This Spider-Man article contains spoilers. Every comic book fan knows about the night that Gwen Stacy died. The two-part story from 1973’s Amazing Spider-Man #121–122 stands as a watershed moment in comics, not only upping the stakes of Spider-Man’s inability to balance his personal and heroic lives, but also giving permission for superhero comics to push the envelope in a way that had not been done since the pre-Comics Code days. For most of Spider-Man’s history, Gwen fell into the same category as Thomas and Martha Wayne or (pre-Superboy punch) Jason Todd. She existed only to die, to give tr ..read more

This X-Men ’97 article contains spoilers. The fifth episode of X-Men ’97 presents a major change in the status quo for mutankind, climaxing with an attack on the nation of Genosha and the deaths of several major characters. But the most consequential event may be what happens just before the attack begins. The first half of “Remember It” plays like a reprieve for the X-Men, as they visit a radically different Genosha from the one they previously saw on X-Men: The Animated Series. Once an apartheid nation built on mutant oppression, Genosha has become a haven for mutants, allowing them to celeb ..read more

“Somewhere, deep within the deep vastness of outer space, an incredible figure hurtles thru the cosmos, a being whom we shall call the Silver Surfer, for want of a better name!” That typically verbose bit of narration by Stan Lee comes from Fantastic Four #48, in which it accompanied the powerful imagery of Jack Kirby in his prime. Since that moment, the Silver Surfer has become a major part of the Marvel Universe, appearing not only in countless comics but also in many film and television adaptations. The upcoming Fantastic Four MCU movie promises to continue the tradition, and director Matt ..read more

This X-Men ’97 article contains spoilers. It takes five minutes for “Motendo” segment of the latest episode of X-Men ’97 to reveal its big bad. A stomach-churning yellow creature covered in metal appears on screen and yells, “I am Mojo, your primetime psycho inter dimensional TV producer who feeds off ratings!” That’s actually a pretty good description for Mojo, one of the strangest Marvel villains of all time. The “Motendo” segment finds Mojo kidnapping Jubilee and Roberto Da Costa (not yet taking his Sunspot moniker) and sending them into a video game. There, they battle various computerized ..read more

This X-Men ’97 article contains spoilers. “They shall know my Inferno!” cries the Goblin Queen early in X-Men ’97‘s third episode. Now, the Goblin Queen has had a rough day, which began with her thinking that she was the real Jean Grey and ended with the revelation that she was a clone created by evil (but fashionable) geneticist Mr. Sinister. Her heel turn came so quick that she really didn’t have time to workshop her villain monologues. Whatever the shortcomings in her baddie banter, the Goblin Queen makes up for it with evil powers. She immediately begins transforming the X-Mansion into a H ..read more

After spending years as a respected leader of the sovereign mutant nation Krakoa, Cyclops is back on the run. With Krakoa destroyed and humanity ready to oppress mutants again, Cyclops has gone back home to Alaska to refresh and regroup. And yet, things have never been better for Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops. The upcoming From the Ashes relaunch will force the X-Men back into the world after the end of Krakoa in the Fall of X storyline, with a new X-Men book with Cyclops in the lead. “We wanted to start with Cyclops and wanted to bring him back to Alaska,” X-Men writer Jed MacKay tells Den of ..read more

This article is part of Collector’s Digest, an editorial series powered by: Twenty five years ago, Marvel Comics was in a difficult spot. They were crawling out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They were coming out of one of the lowest creative points in the company’s history, and the early ‘90s comics boom had gone completely bust with very little sign of recovering. It wasn’t a good time to make superhero movies either, especially after the commercial ridicule thrown at Batman & Robin. So to try and fix things, Marvel tried something old again. With the goal of getting back to “the world outsi ..read more

Superstitious and cowardly, a criminal just watch Batman take down two of her armed and powerful comrades. Desperation drives her to take the one option left to her, the sole chance she has to escape the Batman’s wrath. Pointing a gun at the 10-month-old baby she and her colleagues kidnapped, the criminal shouts, “Back off, man! I’ll kill the kid.” When Batman does not respond, she yells louder, fearing that the Dark Knight doesn’t take her seriously. “Believe me man, I will! Believe me–” Bearing the weapon he took from another criminal, Batman shoots the criminal, killing her instantly. He gr ..read more

“Don’t presume you know everything.” For decades, that was actor Paul Reiser’s response whenever people would ask him about playing Burke, the Weyland-Yutani middle-manager who tried to kill the heroes of Aliens to please his bosses. Since the release of the James Cameron classic in 1986, viewers have taken Ripley’s summation of the situation to heart. “You know, Burke, I don’t know which species is worse,” she tells him after escaping from a trap he set to infect her and the child Newt with a Xenomorph. “You don’t see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage.” And yet, almost 40 ..read more

Marvel’s First Family is finally on its way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four hitting screens in 2025. From the ashes of Tim Story’s two noughties movies and Josh Trank’s maligned Fantastic Four, here’s hoping it’s third time lucky for Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm. Boasting an all-star cast of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, the team is up there with the arrival of the X-Men in terms of MCU hype. While recent MCU entries have faltered at the box office, Fantastic Four has the potential to go all the way ..read more