Weirdworld: Where Lost Things Go

Weirdworld: Collected Editions #3

by Sam Humphries (Writer), Michael Del Mundo (Illustrator)

The strangest realm on Battleworld is now the most mysterious region of the Marvel Universe! And Earth girl Becca is stuck in this land of sword and sorcery -- with no experience with either! She has only one mission: get home alive. But will becoming apprentice to Goleta the Wizardslayer aid that quest, or render it even more unlikely? In a land of myths, monsters and...muscle cars? Becca and Goleta will brave the Enchanted Village and Fang Mountains, seek aid from Catbeast and the Dog-Fighters, and find themselves in the middle of a war between Lava Men and Man-Things. But most dangerous of all is Morgan Le Fay -- Becca had better hope she never falls into the sorceress's evil clutches! Join Becca's quest, and brave the dangers and uncover the secrets of Weirdworld!

Collecting: Weirdworld 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Marvel, Comic Book, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2016

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really had a blast reading this one. I really liked the use of some really obscure parts of the Marvel Universe, I thought Becca's story was a really touching one, I really liked the downright wackiness of the whole kit and caboodle! Oh, and the artwork was beautiful!

The only reason I haven't given this five stars is that the story felt truncated, probably due to the premature cancellation of the title. I'm not surprised this was cancelled (some of the more 'out there' books can struggle to find an audience) but I, personally, will miss it.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mike del Mundo is a talented artist whose style is suited perfectly for this book. My only complaint is he often uses colors that are so close together on the spectrum that it's difficult to make out what's happening. This was pretty much right up my alley. I love reading about fantastical worlds where adventurers go on quests. Unfortunately, it was cancelled mid-story. Becca's still sitting in Weirdworld waiting for the rest of her story to be told.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weirdworld isn't just a story, it's an experience made possible by art and script written completely in sync.

You'll fall in love with WeirdWorld and all of its characters. You'll wish for Becca to have something finally go right (which happens briefly in the last issue). Truly, the comic is a literal and figurative trip!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 0 really annoyed me (my review dismissed it as paint by number sword and sorcery), but I'm a completist when it comes to Man-Thing and Jennifer Kale and was pleasantly surprised by this volume. The big disappointment is that it wasn't really a miniseries, and thus was canceled without an ending. This still has nothing to do with the Doug Moench Weirdworld, and also draws off The Infinity Gauntlet and The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior , which contrary to popular belief was not a licensed title, but a concept Marvel shopped around to toy companies. Becca Rodriguez is an interesting, down to earth character with a very conflicted relationship with her mother. She gets two mother substitutes in Goleta the Wizard Slayer and Morgan Le Fay. Anyone who has any familiarity with either Marvel or the Arthurian legend knows that the latter is a ruse. The former goes from just a hater to someone whose rage against wizards has an origin.

It does dip into cliches as badly as the Jason Aaron volume, just not as frequently. The peak is in #4 when the candy town is really a monster. I'm pretty sure I've seen exactly this concept before. It of course has its origin in "Hansel and Gretel," but I've definitely seen this more exact concept used.

In the '60s and '70s, Marvel would always give their stories some sort of conclusion in an ongoing title if a series got canceled (and maybe get some more interest in the canceled character for future use), but it doesn't seem like they do that anymore.

I would recommend reading this if you wanted to like the Jason Aaron volume and couldn't quite warm up to it. This is compromised, but a definite improvement.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weirdworld was one of the best tie ins to Secret Wars. It stood alone and didn't worry about the main story or spend too much time reinventing existing characters or story lines. It was simply a solid fantasy comic that happened to take place in a lackluster Marvel event.

This spin off is, thankfully, more of the same. Becca, an Earth girl with emotional baggage gets sucked into Weirdworld and is just looking to get home. During her quest she befriends all sorts of weird characters like Goleta the Wizard slayer (whose ax blade is a giant G) and Catbeast and fire breathing flying cat (formally a wizard until Goleta, well, slayed him) and fights against Morgan le Fay.

