Generations

Generations #1-10

by Brian Michael Bendis, Cullen Bunn, Ramon Rosanas (Illustrations)

Collecting Generations: Banner Hulk & The Totally Awesome Hulk #1, Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell #1, Generations: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1, Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye #1, Generations: Iron Man & Ironheart #1, Generations: Miles Morales Spider-Man & Peter Parker Spider-Man #1, Generations: Phoenix & Jean Grey #1, Generations: Sam Wilson Captain America & Steve Rogers Captain America #1, Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1, Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine #1.

Once upon a time, a skinny kid from New York City picked up a shield and charged into battle... a prodigal son lifted a sacred hammer and proved himself worthy... and an arrogant genius forged an armor that would harness his true potential. And together, they became Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Today, that heroic legacy lives on in the next generation of heroes - and it will be put to the test as the Marvel Universe's greatest champions unite and charge headlong into tomorrow!

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

328 pages, Hardcover

First published November 7, 2017

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

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t help be a bit disappointed in this book. It has 10 stories on the current MU heroes meeting the younger or older mentors/legends/inspiration. So these 10 heroes are scattered through the time stream for no apparent reason or cause till we get to book 7. I only liked 5 of the stories in the book and only 3 of the I thought were were good.

I admit I am not as familiar with the “next” generation of Marvels and that might have spoiled the book for me slightly, but a couple of the stories just seemed pointless to me and the Spider-man is was a complete waste. The Ironman and Ironheart, the Captain America Falcon/Captain America, and the Wolverines were the best of the bunch.

My favorite is the Wolverines Laura showing Logan how things are done never gets old. The older Falcon giving advice to a young Steve Rogers is a good bit of turn around. The change of direction for Tony Stark was good as well. However the the rest I found to be a bit of a waste of time really. I am not a fan of the new MU and this has done nothing to convert me.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"You know what superhero adventure trope I've always hated? Time paradoxes! That's what!" -- Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, practically breaking the 'fourth wall' in her tale

Scattershot anthology of ten stories, with the hook being that classic Marvel heroes or heroines were unexpectedly being paired with their newer and younger 21st century counterparts - Ms. Marvel refers to this sci-fi claptrap plot point as "getting sucked into the time stream", for what it's worth or whatever that means - to have a brief and sometimes outlandish little adventure. Maybe predictably, or certainly just in my opinion, for every good or exceptional story featuring a decent amount of action, sharp humor and/or some heartfelt moments (such as those featuring Wolverine, Hawkeye, Captain America, Thor and the aforementioned Ms. Marvel duos) there were a couple of just average stories (Captain Marvel and Iron Man) and then a few talky duds (Hulk, Phoenix, and - amazingly - a Spider-Man tale that had great illustrations but was just plain dreary) which derail the flow of things. Not necessarily a 'must-read,' but the stories that do work make it worth the time.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The current writers of the associated Marvel books at the time write some one shots where their hero goes back in time to meet their past mentor or namesake. There's very little reason given why this is happening. Nick Spencer makes a half hearted attempt in his Capt. America book, but he also doesn't follow the formula the other books do either. This is a mixed bag of quality. The Wolverine book written by Tom Taylor was easily the best of the bunch. All of these really feel like little offshoots of the current titles. They would have made more sense collected in those individual titles instead of here. Here, all-together they don't really fit together. There was clearly no editorial direction or an effort to tell a larger story. It was more, "Hey, he have a 5th week in the shipping schedule. Let's do these Generations books to fill it."

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this generation book is broken into different one shots of each character. Basically it has most of the new guys who are holding the mantle go back in time to a point where they team up with the old legacy character. It's a interesting idea, and some hit well, while other's sink. Let's break up each one and rate em.

Banner Hulk & The Totally Awesome Hulk #1, - (2.5/5) - This was a fun little team up. Hulk mad and smashes stuff. Smart Hulk (Cho) doesn't need to do that. When Cho gets to speak to Bruce it's by far the best. The rest is just punching and kicking shit.

Generations: Captain Marvel & Captain Mar-Vell #1 - (2/5) This was a cute little one. I loved watching Mar-vell being all high and mighty and talk weird. Good chemistry with Captain Marvel. But some of it felt forced at points with the dialog and the adventure itself wasn't all that great.

Generations: Captain Marvel & Ms. Marvel #1 - (1/5) Well this is the weakest of the bunch. Boring, bad art, and the characters hardly connected. Also the villain was dumb. I hated this one to be honest.

Generations: Hawkeye & Hawkeye #1 - (3/5) This was one of the better ones. Hawkeye (Kate) goes back in time to meet Hawkeye (Clint) and they team up. The Chemistry you've come to expect from the two is still there and fun as ever. We also see Clint's nemesis which I never really knew much about. Overall fun little team up.

Generations: Iron Man & Ironheart #1 - (3/5) I actually liked this one. Instead of going in the past Riri goes into the future. Meeting future avengers, Tony Stark, and more it's a lot of fun to see her interact with everyone. I thought the art was a little wishy washy at times but besides that I enjoyed this one.

Generations: Miles Morales Spider-Man & Peter Parker Spider-Man #1 - (3.5) - Probably my second favorite of the bunch. Miles goes back in time to meet a young Peter who is barely surviving his college classes and being Spider-man. In it Miles learns the hardship of the man who came before him and it somehow works really well.

