My Rating
“What Lies In The Mists”
The Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension, Tony Stark, has opened a gateway into Valtorr’s demonic realm, but the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, Clea, has placed one major roadblock in the path of the Midnight Suns. Before Wolverine, Magik, Blade, Nico Minoru, and Spirit Rider can continue their mission, they must battle one of the most feared entities in the Dark Dimension—the G’uranthic Guardian!
The stone monstrosity stands nearly ten stories tall, with six massive arms and a cycloptic eye radiating crimson energy. The Midnight Suns attack from every direction while a decidedly less-than-corporeal Tony Stark grows impatient from the sidelines, trading insults with Blade and Wolverine. As fists, blades, and magic hammer away at the guardian, Magik begins to unravel the creature’s weaknesses. Unfortunately, her discovery comes a little too late for Logan. Wolverine gets caught directly in the G’uranthic Guardian’s devastating eye beam, and the creature begins draining the mutant’s willpower from his body!
Back on Earth, deep inside the crypts beneath St. Louis Cemetery, Agatha Harkness and Zoe Laveau stand guard over the Black Mirror. On the other side of its reflection waits Valtorr’s general and a massive invasion force of demons. Zoe is ready to destroy the ancient relic before those creatures can cross over, but Agatha suddenly has a bizarre change of heart. In fact, Zoe finally realizes something that has been bothering her for quite some time—Professor Harkness hasn’t exactly been acting like herself.
Is the Sorcerer Supreme version of Tony Stark every bit as arrogant and irritating as Earth-616’s genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist? Will Valtorr kill the last remaining sacrifice promised to him by Agatha’s coven? Can Wolverine survive the dreaded Gaze of G’uranthic? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
I really like the double-page battle with the G’uranthic Guardian, and the artwork throughout this issue is top-notch. Unfortunately, I have to ask: how long is Ethan Sacks going to stretch this story out? As impressive as some of those oversized panels look, I can’t help thinking Marvel could have trimmed down the spectacle and combined much of issues three and four into one book. Come on, Marvel—I have a dollar waiting on a dime here!
Back in the good ol’ days, we used to get a lot of content for our $1.25. Just saying. I still like Midnight Suns, and there is nothing inherently wrong with issue four, but the story simply doesn’t advance far enough for my taste. The battle with G’uranthic looks fantastic, yet much of the issue feels like we’re waiting for the characters to reach the next major plot point.
For that reason, I’m dropping Midnight Suns #4 to three out of five stars. With only one issue remaining, Ethan Sacks has a lot of ground to cover before the curtain falls. Maybe it’s time to invoke the ancient and powerful spell known only as the “Fast Forward of Forth’ward!”