Thanks for stopping Classic Comics Review by and checking out my review of the following books in this series. Here are the next issues I cover from the What If? Volume Two Series. Again, I had to break this volume into a few parts since it is so large. I hope you enjoy the review I put together for you and it is a blast to go over this series again!
Issue #29 to #33
This portion of Classic Comics Review begins with issue #29. What If Captain America formed the Avengers? is by George Caragonne with art by Ron Wilson and Ralph Cabrera. This is part two of issue #28. We find out who is really playing Steve Rogers this whole time and the real Steve Rogers is back and starts a new team of Avengers to take back the country. Since the fake Steve changed so much of the Marvel history, we get a vastly different mix of Avengers, but they get the job done. The cover for this is an homage to Avengers #4. We have a new Iron Man, Giant-Man, and Wolverine. This is an action filled issue and a ton is going on here. So if you get issue #28 then get this issue to finish the story.
Issue #30 is, What If the Fantastic Four’s Second Child Had Lived? There are two stories that give two different version of this topic. The first is, What If the Invisible Woman Had Her Second Child? which is by Jim Valentino with art by Dale Eaglesham. Susan has a second child named Suzy Two. Susan dies because her child is a succubus who feeds off those near her. Others start to die from her, and Reed is not ready to believe it and his son Franklin begs for help from Dr. Doom. That does not go well, and it is up to Franklin to find a place for Suzy Two. Great for your classic comics collection.
The second story is, What If the Fantastic Four’s Second Child Had Lived? The story is by Ron Marz with art by Rurik Tyler and Ian Akin. In this happy story the child is born with no issues and is named Mary Richards. She is a mutant who can heal physically and emotionally anyone who needs help. Mary becomes an activist for all minorities, mutants for all life. The government sees her as a threat and targets her for assassination. It does not go quite right, and the ending is great. Having both are great recommendations for your classic comics collection.
Issue # 31 is, What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Cosmic Powers? The title for the story inside is, What If Spider-Man Had Not Lost His Cosmic Powers? which is by Glenn Alan Herdling with art by Scott McDaniel, Jim Sanders, and Sam De La Rosa. There is a time where Peter did get the Cosmic Powers and instead of getting rid of them, he is stuck with them and decides to retire from being a hero. Venom tries to beat Peter, but soon knows he cannot. He decides to take his place as Spider-Man.
Even though he is with Mary Jane something is missing. He later decides to take on world issues. The character brings Thor to Africa to make it rain to cure the famine problem. Thor says no because he can not interfere with these events. Dr. Doom tries to interfere as well, but does not work out for Doom. Peter finally finds a way to get rid of the powers, but it also takes away his Spider-Man powers. The ending is neat because we see what will happen for the future Parker Family. Another wonderful addition for your classic comics.
Issue #32 is, What If Phoenix Had Not Died? The story is, What If Phoenix Had Lived? and is by George Caragonne and Chris Claremont with art by Rod Ramos, Jan Anton Harps and Sam De La Rosa. In this story we have the Shi’Ar preforming a psychic lobotomy to cut the Phoenix Force from Jean. However, by doing so they also remove her mutant powers. Scott and her live alone and have a daughter, Rachel. They need a reason for being, so Jean teaches at Xavier School and Scott rejoins the X-Men.
Magneto tries to get Jean to join him, but that fails after she destroys the machine that could have given her back her powers. She is later dies at the hands of Mastermind as he kidnaps Rachel. She is given a choice after finding out she is the Phoenix, not the real Jean. The Phoenix can die in peace so that the real Jean can return to life. The Phoenix decides to live thus killing the real Jean. Later she gets Senator Kelly to agree to giving mutants rights instead of making them an enemy. This leads to his assassination and an all-out war with humans and superheroes. This classi comic is one of the best stories about Jean and the Phoenix.
Issue #33 follows with What If Phoenix Rose Again? It is by George Cargonne with art by Rod Ramos, and Jimmy Palmiotti. This is kind of a part two to issue #32. We have Phoenix destroying the real Jean. She rescues her daughter who is forced to become an adult and who has incredible powers as well. She turns her daughter back to childhood and Phoenix tries to live her life as Jean. But she decides to interfere with the sitting President who hates mutants.
This in turn has the government using an army of Sentinels. With the X-Men they defeat the Sentinels, but this also exposes her secret of who she really is. After another battle, the Dark Phoenix appears and destroys all the remaining Sentinels. She is visited by Destiny who shows her what she must look forward to and decides to follow another path.
Issue #34 to #39
Classic Comics continues with Issue #34,What If No One Was Watching The Watcher? The story is by Scott Gimple and over 20 other writers with art by Tom Morgan and 20 other artists. This issue is just full of short one page or a few panels of silly What If scripts. There are over 20 stories inside and some of the titles are the following: What If Thanos Changed Galactus Into A Human Being?, What If Doom Was A Pediatrician?, and What If Howard The Duck Was A Goose? This is just full of silly stories so if you do not read it, you will not miss much. In the following five issues they are part of a five-issue story called Timequake.
