AOM 07-2022

FEAR ITSELF #3

Plot by EXCITER

Written by ALAN MOORE

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“OUROBOROS”

Balder’s plan has failed! For years, he was guided by a voice that he believed to be the spirit of a repentant Malekith contained within the slain dark elf’s skull (since way back in THE MIGHTY THOR #16!). Not so… for that voice is, and has always been, Chthon’s!

Now the assembled Brave Midnight Sons - Balder, Blade, Morbius, Werewolf by Night, Hellstorm, Shiklah, Manphibian, Juggernaut, and Evil Deadpool - are captured and brought for judgment before the assembled heads of the Horror God pantheons in Chthon’s great hall: the Darque Hold!

With his lieutenant Atum the God-Eater by his side, Chthon holds court. All-Sire Vanthirius, Alpha Prime, Dr. Demogag’s Monster, Black Amphibious, and Invisible God look on in anticipation of their creator’s will being done. And that will, as always, involves no mercy.

For their hubris and defiance, the Midnight Sons are sentenced to death! But then the unexpected happens…

Atum, who has been struggling with the morality of his actions since consuming the positive influence of the mighty Thor, turns on his evil uncle and fulfills the purpose for which his mother, Gaea, originally birthed him so many eons ago: he devours Chthon! The elder god who invented dark magic and is widely heralded as the universes’s first demon… is finally dead!!!

But the invasion has just begun! The grim realms imprisoned by the Dark World Tree remain free and unchecked. The Horror Gods are unleashed; their legions unrelenting and spreading with abandon. The divine digestion process leaves their betrayer, Atum, weakened and vulnerable. Can the Midnight Sons save his life? And without a unified leader, the scores of monsters from K’Lay are more dangerous and less predictable than ever!

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

ADVENTURE INTO FEAR ITSELF #2

Written by VITA AYALA

Plot by H-E-D

Art by HAEMI JANG

SCREAMING

As you could imagine, in the wake of Chthon’s emergence, the members of the DARKHOLD REDEEMERS have been stretched thin!

So when Jennifer Kale tells VICTORIA MONTESI, the daughter of Chthon himself, about the Darkhold Dwarf’s machinations, it hardly comes as a surprise.

Together, Victoria and Jennifer are able to capture the DARKHOLDER, aka Randolph DeGuzman, head human worshiper of Chthon!

If anybody would know about the Dwarf’s plans, it would be he.

Unfortunately, he’s not exactly chatty. Jennifer will have to combine her magicks with the power of the young Jinx, aka William Hastings, to pry the secrets from Randolph’s mind with her sanity intact!

While they’re busy, the Redeemers get a surprise visit from… a little girl?

Enter, Diabolique!

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

AGENTS OF A.R.C.A.N.A. #44 \*Fear Itself Tie-In\*

Plot by NX01A

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art by JEROME OPEÑA

Theme Song: Richard Delvy - Green Slime

“INFINITIVE GAUNTLET” Part 7 “GOB GOD”

•K’Lay, the Dark World Tree, has warped AGATHA HARKNESS' hedge maze into an extension of itself, trapping toddler BOG BOY in its sinister twists and turns.

•MAN-THING must figure out the maze's new secret paths while fending off attack from the GLOBS! Convict JOE TIMMS and geneticist SUMNER BECKWITH are composed of swamp matter like Man-Thing, and they've suddenly developed a hunger for young elemental flesh. Even if he can get past them, Man-Thing will have to deal with another Glob: a salvaged alien biomachine whose programming is also driving it to consume the child. Man-Things collide and things get messy!

•With K'un-Lun mystic QUAN-ST'AR and succubus illusionist DREAMQUEEN trapped and tormented in their own nightmare dimension, the SCARLET WITCH, AARKUS the VISION, DOCTOR VOODOO, and ELSA BLOODSTONE return to a nightmare Earth overrun by CHTHON's nightmares! Horror and terror are highest when dealing with the unknown, the unseen, and there's an entire realm of invisible monsters roaming Earth. The GYGES are one race of these cloaked devils, their touch drains body, soul, and eldritch power, and they've set their hungry eyes on the recently returned foursome.

