Captain America (#275-289) I have none of these, but I tended to enjoy J.M. DeMatteis very much, the maturity in his themes and humor, too. I picked up almost every issue of his Justice League run with Keith Giffen by 2000, and bought the mini-series sequels, too. My friend Johann and I put together a radio drama based on my script featuring the JLI and the 2000 Presidential Election, a 13-person cast---so J.M. is a developmental influence on my writing, for sure! These stories seem to have a stronger supporting cast of regular folks (a Spider-Man strength), as well a new "man out of time" to explore in Jack Monroe, a.k.a. Nomad, and a man out of the future lost, too, in the (apparent) guest shot for Deathlok. Glad to see Spider-Woman again here, too; this is just before the Jessica Drew version sort of slips off to character limbo for a long time. Her series under Chris Claremont's really good, especially if you like the unique style of artist Steve Leialoha. I l...

#148 Cover: Gwen confronts Spider-Man in freakish pose with spider-abilities. Copy: a word balloon from Gwen. “I know your secrets,” “...and now I'm going to use your own powers to END THIS!” (Pg. 1-4)When they disappear to Jackal's lair with Gwen this time, she's observing their operations and stoking the Jackal's ego in the most vanilla and pleasant way possible. She pokes around and makes the horrifying discovery: Peter's body! (Pg. 5,6)Ned Leeds and Betty Brant both visit Peter, whose embarrassment actually begins as he's answering the door fresh out the shower, expecting only Ned from the knock and the call ahead, so haha, oops, hi ex-girlfriend. Leeds discusses the as-yet-unfounded notion with Peter that this Gwen is a clone. Ned has been researching into the sudden appearance of this second Gwen Stacy, but Betty's actually spent more time with her, which points to how absurd it is not to go to the source. Ned feels like it's a crime ...

This is part of an alternative storyline, reworking the end of Gerry Conway's run up to #150 with some ideas of mine. #147 Imprisoned, the Tarantula creates new razor pointed shoes and uses them in a murderous break-out. A drug tunnel provides him access back to the United States, where he gets a lift back to NYC, where he's picked up by another bus, driven by the Jackal, who is no one, as he says. The planned rendezvous provides the money forward on the job to cover Tarantula's ride handsomely. As Anna and Mary Jane Watson escort the newly-discharged Aunt May from the hospital, she talks to Mary Jane about Peter. Upset, Mary Jane says she hasn't seen Peter since Gwen Stacy's impossible return, which feels all wrong. Aunt May lets MJ know she appreciates and understands her and her feelings for Peter, so don't give up: love can be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Speaking of Gwen, she's preparing to leave Betty Brant's apartment, where she's...

For your Spider-phile pleasure, here's an alternate story direction inspired by the end of Amazing Spider-Man #144, featuring the shocking return of Gwen Stacy, as though from the grave. This story, when I first read its reprint, built a "Gwen Stacy returns" subplot that was clearly hair-raising, haunting and cool, though it was six years before I found out what happened next. You can find a synopsis online easily, like http://spidermanreviewed.blogspot.com/2009/12/amazing-spider-man-144.html -I feel much the same! ASM#145, for those of you who know or want to know the source story, is fine, and out of respect and familiarity, I suggest no changes, not even yet to make Gwen any less vulnerable, as these are distressing circumstances. Well, it would be nice if the New York Police Department didn't hand Mac Gargan his crime-making outfit and equipment, as it seems ill-advised to treat it just like handing back a wallet and keys. There's a few good places ...

Part One: A new idea grown from the ending of Amazing Spider-Man #90, or, How to Have a Dream Girlfriend and an even more Marvelous storyline! I’m not in a position to return to the original issues themselves. Some background, courtesy my friend Nathan Adler: I finally had a chance to look at the actual issues in question, and it’s a bit more complicated than I had remembered. At the end of Amazing Spider-Man #88, Doctor Octopus is seemingly killed in an airplane crash & explosion. At the beginning of the next issue, Peter sees the headline of the Daily Bugle is “Dr. Octopus Killed in Airport Crash.” So, as of the next morning, people in NYC believe Doc Ock is dead. However, Peter notes that no trace of Doc Ock or his tentacles was found in the wreckage. Fearing that Ock is still alive, Peter decides he’d better search for him as Spider-Man. Over an hour later, Spidey comes across Doc Ock wrecking one of the smokestacks on the city’s main power plant. Rubble has fallen onto...

What do Eminem and most Integr8d Fix readers have in common? Comic books, man. As a boy, I had two Power Records, a brand that released dramatized versions of comic books on 45 rpm, complete with a book sampling most of the comic's artwork. The first was a stand-alone Superman adventure I think was written by Elliot S! Maggin, where aliens fell to earth in the form of silver-hued bullets. The second one, I only had the record, but it was intense: Captain America and the Falcon confront the mystery of The Phoenix, a man whose thirst for revenge is born from Cap's battles in the world war before his frozen suspension. I didn't get hooked on Eminem's 2013 release "Rap God" until I was putting together a hip hop playlist this September. Not unlike when Anj and I discovered Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre back in college, I was wrestling with an angry mood over someone who cheated me of recording time after I gave up eleven Sundays of my life to give...his initials ...

Ten of my favorite Rick and Morty Characters 10Bird Person I covered this pair in my first post, early this week. 9Squanchy 8* The President of the United States ---I bumped the Prez for Beth as my new entry, but Keith David's voice work shines. His stately regard for Rick's world-saving pop song 'Get Schwifty' is hilarious. 7Unity Do opposites attract? Such a generalization---but here, it makes a case study sort of point. Unity is a consciousness that takes over other minds and essentially replaces their will with Unity's will. Rick? Not a collective kind of guy; in fact, he won't even join an organization composed solely of different versions of himself: The Council of Ricks (which is a character in and of itself). Squanchie and Bird Person are pretty much the only grouping Rick tolerates---and after that, his daughter and her family, just barely. The decision to do something for the good of the whole, and in so doing, be a part of something ...

Science that's more art than science! How today's tall tales are told with Rick and Morty! by C Lue t's fun to think Rick's interdimensional career kicked off about the same time as Reed Richards did as a fictional character in 1961. If Rick's 80 and 54 years have passed, then a breakthrough like the prototypical portal gun by the time he's 26 sounds credible. Super geniuses, particularly in more abstract mathematical fields, physics, etc, that is to say, IQ's over 180 that manifest in anything but the self-destruction of the person in question, tend to have their signature breakthroughs fairly early in life. Many of our most accomplished minds complete their most difficult concentration to a breakthrough of sorts before 35. For skills where supply overwhelms and washes away one's contribution until the right attachment arises, like writing, it's all bullshit, anyway; objectively speaking, critical reflections of your work are possible, an...