The Clone Wars: The Siege of Mandalore Review

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a legendary animated series and one of my favorites. Created by the master, Dave Filoni, the final season just wrapped up with the four part event arc, The Siege of Mandalore. Which overlaps in the timeline with Revenge of the Sith. I will briefly talk about the first two arcs in the season. Bad batch was good for stellar action and animation and the crazy revelation that Obi-Wan knows about Anakin and Padme. The Ashoka's Walkabout was good for Mandalorians leading into the siege and telling off the Jedi and showing the errors of their ways. But the Siege of Mandalore is where it's at. It sets itself apart from many other episodes by starting off with the original green text Lucasfilm Limited logo and a red The Clone Wars logo. The Siege of Mandalore arc is also just so good that it feels like a movie in itself and is quality above even many Star Wars movies in my opinion, that's just how good it is. The Clone Wars has gone on for seven seasons and a movie, so even though the final episodes are amazing, it's also bittersweet to see it end. I will break down three of the big events in these final episodes here.

Maul vs Ashoka
This was first mentioned in the Ashoka book and some changes have been made, which is fine, because changes can also be made to future additions of that book. It is an absolutely sick duel, Ray Park returned to do motion capture for the fight and it is very evident. This lightsaber fight is Duel of the Fates level epic. It really shows their characters, especially Maul, he is best villain and he knows what will happen and is kind of right. This also shows just how far Ashoka has come. This really brings the tension and epic Maul fights to animation with this battle. We get real ones feels in the battle between Maul and Ashoka. When he says Anakin will become evil, it is quite a moment, because you know Maul is kind of right. The teases of Ashoka and Maul teaming up are epic, so are the environment here is the throne room where many other fights and important events have happened in the clone wars but of course they go out of that into a more dangerous environment that makes the fight go savage.

Order 66
Sadly Order 66 must happen as this seamlessly crosses over with Revenge of the Sith. There is very ominous music and tension, we see Maul caged up, the only one there who has an idea of what will happen. Then Ashoka is looking out into hyperspace and through the force, she hears what happens in the Chancellor's office and Anakin's turn to the dark side. And then Order 66 happens and it is so sad to see my brothers turn including Rex briefly until Ashoka brings him back and they connect Fives to the whole thing. Maul takes down the hyperdrive, this is now the second star destroyer actor Sam Witwer has downed if you count The Force Unleashed’s Starkiller. But they are still flying half a ship. Ashoka and Rex ball up against those bad clones. It's a trip too, Ashoka cares for the clones and she doesn't want to merc those clones but in the end they will all die, even though she did what she could in the fight to not kill them, these clones were the real victims of the clone wars, if you know what i mean.

The Darth
The best scene in this thing is the very end which we see later and it's when Darth Vader pulls up on the snow moon, where the ship crashed. Then he sees the grave of the clones and the fake grave of Ashoka and Rex. He stands right where Ashoka was standing and he holds her lightsaber and ignites it and we see Anakin's eyes like in Rebels and A New Hope. We also know that what happened to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith and from the books and comics we know about his inner conflict at this point, even about Ashoka. The inner conflict that in this scene it seems as if he is saddened by this. But he's more machine now than man, this character that we've been following this whole series, he trained Ashoka and cared for her, but in the end he failed. Ashoka will go off to do her own thing in hiding, we know from the book lots of unaccountable time probably selling that white cocaine or spice. Then we notice Morai the Convor flying overhead, the bird that followed Ashoka in Rebels and has a connection to the daughter from Mortis. It's an amazing poetic touch. This scene is also filmed godly with no dialogue, just Vader's breathing. and we see the reflection of Vader in the Jesse's and the other clone's helmet visors and thus it ends. Great end to the series. Good show, jolly good show!
Now I'm still hoping for more expanded material like books and comics to hit some of the arcs that never got finished and put in canon yet, but also there will be a clone wars anthology book, Stories of Light and Dark, showing episodes from different perspectives coming out later this year that I am excited for.
I am one with the force. The force is with me. Thank you for reading, brothers and stay connected.
Blog Update: I have cancelled my previously announced High Republic and Rise of Skywalker videos but a Mandalorian video and review blogpost is coming, soon enough after the epic Disney Gallery behind the scenes show is over. And yes I've heard the legendary reports about Ashoka, Bo-Katan, and Boba Fett being in the show. I'm very excited and I will write all about it in due time. Meanwhile, you should check out a video essay I made about a scene in The Rise of Skywalker:

