Book Review: What If? Classic Volume 5

What If? Classic, Vol. 5 by Mary Jo Duffy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The fifth volume of What If? Collects Issues #27-32 of the original Marvel What If? Series
It begin with, “What if Phoenix Had Not Died?” This story examines what would have happened had Jean Gray lived with the power of Phoenix but not being allowed to use them. It’s an epic tale that includes Galactus coming to call, and it’s interesting story about power and its nature, even though the ending is over the top. Grade: B

Issue #28 had two stories. “What if Ghost Rider were Separated from Johnny Blaze.” Even though I’m no fan of Ghost Rider, this is an imaginative tale that actually ends in an effort by Ghost Rider to go to the Vatican. “What if Daredevil became an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” is the big story on the Cover is far less interesting and a bit inaccurate as the story in the book isn’t about Daredevil becoming an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and how in this universe Tony Stark’s company owned the Truck that hit Murdoch and then Tony responds by calling in S.H.I.E.L.D. to examine them. The art is clear about Matt’s age. It’s a poorly thought out story where very little makes sense or even connects with the reader. Grade: D+

Issue #29 also has two stories: What if the Avengers Defeated Everybody?: The original Avengers are tricked by aliens into defeating every one of the Earth’s emerging supers leaving themselves the last heroes standing. It’s an interesting tale of hubris that would actually play out in some ways in the modern Marvel universe with Omega Hulk, but it’s a bit of a downbeat tale. The second tale, “What if Namor Never regained His Memory?” shows that even without his memory, Namor would still have a great sense of justice. It’s a bit downbeat, but the ending is quite ironic. Grade: B

Issue #30: What if Spider-man’s Clone Had Lived: A key tale from the original clone saga where Spider-man’s clone lived and actually was the one who escaped but only had much earlier memories of Spidey from his early days and didn’t know what hit him when it came to battling the Kingpin. This was actually pretty good, if a bit goofy, but goofy can be a good particularly with a series that can take itself too grim and serious. Grade: B+

Issue #31: What if Wolverine Had Killed the Hulk? –The story starts with a solid premise as Wolverine kills the Hulk becomes a wanted man and then ends up meeting with Magneto who helps him infiltrate the X-men to betray them and the story them becomes What if Wolverine were a Traitor to the X-men? Instead as the death of the Hulk has little to do with what follows. It’s not an entirely bad story but there are some leaps here. Grade: C+

Issue #32: What if the Avengers had become pawns of Korvac?: A nightmare scenario plays out in this one as Michael Korvac uses the Avengers to dispatch his enemies. Korvac gets so out of control, this Universe’s watcher tries to pursue his fellows and then a group of cosmic heroes and villains to take on Korvac and his Avengers. It’s a solid story with another over the top ending. Grade: B

Overall, this book isn’t the best in this series and there’s a sense that they are running out of stories at this point. Still, there are some solid ideas . In addition to that, the first four issues contain short background pieces on the Eternals and Inhumans which are a nice feature of this book.




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