Christopher Yost

‘Get ready to discover one of the Marvel Universe’s greatest secrets!’ What, another greatest secret? The Invisible Woman dying her hair? Jean Grey popping up and saying ‘fooled you all these years because I was so freaking bored of the four colour magic wrestling stuff?’ The Hulk having penned the treatises of Wittgenstein?

If this is regarded as one of the best Marvel series, one of the ‘ultimate’ stories then frankly the state of superhero comics is worse than I thought. This show more series is essentially an exercise in corporate synergy, a way to conveniently shift the Marvel comics universe to match the Marvel films one. As such, the main point of interest is that this is the main Marvel line shifting to something first proposed in an Ultimate universe story. And with that you realise that you’ve been asked to fork over cash for a series which simply exists to resolve a continuity point for the tiny intersection of those who care passionately about movie and comic fandoms meet. The art’s fine, the violence is as pointlessly decorative and savage as in most modern books and the storytelling devices used to get the two characters who need to from point A to point B…. well, one’s reasonably well done but the other is hackneyed and comes with a gear-grindingly convenient plot point to tie everything up nearly. It doesn’t exist because it’s a story that needs to be told, that a writer has poured their heart and soul into (Marvel and DC really are the wrong places to look for that sort of thing), it’s there as an exercise in corporate synergy. In that it proves that comics kowtow at the altar of the almighty Hollywood dollar it may actually earn its place as a perfect representative of that, because there’s nothing more representative of modern Marvel than that. An act of subservience from a largely moribund publisher. show less

Adam's Review (5 Stars): Oh WOW, this title is so good! A combination of both the heroic side AND the violent side of Kaine show up in this Volume. The first half of Lone Star (pre- Minimum Carnage) deals in the heroic, having Scarlet Spider go after human trafficking rings and street gangs. This Spider is brutal in his fighting style, but thanks to the superb inner monologue, we see both his doubts and internal moral debates while he totally takes down the bad guys.
The second half (post- show more Minimum Carnage and the amazing events of that story) takes a very dark turn. After being brutally defeated to almost the point of death, Kaine goes through a twisted inner battle against his "spider" self. Human vs. spider plays out outstandingly, and I won't ruin it here, but I hope to see more of that Scarlet "Spider".

Marvel... with both this title and Superior Spider-Man, you have shown that you are capable of creating a darker and more brutal area of the Marvel Universe. Thinking of a "dark" hero I liked when I was younger, I make one request to you Marvel........ please take darkness and chaos and sheer brutality, and just a general overall feel of such when you release Ghost Rider back upon this "new" universe. Marvel's "Spirit of Vengeance" deserves to walk on the dark side of Marvel.

Scarlet Spider? Highly Recommend! Where's Volume 3? show less

This is one of those books that Marvel comic fans will either love or hate, I think. It will depend on how you feel about retconning. Since I started as a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before coming to the comics (after The Avengers was released), I’m less bothered by retconning. At least, when it is done well. And Battle Scars does it very, very well.

I went looking for this book after stumbling across a review somewhere that said it’s a great bridge between the original Marvel show more continuity and Marvel Now. The story is set after the crossover event Fear Itself and is self-contained. You don’t have to have read the event, or any other comic really, to follow it. And the writing is brilliant. The story opens with Sergeant Marcus Johnson coming back from Afghanistan to attend the funeral of his mother. He was told she was killed during a home invasion brought on by Fear Itself. Only, he discovers that she was murdered and now “they” are after him. The story is literally boiling over with suspense and tension. Who’s after him? Why? What does Captain America know? Marcus may be the biggest secret SHIELD has ever held and when he learns the truth - I nearly fell out of my chair in shock. I LOVED IT!

Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. I've only been reading comics since 2012 and in that time I have worked my way from Avengers Disassembled through AvX and aside from Secret Warriors, this might be the best book I've come across. Fantastic. show less

I found the crossover event Fear Itself to be enjoyable, if not as good as other events. But the tie-ins have been hit or miss; a few stand outs but most are only so-so. This is definitely one of the stand outs.

Though he's been on teams, Spider-man is mostly a loner. Here, we see him grappling with seemingly insurmountable odds and self-doubt. He knows he isn't the one who can stop what is happening (what the heck is happening?!) so he just tries to hold the line while the Avengers grapple show more with stopping the Serpent. Peter is desperately worried about Aunt May, whom he can't reach by phone, but he can't make it across the city to her without stopping. And if he doesn't stop to help, people will die. There are a handful of regular people in desperate situations that the story rotates among. Spidey helps each one at some point and though he doesn't realize it, his help is what gives them the hope they need to fight the Fear. This tie-in goes to the heart of Spider-man in a way not many stories do. He doesn't even see how he is inspiring people but he continues on none-the-less. At one point, he stops in to see Mayor Jonah Jameson - who frankly tells him to quit whining and get back out there! The entire story is so action packed and emotionally charged I could not put it down. Plus, it truly demonstrates just how powerful Spider-man is. Further, it ties into the event in a meaningful way by showing what is happening on the ground and how the non-Avenger heroes are handling it.

The second half of the book devotes a short "origin" story to each of the hammer-wielding Worthy. It shows a bit of their history to get them to the point of receiving the hammer. These were insightful and interesting, even for less-known characters like Titania. Overall, this was a fantastic collection. Highly recommended. show less