Star Wars High Republic Books Revealed

I have returned from my hiatus from this blog at sometime around March, as I always do in the beginning of the year. But I return with great news because the long awaited Project Luminous Star Wars publishing project has been revealed. It was revealed at a late event in Los Angeles yesterday and is at war with me sleeping. It is set in The High Republic era as it was long rumored to be. It takes place 200 years before the prequels and as of yet only includes book and comic projects. It follows the Jedi (fingers crossed for younger Yoda) in their struggle against the new foe, the Nihl, who are described as “space vikings”. The feel the series is described as Jedi as knights of the round table and that it has an Arthurian tone to it, which is very exciting. But I think Star Wars has always been inspired by Arthurian legend and the Jedi Council are the Jedi version of the Knights of the Round Table. I just hope they acknowledge those roots and recognize that Star Wars has always had that connection. For full background on The High Republic you should also see Starwars.com’s article and watch the below video. So here we go.

One of the original teasers for “Project Luminous”

The first thing revealed and the only one actually revealed before the event itself is Light of the Jedi, a novel by Charles Soule. This will involve several Jedi as seen on the cover including a Wookiee with a crossguard lightsaber, interestingly. At the event they said that the book’s plot will be kicked off by some sort of terrible event which I assume is the same thing that was referenced in the Project Luminous teaser. Whatever this event is will affect the force in some major and negative way. In the background there is shown a space station known as the Starlight Beacon which is a beacon of hope for the Jedi. Soule has written only two other novels in the past neither Star Wars, but he is very prolific and a great writer in the world of comics including the absolutely amazing Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic and The Rise of Kylo Ren. I haven’t yet read it but I hear it sets up The High Republic and that it is really good. So I think this book is in really good hands and as the only proper novel announced as of yet, the flagship title, and in my opinion the coolest looking, it is my most hyped of all the projects. It will be released August 25th, 2020.

Into the Dark is a Young Adult novel by Claudia Gray, one of my favorite Star Wars authors and she hasn’t let me down with any of her other books so major hype for this. From the cover we can see two characters one a Jedi named Reath Silas and the other is a daughter of a shipping magnate. Many have speculated a romance and I wouldn’t be surprised, but I wouldn’t mind either because she wrote romances very well in Lost Stars and in Leia Princess of Alderaan. There aren’t much more details on this one but I will definitely read it and love it when it’s out on October 13th, 2020. (Blurb now available)

A Test of Courage is a Middle Grade novel by Justina Ireland that is also about some Jedi, these a bit younger and there are some other characters too. Including a droid that looks somewhat like a Kyber Crystal droid and be involved with some them getting their lightsabers which was my idea but journalist, Anthony Breznican compared it to droid ME-8D9 from Maz Kanata’s castle in The Force Awakens and it works a lot better that droid even used for the Jedi canonically so it lines up. I won’t also love Huyang the Kyber Crystal droid to show up in this era and it would make sense. I haven't read any of the author's other books because while she has written Star Wars it has always appealed to a younger audience and I was busy reading other things. But I will read this one. Firstly because it looks cool, secondly because I want to read everything involved with this line (at least starting out), and because she said this one has a darker tone than her other books. So I am very excited for this book. It releases September 8th, 2020. (Blurb now available)

Next up is the Marvel comics series simply titled Star Wars The High Republic by Cavan Scott. I would assume that this series would be ongoing, but take that with a grain of salt. The characters on the front are some of the Nihl, but this is a variant cover, so the series is not necessarily all about them. If I had to connect the dots between a couple of things I would say that Phil Noto the artist that just finished his run on the main Star Wars comic with Greg Pak, drew the Poe Damereon comic, and several other Star Wars projects will draw this series. I say this because they showed some of his concept art for The High Republic at the event and one piece looked suspiciously like a comic cover. Cavan Scott wrote the audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost, which I have not listened to but I plan to soon, I have heard good things, but he also wrote Tales from Vader’s Castle which I have read. That series was somewhat kid oriented but I liked his writing and I don’t think this series will have many problems. The comic series do not have release dates yet but I would assume around August 2020, because StarWars.com says they will be available at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim along with Light of the Jedi.

