Retcon Punch is on Summer Hours, which means we’re going to be writing fewer in-depth pieces for the month of August. But we’re addicts at this point, so we need a place for our thoughts on all those comics we can’t stop reading. Today, we’re discussing Secret Wars 5, A-Force 3, Ghost Racers 3, Inhumans Attilan Rising 4, Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos 3, Planet Hulk 4, Secret Wars Battleworld 4, Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde 2, and Years of Future Past 4.

Secret Wars 5

Patrick: Spencer was just telling me how, when he was out of town for a couple days, his 12-year-old cousin was staying at his place, and took a swing at reading the first couple issues of Jonathan Hickman’s New Avengers. We both chuckled and said “poor kid” — that’s some thematically dense shit for a 12-year-old and some mythologically dense shit for anyone. The latest issue of Secret Wars plays with the densest nugget from Hickman’s universe-altering run, and unapologetically demands readers to relate to the most unlikely of unlikely protagonists: Doctor Doom, Stephen Strange and Molecule Man. Or maybe I’m making a mistake by trying to make emotional connections to characters that have been so clearly deified — we’ve been calling Doom “God Doom” for months now, but this issue leans into the role that this trio played in creating Battleworld. The issue opens on Strange’s funeral, and on an image so divine, you could only expect it of Esad Ribic.

Those are monuments to the two presumed-deceased architects of Battleworld, towering over a gathering of Thors. If there’s a clearer way to elevate those two characters, I’m not really sure what it would be. Oh, wait: yes I do. On the issue’s title page, Hickman plants the loaded phrase: “Owen Reece died for our sins,” which is language usually reserved for Christ. That means that Doom, Molecule Man (a.k.a. Owen Reece) and Strange aren’t just any trio, they’re the Holy Trinity, fulfilling the roles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, respectively. In typical Hickman fashion, the metaphor isn’t milked for more than it’s worth, as the relationship between these characters (and the world they created) has less in common with Christian dogma and is more in-line with Greek or Norse mythology. That’s what Hickman excels at: mixing all of the most powerful archetypes and forcing them to play in a world he created.

It is worth noting though that Molecule Man does appear to hold the key to destroying one last plane of reality — Battleworld itself. The second coming of Christ is supposed to bring about the apocalypse — so for as dodgy as Hickman is being with his metaphors, I’m guessing that he’ll be taking some cues from the book of Revelation. It’s like he’s blown past the idea of exploring the impossible morality of the leaders of men, and is now earnestly exploring the morality of God. Now that’s thematically dense for anyone. 

A-Force 3

Spencer: Even three issues into its run, I still find the launch of A-Force a little puzzling. Why hype the series so heavily in mainstream media only to tie it into (the not very new reader friendly) Secret Wars? Why is it the only tie-in launched as an ongoing instead of a mini-series? I understand how excited Marvel, readers, and the creative team must be about the idea of an all-women Avengers team, but that concept loses a bit of power in Battleworld, where we don’t fully understand the significance of A-Team being comprised of only women because we don’t know the history or background of Arcadia. Even the idea of a realm turning against God Doom is one we’ve seen in several other Secret Wars tie-ins now.

Marguerite Bennett, G. Willow Wilson, and Jorge Molina’s A-Force 3 doesn’t really address most of these concerns, but what it does do is rise above the other “defying God Doom” stories by focusing on a theme unique solely to A-Force: sisterhood. While we still don’t know why A-Force only includes women, the introduction of several civilian male characters (Black Bolt and Black Panther) implies that it’s a conscious choice made by the A-Force. That means that the bond of sisterhood amongst these women is an intrinsic part of the team, and the fact that the threats against Arcadia come from a traitor within A-Force’s ranks threatens to tear that bond apart.

The idea of “sisterhood” makes Bennett and Wilson’s deft handling of Medusa look even more clever. There’s been friction between She-Hulk and Medusa since the first issue, so at first Medusa seems like the obvious candidate to be the traitor. But things aren’t that simple.

If Medusa ever seemed like she was gunning for She-Hulk’s job, it wasn’t because she wanted power or to follow God Doom — she just thought herself the best choice to protect Arcadia. In the end, she was loyal to her realm and her sisters in the A-Force above all else.

