and is stunned to find Uatu the Watcher has been causing the strange events using his “Matter Mobilizer”. Though normally unable or unwilling to interfere in human history, Uatu has tried to shield the Earth from the Silver Surfer, knowing that catastrophe that will come if he arrives. Unfortunately, the Watcher was unsuccessful; the Silver Surfer arrives, easily evades the Human Torch, and signals for Galactus.
Even the Fantastic Four are powerless to oppose Galactus, who seeks to devour the Earth.
Although the Thing gives the gleaming alien a good clobberin’, the Silver Surfer simply uses the attack as a good excuse to depart and prepare for his master’s arrival, which comes moments later courtesy of an oddly surreal, photorealistic depiction of the being’s incredible technology. A gigantic ship then lands and from it steps forth not the purple/blue, armour clad devourer you may recognise by a massive titan decked out in green and red with a big, stupid “G” on his chest. This colour issue is corrected in the next issue (and can be explained by the Watcher’s statement that “[Galactus] is what he wishes to be!”), in which the giant ignores the Fantastic Four as though they were less than gnats and argues morals with the defiant Watcher. Galactus immediately reveals himself to be a creature of surprising depth by expressing his displeasure at having to harm living creatures, though he’s no less determined to destroy the Earth to sustain his vast energy and quell his never-ending hunger. Displeased by the Thing’s insolent tone, Galactus refuses to find a suitable dead world and, when the enraged Thing dares to strike him, gasses the stony superhero like an insect. Despite the Watcher’s warnings, the Human Torch tries his luck, only to be blasted by Galactus’ eye beams and have his flame doused by soot and ash. Humbled, the Fantastic Four regroup within the Baxter Building, bickering with each other as they lick their wounds, completely unaware that the unconscious Silver Surfer has collapsed into blind sculptor Alcia Marsters’ apartment. Ben’s caring, concerned love immediately tends to the stranger and reveals himself to be a melancholy creature, one baffled by Earth customs and seemingly resigned to sweeping such lives away in service of his demanding master. Galactus sets to work achieving this by constructing an elaborate machine – the “Elemental Converter” – around the Baxter Building, one that will siphon Earth’s very elements into his being as a source of sustenance. The Fantastic Four are horrified when the Watcher shows the destructive impact this weapon will have, reducing the Earth first to a lifeless husk and the shattering the remains before Galactus searches for another world to repeat the process.
It’s only when the Silver Surfer is convinced to help that the battle turns in Earth’s favour.
Alicia is similarly horrified to learn this from the impassive Silver Surfer. She lashes out at him with an emotional outburst, emphasising the strength of the human heart and questioning his aloof servitude. For a moment, the Silver Surfer falters, admiring her courage and feeling the first stirrings of an emotion, one he soon identifies as pity as he sees the panicked masses react to Galactus. The titan is enraged, however, when the Thing delays his plan by trashing a vital part of the Elemental Converter. Angered and insulted when Mr. Fantastic dares to strike him, Galactus summons the Punisher (no, not that one), a strange, frog-like android, to deal with the impudent mortals while he repairs the damage. Though Johnny is eager to help his family in the fight, he’s held back by the Watcher, who has a plan to stop Galactus that requires Johnny’s abilities. Trusting the stoic overseer, Johnny is teleported across space and time to Galactus’ massive, mechanical space station at “the center of infinity”. While the pig-headed Thing tests his mettle against the Punisher’s raw power, Sue keeps the creature at bay with her forcefield long enough for Galactus to tire of the conflict and withdraw his pet. Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer is aghast at the suggestion that he use his great Power Cosmic to defy his master; yet he cannot deny that Alicia’s belief in his quiet nobility has some merit. Thus, having found a world worthy of his protection, the Silver Surfer pleads with Galactus to spare the human race. However, mighty Galactus is unimpressed by his newfound compassion, forcing the Silver Surfer to turn his powers against his master. Amazed by his herald’s betrayal, Galactus is trapped within a vortex and encased within a cocoon, for the Silver Surfer wishes only that they leave the Earth rather than to harm his master. Unfortunately, Galactus is not so easily caged and quickly breaks free, enraged and easily deflecting his herald’s attacks, bombarding him with flaming meteors and offering to spare him harm if he but reaffirm his allegiance.
Galactus begrudgingly leaves to avoid his destruction. but not without punishing his herald.
Powerless to aid their new ally, the Fantastic Four place their faith in the Watcher, a faith rewarded when the Human Torch arrives back on the Earthly plane, briefly overwhelmed by the cosmic wonders he’s seen, and hands Reed a mysterious device he acquired from Galactus’ space station. The Watcher immediately advises caution lest Reed foolishly annihilate the entire solar system trying to explore the machine, which Galactus identifies as the “Ultimate Nullifier”. The Silver Surfer fights valiantly, despite his blasts having no effect on Galactus, who effortlessly conjures giant icicles and threatening to turn his wrath against the humans. Tired of the conflict, Galactus prepares to destroy his once loyal herald, only to react with shock when Reed threatens him with the Ultimate Nullifier. Astonished to see a mere human wielding a weapon so powerful that it could destroy the entire universe, Galactus demands that Reed relinquish the weapon and then chastises the Watcher, stunned that he would “[give] a match to a child who lives in a tinderbox!” However, the Watcher simply affirms that humanity has the right to defend themselves and emphasises their great courage. Weary of the battle and in need of sustenance, Galactus agrees to spare the Earth in return for the weapon. Reed hands it over peacefully as the Watcher swears Galactus to stay true to his word, however the world devourer makes sure to punish his herald before departing. With a blast of his eye beams, Galactus removes the Silver Surfer’s ability to roam the galaxies and banishes him to the planet he defended so bravely. And, with that, Galactus disappears in a brilliant flash of light, leaving the Fantastic Four relieved and amazed. In the aftermath, Ben is distraught by how captivated Alicia seems by the eloquent Silver Surfer and falls into a depression. The Silver Surfer departs to explore his new world, Reed continues to anger Sue by focusing on his work, and Johnny heads off to college, meeting the annoying Wyatt Wingfoot for the first time and still pining for Crystal.
The Summary: The “Galactus Trilogy” is unquestionably one of the most important story arcs not just for the Fantastic Four, but for Marvel Comics in general. It wraps up the initial Inhumans arc, trapping them in Attilan for a spell and adding some significant character growth for Johnny, who spends his days pining over his lost love. While I question how he can be so attached to Crystal despite barely knowing her, it’s a humbling experience for the outspoken Human Torch, who reacts with equal parts and anger and despair, and this informs his defiance of Galactus. Indeed, he shows an unprecedented emotional maturity when he willing goes along with the Watcher’s plan to steal the Ultimate Nullifier, despite being transported to a part of the universe so unknowable and strange that it briefly warps his mind. His characterisation is more akin to the Thing’s at times, since Ben is so often decrying his monstrous appearance and feeling like an outcast. This isn’t a factor until the final parts of the story, where he feels incomparable to the articulate and mysterious Silver Surfer. His reaction, however, comes from his own insecurities and the commonplace reaction to his appearance rather than being reflective of Alicia’s true feelings. Though she finds the Silver Surfer alluring and wishes to foster his emotions and humanity, Alicia breaks a common cycle in comics from this time by not instantly falling in love with the mysterious stranger and is instead more focused on encouraging him to turn on his master and spare the planet. Relationships are a focal part of this arc, as is often the case with the Fantastic Four. As ever, Sue is constantly, selfishly slighted by Reed pouring more of his time into his research than her, a characterisation I normally can’t stand but I enjoyed the wrinkle that Sue is concerned for his welfare rather than simply being upset at being ignored. Though Reed works tirelessly to understand what’s happening, he’s as astonished and powerless as the others against Galactus’ threat. While Ben and Johnny are happy to attack without thinking, Reed holds back and tries to think up a more viable plan, only to end up relying on the Watcher to provide a solution to their unbeatable foe.
The mysterious, enigmatic Silver Surfer is convinced to defy his all-powerful master.