Lastly is Daniel José Older's comic series, The High Republic Adventures from IDW. This one I could tell you almost nothing about. We have a concept art cover of two Jedi and we know that it will be geared towards kids because it is the same sort of thing as the regular Star Wars Adventures comics. I read and reviewed Older's Star Wars book, Last Shot years ago and I enjoyed it but it is not my favorite. I am slightly worried, because I don't think he has written comics ever before, but that shouldn't be the hardest hurdle to pass. Because of that and the fact that it's for little kids and we know next to no info it is my least hyped, but I'm not dreading it, still quite excited.

Overall, the reveal for The High Republic didn't have too many surprises, but it didn't really need them. Because these books are more than enough to get me super excited and to pile up the amount I have to read. I haven't even finished one of the Del Rey Star Wars novels from last year. But I have until June of this year to read before these or other Star Wars books I want to read release. I will try to read and review some of these for the blog and if I don't do that I will at least read and discuss them on here or on Youtube, eventually. I am very excited for these books and comics, as they are some of the most important pieces of Star Wars media in the coming years. Many people questioned if this could lead into a TV series, movie, or video game in this era. I think it is possible but even if it happens it is years away and this has to be a success first. I think that if you haven't read Star Wars books before, The High Republic looks to be a great jumping on point, without all of the baggage of the Skywalker era which got very complex in some books and comics even for an experienced fan like myself at times. That about sums it up for Project Luminous though, but as this was a very early fact-based blog, I will come at you with a Youtube video with more info and my thoughts on Project Luminous by this weekend. and I have many more blogs that I have been planning that I am very excited to share, so those should be coming soon as long as I don't get bogged down by reading. And then I find out that all of that was only phase one of The High Republic. Wait what do you mean there's going to be more? 

All the publishers working on The High Republic so far, Phase One and beyond.

   White board used by the writers for VERY interesting ideas stay connected for more of those from me.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker First Impression

I saw the final film in the Skywalker Saga yesterday, The Rise of Skywalker and I think it was a good ending to this saga and to this trilogy. I am still collecting my thoughts on the movie because it is so dense and there is so much going on throughout. There were some story decisions that I wasn't a great fan of, but overall I liked most of what this movie did. The movie was directed amazingly by JJ Abrams and the effects were absolutely great. John Williams' music is once again magnificent, but there were some moments when I think that some tracks were a bit weak and when there wasn't really any music and they could've played a track from one of the other movies that would have worked very well. There was a lot of fun action and comedy moments in this movie. All of those moments came with the characters, which were the best thing about this movie. They introduced a few new characters that I really liked. The returning characters were excellent, this movie really is all about this adventure that they go on together and I couldn't like it more. It's also about Rey and Kylo's relationship and the conflict that they have in the movie. Of course, the Emperor also returns and I felt that he was used well, but his return could have used more explanation. Carrie Fisher is in this movie as Leia from unused footage and I think it worked very well, for the most part. I didn't much like how the film was just unnecessarily dark throughout and it was just stressing me out about what would happen. It also happens that this movie never slows down it starts and ends with so much action and plot. It is pretty easy to follow but just feels quite choppy and the scenes don't transition well. I also have a few unanswered questions from the movie about things that were brought up but never answered by the end. The final scene for this movie was great and the perfect way to end this saga even if the film wasn't entirely perfect. The Rise of Skywalker was a very funny and action-packed movie that I would recommend to anyone that likes Star Wars and I think that it was a nice ending for this saga and trilogy. I think at this point I'd give it a 8 or 9 out of 10 and rank it as my 7th favorite Star Wars movie, overall (which sounds very low until you realize that there are 11 of them.) I know that this movie is receiving mixed reviews from critics and fans, but I think that it deserves more praise than it has gotten. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was a very good ending to the 42 years of this saga and I can't wait for what's more to come from this franchise. I will probably make a spoiler review soon, after I see the movie again and have time to process my thoguhts, either here or on the YT channel. I will also be reviewing The Mandalorian season one sometime after next Friday. So stay connected and may the force be with you, always.

