Book Review: What If? Classic Volume 7

What If? Classic, Vol. 7 by Peter Gillis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 40-42 and 44-47 of What If? The final issues of the classic What If? Series:

#40: What if Doctor Strange Had Never Become Master of the Mystic Arts?: I’m not really a Doctor Strange fan but I found this to be an interesting story. I understood the basics because of another Doctor Strange What If? This one sees Baron Mordo getting the honor from the Ancient One. The only complaint is that the Ancient One has to be incredibly dense to Mordo’s obvious evil to make this story work. Still, Strange gets involved in an interesting way at the end and this is a well-thought out yarn. Grade: B+
#41: What if the Submariner Saved Atlantis From its Destiny?-Examines what had happened if the Submariner had stayed in Atlantis and saved it. A good action story with a bit of a downbeat (and not too believable ending. Grade: B
#42: What if the Invisible Girl had died? A look at what would have happened if Sue Richards had died in childbirth? The story was emotional, though occasionally overwrought. As is often the case in What If, they like to test concepts that might cause Reed Richards’ machine-like thinking to give way to emotion and do a fair job here. It shows how important Sue is the Fantastic Four. Grade: A-
#43-Since most of the book was Conan (for whom Marvel no longer owns rights and therefore can’t reprint), we only have a back-up feature which has three Marvel characters (Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer, and Phoenix) flying around a blank page.. The story’s not horrible but it feels like a pointless filler piece. Grade: C
#44-What if Captain America were Not Revived until Today?- A similar theme has been explored a few times. What if Captain America remained frozen and an imposter had taken over for his own means. This isn’t the best take on that scenario but there are some interesting angles, but some odd choices as well. Grade: B
#45-What if the Incredible Hulk Went Berserk?: Short answer is that a lot of people die. The story is a little better than that pat answer but not by much. Grade: B-
#46-What if Spider-man’s Uncle Ben had lived?-A good premise that examines what would have happened had Aunt May and not Ben died at the hands of the burglar. The difference in character and approach leads to a different life for Peter Parker and Spider-man? Grade: QA
#47-What if Loki found the Hammer of Thor-The classic What If? Series comes to a conclusion with an Asgardian epic wherein Loki finds Thor’s hammer before Don Blake leading to disastrous consequences and a battle royale. Grade: B+

Overall, What If? was still a fine magazine at the end even if they were running a bit low on ideas.




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