INFINITY # 4 SPOILERS

SPOILER ALERT!

Here's a couple of things that were pretty interesting from INFINITY # 4 by Jonathan Hickman, Jerome Opena and Dustin Weaver.

So over in the ruins of Attilan, Thanos and Blackbolt resume their fight. Of course Thanos figures out that the first scream that Black Bolt released was also used to detonate the terrigen mist bomb across Earth.

Yes it actually sucked that Thanos beats Black Bolt in one-on-one combat.

In another part of the world, in that hidden Inhuman settlement, we meet Thane, in his 'human' form.

Sadly, that's all shortlived as the Terrigen Mist wave coming from the explosion in Attilan heads their way and transforms everybody, Thane included.



Thane emerges in a new form, one that looks a lot like his dear old dad.

Meanwhile in Space, particularly in the Kree homeworld of Hala, Captain America sends in his emissary after surrendering to the conquering Builder. Unfortunately for the Builder, Cap sends the one who controls the thunder and the one who's coming out with a movie on October 30... THOR...

Thor shows that he surrenders by hurling his hammer Mjolnir into space and then gets slapped in the face by that obnoxious, little prawn Builder.

So while the Builder is doing his litany AND preparing to kill Thor, Mjolnir has already made a full circle and is hurtling back to it's owner.

And then Thor proceeds to bring the hammer down, so to speak...

He then delivers the killing blow to the arrogant little Builder...



And spouts something, the Bay-verse Optimus Prime would say. Oh and then he poses with the hammer bearing Accusers of Hala including Ronan the Accuser...

Thing suddenly went from INTERESTING to VERY INTERESTING...

What are you waiting for, get your copies now. 

Marvel Avengers Alliance Spec Ops 13 Guide

Coming clean, I'm an addict for Playdom's Marvel Avengers Alliance and I swear I can effing play this Facebook game for a whole day. That being said, the game just launched it's big "Infinity" tie-in with Special Operations (Spec Ops) # 13 which features Thanos and his Black Order together with Inhuman king Black Bolt and a new hero Thane.

So if you want to get either one of the two, I suggest you start playing the game (which is very INFINITY-spoiler heavy mind you) and hope for the best. I would like to cite The Marvel Avengers Alliance [Philippines] group  particularly James Noele Vasquez who created the document.

1. A.I.M.-less

Defeat 5 A.I.M. Soldiers
Remove A.I.M. from this equation. A.I.M. Soldiers can be found in Mission 1: Tribute or Gauntlet.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

2. Mean Green

Defeat a Mini-Boss in Mission 1
Defeat either Abomination or Green Goblin in Mission 1: Tribute or Gauntlet.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1000

3. Strength in Numbers

Use 2 Distress Calls
You can only receive Distress Calls by visiting allies. Add allies to help you win more battles.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 200 XP for the Agent

4. Keep the Peace

Complete a Deploy
More help is needed on the ground to get the civilians clear of the area. Complete a Deploy in Mission 1: Tribute or Gauntlet.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1

5. Darkest Before Dawn

Defeat Proxima Midnight
The first confrontation with the Black Order is against their greatest warrior. Proxima Midnight is the Boss of Mission 1: Tribute or Gauntlet.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1000

6. Always Watching

Research the Vigil of Attilan in the Lab
Research the Vigil of Attilan to complete this task.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: Vigil of Attilan

7. The Mad Titan

Complete a Battle with Thanos
Fight Thanos either on your own map or on your friends' maps for free. Thanos respawns every 72 hours.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1

8. Demonic Diversion

Defeat 6 Demons
Demons can be found in Mission 2: A Strange Twist
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

9. Mission Accomplished

Get 2 Stars of Mastery in Mission 1
Complete missions to add points to your cumulative score. Achieve a high enough score to earn a new Mastery Star!
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

10. Bolt From The Blue

Use Black Bolt's Royal Flight 3 Times
Royal Flight is Black Bolt's second ability. Black Bolt is a Team-Up in Spec Op 13 Mission 2 and 3.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1000

11. Hammer out Danger

Create the Attilan Cudgel in the Lab
The Attilan Cudgel can be researched after acquiring the Blueprint: Attilan Cudgel
Requires 20 to auto-finish
Reward: 1000

12. Versus

Fight 5 PVP Battles
Compete in PVP to test your skills against other players. Hint: Practice matches count as battles.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

13. Curbing Corvus

Defeat Corvus Glaive
The second confrontation with the Black Order is with the cruel and cunning Corvus Glaive. He is the Boss of Mission 2: A Strange Twist.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 2000

14. Sibilant Strike

Use Black Bolt's Whisper 2 Times
Whisper is Black Bolt's third ability. Black Bolt is a Team-Up in Spec Op 13 Mission 2 and 3.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

15. Instability

Collect 20 Unstable Iso-8
Unstable Isotope-8 can be found in normal combat, as well as rewards from deploys and boss fights. You can also get some from your friends!
Requires 20 to auto-finish
Reward: 2000

16. Hammer out a Warning

Upgrade the Attilan Cudgel to the Attilan Mace in the Lab
The Attilan Mace can be researched after acquiring the Attilan Cudgel.
Requires 20 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

17. Eternal Struggle

Fight Thanos 3 Times
Fight Thanos either on your own map or on your friends' maps for free. Thanos respawns every 72 hours.
Requires 30 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

18. Binary System

Get 2 Stars of Mastery in Mission 2
Complete missions to add points to your cumulative score. Achieve a high enough score to earn a new Mastery Star!
Requires 20 to auto-finish
Reward: 200 XP for the Agent

19. Righting the Wrongs

Use Dr. Strange's Teresing Boost 2 Times
Teresing Boost is Dr. Strange's second ability. Dr. Strange is a Team-Up for the Epic Boss of Mission 2: A Strange Twist.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1

20. Victory

Win 3 PVP Battles
Compete in PVP to test your skills against other players. PVP requires completing Chapter 1 Mission 4 of Story Mode.
Requires 30 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

21. Voxquake

Use Black Bolt's Power Word in Combat
Power Word is Black Bolt's fourth ability. Black Bolt is a Team-Up in Spec Op 13 Mission 2 and 3.
Requires 30 to auto-finish
Reward: 100 XP for the Agent

22. What's in the Box

Collect 5 Inhuman Lockboxes
Collect lockboxes to unlock Thane as a playable hero. They can be earned from fighting Thanos or lockbox sidequests.
Requires 20 to auto-finish
Reward: 3000

23. Running the Gauntlet

Defeat Thanos
Thanos is the Boss in Mission 3: In Search of Thane.
Requires 10 to auto-finish
Reward: 1

24. Mission Accomplished

Complete 3 Stars of Mastery in all Spec Op 12 Missions
Complete missions to add points to your cumulative score. Achieve a high enough score to earn a new Mastery Star!
Requires 25 to auto-finish
Reward: 5000

25. Dark Dread

Defeat Dormammu
Dormammu is an Epic Boss in Mission 2: A Strange Twist. HINT: Participate in Deploys as soon as they appear.
Requires 25 to auto-finish
Reward: 1 , Black Bolt.

Then there's also Thane. To get the supposed and rumored 'Son of Thanos' you have to gain themed lockboxes. Here's Thane's bio (special thanks to Bleedingcool):

Additional story for Thane:

"I used to be just a man. Just another healer, nobody of consequence, plying my trade among my people. And then Thanos arrived. How did I get these horrible powers? Why? Did they come from him? All I know is that just as he came to Earth, I… changed. Suddenly I had the power of life and death in my hands. But I could not control it, and the people around me paid the price. Everyone that I had once healed, everyone I knew… dead. I ran before I could kill again, only to find an even greater murderer in my path. Thanos and his lieutenants were coming… for me. This Thanos creature… what does he want from me? If I give myself up to him, will he stop killing people? Or will he just use my powers to kill even more? I need someone to help me understand what I am… what I’ve become. Is that you, Agent? Do you think you can control death itself? I doubt it. But the truth is, I have no other choice. I cannot go back to the way I was, and I cannot go to Thanos. That leaves me with you. But I warn you. Try to use my powers for evil, and I’ll show you what they can do… in abundance."

INFINITY # 3 Review - Minor Spoilers

Reviewing Infinity # 3 by Jonathan Hickman, Jerome Opena and Dustin Weaver.

This week's INFINITY # 3 shows us that Captain America is still the baddest mofo in the Universe and that having no powers do not mean he can't beat battles with powerful enemies like The Builders. It's also a prelude of bigger things coming down with the Inhumans.

Hickman plays the galactic opera very well with a badly beaten Galactic Council turning tail and leaving behind only a handful of troops. Luckily for readers it happens to be Earth's Mightiest Heroes, The Avengers led by Captain America. 

I like the dichotomy of this issue. One side we see a victory on the space front led by Captain America and on the other side of the playing field we see a kingdom crumble partly due to that supreme a-hole Thanos. 

So far, I'm impressed with how Hickman is handling Infinity. Issue 3 is a great addition to the list of good products that Marvel Comics has released in the past few months. There's this elegance and grandness in terms of scope and he yet he micromanages everything to make it cohesive. 

Opena and Weaver's art was fantastic. Opena is a monster when it comes to doing xenomorphic creatures and weird spacecrafts. Plus he pulled off something fantastic in my book. He managed to make Captain America look so cool barking orders at his team.

Weaver's work was excellent here, on equal footing with Opena's work actually. That guy can convey emotions with his art such as the madness in Maximus the Mad's eyes, the worry in Queen Medusa's face and Black Bolt's adamant stance vs Thanos.

Go pick up INFINITY # 3, you'll be happy you did. 

New Teaser Image for Marvel's INFINITY

Something big is going to happen in December or at least that's what Marvel wants us to believe. 

BleedingCool wants to think that this is in direct relation to the bombs that were dropped in INFINITY # 2 while ComicBookNews wants to believe that this has got something to do with the apparent transition of Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales to the 616 Universe after the end of CATACLYSM. 

Personally though I want to go with this being a direct offshoot of Black Bolt's information. It just jibes right that way. 

INFINITY # 1 Thoughts and Some Spoilers

Marvel Comics' INFINITY # 1 by Jonathan Hickman together with Jim Cheung is finally out and it's impressive. The book is thicker thanks to the additional pages from the FCBD issue but it's oh-so-good.

The portrayal of THANOS here is something fresh. He's more of the guy in the comfortable throne with his elite and his soldiers willing to literally die in order to serve him. You could say that THANOS has rebuilt himself as the classic Godfather archetype.

It's refreshing to see some bits and pieces (literally and figuratively) of the Spaceknights. That girl from ANNIHILATORS is back and she's not alone. Sadly, Hickman uses the return of the Spaceknights as a means to show just how powerful these "Builders" are. That one female Builder alone was really powerful. The threat presented here is no pushover but something that is really scary.

The outrider scenes and panels were bland in my opinion. The only thing that revved up those sequences were the appearances of Black Bolt himself and boy were those scenes majestic. I shudder to think what will happen to people who piss off Black Bolt outside of his brother Maximus the Mad. Oh and I almost forgot that Black Bolt and the rest of the Inhumans will be playing a really huge part in Marvel's INHUMANITY.

I foresee people scratching their heads due to the complexity of the thread. INFINITY has this complexity that I haven't seen in a Marvel Comics event book in years now. Other event books would probably reference a couple of books but this one takes the cake by making references to various events. However if you really want to stay 'in touch' with the book's context, I suggest you pick up Hickman's run on the current AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS books. 

