Conan the Barbarian: Scourge of the Serpent #4 Preview

 

COVER A: ROBERTO DE LA TORRE

 

Conan has made an indelible impression on the pop culture landscape. While other characters come and go, Robert E Howard's other characters also resonate with lasting power. How will Conan's latest uniting of the Howardverse finish? And how might it impact the Cimmerian's future? 

Here's all the info from Titan Comics: 

CONAN THE BARBARIAN: SCOURGE OF THE SERPENT #4 (OF 4)

(W) Jim Zub  

(A) Ivan Gil

Publisher: Heroic Signatures and Titan Comics

FC • 32pp • $4.99

On Sale January 7, 2026

 

THE NEW CONAN EPIC EVENT CONCLUDES!

 

CONAN OF CIMMERIA has encountered Stygian sorcery and snakesent creatures many times in his grand adventures, but he has never faced the true unspeakable power of SET… until NOW.

 

The serpent god's influence coils around the Hyborian Age and every other age linked to it. Three stunning supernatural stories will weave together to answer a chilling question of past and present - What is Set's grand plan for humanity and, now that it's begun, can it be stopped? 

 

 

Here's a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

 

COVER B: LUCIO PARRILLO

 

 

COVER C: MARK BAGLEY

COVER D: ROBERTO DE LA TORRE VIRGIN VAR

 

COVER E: LUCIO PARRILLO VIRGIN VAR 

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1 Review

 

Writer: Jed MacKay

Penciler: Ryan Stegman

Inker: JP Mayer

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Cover Artists: Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer & Marte Gracia; Aaron Kuder & Marte Gracia; Stanley “Artgerm” Lau; Cory Smith & Carlos Lopez; Rickie Yagawa & Tamra Bonvillain; Mark Bagley & Alex Sinclair

Design: Jay Bowen

Editors: Lindsey Cohick, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $5.99

Release Date: October 1, 2025

 

When voices awaken him, Scott Summers peers through his visor. Although he recognizes the people around him, they look different. Older. As he rises from the hospital bed and yanks the contact pads off his forehead, Scott asks what's going on. His “friends” tell him they’ve transported his consciousness from his era and supplanted him in his older body. Worse than the abduction, they destroyed his present consciousness to bring him here. Why did his older colleagues summon him to the future? And can he trust them? Let’s grab our visors, leap into X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1, and see!

 

Story

Magneto, so often Scott's adversary, wears an X on his belt. He leads Scott out of the cave and shows him a foreign land. It used to be the United States. Below him, nature has encroached upon cities. Foliage-crowned, crumbling towers poke above the forest. Magneto tells him that a mutative virus is sweeping across the United States. Like the Terrigen Bomb that activated Kamala Khan's Inhuman genes, this virus turns Humans into Mutants. This virus has also changed the landscape, destroying the roads and cities that helped Humanity thrive.

 

 

As Scott realizes that civilization lies in ruins, he learns that Doug Ramsey rules the isolated pockets of survivors in this vast, expanding landscape. His choristers assist those villages loyal to him. Seraphim kill the dissenters. Millions may have died. But the Revelation Territories have taken on the vitality of the Mutant nation of Krakoa that Doug helped create. As Cipher, Doug helped people communicate and grow in harmony with nature. Now, as Revelation, Doug takes inspiration from the Biblical story of Humanity's first attempt to build a skyscraper. He turns dissenters into Babels stripped of any ability to communicate in X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1.

 

 

 

After providing a glimpse of village life, Jed MacKay's story follows Scott, Revelation, and his seraphim, Psylocke. But the spotlight shines brightest on Scott Summers as he navigates unfamiliar surroundings. He doesn't know this world or who he can trust. And in their desperate struggle to survive, the X-Men employ harsher methods than Scott approves of. While they value his abilities, some aren't ready to follow him. He may not like what his X-Men have done. Still, Scott Summers fights to meet the demands facing him without relinquishing his principles in X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1. 

 

 

 

Art

Ryan Stegman and JP Mayer fill traditional page layouts with natural beauty, drama, and action. Scott's muscular body, long hair, beard, and clothing show how time has forced his older self to adapt. His new allies mutter to each other about him. Most regard him with frowns. After cloaking his features in shadow, Magneto's face appears within his mask as he explains the world they inhabit. Then a hairy Mutant leaps from above the cave mouth to confront them. 

 

 

 

Edgar Delgado applies a loaded palette of nuanced colors to X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1. Like the fire that accompanies his choristers' appearances, Revelation adorns himself in yellow and orange. As he plucks blue fruit from a tree, the purple foliage forms a link with our first glimpse of his wife. But Bei's predominant red outfit links her with Magneto's costume and Scott's cape. Still, no color reinforces the harshness of this Brave New World like pink. It colors Glob Herman's translucent body, Psylocke's sword, and the energy whirling around Quentin Quire's goggles.

 

 

 

Clayton Cowles fills panels with black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons and narrative balloons. When he bends others to his will, Revelation speaks white letters into black boxes. White block letters introduce settings and characters. Telepathic communication occurs in cloudy balloons. Sound effects enhance weapon fire and clashing blades, while giant letters overtake the background when Revelation sends his Angel of Death to dispatch his enemies. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a review copy.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

As Cipher, Doug Ramsey helped the Mutants thrive. Now, as Revelation, he isolates people into small pockets of civilization that he can control. While ruling with an iron fist, the truth becomes whatever Revelation wishes it to be. And anyone who disagrees with him never does so again. Jed MacKay, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Edgar Delgado, and Clayton Cowles deliver a far-reaching meditation on what happens when the abilities that help us achieve greatness outweigh our respect for others in X-Men: Age of Revelation Overture #1.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 Review

 

Writer: Marc Guggenheim

Artist: Kaare Andrews

Colorist: Brian Reber

Letterer: Travis Lanham

Cover Artists: Kaare Andrews; Mark Bagley & Richard Isanove; Nick Bradshaw & Jim Charalampidis; Clayton Crain; David Marquez & Matthew Wilson; Dike Ruan & Moreno Dinisio

Design: Adam Del Re

Editors: Cy Pedro Beltran, Mark Basso, Tom Brevoort, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 21, 2025

 

Bill Branscome wants a meetup. So, Wolverine joins him in a HYDRA Safe House in Berlin. As with the fall of the USSR, SHIELD’s disbanding leaves lots of weapons up for grabs. Like James Bond, Bill doesn’t want a database of present and former undercover agents to become public knowledge. Can Wolverine prevent the Janus Directory from falling into the wrong hands? And where does Spider-Man fit into Wolverine’s mission? Let’s grab our Walther PPKs, leap into Spider-Man & Wolverine #1, and see!

 

Story

When Peter Parker arrives at the Coffee Bean, he’s late for another date with Shay. The couple are still trying to figure out if they’re compatible, and Peter’s constant tardiness isn't helping. Like Aunt May, Shay muses about why Peter can't hold a steady job and be a dependable boyfriend. Then Logan rolls in on his chopper and tells Peter to hop on the back. Once again, Peter leaves Shay wondering why she keeps coming back for more disappointment.

 

Marc Guggenheim spins his fast-paced story in a light-hearted, breezy style. Amid the battles he and Wolverine face, drama abounds in Spider-Man & Wolverine #1. Part of the drama comes from the weapons their foes deploy. More comes from the cliffhanger ending, which delves into both the protagonists' backstories. The spectacular foes of Spider-Man and Wolverine welcome the Janus Directory as bait to entrap their mutual nemeses.

 

While it forms a small part of the narrative, a key component of the drama in Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 occurs at the beginning. Peter Parker was working on becoming a better friend. Despite his duties as Spider-Man, Peter carved time out of his schedule for weekly meetings with Miles Morales and the other regulars at the ESU Coffee. Peter also made a commitment to Shay and himself on a pivotal date. Yet he keeps flaking out on subsequent dates with Shay. And each time, Peter assures Shay that the next time will be different.

 

 

 

Art

Kaare Andrews immediately impresses with Wolverine slashing apart HYDRA agents. Bill Branscome leans against brickwork in a tunnel, illuminated by his cigarette lighter. Images of Logan as a sniper and a secret agent overlay his profile. Spider-Man performs a midair costume change into civilian attire while somersaulting down to his date. Kaare Andrews overlays similar memories over Peter's profile. Then Logan rolls in on his Harley in a leather jacket, tosses Peter a helmet, and says, "Let's ride."

 

Brian Reber lavishes bright colors on scenes that rarely fill more than half a page. Yellow and orange fill panels as Omega Red and Kraven the Hunter unleash destruction on a SHIELD helicarrier. Black dominates a page of Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 as one character struggles with fear. Yet green and magenta remind us of Spider-Man's troubled past and perhaps hint at the reason he struggles to commit to Shay.