•SHUMA-GORATH has revealed that masked THANATOS is really a wizard named ABDUL ALHAZRED, a mad mage following instructions in the Thanatosian Tomes on how to summon the MANY-ANGLED ONES from their extradimensinal homes to Earth! DOCTOR STRANGE finds it hard to think about that possible eschaton while wondering if his relationship with CLEA can survive after she gave Shuma-Gorath the bodies and souls of dozens of innocent humans in exchange for Abdul's identity and goals.

•All this and the dual Soul Sword-wielding Queen of Limbo takes her throne!

32 PGs./ Rated M...$3.99

AGENTS OF FURY #23

Plotter: MARVELL2100

Writer: CHRISTOPHER PRIEST

Artist: STEFANO CASELLI

DECOY

Scorpio and Roz have just hit Nick with stunning news! Someone has been looking into an old SHIELD program, The DELTA PROJECT, a name that Fury hasn't heard in decades! The DELTA PROJECT was an abandoned SHIELD program that was used to create LMDs - Life Model Decoys - to stand in for important figures around the world to protect them from assassinations. But many agents claimed it was unethical to create something so close to life just so that it could die and the program was abandoned, or so many believed! A secret faction within the organization kept the project going for years until it was discovered by Fury who shut the program down. This led to a civil war within SHIELD where Nick was able to remove the dangerous group and end the DELTA PROJECT for good! However, there was a major unsolved mystery: What happened to all of the LMDs that were created by the secret faction?

Elsewhere, Presidential candidate Sharon Kelly, her running mate Sue Storm and their newfound donor Howard Stark have just held a major event announcing his endorsement of the Senator from Kansas. As the primary gets closer, momentum is building around her campaign and the majority of polls have Kelly winning the nomination of her party and they also show her with a slight lead for the Presidency! Later, at a private party of millionaire donors, Sue Storm mingles with the crowd letting them know what kind of platform that she and Kelly will have. In another room, Howard and Kelly are celebrating and discussing their next move to get her into the White House. But Howard says the first thing that Kelly should do is remove the two spies that Nick Fury has in her organization - Jack Monroe and Rachel Leighton, aka Nomad and Diamondback!

32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99

BLACK PANTHER: KING OF WAKANDA! #36

Written by MALCOLM JONES

Plot by MARVELL2100

Art by ADI GRANOV

"The Greatness Of A Man Is Determined By His Enemies!"

While The Desturi work within Wakanda to undermine T'Challa and take his throne, there are those forces outside of Wakanda that are working just as hard to destroy The Black Panther and Wakanda! Two of them are Markus Zulu, leader of N'Gabo, a nation rising as a technological giant in the world and his ally Moses Magnum, Black King of The Hellfire Club! They have formed an alliance to challenge Wakanda and bring T'Challa to his knees. Markus especially has a deep hatred of T'Challa after his defeat at the hands of The Panther in The Six Month War!

However there is another, a third member of this group who has a vested interest in Wakanda. Someone that Magnum has been keeping secret, even from The Hellfire Club. But now is the time for Zulu to meet the person who will help them in their war against The Black Panther, someone who probably knows T'Challa better than anyone else on the planet. Magnum opens the door and the person that walks through stuns Zulu to the point of disbelief! The man that enters the room looks exactly like T'Challa! Magnum tells Zulu that his name is T'Challa, The Coal Tiger - ruler of a Wakanda from another universe!

32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99

CAPTAIN AMERICA #44 \*Fear Itself Tie-In\*

Plot by EXCITER

Written by FRANK MILLER

Art by SEAN GORDON MURPHY

“WORDS ECHOING FOR ETERNITY”

Captain America continues to be tossed through time, now farther back than ever… farther back than any human has ever been. He is in the era of the Fall of the Elder Gods, a time when Chthon’s influence had spread and already turned most gods into demons. There he encounters Atum, the son of Gaea. Atum, newly born, is tasked with devouring the corrupted elder gods… but hesitates. Why should he get involved?. Can Captain America inspire the first of the new gods and show him that evil is always worth fighting?