Top 5 Marvel Grand Design Comics I want

Marvel has a series of comics called Grand Design, which are retellings of long comic series like X-Men and Fantastic Four. Those are the only two series they have so far (the X-Men series has 3 volumes, FF has 1 so far.) I just finished reading the second X-Men volume, Second Genesis. I really like this series and how it makes it easy to understand the long and complicated history of these series. So there are definitely many other Marvel characters who could have a Grand Design series. Multiversity Comics did an article about the top Grand Design comics that them and their readers want. So I thought I could do a list of the top 5 Grand Design series that I want.

Top 5

5. Eternals
The Eternals would be a great group to do a Grand Design series as they getting a movie next year. It would a great introduction to them for people that don't yet know their history. And I would love this series because I love these characters and I have only read Neil Gaiman's series and their appearance in Jason Aaron's Avengers, so I would like more on the rest of their history from other series. Plus the continuity is very confusing, so it would be good if they were to streamline it more for the canon. The Eternals would also go with the theme of grand  design because they (along with humans and deviants) were designed by the Celestials.

4. Cosmic Marvel/ Guardians
I would very much like to see a series with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the entirety of Cosmic Marvel History. From Infinity Gauntlet to Annihilation. Personally I just want to see all of this history, that I haven't read in the form of Grand Design. As for the Guardians, they have a very long history which doesn't even include the current team from the beginning. They can include things like Guardians 3000 and characters like Nova. I just want to be able to have all of the history of these characters in a digestible way.

3. Inhumans
Inhumans, like Eternals is another series that works very well with grand design. The Inhumans were designed by the Kree. They do have a very interconnected history with the Fantastic Four and I'm not sure how involved they are in the FF's Grand Design series. But even if they are, Marvel could spin it off from that. The Inhumans and the lore is so big and is a great story. There are some plot holes and discrepancies in their continuity. Those could be filled in for this and other series as the narrator for Grand Design is The Watcher. So we could get more adventures from these characters that happened off-panel. I love the Inhumans and I really want to know more about them.

2. Avengers
The Avengers are one of the most popular and legendary teams in Marvel, with so many comics spanning so many years with so much history. The giant cast of characters that the Avengers includes would make for an amazing book. There is a lot of history to go over that would make this book very fun and awesome. Avengers assemble. Nuff said.

1. Spider-Man
Spider-Man is my favorite Marvel character and he is definitely the most qualified character to have their own Grand Design series in terms of amount of lore in my opinion. There are so many complicated events and storylines centered around just this one character, the Clone Saga, Absolute Carnage, Spider-verse, Superior Spider-Man, Kraven's Last Hunt, and I can go on and on. Chip Zdarsky had a series called Spider-Man: Life Story, which told the story of Spider-Man's life if he actually aged reguarly. But I would love a series about Spider-Man 's life in the canon and the history of the character and lore. RIP Juice WRLD, rapper who worked on Into the Spider-Verse died. :(
I really hope that Marvel makes some of these series. Thank you for reading and stay connected.
Links: http://www.multiversitycomics.com/previews/reader-poll-results-grand-design/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Marvel/comments/bzyazx/xmen_grand_design_and_spiderman_life_story_give/

The Mandalorian Chapter 5: Mystery Character Identity?

So, I am back from a short bit of time gone from this blog, of course to talk about what very quickly is becoming my favorite television series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian on Disney Plus. I was super hyped leading up to its release and the first live-action Star Wars television show doesn't disappoint. But I will save the review for after the end of the season. I haven't felt a great need to write about the show yet, there isn't really much I have to say that hasn't already been said. Just know that this is a great series that you should be watching. I don't have too much to add for this either, but I'm pretty much sorting my ideas and using ideas from around the net (shout out to Reddit!)
If you haven't watched The Mandalorian yet there are major spoilers ahead! 
With that out of the way, shout out to Baby Yoda, he's great. Although I'm sure that there's almost no one who doesn't know of him yet.
In Chapter 5: The Gunslinger, the Mandalorian gets into a whole ordeal with a young bounty hunter, Toro Calican and a assassin named Fennec Shand on Tatooine.  Long story short, the Mandalorian leaves Toro to watch Shand and she reveals to him that the Mandalorian is worth more than she is so he kills her and leaves her there. The Mando kills him after the gunslinger jumps him and the Mando leaves the planet. The final stinger that we get at the end of the episode is someone, whose identity isn't revealed walk up to Shand's body on Tatooine. We hear the person's footsteps which have a spur-like sound effect to them. There is also a very visible cape that they are wearing. And up to this point that is all we really know. Here I'm going to give some options for likely candidates of who this person is and how it will effect the series and Star Wars as a whole. Let's go.

