Cletus Kasady has renewed his killing spree, and the FBI is following the trail of bodies. They think they’re ready: They have the latest sonic tech, and a specialist team including military hero/astronaut John Jameson and a reformed Eddie Brock! And when they pursue Carnage into an abandoned coal mine, the trap is set — but is it for him, or for them?
Moonshadow was originally a twelve-issue maxi-series by Marvel Comics under the Epic imprint. It was the first American comic book whose art was done entirely by painting. The series was subsequently reprinted as a single volume in 1989. Also in 1989, a limited edition hardcover was also released by Graphitti Designs. Only 1200 copies of this edition were published, each individually numbered and signed by DeMatteis and Muth.
The story takes the form of an eclectic and quirky fairy tale with satirical elements and dealing with philosophical concerns. It is told via the framing device of Moonshadow, now 120, looking back on his earlier life. The action concerns the events leading up to the “awakening” of Moonshadow, the child of a hippy mother and an enigmatic alien father. The alien, who resembles a glowing orb of light bearing a stylized human face, abducted Moonshadow’s mother from Earth in 1968 along with her black pet cat, Frodo. When the idealistic and naive Moonshadow is orphaned at approximately age 15, he becomes friends with a venal and opportunistic furry humanoid named Ira. Moonshadow and Ira and Frodo the cat set out to find a life for themselves in the stars.
In 1994, DC Comics, under their Vertigo imprint, republished the individual issues as a limited series. The Compleat Moonshadow followed in 1998. This edition also included Farewell, Moonshadow, a one-issue sequel, also published by Vertigo, which, set long after the action of the first miniseries, acts as a coda to the series. The Compleat Moonshadow included textual revisions to the original series.
John Byrne stated, in both interviews and his website, that he drew a possible face for Wolverine, but then learned that Dave Cockrum had already drawn him unmasked in X-Men #98 (April 1976), long before Byrne’s run on the series. Later, Byrne used the drawing for the face of Sabretooth, an enemy of the martial artist superhero Iron Fist, whose stories Chris Claremont was writing. Byrne then conceived of the idea of Sabretooth being Wolverine’s father. Together, Byrne and Claremont came up with Wolverine being approximately 60 years old and having served in World War II after escaping from Sabretooth, who was approximately 120 years old. The plan had been for Wolverine to have been almost crushed in an accident; he would discover, when attempting to stand for the first time after recovering, that his healing factor does not work on bones, and his legs immediately break. He then spends over a decade in a hospital bed, almost going mad, when the Canadian government approaches him with the idea of replacing his skeleton one bone at a time with adamantium, the claws being a surprise. This origin, too, was never used.
The Hunger rounds out the Age of Ultron event, dealing with the implications of the changes in the Marvel Universe status quo. For example, The Hunger serves as a catalyst for the Cataclysm event in the Marvel Ultimate Comics universe, which involves that Universe’s war against Galactus.
The series mainly builds on the events of Ultimates 3, in which the villainous robot Ultron shoots and kills the Scarlet Witch. Ultron’s rebellion and Wanda’s death lead to a series of events which end with the apparent death of Wanda’s brother, Quicksilver, who is shot by Hawkeye when Quicksilver uses his super-speed to intercept the bullet meant for his father. Magneto vows revenge on the Ultimates. Before escaping the Ultimates, Magneto is able to steal Thor’s hammer which he uses, along with his magnetic abilities, to reverse the Earth’s polarity. It is further revealed that Doctor Doom was manipulating these events.
X-Factor was relaunched in July 2020 as part of Dawn of X written by Leah Williams and drawn by David Baldeon. The new team investigates cases of missing mutants and presumed deaths for Krakoa, confirming if they can be resurrected. The team works closely with The Five, a circuit of mutants introduced in House of X/Powers of X working in conjunction to resurrect fallen mutants.
Following Mark Gruenwald’s departure from the series, Mark Waid took over and resurrected Sharon Carter as Cap’s love interest. The title was then relaunched under Rob Liefeld as Cap became part of the Heroes Reborn universe for 13 issues before another relaunch restored Waid to the title in an arc that saw Cap lose his shield for a time using an energy based shield as a temporary replacement.
In May 2015, Marvel published a new Secret Wars miniseries, written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribić, that picked up from where the “Time Runs Out” storyline running in Avengers and New Avengers at the time had ended. The storyline involved the Marvel Universe combining with other alternate universes, including the Ultimate Universe, as well as the 2099 Universe, to form Battleworld, a world which exhibits aspects of the various universes. The core limited series was nine issues long, and ran for eight months, ending in January 2016. One of the core miniseries, Ultimate End, had ended the Ultimate Marvel imprint after 15 years at the time. Ultimate End is written by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley, the team that began the Ultimate Marvel universe with Ultimate Spider-Man.
The Thor title resumed its original numbering in 2009 with Thor #600, including the intervening issues of Thor in its count while disregarding the 1990s Journey Into Mystery issues. Starting with issue #622, the series for a second time had its title restored to Journey Into Mystery, which accompanied the launch of a new title, Mighty Thor. Thor’s supporting cast returned as the focus of a run written by Kieron Gillen, who had written Thor from #604 to #614, and drawn by Doug Braithwaite. Starring was the Thor antagonist Loki, who had been reincarnated as a child following his sacrifice in the series Siege. Gillen’s run was favorably reviewed, with one critic writing:
Gillen’s work has always been big on theme and interconnectedness, and this is no exception. The finale encapsulates the run as a whole — ambitious, ambiguous, clever and uncompromising, as challenging as it is entertaining. Sometimes those qualities hurt it, and although sales were never especially healthy it’s to Marvel’s credit that they helped keep it afloat long enough for a proper ending when the alternative would have surely been easier.
In Gillen’s final issue, a letter from Tom Hiddleston, who portrays Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was published, in which he praised Gillen for his take on the character.
With issue #646, the focus of Journey into Mystery changed with its rebranding under the Marvel NOW! imprint. Written by Kathryn Immonen and drawn by Valerio Schiti, the series began starring the Marvel Asgardians, with the Lady Sif as its lead character. The series was cancelled with issue #655 (Oct. 2013).
Following the 2015 Secret Wars event, a number of Spider-Man-related titles were either relaunched or created as part of the “All-New, All-Different Marvel” event. Among them, The Amazing Spider-Man was relaunched as well and primarily focuses on Peter Parker continuing to run Parker Industries, and becoming a successful businessman who is operating worldwide. It also tied with Civil War II (involving an Inhuman who can predict possible future named Ulysses Cain), Dead No More (where Ben Reilly [the original Scarlet Spider] revealed to be revived and as one of the antagonists instead), and Secret Empire (during Hydra’s reign led by a Hydra influenced Captain America/Steve Rogers, and the dismissal of Parker Industries by Peter Parker in order to stop Otto Octavius).
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