Crypt of Shadows #1 (2024)

This is the third Halloween annual from Marvel based on the short-lived horror anthology from the 70s. Only this time the Crypt of Shadows, Vol. 3 issue #1 doesn't take place in the Crypt of Shadows. Nor is the anthology hosted by Doctor Strange's deranged brother Victor. This time around, Agatha Harkness, sitting in her intergalactic residence on the planet Amanna, is our hostess and she's spying on several characters of the Marvel Universe.

First up is Agatha's former pupil, the Scarlet Witch. When a magic door appears in her kitchen, Wanda Maximoff finds herself lured into a trap. An innocent nibble on the back of the Man-Thing unleashes a plague into the murky domain of the Sub-Mariner. Finally, the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell finds himself the latest prey at the hands of Kraven the Hunter. Thankfully old friend, Blade is on hand to make it a fair fight.

First of all, that regular cover. How I wouldn't line up at my favorite LCS to pre-order a supernatural themed title with that lineup. Having Scarlet Witch, Vision, Prince Namor, the Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Blade and Kraven the Hunter on the same team fighting some kind of magical threat? I'd be all over that series in a heartbeat.

The stories were pretty good. I didn't exactly like that the Scarlet Witch story was a lead up to upcoming events in the pages of her solo book. I understand that specials like these are paid for advertising for fledgling titles. At least it wasn't a cliffhanger that requires me to buy her book.

I also don't quite understand the changes with the host. There wasn't anything wrong with having Victor Strange as the host. Plus if you're going to call it the Crypt of Shadows, then it should at least take place in the Crypt of Shadows.

I do know that some of the changes were done to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For decades, Agatha Harkness has been either this ancient spindly old crone or dead. With a younger Harkness appearing in WandaVision, Marvel has once again changed the looks of a comic book character to reflect the live action version. I'm not too upset with that. Plus with the character's new Disney+ series Agatha All Along debuting now, I understand that Marvel Comics wants to cash in on that connection and is using their Halloween annual book to do it. I don't like it. But I understand the reasoning behind changing a great formula. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Crypt of Shadows #1 (2023)

For the second year in a row, Marvel releases a horror themed one-shot under the legacy banner of Crypt of Shadows. Unlike last year's offering, none of these stories seem to be set around Halloween. Also unlike last year's offering, every story was actually quite good!

Once again Victor Strange, the vampiric brother of Doctor Strange is our host. Trapped in that mirror somewhere in Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Victor regales readers with creepy stories set in the Marvel universe while scheming to escape from his shadow realm prison. The main theme of most of these stories are team-ups involving classic 1970s Marvel horror characters.

Deadpool is hired to kill a priestess who seeks to rule both the world and underworld. But he's got to get through N'Kantu, the Living Mummy in order to obtain his bounty. Daredevil is nearly ripped to shreds by the ninja clan known as the Hand. Coming to his aid is the Man-Thing, whose touch results in death in those who know fear. Good thing Matt Murdock is the Man Without Fear. Then the Hulk is assisted by the Werewolf by Night from an all-out assault by Kraven the Hunter. 

The only story to not feature a team-up stars the Scarlet Witch. She fights a demonic force called Bricklayer. It's the villain's first appearance and it's a pretty darn good one. Years ago, this haunted house was destroyed. Only one of the bricks from the possessed domicile lodged itself into the chest of a vagrant. Now the vagrant continues the destroyed home's reign of terror by killing innocents as the super-strong and extremely evil Bricklayer. This was a villain I very much want to see more off and the tagline at the end of the story promises more of the character. Though I expect Bricklayer's legacy to be taken up by a new host body.

Fans are also promised more of Victor Strange in the pages of Doctor Strange. I'm excited for this prospect as well. It might actually persuade me to buy the books new when Marvel finally pits brother against brother once more. 

Marvel managed to make a Halloween special that was relevant and yet not preachy. Comics can tackle tricky subjects while still being fun. Finally, after several years of feeling like I was being targeted by the House of Ideas, it seems that the publisher finally understands that fans want to be entertained, not talked down too. If I wanted to spend my hard earned cash being made to feel like the source of all humanities problems, I'd enroll in an ethics course in college. When I buy comic books, I want to enjoy it and I actually enjoyed this horror comic.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Apes #0

This oversized special kicks off the 4-issue miniseries that explores the Marvel Universe if it existed on the Planet of the Apes. Or something to that effect. Starting things off are the reprints of Amazing Spider-Man #110-111. This pair of issues introduced a character named The Gibbon. He's a human mutant(?) that looks a lot like an ape-like humanoid and he's got amazing reflexes. 

After a chance meeting with Spider-Man, the Gibbon wants to become a superhero like the webslinger. Only, Spider-Man rebuffs him as his personal life balance between being a hero and a regular Joe has tilted the scales too far into Spider-Man's direction. Angered by even more rejection, the Gibbon is recruited by Spidey arch-foe, Kraven the Hunter, who conducts some sort of bizarre ceremony that gives Kraven mental control of poor man.

The reason for these reprints is that The Gibbon is supposed to be the main character of the Marvel Apes miniseries. This all leads me to believe that something happens that turns the Marvel universe into simians except for Gibbon. Probably due to his mutation(?), Gibbon retains his mental capacities while the rest of the MCU literally goes ape??? 

There's also a short story that is supposed to be like the opening act of the Marvel Apes story. It appears to be a retelling of that classic Spider-Man story 'If This Be My Destiny...!' in which in ASM #33, Spider-Man is trapped under some rubble while the room he's stuck in is slowly filling with water. In this retelling, Spider-Man is now Spider-Monkey and he doesn't seem to know he's a monkey as are a couple of other characters that appear.

Honestly, I'm not sure what is going on here. I know that this is supposed to be a prequel and was published after the miniseries was completed. And what I read feels like a huge mess. If anything, this issues makes me want to read some classic Amazing Spider-Man and stay completely away from Marvel Apes.

You're probably wondering why I chose this book. Well, I chose it because of its cover. When I found this a while back, I was thumbing through long boxes. I only paid a buck for it. At the time of sale, I was hoping that this was a Christmas issue. Once home, I realized this was only a holiday variant cover. Why cover artist Salva Espin (You Are Deadpool) decided to do a cover with a monkey version of Santa and his reindeer instead of other Marvel characters is beyond me. 

There are about 30 variant covers included at the end of this special. One or two are from Espin. The rest are from talent such as Rob Liefeld, Stuart Immonen, and Rick Silva. These covers were all variants of differing titles to coincide with the Marvel Apes event and are a visually dazzling addition to this special. 

Since I only paid a dollar and I knew ahead of time that this was what I consider to be a 'Scrooge' issue, I wasn't angry. I guess I'll still keep this in my holiday comics collection based on just the cover. But to if I'll ever read Marvel Apes, I'd have to find it at my local library or for real cheap because what I've read so far hasn't peaked my interest.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.