Before I talk about Galactus, let’s discuss the Silver Surfer a bit. An impassive and stoic individual, we learn nothing of the Silver Surfer’s origins here. Indeed, he doesn’t even speak until partway through the second part, though his mere presence is enough to terrify even the mighty Skrull empire. The Silver Surfer’s powers are vast and unquantifiable; slicing through the skies and the cosmos on his signature board, his very appearance summons a being beyond human understanding and, once Galactus arrives, the Silver Surfer simply lets nature take its course. Unlike their previous exploits, the Silver Surfer makes an emotional connection with Alicia. Though confused by human customs such as eating and emotions, Alicia’s mere presence stirs feelings in him long forgotten and, having heard her pleas and seen the panic in the streets, the Silver Surfer comes to admire the human heart and spirit. Thus, he does the unthinkable and turns his powers against his master. These powers are, of course, vaguely defined; he has no need for air or sustenance and simply converts matter into energy to sustain himself, but it’s enough to stun and even briefly imprison his titanic master. Despite Galactus regarding humans, and even the Fantastic Four, as mere annoyances and little more than insects, he’s aghast when his herald turns on him. Indeed, Galactus goes to great lengths to avoid injuring or killing the Silver Surfer during his attack, showing that he does care for and value his herald, but even Galactus’ patience has its limits. Thus, though Galactus admires his herald’s passion, he spitefully banishes him to Earth to teach him a lesson, proving that Galactus triumphs even in defeat. Of course, the star of the show here is Galactus himself, a being so powerful and terrifying that the Skrulls choose to hide themselves rather than risk his attention and the Watcher, a cosmic being sworn never to interfere in human lives, breaks his sacred vows to defend the Earth. Bizarre colourations and stupefying “G” emblem aside, Galactus is an awe-inspiring being, a creature said to be capable of altering his appearance at will and who travels the space ways in a spherical craft around the size of our Moon.
Galactus is a terrifying, complex cosmic being who defies general conventions.
Galactus is an imposing presence, one so vast that he barely acknowledges the presence of humans, even ones as awesome as the Fantastic Four. He sees them as peons, meaningless lives beneath his stature, and refuses to listen to their pleas, much less those of the Watcher. While he and the Watcher don’t come to blows, Uatu does provide the Fantastic Four with the means to deter Galactus, showing that even a being as mighty as he fears utter annihilation. In fact, Galactus shows a lot of depth, far more than you might expect from a cosmic, world-devouring being. He doesn’t relish or enjoy snuffling out billions of lives and has no interest in conflict, shrugging or swatting away attacks or unleashing his cybernetic lapdog on the Fantastic Four when they interfere with his Elemental Converter. Though the Punisher probably could’ve broken through Sue’s forcefield (her strength was already weakening during its attack), Galactus calls it off. Similarly, he tires of the debate and conflict at the end and simply acquiesces. However, he does this on the condition that Reed hand over the Ultimate Nullifier, a small weapon powerful enough to lay waste to the entire universe. Faced with the very real possibility of his destruction and weary from hunger and moral debates, Galactus leaves, promising never to return. While the public naturally debate whether the whole thing was some elaborate hoax, Galactus fundamentally changes the nature of the Marvel Universe, not least because he remains a viable threat but also because the Silver Surfer ends up trapped on Earth. Thus, Marvel’s characters and readers were introduced to two of the most powerful and important beings in this colourful universe. The story is essentially a humbling experience for the Fantastic Four, who are powerless to intervene without the Watcher’s aid, and a debate on the morality of the fickle and dangerous human race. The conflict between the heroes and Galactus is enjoyably one-sided and devolves into a Mexican standoff, with Reed having to bluff his way to a temporary victory, and Galactus is presented as a strangely compelling, morally dubious force of nature, making him a fresh (if ungainly designed) take on the standard depiction of a villain.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
What did you think to the first appearance of Galactus and the Silver Surfer? Were you impressed by his stature and complex characterisation? What did you think to the Silver Surfer’s change of heart and the battle between him and Galactus? Were you surprised at how powerless the Fantastic Four were against Galactus? Can you name some of your favourite Galactus stories and moments? Whatever you think about Galactus or the Fantastic Four, go ahead and leave a comment below and check out my other Fantastic Four content.
Easily Marvel Comic’s most recognisable and popular superhero, unsuspecting teenage nerd Peter Parker was first bitten by a radioactive spider and learned the true meaning of power and responsibility in Amazing Fantasy #15, which was first published in August 1962. Since then, the Amazing Spider-Man has featured in numerous cartoons, live-action movies, videogames, action figures, and countless comic book titles and, in celebration of his debut and his very own day of celebration, I’m dedicating every Tuesday of August to talk about everyone’s favourite web-head!
Story Title: “The Sinister Secret of Spider-Man’s New Costume!” Published: 31 July 1984 (cover-dated November 1984) Writer: Tom DeFalco Artist: Ron Frenz
Story Title: “’Til Death Do Us Part!” Published: April 1985 Writer: Louise Simonson Artist: Greg LaRocque
The Background: Considering Spider-Man’s debut almost didn’t happen, it’s pretty ironic that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s angst-ridden teenage superhero went on to become the flagship character of Marvel Comics. Over the years, Spider-Man has been at the forefront of some of Marvel’s most celebrated, and notorious, stories and the troubled wall-crawler is often depicted battling his own personal woes as often (if not more so) as his colourful rogues gallery. In 1982, an illustration from reader Randy Schueller that depicted Spider-Man in a smooth, black outfit with a large red spider motif across his chest caught the eye of Marvel Comics’ editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. After Marvel purchased the concept for a mere $200, writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz conceived the costume being a living organism; Spidey’s new black suit debuted without explanation in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 before Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 revealed that the web-slinger acquired the suit during the “Secret Wars” event. Over the next year or so, Spidey revelled in the costume’s unique and helpful ability to form both clothing and organic webbing until these two issues revealed the costume’s true nature as a symbiote. Of course, this directly led to the debut one of Spidey’s most iconic enemies (and one of Marvel’s most popular anti-heroes), Eddie Brock/Venom, but Spidey’s issues with the black suit have been adapted into cartoons, movies, and videogames and it remains one of his most iconic alternative outfits.
The Review: “The Sinister Secret of Spider-Man’s New Costume!” begins with Peter Parker, still reeling from defeat at the hands of crime boss Silvio Manfredi/Silvermane and the man-beast Thomas Fireheart/Puma, facing the shock of his life when he returns to his apartment and his former flame and close friend Mary Jane Watson/M. J. reveals that she knows he’s secretly Spider-Man! Peter’s naturally gobsmacked by this but M. J. doesn’t give him a chance to explain…or, as she puts it, to “lie to [her]”. Indeed, Peter’s shock is so total that he’s too distracted to hear that M. J. originally left New York City a while back because of this knowledge; not only did it hurt her that he didn’t trust an “airhead” like her with his greatest secret, but she couldn’t stand the thought of him constantly risking his life. Whatever chance Peter might’ve had of explaining things or perhaps retaining his secret identity then goes completely out of the window when Felicia Hardy/The Black Cat leaps in through his window looking for a fun night swinging through the city. M. J.’s heartache is only exacerbated by the Black Cat’s appearance, and she leaves in floods of tears, and Peter’s so distraught that he takes his anger out on the Black Cat, chastising her for bursting in unannounced. Naturally, the Black Cat’s none too pleased to be yelled at so she goes to leave, but they’re both startled when a strand of webbing instinctively and involuntarily shoots from Peter’s jacket to keep her from leaving. While the Black Cat takes this to mean that Peter truly loves her since he “didn’t even try to stop [M. J.]” when she left, Peter’s too surprised by the alien costume’s mysterious nature to deny her embrace. Later, after unsuccessfully trying to call M. J., the overwhelmed Peter succumbs to exhaustion. However, while he sleeps, the alien costume slinks across his apartment, attaches itself to him, and takes his slumbering body out on a joyride across the rooftops of the city.
Peter’s personal strife is compounded by the news that his alien suit is a living organism!
