Marvel’s amazing Avengers/X-Men/Eternals crossover just saw a god fight

AXE: Judgment Date is the best Marvel Comics crossover I’ve read in ages. The tie-ins and every issue have all been great.

But what I like most is how the core title — which forms the narrative spine, from which the tie-ins split off like ribs — has delivered such expertly divided beats of story, completely and neatly reframing the direction the arc with the rhythm of release.

Issue 1 opened with “The Avengers and X-Men and Eternals are going to war,” and ended with “The good Eternals are going to try to make their own god, to tell the bad Eternals to stop the war.” In issue 2, the Eternals made their god, and it stopped the war but created a new problem. Issue 3 saw our heroes attempt to discredit the god to avoid judgment, but it became clear that this was not possible. And now, in issue 4, our heroes’ Hail Mary plan to reshape the moral fiber of humanity as a species… Well, you’ll never guess what happened next.

But here’s a hint: It’s a six-issue miniseries, not a four-issue one.

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. It may not provide enough context. However, there will be many great comics. You can also read the previous edition if you haven’t seen it yet.

“You have all lived enough,” intones the huge Celestial, through narration boxes that all people on Earth can hear, “If you had a million years, you’d never do enough. You’ll always be better tomorrow.” The Eternals and Avengers look on in horror as it turns its massive thumb down in AXE: Judgment Day #4 (2022).

If you guessed “It doesn’t work, and the Celestial appears to have vaporized all life on Earth,” congratulations! I have no idea what’s gonna happen next, and I can’t wait.

“Whoever you are, this is in unforgivably poor taste,” says Bruce Wayne, as he thinks of all the possible supervillains who could have created the illusion of Alfred Pennyworth standing in his doorway. “Alfred Pennyworth is dead.” In Batman vs. Robin #1 (2022).

Speaking of life after death, DC’s Batman vs. Robin #1 appears to be teasing the resurrection of Alfred Pennyworth, who died three years ago in the final throes of Tom King’s Batman run. With the nature of comic book twists and turns, it’s far too soon to say if Alfred’s back to stay — but if any book on DC’s shelves was going to do it, this title is more likely than most.

He stars in his latest Damian Wayne books. RobinAnd Shadow War, writer Joshua Williamson has explored the youngest Robin’s guilt over indirectly causing Alfred’s death, and how the stalwart butler was one of his steadiest role models, making it a shoe-in for closure in this also-Damian-starring miniseries.

A teenage human girl holds up a couple of aliens, in a snowy locale, stealing their bike but leaving them survival equipment in Predator #2 (2022).

I’m still utterly fascinated by Marvel’s newest Predator comic, which is set in a far future where humanity shares the galaxy with so many different and equally technologically advanced alien species that seeing some dude whose species you don’t even know is completely unremarkable. It’s Prey meets Star Wars and I’m really here for it.

A tall, handsome, horned symbiote figure, explains to a pathetic, symbiote-dripping Eddie Brock that he is trapped in an endless temporal cycle where he eventually becomes the tall figure himself in Venom #10 (2022).

I’ve found it annoyingly difficult to keep up with the timey-wimey shenanigans of the new VenomSeries, and the five odd-ass dudes that the book introduces as symbiotes. This newest issue finally explains the whole deal: They’re all future versions of Eddie Brock, locked in an endless cycle of watching each other emotionally evolve into each other over the course of all time. Now Eddie Brock is a self-destructive Kang the Conqueror, and I finally understand the story. I just wish it hadn’t taken 10 issues.

Superman/Jon Kent, dramatically kisses his boyfriend in Superman: Son of Kal-El #15 (2022).

I don’t have much to say here other than: The fact that we live in a world where Superman can cap off a storyline with a full page spread of him kissing his boyfriend has not gotten old.

Mister Sinister asks “Those webs, do they come straight out of your —” “No,” Spider-Man interrupts him. “...do you WANT them to?” Sinister continues, in Amazing Spider-Man #9 (2022).

I don’t have much to say here other than: Mister Sinister being an absolute weirdo creep for laughs, 24/7, in every X-Men-related comic, is one of the best things of the Krakoan era.

Mr. Fun, a balding man in nerdy glasses, khaki slacks, a button down, suspenders, and a tie, nurses a whiskey in front of a crazy yarn wall and muses about how he’s going to take out the trash in Gotham City in Batgirls #10 (2022).

Mr. Fun??? Mr. Fun?!?!?! This is the character that I can only recall because I own this comic for many years. It features one of my favorite and most cryptic pieces of text ever put on a comic book cover: