Dark Reign: The List

Dark Reign: The List #1-8

by Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Slott, Jason Aaron

Norman Osborn plans on making a list, checking it twice, and delivering an unhealthy amount of Dark Reign madness directly into the lives of super heroes both naughty and nice in Dark Reign: The List, a series of eight interconnected stories heralding the next major chapter in the Marvel Universe's current saga. Collects Dark Reign: The List - Daredevil, Dark Avengers, X-Men, Hulk, Secret Warriors, Wolverine, Punisher, and Amazing Spider-Man.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fantasy, Fiction, Comics Manga

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2009

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel's Dark Reign, the ongoing post Secret Invasion reality didn't really have any event-specific books as it impacted multiple core series; the closest it came was probably these one-shot books centred around Norman Osborn fix-it/must-do list. The List is based along the lines of what to do with core 'problems' like the New Avengers, the Amazing Spider-Man, X-men etc.!

As ever the best book is by Brian Michael Bendis' Dark Reign: The List - Avengers #1, in which one of the team has had enough with the topsy turvy world and decides it's time to take-out Osborn! Most other books centre around Osborn vs the listee in a battle of wills and calculated actions. Sadly the weakest books is the Dark Reign: The List - Wolverine #1, I've always struggle with Jason Aaron's Marvel work :(. Still a recommended read for snippets of the Dark Reign. Three Stars , 7 out of 12.

2023 read

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Norman Osborne has a list. It’s not a shopping list or a list of hair products. It’s not a Christmas list (Dear Santa, make Spider-Man dead.), or a bucket list, but a to-do list.

He’s in charge of the nation’s security now and he wants to right all the wrongs of his predecessors (read: exact revenge, as well as make Spider-Man dead).



This is an anthology and the rules for such a collection stand – some of the collected issues are good, some are fair and some suck.

The first story has an emotional Clint Barton (aka Ronin) fairly upset as to how Osborn is going about things, so he wants to kill him. The rest of The Avengers advise a more measured approach.



Barton breaks into evil Avengers headquarters.



Things go predictably awry.

It’s Bullseye vs. Daredevil – Round 235. Daredevil is on his way to becoming the head of The Hand (huh?). He thinks if he’s in charge this league of assassins will be less…stabby. Good luck with that, dude!



Bullseye has a less direct yet more despicable way of turning the tables on Daredevil.



Next, Osborn is upset that two of his original evil Illuminati – Namor and Emma Frost – have left the evil fold. So…revenge. He has Namor’s ex-wife, now sea monster, in an aquarium and she has an appetite for wild caught Atlanteans (full of Omega 3).



Nick Fury (old, white guy version) has a list too, it's shorter, but he has to work with Osborn to put a check mark next to it.



After outwitting Osborn, it’s one down two to go on Fury’s list. Nice job, you old warhorse! Help yourself to that brewski, you earned it, Nick!



Of all the tales in this tome, the Punisher vs. Daken (Wolverine Jr.), by the creative team of Hickman/Romita Jr. (ugh) is the one that’s marked with the Sign of the Beast.



Hello Frankenpunisher!?!

Skaar, Son of Hulk, has some daddy issues to work out with Bruce Banner. It’s sort of like that horrid Harry Chapin song, “Cats in the Cradle” except Skaar wants to kill the Hulk for not taking the time to play catch. Banner won’t/can’t change into the Hulk. Osborn wants to "help" facilitate the change.



Um, worry…

Next: In one of the oddest team ups ever, it’s Wolverine and Marvel Boy (or Noh-Varr or whatever).



Throw in the funny Fantomax and some born-again zombies and you have a decent tale.



Last, the inevitable Norman Osborn/Spider-Man showdown (Make Spider-Man dead already!), yet it’s Peter Parker who saves the day with some obtuse logic in the local Starbucks.



I would have preferred a kick in the Osborn family jewels, but you can’t always get what you want.