As he sleeps, Peter endures a horrific nightmare in which he finds himself (in his classic bookworm appearance) hounded by the ominous alien costume. Just as it closes in on him, his classic red and blue duds step in to battle the alien, with the screaming Peter literally caught in the middle! Peter awakens to find he’s missed an entire day and unnerved by his alien attire. To try and get some answers, he swings over to the Baxter Building to take up Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic on a previous offer to examine the suit. Following a series of intensive experiments on the gamut of the costume’s capabilities (producing organic webbing, assuming different appearances, and flowing on and off him at his mental command), Reed drops the bombshell that the costume isn’t just some amazing piece of advanced alien technology, but actually a living being that’s physically and mentally attached itself to the web-slinger! Spider-Man’s astonishment turns to horror when he tries to remove the suit at Reed’s suggestion, only to find it painfully attempting to permanently graft itself to him! With Spider-Man at risk of being crushed to death, Reed grabs his handy-dandy sonic cannon and blasts the alien, forcing it off of Spider-Man long enough for him to safely contain it. However, this does leave Spider-Man in just his underwear so, to preserve his secret identity and allow him to return home, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch provides him with a spare Fantastic Four uniform and a paper bag to cover his head, leading to him facing public humiliation when he steps in to help the police with a robbery. However, Peter’s pride and his shock at the revelation that his alien suit was a symbiote all along are pushed aside when a remorseful M. J. shows up to talk, though he’s unaware that the enraged symbiote lusts for revenge inside its cell…
Spidey’s so horrified by the symbiote suit that he barely notices the attacking Vulturions.
Peter returned to his traditional red and blue costume following this and incurred the anger and disappointment of his beloved Aunt May when he dropped out of his graduate studies in the time between The Amazing Spider-Man #258 and Web of Spider-Man #1. It was also during this time period that the symbiote managed to escape from its confinement and make its way back to Peter’s apartment, which is why “’Til Death Do Us Part!” begins with the alien costume lurking in Peter’s wardrobe. Peter’s so distracted by his recent breakup with the Black Cat and recapping how Reed revealed the costume’s true nature as a “symbiot” and helped rid him of it that he doesn’t even notice the parasitic alien attaching itself to his costume until it’s too late! Horrified, Spider-Man desperately flees his apartment and tries to get back to the Baxter Building, but the symbiote fights him the entire way; it sends out tendrils to ground him, throws off his webbing, detaches itself from walls, and forces him to do its bidding like a puppet. Refusing to obey his commands and sending him into a panic, the symbiote negates Peter’s spider sense and does everything it can to keep him grounded, and Spidey’s so caught up trying to fight off the alien and keep his cool that he doesn’t notice the Vulturions circling overhead. Comprised of hoodlums Gripes, Pigeon, Sugar Face, and Honcho, the Vulturions are a gang of low-level punks given a chance at stepping up their game when they repurpose Adrian Toomes/The Vulture’s technology and suits to their own ends. Their leader, Honcho, warned them about taking on Spider-Man alone and drawing undue attention to themselves, but Gripes can’t help but snag the writhing, babbling web-head when he spots him struggling with the symbiote during a scouting mission.
Spidey risks his life to rid himself of the symbiote, whose last act is to drag him to safety!
Spider-Man barely even acknowledges the presence of the Vulturions; even when he’s caught in Gripes’ talons, he rages and struggles against the symbiote. Gripes’ confusion at Spider-Man’s bizarre behaviour turns to horror when the symbiote’s tendrils lash out and attack him, and Spidey’s forced to use his own strength to fight off Gripes, Sugar Face, and Pigeon, sending the three plummeting into the sea and commandeering Honcho as a more reliable means of traversal. Realising that he might not make it to the Baxter Building in time to use Reed’s sonic blaster, Spider-Man redirects Honcho to a nearby bell tower. The loud ringing is already sending the symbiote into a frenzy but it’s in absolute agony when Spidey crashes into the tower and forces it to endure the ringing up close. The noise is apparently so loud that it threatens to kill Spider-Man as well; with his strength fading, Peter can’t help but think of his loved ones and all the people he’s leaving behind as he feels his life ebb away. The noise is so great that the symbiote is forced from Peter’s unconscious body; however, as the “emotionless being” slinks away, it can’t help but feel an obligation towards its former host. Chalked up to emotions inherited from its time joined with Peter, the symbiote pulls Peter to safety. It tentatively, lovingly, touches his face with a tendril one last time before promptly evaporating into dust, apparently destroyed from the cacophony of the bells and the exertion of saving Peter’s life.
The Summary: If you’re a fan of Venom and Peter’s time in the black costume, these two stories are essential reading to understanding the complex relationship between Spider-Man and the symbiote. Unlike in other media (at least as far as I can remember), the symbiote didn’t actually negatively affect Peter’s mood or mannerisms; he didn’t go all emo or become aggressive, and I don’t think it really enhanced his strength or natural abilities beyond acting as infinite webbing and responding to his mental commands. Consequently, I believe that The Amazing Spider-Man #258 is the first time that the symbiote shows any signs of aggression or independent thought. Of course, it can be argued that the symbiote is simply reacting due to the massive revelations and pressure that bombard Peter in this story. Just the idea that M. J. knows his secret identity would be shocking enough, but quickly follow that with the Black Cat’s arrival and a bit of a love spat between the two and it’s no wonder that Peter’s emotions are all over the place. M. J.’s revelation would, of course, lead to her opening up to Peter about her own traumatic past and helped to not only flesh her out as something more than a gorgeous party animal but also galvanise their relationship, but here it’s a real curveball since Peter’s secret identity was such a sacred element to the character and not too many people were aware of it. Thus, finding out that M. J. had always known of his dual identity really helped her to stand out against Peter’s other love interests, even the likes of the Black Cat.
Spidey’s costume woes lead to the debut of the Bombastic Bag-Man!
As ever with Spider-Man stories, we get some drama and interludes to break up the action; the first story is broken up with interludes that show the Puma, in his public identity as a successful businessman, brooding over in New Mexico, hungry for his next encounter with Spider-Man, and Roderick Kingsley/Hobgoblin being recruited into Richard Fisk/The Rose’s campaign against Spider-Man, as well as hints towards M. J. having secrets of her own. The second story is largely concerned with establishing the Vulturions, painting them as thugs who mug old ladies in public and who have a contentious relationship with their boss because of this, and Peter’s recent falling out with Aunt May over his studies. Naturally, there are also some fun cameos from Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch since Spidey needs the Fantastic Four’s help in figuring out what’s happening with his suit. I liked that Reed already strongly suspected that the suit was a living organism but still conducted a series of tests to be both absolutely sure and to satisfy his scientific curiosity. It’s lucky that Spider-Man has such a healthy relationship with the Fantastic Four as they’re the only ones with the technology and capability to study and contain the symbiote, but it’s doubly lucky for us as The Amazing Spider-Man #258 fetaures the debut of the Bombastic Bag-Man! Stuck in Fantastic Four suit with a paper bag over his head and a “Kick Me!” sign taped to his back, Spidey is humiliated before the press and public as part of a prank by the Human Torch, which makes for one of the best aspects of these two issues. It’s a rare moment of levity, especially considering not just all the personal strife Peter goes through here but also the startling revelation that his once seemingly amazing alien costume is actual a living, breathing organism that’s attempting to permanently bond with the web-slinger!
Peter’s natural reaction is to assume the symbiote is malicious, despite having no evidence of this.
This aspect is treated as a horrifying prospect as the symbiote is described as a “parasite” and Reed’s first advice to Spider-Man is to rid himself of it before the bonding process becomes permanent. It’s only natural, then, that the symbiote reacts to defend itself, refusing to budge from Spider-Man’s body and even causing him physical harm. There’s actually no suggestion or evidence to suggest that the symbiote has malicious intentions; Spider-Man reacts out of sheer panic and horror and Reed doesn’t hesitate to contain the creature and it’s only then that it becomes malevolent since it doesn’t appreciate being spurned. When it returns in Web of Spider-Man #1, notice how it doesn’t do anything aggressive except try to bond with him again; it only lashes out and takes control of Peter when he reacts in horror and tries to force it off, and there’s even a suggestion that it takes control of his sleeping body not to cause him harm but because it delights in his superhuman abilities. Still, Peter’s first instinct is to get rid of it and he’s so determined to do this that he even states he’d be willing to die than be a slave, again without any real evidence that the symbiosis would be anything malicious. To that end, he uses the ringing of the bell tower to drive the creature from his body and presumably destroy it but is rendered unconscious by the effort and completely misses the tragic truth of the symbiote. While the dialogue boxes hint that it’s an amoral creature, the symbiote sacrifices itself to get Peter to safety not just because of the emotions it learned of while bonded to him, but out of what is very clearly shown to be true love for Peter and his welfare. This aspect is expanded upon when the symbiote later returns with a vengeance as Venom, but it’s portrayed really well here and actually paints Peter (and Reed) in a bit of a bad light since his knee-jerk assumption was that the symbiote meant him harm but there’s nothing to say that’s the case. Because of this, these two issues are a really great launching pad for those wishing to get into reading some Venom stories; they contain some of the most iconic symbiote imagery (such as Peter’s nightmare and the bell tower sequence) and go a long way to giving the symbiote some characterisation long before it talks.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Have you ever read these two iconic Spider-Man stories? If so, what did you think to them and where would you rank the black costume era amongst Spider-Man’s many other stories and moments? What did you think to the black costume at the time and were you surprised to find that it was alive? Do you think Peter reacted poorly to this knowledge and that he should’ve tried to understand the symbiote’s true intentions? What did you think to the revelation that Mary Jane knew of Peter’s dual identity? How are you celebrating Spider-Man this month? Whatever your thoughts on Spider-Man and the symbiote, share them below and be sure to check out my other Spider-Man Month content!
