This is a miniseries that kills Spider-Man (but it’s not Spider-Man) and features Beyonder (but it’s not Beyonder). It’s a book that tried very hard to be quirky and succeeds. Is it good? Well, it’s not BAD…
We start with an attempt at being chilling: A dark figure buries the dead, who are presumably the last team pulled to this desolate planet. Bi-Beast is among the dead.
Then the main story: “Beyonder” sends a bunch of characters to Battleworld. The cast is Wasp and Hank Pym, Gravity (who is the readers’ entry point to the series), Medusa, “Spider-Man,” the son of Kraven, Firebird, the new Venom (i.e., the symbiote hosted by Mac “The Scorpion” Gargan), and later Deathlok.
As soon as they arrive, Beyonder tells them to kill their enemies and Venom kills Spider-Man.
So, as a reader, you know that this is either not in continuity or that’s not really Spider-Man. As an astute reader, you ALREADY knew that because he showed up in his blue-and-red costume. In continuity, he’s wearing battle armor–and we know it’s in-continuity because Mac Gargan showed up as Venom.
Then Venom gets his butt kicked by Medusa and the others, then runs away.
After Venom flees the scene, the rest of the team meets Dragon Man and Deathlok. Oh, and Spider-Man rises from the dead. Because he’s really Space Phantom.
There’s a bunch of scenes of the cast members fighting each other–it’s kind of random and all over the place until Hank figures out how to trick Beyonder by pretending to kill all of the assembled group but really shrinking them. Beyonder is revealed as The Stranger. Uatu shows up and interferes. Everyone goes home but Gravity dies in the process. And nobody cares because at the very end The Watcher tells us that this isn’t the end of Gravity’s story. (Actually, nobody cared about him being dead because he’s Gravity and nobody cares about Gravity).
This was a pointless series but was a mildly interesting diversion that came at a time when just about every ongoing Marvel book was overwhelmed with Civil War tie-ins and nearly all the new Marvel books were tying into the Annihilation event. Good timing for a decent standalone story.
English (US) · 