These huge comic book moments will affect have major implications going forward.
Last month in the comic book world, Jason Todd (Red Hood) and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) kissed, another person lifted Thor’s hammer and gained his powers and Moon Knight became the Phoenix. And that’s only a few of the huge things that happened. You’d figure that something major wouldn’t happen in comic books every month. Yet, here we are again. It’s October 2020 and important moments keep happening.
We’ve had a few small moments that may very well lead to bigger issues and some big things that haven’t haven’t completely borne fruit yet. Let’s start this comic book article with something minor.
Miles Morales remembers the Ultimate Universe
Comic Book: Miles Morales Spider-Man No. 19
After Secret Wars (2015), Miles Morales became part of the 616 Universe. At the time, we didn’t know that Miles didn’t remember he was from another universe. A few years later, we met Miles’ 616 counterpart. He was one of Kingpin’s enforcers and best friends who’s now going by the supervillain name Ultimatum. He revealed that Miles is the one out of place. All of Miles’ old memories of that universe came flooding back.
Why is this important?
Miles is like Peter Parker when it comes to power and responsibility. Now that Miles knows where he’s from, he may feel the need to go back and help however he can. Or, and this could be worse, Ultimatum may force him back. If that happens, we’ll be looking at an entire story arc of Miles back in the Ultimate Universe. This writer is all for that.
Batman No. 101
Comic Book: Batman No.101
The Joker War is over, but the Dark Knight is feeling the ramifications both as Batman and Bruce Wayne. The investors at Wayne Enterprises want Bruce Wayne out of the company, Lucius Fox says that he can’t continue to make him gadgets, and Bruce is moving out of Wayne Manor. That’s all on top of Catwoman and Batman taking a year away from each other to keep her safe. His hero life and real life are both in shambles. That’s bad for him, but good for readers.
Why is this important?
Now, we get to see what Batman is really made of. He won’t have the ability to wreck a Batmobile and get a new one. If he wrecks it, he’ll do the repairs himself (which Lucius pointed out). How is Bruce going to make his weapons? Is he going to have to use a normal laptop instead of his futuristic computer he’s used to? All of this is probably going to happen and Batman fans should be ecstatic.
This could be the perfect starting point for new readers. New fans are going to see what Batman can really do. He’ll be relying heavily on the skills that he’s acquired over the years – not just his tech. This is truly going to be a new age for the Dark Knight.
Disrupting the resurrection protocols
Comic book: X-Factor No. 4 and X Of Swords: Stasis
The mutants developed a safety net. If mutants were killed, the Five (Egg, Elixir, Hope Summers, Proteus, Tempus) could bring them back to life and Charles Xavier would restore their memories. That plan hit a snag in X-Factor No. 4. On a mission in Otherworld, Rockslide was killed. When he was brought back, he came back wrong. Hope Summers said, “…resurrecting from Otherworld…it creates a composite drawn out of the nearly infinite possibilities of all the things you ever could have potentially become.” We still don’t know who this Rockslide is. We do know he looks nothing like the one that left.
Why is this important?
The X of Swords crossover is going to put the X-Men up against beings they’ve never fought in a world they don’t know. If they die, the resurrection protocols won’t truly save them. There’s a possibility that they could come back like their former selves, but it’s unlikely. We could get evil versions of X-Men like some of the universes that the Exiles visited. Or, they could come back in a deformed way. The possibilities are literally endless.
The cards revealed in X Of Swords: Stasis showed different futures for each X-Men. Storm received the Death Card. The card showed her riding a horse and holding a flag. Who knows what this means. Especially if she dies in Otherworld.
Thor’s hammer
Comic book: Thor No. 8
In Thor No. 7, we see that Loki wasn’t the only person that could lift Thor’s hammer Mjolnir. A random mechanic named Adam Aziz in Oklahoma not only lifted it and transformed – he was in Asgardian garb, built like Thor, and even had a cape. In this same issue, Iron Man grabs Thor’s hammer and hits him with it (Tony didn’t learn his lesson in 2008). Iron Man could use the hammer, but not gain Thor’s power. So it looks like you can’t just gain the power of Thor from lifting his hammer. After that, Thor gets some advice. It may be time for him to go on vacation.
Why is this important?
Thor has been running himself into the ground for years but Marvel’s God of Thunder has been doing it even more so recently. Being unworthy, losing his arm, and defeating Malekith’s army (War of the Realms) all happened in a few years. Then, he had to kill Galactus (Thor No. 6) and found out how he may die. Adam Aziz said something simple, yet profound. He told him that turning something off and turning it on may fix it. Thor took this as needing to bring his human side Donald Blake back into his life.
This could be exactly what Thor needs. It could be the recharge he needs. Or, it could be terrible. Donald Blake’s mortal life could interfere with Thor being King of Asgard. This isn’t like when he was just a hero. He has an entire race of people to worry about. This could end badly.
Red Hood is on his own (again)
Comic book: Red Hood: Outlaw No. 50
Jason Todd (Red Hood) loves saying that he’s a loner. A quick look at his past and you’ll notice that isn’t true. He’s been Robin with Batman, led his team of Outlaws, is one of the members of the Bat-Family and tried to tutor the next generation of villains. He’s very much like Wolverine in that way. Jason says he’d rather be alone but then you’ll eventually see him on a few teams.