Generations: Phoenix & Jean Grey #1 - (2.5) This was kind of decent. I liked the start of young Jean sees future Jean, but in reality it's Phoenix and her wanting to know more about it before she becomes it was neat. However the ending wasn't...very fun. It was typical superhero blah.

Generations: Sam Wilson Captain America & Steve Rogers Captain America #1 - (3/5) - Not a huge fan of the page count on this one but overall one of the stronger hitting stories. Watching Sam tell his story, live his life out, and work with Steve till they're both old and still kicking is nice. It felt stretched out but it works well enough and it's enjoyable. The ending is sweet as hell too.

Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 - (2/5) Eh this was okay. The art wasn't really to my liking and the ending was confusing if didn't keep up with current things but the two thors teaming up is always enjoyable even if it's short time.

Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine #1. - (4/5) - Easily the best of the bunch. Laura heads back in time to chill with Logan. It's touching, it's vicious (as should be with these two) and the art is pretty solid. Overall fun to watch laura and logan team up and her love for him as a father figure show. Plus the fights are great.

Overall a decent collection of something a little different. I'd recommend it for passing time and seeing something different but of course nothing mind blowing!

[Sud666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. At least the art is nice. That's about all I can really say. "Generations" is pretty generic. It serves as a commercial dressed as a story to promote new characters. In essence, the original characters meet their hack-job SJW replacements (Miles Morales is exempted from this judgment) and have stupid conversations while interacting through various scenarios.

So there is a stupid concept known as "The Vanishing Point". This is the lame excuse to throw the two characters together. The stories merely serve to show the shallow knock offs that are the new generation. People appear, meet the original, have a talk, and fight something. Story over. On to the next one. This takes place for Hulk, Jean Grey, Logan, Thor, Hawkeye, Tony Stark, Mar-Vell, Spiderman..all have these short, silly stories to provide an excuse to interact with their replacements. That's it. If you like the newer knock offs then you will like this comic. If not? Pass, as I should have.

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten heroes are sent back in time to meet their predecessor back in the past. Each of the book's creators writes and draw their issue. Best books are Ms Marvel (G Willow Wilson), Wolverine (Tom Taylor) and Hawkeye (Kelly Thompson). Yet another in hindsight pointless Marvel semi-event. 7 out of 12.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very average mixed bag.

The only really good is Ms.Marvel.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can only recommend this book if you like the characters because other than Captain America and Wolverine none of the stories really stand out I think, missed potential maybe.

I personally love the Spider-Man one but it may be my love of all things Spidey.

You’ve got Thor, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Jean Grey, and Ms. Marvel. They’re enjoyable especially on their own but read together it makes the good really shine against the mediocre.

[Ross Alon · Rating 3 out of 5]

As in all anthologies, some stories were good, some less. The inconsistency in quality here made me want to shoot the editor.
Bottom line, none of these stories blew my mind, and that was marvel's golden opportunity to do that.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of ten encounters between current heroes with their mentors from the past whose mantle they're donning, the last lesson being they should start their own legacies.
As all collections, there's good, bad and eveything in between.

- Hulks (2*) : They smash. Twice harder. Not much else.
- (Captains) Marvels (1*) : I thought it was actually written 40 years ago. Lousy art to boot.
- (Ms) Marvels (2,5*) : Would have rated it a bit better if not for this overtly ridiculous villain.
- Iron Men (3*) : This one's from the future. Interesting but not so well handled imho.
- Hawkeyes (3*) : Light and fun. All's in the character's alchemy
- Spider Men (3,5*) : A day when Peter was a nerd. More emotional than the others. Cool art.
- Jean Greys (2,5*) : Interesting premises ending in a predicable blah. Nice art by Silva though.
- Thors (3,5*) : More action than reflection but enjoyable. Art by Asrar, yay!
- Wolverines (4*) : Same as Thors, with a bit more reflection on parenthood. Cool art by Rosanas.
- Captains America (3,5*): The more political of the bunch, on a larger span of time, well done.

There's nothing at stake here. Enjoy the book. From your library or at bargain price.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, I would have thought more of this book if it was it's own thing, instead of an epilogue to one of Marvel's worst event comics of recent times. This book is an interesting look at the concept of the legacy character in superhero comics and I think some of these stories work better than others. I remembered seeing the promotion of this mini-series and being intrigued by Alex Ross' artwork. I eventually bought it, but had stopped reading Marvel Comics at that time, so this has sat in my digital library until now. What I appreciated about this book is how directly it examined the ramifications of Marvel's different legacy characters, I wish it wasn't ultimately a part of that stupid Secret Empire crossover.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the issues in here are better than others. I find it odd that we don’t find out the reason for the interactions until the very last issue.
It would have been nice to know ahead a time.

Some of the stories were really great, they had heartwarming or important messages - that was the point.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting compilation. It takes different ‘updated versions’ of classic heroes and sends the new incarnations either back or forth in time to meet their ‘inspirations,’ the heroes before them who started it all. There are ten stories in the compilation: the heroes who meet are versions of the Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, Jean Grey, Spider-Man, Thor, and Captain America.