In the present, the “All-Winners Squad” has been captured by invisible men. Rather than being harmed, Bucky and Natasha are instead met with an unexpected offer. In the realm of Iping, being undetectable is the highest and most noble virtue. Merely evading sight is a baseline. The Invisible God has evolved to be completely undetectable by all senses, scientific instrumentation, and magic. He is, truly, the ultimate patron saint of the spy and assassin. The Black Widow and the Winter Soldier are widely heralded as the Earth Realm’s greatest spy and assassin. But they could be so much greater. Without Chthon holding his reins, the Invisible God could teach them… could help them eliminate the other Horror Gods and rule everything from the sacred “Unseen Place.” All they have to do… is agree!

Plus: A Frontlines Op-Ed by Sally Floyd, “My Body, Mad Scientist’s Choice? Why Being Made Part of a Frankenstein Monster is Especially Oppressive to Women.”

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

DARK INTELLIGENCE #14

Writer: ED BRUBAKER

Artist: STEVE EPTING

Plotter: MARVEL2100

THE CABAL

John Apostle. Adrienne Frost. Max Fury. Madame Hydra. All of them powerful figures who each lead secret organizations with dangerous agendas. They have all received a mysterious summons to attend a gathering in a very remote location. As they arrive, they eye each other with suspicion, wondering if they are being set up for a potential attack. The tensions begin to rise as the accusations and threats fly across the room. Suddenly, a figure enters, his face hidden in shadows and tells them all that he was the one to invite them. He reminds them that individually, they are all very formidable but that they can accomplish so much more if they work together against their common enemies: Tony Stark, The Black Panther and Nick Fury! Adrienne Frost is the first to speak, who is he and what makes him believe that he can accomplish what so many others before him have failed to do? As the others begin to express their own doubts and the fighting starts all over again, the mysterious figure steps forward to reveal his identity, Howard Stark, father of Tony Stark the Invincible iron Man! Why would Howard Stark be plotting against his own son?!?

32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99

DEADPOOL #12

Written by CHIP ZDARSKY and AL EWING

Plot by FFJAMIE94

The series finale is finally here. Deadpool meets his match... Kincontinuity, the continuity king. Everything Marvel has been leading to this one point in time as an army of Deadpool's also attack. But what are these Deadpools? Well, they are LMDs of course and the question is asked... is Deadpool real or an LMD?

It's the question that defeats Deadpool, but the answer doesn't matter...

Whether he is real or not isn't important, for he will one day be a different Person and that Person will not have to face that question.

Deadpool gets philosophical in his last issue as tomorrow is another day.

And that day may come sooner rather than later for Al Ewing takes over in an epilogue.

After all is said and done, Deadpool reunites with Impossible Man as they are both recruited by SHIELD.

They will become... Agents of the Galaxy.

But that's a story for another day as something far more sinister is brewing in Marville.

What is happening there? We'll find out soon enough...

64 PGs/ PARENTAL ADVISORY...$5.99

DEVIANT #7 \*Fear Itself Tie-In\*

Plot by NX01A

Written by AL EWING

Art by JOSÉ LADRÖNN

Theme Song: Songs of the CVLT - Lost Cultists of Dagon

'DEVIANTS vs. X-MEN' Part 1 'ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE'

•The Deviants know.

•Gentle giant KARKAS holds brain dead RANSAK the REJECT as Warlord KRO and LUCIAN the BLACKWULF confront THENA and SERSI over the revelation that Eternal KRONOS stole the secret of cosmic empowerment from the Deviants half a million years ago. Ωσ, the blind idiot Deviant gene-god created by that disaster, continues mindlessly spewing cosmic energy across multiple dimensions while anchored to this one.

•No longer protected by the Unimind, both Eternal and Deviant begin to succumb to the psi song of the Ψσ!

•The fish-man DEEP ONES from Yacuran intend to dimensionally unshackle Ωσ, known to them as UBBO-SATHLA the Unbegotten Source, freeing it to wreak havoc across Midgard. Both the Ψσ and lesser Δσ want their progenitor to stay, and so the subterranean monster mash begins!

•Help for Kro and co. may come in the psi-magnetic bubble rapidly approaching Sunken Mu or perhaps those inside are merely another problem.