 

Travis Lanham fills white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes with black, uppercase letters. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and shrink for lowered voices. Stylish yellow and red banners introduce the locations in this fast-paced, dialogue-filled story. Sound effects accompany Logan greeting Bill, Kraven emulating Hawkeye’s attack on Nick Fury’s helicarrier, and Peter channeling his Computer Science lessons at ESU.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While striving to do our best, sometimes what we do isn’t very nice. In Spider-Man & Wolverine #1, Logan’s past reminds us of the difficulties in keeping a group of like-minded people together, whether it's an organization like SHIELD, a team like the Avengers, or a relationship between two loving people.

 

Rating 9.2/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

The Spectacular Spider-Men #14 Review

 

Writer: Greg Weisman

Artist: Andrés Genolet

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Production: Gabriel Mata

Editors: Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Edgar Delgado; Andrei Bressan & Edgar Delgado

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: April 16, 2025

 

Curt and Martha Connors begged their son to live in Shift's Enclave. But Billy Connors didn't want to hide in the sewers with jackals and vermin. Angered by society's disdain for his appearance, Billy climbed up to the streets. But when he noticed Max Dillon and Francine Frye, the kissing Electros spotted an opportunity. They held Billy for ransom and forced Curt to help them fry The Spectacular Spider-Men.

 

Curt Connors isn’t the Lizard anymore. Still, the Lizard helped Curt force the Electros to take them to Billy. But when Billy wasn’t where they left him, the Lizard threw a hissy fit. Can Peter Parker and Miles Morales help Curt Connors and the Lizard find Billy? And how is Anna Romney doing after Max and Francine electrocuted her? Let's grab a "Parker" from Max Vinck, thwip into The Spectacular Spider-Men #14, and find out!

 

Story

Before she gained superpowers, Juliet Marcos enjoyed a whirlwind romance with Anna Romney. But all that was an illusion spun by Arcadium. When Anna stepped into the ESU Coffee Bean, Juliet introduced herself. As the two became friends, Rickie Lund wondered where she stood with her girlfriend. When Anna risked her life to protect Juliet, Rickie lashed out. Rickie hesitates to enter Anna’s hospital room in The Spectacular Spider-Men #14. How can Rickie face Anna after distrusting her and blaming Juliet for endangering her?

 

Peter and Miles bear responsibility for Juliet and Anna’s electrocutions. The Electros were after them, not the ladies. But when they awakened, Peter and Miles left the paramedics to deal with Anna so they could prevent the Lizard from devouring the Electros. They didn’t even wait to see if Juliet was okay. So after Max resuscitates Juliet, the young superhero reacts badly to being blamed for Anna's near-death experience in The Spectacular Spider-Men #14.

 

Shift has told Miles that he wants to belong somewhere. Like Billy Connors, Shift wants an identity and a life above ground. He may be Miles’ clone. Still, Shift also feels responsible for the people he looks after in the sewers. While Peter and Miles thwip and fight in the spotlight, Shift proves the most responsible Spider-Man in Greg Weisman’s story.

 

Art

The Lizard’s white lab jacket, purple slacks, and green skin evoke the Hulk as he battles Peter and Miles in the abandoned warehouse. The Lizard hits, slashes, and snaps his T-Rex-like mouth as he insists upon Billy’s return. The Electros may have left, but the Lizard seeks a target for his anger. Yet Andrés Genolet suggests that the Lizard's anger may also stem from his relationship, or lack thereof, with the boy he loves in The Spectacular Spider-Men #14.

 

Rickie's yellow and black hair echoes her black top and tan slacks. Edgar Delgado's coloring reminds us that we all wrestle with positive and negative emotions. The red-and-yellow print hanging in the room suggests Rickie’s link with superheroes. Rickie's future reverberates through Peter and Miles' flight past dark buildings with glowing yellow and tan windows as they search for the boy close to Curt and the Lizard's hearts.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase letters into white and colored balloons and narrative boxes. Dialogue grows bold, swells for volume, and rarely shrinks. The Lizard’s cloudy balloons fill with large letters, evoking the differences between the Hulk and Bruce Banners or the two Captain Kirks in "The Enemy Within." The names and descriptions in white boxes remind us how large Peter and Miles' circle of care has become in The Spectacular Spider-Men #14. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Amid drama, reconciliation, and an intense rescue plot, The Spectacular Spider-Men #14 reminds us families come in all shapes and sizes and to look out for the people we bring into our lives.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Deadpool Vs. Wolverine: Slash ‘Em Up #1 Review