In order not to lose anyone, the following story focuses on being the Time-Twisters (Twisters) that gain ascendance over Time-Keepers and want to control time. The Twisters figure out that there are four major nexus beings, one in each four different alternate realities that might prevent their existence. The other key character is Immortus who will appear to prevent them from creating tragedy and killing off the four nexus beings. Immortus’ body is under the control the Twister, but can still send his spirt across the multiverse to stop them.
Issue #35 is, What If The Fantastic Four Fought Doctor Doom And Annihilus? and continues our Classic Comics Review. This is part one of a five issue story, Timequake: Part One. The title of this story is, What If the Fantastic Five Invaded The Negative Zone? The story is by Roy Thomas and R.J.M. Lofficier with art by Joe Phillips and Sam De La Rosa. Spider-Man is the fifth member of the Fantastic Five as they go to the Negative Zone to get a special tube to protect Susan’s child that will born very soon.
They must take it away from Annihilus, which is not an issue, but Doom interferes and tries to keep the tube for himself. But he is shown the future by a mystery figure (Immortus) and if he does not help them get away, and hand over the tube, the future will be terrible. The story ends with the birth of Franklin with no other issues to worry about. For this story we are in Earth-772 and this Doctor Doom was taken out of this reality saving him from certain death. There is a second short story, What If Lady Deathstrike Got A Hangnail? by David Cullen with art by Jim Sanders and David Cullen.
Issue #36 follows with What If The Cosmic Avengers Battled The Guardians Of The Galaxy? The title inside is, What If The Cosmic Avengers And The Guardians Of The Galaxy Had Been Defeated By Korvac? It is by Roy Thomas and R.J.M. Lofficier, Dave Hoover, Ian Akin and Michael Bair. This is Timequake: Part Two. In this story (and no it is not the Guardians from the movie. It is the older ones that no one cares for or likes) the next nexus being is the Ultra-Vision and the Twisters use Korvac to travel to the year 2130 to getting Ultra-Vison. Immortus shows John Fury what will happen if Ultra-Vison is destroyed. He then is able to free the Avengers from mind control by Korvac. But Ultra-Vision is still destroyed, but the Irondroid is taken by Immortus (The Whisper) out of this reality. In this story we are in Earth-90110.
Issue #37 is, What If Wolverine Had Been Lord Vampire During Inferno? which is by Roy Thomas and R.J.M. Lofficier with art by Mark Pacella, Dan Panosian and Steve Montano. This is Timequake: Part Three. In this issue the Twisters plan to destroy the third nexus being Jean Grey, in this world Earth-9250, Wolverine is Lord Vampire who does not die, and the Inferno happens as well.
The Whisper gets Jean Gray to take up the mantel of Phoenix to destroy Dormammu and the Goblin Queen. She makes a deal with Sinister in exchange for his help he clones a human Jean Grey. This foils the Twister’s plot, and it results in one of the three Twisters from fading away. The Whisper then takes Wolverine from this reality. Next, he is taken these characters so that the Twisters can not use them.
Issue #38 moves on to What If Thor Was A Thrall Of Seth? The story is by Roy Thomas and R.J.M. Lofficier with art by Marshall Rogers, M.C. Wyman, Sam De La Rosa and Rod Ramos. This is Timequake: Part Four, and in this story the fourth nexus is Odin of Earth-9260 and must die. In this world Seth conquered Asgard, and by doing so a second Twister vanishes from reality. The Whisper uses Dr. Doom of Earth-772, Irondroid of Earth-90110, and Wolverine of Earth-9250 to free Thor and save Odin.
By this point the last Twister can see the Whisper but is unsure who he is really. By saving Odin, the last Twister is gone from existence and the Whisper is 100% free to reveal he is Immortus. He then sends a wave to re-write all reality. Also, in this issue we see that The Time Variance Authority knew the disappearance of the Time-Keepers. However, the Time Zone manger is on vacation and none of the deputy secretaries or other agents had any idea on how to handle this. They wait for Immortus to conquer all the timelines and be put back in order.
Issue #39 is, What If The Watcher Saved The Universe? The story is by Roy Thomas, Jean-Marc Lofficier and Randy Lofficier with art by Gavin Curtis, Ian Akin, and Don Hudson. This is Timequake: Part Five. In this story we get three Assistant Deputies, Deputy Secretary, Mr. Timezone Manger and Uatu the Watcher trying to figure out how to stop Immortus from re-writing all of universe. The Time Variance Authority Deputy Secretary is a clone of Morbius. They come up with different plans to stop Immortus because the timelines are so changed that allows Uatu the Watcher to interfere without breaking his oath.