The series is unfortunately short and the main plot does not get resolved but it is a fun ride and well worth the read. The characters are fun to read and simultaneously sympathetic and ridiculous. The pacing is great, you don't go long between action scenes or something else happening.
I havent been a fan of Sam Humphries other Marvel work (Star Lord, Avengers AI) but this title has me wanting to check his other work out.

Finally, the art is fantastic. Mike Del Mundo does a fantastic job. The pages are vibrant and he conveys the surreal nature of Weirdworld in every panel. As shown here with Goleta on the hood of her car cutting a sand shark in two.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a terrible shame this series only lasted 6 issues and had to end mid-story. If this had been published by Image or some other publisher, it would have had an easier time finding it's audience. It's a feminist fantasy story, not a super-hero comic by any stretch. Yes, it happens in the Marvel Universe, uses a handful of previously existing (albeit super obscure) characters and has a few tossed off references to the Avengers. But it works if you don't read any Marvel comics and it would work if it was totally independent of the Marvel Universe. It's so sad that this got lost in the shuffle of Marvel's post-Secret Wars explosion of new titles.

I'll stop with the mourning and get to why you should read this. Mike del Mundo is the artist and he creates a truly bizarre, ugly and beautiful world in Weirdworld. The character designs are uniformly fantastic, and his painted art truly looks like nothing else in comics today. Weirdworld is technically a sequel series to a Secret Wars mini-series that was written by Jason Aaron with art by del Mundo, but del Mundo's art, a few supporting characters and the general setting are all that carries over.

Sam Humphries ditches Arkon, a Conan-esque figure who has been kicking around the Marvel Universe since 1970, for two original characters: Becca Rodriguez, a human from Earth who accidentally ends up in Weirdworld and Goleta the Wizardslayer, a mountain of a woman who slays wizards, drives a sick muscle car, pounds drinks and completely rules. Goleta busts through the page in her first appearance and is immediately one of the most exciting and well-rounded new creations Marvel has had in a few years. It will be a real shame if she doesn't show up again.

The plot is a fairly straightforward quest narrative, but what makes it special is all the bizarre and fun characters and settings that Humphries and del Mundo create along the way. You get evil candylands, a kaiju battle, dog fighters that are actually dogs, and a Morgan le Fay that is equally villainous and sympathetic.

[Lainy122 · Rating 4 out of 5]

"One person can be lost, but two are always going somewhere."

I liked this one! Brilliant world building, amazing characters, just the right blend of funny and kickass, very cool art. Highly recommend!

[Gary Butler · Rating 1 out of 5]

39th book read in 2018.

Number 663 out of 699 on my all time book list.

Book 0 was amazing. This one is just crap. Where did the magic go?

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome art but I just liked much more the Secret Wars tie-in previous storyline.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

No longer just another domain in Battleworld - Weirdworld is back! When poor Becca Rodriguez finds herself trapped in this strange and deadly new destination, she must team up with Goleta the Wizardslayer and Ogeode the Catbeast in order to get home. But Morgan Le Fay still prowls Weirdworld, and Becca has something she wants...

Let's get the obvious out of the way - Mike Del Mundo's still on art for this follow-up to the Secret Wars Weirdworld book, so it looks fabulous. He somehow manages to dream up even more insane visuals than before, and yet manages to hammer home the more straight forward emotional beats in the Earthbound flashbacks without skipping a second. Dude's really good.

Sam Humphries tags in as writer, and he does a pretty good job of picking up where Jason Aaron left off, quite literally since this volume jumps into the story right at the end of Aaron's run, even if it's now from a different perspective. Humphries takes his new characters on a very different journey across Weirdworld, tapping into the human potential of the place as much as the insanity of it. Becca has a very personal story to tell, even while the world around her burns, screams, and tries to kill her in equal measure.

The issue, also like the last volume, is the ending. It's open-ended, inconclusive, and as far as I know has never been followed up on. I thought, given how issue 5 ended, that Humphries had come up with a way to round everything up at the end of issue 6, but instead the story springboards off in a new direction entirely. I'd love to see what happens next, but I know it's highly unlikely any of these characters will be revisited again. The next time they appear (in the Strange Academy story that made me go back and read these in the first place), we're just to assume that everything's been resolved off-panel, which is a shame.