Greef Carga
Let's get into the most likely options first. Greef has already appeared in two episodes of the show and since many other bounty hunters are trailing the Mando it would follow that he is too. He would also likely have a personal vendetta against the Mandalorian because the last time Greef saw him, he was shot and left for dead. The cape in the shot is also like Greef's, torn and long enough. I'm not sure about the spurs when he walks though. It would be slightly interesting, but I sort of already assumed that Greef was after the Mando. I hope it isn't him because why would they tease and not fully show a character that is already in the show and wouldn't majorly surprise anyone. And I would basically be writing this all for nothing.

Moff Gideon
This is another more likely character, because we already know that he will be in the show. But if that's the case why tease him like this. This would be better than Greef because we haven't seen Moff Gideon yet. I feel that it might not be him for three reasons, 1. He is an imperial warlord that we know has a guard of death troopers, so why wouldn't they be there, 2. From the images I can see his cape is likely in much better condition than the one shown from the person in the show, although I can't find an image showing the bottom of his cape, 3. I doubt as an imperial that he would have boots that look and sound like that. The reason that he could be there is that he was meant to meet up with Shand, who he hired to take out the Mandalorian which would explain why she knew so much of the story about what happened with the Mando. This one would be fine, but honestly I would be disappointed because of my raised expectations for the craziness that this scene could potentially spawn. Maybe I should temper my expectations for anything on the list other than these two, but that's just a thought, you know that I'm not gonna. This is the greatest mystery in Star Wars rn and half the fun is to speculate. Plus I love writing this blog (even though I don't post quite enough.)

Cad Bane 
Could this fan-favorite character from The Clone Wars animated series show up? I want to say yes, because Dave Filoni is running the show, but that could also mean no at the same time. The boots, spurs, and cape heavily line up. But that said at Star Wars Celebration 2017, they released Clone Wars footage which isn't technically canon (yet), in which Cad Bane was killed by Boba Fett. It isn't recognized as canon by Wookieepedia, but the question that will determine if he shows up in this show is: Is Cad Bane's death considered canon by Dave Filoni? It would be reasonable for him to show up since he is a bounty hunter. But is he the best choice for the plot moving forward? I don't know, but I would love to see him show up.

1313 game concept art. Not actually Vanth. Cobb Vanth doesn't have any images because he is a (mysterious) book character. This gets the general idea.

Cobb Vanth
Cobb Vance is a character from the Aftermath books by Chuck Wending, he lives on Tatooine and posses a Mandalorian armour which may or may not be Boba Fett's. He acquired this armor from trading with the Jawas. He has a baby hutt with him that he is taking care of, so he is very similar to the Mando. They would have to introduce the character for a new audience. I haven't read the Aftermath books, but I pretty much understand the character from videos and articles online, so I don't think his intro would be very hard. Having Boba's armor (if he does) would line up pretty well with the character we see here, on Tatooine nonetheless. The cape is quite a bit shorter than the one here, but after the Sarlacc pit and several years on that plus Boba's cape was already ripped in Empire and Return of the Jedi, he could've replaced it with a new longer one.  There is also a fan theory that Vance is actually Boba Fett using an alias, all of the chapters that he is in are told from a different perspective so you can't be sure. If it is Boba than they could introduce him as Cobb and then try for a reveal later on that he's really Boba, honestly everyone would see that from a mile away. They could just bring back Boba and not really address the Cobb Vance thing, but say that it was him in passing. But on to the next character and we'll talk more.

Boba Fett
Be honest, even though some people don't like it Boba escaped that Sarlacc. George was inches away from including it in the special edition. He would be hugely popular if he returned, it's the Mandalorian show, pay respects up to the first Mando in Star Wars. The kid from Attack of The Clones, Daniel Logan is perfect to play him at this point. The show went to Tatooine, whether he's Vance or not it makes since that he would be there and check out what was happening in his territory, plus he is a bounty hunter so at this point he would naturally be against the Mandalorian since he gets a reward for it. It would be really cool to bring him in at the end of the season and set him up as a villain for later. What I'm really hoping for is that we go to Mandalore and deeply explore the culture and see how Boba Fett and the Mandalorian tie into that in season 2. The evidence for this is pretty big, go back to Empire and listen to Boba Fett walking, the sound effect is practically identical to what is here. I really think that it's on purpose. But see we will. Connected stay Yoda Baby says.