 

Writer: Christos Gage

Artist: Alan Robinson

Colorist: Carlos Lopez

Letterer: Joe Sabino

Cover Artists: Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Mark Bagley & Richard Isanove

Production Design: Carlos Lao

Digital Comics Specialist: Annie Cheng

Print Layout Production: Meghan O’Leary

Sr Manager Digital: Tim Smith 3

Editors: Drew Baumgartner, Cy Pedro Beltran, Mark Basso, Tom Brevoort & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $5.99

Release Date: March 19, 2025

 

When Deadpool enters Madri-Gen, guards greet the merc with a mouth at gunpoint. Deadpool apologizes for shattering their plate glass window. But he has a job to do. Deadpool won’t let locked doors or men in uniforms stand in his way of securing a paycheck.

 

Unfortunately for Wade, more than guards impede his march toward a five-star review. Wolverine also wants to steal the company's hot new product. As in Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII, Wade and Logan pursue the same target. Neither will let the other get in his way. Who will claim the neurostimulator? And who will leave Madri-Gen empty-handed? Let's leap into Deadpool Vs. Wolverine Slash 'Em Up #1, and find out!

 

Story

While Deadpool doesn't want to disappoint his client, Wolverine's ambitions are more complicated. At least, they seem so. Logan believes he let a young man down a long time ago. Securing the neurostimulator for his former friend helps Logan feel like righting a wrong. But Logan’s memories of his time before he became Weapon X make Wade jealous. In Christos Gage’s story, Deadpool would give anything to reclaim memories of his youth.

 

This realization pits the two living weapons at odds. Yet it also unites them. While they hack and slash their way through Madri-Gen and each other, Wade and Logan debate the importance of memories. As they try to steal this device for their clients, both men realize that Deadpool could benefit most by using it. Yet lingering in the background of Deadpool Vs Wolverine Slash ‘Em Up #1 is a question.

 

Logan’s memories of torture and enslavement weigh him down. Peter Parker sacrificed his additional memories of Uncle Ben to return Spider-Boy to the Web Of Life And Destiny. Will reclaiming his past complete Deadpool or fill the aching void with dead weight?

 

Art

As Deadpool takes on young guns with attitude, Wolverine arrives to cross claws with swords. Amid the slashing, hacking, and impalements, the two living weapons entertain their opponents before killing them. Alan Robinson transforms the high-tech corporate world into a Dungeons And Dragons tournament in Deadpool Vs. Wolverine: Slash 'Em Up #1. As Wade and Logan follow in Indiana Jones’ footsteps, they battle beings from Dr Moreau’s laboratories at Omni Consumer Products.

 

Carlos Lopez applies a loaded palette to the heroes’ journey from the sleek, neutral floors and ceilings of desk-filled offices to subbasements filled with traps, pitfalls, and monstrosities. Vibrant colors fill backgrounds in closeups. Gunfire, laser beams, and explosions brighten this fast-paced action thriller. Yet nothing warms the pages of Deadpool Vs. Wolverine: Slash 'Em Up #1 as much as Deadpool's zest of life and how he shares others' pain.

 

Joe Sabino fills white and yellow dialogue balloons with uppercase letters that grow bold for intonation, enlarge for volume, and shrink for lowered voices. Deadpool ensures that he and Wolverine receive headliner status with red 3D logos. The merc with a mouth also vocalizes every injury. Sound effects help us hear grunting ground troops, bouncing grenades, bonking heads, and wall-demolishing impacts. Who knew Mace wasn't a helpful hardware place? Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Some claim that memories are for losers who lead uninteresting lives. Many preach that it is not what you know but what you do that matters. Yet you cannot understand the worth of something until you have it. Wolverine prefers to shatter a mirror than look in it. But in Deadpool Vs Wolverine Slash 'Em Up #1, Wade Wilson wants to perceive the man he has become. And he can't do that without having something that may not be good for him.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #66 Review

 

Writer: Justina Ireland

Artist: Andrea Broccardo

Colorist: Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Richard Isanove; Kaare Andrews; Skottie Young; Chris Samnee & Matthew Wilson; Paco Diaz & Frank D’Armata

Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 22, 2025

 

Callix wants to please his father. His sister, Cyra, wants her life to have meaning. Dr Strange wants Peter Parker to uphold his covenant with Cyttorak. Aunt May wants help running the FEAST Center. Randy Robertson wants Peter’s help to make the gallery show a success. Spider-Boy wants Spider-Man to continue his training. Shay Marken wants her boyfriend to invest in their relationship. And when Black Cat looks back on her relationship with Peter, she wonders why she thought Amelia was an upgrade.

