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In a little village on the Kirisaki mountains, an oni searches for food and raids the villagers' crops out of necessity. Meanwhile, a serpent yokai they call Venom has taken up residence in the village shrine, and they must make peace with the hungry and angry Hulk Oni to help vanquish the snake devil. We move forward in time to modern day Japan where a teen girl named Mariko has just learned that her family history was hidden from her, and that a powerful oni is after her for her blood. Mariko sets off on a journey to rediscover her past and save the only family she has left.
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Vol 1: I Belong to Death, penciled by Marcelo Ferreira, Inked by Don Ho & Roberto Poggi, colored by Javier Tartaglia & Felipe Sobreiro, lettered by Vc Cory Petit
Stephen Strange has died from the actions of The Death of Doctor Strange, and his wife, Clea, has become the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. But Clea's lineage has also afforded an already immeasurable power. She’s the niece of Dormamu, a daughter to a Warlord, a Faltine, and the Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimensions. While the two Sorcerer roles wage war inside her, she has made it her mission to resurrect Stephen. For this, she needs to tangle with Death. But before she can do that, she gets mixed up with a local gang that's creating powerful monsters using the collective power of thousands of souls. Clea’s tangle with them brings face-to-face with The Harvestman, a servant of Death, and possibly closer to her goal of waring with Death herself. ![]()
Vol 0: Most Wanted? illustrated by Robbi Rodriguez, colored by Rico Renzi
In this alternate universe, Gwen Stacy was bitten by the radioactive spider, not Peter Parker. Presently, she’s dealing with the guilt and aftermath of Peter’s death. Peter tried to emulate Gwen's Spider-Woman, his hero, but was met with a tragic end, for which Gwen feels responsible. Meanwhile, Spider-Woman the prime suspect for Peter's death, and the lead detective is George Stacy, a.k.a. her dad! After Spider-Woman saves Detective Stacy from a would-be assassin, the police force fears collusion and replaces him with Frank Castle (a.k.a. The Punisher!). To top all of this off, Gwen is supposed to be the drummer for a break-out band, The Mary Janes, but her double life keeps her from showing up to gigs on time. ![]()
Vol 1: Amazing Spider-Man: Edge of Spider-Verse, written by David Hine, Jason Latour, Dustin Weaver, Henry P. Chapman, and Gerard Way; illustrated by Fabrice Sapolsky, Robbi Rodriguez, Dustin Weaver, Elia Bonetti, and Jake Wyatt
Vol 2: Spider-Verse, written by Dan Slott, Gerry Conway, Katie Cook, Mike Costa, Peter David, Tom DeFalco, Christos Gage, Dennis Hopeless, Kathryn Immonen, Jed Mackay, Roger Stern, Robbie Thompson, and Skottie Young, illustrated by Mark Brooks, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Olivier Coipel, Paco Díaz, Ron Frenz, Adam Kubert, David Lafuente, Greg Land, Bob McLeod, Denis Medri, Jake Parker, Humberto Ramos, Miguel Sepúlveda, Will Sliney, Paul Smith, Sheldon Vella, Dave Williams The Edge of Spider-Verse title brings together five Spiders from other dimensions and lays the foundation for them being pulled together in the cosmic event, Spider-Verse. We start with Spider-Noir, where Spider-Man fights crime in the 1930s. He is challenged by the magician Mysterio, who wants Spider-Man’s blood for the Anansi, the God of Spiders. Next, we travel to another realm where Gwen Stacy was bitten instead of Peter. Gwen is the prime suspect in the death of Peter Parker, and her father is leading the investigation! Next, we find ourselves with Aaron Aikman who has developed a mechanized spider-suit to compliment his powers. Then, we’re off to a world where an obsessive Peter is bitten by a spider and becomes a hellish version of the superhero we know and love. The last story is SP//dr, a symbiotic mecha warrior with a sentient spider and young girl. In Spider-Verse, all of these Spiders and a host more come together to fight The Inheritors, a family of powerful vampires-type beings who are jumping through dimensions to devour that reality's "Spider Totems". Some of the Spiders survive, but most fall to these god-like Inheritors. The family is aided by a Master Weaver who can show how all Spiders are connected through the multiverse, and the Weaver can open a portal directly to them. Guided by Earth 616's (our reality) Spiders, the small Spider-army fight back against The Inheritors and in order to save all former and future spiders from grizzly deaths. Fan favorites like Spider-Woman, Silk, Superior Spider-Man, Miles Morales, among others, are part of the fight, as well as new favorites like Spider-Punk and Spider-Gwen. ![]()