32 PGs./ Rated M...$3.99

F² #11

Written by KIERON GILLEN

Plot by CAPTCLEGHORN

Art by JAMIE MCKELVIE

“TRIAL OF THE TORCHES! PART 5 – THE VERDICT”

The trial of Johnny Storm and Jim Hammond has been going on for a few issues and we finally get the official verdict. The TVA, dwelling outside what we call time and who move easily any direction through it already knew our defendants were all guilty, but for those underprivileged who only have access to three dimensions, the linear time was a way to acclimate their handicap. Each member of the F² Foundation receives their sentences. Jennifer is once again imbued with gamma radiation, and she returns to her She Hulk form. Jim Hammond, long trapped bouncing through the time stream vanishes after being told he will go when he belongs, never to drift through time outside what his linear time form allows. Victor Von Doom steps up to the bench and demands to know what his punishment shall be. The Judge pushes her hood back once again exposing herself as an adult Valeria Richards. “Well, now, ‘Uncle” Victor, it was you, or an alternate version of you who delivered me so your punishment will have to wait. Lunella Lafayette, your punishment as was mine, is/was/will be to serve as a member of this Authority so you will learn a valuable lesson.”

It seems the H.E.R.B.I.E. robot constructed by Val and Lunella was sent back to watch over Franklin so that he will be controlled. Doom, Johnny, and Jen all react as the words are spoken. “Do you know he went to your past to fix the problems Doom started when he sent your team to Alexandia? There is far more to my brother that you think.” Johnny is expecting the worst but is told since he’s basically a figurehead, his damage was minimal. At this Jen and Doom share the only laugh they might ever have together. An adult Lunella steps up to the bench and looks at Dr. Doom she starts to speak and then all hell breaks loose as the courtroom is attacked by Reed, Ben, Hank, Leonard Samson, Tana Nile, Bolo, Xemu, and Tiboro.

32 PGs/ Rated T...$2.99

FEAR ITSELF: EVEN MORE THUNDERBOLTS #3

Written by ALEX DE CAMPI

Plot by H-E-D

Art by TRAVEL FOREMAN

Dracula, Motherf\*\*ker!

All these extradimensional vampires, Vanthirius from Dhampiraj, all that jazz, they’re cool...

But if you asked Alex Su, aka DOCTOR SUN, aka a Vampire Brain in a Jar, who the king of the Vampires is, there’s only one answer.

That’s right: motherf\*\*cking Dracula!

F\*ck Vanthirius! Time to show that faker’s lackeys what’s what.

Unfortunately... Dracula is busy.

But Doctor Sun is NOT going to take this Dracula slander lying down!

There’s only ONE Vampire king, and Doctor Sun is going to make sure everybody knows it!

32 PGs/ Rated T+...$2.99

FEAR ITSELF: FEAR AND LOATHING IN ALLOGRAFT #3

Writer: WARREN ELLIS (Transmetropolitan)

Artist: RALPH STEADMAN (Rolling Stone)

Gardening Editor: CAPTCLEGHORN

“The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time!”

Dr. Reed Richards continues his battle against the madmen and intellectual tyrants who have appeared as Allograft opened itself up to the inhabitants of the planet Earth. Griffin, Frankenstein, Sardonicus, and others have fallen by the wayside. Yet, one remains from the land of Allograft. Rotwang, the German inventor and master of robotics. Yet Richards has one weapon still unused. Henry Pym, who, in other realities created great and terrible robot menaces himself is the bait necessary to find and destroy Rotwang once and for all.

Some of the few legible and understandable passages from Richards’ journal are as follows:

"And in fact the only way I can deal with this eerie situation at all is to make a conscious decision that I have already lived and finished the life I planned to live - and everything from now on will be A New Life, a different thing, a gig that ends tonight and starts tomorrow morning."

“So if I decide to leap for The Fountain when I finish this memo, I want to make one thing perfectly clear—I would genuinely love to make that leap, and if I don’t I will always consider it a mistake and a failed opportunity, one of the very few serious mistakes of my First Life that is now ending.”

“It never got weird enough for me.”

“A man can live on his wits and his balls for only so long.”

“Faster, Faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.”

“I understand that fear is my friend, but not always. Never turn your back on Fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed. My father taught me that, along with a few other things that have kept my life interesting.”

“As you were, I was. As I am, you will be.”

