The Avengers and Infinity Inc. (And More!)

 

Mr. Universe returns for his 12th appearance as STF's greatest villain, and this time he is super-charged enough that it will take two teams to beat him.  Fortunately, this issue is 100 pages, so there will still be plenty of room left for some fun back-up tales!

My goodness, are we really on the march towards STF #5000?

Here are some larger views of this issue's individual stories:

The Spectre Vs. The Beyonder

 

It's years away and not even the next Avengers movie on the schedule, but Avengers: Secret Wars already has plenty of rumors swirling around it.  Will the Russo Brothers return to direct, or will Ryan Coogler be tapped for that job?  Will we see the return of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans?  What about appearances by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Edward Norton, and other actors that have played Marvel heroes before?  Will the movies ending re-set the MCU completely for the phase to follow?  Will the Beyonder appear, and if so, who will play him? I think there will be plenty of speculation about all of this for while to come, but I'm not expecting answers any time soon.

Spider-Man and Blue Devil

 

There's been a lot of talk about Secret Wars being the next huge crossover event that the MCU is building towards.  The Russo Brothers have even indicated interest in directing such an epic.  But which Secret Wars story will be adapted?  The original series that I remember from my youth had The Beyonder summoning a bunch of heroes and villains to Battleworld where they duked it out.  Then there's the newer Secret Wars series that was hitting just when I stopped regularly buying comics, so I don't know too much about it - just that it seemed to involve the multiverse, with lots of different versions of Marvel heroes running around.  That seems in line with what the MCU has been doing lateley, but then again the Russo Brothers seem to lean into the more classic tales from 30 years ago or more, so who knows what's  in store?  Perhaps it will be something with elements of both events.  I'm sure we'll have several more years to speculate.

Green Lantern Corps and The Beyonder

 

I enjoyed Secret Wars and the concept of The Beyonder, but I always wonder about the decisions behind his appearance.  He's a nigh-omnipotent being and the visual we readers got was of a guy with a jheri curl in a bright white disco suit.  I mean, that look was already dated in 1984, when he was first introduced.  He was a little hard to take seriously, despite his nearly infinite powers.

The Beyonder and Dr. Manhattan

 

I saw the delays in publishing DC's Doomsday Clock maxi-series, so I decided to wait until it was completed and pick up a collected edition of the big DC/Watchmen crossover.  I like Gary Frank's artwork and Geoff Johns is usually pretty reliable, but I have read mixed reviews.  What say you?  Has anyone here read it, and if so, do you feel that it is worth checking out?