 

Unlike everyone else, Peter Parker doesn't want anything. Food is the sole reminder of his former joy in life. Death has scarred and changed him. Can Peter remember who he used to be and why he sacrificed everything to be that person? Let's strap on our arcane armor, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #66, and find out!

 

Story

Peter Parker cannot please everyone. Spider-Man cannot protect everyone. Peter was already at the breaking point when Doctor Doom lumbered him with another responsibility. Still, Peter defeated gravity-wielding Cyntros and the space beetle Cyperion. Spider-Man didn’t need a TARDIS to take down the time-traveling Cyrios. Nor did Peter need aspirin to tackle pain-inflicting Callix or a chew toy to distract the scion's Crimson Hounds. Spider-Man didn't even drop the ball when tried by the deadly Cyra. But at the end of her test, Peter realizes the truth behind the frustrations he voiced when all this started. “Everything’s so important that nothing matters.”

 

While Peter has lost hope in Amazing Spider-Man #66, a ray of sunshine pierces Cyra’s shell of indifference. Cyra is so inured to her depression that the warmth is alien to her. Her father's gift granted her a cosmic view of the universe. But instead of seeing life spring eternal, she only saw the Inevitability Of Death. Tasked with an unwanted responsibility from her father, Cyra judged everyone on Earth by Dr Strange. But Stephen Strange differs markedly from Peter Parker. While Cyra infected Peter with depression, Peter made Cyra wonder what it felt like to care about others. Her task, the one Cyra never wanted, is over. But instead of sinking into a hot bath with a glass of vino, Cyra lingers, desperate to understand the man she broke like an unwanted toy.

 

As Peter walks through the disaster zone that was once his life, Justina Ireland contrasts Peter Parker with Doctor Strange. Stephen calculates the cost of helping others. He observes them and strategizes the best way to help them. Dr Strange uses deceit and psychology to manipulate them into “giving their best.” As Cyra observes, Strange endured her “Emo Fanfic” by employing a professional distance from humanity. Yet even as Peter tells himself nothing matters, he cannot stop engaging with others. Peter Parker may be stumbling in the darkness. Still, he illuminates heroes and villains in Amazing Spider-Man #66. 

 

 

 

Art

Cyttorak’s eyes glow when his scions assemble. Yet the energy shooting from Cyttorak’s eyes dies when Callix claims he succeeded where his brothers and sisters failed. Andrea Broccardo reveals Callix's desperation when he takes his Crimson Hounds for walkies in a forbidden cave. Monstrous stalagmites rise while lightning leaps from hovering shards of rock. Yellow eyes and buried limbs suggest a graveyard. Yet the glowing orbs in the gray floor and the cracks that rent the red air reveal that life still throbs in this place of death. Or perhaps it is a shadow out of time in the mountains of madness.

 

Like everyone else Peter sees in Amazing Spider-Man #66, Dr Strange is dead and alive. Marcio Menyz & Erick Arciniega contrast his blue and aqua-green spirit with Cyra’s black, red, crimson, and magenta appearance. Despite the sunlight shining down on New York City, colors fade where Peter Parker walks. The vibrant street life before him hints at the vitality Peter once prized when Shay, adorned in a T-shirt with a yellow sun, shares what keeps her going. But when Peter looks around, he sees only black, white, and gray. 