I don't feel the appearance of Thanos' new posse worked here. Corvus Glaive and the rest of his team might seem like strong opponents but it feels like they were just set pieces as opposed to characters (antagonists) that needs more breathing room to grow. Remember how in Superman, there were tiny tidbits of Doomsday at the end of every issue until the damned thing finally broke free, that for me works. And I think if could have been executed flawlessly with Hickman at the helm. 

One thing I find stupid really. If Thanos had the capability of acquiring these individuals and raising an army, why didn't he do it then? It seemed rather contrived that out of half a dozen or so times that he tried to conquer Earth, it's only now that he had the brains to start slow and keep in the dark. 

Another stupid Thanos moment is the idea of getting scared of the Avengers and seeing the opportunity to strike now that the Avengers are leaving Earth to join the universal fight against the Builders. Didn't he think about getting resistance from the same people that was mentioned, namely the Inhumans and the X-Men. Don't forget there's also the Fantastic Four and the other heroes who made it to "Reservist Avengers". 

Still, INFINITY # 1 is worth picking up. It's the perfect super burn heal...

... for those that got burned by the last event which was AGE OF ULTRON (although that book had some merits to it). 

Pre-order you copies of INFINITY # 1 from CASTLE GEEK and COMICX HUB

Marvel Teases Inhumanity after Infinity

Infinity hasn't even started and Marvel is already gung-ho in showing what's in store for the 616 Marvel Universe when the dust settles between the Avengers, Thanos and the Builders. Enter Inhumanity:

It's a novel idea how they want to work this new 'overreaching' arc. It follows the principle of a banner like how Dark Reign spins off from the ending of Secret Invasion and Heroic Age started after the 'Big Three' reunion in Siege. 

And yet, if you read the first article that was published on EW's Popwatch, you'll understand that this is also a tie-in to the new "Inhumans" book which is written by Da Vinci's Demons writer Matt Fraction. 

Another thing that's interesting here is how they plan on homaging and skewering the classic "Earth X" storyline. It's like a 21st Century take on a legendary story.

Marko Djurdjevic's Infinity Variant Cover Looks Like a Movie Poster

... and this movie poster features important key figures like main villain Thanos plus Inhuman leader Black Bolt together with heavy hitters from Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers.

If you've read the early scans from the FCBD issue of Marvel Comics' Infinity, you'll know that Thanos has sent his outrider to Earth with the hopes of finding something or someone. Knowing Thanos, this must be the Infinity gauntlet and the six infinity gems. Sadly though, the Illuminati broke the Infinity gems in Jonathan Hickman's New Avengers.

Jenkins and Jae Lee's INHUMANS Gets Motion Comic Treatment

The Inhumans have always been one of Marvel’s most enduring oddities. A race of genetic outsiders, they live secluded in their island kingdom of Attilan, preferring not to mix with the outside world. Even stranger, their genetic mutations are self-endowed; each Inhuman, as a coming-of-age ritual, endures exposure to the Terrigen Mists, a strange substance that imparts unearthly powers — some extraordinary, some monstrous.

 But now the kingdom of Attilan is under attack from without and within. Can the Royal Family, led by Black Bolt, repel the foreign invaders who blast at their outer defense, as well as the internal threat of Black Bolt’s insane brother, Maximus the Mad?

New Avengers # 1 Provides the Coolest Intros for Main Stars

Check out the preview for New Avengers # 1 by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting.

NEW AVENGERS #1
Jonathan Hickman (W)
Steve Epting (A)
Cover by JOCK
Variant Cover by J. Scott Campbell
SKETCH VARIANT BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
Variant Cover by STEVE EPTING
Young Baby Variant by SKOTTIE YOUNG
Blank Cover Also Available
To prevent the collision of our universe with another, the Illuminati, led by the Black Panther, must assemble NOW! It’s the most powerful and brilliant team in the Marvel Universe--The Black Panther, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Bolt, Mister Fantastic, Namor the Sub-Mariner and The Beast--against an infinite legion of parallel realities.
32 PGS. /Rated T+ …$3.99