The Incredible Hulk – Amadeus Cho goes back in time and meets Bruce Banner at an earlier point in Bruce’s life. Apparently, Amadeus has become the Incredible Hulk and Bruce Banner was killed at the time this story was written. He tries to help Bruce out, in small measures, but learns he is actually the one in a type of prison because he discovers he has hidden rage deep inside him that wants to come out and smash, to destroy, in the form of the Totally Awesome Hulk. It was an interesting story, I guess, as it definitely seemed to give Amadeus a new perspective on the power, responsibility, and captivity of possessing the power (strength) of the Incredible Hulk. He comes out of it thinking it might not have been the best idea on his part.

Jean Grey – I liked that story; it was an interesting take on meeting your younger self even though your ‘younger self’ is ‘older’ than you. Jean meets her “older self” just after Jean thinks her friends have all died. She (the older Jean; I’m going to refer to her as ‘Phoenix’ to keep them straight) is trying to figure things out and does not realize that Mastermind is trying to twist her mind so that she succumbs to whatever his plans are for her. Jean Grey is seeking help in trying to understand the powers of the Phoenix Force and how to avoid it, as it is searching the galaxy for her (apparently). Jean meets Phoenix on a beach, then they go clubbing, where Phoenix keeps encouraging Jean to learn how to have fun, to have a good time. Then, they soar into outer space to save a planet from being devoured by Galactus. As it turns out, Galactus would have faced off against Phoenix and won, devouring Phoenix had Phoenix been alone. But, with Jean Grey being there, he is not willing to face off against two Phoenixes and lose. Jean struggles with wanting to tell her older self how things are going to turn out, but she feels the consequences could be too catastrophic (especially with the Watcher showing up). Jean returns to future after being told by Uatu that by letting time play out as it should, without any outside interference or manipulation, Jean Grey is now in total control of her fate. Prior to that point, she had believed she had no control over what happened to her; Uatu affirms that she now has complete control over her fate.

Wolverine – the Wolverine story was an interesting take on ‘parenthood’ and ‘fatherhood.’ Some adopted daughter of Logan’s (name of Akiko) has been captured by the Hand and Logan is trying to save her. Laura shows up ‘out of the blue’ and assists Logan in rescuing his adopted daughter. Logan admires his daughter as she takes his ‘being the best at what he does/is’ to a whole new level, adding grace and beauty and speed to the mix. He is in awe at how fast she is, how surgical her strikes are, how she is extremely efficient in killing her opponents and not wasting any strokes, cuts, or energy. It was amusing how the injured Hand ninja led them to a warehouse filled with explosives and detonated them in a futile attempt to kill both Wolverines. It was funny to read how his actions were ‘sneaky even for a ninja.’ Made me laugh. They have some great banter between the two of them, as well. It was well-done. As it turns out, the Hand ends up helping Logan and Laura rescue his daughter by taking them to the airport before she is taken out of the country; this ‘adventure’ has already cost them (the Hand) more than they thought it would or were promised it would. They managed to board the aircraft, kill the Hand, and discover it is Sabretooth who has kidnapped Logan’s daughter. She manages to distract Sabretooth, cut off his hand, and then take him out of the airplane to crash to the ground below. Logan jumps out of the plane and stabs Creed through the chest immediately thereafter, having ordered the pilot to turn the plane around so he can jump through Creed. She kicks him in the throat then stabs Creed through the throat with her ‘toe claw.’ The next moment, they are back at Mariko’s house and Logan is getting ready to leave when Laura reads him the riot act and demands he go back inside and spend some time with his adoptive daughter, convincing him she needs him to be around more than he realizes. It ends with Laura returning to the ‘present/future’ and Logan realizing “I’m the best there is at what I do. But I can try to be better at this.” I thought it was a very good story, to be honest, and I liked the character growth/development for Logan.

The Mighty Thor – this story was fun to read, in some ways. It starts about one thousand years or so ago, maybe longer, when Thor is corralled into attending some sort of Aesir function when he hears some ‘prayers’ being aid to him by some Vikings who have reached Egypt. He reaches Egypt to discover that Apocalypse is attacking the Norsemen. Thor starts to battle Apocalypse when the Thor of the future, Jane Foster, arrives on-seen. Thor’s responses to Jane’s presence are hilarious, as Thor, for some bizarre reason, goes by “Odinson” in the future, even though he was named “Thor” at birth. It’s really idiotic (in terms of how the future masculine Thor is addressed), to be honest, but it makes for some amusing moments as Jane refers to him as “Odinson” instead of “Thor” and Thor takes offense to being misidentified. He also cannot believe that “Thor” is a woman, or that she wields Mjolnir when Thor is unable to do so. They end up kicking the crap out of Apocalypse, which allows the Vikings to escape. In addition, Jane discovers that it was Loki’s fault the Vikings were even that far south and west before he disappears. It is like Galactus with two Phoenixes – no being can stand against two Thors and hope to wind/survive. During the fight, she had been thinking of staying as “Thor” forever, since her human body was being ravaged by cancer. Her fighting by the younger Thor’s side makes her realize she needs to stay in touch with her humanity in order to be the best Thor possible, the best version of Thor possible. There was plenty of humor throughout the story like the servant begging Thor not to kill him for not serving Thor mead at the orders of Odin, or how Jane said that maybe Thor was not yet ready to lift Mjolner because he kept referring to women as ‘wenches’ instead of referring to them in more polite terms that made me laugh/chuckle. I also thought it was interesting that Odin had memories of being the Phoenix Force’s “lover” at an earlier point in time. He has fond memories of his time with “her” and claims that was the only time he ever felt like he was ‘alive.’