In 1995, Marvel Comics created “National Superhero Day” and, in the process, provided comics and superhero fans the world over with a great excuse to celebrate their favourite characters and publications.
Released: 15 September 2009 Developer: Vicarious Visions Also Available For: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Xbox One
The Background: Few videogame publishers are as closely associated with Marvel Comics than Activision, who have been spearheading adaptations of some of Marvel’s most popular characters since 2000. Of course, these weren’t all smash hits but some of their titles are counted as being among the best outings for the likes of Peter Parker/Spider-Man and the X-Men. In 2004, Activision teamed with Raven Software and achieved big success with X-Men Legends, a team-based brawler that mixed role-playing elements and co-op gameplay, and its sequel, so the two expanded to incorporate the larger Marvel universe with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Raven Software, 2006), a sadly delisted title that was met with generally favourable reviews. For the sequel, Activision turned to Vicarious Visions, who developed the game engine for the first game, and tweaked the gameplay to focus on team-based “Fusion” attacks to encourage players to experiment with different character combinations. Rather than tell an original story like the first game, or deliver on the many optional endings for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the sequel drew inspiration from the controversial “Civil War” story arc (Millar, et al, 2006 to 2007) that saw Marvel’s heroes divided over a governmental registration act, though the game was met with positive reviews. The action-packed gameplay and branching storyline were particularly praised, though some decried the stripped down roleplaying mechanics; the game was also delisted in 2020 and it would take just under ten years for another developer to produce a third entry.
The Plot: After a series of devastating attacks on the United States, the American government passes the Superhero Registration Act (SRA), forcing all super-powered individuals to act under official regulation, to reduce the chaos that results from their battles. The superhero community is left divided; Tony Stark/Iron Man and his followers champion the Act while Steve Rogers/Captain America and his oppose it, but the two warring factions soon find themselves battling a new enemy that threatens global peace.
Gameplay: Like its predecessor, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is a team-based brawler with limited roleplaying mechanics, exploration options, and puzzle elements. Players can (eventually) assemble a team of four from a roster of around twenty-five characters, many of which return from the last game alongside some newcomers, though your options are limited by story-mandated restrictions and the decision you make partway through to side with the Pro-Registration side or the Anti-Registration side. Regardless of which character you pick, your basic combat and control mechanics remain the same: tapping A executes a light attack while B throws a heavy attack; you can hold B to charge up a stronger strike and mix these together to form basic combos, such as a pop-up attack to break an opponent’s guard. X lets you activate doors and consoles, grab anything from crates to cars to toss at enemies, pull shields off foes and even grab enemies to pummel or throw them to their doom. Y lets you jump; press an attack button in mid-air and you’ll crash to the ground with a slam and press Y again for a double jump or to web-sling, fly, or dart along on a glider or ice bridge depending on who you’re playing as. The Left Bumper allows you to block incoming attacks or dodge out of the way by wiggling the left stick at the same time; there are also times when you’ll need to hit LB to deflect incoming projectiles. The Right Bumper allows you to heal yourself or your allies or revive a fallen comrade as long as you have a Heal Token in stock; these are found scattered across each location, usually spawning in during boss encounters or after defeating enemies, and you can hold up to two at a time.
Characters boast new superpowers and can combine abilities in devastating Fusion attacks.
Although up to four players can play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 simultaneously; you can also play alone with some competent A.I. companions and freely switch to another character using the directional pad when playing solo. You can press in the right stick for a handy arrow to point you to your next objective or bring up the game map from the pause menu. Each character as a life and stamina bar; the former is filled when you collect red Health Orbs or level-up and the latter fills automatically, and each character also comes equipped with their own Super Powers, which you activate by holding the Right Trigger and pressing A, B, X, or Y. Many of these are shared across characters, but with a unique flare to each; Spider-Man can web enemies towards him, for example, while Matt Murdock/Daredevil homes in with his grapple cane, but both can lash at foes with their whip-like weapons. Most characters tend to have a ranged attack (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch’s flaming projectiles, Iron Man’s Repulsor blasts, Ororo Munroe/Storm’s lightning strikes, etc) and a clearing attack (Doctor Bruce Banner/The Hulk’s ground pound, Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic’s tornado spin, and Remy LeBeau/Gambit’s kinetically-charged card barrage, etc), but some also have abilities that buff either their attacks or their team (Doctor Jean Grey/Phoenix can automatically revive characters or add fire damage to her attacks, Danny Rand/Iron Fist’s “Healing Hand” technique heals him, and Captain America can temporarily reduce the damage he takes, for example). Not only can these be improved by earning experience points (XP) and levelling-up and spending “Ability Points” (AP) in the character menu, but you can now combine powers for powerful “Fusion” abilities. As you dish out damage, you’ll build up the Fusion Meter and you can store up to two Fusion Stars at once and combine powers by holding the Left Trigger and pressing either A, B, X, or Y to team up with one of your allies. This produces various effects depending on the combination but, again, many of them are very similar and only made unique by the way the characters team up. For example, you can perform the iconic “Fastball Special” by combining James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Mr. Fantastic with bruisers like the Hulk, Ben Grimm/The Thing, or Mac Gargan/Venom. Venom, Hulk, and the Thing can also do a dual stomping attack and you’ll be able to suck enemies in with tornados from the likes of Storm and Thor Odinson while adding elemental attacks to these twisters with the Human Torch and Phoenix.
Puzzles and objectives are simpler than ever and dialogue trees give the illusion of dramatic discord.
No matter the combination of characters, you’ll be prompted to tap A to increase the radius, target specific enemies, or hit successive foes to score extra points and unlock additional abilities and buffs for your characters. Tapping or holding X is also the most common way you’ll be solving the game’s puzzles; generally, you’re tasked with clearing out all nearby enemies and then activating a console or door with X, but sometimes you’ll need to push or pull amplifiers and giant batteries to power up (or down) generators or pass through barriers, rip off control panels, or destroy projectors. Other objectives include destroying anti-aircraft guns, defeating certain enemies, activating consoles in the correct order, and moving stone columns around to unlock doorways and paths, and some missions also contain optional objectives (such as destroying weapon stockpiles or teleporter pads) that net you additional rewards. Additionally, while you’re often told over your comms that you need to act quickly, only certain objectives actually carry a time limit (you’re given less than six minutes to defeat certain bosses, dispose of bombs, or escape collapsing facilities, for example) and you’re often given options to pick from in dialogue trees that will earn you buffs for being “aggressive”, “diplomatic”, or “defensive”. However, as near as I can tell, this doesn’t really alter the story or your character relationships like picking between Pro- and Anti-Reg, which will restrict the characters available to you and alter both the bosses and mission objectives you’re given (protecting or destroying a Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) convoy, for example, or raiding or defending a S.H.I.E.L.D. base). Other missions will see you joined by an additional fifth character (technically not a non-playable character as many, like Captain America and Nick Fury, are playable) who will provide support; however, you can’t select them during gameplay, and you’ll still be met with failure if all four of your team are knocked out.