Bottom line: Some people have “Visit Antarctica” or “Retire to a monastery” or “Complete the ultimate Ponzi scheme” as life goals. Me, I’m a completist (read: I have OCD) who want to finish crappy Marvel cross-over events.

For Dark Reign, one of my faves, this one is a decent collection that doesn’t achieve nirvana as often as I would have liked.

Three and a half stars rounded up.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

24th book read in 2018.

Number 177 out of 684 on my all time book list.

This is the first Dark Reign book that I have read and I LOVE the concept.

[Kelvin Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disjointed overall, which was probably inevitable given the structure, but the upside is that there is plenty of room for different writers and artists to show their strengths, and a couple of chapters are very good. The "Wolverine" chapter (he's barely in it) is spectacular, and the Punisher story is surprisingly effective despite a very simple plot, in large part because of brutal and intense fight choreography from John Romita Jr.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the events of the Skrull Invasion, Norman Osborn is in charge of the "jack-booted" government police. In this book of various one issue stories, Norman has made a list of people who have wronged or embarrassed him, and now he is misusing his newfound power to punish them.
It was ok. With so many different writers and artists in one book, you really get a mixed bag, which I do not like. I did enjoy most of the stories, but the book really had an incomplete feel to it. I would only recommend it to people who have read Secret Invasion and Civil War as it is more of a companion book than any kind of stand-alone book.
I got it cheap, so that made it better.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norman Osborn's hit list....half I already read in other volumes. Okay read.

[Michael T. Christensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only re-read the X-Men and the Wolverine issues, but I believe they represent the good and bad about this series - the stories are at their best when Norman Osborn is actually trying to take down the main character. So the W0lverine story feels a bit weaker because it's about him and Wolverine both going for the same target, and it's less dramatic. The X-Men story works better with the premise, because it's actually about Norman going after Namor (even though the comic sells itself as being Norman vs. X-Men, but in fairness we had just gotten that miniseries).

The stories also work best when they not only move the character's main story forward, but they also invoke a new status quo. The Wolverine comic doesn't do that very well, but the X-Men one solidifies the idea that Namor is one of the X-Men on Utopia.
(Stepping outside of these two issues, the Punisher comic does this the best because it absolutely changes the status quo of Frank Castle's comic.)

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Racconti carini, disegnati mediamente bene. Si parla della lista di bersagli di Norman Osborn durante il suo regno oscuro. E ci si sorprende davanti alla fine piuttosto cruenta del Punitore per mano di Daken, oltre che ai risultati sostanzialmente favorevoli ad Osborn. Fra i disegnatori, nota di merito per Essad Ribic nel racconto che vede come protagonista Wolverine, con un tratto moderno, che al contempo ricorda Moebius.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A listless affair that is saved from being a useless compendium of go-nowhere stories by one single entry.

The entry about The Punisher.

Go find it. Read it and it alone.

No spoilers and no hints. But if there is any reason to buy this altogether forgettable affair, it's that one single issue.

What are you waiting for?

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Those are just 8 stories, but man do they change the status quo for some... but the stories work best if you read them in conjunction with the events in their own series (i.e. Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men, Punisher etc.).

[Tym · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were good some were kinda bad the Punisher story makes me sad

[Brannigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for some new stories but these are in other books I’ve read.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

All over the place as Norman Osbourne struggles for power.

[Litter Bug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these were good!

[J'aime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Reign is a rare event for Marvel in that there is no central "event" storyline which then branches out into characters' series, like with Siege. In addition to the Siege story arc, there were Siege tie-ins from many of the individual series like Avengers, Thor, etc. This makes it more difficult to collect and follow the Dark Reign, wherein Norman Osborn has become the head of National Security in the US. Only, he's still a villain!