Hawkeye – this was an okay story. Kate Bishop shows up on an island in the past and encounters Clint Barton. He does not recognize her, and he does not know who Bullseye is, so it is early in Clint’s career. Clint is trying to ‘save’ the bad guys by shooting them in the bullseye on their targets they are wearing to prevent them from attempting to kill each other. Not sure why that was a part of the focus of the story, since he really did not owe any of the villains anything, yet he still felt obligated to make sure they did not kill each other trying to ‘win the contest’ in which they are all participating. Kate is a bit of a wildcard and helps Hawkeye ‘save the day.’ I am not quite sure why Kate was supposed to appear to Hawkeye at that point in time, other than Hawkeye apparently needed her help to win the contest his way as opposed to the way it was supposed to be won. It was an okay story.

Iron man/Ironheart – I did like this story. Riri Williams is sent into a distant future when Earth has been turned into a Utopia. Tony Stark is 126 years old in this story and ‘now’ the Sorcerer Supreme, which is very odd, considering Tony’s anathema to all things magical or supernatural. This story reminded me of an old Robert Heinlein story, to be honest, where a similar Utopia is created, where nobody really needs to work as everybody has what they need to survive provided for them, thus eliminating crime and/or wars. Also, some alien species provided Terra with some plant species that ‘devour’ any and all pollution, thus restoring the Earth to is pristine state. The gist of this story is that Riri needs to be inspired just as Tony Start was when he went back through time to Camelot with Doctor Doom and realized how much technology had improved life across the board, across the planet.

Captain Marvel – Carol is slung into the Negative Zone where she meets her hero, the original Captain Mar-Vell. She is saving a planet from an alien invasion of sorts when she is nearly overpowered. Mar-Vell comes to her aid and starts to call her Car-Ell after misunderstanding the pronunciation of her name. They find the scavengers that Carol had saved, are imprisoned, and the set free to save the Scavengers from the return of Annihilus’ forces. During the fight, one of the leaders of the Mydonians encourages her people to give up their pacifistic ways and fight back lest they all be killed. Both of the Captains then attack Annihilus on his ship and defeat him by taking away his power rod. He agrees that he will forever leave the planet alone if they give him back his rod. I am not sure what ‘lesson’ Carol was supposed to learn, to be honest, as she never seemed to learn any lessons before she returned to ‘the present.’ One thing that did stand out to me in this story was that Captain Mar-Vell could not fly. I had always been under the impression he COULD fly, so it was strange to see Carol flying around with him in her arms (but, then again, maybe it was a ploy on his part to be held in her arms? Hahahah).

Ms. Marvel – Kamala Khan also slips back into the past and encounters her hero, Ms. Marvel (i.e. – Carol Danvers). Carol is the editor of the woman’s magazine sponsored by James Jonah Jameson. It is close to being either canceled or bought out by a hostile force due to its lack of sales. The two heroes end up working together to defeat the mysterious Kree warrior who has sought to purchase the paper and make life difficult for Carol. Carol seems to learn, momentarily, that ‘even the strongest person can benefit from a second perspective.’

Spider-Man – Miles Morales travels back in time and meets Peter Parker. It is around the epic storyline when his beloved Aunt May is dying and Peter has to lift the remains of an entire building in order to escape drowning so he can get the serum to his aunt in time to save her. It was a decent story, I guess. Miles collides with Peter a couple of times, which was supposed to have some comedic elements in it, I guess. Miles also rips a new one into Flash, Harry, and some gal who is supposed to be Gwen Stacy, all who Peter thinks are his friends but who are planning to attempt to humiliate him (I assume it is the writer’s way to ‘get back’ at these people who claimed to be Peter’s friends yet still treated him poorly). Miles has a cool moment where he goes back and sees himself as a young child meeting another boy and the two of them become fast friends. Apparently Miles was supposed to have the ‘revelation’ that ‘Spider-Man is personal’ and that Miles had never realized that or seen it that way before.

Captain America – the comic starts out with two S.H.I.E.L.D. wannabees interrogating Sam about where he disappeared to for an entire minute, along with nine other heroes during the battle for Washington. Sam’s thoughts drift to how he was sent back to just before the War and enlists. He ends up serving with what I assume is the Tuskegee Airmen and actually saves Steve Rogers life on Steve’s third mission to the front lines. The two have a talk, and Sam inspires Steve to not give up, to continue pressing on, because Steve is going to become a hero to a nation. Then, Steve disappears before the War is over, being placed in a type of suspended animation, while the rest of the world moves on. It then focuses on Sam’s life as he ages across time, how he has a family and then grandchildren, how he became a pastor and continued to minister to people and to serve his country in various ways (including marching during the Civil Rights era). He ends up meeting his old war buddy after Steve is found and awakened; the two have some talks and he is surprised that Steve even recognizes him after all this time. Then, after even more time passes, Steve loses his super strength and youth as the serum is removed from his body and he becomes old and frail, like Sam. The two reunited and catch up on ‘old times’ as they discuss how things have changed around them. More time passes, and Sam’s twilight is upon him. Just as Sam ‘dies’ he feels himself transported back to the ‘present’ a minute after he disappeared. He then chastises the G-Men for wanting to find the cosmic cube Kobik in a vain attempt to control ‘her.’ He points out that another agency (Hydra) had attempted just that – tried to control this manifestation of a Cosmic Cube and it messed up reality for a lot of people and caused people to lose faith in Captain America (Steve Rogers). He walks out of the interrogation room and meets up with the other heroes who disappeared, and they go out to eat while discussing what happened. It ends with Sam throwing Cap’s shield at him with a note telling Cap that eventually people will start to trust him again, he will learn to trust himself, again, and he can become the man the country needs to save its soul.