Then there’s Nico’s starry new friend. If the traitor seeks to destroy the bond between the women in the A-Force, then starfield-girl shows why that bond is so powerful to begin with. Her offer to protect A-Team at the end of the issue is made because they first protected her; they made her a part of their sisterhood, and now she seeks to return the favor. Ladies supporting ladies is always a welcome narrative, and these themes help A-Force finally find its niche amongst the crowded Battleworld landscape.

Ghost Racers 3

Drew: Between Severus Snape and Cersei Lannister, it can be easy to forget that villains don’t have to be tragic, sympathetic characters. Indeed, some of the most fun to be had in narratives is a villain you have no qualms about hating — someone so despicable, so evil, that there’s really no other choice. Sure, that means there’s room for some mustache-twirling, but who doesn’t love a nice handlebar mustache? That’s exactly the kind of villain Arcade reveals himself to be in Ghost Racers 3, where Robbie’s escape is brought to an immediate halt when he realizes Gabe has been kidnapped and made to ride in the races.

It’s a masterful reveal, paced perfectly by Felipe Smith and Juan Gedeon. They open the issue reminding us of how far Robbie is from Gabe, showing us the climactic race from the previous issue from Gabe’s perspective. We don’t see Gabe again until the very last page of the issue, but Smith teases us with the notion that something happened to Gabe as Arcade and Zadkiel take in the torture of the rest of the ghost racers.

Nothing is more unsettling than a mysteriously pleased villain — especially one as wickedly evil as Arcade. We can surmise that whatever it is probably has something to do with Gabe, but exactly what isn’t clear. What will Robbie find when he gets home? A ransom note? A thug menacing his brother? Maybe just a dead body? It turns out Arcade is even more cruel than that torture scene lets on, though I suppose he’s also leaving the door open for some kind of daring rescue, which is more than enough to bring me back for the final issue.

Inhumans: Attilan Rising 4

Spencer: I’m the kind of person who learns best by doing. You can explain a process to me until the cows come home, but usually it won’t click until I’ve gotten my hands dirty and gone through the steps on my own a few times. I think that, on a much larger scale, the same thing happens to people when it comes to social issues. For those of us fortunate enough to enjoy more of life’s privileges, it can sometimes be hard to understand what the oppressed actually go through. That’s certainly the case with Queen Medusa in Charles Soule and John Timms’ Inhumans: Attilan Rising 4. Medusa seems to understand, at least on an intellectual level, that God Doom’s Battleworld isn’t a perfect world, but without having experienced it herself, she can’t even begin to fathom how bad things actually are for those who aren’t royal regents like herself.

Black Bolt describes literal machines God Doom is using to blind his servants to the injustices of his world, but these machines are simply metaphors for the way the wealthy and powerful have shaped society as a whole to keep people preoccupied with their own problems and blinded to the plight of the less fortunate. It’s notable that Bolt’s solution isn’t to destroy Doom, but simply to educate as many people about his treachery as possible.

As we can see here, helping people see the truth is the key. Both in the world of Inhumans: Attilan Rising and in real life, once the truth of peoples’ suffering and society’s role in it has been discovered, it can’t be easily forgotten. Neither Soule nor Black Bolt are letting Medusa off the hook for whatever immoral actions she’s taken in the past, but they are giving her a second chance to make the right choices, and fortunately, Medusa doesn’t let them down. Faced with the truth behind the regime she supports, she has no choice but to do the right thing. Now they can only hope the rest of Attilan follows suit.

I don’t think this issue is arguing that ignorance is a “get out of jail free card,” or that it’s the sole responsibility of the oppressed to educate the privileged. It does, though, serve as a powerful reminder for anybody in any position of privilege to regularly question the institutions they benefit from, and to try to see things from the perspective of the less fortunate as much as possible. It also teaches that, while we can’t change what we’ve done in the past, we can still continually learn as much as possible and use our perpetually evolving view of the world to make better choices. Always strive to see past your own perspective and use that information to be a better person; I’d say that’s a vital lesson for everybody, “privileged” or otherwise.

 Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos 3

Michael: Every time I read a Deadpool-ish book by Gerry Duggan I think that more comics need to be written by…comics. Gerry Duggan’s Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos 3 is another example of marrying fanboy knowledge with comedic timing. Throughout this mini-series you can see Duggan’s inner Deadpool trying so hard to overtake the book in the form of the Deadpool ghost. The fact that Duggan exercises restraint and sidelines ‘Pool while Shikla and her cohorts continue their quest shows how much patience and wisdom Duggan has as a writer however.