The List is an attempt to collect some of the Dark Reign into one trade edition. It has several different characters' interactions with Osborn, as he tries to cross them off his hit list! Since this is a list of those he wants to have killed, readers should be prepared for a lot of violence and death. The book opens with Ronin's attempted assassination of Osborn. This is an entertaining story, but it is also collected in two other trade editions I already own. The rest of the book was completely new to me, since I don't follow the characters and they aren't on any current (in and around Dark Reign/Siege) Avengers line-up.

Daredevil is first up on Osborn's list. The story opens when the Hand approaches him to become its leader. Yes, this villainous organization wants their nemesis/good guy to lead them. And he agrees because the alternative is even worse. Daredevil is going through his initiation when Bullseye shows up to off him. This story has some great fight sequences and an unexpected ending.

Next, Osborn wants revenge on his former Cabal member-turned traitor - Namor. He has a specially engineered weapon to hunt the Sub-Mariner, but Namor is allied with the X-Men, who won't let him stand alone. This story was good because I don't follow the X-Men at all so I had no knowledge of what they were up to; but, the action should have been better considering the powers the X-Men possess.

Another character I had lost track of since before Siege (since I haven't read Secret Invasion yet) is Nick Fury. Here, he shows up on Osborn's doorstep before Osborn can get to his name on the list. Osborn's bad, but he wants to put on a good show of being a "patriot," so when Nick tells him they need to work together on something, Osborn goes along. He plans to betray Fury, of course. Fury knows this, of course. An excellent cat and mouse story with important revelations that are sure to impact the future.

The next story was BRUTAL, and downright gory. Osborn sends Daken, son of Wolverine, after the Punisher. It does not end well. This story took me by surprise, no doubt about it.

The, the Hulk. Or, perhaps I should say Bruce Banner, who is no longer the Hulk. While I'm left in the dark as to why he isn't the Hulk anymore, I loved this story because it was so good to see Bruce being a badass who outthinks his enemy, has formed a surprise team-up with his son, and creates some tech to help him (just like Tony Stark would). I especially love how the artist draws him with sunglasses to play up the coolness factor. My favorite story of the book.

The next story finally brings me some closure on Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr), a former member of Osborn's Dark Avengers, who I encountered in a brief story in another collection. However, he's just not that interesting. Here, he teams up with Wolverine and Fantomex to shut down "the World" (secret weapon x facility) before Osborn can take it over. *yawn* I just didn't care about the facility, or these characters, and the action was rather lackluster.

Happily, the List ends on a high note when Osborn goes after his highest-ranked target: Spider-Man. This short, but satisfying story has all the sass, sarcasm and one-liners you'd expect from the web-slinger and some solid action.

Overall, The List is a solid collection that provides some oversight on the Dark Reign. Fans who follow the individual comic lines might be disappointed. However, anyone who (like me) jumps from event to event will find this a worthwhile read. Recommended.

[Lissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any cross-title collection, the art and story-telling is a mixed bag since so many creators are involved. There's a loose plot involved - Osborn has a list of eight people to take care of and/or kill, and he systematically goes down the list either himself or using one of his Dark Avengers - but nothing too strong. I don't think that you have to read each title involved here to understand what is going on, but it certainly doesn't hurt, either.

1) Avengers - Clint Barton gets upset and decides to go after Osborn. He runs into some problems in Avengers Tower.

2) Daredevil - Daredevil is a thorn in Osborn's side now that he has taken over the Hand. Osborn gives Bullseye the "gift" of killing Daredevil, which obviously doesn't happen, but there's a high body count regardless.

3) X-Men - Namor double-crossed Osborn, and Norman doesn't want to allow anyone to get away with that. So he somehow genetically mutates one of Namor's ex-wives into a giant Atlantean-eating killing machine. This forces the relocation of Namor's people yet again.

4) Secret Warriors - Nick Fury and Osborn can finally agree on something, but everything's not as it seems. Probably the most difficult for me to follow out of the eight one-shots collected here, because I don't care much for the character of Nick Fury and haven't read much with him in it.

5) Hulk - Anyone who thinks only the Hulk is dangerous has seriously underestimated Bruce Banner's intelligence, especially with his son Skaar by his side.

