Marvel crossover pits Kingpin against Luke Cage in New York mayor election

Many heroes need to think of a way to rescue the world when big comic-book crossovers happen. The plan may involve punching, magic, or even hopping through dimension, or even a rare science device. So in Devil’s ReignThe Marvel crossover is currently being spun out of DaredevilThe plan was devised by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto It is really weird.

The Kingpin’s dastardly evil scheme in Devil’s Reign is a tried and true one: Use his power as an elected representative to criminalize any superheroes he doesn’t like. He has so far won the support of New Yorkers for his mandates, so taking down a properly elected mayor with superpowers is not an option. After Luke Cage’s voice against Fisk is recorded, it went viral.

The heroes devised a clever plan to challenge incumbent Wilson Fisk and run Luke Cage against him in the forthcoming election for New York City mayor.

Is there anything else happening inside our favourite comics’ pages? We’ll tell you. Welcome to Monday Funnies, Polygon’s weekly list of the books that our comics editor enjoyed this past week. It’s part society pages of superhero lives, part reading recommendations, part “look at this cool art.” There may be some spoilers. You may not have enough context. There will still be some great comics. You can also read the previous edition if you haven’t seen it yet.

Image: Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto/Marvel Comics

This is my favorite part of the story. The group discussing the plan has pretty much the exact right mix of personalities. civilianIt takes expertise to accomplish this. Luke is the politician and has the charism. Daredevil, Iron Man, Captain America, and Daredevil are lawyers.

Image: Mariko Tamaki, Dan Mora/DC Comics

I find myself more interested in Mariko Tamaki’s Detective ComicsMore than any other character in the core Batman stable. Now that she’s winding up for the big swing of a 12-part weekly series, the web of supporting characters she’s been weaving is coming clear. In the case of Helena Bertinelli/The Huntress, this whole “having real-time visions from behind the eyes of killers as they assault their victims somewhere in Gotham” is a recent addition to the character, but fun, chilling, and fitting. I wish it would last.

Image: Jed MacKay, Kev Walker, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, Mark Bagley, Andrew Hennessy/Marvel Comics

Final page of It’s timelessIt was revealed that Marvel would continue the work begun by Alan Moore in 1980s. The issue also contained a double-page spread which gave hints to upcoming plotlines. Let’s see … left to right, that looks like a new Young Avengers, Ben Reilly/Spider-Man moving to Hollywood, something about the new Thunderbolts, the new Punisher series, stuff about the moon and the future is probably something to do with the X-Men, we should be worried about Bucky killing Captain America, women will step into the roles of Spider-Man (probably Mary Jane) and Black Panther, and commenters can feel free to tell me who the “new god” and the “heart once thought lost” are in reference to.

Image: Brian Michael Bendis, Phil Hester/DC Comics

I’m a little sleepy on Brian Michael Bendis’ Justice League, but I admit that this week’s issue, the first in its arc, really charmed me. It’s a heist story about the Royal Flush Gang (of all people) stealing the Fortress of Solitude.

Image: Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Miguel Mendonça/DC Comics

People say that the perennial problem with Superman is finding him a challenge he can’t just punch his way out of — in reality, comics writers do this all the time. But I appreciate Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s own twist on it in his Warworld arc. Superman can’t liberate a people who have been manipulated into seeing their bondage as strength by bonking their leader on the head. He’ll have to rely on his most mundane skill instead: being a force of inspiration.