The cover shows two Novas amidst the group of heroes, but his (their) story was not included in the compilation. I was kind-of disappointed by that. I was looking forward to reading that one, as Richard Rider had been one of my favorite characters in the late 70s (well, favorite ‘minor’ character, I guess).

It was an okay compilation – more of an anthology than anything else that must have taken place at the end of the Secret Empire event. The artwork was pretty hit-and-miss for me; not that there was necessarily any ‘bad’ artwork, but I just did not like some if it. Overall, though, it was a fun compilation to read and I am glad that I took the time to read it. I may read it again, someday, but definitely not anytime soon.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Da cosa si capisce che la Marvel è una azienda? Da eventi come questi.

In un periodo dove la Casa delle Idee spingeva sul nuovo e sulla diversificazione del mercato - ossia creare versioni a portata del nuovo pubblico degli eroi celebri della major (Kamala Khan e Miles Morales perfetti prodotti di questi pensiero) - i lettori di vecchia data si trovarono a fare ostruzionismo a questa nuova ascesa, criticandone la scelta. Così i piani alti scelsero la via della tregua, la via del confronto attraverso storie dove avveniva un vero e proprio incontro generazionale.
E quindi, caccian fuori "Generations", una serie di one-shot dove i successori di identità come quella dell'Uomo Ragno, Wolverine, Capitan America ecc. avevano un intimo tet-a-tet con il proprio predecessore; alcuni di questi personaggi (nel periodo in cui uscivano le storie) avevano abbandonato l'identità, oppure erano deceduti, oppure continuavano col loro ruolo ma - ovviamente, in rapporto al proprio successore - si mostravano cambiati, maturati: alcuni in meglio, altri in peggio (vedi Thor e Clint Barton, dove il primo all'epoca era indegno di Mjolnir, e il secondo è oggi più scapestrato e trasandato degli inizi).

Quello che ne esce è un risultato altalenante, sicuramente al di sotto del potenziale che offriva la premessa e che - se sfruttata meglio - "Generazioni" avrebbe potuto offrire grande spettacolo. Ma questo non accade. Perché? Perché quando spesso la major impone qualcosa, non è detto che tutti abbia l'idea pronta/la volontà di portare avanti ciò che chiede. E' il motivo per cui molti tie-in dei crossover non funzionano o fanno pena: perché sono prodotto di un lavoro e non di una volontà artistica. E qui si potrebbe aprire un dibattitone enorme sul concetto di "professionalità", il punto è che qui parliamo di artisti che lavorano con idee: se non arriva quella giusta, o non credi nel progetto, puoi essere pro quanto vuoi, ma quello che tirerai fuori sarà sempre qualcosa di mediocre. E infatti non tutti i one-shot funzionano proprio per questo motivo: non tutti gli autori coinvolti (e si vede) avevano voglia di fare questa cosa.

L'unico, a mio avviso, che centra il bersaglio sotto tutti i punti di vista (storia, disegni, dialoghi, caratterizzazione, tematiche ecc.) è il one-shot sui due Wolverine: Logan e Laura, scritta da Tom Taylor. Anche quello sui Ragni di Dan Slott, anche se purtroppo - per un impedimento mio personale - ogni cosa che prevede Miles Morales mi fa innervosire.
Gli altri bene o male si fanno ricordare per qualcosa, ma magari scazzano su qualche punto, tipo quello sugli Occhi Di Falco (Kate Bishop e Clint Barton) dove i disegni sono terribili: oppure scazzano del tutto, tipo il one-shot gli Iron-Men (Tony Stark e Riri Williams) scritto da Bendis totalmente fuori traccia e fin troppo sborone. Quello sui Thor e sulle Jean Grey decisamente non necessario. Quello sugli Hulk scritto con pochissima voglia.

Per concludere, "Generations" è la fiera del "cià, c'han detto di farlo, facciamolo". Anche se avrebbe potuto essere davvero qualcosa di più forte e incisivo.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid series of stories, mixing current legacy heroes with their past namesakes; it's a plot device from the end of the cosmic cube / Kobik / Secret Empire stuff, where the heroes are propelled through time and space to interact with one another. Some stories are heartfelt while others are more action-oriented or relying on the conventions of the device, but all are pretty inspiring in the sense of restating what these characters are for while connecting them to previous mythology. A necessary component of any Marvel fans' library.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent collection of one shots involving all the newer marvel heroes meeting up with their original counter parts. Some were better than others but none of them were terrible.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most popular heroes of the Marvel universe spend time with their mentors and figure out that they are worthy of their names.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta es una especie de antología de One-shots (números sueltos con historias auto contenidas) que suceden justo al final de Secret Empire, cuando un fragmento del cubo cósmico lanza a los héroes jóvenes que actualmente cargan el manto de íconos, a través del flujo del tiempo para que vivan una aventura con una versión del pasado (aunque en una historia es del futuro) de ese héroe y puedan inspirarse, aprender y reflexionar. Para hacerlo más claro, estas historias están pensadas para ser emotivas y a veces lo logran y a veces no. El volumen contiene 10 historias y las evaluaré brevemente cada una.
En términos generales esta antología funciona, tiene historias muy buenas, una historia mala, un par mediocres y el resto buenas. Hubo una historia en particular que releí de lo tanto que me gustó y la segunda vez me ocasionó los mismos sentimientos que la primera.
Ahora si evaluemos cada una.