Like the previous volume, Weirdworld is a great story with excellent worldbuilding and beautiful artwork, stymied by a rushed and inconclusive ending.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have still not read the original 1980s Weirdworld material from Marvel (although I am interested in it, not least because of the artistic involvement of both Mike Ploog and John Buscema), but I did read, and thoroughly enjoy, Weirdworld, Volume 0: Warzones! by writer Jason Aaron and artist Mike del Mundo.

For this new series, which draws more upon the established setting than the characters of the (sort of) preceding TPB, the writing duties have been taken over by Sam Humphries, and while Mike del Mundo still delivers well on the art side, the narrative chops seems wanting when compared to Aaron's, and the result is a weaker and less satisfying story. Do not get me wrong, Becca Rodriguez is an interesting character, as is Goleta the Wizardslayer, with whom she teams up; and I like the fact that Humphries has centred his story around female character, with Morgan Le Fay as the leading villain. And still ... I cannot shake the feeling that the arc fails to live up the expectations set by the Aaron arc.

Ah well, it is an enjoyable read, so by all means, do read it. But if you have read Aaron's arc first, my recommendation would be to lower your expectations.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun book that ends too soon.

After the Secret Wars volume of Weirdworld, I was totally expecting another Archon story where he is engaging in some Conan the Barbarian type antics in this strange world. Boy was I wrong. Instead we have a brand new story with a new central character, Rebecca Rodriguez, who is trying to get to Mexico to bury her mothers remains. Her plane crashes in WeirdWorld and she tries to make her way back to Earth with the help of the inhabitants of WeirdWorld. I found the Rebecca character to be fresh, funny, and very real. She reacts much like we would in these types of stories. She is kind of overwhelmed, she's scared, she's pissed, and she runs from danger. But what Sam Humphries does wonderfully is set her up with a couple of characters who really offset those types of qualities.

I think Humphries does a fantastic job of creating the "person out of their element" type story, yet have that person be integral and vital to the overall plot. It's not easy following Jason Aaron but I think Humprhies surpasses him as far as storytelling for this volume. There's moments of comedy, action, and definitely emotion as the story progresses.

And the art. If you haven't seen Mike Del Mundo's art before, do yourself a favor and pick this or anything else he has done for Marvel and just relish in the awesomeness. Not only is he a master at painting weird and fantastic characters and settings, but he also plays with perspective and focus which just adds a whole other layer to the overall art. This guy is a beast and should be way more well known than he is.

The story ends mid way. Which is such a shame cause it is such a good book. I really hope that somehow Humphries and Del Mundo get a chance to either finish this story or go back to weirdworld one day because its a damn travesty that it got cancelled. Highly recommended.

[felicialowj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn. This was excellent. I’m not usually a huge fan of Sam Humphries but this story hit me with all the feels. And the art, man, Del Mundo’s art was lushly, gorgeously amazing.

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features a Mexican-American Earth girl and a warrior woman from Weirdworld accidentally wading into the middle of a war between Morgana Le Fay and the Swamp Queen Jennifer Kale. And nearly every other major character is female too, from the Grand Mechanic to Eta, the Watcher of Weirdworld, which shouldn't be as awe-inducing as it is in this day and age. But beyond that, this is a story of two awesome people going on a proper quest and fighting the craziest fantasy creatures Sam Humphries could get Mike Del Mundo to draw, and they all look amazing, while going through some heavy emotional stuff to boot. In short, this book is fantastic and everyone should read it.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprints Weirdworld #1-6 (February 2016-July 2016). Becca has been tasked in taking her mother’s ashes back to Mexico. When their plane is hit by strange turbulence everything seems to turn upside down. Becca finds herself in Weirdworld and teamed with a warrior woman named Goleta the Wizardslayer and a Catbeast transformed wizard named Ogeode. Becca is also the target of Morgan Le Fay who realizes Becca’s possession of the Wuxian Seed could benefit her…but Becca’s only chance at returning to Earth could be the Wuxian Seed. As Goleta and Becca travel Weirdworld to restore Ogeode, Morgan Le Fay and her armies are closing in for a battle that could cost Becca everything!