6) Punisher - Daken and the Punisher square off in a fight that does not end well for one of them.

7) Wolverine - Osborn discovers that the Weapon X program would be awesome to own. Unfortunately for Osborn, Noh-Varr, who has recently defected from the Dark Avengers after discovering just how twisted the members are, decides to warn Wolverine of the impending attack on the facility. Famtomex shows up as well. The reader discovers that Wolverine believes in a god, while Noh-Varr and Fantomex don't. This was probably my favorite of the eight one-shots here. I like Fantomex (he sort of reminds me of Deadpool) and Noh-Varr.

8) Spider-Man - Osborn saves the best for last, but he gets more than he bargains for when he goes head to head with Peter Parker.

Altogether, this wasn't a bad read - some of the one-shots were quite fun - but it's not an essential book for the Dark Reign event.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given the concept of this chain of one-shots in this trade, you would think that the quality of the work would have been a little better. However, as with any collection, there were highs and lows but for the overall product I was not greatly impressed. The plot is this: Norman Osborn, media darling and new head of both the Avengers and HAMMER (SHIELD's replacement agency) has been warping the Marvel Universe according to his machinations and influence. Now he has made a list that focuses on several individuals or groups that need to be dealt with. The Avengers, Secret Warriors, the X-Men, Daredevil, the Punisher, Wolverine, the Hulk, and of course Spider-Man. Highlights include a well put together Avengers story featuring Clint Barton (aka Ronin, formerly known as Hawkeye) and his one man mission against Norman, a wicked battle between the Punisher and "Dark" Wolverine Daken, and an interesting interaction between Spidey and the Iron Patriot. Low points include a muddled story featuring Bruce Banner, Skarr, Moonstone, and Victoria Hand, a messy sci-fi tale regarding Wolverine (Logan), Marvel Boy, and Phantomex, and a practically pointless story that teams Nick Fury with Osborn. This collectioned could have been helped if it were a limited series instead of a string of one-shots with a loose running storyline. And to find that Osborn is threatened by the Punisher or Daredevil (even given his ties to the Hand) when he has the Avengers and X-Men on the run is almost absurd. A vendetta against the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could have been it's own limited or should have taken more of a center role in the Spidey titles or Dark Avengers. Long story short, you are better off getting individual issues (or maybe just issue- The Avengers) or borrow from someone else and skip around to what you find as the high points. I'm not a Hulk or Secret Warriors fan to start with anyway.

[Iowa City Public Library]

Neutralize Clint Barton

Eliminate Daredevil

Kill Namor

Kill Frank Castle

Kill Nick Fury

Neutralize Bruce Banner

Control the world

Kill Spider-Man

Things are desperate, as usual, in the Marvel universe. Norman Osbourn, having thwarted the Skrulls most recent invasion of earth by shooting their queen on national TV, has been given dictatorial powers over national security. He’s replaced S.H.I.E.L.D. with his own H.A.M.M.E.R. He’s replaced the real Avengers with his own band of psychopaths, loonies, monsters, and imposters. He’s made the to-do list above. What else could you expect? He’s the Green freakin Goblin, for Stan Lee’s sake.

The List shows Osborn’s progress in crossing items off the list above, and if you haven’t visited Marvel for a while, it’s a nice place to catch up on some old favorites. It’s a single volume in a coherent order, which is a nice change. Finding the right chronology for Marvel’s other recent events (Civil War, Secret War, Secret Invasion) has been just about impossible, so that characters you know are dead from another book, pop up again in another book read out of order. Death’s always provisional in comics, of course, and characters are beginning to make ironic comments about how many times they’ve died.