Each plan fails until they listen to Uatu’s plan to target 31st century Nathaniel Richards of Other-Earth before he ever becomes Rama-Tut. They also want to prevent any of his temporal counterparts that keep stopping them from completing the mission. By doing this Richards agrees to take the Symbiont and erase Immortus’s temporal energy that threats time. This releases the Twisters who are exposed by the true Time-Keepers that turn them back to into pods. That is the whole story in a nut-shell and funny to know that they are talking more about this group in Disney’s Loki. There is one back up story, What If Magneto Was Stuck In An Elevator With Colossus, Iron Man, And Doctor Doom? It is by David Cullen art by Steve Montano and David Cullen. All five parts are great to have as part of your classic comics collection!
Issue #40 to #44
Continuing the Classic Comics Review we have issue #40, What If Storm Of The X-Men Had Remained A Thief? The story is by Ann Nocenti with art by Steve Carr, Deryl Skeleton, and Joe Rubinstein. In this story a young Ororo meets a mentor named Herman Hassel in the streets of Cairo. She later leaves with him to New York to work on her skills. On her first time of incarceration she becomes upset and scared due to her claustrophobia.
This is when her powers final show. She then later in life steals a powerful artifact from the Xavier Manson. The X-Men hunt down Herman Hassel to retrieve the item. Storm is upset by the way they treated him, so she visits the X-Men. After a small battle, Charles knows what she is and asked her to stay and join them, but she refuses this time.
Issue #41 brings us, What If the Avengers Had Fought Galactus? It is by Jim Valentino with art by Sam De La Rosa and Russ Sever. In this story we see what would happen if Reed Richards crashes the rocket on Earth before they got their powers. So, no FF and that leaves Namor with amnesia and homeless in New York. Captain America is still frozen in the Arctic. Dr. Doom becomes an ally of the West so he can build up his nation. Iron Man leads the few Avengers and they have to stop Galactus from coming.
Uatu the Watcher fails to hide Earth from the Silver Surfer. The battle for Earth starts and Iron Man tries to get the Nullifer to stop Galactus, but that does not work finally after the Hulk and Punisher go at it. The end of Earth is coming until the Watcher finally does interfere to try and stop Galactus. Good story with a lot of death and people doing the right thing. The ending is good as well.
Issue #42 is What If Spider-Man Had Kept His Six Arms? This classic comic is by Michael Gallagher with art by Kevin West and Ian Akins. The story is from Amazing Spider-Man #100 to #102. Also, a note that this marks the first appearance of Morbius, the Living Vampire. Peter is working on serum to take away his powers because he has too much stress in his life and decides to get rid of one more. In this timeline Harry becomes a junkie, he lost Captain Stacy, and his daughter, and love of his life Gwen blames Spider-Man. In this story he can not get rid of the arms, and no one can help him get rid of them. They end up being an asset in his battels and saves more than he would if he only had two arms.
Moving on we have issue #43, What If Wolverine Had Married Mariko? The story is by Ron Marz with art by Scott Clark and Steve Montano. This story has been on a lot of Wolverine fan’s minds. We finally get to see Wolverine marry the love of his life, Mariko. They both decide to stay in Japan and Wolverine leaves the X-Men to help her lead the Clan Yashida. There is a massive gang war that involves the Silver Samurai and the Kingpin which lead to a ton of deaths.
Issue #44 brings, What If Venom Had Possessed The Punisher? The issue is by Kurt Busiek with art by Luke McDonnell. This story takes place right after Spider-Man removes the symbiote from his body at the church. Punisher happens to be there when the symbiote is the most upset and wants revenge and joins Frank’s body. Frank must make a deal with the symbiote to make clear that he wants to oversee his body. Not the other way around.
Issue #45 to #50
Issue #45 moves into, What If Barbara Ketch Become Ghost Rider? The story is by Ron Marz with art by Dale Eaglesham and Brian Garvey. In the original story Daniel and Barbara Ketch are attacked by gangsters and Daniel touches the gas cap of the motorcycle to be Ghost Rider. But in this story, we get Barbara that touches the motorcycle to become the new Ghost Rider.
Issue #46 is, What If Cable Had Destroyed The X-Men? It is by Kurt Busiek with art by Tod Smith and Ian Akin. This Part One of Two is a fun story where we get to see Cable taking out Charles and dividing the X-Men into two teams. One group is trying to just kill Cable and his people. The other is trying to bring them all to justice.
Issue #47 of the series is, What If Magneto Took Over The USA? The story is by Kurt Busiek with art by Tod Smith and Ian Akin. This is Part Two of Two. After the events in the last issue, Magneto decides to take over. Since the world is in a mess because of the death of Charles, it is easy for him to do this and find a group of mutants to start his take over. This a great X-Men classic comic because we get to see Magneto take over the country. However, an army of Sentinels are released and take out most mutants. In the end we get one last X-Men leading the few mutants left to re-form the X-Men.