*Hulks (Bruce Banner como Amadeus Cho): 3 estrellas. No es mala pero tampoco me pareció de las mejores. Los Hulks destruyen cosas y tratan de darse en la madre entre ellos. Hubiera sacado dos estrellas sino hubiera sido por las últimas interacciones entre los dos Hulks al final del número. Banner pensaba de cierta manera que Cho podía enseñarle cosas y resulta que no es exactamente lo que pasaba. Y creo que al final Cho se queda con una reflexión interesante sobre lo que significa ser Hulk, por esa interacción nada más, la historia se salva y se hace acreedora de 3 estrellitas.

Marvel Girls: (Jean Grey del pasado con Jean Grey del pasado en el futuro): 3 estrellas. Aquí no hay mucha acción, la Jean Grey del pasado futuro (la que llamaré Jean Grey joven a partir de ahora) le teme a la fuerza fénix y aprovecha el encuentro con la Jean Grey del pasado que YA usa la fuerza fénix para tratar de aprender algo. Lo que me gustó mucho de la historia fue que como ella sabe lo que le hubiera pasado si no la sacaban de la línea temporal (ser controlada mentalmente y perder el control de la fuerza fénix) tiene que tomar una decisión sobre si advertirle a la Jean del pasado o dejarla cometer los errores que sabemos hará. De nuevo, el final se me hace bastante bueno aunque la intervención de cierto personaje al final se me hizo completamente exagerada y fuera de lugar. De nuevo tenemos un número con reflexiones intensas sobre el papel que les toca representar en el universo Marvel, sin mucha acción pero buenos diálogos y buen final.

Wolverines (Logan y Laura): 5 estrellas. A mi parecer la mejor historia de la colección. Refleja las esencias de los personajes, nos muestra un Logan maduro y una Laura que lleva tiempo siendo la nueva Wolverine. Aquí más que aprender o reflexionar tenemos una historia muy emotiva sobre la nostalgia y la paternidad. Sólo por esta historia la colección vale la pena, así de buena es.

Thors (Thor Odinson y Jane Foster Thor): 4 estrellas. Jason Aaron aprovecha la experiencia que ha conseguido tras escribir Thor todos estos años y prácticamente crear a Jane Foster como Thor para darnos una historia muy consistente, muy graciosa y emotiva a ratos con muy buenas escenas de acción y un combate que aunque interesante me recordó mucho a lo visto en Uncanny Avengers de Marvel NOW. Creo que me faltó un poco de interacción entre los personajes principales.

Hawkeyes (Clint Barton y Kate Bishop): 4 estrellas. El setting de esta historia fue de los más creativos e interesantes. Arqueros y personajes con gran puntería se encuentran en una isla para demostrar quién es el mejor, para eso tienen que eliminar a la competencia lanzándoles una flecha en un marcador del ombligo pero como la mayoría son villanos, comienzan a matarse. Barton se apura para tratar de eliminar a los más que puede antes de que se maten. Las interacciones entre él y Kate son muy divertidas y emotivas a ratos. Esta historia tiene un factor emotivo ya que aborda directamente la relación de mentorazgo, lamentablemente creo que Kate no lo reflexiona lo suficiente y en un par de viñetas ya tiene una conclusión sobre lo que vivió. Además que me pareció un poco exagerado y medio Deus Ex Machina el final. Creo que lo habían estado construyendo muy bien para ser una historia de 30 páginas pero al final le faltaron páginas.

Marvells (Mar Vell como Captain Marvel y Carol Danvers como Captain Marvel) 2 estrellas. Para mí la peor historia del compendio. Con diálogos sosos y sin química entre los personajes. Escenas de acción sin mucha construcción y dos personajes con los que simplemente no te puedes conectar. Creo que después de lo de Civil War II se me hace un personaje muy odioso y nadie ha hecho nada para reivindicarla, y este número no lo logra tampoco.

Ms. Marvels: (Carol Danvers como Ms. Marvel y Kamala Khan como Ms. Marvel). 4 estrellas. Una historia emotiva sobre la lucha feminista y lo difícil que es para una mujer grabar su nombre y tener un legado. Creo que me quedó a deber en términos de que este pudo sin duda ser la mejor historia del volumen pero en términos de ejecución no entregó todo. Kamala tiene una revelación que resuelve el conflicto pero que nunca entendí que fue y por qué todos los demás personajes dicen que fue una asombrosa solución. Lamentablemente ese final no lo sentí orgánico y no me dejó muy emocionado. Fuera de eso buenas escenas de acción, un villano irreverente y ridículo como es común de ver en las historias de Kamala Khan y buenas interacciones entre ambos personajes. Además hay un easter egg bastante notorio al principio del número que me gustó mucho.