Written by Sam Humphries, Weirdworld Volume 1: Where Lost Things Go is the continuation of the story which originally appeared as part of Marvel’s event series Secret Wars. Following Weirdworld Volume 0: Warzones!, the series features art by Mike Del Mundo.

Weirdworld was a fun little adventure in the Secret Wars series. It was unexpected that the Marvel Comics’ “Elfquest-esque” series would get its own standalone series and it was populated by characters like Arkon, Morgan Le Fay, Man-Thing, Skull the Slayer, and surprisingly Crystar and his allies (from the Remco toy series of the ’80s and Marvel’s The Saga of Crystar). With these strange ingredients, the comic series was fun and even better granted a continuing series after Secret Wars…unfortunately (in my opinion), the format changed.

I really liked Arkon as the lead for Weirdworld. I was disappointed that his story (which also was incomplete) wasn’t continued in the new series. I loved the inclusion of the “weird” characters like Crystar and Marvel’s oddball assortment of people who populated Weirdworld (I always was a Man-Thing Jennifer Kale fan). I looked forward to see what Arkon would do and how Crystar would factor in to the battle…none of which were answered here (at least Skull and Jennifer returned).

That being said, I also like Becca and Goleta. I think both characters could prove to be interesting and Humphries starts to develop them. While I prefer sticking with Arkon, I was ok with both of these leads and the series kept up the spirit and the style of the limited series. It just wasn’t quite the same series, but Weirdworld’s demise is more of a comic book industry problem if nothing else.

Weirdworld was never going to survive. The comic book market is tight and ruthless. A small essentially independent comic inserted into the Marvel Universe probably wasn’t going to sell enough to stay afloat despite a strong (but small) fanbase. Weirdworld became a strange almost PG equivalent of Saga. While I feel that the miniseries was a better series, I still enjoyed Weirdworld and wish that it had a longer life…as it stands now, we might never know what happens to Becca, Goleta, and Morgan Le Fay’s quest…which is too bad.

[Reuben Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

The colours in this were beautiful, it’s a big recommend on the art front. Story-wise, it was fine, there were some cool characters, some funny moments, and I certainly enjoyed it while I was reading it, but it’s only been a few hours since I finished it and I’ve pretty much already forgotten it so I can kind of see why it didn’t have a massively successful run.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun trip to Weirdworld, this time without Jason Aaron. I thought his absence would be seen but Sam Humphries did a great job, especially with Becca. del Mundo's art is still a brilliant match for the book. He masters the weird. The new characters in the book were fun and new readers won't be out of the loop. I'd love to read another arc in Weirdworld.

[Kendra Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun romp in Weirdworld, this time with Becca, a girl thrown from Earth to the craziest place in existence. Through her journey home she becomes a more empowered woman and makes a lifelong friend. A true girl-power story that everyone will love.

[Jared Cvetas · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Weirdworld please

This volume.is a bit more cartoony and light hearted on the surface. but the story does gave its somber moments. The Weirdworld volumes that have come before this are a tough act to follow but the creators do a fine job.

[Matthew Ledrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm heartbroken this series didn't keep going after this. The writing was top-notch and the art was gorgeous. Here's hoping it makes a return soon.

[Derek Neveu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it while it lasted, but cancellation brought it to a premature ending. It reads like a "to be continued", but I unfortunately know it will not.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that was cut way too short. Humphries is such a great character writer and del Mundo's art was fantastic, I really wish this would have had a solid conclusion.

[Parker J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Im so sad they ended this series so soon!!

[Ian Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre, ludicrous and fun. The real reason to pick this up is the trippy, crazy art.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very chaotic world. Good hero's journey story.

[Elias Rosner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weirdworld is a series that was taken from the marvel catalog too soon but, unfortunately, with good reason. After a really good secret wars series (which for some reason has a lower rating than this volume), this beginning of a story felt like a bit of a let down. It didn't really tie back into the previous series, which would have made all the connections much better. Let's get this out of the way first though, Mike del Mundo's art is the best part of this. His use of painted colors and creative designs are so beautiful to look at and read. My favorite panels (outside of issue 4) are the silent ones where Humphries lets the art speak for itself. Weirdworld works best when the land is explored in conjunction with the people but this volume doesn't let it expand or breathe. We're always being subjected to Goleta and Becca's long and somewhat annoying conversations.

