Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of the direction that Hickman has taken the X-Men line. The Krakoa era is ripe with possibility, and I was a little bummed when, after Hickman did his thing, the other X-writers weren't able to carry on with the awesomeness (in my opinion). However, this second stage of the era has provided titles that I do think live up to and carry on with the excellence of Hickman's work: specifically, Gillen's
Immortal X-Men, Ewing's
X-Men: Red, and Spurrier's
Legion of X. All three of these titles are doing fascinating work within the X-line, and when I read them I'm often left astonished at what I just read. To a lesser extent, I'd also add adjectiveless
X-Men and
New Mutants to the list, but much of my love for the latter title is because of the artwork -- although I am interested in Maddie Pryor's current storyline in that title.
As for her team-up with Chasm... you know me: I'm open to most ideas. For me, it's all about the execution. For example, I initially really liked the idea of Ben as the new Jackal and head of his own corporation; in that era of Peter as Corporate Guy, I thought it was going to make for a really fun status quo for Ben, where he could play as Peter's mirror and be antagonistic while still remaining true to his past characterization. Unfortunately, the execution of the idea fell short in my eyes, and when Ben became bloodthirsty, I was already ready to move on to whatever came next for the character. (And as we know, the execution of THAT step was hardly a success either.)
Ben is a good man whose brain has been tampered with to the point that he cannot remember much of who he is and even what it means to be a good person. But despite that, Ben has been has always been -- and remained so, throughout Beyond -- a character who strived to do the right thing and overcome whatever life threw at him. A good writer can maintain this even with Ben as Chasm -- and a good writer SHOULD maintain this, even with Ben as Chasm; even with Ben being an antagonistic otherworldly spider-ghost-thing. And while Marvel's record with Ben isn't great, I will not be judging the story before I read it. Here's hoping Zeb Wells can walk the delicate balance without getting stuck in his own webbing
I'm hopeful but pragmatic rather than optimistic.
Knowing nothing about what's coming beyond the specific Chasm / Goblin Queen setup, here's hoping that it does feel like a direct continuation of Beyond, with Janine and MJ playing significant roles -- especially Janine, who I believe will inevitably be the one to rescue Ben from his current status quo as Chasm.
I appreciate that. For anyone who values their own personal growth and/or wants to have a better handle on their own emotions, I cannot recommend enough Thich Nhat Hanh's book
Anger. I read it when I transitioned to teaching middle school, and I've found Hanh's insights to be invaluable as the leader of my classroom and, honestly, in all my relationships.
I think a decent Spidercide retcon could be had, but I lean towards letting modern Ben be THE Ben we know and love. One reason? After the recent Ben Reilly miniseries, I really want to see what's next for the character of Spidercide, and turning him into a retcon to "save" the character of Ben Reilly wouldn't really do much for 'Cide becoming something greater than he has been. But as I said earlier, it's all about execution. Plenty of stories involve ideas I wouldn't love until I read the excellent execution of said idea. And plenty of ideas I initially like have fallen flat.
That's just how it goes sometimes.
Here's hoping the next issues featuring Chasm give readers something about which we can be excited! Here's hoping the issues are fun and interesting!
And if not, well, there's always future issues
-Pav, who is also currently reading
The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman;
Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue by Paul Woodruff;
Hellboy Omnibus Vol 4 by Mike Mignola; and
Love Notes from the Hollow Tree by Jarod K. Anderson...