Blended For Your Enjoyment! Unlimited Access 4 Review!

Captain America, Jr.! Jean Black! Green Goliath! Quick Freeze! Redwing! Thor-El! Wonder Wasp! Heroes Amalgamated from the DC and Marvel Universes! Can they defeat the "Combined Forces" of Darkseid and Magneto - and their New Gods of Apokalips and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants!

It's hard to tell how Darkseid's horde and the Brotherhood are Amalgamated - yet they are! The heroes and villains wage their battle aboard the Justice League satellite, 22,000 miles above the Earth!

The core of Kesel's story, with continued eye-candy by Olliffe and Williams, is not so much about Darkseid and Magneto, The Avengers and the Justice League, Uncanny X-Men, DC sidekicks or even the Amalgamated heroes and villains. No, the true story is Access versus Evil-Access! There are two versions of Access. The older one, who ends up a bum with a glowing cardboard box in an alley. He passes the mantle on to younger Access.

In the end, there can. Be. Only. ONE!

The conclusion is pretty basic and simple. Hit reset and everything goes back to normal. The only nit to pick is that DC and Marvel don't have a community or shared reality, so that, when a reader picks up a cross-company team-up, it happens across Metropolis and New York. Skip the whole introduction and get right to the action. Readers come for the action, not so much the exposition. I know we just met, but I'm not sure I like you, so I think I'll argue and fight you until it's time to work together against a common enemy.

Access, DC and Marvel teaming up and creating an Amalgamated Universe is fun. It would be nice to see more of the Amalgamated Universe characters as well as Access.

Unlimited Access wraps up with three stars! 

This is It! For all the Marbles and the Whole Enchilada! Unlimited Access 3 Review!

 As he makes his departure through a Boom-Tube, Darkseid instructs Amazing Grace to pit The Avengers versus the Justice League! Access can only stand by in gaping surprise as the teams go "toe-to-toe", fist to fist in battle! Thor versus J'onn J'onzz! Aquaman versus Captain America! Hal Jordan versus Iron Man! Giant Man versus Barry Allen! Black Canary versus The Wasp!

Meanwhile, Darkseid and his New Gods of Apokalips enlist Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants! But to what end? World domination!?!

Access can only think of one solution! This looks like a job for Superman! However, it's the electric Blue Superman that none of his teammates recognize! Still, with his new powers, he's able to snap the heroes out of their trance!

Quicksilver captures Access, who calls on a group of sidekicks (who are either part of the Teen Titans or will become part of Young Justice) who free him and best the Brotherhood.

The X-Men arrive just as Darkseid and Magneto issue their ultimatum! There's more arguing, which causes Access to Amalgamate Angel and Robin into Redwing!

Kesel knows what readers and fans want: The Avengers versus the Justice League! And it's a Classic match-up! This is where the whole time travel aspect works perfectly! It's a shame that we don't get a Classic "Fab Five" Titans versus the Original, Uncanny X-Men... maybe another time. The story leads up to the inevitable, almost predictable Amalgamation. DC and Marvel heroes blended into Amalgam characters. Your mileage may vary on that.

Olliffe and Williams do an awesome job on art. The whole look of this book is enjoyable.

Over all, "The Greatest Heroes of All Time!" earns four stars.   

Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle, The DC/Marvel All Access 4 Review

 

Wow. That cover. A horrified Access can only gape in abject terror as the X-Men battle the Justice League! It's a return match between Storm and Wonder Woman! That expression on Access' face is just... Wow. 

Access is referee when the teams collide. Superman demands that the X-Men let The Batman go. It's all a tense standstill, until Batman reignites things with Bishop. Then it all cuts loose. Team versus team. Access and Dr. Strange in the middle. Access blinks to keep Ming out of harm's way. 

Then it all comes out. Strange has been taken over by Dr. Strangefate who wants to bring back the Amalgam Universe! He has banished the real Strange, bouncing him from one place to another to keep him from being discovered and rescued. Strangefate manages to Amalgamate the X-Men and Justice League! Access must find a way to return Stephen Strange and restore the separate universes!

It turns out to be a tricky process. Tricky, but successful. 

In the end, Axel ends up with Caitlin Fitzgerald.

DC/Marvel All Access 4, "Savior" wraps it all up for three stars.

Down The Rabbit Hole, Part DEUX!

Still reading the original four-issue mini-series DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC. Waiting for further facsimile reprints of JLA/Avengers.

It starts with The Brothers. Created specifically for this crossover. The Brothers are the origin of the Multiverse. One is a DC Brother, the other a Marvel. The spin is that DC and Marvel have pretty similar characters: Aquaman and Namor, the Sub-Mariner; Green Arrow and Hawkeye; The Atom and Ant-Man and the Wasp. There are a number of similarities between the two companies. So much so that this should be a fun and enjoyable story.

And it is.

However, the bottom line for a business is to sell or move product. A publishing company publishes. A Comic book company sells comics. Unfortunately, since 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, the genie that was let out of the bottle is the "line-wide crossover", a story so big and epic that it involves every title the company produces. It's a compulsion to buy every title to enjoy or fully appreciate the entire story. The only downside is that story becomes thin, hype becomes heavy all to push or move more product.

This may sound cynical or mercenary. Maybe it is. Comic books are a unique entertainment experience. Films have a certain amount of time to capture attention. So there has to be advance promotion and hype to put bodies in seats at the movie theater. Television series have to capture attention almost immediately. Radio is instant. So, comic books have to capture attention and drive return, appointment reading.

The bottom line really is the bottom line. It's really all about sales. Fans can argue art and story until the end of time. Name any artist or writer, and that creator has to be able to sell product.

What's somewhat thin is how quickly and decisively the individual competitions in DC Versus Marvel/Marvel Versus DC turn out to be. The only battle that seems to rage on is between Batman and Captain America. And then, Axel Asher comes along as Access, and "saves" the multiverse by amalgamating two universes into one. Batman and Wolverine become Dark Claw. Superman and Captain America become Super Soldier. Your mileage may vary on the quality of these hybrids. Some are just for sh-... grins and giggles. Lobo the Duck...

If I'm allowed a nitpick, or maybe a sour aftertaste, it's that the third issue of the series spawns a line of Amalgam Comics featuring these hybrid characters. This might have worked when comics were a dime, twelve cents or a quarter. Thirty-five cents might have been pushing it. In 1996, these books are $1.95. There's the subjective question of pause. Who has that kind of disposable income? Who can juggle and justify that kind spending against rent and utilities, compounded by other financial pulls on purse strings? Further, what's the "rerun" value? Is the story just as disposable as the income? Or will it hold up for re-reading and return investment. Some stories hold up pretty well to the test of time.

How does a "homeless man" holding the multiverse together through a cardboard box in an alley hold up over time? Every individual battle starts with, "I don't know you, but I have no choice but to fight you to save my reality! Otherwise, I think we might be besties!" and ends with, "I'm sorry I had to kick your butt, But. It. Was. The. ONLY. WAY!"... except for the mostly off-panel fight between Wolverine and Lobo. They really wanted to damage each other...

Your mileage may vary, but my somewhat sour grapes is that the whole thing was just a hyped-up gimmick. An interesting story. Somewhat a riff on Crisis and Secret Wars, but still a gimmick to sell more comics. I was sorely tempted to go all in and buy all the Amalgam Comics. I just bought the Dark Claw issue. A couple copies. One as a collector item and one to read and re-read. So, yeah, I bought into the hype. But only so far...

That's just my opinion as a fan, and you're entitled to it.