And that really is the biggest problem with this volume, the pacing and the initial characterization of Becca/Goleta. Goleta is such a fun character, essentially being Red Sonja or young Thor, but her constant scowling and yelling never develops, which may be a result of the truncated nature of the publication. Becca on the other hand constant has the same narration that is just painful to read. The best analogy I can give is that she doesn't feel like a real person, instead she feels like an adult's idea of what a "cool young person" should sound like. It feels stilted and while it gets better as each issue goes on, it never hits that point where I care if Becca (or any character) lives or dies.

Back to issue 4, the reason this one is my favorite is because not only does the world actually play a major role but the emotions it portrays feel earned. It's slow to roll them out and let's us the readers piece things together, although it is far from perfect. Once the illusion is broken, the pacing once again ramps up to too fast. I wish that they had slowed everything down and instead of rushing from situation to situation, we got to see the characters grow more and learn more about the people and the world.

Take the grand mechanic. All we know about her is that she's a giant dick. Why that is, what's her importance and why does she yell at Becca that she doesn't belong here and then tell her to leave without ever explaining anything. She doesn't say why Becca is going to mess up and it isn't until 2 issues later that we find out that it's not her presence on Weirdworld but the place she's going to with the stone, that's the problem. Plus, the swamp queen's line about remember what I always say about Weirdworld being a place to find lost things doesn't make sense since Becca has never met her before. I'm not going to discuss Morgan because she's kind of wasted in the same rushing towards the end of the volume syndrome that the entire run has. I wanted to love this but instead it's just another forgettable fantasy story that could have been so great, if the writer had just slowed down and taken full advantage of the setting instead of forcing us to be stuck with a poorly written, fish out of water.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just wasn't that into this. It seemed to drag when it was pretty obvious where it was going from the jump.

If it were condensed by maybe 1-2 issues, it would have been better.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story with good characters, a clear plot, and beautiful painted art. It only suffers from two flaws. One: some of the panels are so elaborate that it's difficult to tell what is happening. And two: the story is not complete. It seems that the artist and writer moved on to other projects. Had this been the 70's, the plot would be completed within a year in issues of Marvel Premiere and the Incredible Hulk by different artists and writers. But that probably won't happen.

[Alex Sarll]

Even compared to its Secret Wars tie-in predecessor, this is as odd as the title suggests, with del Mundo's art suggesting some beautiful, unsound progeny of Skottie Young and a prog rock album cover. The lead is an Earth girl who right from the opening works as what most of us would be if we found ourselves in a fantasy realm - worrying whether she should have bought the insurance after she cracks her 'phone screen while stabbing a flying monstrosity in the eye with it, for instance. Inevitably, she's soon dragged into a quest with a mighty warrior, but nothing from the warrior's steed to her lost love is quite what the usual fantasy tropes would suggest. And this being Humphries, the strangeness soon unpacks itself to reveal a very human story about mental illness and grief and carrying on from the worst day of your life, all of which mirrors the crazed fantasy elements without ever reducing them to mere allegory.

Which perhaps makes it little surprise that, despite the optimistic 'Vol.1', this is all the Weirdworld we're getting for now. You can do some very peculiar stuff at Marvel nowadays and find an audience for it, thank goodness. But there are limits (basically, it helps if your offbeat book is still nominally superheroics) and lush, skewed fantasy is, alas, beyond them.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a new volume of Weirdworld and a new protagonist. Honestly, I could do with a little more continuity between my Weirdworlds, but this is still nice. Becca, the wizard slayer, and the cat are all interesting characters and they're doing the Weirdworld thing: questing across the land. This is all backed up with amazing artwork by Mike Del Mundo.

On the downside, the story is kind of shallow, which is a bit of a trope in Weirdworld. The quest is simplistic, as most of them have been. Meanwhile, we don't get much background on the world itself, which continues to be a shame for this new incarnation of this wacky place.

The story also mostly stops, with no continuation in sight. If this is the last volume of Weirdworld, that'll be a little disappointing.