This issue can be broken down into a handful of comedic bits – which is not a critique in my opinion. Dracula’s role in this issue is basically proving that he’s not crazy and the invisible man still is stalking him – bonus points for the whole “my wife, Barabara, the invisible woman” gag. Duggan plays around with the illogical nature of comic books as Shiklah nonsensically uses a wizard’s severed hand to attack him. Another great bit was the Mummy’s defense of his mostly-inaccurate teleportation powers. This is the kind of unnecessary attention to detail and comic book logic that makes Duggan such a strong Deadpool writer. I don’t think I mentioned this in previous write-ups for this mini, but why exactly does Salva Espin draw Deadpool as an elfin samurai? Is that how Dracula has always looked in the Marvel U? While it’s only mentioned in a line or two of throwaway dialogue I love how ghost Deadpool retains all knowledge of pre-Secret Wars Marvel. If I didn’t know any better I’d say that ghost Deadpool would be the one to solve this whole Doom-God kerfuffle. But that’s the thing; I DO know better.

Planet Hulk 4

Patrick: Okay, I’m normally not that skittish about printing Spoilers, particularly in these Round Ups, but if you were interested in Planet Hulk at all, I’d really encourage you to read up to and through issue four before reading my pithy observations. Since the beginning, writer Sam Humphries has been delightfully coy with the possible identities and fates of Bucky and the Red King, and this issue introduces another intriguing mystery: who was Doc Green before the Gamma got to him? As consumers of serialized mysteries in comics and on TV, I’m representative of an audience already trying to meaningfully tie these mysteries together. My mind had already processed the suspicion that the Red King was a Hulk version of Bucky, or that Steve would have to battle Hulk-Bucky (The Winter Hulk?) to get to the Red King, or some other plot twist that borders on being too convenient to feel real. The actual twist — that Bucky was killed a month ago, and his head was send to Doom — is so much more powerful and believable that what my comic-addled imagination was expecting. It’s just the sad, inevitable truth: Battleworld is a cruel and unforgiving and unsentimental place, which is what Doc Green has been saying all along.

The issue is also just a powerhouse of propulsive action sequences, each page building on the circumstances of the previous. Steve and Devil Dinosaur end up tackling the horde of Hulks like fucking Rambo. I end up spending the entire last half of this issue with my heart in my throat as the cheer-worthy moments just keep compounding. Marc Laming’s simple staging makes these moments crystal clear — and that’s all you need when wielding images as potent as Cap drawing a star on his chest, or Devil Dinosaur emerging from the wreckage of a building he just destroyed. Or this little moment:

Fuck. Yes.

Between this and Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde, Humphries might be emerging as my MVP of Secret Wars. The man knows how to use the resources available to him to craft unique and fascinating stories with character simultaneously familiar and alien.

Secret Wars Battleworld 4

Drew: At its best, Battleworld affords creators the opportunity to reexamine Marvel’s characters by riffing on what makes them special in the first place. At its worst, its an excuse to make characters fight for seemingly no reason. Battleworld 4 demonstrates both ends of the spectrum as it takes two different Silver Surfers on two very different adventures.

The first, from writer/artist James Stokoe, imagines Galactus as the embodiment of power in ancient Egypt, forcing his slaves not to erect monuments, but to collect food to slake his hunger. It’s a familiar enough riff on what we know, but Stokoe has a lot of fun reinventing Marvel characters in that world: Fin Fang Foom is a giant crocodile who terrorizes ferrymen on the Nile, while Juggernaut is a Hercules-esqe adventurer who helps Norrin slay the beast. Stokoe’s art is just as inventive as the setting, offering some truly gorgeous hatching, textures, and colors.

The second story, from Peter David and Daniel Valadez, doesn’t fare quite as well. It’s every bit as gorgeous — Valadez is also a master of hatching, though in a totaly different style from Stokoe — but focuses on the “battle” between Norrin and Maestro at the expense of any real story. Who are these characters to one another? How did Norrin lose his board in the first place? Why does Maestro even want it? Without any details in the conflict itself, its hard to get invested in the outcome. Though, Maestro never really seems that broken up about losing, so maybe it didn’t matter, anyway.

Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde 2

Patrick: One of the things I love about Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde is how aware the creative team seems to be about how much fun their series is. Writer Sam Humphries uses Battleworld as an excuse to make Alti Firmansyah draw some totally outlandish, crazy characters, settings and situations. The first of the which is the group that attacks our heroes in “Pizza My Heart” pizzeria: the New Mutdroids. Unpacking that for a second — they are robotic version of the New Mutants: Cannonball, Sunspot, Magik and Psylocke. The robot versions of this characters, brainlessly spout all the hacky expository bullshit these characters are guilty of actually spouting in their earlier appearances, including Psylocke’s infamous claim about the “focused totality of [her] psychic powers.” Kitty makes quick work of them, so it seems a little bit like Humphries is pissing on those characters and their necessarily cheesy origins, but then he goes ahead and sneaks in a little Peter Quill voice over admitting that “the robots were kinda fun.”

Humphries and Firmansyah follow that fun wherever the story takes them. The actual plot is like a Battleworld riff on a classic cop-and-criminal team-up, with longingly romantic undertones, but it’s the surplus of jokey Marvel details that really elevates this thing. I laughed out loud, startling everyone near me at the Starbucks, when we cut to the Doomenheim Museum. That’s an idea so wacky in print, I wasn’t sure how Firmansyah was going to match it visually. Turns out the answer is easy: just draw the Gugenheim and slap Doom’s face on it.

That goofiness clearly comes from the Star-Lord part of the Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde equation, but she’s pretty well represented thematically too. As the protagonist of Days of Future Past, Kitty is sort of the poster-child for engaging in melancoly what-if scenarios. Here, she’s surprisingly receptive to Peter’s affections, just, you know, the second he stops offering them. That kiss in the first issue felt a touch rapey, and it seems like that wasn’t lost on Peter or Kitty, as one resigns themselves to the idea that this isn’t the old relationship and the other thinks there might be something here anyway. It’s a heady premise for a story of the heart, but man is it engaging.

Years of Future Past 4

Spencer: It has to suck being a pawn — those poor little chess pieces are meant to be disposable, sacrificed in order to advance more powerful pieces. Yet, if a pawn makes it all the way across the board, it can be promoted, transforming into a more powerful piece. Throughout Marguerite Bennett and Mike Norton’s Years of Future Past the children of Shadowcat and Colossus — Chrissy and Cameron Pryde — have been treated like pawns, maneuvered and manipulated to either lead or be sacrificed to progress the Mutant Cause, but by the end of issue four, both have been promoted. Sadly, it’s only the beginning of their war.

While Kitty and the others hoped to use Chrissy to lead the Mutant Revolution, Magneto and Rachel were planning to turn her and Cameron into martyrs for the cause. By the end of the issue Magneto is dead and Cameron and Chrissy have reached opposing conclusions: Chrissy wants to lead the revolution while Cameron has decided to wipe out all mutants. In a way it reminds me of a loose, rather twisted recreation of the Professor X/Magneto dynamic, and that seems appropriate, as the idea of the past repeating itself is a subtle, but important theme of Years of Future Past 4.

It mostly comes into play with Cameron. He wants to destroy the mutants because he thinks their very existence has thrown the world out of balance and directly caused their current dystopia. He thinks that the existence of mutants is preventing humans from reaching their grand destiny, but this theory ignores mankind’s entire history. Humans have always been scared of change and quick to persecute any who are different from them; just look at the Nazis or the American Internment Camps for the Japanese during WWII or the conflicts between tribes in Rwanda or any number of similar conflicts. This kind of hatred and war isn’t anything new — Cameron’s solution is only perpetuating millions of years of genocide and endless conflict. Meanwhile, Chrissy has learned that war is hell, but she’s ready to step up and try to put an end to this conflict anyway. Both Pryde children have grown from pawns into full-fledged leaders; now we just have to see who comes out on top.

This is all some grim, thematically deep stuff, but fortunately, Norton’s crisp pencils (and creative depiction of abilities, especially when it comes to Cameron) and Bennett’s ability to poke fun at her own writing quirks (as well as general overused X-Men tropes) keep the relentless darkness from taking over completely.

In a series this grim, these moments of levity are more necessary (and welcome) than ever.

Did you read some Secret Wars tie-ins that we didn’t? Sure you did! There are holes in our pull list. Holes that you’re encouraged to fill with your comments. Let’s keep talking about Secret Wars.