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into dialogue balloons, red-edged narrative boxes, and tan boxes. The dialogue grows bold for inflection, enlarges for volume, and rarely shrinks. Dr Strange speaks blue letters into blue-edged white balloons, while Spider-Boy uses his foot to upbraid a criminal for his insensitivity. As Callix schemes and observers talk, the letters on a flyer confirm Peter’s new paradigm. Still, the numbers on a cash register urge Peter to remember why he became Spider-Man. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While Miles Morales engages with the gods in Wakanda, Peter Parker struggles to grasp the reed of truth in New York. Like Miles, Peter cannot recover what he lost by fighting. Instead, Peter must peer into himself and rediscover the truth of his life in Amazing Spider-Man #66.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #65 Deaths Review

 

Writer: Derek Landy

Penciler: Kev Walker

Inkers: Kev Walker & Wade Von Grawbadger

Colorist: Mattia Iacono

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Richard Isanove; Carlo Pagulayan & Romulo Fajardo Jr

Editors: Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & C B Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: January 15, 2025

 

What does it matter how much you accomplish? Everyone forgets you after you die, and your impact on the world fades. The fifth scion of Cyttorak claims her test is the Inevitability Of Truth. Spider-Man dubs it the Inevitability Of Death. He knows Cyra's visions speak emotional rather than literal truth. Yet Spider-Man grasps defeat from the jaws of victory. He refuses to uphold Doctor Strange's Covenant and fight Cyttorak's three remaining scions.

 

Will Peter Parker let Earth fall? Or can Doctor Strange convince him to preserve the Covenant? Let's take a long look in the mirror, thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #65 Deaths, and find out!

 

Story

Doctor Strange imagined the worst. No matter how much he learned or how hard he practiced, Doctor Strange could never protect Earth from every possible danger. So, the Sorcerer Supreme bargained with Cyttorak. In exchange for more power, Doctor Strange agreed to battle the scions of Cyttorak every January of the Crimson Calendar year. The bargain worked until Doctor Strange died. Now, the responsibility of protecting Earth from Cyttorak's wrath falls to someone else.

 

Doctor Doom doesn't care about non-Latverians enough to protect them. The new Sorcerer Supreme looks for someone willing to put the needs of others above himself. Doctor Doom gives Spider-Man arcane armor to protect him while battling demigods. Doom also gifts Peter the eight Get Out Of Death Free Reeds Of Raggadorr. Yet in Amazing Spider-Man #65 Deaths, Peter Parker says, “I’m done.” Doctor Strange doesn’t understand Peter’s decision. To the former Sorcerer Supreme, life is a game, and Peter has a role to play.

 

In his story, Derek Landy contemplates the tapestry that connects every person in the multiverse. Like all spider heroes, Peter feels that interconnectedness thanks to the Web Of Life And Destiny. Yet Cyra revealed everyone's insignificance. Saving individual lives means nothing in that context.

 

The deaths of beloved individuals like Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy helped Peter Parker feel a responsibility to protect those he didn’t know. But in Amazing Spider-Man #65 Deaths, Peter no longer knows who he is. Peter cannot suddenly view the world through Doctor Doom or Doctor Strange’s eyes. All Peter can see is that he built his life on a lie.

 

 

 

Art

Kev Walker and Wade Von Grawbadger show Peter shuffling through life. Like a zombie, he moves without purpose and sees without observing. Peter leaves his apartment to purchase a hot dog. Then he stares into space as the ketchup and mustard ooze onto the kitchen table. Peter takes no pleasure in eating. Even the flavor of the food he chose cannot reach the pleasure centers of his brain. Devoid of purpose, Peter hugs a pillow and retracts into a near-fetal position.

 

Mattia Iacono juxtaposes Phil Coulson's cool purplish-black suit with warm browns, tans, and golds in Peter's apartment. Like Vision, Coulson floats through his surroundings. Unlike Peter, he observes. Still, he drifts. Coulson struggles to sit with Peter as an equal, preferring to stand to attention. When Coulson peers into Peter's memories, bright colors explode around him. Like the fireworks on the Fourth Of July, the formative clashes and catastrophes that transformed Peter Parker into Spider-Man surround these lost souls on a battered red couch.  

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black and blue lettering into white dialogue balloons. The dialogue grows bold for inflection and never shrinks. Peter signals his disinterest in life by slamming a door on Doctor Strange, then hurling the door closed before Phil Coulson. Yet the spectral font that fills cloudy dialogue balloons inevitably accompanies Coulson’s Test Of Truth. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Phil Coulson never chose to embrace the dead. Like Peter Parker, he feels lost, drifting through an endless existence. Doctor Strange urges Coulson to convince Peter to uphold the Covenant in Amazing Spider-Man #65 Deaths. As Phil Coulson peers into Peter’s mind, Coulson remembers the events that shaped him and discovers why he has become more than a government agent who collects superhero trading cards.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.