Moon Knight (2014) Vol 2: Dead Will Rise, illustrated by Greg Smallwood
Wood takes over the series from Ellis, and it starts off similarly to Ellis’ volume 1 short story-type narrative. However, Wood weaves threads throughout each chapters that have payoff in the end. Moon Knight stops a well-armed sniper from killing a foreign dignitary, but it’s clear the man is a mercenary paid by someone very powerful. He then foils a terrorist plot at One World Trade Center, but the whole encounter is recorded on a cell phone camera and released to the world. The doctor from volume 1 is back - she tries to convince Marc to help her take down the foreign dignitary, and she gets Khonshu for her efforts. She infiltrates a security detail that is supposed to be protecting him, and without Khonshu, Marc finds himself detained yet again in something like a mental facility. Now, he’ll have to make it out without the powers of his god behind him, and stop the doctor before she ignites a civil war in an African country. ![]()
Vol 1: From the Dead, illustrated by Declan Shalvey, colored by Jordie Bellaire
Mr. Knight is back consulting with the New York Police Department, but don’t identify him as the vigilante Moon Knight, or they might be obligated to arrest him. Moon Knight helps take care of bzd guys in situations that would endanger the members of the NYPD - he tracks one to a secret lair in the underground and another to a (mostly) abandoned building where human trafficking victims are stashed. Steven Grant's therapist tells him that he doesn’t have Dissociative Identity Disorder, but instead that he has experienced trauma, both in his childhood and as in his adulthood as a mercenary, and that he has come up with other personas as a way to justify his crime fighting and need to save people. ![]()
Illustrated by Greg Smallwood and Jordie Bellaire
Marc Spector wakes in a mental hospital, where he has obviously been thoroughly mistreated, judging by the black eyes and a number of other bruises. His psychiatrist, Dr. Emmet, is dismayed by the lack of progress he's made, especially in that he continues to talk about his other personas. He often slips in and out of his mind to talk to Khonshu, his patron god, who is also disappointed that Marc hasn't seen through the lies and broken out of the hospital yet. Marc starts to recognize some of the other patients - Frenchie, Gena, Marlene, Crawley - as people who have been helpful or important in his life. The facade of the hospital starts to crumble, and Marc begins to see the hospital staff as agents of Ammit, with crocodile heads and very foul tempers. Marc struggles to escape the hospital with his friends and maintain a handle on what he knows to be true, while slipping in and out of his other identities: Steven Grant, the successful Hollywood producer; Jake Lockley, a scrappy cab driver; and Moon Knight, the Fist of Khonshu and protector of travelers at night. ![]()
Illustrated by Lee Garbett
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, is murdered in cold blood in the entryway of the Sanctum Santorum. But, Stephen Strange is a crafty man. He has contingency plans for his contingency plans. His younger self arrives as part of a fail-safe he set in place years ago in case his affairs wouldn't be entirely in order. And he's not the only people to arrive upon the death of one of Earth's mightiest protectors - several invaders from other dimensions and realms set up shop on Earth, and they're all fleeing a magic-devouring baby-shaped monster with three "mothers" that scout for places to "eat". It's now up to his younger self to solve the mystery of his murder and keep everything from becoming baby food. ![]()
Stories by Cullen Bunn, Michael Fleisher, Doug Moench, illustrated by Don Perlin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ibrahim Moustafa, and Matt Horak
Several of Moon Knight’s adventures are collected here in this volume. The first story is a two-issue arc from Werewolf by Night, where Marc Spector is employed to capture a werewolf and bring it back to a live, captive audience for $10,000. In the next adventure, Spider-Man and Moon Knight team up to infiltrate the underground of crime families. The last adventure is a journey through time with Keng the Conqueror, with both Keng and Moon Knight them chasing sacred artifacts of Khonshu that could re-write reality itself. |
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