Iron Man: (Tony Stark y Riri Williams como Iron Heart): 4 estrellas. Esta es una historia mediocre en cuanto, como es común de Bendis actualmente, pero que tiene tanto Fan Service (y lamentablemente lo aprecié tanto) que se ganó sus 4 estrellitas. Buenas interacciones con los personajes, Tony Stark se volvió el hechicero supremo y su personalidad cambió tanto que me gustó mucho como personaje. También podemos ver a los "hijos" de los vengadores y seguramente aparecerán en otras series porque son bastante interesantes también. La emoción de Riri al enterarse "sin querer" de algunas cosas sobre su futuro también me gustaron. En general una historia meh con mucho fan service del bueno, además, el arte es completamente bello, algunas escenas tienen un viñetaje sutil que puede no ser el más claro pero que va con las líneas poco definidas de las acuarelas del artista, realmente un deleite.

Spider men (Peter Parker joven y Miles Morales): 4 estrellas. Me gustó el arte de esta porque es un poco caricaturesco y rompe mucho con lo visto en las otras historias. Lo mejor de esto son las interacciones, podemos ver a Miles buscar a su familia y regalarnos un momento bellísimo y las conversaciones que tiene con Peter también son muy interesantes. El contraste de los momentos que ambos personajes están viviendo nos dan una historia muy emotiva.

Capitanes América: (Steve Rogers y Sam Wilson Falcon). 5 estrellas. La historia en estructura más interesante. En vez de que Sam esté un momento perdido en el tiempo, se queda una vida entera. Y la reflexión que tiene al final es la más profunda, obviamente, tanto que incluso entender un poco la importancia y las ramificaciones que este one shot tuvo en el personaje es un poco complicado. Realmente una historia muy interesante sobre lo que es el legado y la identidad. Es un gran número para cerrar la etapa de Falcon como Capitán América.

[Blindzider · Rating 2 out of 5]

As expected this was pretty much a marketing stunt. It's another way for Marvel to try and force the reader to like all of the doppelganger heroes. Each of them travels to a different time to meet their "mentor" where they learn something either about their hero or themselves. The volume as a whole attempts to reaffirm that these are worthwhile characters. If you like them, then this is for you, but if you would rather have the original heroes, then this is a complete waste of time.

[শুভঙ্কর শুভ · Rating 3 out of 5]

মার্ভেলের রিসেন্ট আয়রন ম্যান সিরিজ গুলা আমার ভালোই লাগল না তেমন একটা। আর এদিকে জেনারেশন সিরিজটাও সো সো লাগল। গতবছরের হকয়াই সিরিজটাই যা ভালো লেগেছে আমার। এর পরে মনের মতো পেলামই না কিছু।

[Omael Rangel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Start by reading Captain America (page 215 or so).
All the stories are stand alone and don’t mix.

Your best bet is just read it at any time and in any order.

Powerful.f

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
This collection of individual issues covers a time period at the end of "Secret Empire" where 10 heroes get to travel to different time/dimension/area and have a team up with their counterpart. Usually, these help to motivate the modern day character with an issue they had been working on.

Hulks - Banner and Cho fight side by side against the forces of "Thunderbolt" Ross. Cho learns that he isn't in control, but merely a 'prison guard' holding back Hulk

Phoenixes - The time displaced Jean goes back in time to meet the original Jean Grey to ask her how to deal with the onset power of the Phoenix. Together, they fight off an attack on an alien world from Galactus

Wolverines -Laura goes back to the days of Logan's adventures in Japan, helping him fight the Hand, and realize that he needs to take time with the ones he loves.

Thors - Odinson and Jane fight Apocalypse in Egypt and she teaches him how his help for humans will make him worthy to lift Mjolnir.

Hawkeyes - Kate goes back to a time when Clint was trapped on an island with some of his mentors, all being hunted. When one of those mentors betrays him, Kate realizes how lucky she is to have Clint teaching her.

Irons - Riri ends up in the future, where 126 year old Tony is the Sorcerer Supreme. It is revealed that Riri had a strong hand in the shaping of the peaceful future. This gives her the confidence to keep going, once she gets back.

Marvels - Carol (or Car-Ell LOL) meets up with Mar-Vell in the Negative Zone, where she helps him defeat Annihilus.

Marvels (again) - Kamala Khan is taken back in time to when Carol was the editor of Women Magazine. Lots of old school and generational jokes here, but they help each other to be both feminine (by 60's standards) and strong, fighting against one of the Shi'ar.

Spiders - Miles goes back to when Peter was in college. Hearing about the first time that Peter held a building to help save others, Miles realizes that he shouldn't give up on being a hero.

Americas - In the best story of the collection, we see Sam go back to when Steve was Cap in WWII. Sam lives his entire life, first as Falcon, then a preacher, then seeing Cap when he returned to life, and seeing the rise of his younger self as Captain America. When he dies (having lived under the name Paul Jefferies), he returns to present day, learning that every day counts when you are a hero. He then gives (now young again) Steve Rogers back his round Shield, heading back to being the Falcon again.