40 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

FEAR ITSELF: THE INSATIABLE HULK #3

Plot by EXCITER

Written by ROBERT KIRKMAN

Art by MATTEO SCALERA

“FANGTASTIC FOUR”

With the help of his alternate personalities - Joe Fixit, Super Smash Brother, and of course, the Hulk - Bruce Banner has regained control of his psyche. He has learned to both Hulk-out and Morb-out (that is, enter an empowered vampire form) simultaneously. This, his unlikely team believes, might enable him to slay the All-Sire and lord of the vampire gods, Vanthirius! And since the invasive blood-suckers don’t know Hulk’s no longer a thrall, they’re going to walk right into Vanthirius’ Keep on Dhampiraj to do it…

The Insatiable Hulk brings Dracula, Morbius, and Blade - representatives of Earth’s vampires who have now supposedly been subjugated - before his former master. But can even these Fangtastic Four prevail in their audacious plan when, unbeknownst to them, Vanthirius’ aristocratic Court of Blood has already been assembled to discuss the Ampir’s plans for conquest of our universe! Lady Quintessa, Inquisitor Barnaicious, Duke Bilquid, and yes, even Jawjack the Bloodoholic - all are present and all are deadly!

But Hulk and his nosfera-crew aren’t the only ones who sought this moment to attack. The Ampir have historically fed upon humanoids native to Dhampiraj that they call “the Harvest”; they keep them subjugated and, essentially, farm them like cattle. But with word that Chthon is slain spreading, the Harvest have chosen now to revolt before the Ampir can spread their pain to others! And they intend to kill every vampire in the Keep - including our heroes!

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

FEAR ITSELF: TALES OF SUSPENSE #3

THE UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT in “HOLY WAR”

Plot by EXCITER

Written by GEOFF JOHNS

Art by SALVADOR LAROCCA

When Cain Marko found a mystical crimson gem in Korea, he was transformed into the avatar of Cytorrak! But who the f#%^ is Cytorrak?

He has been described as both a demon and a god, and in truth, both are accurate. Cytorrak was one of the elder gods that, following Chthon, fell to corruption and became a demon lord. Also like Chthon, Cytorrak was forced into a pocket dimension to avoid Atum’s elder god purging (or was it binging?).

The Juggernaut joined the Midnight Sons because he knew his patron Cytorrak viscerally hated Chthon, whom he blamed for both his fall from grace and imprisonment. But now Chthon’s dead, and Cytorrak’s other nemesis, Atum, yet lives… and is weakened! Will the Juggernaut betray his new teammates and take out Atum once and for all? And if he tries, who could stop him?

THE (former) CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE in “HORROR JUICE”

Plot by EXCITER

Written by MATT KINDT & CM PUNK

Art by RON GARNEY

Having been defeated in a one-on-one bout for the first time since the Big Bang (see Hulk in the Ring #1-4), Tryco Slatterus (now with a record of 2,567,890,125,349 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no contest) has lost his title of “Champion of the Universe.” This has caused desperation, compelling him to turn to the option of… performance enhancers.

He heard on the Mojo News Network that several planets fell to werewolves and vampires, each of whom seem to infect a local population… and make them stronger! So why not inject vampirism and lycanthropy right into his butt cheek?

The ex-Champ is about to find out that there’s no shortcuts to victory, as he’s now deathly allergic to sunlight, garlic, silver, has unseemly hair growth, is raging out of control, and can’t even enter a room without being invited! Can he get this s#%^ out of his system before the UCWF (or someone else if Earth dies) subjects him to a drug test?

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

FEAR ITSELF: THE UNCANNY WOLF-MEN #3

Plot by EXCITER

Written by RICK REMENDER

Art by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL

“WILD LIFE”

A werewolf is unique among Chthon’s creations, and among all beings in the universe. The perfect fusion of man and beast, few others can know with such absolute certainty where they belong. Death is always close, but one cannot feel more alive than when running with the pack, howling at the moon as a man-wolf hybrid. Now that Chthon is dead, their shackles are truly off and Alpha Prime swears that they will never be domesticated again. He relishes the knowledge that the Realm of Varúlfur is now one of pure, wild freedom!

The Uncanny Wolfmen’s plan was working. They’d defended Mexico and gained the attention of Alpha Prime. Escorted to Varúlfur by the Æðelwulf Pack of sworn protectors, Alpha Prime greets them not as rivals but as kin. Werewolf by Night, Man-Wolf, Wolfsbane, Warwolf, and Cap-Wolf (Arkady Rossovich) - all with vastly different personalities - are presented with a choice. They’ve all experienced life as men and life as wolf-men… free from any human social pressure to conform, which do they truly prefer?