Graphics and Sound: There’s been a decent graphical upgrade between Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and its sequel, namely in the sense that the game is far less dark than before and environments are a little more varied, though the same issues with things becoming repetitive and visually dull persist despite how many additional destructible elements have been added. The game starts in Latveria and sees you infiltrating both the castle town, with its many statues of dictator Doctor Victor Von Doom, and Dr. Doom’s main castle, a location that featured in the last game and is now far more linear and less confusing. This is true of all of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2’s locations; it’s very rare that’ll you’ll need to explore off the beaten track, mazes and repeating areas are pretty much non-existent, and everything is much more straightforward this time around, which is great in the sense that levels tended to drag on a bit and be frustrating in the first game but disappointing as you don’t have much to do in, say, Wakanda, except follow a straight path taking out enemies and gun placements and simply walking past the waterfalls, jungles, and tribal trappings in the background. Additionally, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is way less fantastical; there are no trips to Atlantis, Asgard, or Hell here and, instead, you have to make do with such inspiring locations as…downtown, the rooftops of Hell’s Kitchen, train tracks, and high-tech facilities. Some, like Phineas Mason/The Tinkerer’s lab, T’Challa/The Black Panther’s throne room, and the Negative Zone prison are actually visually very interesting but, for the most part, this is a far more grounded affair, and the game loses a lot of its madcap appeal as a result since the focus is on the more grounded struggles of the Civil War.
While the characters and cutscenes look good, the game is noticeably less visually interesting than its predecessor.
This disappointment is also felt in the game’s soundtrack, which once again opts for very generic, military-esque tunes and rock-inspired beats that serve only to make the mindless gameplay all the more tedious. The voice acting and cutscenes are a lot better this time around; there’s still an obvious graphical difference between pre-rendered cutscenes and in-game graphics, but there’s more focus on character interactions and debating the merits of the SRA. Characters will continue to offer commentary during gameplay, with Wade W. Wilson/Deadpool regularly breaking the fourth wall and characters alerting you when they’re on low health, plus you sometimes get bonuses and additional dialogue if you have certain characters speak to each other. Character models seem better this time around, though; the animations used to bring their powers to life feel more unique and tailored to each hero, though it is disappointing (though, at the same time, understandable) that the same Fusion animations are recycled for certain team-ups. Once again, you’ll be operating out of various hub worlds, like Stark Tower and the White Star base, where you can chat to other characters and find collectibles, and performing certain deeds during gameplay will net you extra costumes (though, sadly, each character only has one this time around). Unfortunately, though, you won’t be treated to as many bizarre and wacky Easter Eggs or endings as before; you only really get one game-changing choice to make here, meaning there are only two endings to see, which is a shame as I really enjoyed all the different consequences of your actions in the first game and how it led to more replay value, whereas here you’re limited to picking Pro- or Anti-Reg.
Enemies and Bosses: A slew of disposable goons will be set against you throughout Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, from Dr. Doom’s soldiers and robots to S.H.I.E.L.D. forces and the nanite-controlled minions of “The Fold”, a rogue A.I. that springs up in the game’s final act to reunite the warring superheroes. Regardless of who you’re fighting, you’ll come across the same recycled enemy tropes again and again: gun-toting soldiers, grunts with shields, ones who block your attack or inflict elemental statuses on you (such as burning, electrocution, and poisoning), and larger mechs. Helicopters will need to be taken out by tossing their grenades back at them, enemies will fire missiles and rockets at you; some have swords, some need to be stunned with your charged attack, some are shielded, and some toss explosive barrels your way. You’ll also have to watch for flame-spitting turrets, laser guns imbedded in walls, loose wires, and flaming hazards that’ll need a dose of coolant (or Bobby Drake/Iceman’s ice powers) to get past. It all gets very repetitive very quickly; the basic enemies aren’t much of a threat to you with your various powers and abilities but can quickly whittle your health down as they start mixing and matched and increasing in number, with more enemies onscreen than the last game and many of them being called in to boost or interrupt the many mini and main boss battles that you’ll have to contend with throughout the story. Like the last game, a who’s-who of Marvel’s most obscure and memorable villains are encountered throughout the game’s three acts, many of which crop up again, often in tandem with other villains.
The Tinkerer, Lucia von Bardas, and the damn Titanium Man represent a dramatic difficulty spike.
The first supervillain you’ll face is Max Dillon/Electro, who teleports around a church in a burst of electricity, performs an electrical blast attack, and can recharge his powers at the capacitors dotted throughout the area. After that, you’ll come up against Bentley Wittman/The Wizard and Steven Hudak/The Scorcher, with the former capable of erecting a shield and the latter roasting you with flame blasts, but your first real boss battle is against the Tinkerer. The Tinkerer stomps about in a large, spider-like tank mech that fires homing missiles, stamps the ground and sets it aflame, and sweeps that area with a laser blast. He’s also supported by an endless swarm of robotic minions, but you can use these to build up your Fusion Meter to target the Tinkerer’s legs and turn his mech into scrap metal. The Shocker/Herman Schultz’s stunning pulses must then be endured to rescue Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel, then you’ll have your first of many encounters with the scythe-handed Eric Williams/Grim Reaper, one of the most recurring mini bosses who’s actually pretty tough thanks to his fast speed and quick, targeted slashes. Electro, the Scorcher, the Shocker, and the Wizard all reappear during the chaotic battle against cyborg Lucia von Bardas, which takes place on the deck of a ship. You’ll need to avoid her blasts and destroy the four cannons in each corner of the deck, which is easier said than done as Lucia defends three of them with flaming jets and you’ll have to contend with her supervillain bodyguards. Lucia also rains bombs from the sky, protects herself (and her minions) with energy shields, regularly hovers out of reach, and compounds the entire fight with a time limit. In the last part of the game’s first act, which takes part in Washington, D.C., you’ll have to do battle with Deadpool (who teleports about and riddles you with uzi bullets) and hit a bit of a brick wall when you go up against the mysterious Titanium Man. At first this isn’t so hard (he sends you flying, slows you with a pulse, and showers you with a laser spread) but things get much tougher in the second phase, where he turns invisible, is bolstered by minions and floating cannons, sends out loads of annoying vortexes, and there are no checkpoints during this battle, making it all the more frustrating.
While Bishop and Deathstrike can be aggravating, the Yellowjacket boss fight was actually pretty fun.
After this, you’ll be forced to pick a side and this alters the characters you pick and fight against; I went with Anti-Registration (because, frankly, the was the right choice all along) so I’ll primarily talk about those bosses. First up is a scuffle with Natalia Romanova/The Black Widow, who keeps you at bay with her pistols, cartwheel kicks, and grenades, and your first battle with Colonel James Rhodes/War Machine, who’s basically a mirror of Iron Man and attacks with a rocket-powered punch and missiles, though both are pretty easy fights here, especially compared to the one against Lucas Bishop. Your energy attacks will actually heal the grenade-toting Bishop, so try to focus on physical attacks, but you’ll deal the greatest damage against him if you attack and destroy the terminals he plugs himself into. This actually gets pretty tricky as you have to hit three power terminals to cause feedback, then hit four nodes on other terminals to stop him regaining health, and finally hit all six nodes when he draws energy from the middle of the terminals, all while avoiding his rushes and shockwave attacks. In comparison, Melissa Gold/Songbird is a bit of a joke since all you have to worry about are her pink sonic waves, but the difficulty ramps up again when you butt heads with Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike, who attacks with her Adamantium claws like a whirling dervish. Though the Thing saves your ass, you’ll have to contend with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s soldiers and robots in the second phase; Deathstrike will repair these mechs, so it pays to quickly take them out, but that’s not easy thanks to her speed and aggression. Thankfully, this is followed by a fun and visually interesting fight against Doctor Henry “Hank” Pym/Yellowjacket, who pounds and slaps at you in his gigantic form; you need to attack his massive fists to build up your Fusion Meter and stun him, only then can you unleash a Fusion attack to deal big damage to him, though you’ll have to watch for his double-fist slam and the minions who swarm the rooftops. When in the unstable chemical plant, you’ll have a quick run-ins with Bullseye (who I had no issues with despite his triple-shot projectile), Simon Williams/Wonder Man (who’s also not too hard despite teleporting about the place and sporting powerful melee attacks), and even an unexpected alliance between Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk and Mark Raxton/Molten Man that sees you avoiding the former’s jumping slams and the latter’s flame bursts.
You’ll face different bosses depending on which side you choose, which also impacts the game’s difficulty.