Comics Review 2019!

Hello and welcome back to another summer comics review ceremony, this is the third annual event in which I describe my favorite comics that I read this summer, out of the 64 I read. Most of these are Marvel and DC superhero collected editions from the library. Even though I read a lot this year, I did start earlier than the other two years that I have done this, the dates haven't exactly been in sync, so next year and ever year after I will be going from May 25th to September 30th to keep it organized. In this list I won't be including any comics that I have awarded in previous years, even though I have read further volumes of some of these, I want to branch out and recognize new and different books. I also won't be including the categories of Black Panther and Justice League that I did last year, simply because I didn't read any comics in those categories that I thought were truly great and worthy of recognition here. Anyway that's good, because these categories are just a starting point for me to discover different comics and reading more outside of them really shows my diverse portfolio of comics. For all of those reasons I'm going to include 7 honorable mentions (in no particular order) before the top 3, so now it's basically a top ten. I'm doing the Oscars 3. Start.

Best Batman Book
Batman vol. 1-8
By Tom King
I did include this run as an honorable mention in the first summer comics review. But that was when I had read only the first two volumes. Those volumes were great, but it only got better from there. This story really explores the city of Gotham and the character of Batman and Bruce Wayne. I can truly tell you that Tom King is one of the best comics writers around.



Best Avengers Book
Avengers Forever
By Kurt Busiek
This classic 90's Avengers story from Kurt Busiek is truly great. It is a time travel story and it inspired some parts of Avengers: Endgame. It follows the battle between Kang and Immortus with great Avengers characters and themes within. It is an amazing story that I hope is adapted further when Kang is brought into the MCU.





Best X-Men Book
X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever
By Max Bemis
Worst X-Man Ever is a tremendous X-Men comic that manages to navigate the world a lot better than books focused on the main team, through the eyes of a mutant boy named Bailey whose only power is that he can explode once and then he'll die. There are a lot of twists and turns all over the place and throughout it all this book manages to tell a great story.




Best Spider-Man Book
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man vol. 1-4
By Chip Zdarsky
This series is a very fresh new take on the character of Spider-Man that also talks about who he is and what he means. It has many fun adventures and a great cast of characters including J. Jonah Jameson, and Peter Parker's long lost sister, Teresa. Zdarsky writes action and humor very well and he's one of my favorite writers. This book should be a great one for people new to comics.
Honorable Mention: The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 1&2 by Nick Spencer



Best Independent Book
Assassination Classroom vol. 1-5
By Yūsei Matsui
This manga is a great story about a creature that destroys the moon and then becomes a teacher for a class of "failing" kids and threatens to destroy Earth if they can't assassinate him by the end of the school year. The creature, Koro Sensei is a legend, super powerful and even though he is treating to destroy the planet, he actually connects with the kids and teaches them better than anyone ever had. This book is very funny and touching, it's quite the stupendous tale.


Best Star Wars Book
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra vol. 1-5
By Kieron Gillen and Si Spurrier
Aphra is a new character introduced in the comics and she is definitely one of the best non-movie characters in Star Wars. She is an archeologist that is always getting into trouble and she is also quite the antihero, so there is a lot of depth to her character. Two of the most craziest characters in the book are murderous droids that are basically an evil version of C-3PO and R2-D2, they are always following Aphra and putting her in danger. There is so much crazy stuff in this book, I couldn't recommend it enough.



Top 3.
Honorable Mentions: Old Man Hawkeye vol.1 by Ethan Sacks, Doctor Strange vol.1 by Jason Aaron, Daredevil vol. 1-7 by Mark Waid, Star-Lord: Grounded by Chip Zdarsky, Thanos Wins by Donny Cates, V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, and Skrull Kill Krew by Mark Millar and Grant Morrison.