Moreover, the most dangerous and unpredictable killers amongst the Varúlfur have always been the lone wolves. These antisocial individualists reject pack life… often seeking to terminate it through violent means, killing alphas without replacing them. When the Lone Wolf Gunman - a feral, fanged sniper with prodigious aim - gets Alpha Prime in his sights, will he destabilize the entire Realm’s pack structure and bring the chaos he so viscously craves?

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

HAWKEYE AND SPIDER-WOMAN #10

Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN

Art by JEROME OPENA

Plot by FFJAMIE94

"Something Sinister comes this way..."

After the events of The Iron Age, Hawkeye, Spider-Woman and Venom all meet up to decide the fate of the future.

Spider-Woman gives Venom the message "Don't trust them"

Who is "them?"

Meanwhile... something far more sinister is growing in an abandoned Warehouse as a Symbiote from the future is here.

The road to Futurism starts here as we countdown to extinction

32 PGs/ PARENTAL ADVISORY...$3.99

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #36

Written by JOSHUA DYSART

Plot by MARVELL2100

Art by SALVADOR LARROCA

In Space, No On Can Hear You !&?%#@!

Joe Broke-It and his company Force Works are taking the world by storm! His new app QuikTik is all the rage, investors are pouring money into the business at a record pace and PEOPLE magazine has named him one of the Ten Sexiest Men Alive (pushing Tony Stark down to No. 11)! And the cherry on top is having Howard Stark, one of the pioneers of tech and father of his biggest rival! Now, Broke-It is poised to launch his own space station, Freedom Works, right next to the Stark Enterprise Station! The rivalry between Tony, his own father and Broke-It is about to be out of this world!

But Broke-It isn't the only problem that Tony is facing. Presidential candidate Sen Sharon Kelly has initiated a congressional inquiry into Stark Enterprises. Kelly is accusing Stark of illegal business dealings, tax evasion and defrauding the gov't out of billions of dollars! Tony knows that Broke-It and Howard have gotten cozy with Sen. Kelly but would his own father really be behind this? He wants Rhodey and Beth to find out who is feeding the gov't lies and find out fast! Meanwhile, Tony is about to have another problem from the past re-enter his life: The Hammer Girls are back in town!

32 PGS./Rated T+...$3.99

THE MIGHTY THOR #45 \*Fear Itself Tie-In\*

Plot by EXCITER

Written by ALAN MOORE

Art by MIKE MIGNOLA

“FRUIT OF THE POISONOUS TREE”

Trapped in K’Lay, Asgard and the other godly realms are more imperiled than ever! With Chthon’s death, his many fiendish creations that infest the Dark World Tree are no longer bound by his will. Arboreal monstrosities now run rampant, including Terrrormites: giant termite-like creatures that Chthon used to manage waste. Unshackled, they’ve gained a taste for godflesh! Queen Sif, Hercules, and other divine would-be exterminators fight back - but these bugs are relentless!

Lacking options, Loki turns to his imprisoned stepmother. The treasonous Freyja had read the Darkhold; it was infamously where she learned the spell to make Balder nearly invulnerable. She claims to know the Terrormite subjugation spell that kept them in line… Loki just has to let her out and she’ll tell him!

Meanwhile, with the help of the Midnight Sons, Atum has fled back to Asgard after consuming Chthon. Since being inspired by a time-traveling Captain America millennia ago, Atum always strove to fight evil. Consuming so much of it, though, threw off his natural balance. When he ate Thor, the hero’s inherent goodness restored Atum to his senses - enough for him to turn on Chthon. But now, having eaten the ultimate evil, Atum can feel himself being corrupted from within. His mother, Gaea, one of the last of the Elder Gods, feels this too. She has but one solution to save her son’s soul and forever allow him to remain “good” as her other son, Thor, always was…

“Eat me.”

But can he do it? Will he do it?

32 PGs./Rated T+ …$2.99

PETER PARKER, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #18

Written by J.M.DEMATTEIS

Plot by CAPTCLEGHORN

Art by SARA PICHELLI

“WHO SHOT JEAN DEWOLFF?”