You’ll also contend with a more formidable version of War Machine and have a brief fight with Iron Man (who’s basically the same as War Machine but with fancier laser attacks) before he tags in Mr. Fantastic (who’s actually a bit of a pain thanks to his stretchy limbs bursting up from the floor and his tornado spin). Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic prove quite the double team when you battle them together; even with Captain America on hand to help and with victory coming by defeating Iron Man alone, this can be a tough fight as Mr. Fantastic sometimes glitches and perpetually spins in place and Iron Man flies around the arena sending energy projectiles your way. Finally, you’ll need to help Nick Fury dispose of some bombs while fending off a joint attack from Doctor Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin and Venom; the former flies around dropping grenades or tosses pumpkin bombs in your face while the latter attacks with their tendrils and even webs up the bomb disposal vent and commandeers the Goblin’s glider! On the Pro-Reg side, you’ll have to quell Eli Bradley/Patriot after your betrayal, fend off Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman rather than Black Widow and Hercules instead of Wonder Man, as well as tangle with Nathanial Summers/Cable, who proves highly resistant to damage, constantly teleports about the place, and forces you to rely on your standard attacks and super powers since there are no minions to help build up your Fusion Meter. Ritchie Gilmore/Prodigy, Angelica Jones/Firestar, Tandy Bowen/Dagger, Piotr Rasputin/Colossus, and Jamie Madrox/Multiple Man also crop up, with the latter being quite the obstacle if you don’t have the right teammates, while Tom Foster/Goliath takes Yellowjacket’s place. Instead of fighting War Machine, Mr. Fantastic, and Iron Man, you’ll take on Iron Fist, Luke Cage/Power Man, and Captain America, with this latter fight complicated by plumes of fire and the Cage and Cap being able to pull off Fusion attacks!
After battling numerous foes, you’ll need all your powers to defeat the nanite-infused Nick Fury.
Before you enter the Negative Zone prison, Commander Maria Hill hands over a key card without issue and Robbie Baldwin/Penance is subdued and recruited after a brief fight. Terrance Sorenson/Equinox proved much tougher thanks to the nearby turrets and his health-draining elemental attacks, and you’ll battle the nanite-infected Grim Reaper, Bullseye, and Molten Man to rescue Luke Cage and Firestar. To escape the prison with the nanite samples, you’ll take on the combined might of David Cannon/Whirlwind, Karla Sofen/Moonstone, and Rachel Leighton/Diamondback; though Captain America and Iron Man help out, this can be a frustrating fight as Whirlwind is constantly spinning about and minions are always spawning in but focusing on one mini boss can help mitigate the danger. While in Wakanda, you’ll fight off Alexander Summers/Havok (whose concussive powers are bolstered by nearby vibrational pillars), the combined threat of Hulk-clone Rick Jones/A-Bomb and Vance Astrovik/Justice (who shields his nanite ally), and once again deal with the duo of Green Goblin and Venom, this time in the Black Panther’s throne room and with a wider, more versatile space for them to avoid your attacks (though having a flame-orientated character or buffs will help against Venom). Wonder Man and Spider-Woman guard the entrance to the Fold’s Iceland base, with both proving tougher than before, while She-Hulk, Firestar, Colossus, and Whirlwind await inside guarding amplifiers. You’ll also battle the Tinkerer again here; this time, he’s almost constantly shielded by the Fold’s enhanced elites, who you’ll need to destroy in order to deal damage to the mad inventor, though the sheer influx of enemies can make this a gruelling prospect. Finally, after battling on a rising elevator and reaching the top of the Fold’s amplifier tower, you’ll fight the nanite-infected Nick Fury. Using a coloured holographic projection, Fury emulates the powers of other characters and bosses to constantly keep you on your toes; he strikes with lightning, sends out energy pulses, rapidly moves and teleports all over the place, creates duplicates, absorbs and projects energy, blasts out a stream of light, and causes the ground to erupt in flames. Although a frustrating and long-winded bout, this was actually easier than some other bosses; switch characters to whoever’s closest, unleash your rapidly-filling Fusion Meter, and remember to deflect his projectiles when prompted and you should emerge victorious without having to expend a single revive, which is more than I can say for the damn Titanium Man!
Power-Ups and Bonuses: As mentioned, combat yields XP that levels you and your team up; all characters level-up regardless of whether you use them or not, but levelling-up alone isn’t enough to power-up your team. You need to spend AP boosting their four superpowers and all four will only be unlocked by levelling-up; thankfully, AP is easily earned by beating enemies, rapidly tapping A during Fusion attacks, and smashing crates and other onscreen destructibles. Each character also has “Passive” abilities that can be upgraded in the character menu; many of these are locked to a specific side, so you’ll never have full access to all abilities in a single playthrough, and they provide buffs such as raising your chances of landing a critical hit, allowing more frequent use of your powers, regenerating health, reducing damage, and increasing the stamina you gain. Defeating mini bosses and bosses also rewards you with medals that provide additional “Boosts”; you can manually or automatically equip up to three of these at a time to increase your health, teamwork, resistance to or ability to inflict elemental attacks, and other similar bonuses. It also pays to utilise your comic book knowledge; if you make a team comprised entirely of X-Men or the Fantastic Four, for example, you’ll get an additional boost to aid you. Finally, extra rewards are on offer for performing three “Heroic Deeds” per character; these range from defeating fifty enemies, performing specific Fusion attacks, or using certain superpowers and will unlock a new costume or ability for each character, as well as being a fun aside.
Additional Features: There are fifty Achievements to snag in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, with sixteen being tied to the story mode alone, though you’ll need to do two playthroughs and experience both the Pro- and Anti-Reg missions to earn them all. You’ll also earn Achievements for completing missions in co-op mode, clearing the game on “Legendary” difficulty, performing ten Fusions with a friend, earning high scores from Fusions, unlocking costumes, collecting boosts, and finding the various dossiers and audio logs scattered throughout the game. You’ll unlock additional characters not just through the story mode, but also by collecting Asgardian Ruins, pieces of the M’kraan Crystal, and Gamma Regulators; some characters’ alternate costumes also act as skins, such as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross/Red Hulk and Eddie Brock/Venom. You’ll also find simulator discs scattered about that once again let you take on special simulator missions from the game’s hub worlds, can put your Marvel knowledge to the test in various trivia games for more XP, and will be given the option of starting a new game, with all your unlocks and stats, but at the cost of your existing save file. There is no option to replay previous missions as far as I can tell so you’ll need to start over if you missed anything. I’d also advise making use of the manual save function as often as possible, especially before you pick a side so you don’t have to start right from the beginning to see the other side of the story. If you were lucky enough to own this game before it got delisted, you can also expand the roster with some downloadable characters, like Cletus Kasady/Carnage and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, though this feature is obviously unavailable these days; additionally, other versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 include console-specific characters, like Eric Brooks/Blade.
The Summary: I was always hesitant about getting into Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, simply because of my hatred for the diabolical Civil War storyline. Even with that bias to one side, I wasn’t impressed that the sequel stripped back the story and scope of the franchise so much; the first game arguably tried to do a bit too much and touch base with a bunch of different locations and characters in the Marvel universe, but at least it embraced the bonkers spirit of the source material and wasn’t as blinkered as the sequel. I really missed the unpredictability at the first game; here, the only replay value is in picking a different side, especially as all characters are available to you in the finale, so all you’re really left with is the new-fangled Fusion mechanic. Sadly, this isn’t as good as the game makes it out to be; once you’ve seen a handful of them, you’ve basically seen them all and they weren’t as impressive as I had hoped. I also wasn’t a big fan of some of the character choices and the lack of extra skins, though overall I think I preferred the gameplay and combat; it’s still mindless and tedious and gets old really quickly, but at least the different superpowers felt a little more dynamic this time. While I have no complaints about the game’s linearity since it made it faster to play, it is a shame that exploration has been cut way back this time around and that many of the level-up and customisation mechanics have been stripped down. Once again, the game’s biggest issue is cramming so much into it; it’s great for a Marvel fan but it does impact the enjoyment and memorability of the mini bosses since a lot of them are just the same thing over and over with the same tactics used to overcome them. Overall, I feel Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 is no better or worse than the first game: I miss the different gameplay mechanics and visual variety of the first game, but the sequel feels a bit more refined and focused; I don’t like how grounded and restricted it is, but the graphics and ability options are a step up. I think the best thing to do (if you can afford it) is have both and play them back to back for a complete experience but if I honestly had to pick which one was better, I’d go with the first one since I’m much more inclined to play it and see what wacky endings I can earn rather than seeing the SRA repealed or lessened by the end of this game.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Have you ever played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance2? If so, how do you think it compares to the first game? Which side did you pick and who made it into your team? What did you think to the new Fusion mechanic and the changes to the roster? Were you disappointed that the boss battles were still mostly tedious exercises and that the scope was scaled so far back? Did you ever complete all the Heroic Deeds and simulator missions? How are you celebrating National Superhero Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below or on my social media, and be sure to check out my other superhero and comic book content across the site!