For the last nine years, Jason Todd was the leader of two Outlaw teams but now, the vigilante really is on his own. Bizarro took over for Trigon and Artemis left saying he didn’t need her anymore. So what now?
Why is this important?
Jason Todd is truly on his own. After Red Hood had a bit of a falling out with Batgirl and Batman (Batman: Three Jokers No. 3), this new part of his life should be interesting. Jason was willing to give up his life as Red Hood if Barbara would be with him. Except she never received his letter. Jason will be heartbroken and may go back to killing villains.
Jason wants to be a better person, but he struggles. He always seems to get abandoned. Sometimes people die, leave for outer space, or move on to do different things. This may cause Jason to remain solo for a while. This writer welcomes this. Let’s see what he can do.
Sinister illegal cloning
Comic book: Hellions No. 5
For as long as he’s existed, Nathaniel Essex has only cared about himself and his experiments. Nonetheless, him being allowed into the X-Men wasn’t shocking. The X-Men are all about second, third, and fourth chances. They’ve reformed multiple people who were considered lost causes.
Logan is a prime example. Angel was the first to assume Wolverine was an untameable animal that should be far away from them. Years later, Wolverine became one of the X-men’s greatest heroes. This doesn’t apply to Sinister. As expected, he didn’t stop his cloning and he may end up getting exposed.
Why is this important?
The phrase, “a leopard never changes its spots” comes to mind whenever we think of Mr. Sinister. There was no way he was going to stop his genetic experiments. It’s his reason for living. Now, all we’ve seen is that Sinister has clones of himself. What else is he doing? He has access to the DNA of hundreds of mutants and their numbers keep growing. For all we know, Sinister could be taking their genetic code and attempting to create something monstrous. Let’s not forget that Sinister had the catalogue of every mutant in the world (we found this out in Hunt For Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda). With his information destroyed, Sinister is most likely rebuilding what he lost.
Devil Hulk is dead
Comic book: Immortal Hulk No. 39
Immortal Hulk could be the best comic book Hulk run of all time. It’s definitely the best of the last couple of decades. This series is terrifying. It isn’t just the violence and the gore, it’s the idea of what the Hulk is. He isn’t just the childlike Hulk that speaks in the third person, the slick talking Joe Fixit, or World War Hulk version. We now have a scarier version called Devil Hulk. Recently, he’s been the one in charge. He’s violent, cunning, intelligent, and willing to go past what people may say is acceptable. He was also unkillable – that was, until the most recent issue.
Why is this important?
The Devil being killed could affect the series more than the story. Devil Hulk is the reason that people have started reading this series. He’s a new and more interesting version of the Jade Giant. People were reading to see what he was going to do next. He also had layers to why he’s the way he is. Finding out that this personality was around before he became the Hulk was intriguing.
Since Devil Hulk is the reason that people are buying the series, it isn’t likely that he’s dead. The shock of seeing him killed by the Leader was enough to get readers intrigued. Having him gone for good may make people stop subscribing.
Batman meet Batman Beyond
Comic book: Batman Beyond No. 48
Terry McGinnis made his first appearance in the Batman Beyond animated series in the 1990s. He’s one of the few characters (like Harley Quinn) that made their first appearance in a cartoon. He became so popular that he became a comic book character soon afterwards.
Ever since Terry made his appearance people have been waiting for Batman Beyond to meet Batman in his prime. Sure, he met Bruce Wayne, but this was the older version who was unable to showcase all of the skills he once had. After years of waiting, they finally met in the pages of October’s Batman Beyond.
Why is this important?
The moment we’ve all been waiting for and it happened at the very end of the comic book on the last page. All things considered, we should be shocked by this. First off, this builds up the anticipation for the next issue. This writer bought the issue just because the “The greatest hero history never knew is going to take Batman Beyond back in time to the Gotham of old, where Bruce Wayne is Batman-which means Batman and Batman Beyond will meet at last!”
This was a Smart move by DC Comics. The other reason is this happened in the 48th issue of Batman Beyond. This is definitely a build up for the 50th issue. Batman and Terry McGinnis will undoubtedly have a quick argument that will end and they’ll actually fight in issue 50. You heard it here first.
New changes for the Fantastic Four
Comic book: Fantastic Four No. 25
Dan Slott just celebrated writing his 25th issue of Fantastic Four. 25th issues usually contain things that will affect a series for the foreseeable future and this issue was full of them. First off, Franklin Richards used the last of his powers. With that came losing access to the Krakoan gates. The Fantastic Four now have a device that will allow them to travel anywhere. Something that enemies from all over will be coming for. Lastly, we have Uatu who’s made Nick Fury his new Herald.
Why is this important?
First, Franklin is going to be distraught over losing his powers. Without them, he may not have any reason to go on any missions with his family. He also can’t go to Krakoa to be with his new friends. He’s all alone. It’ll be interesting to see how he takes this and if he gets his abilities back.
The teleporter that Valeria created will take them anywhere. The furthest corners of the universe are now accessible with the flip of a switch. Who will be the first person to come after it? Even money says the Wizard. He’s usually the first person to attack the Fantastic Four.
Nick Fury being the Watcher’s herald isn’t the big news. The big news here is that Nick Fury is back in action! No longer bound to his chains on the moon, he’s back to fighting. Will he come back to Earth? Will he be welcomed? How will Thor react to seeing him? After all, he was the reason Thor became unworthy.
Which comic book moments stood out for you in October? Let us know in the comments below!