3. Moon Knight Legacy vol 1&2
By Max Bemis
Summary: This takes place right after Lemire and Smallwood's amazing run on Moon Knight. This was a natural progression of Moon Knight dealing with the aftermath of all of that as a somewhat normal person grounded in the world. 
Thoughts: This book was absolutely amazing! It crafts an excellent story and we discover lots about the character of Mark Spector and his past and his current journey. Moon Knight continues to be one of my favorite superheroes and I love reading his books, especially this one. 


2. Powerless
By Matt Chernis and Michael Gaydos
Summary: In an alternate universe where all the heroes of the Marvel universe don't have any powers, what do they do with their lives and how do they become everyday heroes? The story is told through the eyes of a therapist an everyday person who has many superheroes, including Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Wolverine (the main focuses of the story) as patients.
Thoughts: Powerless is a incredible and underrated story about humanity and heroism. Gaydos' art is great, it just jumps off the page. I really can't stress how amazing this comic is and how great it is at tying in all of the Marvel lore. The stories played out very well and were spectacular. And I actually screamed out loud when a prediction I made at the beginning of the book came true. Powerless is a truly fantastic comic. 

1. Thor: God of Thunder vol. 1-3 
By Jason Aaron
Summary: In this story beginning Jason Aaron's epic years-long run on Thor, the god of thunder along with a younger and older version of himself battles an unhinged villain named Gorr the God Butcher. 
Thoughts: An immediate classic, Thor God of Thunder is just amazing, it balances so many things and does it so well. I don't want to say much more because of spoilers, but I will heap as much praise on the book as I can, it is one of the best comics that I have ever read. Now excuse me and stay connected as I go off to read the fourth volume of Thor: God of Thunder.

Loki: Where Mischief Lies | Book Review

I recently read the Marvel young adult novel, Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee. I received this book as an uncorrected review copy from Disney in exchange for an honest and fair review. The novel stars a younger teenage version of Loki. It also features Thor, Odin, and all of the other regular mix of Asgard. But for most of the book, Loki is on Earth in 19th century London investigating some very suspicious murders. The book takes place in a version of the Marvel universe, where some major events we know to have happened to these characters and environments have occurred, but they are just unspecific or slightly different. That is to fit the needs of this story and to keep it out of any other continuity for the needs of other stories. There are some major references and Easter eggs to the greater Marvel universe in the book that I won't spoil here, but they are rather interesting.
The only comic that I've read with Loki as the protagonist is Loki: Agent of Asgard by Al Ewing, which is very different from this, but also similar in that they both focus on a young version of Loki. Although as prose novels go this read a lot like Rick Riordan's books including Magnus Chase. All of his books are very similar since they are mythological fiction, but Magnus Chase, especially because those books, are about Norse Mythology. This also made me more excited for the 2021 Loki Disney Plus series, because it really reinvigorated my interest in the character. This novel really got into Loki's psyche, while also keeping him mysterious, which very hard to do and for that, I applaud Mackenzi Lee. There is also a lot of diversity in the characters and relationships within the book, which is always great. This is the first novel of Mackenzi Lee's that I have read and it is also the first book of a trilogy of books by her about marvel antiheroes. I've speculated on who those characters could be and thought possibly, Namor, Gambit, and Nebula are great options. There are also a few characters from this book, that I don't think we've seen the last of in this trilogy. So, I hope that whatever the next books are, that they are connected to Loki and each other. As young adult (YA) novels go, I thought that Loki is one of the better books I've read in the genre. I don't really seek out YA novels unless they're science fiction or fantasy or connected to some franchise I like such as Star Wars or Marvel. But I thought that this book, handled it very well and all of the relationships felt real and entertaining. Since I'm not into YA, I haven't read Mackenzi Lee's other YA books, but I know that they are very popular. I will definitely be reading her next two marvel books, though.
While Loki was overall a good book, I must say that there were some choices made in the plot and by the characters that I just didn't like, but there were many other things that I did like, so it was up and down in that way. There were some plot threads that were confusing or very abruptly wrapped up, I feel like those aspects could have been handled better. And there were several parts that I found a tad bit predictable, but also there were a couple of things near the end that had me surprised. In the end Loki: Where Mischief Lies is a very entertaining novel of page-turning rollicking fun and I would recommend it. Thank you for reading my review and stay connected.