In November 1961, Marvel Comics readers witnessed four intrepid explorers be forever changed by mysterious cosmic rays. Marvel’s “First Family” of superheroes were the first of many colourful superheroes for Marvel Comics and are more than deserving of some attention today.
Released: 15 June 2007 Developer: Visual Concepts Also Available For: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3
The Plot: World-renowned superheroes and scientists the Fantastic Four find their lives interrupted when an extraterrestrial dubbed the “Silver Surfer” causes havoc with their powers and revives their old nemesis, Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, all while preparing the world for consumption by a cosmic being known only as “Galactus”.
Gameplay: Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a third-person, team-based brawler in which players pick from each member of the titular team (Doctor Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Doctor Susan Storm/The Invisible Girl, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing) and battle through six distinct levels ripped both from the movie the game is based on and the original source material. The game supports up to four players in simultaneous co-operative play, and players can jump in at any time to assume control a character, but a single player is more than capable of playing through the game without any difficulties thanks to a relatively competent partner A.I. and the ability to switch between the characters using the directional pad. While each character has their own superpowers that give them slightly different playstyles, they share the same basic control commands: A and X allow pull off weak and strong attacks, respectively, and you can string these button inputs together to perform simple combo attacks, Y allows you to jump (and you can do jumping attacks, naturally), while B unleashes an “area attack” or is used to grab and use objects. The Left Bumper allows you to block incoming attacks, while the Right Bumper lets you change your team’s tactics; tapping it will cycle through commands like aggressive and defensive and holding it will see your teammates form up on your current position.
Each member of the team has different attacks and special moves according to their powers.
Not only does each character have different attack animations (with the Thing favouring slow, strong punches and the Invisible Girl pulling off roundhouse kicks and spinning attacks, for example), they also have their own unique superpowers that slightly change how they play and affords them different capabilities in combat or puzzle solving. You can perform these by holding the Right Trigger and pressing A, B, X, or Y but doing so will drain your “Cosmic Meter” and you’ll need to either give this a few seconds to refill or collect “Cosmic Orbs” from downed enemies or smashed crates. Reed Richards is elastic, giving him decent reach by default but this also allows him to perform a “Periscope Punch” to hit switches or control boxes that are high up on walls or ceilings, slip through laser traps with his stretchy evade, slingshot enemies across the arena, or toss a grenade to send enemies flying. Sue can fade from sight, allowing her to temporarily slip past enemies and security cameras undetected, but she can also (oddly) use “telekinesis” to move and hurl enemies and certain objects, toss energy discs for a ranged attack, erect a shield that protects her and anyone in it, and can redirect light beams to melt crystals and solve puzzles. Johnny is the Human Torch, so naturally he bursts into flame whenever he uses his powers; this allows him to fly over energy barriers (effectively making him the only character with a double jump), toss fireballs, scorch enemies with a flamethrower attack, and protect himself with a wall of flame. The Thing just loves to fight, so he gets a super useful ground pound (seriously, I spammed this move over and over), a powerful shoulder charge, can cover himself in a temporary protective aura, and can pick up objects the others can’t (like cars and lampposts) and swing or hurl them at enemies. There are times when a specific character’s ability is required to progress, such as using the Thing to smash through boulders or Mr. Fantastic to deactivate switches, and these are marked by a silver 4 symbol and you’ll often find yourself needing to switch between a few different characters to lower barriers and open doors so you can progress.
Combine the Four’s powers or use their unique abilities to get past barriers and other obstacles.
All these super powers, in addition to some other basic, overall stats, can be upgraded at the cost of the coins dropped by enemies or found when smashing the environment, and the Fantastic Four can also combine attacks by holding down the Left Trigger and pressing the corresponding face button when close by to pull off a super-powerful, super draining “Fusion Attack” that allows for fun combinations of their abilities, like filling up Sue’s forcefield with fire to effectively create a bomb and tossing Reed’s rubbery body at enemies. While you’ll need to collect health orbs to restore your health, characters will only be temporarily knocked out if their health is completely drained; you can’t revive them, but they’ll recover after a few seconds and re-join the fight, but it is easy to get overwhelmed and see some, or all, of your team mates knocked out, leaving you frantically running around avoiding damage until they spawn back in. The game is pretty generous with its checkpoints, but that’s probably because its levels are soooo long; levels stretch on forever and consist of multiple areas, separated by lifts and doors and barriers or other obstacles you either have to activate, ride, or break through with the Fantastic Four’s powers. It’s not long before you’ve seen most of what the game has to offer, however; cave-ins need clearing with the Thing, barriers need flying over or passing through with the Human Torch and the Invisible Girl, respectively, and laser traps need stretching through with Mr. Fantastic. Often, you’ll need to activate consoles to lower lifts or open doors, or smash control boxes to disable turrets; sometimes, you’ll need to power up generators using Johnny’s fireballs, use Sue’s telekinesis to bring floating transports closer, or avoid getting too trigger happy and risk taking damage from explosive barrels.
Occasionally, you’ll need touse a solo hero to progress past obstacles or chase down the Silver Surfer.
Easily the most frustrating puzzles are found in the Himalayas, where you’ll need to smack around spherical rocks or move weird crystals to redirect light and open new ways to progress. It can be tricky figuring out which crystals to move and to where, and you’ll often have to use Sue’s shield to bounce light beams to crystals, all to ring bells so you can move on to the next area. Occasionally, you’ll control a character for a solo mission; Reed must use his evade to get through laser traps on a Russian space station, taking out turrets and enemies as he goes, while Ben gets locked into a fighting arena for a brief period. Johnny gets the majority of these sections, however, as he’s tasked with flying down rock tunnels, through the city streets and underground, blasting enemies or pursuing the Silver Surfer. These can be quite fun as you boost along with A and toss fireballs with X, dodging traffic and other hazards, but both of these abilities are tied to your Cosmic Meter, which can severely hamper you, though it’s not exactly difficult to keep up with the Surfer and pass the mission successfully. By far the worst section of all of these, and the entire game, was guiding Sue through a heavily guarded military base. This means using your invisibility to slip past security cameras and trigger-happy robots, while also destroying turrets and awkwardly using her telekinesis to smash control panels to lower barriers. There are no checkpoints in this poor attempt at a stealth section so it can be extremely frustrating to slip past the robots and turrets (which absolutely barrage you with laser fire if they spot you) and finally reach the control panel, only to fail right before the exit because you were surprised by another robot or ran out of juice for your superpowers.
Graphics and Sound: To be fair, the in-game graphics of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer aren’t all that bad. Bland as all hell, for sure, but not that bad. Each character is modelled pretty closely to their live-action counterparts and feels very different to control, with the Thing being slower and heavier and the Human Torch being slipperier and more agile. When left idle, they’ll offer commentary and, honestly, I was pleasantly surprised by their banter and voice work; so often these tie-in games feature stilted, phoned-in performances, but there’s actually a lot of fun and fitting dialogue here that’s sometimes more interesting than what we saw in the movies. Sadly, this praise doesn’t extend to the pre-rendered cutscenes, which are a plasticy, ugly mess that continues this generation’s tendency to render characters as though they were action figures. The music is equally not much to shout about, being comprised of generic tunes and samples from the film’s soundtrack. The game also has very little to do with the move it’s based on; the Silver Surfer barely shows up, Galactus is mentioned but never seen, and the focus is more on enemies from the group’s comic books and Dr. Doom.
While the dialogue is okay and character models work well, environments can be a bit bland.