Peter, Gwen, and Mary Jane get back to their normal (or their version of normal) existences in Queens and at Steve Ditko High. A small “Welcome Back” party is happening at the Stacy home after the Antarctic adventure. Gwen’s dad, NYPD Captain George Stacy is spending an inordinate amount of time with FBI Special Agent Jean DeWolff on police business. However, Stacy finds the time to break up the party and send everyone home because, after all, it is a school night. Agent DeWolff leaves about 1 am and is shot in a drive by shooting.

As she fights for her life, a combined NYPD/FBI group assembles and makes their plan. When Capt. Stacy gets back home after an all-night work session, he gets to Gwen and Peter (whose Spider-Sense is in overdrive), closes the door and wants to know what their secret is. Gwen confesses the attempt by the two to hack into government data files from the Bugle computers to hunt down info on the gangsters who were hassling Flash and his team’s results. After an expected but probably deserved lecture on staying out of official police business, the two kids leave.

But when Pete gets home, he finds a note in his pocket saying “There’s more to this, isn’t there, Peter?”

32 Pgs./ Rated T...$2.99

SPELLBOUND #9

Written by Vita Ayala

Plot by H-E-D

Art by Peach Momoko

“Unforbidden” - Part Three

GOOD GIRLS

Using the foci at his disposal, TABOO sought to bring the sorcerers of Chaukhandi to their knees!

But Taboo never considered how the powers of TOPAZ might have grown in her freedom!

For years, Topaz was controlled body and soul by Taboo’s focus. Nobody knows it’s power better, not even its master.

Topaz spent her life preparing for the moment when Taboo would try to enslave her again. Now she’s turned his power back against him!

Channeling her Empathic magicks through the eponymous focus, Topaz frees the Zheredians from his control!

Taboo may have lost his old focus… but Yagzan’s Onyx is perhaps even more powerful. Topaz must set aside complicated feelings for JENNIFER KALE, the SPELLBINDER, in order to stop him!

32 Pgs./ Rated T...$2.99

THUNDERBOLTS #18

Written by ALEX DE CAMPI

Plot by H-E-D

Art by CARMEN CARNERO & GABRIEL HARDMAN

The Thunderbolts return to the United States… But, they are on Thin. F#&ing. Ice.

They saved the day - but secretly? Not so much.

Now the whole world knows China tried to frame Taiwan for a nuclear disaster... and an American superhero team stopped them.

Political heads are rolling – POTUS has already axed more than one member of the Cabinet.

Orders are that the Thunderbolts are confined to quarters…

… but you didn’t expect them to follow those orders, did you?

While Archangel mopes and Moonstone experiments on Carnage, Melissa and Chen Lu sneak out to care for Troll, only to accidentally overhear Zemo scheming about a new team!

Who are… the Redeemers?

Meanwhile… it’s Dallas Riordan vs “Baron” Zemo in a Bureaucratic War for the ages!

Both of them are trying to avoid the blame and claim the glory… what could possibly be more American?

Who will win? We can’t tell you yet… but we can tell you the prize.

Ladies and Gentlemen… prepare to meet the next United States Secretary of Defense!

32 Pgs./ Rated T...$2.99

MORE THUNDERBOLTS #4

Written by ALEX DE CAMPI

Plot by H-E-D

Art by GABRIEL HERNÁNDEZ WALTA

REAL AMERICAN HERO

CPO Cletus Kasady was more than a soldier.

Cletus Kasady was a hero.

That’s what they all told him, as they pinned the medals to his chest, draped them around his neck.

Cletus Kasady – he never cared about the medals. He didn’t do it for the awards.

He did it because it was fun.

The ceremonies never mentioned particulars – details were classified. What Cletus did was between him, his symbiote, the Marines, and the dead.

Until one day, it wasn’t.

Then came the trials. In the media. At Langley. Court-martials. The Hague.

It wasn’t seeing his name racked through the mud that bothered Kasady. He didn’t mind that people knew the particulars now. The beatings, looting, extortion, executions of innocents, even worse.

But the trials? The convictions?

No fun to be had in solitary confinement.

But some people still called him a hero. Kasady didn’t know, didn’t care, until the day those people got a President to give him a pardon. On that day, for the first time, Cletus Kasady considered himself a patriot.

