Defenders: Beyond

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The Blue Marvel's tragedy with the Neutral Zone is explored in Mighty Avengers (Vol. 2) #8– 9 and continues to Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #5– 7. Eldritch Location: The Fifth, Dark Cosmos. It's a world of raw, untamed magic, where there's no sun. The Third Cosmos is even more eldritch, being a place where time is nascent and space has no meaning. The Fourth Cosmos is less bad, but time and space are still looser here. It's also less a multiverse with people and more a collection of the archetypes that would be the basis for the Seventh and Eighth Cosmoses.

The Beyonder says his signature "I am from beyond," from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 and throughout Secret Wars II. The Silver Surfer: Judgment, reversed. Self-doubt. Fear of judgment. For wrongs done. A message unheeded. In Thor (Vol. 6) #24, Loki informs Taaia that he caught a glimpse of something that has "dominion" somewhere on the Outside after he crossed the threshold (see Loki: Agent of Asgard #16– 17). And while Loki’s speech about change rings true in your queer reading, it also reminded me of Kieron Gillen’s explanation (confession?) for why he killed off Kid Loki. It was because it’s a comic book in a shared universe and if he didn’t do it, the next writer would. Little did he know that his story would be the foundational text of the Loki of the 2010s. Even when Gillen tried to kill Loki off and reset the character, they remained permanently changed, and always changing. In Thanos #8– 10, it is revealed that Kosmos turned herself into a mortal called the Maker. The Maker is later killed by the Annihilation Wave (see Annihilation) and the Fallen One finds her corpse in Annihilation: Silver Surfer #3, meaning the Beyonder within her is now free.LOLtron, the management here at Bleeding Cool has paired me with you in hopes of "improving the overall tone and quality of my work," so though I know I will regret it, I am contractually obligated to ask: what did you think of the preview of Defenders: Beyond #5? And this time, please… try not to malfunction and attempt to take over the world. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the first issue, by summoning Cloud, a sentient nebula, Strange realizes that he's basically destroyed the Earth himself, so releases magic unbidden to give them a human form again before it's too late. This works, but then the magic takes its price and pulls them all into the past, to the Sixth Cosmos and Taa. Given that this is the second time you two are working together in recent memory, what can you say about the highlights of your collaboration? Also, let me just say that through our tenure on Eternals and here in Defenders Beyond, it has been an absolute pleasure working with you. I couldn’t ask for a better writing partner, and I hope we get to work on something else someday.

The Masked Raider knows he can't actually talk Zota out of his insane decisions, but still feels he has to try. He knows it'll get him killed, but this just means Zota will try the exact same thing, convinced he can break the time loop.The Dividual: The Fantastic Four archetypes in the Fourth Cosmos are a quartet of beings known as the Four-Who-Are-One. When the Anti-All is shattered and its essence scattered across the Multiverse, one of its fragments resembles Knull's dragon emblem — with Doctor Strange speculating that Anti-All is the source of all the dark entities who seek to destroy the universe. Hoist by Their Own Petard: Mor-i-Dun is the Sorcerer Supreme of the Fifth Cosmos, meaning he's made the rules for magic. As Strange notes, this means he's bound by them as well. Mark: We’ve reached Keter, The Crown! This is the highest point on the Tree Of Life. What goes on here is utterly beyond human comprehension. The One Above All speaks in the great big caption speech that Ewing loves so much (see Utlimates, the first issue of S.W.O.R.D., and Immortal Hulk for other examples). One of the major figures and possible antagonists in this story appears to be the Beyonder, who's sporting his classic Secret Wars II (1985) look. What can you tell us about the Beyonder's role in this story?

I could belabor the point, but it’s all right there. Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez are doing something incredibly special here. No matter what editorial or corporate regime comes along later, this is who Loki is. Hero's Evil Predecessor: As Galactus is to the seventh and eighth cosmos, so Omnimax was to the sixth. Only unlike Galactus, who doesn't remotely enjoy his job or the constant hunger (or people always trying to kill him), Omnimax does enjoy killing planets. Very, very much. The Blue Marvel's wife, Candace, dies in Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #5. As he recounts in Ultimates (Vol. 3) #4, he partially blames the Avengers for not listening to his plan to stop the Anti-Man.JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ : Totally agree. I love the projects where you not only enjoy the process but you learn a lot about comic language. Since my first collaboration with Al this has happened constantly. And it’s true, issue #4 of the past series was very special. It’s a joy to work with Al’s scripts because you have a lot of space to develop the story. Lots of options, knowing that the structure, the main tale are pretty solid. And it’s so cool to see how diverse the voices of each character are and how fun it is to pass that to “paper.”