Issue #48, What If Daredevil Had Saved Nuke? is by Ron Marz with art by Kevin Kobasic and Andrew Pepoy. This story is taken from Daredevil Vol 1 #233. In the original story Nuke dies while Daredevil is taking him to testify. He lives and helps Daredevil take on Bullseye and Kingpin.
Issue #49 is What If The Silver Surfer Possessed The Infinity Gauntlet? The classic comic is by Ron Marz with art by Scott Clark and Pamela Eklund. The Silver Surfer is now a God, and it goes to his head. But, he makes a few changes to Death, and brings back his lost love, Shalla Bal.
Issue #50 brings, What If the Hulk Had Killed Wolverine? The story is by John Arcudi with art by Armando Gil. In this issue the big question about Wolverine is answered: Can Wolverine be hit so hard that his adamantium and healing factor not save him? Hulk proves that yes, he can be killed that way and is in this issue. This story contains numerous fights with a ton of X-Men, Avengers, and other heroes. Definitely a great addition to your classic comics collection.
Issue #51 to #58
Rounding out our final bunch of classic comics for this installment is issue #51, What If The Punisher Became Captain America? It is by Simon Furman with art by Paris Cullins, Frank Turner, and Dave Cooper. In this issue we get to see the Punisher take over the shield for a now blind Steve Rogers. The fun is seeing how he can stop himself from becoming a vigilante Captain America. This story is from Captain America Vol 1 #212, where Captain America becomes blind while fighting the Red Skull.
Issue #52 is What If Doom Became Sorcerer Supreme? which is by Dan Slott with art by Manny Galan and Mark Stegbauer. In this story we get to see Doom failing to get mother back from Mephisto and he seeks out the Ancient One. He also meets Doctor Strange. To help him out, he decides to cut off his hands. Doo then replaces them with mechanical ones. Doom fights Mephisto again and saves his mother this time. He later needs help to fight off Dormammu and does the biggest backstabbing in Marvel history to Doctor Strange.
Issue #53 has the title, What If ? In this issue we get three stories. The first is, What If Iron Man Of 2020 Had Been Stranded In The Past? by Simon Furman with art by Manny Galan and Jim Amash. The future Iron Man tries to take over the modern-day Stark Company. What If Rick Jones Remained The Hulk? is by Simon Furman with art by Dave Simons. This is a fun take in which Rick stays as the new Hulk and the new life that comes with it. The last story is, What If Spider-Man Killed the Lizard? and is by Simon Furman with art by Dane McCart. It is an interesting story but not one of my favorites in this series. A definite must-have addition for your classic comics.
Issue #54 brings, What If Minion Had Not Killed Death’s Head? The story is by Simon Furman and art by Geoff Senior. In this story we see that Death Head manages to activate his teleporter and escape Minion before he kills him. This issue has a lot to do with time travel and getting help to complete Death Head’s mission.
Issue #55, What If The Avengers Lost Operation Galactic Storm? is by Len Kaminski with art by Craig Brasfield and Frank Turner. This is Part One of Two. In this story the Kree are fighting the Fantastic Four which help create Captain Mar-Vell. Along with this the Shi’ar are fighting with the X-Men. Also, we have the heroes in this story fail to protect Earth, which leads to its destruction.
Issue #56 follows with, What If the Avengers Lost Operation Galactic Storm? Part Two of Two. It is by Len Kaminski with art by John Czop, Darren Auck, Dave Simons, Craig Brasfield, Frank Turner and Jim Amash. The story continues after the destruction of Earth by the Kree Empire and all the heroes are gone as well. The remaining members of the Avengers find new allies to put an end to the rule of Emperor Aei-Dan and the Kree Empire.
Issue #57 is the classic comic, What If The Punisher Became An Agent Of SHIELD? It is by Chuck Dixon with art by Mike Harris, and Jim Amash. This story I think could be better, but is still not terrible. We see Nick recruiting Frank to get him off the streets as the Punisher and doing more with his life. He goes through the ranks and the ending is not bad in this issue.
Finishing the classic comics for this time around is issue #58, What If the Punisher Had Killed Spider-Man? It is by Chuck Dixon with art by Gordon Purcell and Andrew Pepoy. This issue is another fan favorite because we get to see how someone can take out Spider-Man. This was also from The Amazing Spider-Man #129 where it is the first appearance of the Punisher and the Jackal.
ALSO SEE: Classic Comics Review: Marvel’s What If? Volume Two Issues #0 to #28
Well, this is my overview of Issues #29 to #58 of What If? I hope you enjoy the Classic Comics Review column and maybe learn something new along the way. Please go check out our other stories, columns, and videos we have on our site!
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