On the one hand, this means we get to explore far more diverse locations than we ever saw in the live-action movies; you’ll venture into a lava-filled cavern where the shapeshifting Skrulls have taken root and onto a very dark, steampunk-like Russian space station to battle against Doctor Ivan Kragoff/The Red Ghost and his genetically enhanced Super-Apes. The game does recreate some locations from the movie as well, however, specifically Sue and Reed’s rooftop wedding venue, the streets of New York City, and the military base where the Silver Surfer is held captive (although it’s vastly different from the film version, featuring electrical barriers and robotic sentries). The game also takes the team to the crystal caves and misty clifftops of the Himalayas where they have to fight off rock monsters and to the streets of Shanghai for a final showdown with Dr. Doom, and every environment features a lot of destructible elements for you to smash your way through. Unfortunately, they’re also painfully linear, so much so that the game doesn’t even provide you with a mini map or radar; despite this, it can be easy to get a little turned around as some locations are so dark and similar that it’s easy to get lost and the game gives you no indication when you’re heading in the wrong direction or where you need to go if you miss that an elevator lowered just offscreen or a door opened one screen back. Compounding matters is just how long levels are; they just go on and on, making each section a chore to play through and really stunting your motivation to tackle the game’s harder “Fantastic” mode.
Enemies and Bosses: The Fantastic Four will wade through a number of nameless, faceless, disposable grunts as they race to track down the Silver Surfer. However, while the enemies you face in each location are visually distinct, they share many traits that quickly make them very dull and predictable, no matter how fantastical or faithful they are to the source material. You’ll fight off Skrulls, weird silvery alien…things, chicken-like robots and hovering drones, Doombots, rock monsters, and Super-Apes, many of whom can block your attacks, attack up close or from afar with pistols or missiles, or who come in larger variants that can tank your attacks. Many enemies can be picked up and thrown, and you’ll often get to hurl them off bridges or cliff edges to their immediate death, so I recommend doing this whenever possible to help with crowd control. The larger Skrull variant swings a large pillar at you while a gaggle of annoying, regular Skrulls swarm around you, but it can be useful to pummel him with Johnny’s fireballs from a safe distance. Larger rock monsters also dog your progress in the crystal caves, but the Thing is more than capable of smashing them and their smaller cousins to pieces, especially if you’ve upgraded his ground pound attack. You’ll first encounter the massively annoying turrets when on the Red Ghost’s space station; these can be destroyed with your attacks if you can get close to them, but it’s generally easier, faster, and safer to disable them by activating or destroying a nearby control box. Finally, heavily armed robots and Doombots await you in the military base and the streets of Shanghai; these are much tougher than other enemies and sport cheap long-ranged attacks, so it’s advisable to have upgraded some of your stats and abilities to help even the playing field.
Until you face Cosmic Doom, most bosses follow a simple rinse-and-repeat strategy.
When you eventually make it to the end of each location, you’ll generally have to face off with a boss. The first is Kl’rt/The Super-Skrull who sports the Fantastic Four’s powers, allowing him to perform a ground pound like the Thing and disappear from the battlefield like the Invisible Girl. Protected by an endless swam of regular Skrulls, the only way to damage the Super-Skrull is by throwing enemies or your projectiles into the huge spherical shield generator in the centre of the room; once it’s overloaded, the Super-Skrull will be stunned and be left open to your attacks, and you’ll need to repeat this tactic over and over, tediously waiting for him to reappear while fending off the endless enemies. After fighting through the strangely deserted streets of New York City, you’ll come across a large, spiked alien craft that sucks up cars and launches them at you while sending you flying with its annoying laser beam. You can throw cars back at it, and your other projectiles, to damage it, but it’s easy to get stun-locked into an annoying cycle from its projectiles. You won’t actually fight the Red Ghost, however; instead, you simply pursue him down a hallway, fending off his Super-Apes and turrets, making for a decidedly anticlimactic ending to a largely frustrating level. Similarly, you won’t battle the Silver Surfer; instead, you fight off his minions and chase after him as Johnny, first through a subway tunnel and then through an underpass, avoiding trains, traffic, and low-hanging signs and his energy-draining trail. You will, however, battle another of Galactus’s heralds, Terrax the Tamer, in the Himalayas; this massive rock-like being tosses his huge axe across the arena, which is really difficult to avoid and can leave you knocked on your ass for some time. Even worse is the fact that you have to contend with a never-ending gaggle of rock monsters and complete those annoying light puzzles to stun him so you can damage him, making this easily the most annoying and tedious boss battle in the game. Larger mechs (very much akin to All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) walkers) await in the military base, but they’re easily bypassed with your upgraded abilities, though Dr. Doom is a far more aggravating enemy. Having stolen the Silver Surfer’s near-limitless Power Cosmic, Dr. Doom flies about raining energy bolts down and the only way to damage him is to activate a nearby power generator and blast him out of the sky but, even then he can absorb and dish out a great deal of punishment, to say nothing of his massive electrical area attack, shield, and ability to shrug off your attacks. Your best bet here (and in all of these boss battles) is to quickly cycle between each character and spam your Fusion Attack, retreating to safety, when necessary, until he finally goes down.
Power-Ups and Bonuses: Unfortunately, there aren’t any temporary power-ups to find in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Smash all the crates and boulders and what-not you like and all you’ll uncover are health and energy restoring orbs, coins, and the odd collectible. You should still smash everything you see, however, and let those coins fly into you as you’ll need them to power-up the characters and their superpowers; everything from their attack, defence, recovery and meter regeneration time to the cost, range, and impact of their individual abilities can be upgraded at the cost of these coins. Unfortunately, the cost increases as you spend, meaning you’ll need to farm and replay areas to collect all the coins you need, so you can either power characters up a little bit to make things easier to save them all up and blow them on fully upgrading a single character…or put yourself through the agony of a second playthrough.
Additional Features: There are nineteen Achievements to earn in Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, with nine poppin simply for clearing each level and defeating their bosses. Oddly, there are no Achievements for playing with other players or anything fun (like, I dunno…destroying Reed and Sue’s wedding venue) or tedious (like defeating 100+ enemies). You’ll get an Achievement for beating the game on both “Normal” and the harder “Fantastic” mode, one for performing a single Fusion Attack, one for upgrading every character, and three more for finding every collectible and unlocking all the bonus content. Bonus content is unlocked by finding Fantastic 4 symbols and destroying Dr. Doom’s tiny, barely noticeable spybots; doing so will unlock cinematics, comic covers, concept art, and four alternative costumes that come with extra perks (like increasing your attack or defence by default), which is a nice touch. Once you beat the game, you can access a level select and the game restarts with all your upgrades intact, but I suspect you have to start a whole new game from the ground up if you choose a different difficulty mode. As I had no desire to play this game once I’d finished it and unlocked as many Achievements as I could, I can’t speak to that, but you could try playing with a friend or two to see if that helps improve the experience.
The Summary: I had low expectations for Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer; I’d not really heard much about it except the usual vague chatter about how it was another tedious, cheap tie-in to a big budget movie and, unfortunately, I can’t argue with that. Fundamentally, it’s not really that insulting; the titular foursome are all represented pretty well, even if I favoured the Human Torch and the Thing (but that’s just personal preference on my part), with some fun superpowers to experiment with using the Fusion System. I get why you’d tie this to a regenerating meter, but it drains so quickly that you’ll be relying on the lacklustre combo strings more than anything. The dialogue and expansion on the movie’s story are also quite enjoyable and the game tries to show some new and visually interesting areas, but it never quite capitalises on any of the mechanics it includes beyond the bog-standard brawling. It’s fun chasing around as the Human Torch, but these sections are very brief and don’t ask much of you than to spam A or X as often as possible and avoid obstacles, and don’t even get me started on Sue’s God-awful “stealth” section. What really drags this game down, though, is just how long and boring the levels are and the lack of replayability; the unlockable costumes are pretty good (and it’s nice to see more than one included for a change) but I really don’t think anyone will be excited to slog through this on the harder difficulty or grind to upgrade and unlock everything as it’s such a time-consuming and monotonous experience. The bosses are also a massive let down and the game misses opportunities to have you recreate scenes from the film; like, why not shorten a couple of the levels and put in a forest mission where you need to activate those generators to bring down the Silver Surfer? Or, better yet, why not include a Silver Surfer auto-racer/shooter for the climax where you fend off Galactus’s attack? Instead, we get a very rushed and cobbled together, uninspiring brawler that’s only worth a playthrough to increase your Gamer Score with some relatively simple Achievements.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
What did you think to Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer? Did you enjoy the Fusion Attacks and the variety of superpowers on offer? What did you think to the levels and boss battles, and were there any elements from the movie you felt were missing from the game? Did you ever unlock everything in this game? Would you like to see another, better Fantastic Four videogame some day? How have you been celebrating the debut of Marvel’s First Family this month? Whatever you think, sign up to share your thoughts on Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer in the comments below.
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