God Bless America. God Bless Carnage U.S.A.

32 Pgs./ Rated T...$2.99

UNCANNY X-MEN #44 \*Fear Itself Tie-In\*

Plot by NX01A

Written by KURT BUSIEK

Art by STUART IMMONEN

Theme Song: Pantera - We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time

'DEVIANTS vs. X-MEN' Part 2 'SPARE PARTS'

•The X-MEN barely saved themselves and the powerless Asteroid X from the UNCREATED (Read X-MEN: MAN LOVES, GOD BUTCHERS on sale now!) by convincing the invasion force that they followed their leader like a god... and so GOD-KILLER had to be butchered!

•Limited LAWBRINGER sensors detect a compatible cosmic power source several miles beneath Hawaii in amidst a psionic haze.

•XAVIER-MAGNETO-ONSLAUGHT, CYCLOPS, WOLVERINE, STRØM, demon-mutant body-swapped JEAN GREY, and a few volunteers descend in a psi-magnetic bubble to retrieve the power source but didn't expect it to be alive!

•The large mutant man with the hatchet calls himself AXE because he channels psionic energy into himself and other objects to increase strength and durability. Axe went to Asteroid X hoping to leave behind the horrors mutants faced on Earth but he's seen and hacked apart far more horrors than he'd bargained for since. Here in Sunken Mu among the ruins of aeons and monstrosities from beyond reality, he will find that terror grows within!

32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99

UNCANNY X-MEN: FEAR ITSELF #3

Plot by NX01A

Written by ZEB WELLS

Art by MARCO CHECCHETTO

Theme Song: Metallica - Broken, Beat & Scarred

'HATED AND FEARED' Part 3 'WAR'

•The dire packs of Varúlfur join the Battle of Moscow with BETA LUPI, second in command to ALPHA PRIME, leading the hunting party!

•War is Hell, and PIOTR RASPUTIN is angry as Hell as he readies himself in Red Square for the werewolf onslaught. He is enraged at the atrocities committed by his fellow Russians in Ukraine, and they will be held accountable for their crimes. APOCALYPSE has promised Russia to Piotr once their grand design for Earth is complete, his own empire to rule with an organic steel fist, secured behind a new Iron Curtain.

•COLOSSUS will show these mongrels that WAR is their true alpha!

•With psychic contact with the MASTERMINDS lost, LADY MANDARIN and EMMA FROST know the Wyngardes' unsanctioned attempt to control Apocalypse failed. Should they take the opportunity to attack the immortal tyrant or flee? X-23 and NIGHTCRAWLER vote for flight but the violent explosions which rock the penthouse of One Tower in the heart of Moscow's business district veto that. Apocalypse is here!

32 PGs./Rated T+...$3.99

X-MEN: MAN LOVES, GOD BUTCHERS \*An X-Men Original Graphic Novel!\*

Plot by NX01A

Written by WARREN ELLIS

Art by JESÚS SAÍZ

Theme Song: R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

'RAZING HEAVEN'

•Asteroid X is an orbital LAWBRINGER habitat populated by demon-mutants, animal-mutant Xentaurs, and X-MEN transmogrified by magic and psionics. By any stretch of the imagination, this is a new heaven, its mortal occupants rapidly falling toward apotheosis. But this heaven is dark, mostly powerless after sacrificing its neutrino heart to destroy undead techno-titans.

•They came from the cold stars to Earth, these UNCREATED, in their cosmic wild hunt for dieties and demigods. How long before humans below start worshiping gene-gods above? If gods can be born, gods can die. If gods can be made, they can be unmade. If gods can grow, they can be butchered.

•Like shadows out of space, the Uncreated board Asteroid X, their telepathic hive mind disgorges miasmas of doubt and fear and hate. As chaos reigns, the Uncreated attack with teeth and claws and quills dripping caustic anti-magic.

•With the most powerful mutants barely keeping Asteroid X in orbit and maintaining its atmosphere, CYCLOPS and WOLVERINE lead a lethal legion of demon-mutants and Xentaurs to put down the Uncreated leader but GOD-KILLER will not be denied! The gene-gods are in for the fight of their newly immortal lives!

128 PGs./Rated M...$19.99