Overall, a good collection, but not super vital to the overall progression of the story. Recommend, primarily for the historical perspective, but also the humor.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had heard good things about some individual issues from this event, but didn't really know when it took place, or what prompted the time travel elements, and after finding out that all these stories take place during a brief moment at the conclusion of the Secret Empire story. I don't recall anything actually prompting this event, but I was also pretty glad to put Secret Empire behind me. Luckily, apart from being the origin of this event, these stories have little to nothing to do with Secret Empire, and reading through this book, it wasn't until the next to last book that I even discovered when these stories were supposed to be taking place. For the most part, the stories are about younger legacy characters travelling back to meet their predecessors (or maybe not), and learning something about what they went through, which in most cases, deepened their relationships, or helped to shore up faltering ones. I liked seeing references to some classic stories, and I have a special fondness in my heart for those older kind of stories, and I found I rather liked several of these stories, particularly the ones featuring the newer characters that I particularly liked (like the younger Hawkeye, Ms Marvel, and Wolverine)... but even the ones with characters I don't like as much are pretty well done. Ultimately, I don't think these stories will matter all that much, and could easily be skipped (particularly since I didn't even notice the moment when it was supposed to have happened in the Secret Empire event), but they were fairly nice, kind of heartwarming stories, which you don't always find in modern comics.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please don't spoil it for me because I am still behind on a bit.

So I read this in prep for Marvel Legacy. I really wish I would have paid attention to the reading order presented by Good Reads but I didn't mess up so big. The volume is 10 issues in all and I suppose the only thing to keep in mind would have been to read the Captain America's issue at the end. I also wish I would have looked up online or would have realized a lot sooner that the events of this volume occur at the final battle seen in Secret Empire. It has been such a long time since I read Secret Empire that I didnt really realized it until the Captain America issue. It fits in nicely, I just didnt make sense of it at first.

Now some issues are written by Brian Michael Bendis. I am so curious to see whether or not Marvel will follow through on the possible future depicted in the Irons' Issue. This is why I hope no one ruins it for me. I am very fond of Riri Williams. At 10 issues, the volume has it moments but it also have a story or two that is mostly useless. They all cant be winners. There are some moments though where the modern day heroes learn a real good lesson from their interactions with heroes of the past/future. Some are dead or otherwise unaccounted for in the modern day. Either way, I felt this was a hearty passing of the torch to the new blood.

[Dom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needs more womxn's names in this massive collaboration, I see a few a sought out their stories and skipped the ones I wasn't interested in. Convenient layout for that as this GN is organized very well in sections. Skipped: hulk, iron man (though I adore Ironheart so read her bits), Spiderman (I love Miles Morales but wasn't into the art and high school drama), Ms. Marvel (seemed stuffy, I dig Captain Marvel more) and captain america.

Read:
Phoenix - lovely! jean gray is always a powerhouse, dig the new Phoenix design and want to read more about her now
Wolverine: expertly crafted story and design! YES to Laura as the all-new wolverine, excellent character
Thor: ughh, old Thor is such a twat, the story seemed vaguely racist, Jane Foster rocks as Mighty Thor!
Hawkeye: haha this had the best humor of the book! Very well done and one of only two or three written by women.
Captain Marvel: yaas! Feat. a same-sex womxn couple, well-designed combat and fun homor.

[Peter Van Der Raaij · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Secret War several heroes got swept away into the time stream on a journey of self-discovery (wikipedia). I didn’t know there was a connection between all these stories, and read them as several individual tales. To me they vary in quality, but part of that may be that I am more familiar with some of the heroes than others. So most of all I enjoyed the Hawkeye and the Ms Marvel stories. The final story in the book, Captain America was perhaps the most interesting story and it is also here that I learnt these were all connected. Did any of this bring any change to the status quo or were they just a chance to get characters to meet up? I don’t know. In the final story Sam says that this wasn’t time travel as the name he had taken on apparently never existed. Yet in Hawkeye (2016) #13, in one panel the Hawkeyes refer to the event. So who knows. I found this overall an enjoyable read although perhaps uneven.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bunch of one-shots where the newer versions of each hero meets the older. Many creators participated, and I enjoyed all of it. I had already read the Hawkeyes story in a Kate Bishop volume. A lot of these have similar plots, but I didn't mind it. Maybe because I read this over a long span of time? It was interesting getting to see two different versions of these characters interact. There is no real explanation why these characters were meeting and then disappearing until the last issue (about the Captains America) and I still didn't really understand that. There might be backstory I'm missing. My favorite story was the Iron Man/Ironheart issue. Instead of going into the past, Ironheart travels to the future to see Tony Stark as the Sorcerer Supreme and get some inspiration. Cool artwork in there too.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been looking forward to this and I wasn’t disappointed. All of the issues are good stories with nice action balanced between the two heroes the underlying message for why they needed to see their predecessors at that point works in most of the stories of a little forced at the end for a couple. I could go over what worked and what didn’t but there was something cool in all of them.
The one bit i don’t get is why given the ending the captain America didn’t go last in this collection

[Ruth]

Unsurprisingly, my decision to parachute into the Marvel Multiverse wherever I chose was not a success. I do not fault the collection, however, since I was clearly unprepared to tackle it, given my relative ignorance of backstories. (I mean, what's the deal with Amadeus Cho?! I have questions.) That being said, I loved the lush art; and, since I don't read comics very often, I also enjoyed analyzing storytelling techniques as compared to other genres.

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this overall. The modern heroes are tossed back in time to encounter their namesakes early in their careers (mostly). So Ms. Marvel meets Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye meets Hawkeye, etc. I like that they set stories in the actual time period, so Ms. Marvel is in the '70's, Spider-Man is in the '60's. It adds a fun element to the stories. Each story is by the writer of the current book, so the characters all feel correct. The art is solid throughout.