January 1, 2021: Secret Invasion, Excalibur, and Sandman

Excalibur: XX Crossing by Scott Lobdell and many artists (1992) This is a much more fun version of Air Apparent. Both have the same faults, mainly not having the team interact with each other at all for the entire issue, but while Air Apparent’s plot was boring and seemed to even take itself seriously, XX

December 31, 2020: Secret Invasion, Wolverine, and Sandman

Wolverine: Bloody Choices by Tom DeFalco and John Buscema (1991) What is this comic? I don’t really need to see Wolverine comparing himself to a pedophile deliberately. It’s such a weird choice. No wonder it isn’t on Marvel Unlimited. The panel layouts were a bit confusing here, but maybe that was just me. Grade: C

December 29, 2020: Secret Invasion, Wolverine, and X of Swords

Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure by Walt Simonson and Mike Mignola (1990) This is a very weird issue, but the art is great. There kept being plot twists that didn’t really do anything but were still fun. Grade: B Secret Invasion Vol. 1 #6 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu (2008) Nothing really happened this

December 27, 2020: Secret Invasion, Excalibur, and Sandman

Excalibur Vol. 1 #49 by Alan Davis (1992) Mostly buildup for the double-size 50th issue. I love how condescending the entire team is to Feron. They don’t give a shit if he was prophesized to be the hero. Inky Blott is dead! Who will Dai Thomas argue with now? Grade: A- New Avengers Vol. 1

December 26, 2020: Secret Invasion, Excalibur, and Sandman

Excalibur Vol. 1 #48 by Alan Davis (1992) This issue isn’t as interesting as the rest of Davis’s run to this point, but that’s largely because it is serving as a setup issue for what’s upcoming. Having Kitty back is great, though. Grade: A- Secret Invasion Vol. 1 #4 by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil

December 24, 2020: Secret Invasion, X-Force, and X-Men

X-Force Vol. 1 #9 by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza (1992) Sam is alive! Who would’ve thought? Sam is an external? Who would’ve thought (literally)? Grade: B+ New Avengers Vol. 1 #41 by Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan (2008) I really like the focus on individual characters in these tie-ins, showing how they got

December 22, 2020: Secret Invasion, X-Men, and Excalibur

X-Men Vol. 2 #9 by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell (1992) Why is Ghost Rider even in this arc? I’m not reading the corresponding issues in that series, but they appear to be somewhat unimportant. Gambit’s backstory is so weird. Lobdell gets Jubilee’s dialogue right. She’s still funny even 30 years later. Grade: B+ New

December 21, 2020: Secret Invasion, X-Men, and Hellions

X-Men Vol. 2 #8 by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell (1992) I like the amount of cross-over with Uncanny is in this issue. It was weird that they were living in the same house and would almost never mention each other. Rogue and Gambit are really starting to be an item. Bishop is more of

December 19, 2020: Mighty Avengers, Secret Invasion, Uncanny X-Men, and Sandman

Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #289 by Scott Lobdell and Whilce Portacio (1992) Issues like this — favoring character dynamics over chaotic fights — are nearly always the best issues of X-Men. I don’t think this is anyone’s favorite issue, but it’s certainly better than most of what the series was putting out in 1992. I