The downside of this volume is that it repeats some material we own in other titles (Spider-Man, Avengers). A small price to pay. --John

From ICPL Staff Picks Blog

[Arno Callens · Rating 3 out of 5]

While reading Secret Warriors, I stumbled upon one issue of this mini-series, and decided to check out the rest, because of the writing and pencilling talent involved. Sadly I seemed to be missing too much background to fully appreciate what was going on here (I mistook Bucky Barnes for Steve Rogers, for example, and had no prior knowledge of the Hulk and Wolverine's sons.).

Still I enjoyed some of the material here, in particular the X-Men, Hulk, and Wolverine-issues. The first relied too heavily on the "hero versus huge monster"-trope, but I enjoyed Namor being Namor. The second was personal and clever, and the third introduced me to Fantomex, a character I sure want to know more about.

Worse was the Punisher-story (let's just say I don't buy the ending at all), with the others being rather harmless reading. The very best though was the Secret Warriors-tie-in, which leads me to believe I should have stuck with that series instead. Dark Reign: The List probably makes more sense if you're up to speed on Dark Reign and lists, but I doubt it's a masterpiece in that case either.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are always one-shot spin-offs on these big cross-over series... luckily Bendis and a stable of writers know how to write good ones (at least most of them) and actually drive the plot ahead.

With art and story styles that vary with the character types they focus on (gritty Billy Tan for Daredevil, cartoony Alan Davis work for Namor and X-Men, etc.) they also manage to blend those different tones and takes to demonstrate the lunacy of having Norman Osborne at the helm of Natl. Security. As a corny reflection of the paranoid militancy of the Bush years, it is fun. As a comic book world plot, it really isn't bad.

What I don't know is whether or not they actually, really, totally, chopped into bits, killed the Punisher. I mean, comics never kill anybody off forever, but this was pretty, intensely, gorily a death of a major character. Wonder if they've brought him back, yet.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird collection, because it's made up of one shots that were written to either stand on their own or read with their respective title. The only thing connected them together is Norman Osborn. But since each issue is pretty strong on it's own merits, it works. There's some really find talent at work. Rick Remender and JRJR collaborate on a Punisher vs Dakken story which turns out to be the set up for Frankencastle, Hickman and Ed McGuinness have a pretty cool Nick Fury story and then there's Bendis and Marko Djurdjevic on an Avengers story that sees Clint Barton storm Avengers Tower. They're all good, but they're all parts of stories to a much bigger story (the Dark Reign arc and the current on-going story in each title). It's just really hard to recommend this book as something you should pick up.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norman Osborn ('reformed' villain) is now the world's top cop and is using his political power to exact revenge on his enemies.

Art varies from good to standard but the story is interesting.

Osborn has the power and resources to do some serious damage and this book does not disappoint.

While this is part of the 'Dark Reign' story line, this book can be read outside of the series.

Notes
Some surprises for Punisher fans.

Learning Curve
Moderate: Readers new to comics will likely be confused.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creo que de lo que leí hasta ahora de "Reinado Oscuro" esto es lo mejorcito... Por descarte. Me gustó haber leído el numerito de Daredevil que me faltaba y cómo palma Punisher para su reconstrucción en Franken Castle (aunque sea una historia bastante bolacera) y también que el promedio de dibujantes sea bastante bueno. Pero tampoco es que me haya aportado mucho más.

[Kerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the most part I was bored stiff. Some of the art was fabulous and some was downright horrible. Maybe I'm just picky, but I have been really disappointed in a lot of the stuff that Marvel has been putting out lately.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories in this anthology are good, and some of them are bad.

More:
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[Dwayne Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty much a waste of time, ink, and paper. What a disappointment.

[James Dunphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osborn assembles his "list" of targets to take out. The one shots really fill in the gaps for a couple heroes who aren't too prevalent in Dark Reign (Daredevil, Hulk, Punisher).

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The follow-up to Secret Invasion in which we see Norman Osborn's crazy todo list. Some issues were better than others. I particularly enjoyed the Avengers, X-Men, and Wolverine.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some light hearted stories in this book, makes a change from most of the dark reign series.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story that made Norman Osborn by favourite Marvel villain.