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The War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #1-5
The War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery
Collects War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery #1-5.
The creators of blockbuster podcast The Adventure Zone bring their talents to Marvel! Earth is under siege — but could the key to turning the tide be…Thor’s baby sister? Journey into mystery with Miles “Spider-Man” Morales, Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop, Wonder Man, Balder the Brave, Sebastian Druid and Death Locket for a wild romp through the War of the Realms as they embark on an epic quest to save Earth’s only hope! (And, yes, deal with diaper duty.) But Ares, the Greek God of War, is hot on baby Laussa’s trail. Plus: Marvel’s long-dead Western heroes join the War of the Realms! But how? Whose side are they on? And what if our unlikely crew stumbles upon…a convention of super villains? Brace yourself for truly legendary adventures in babysitting!
The creators of blockbuster podcast The Adventure Zone bring their talents to Marvel! Earth is under siege — but could the key to turning the tide be…Thor’s baby sister? Journey into mystery with Miles “Spider-Man” Morales, Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop, Wonder Man, Balder the Brave, Sebastian Druid and Death Locket for a wild romp through the War of the Realms as they embark on an epic quest to save Earth’s only hope! (And, yes, deal with diaper duty.) But Ares, the Greek God of War, is hot on baby Laussa’s trail. Plus: Marvel’s long-dead Western heroes join the War of the Realms! But how? Whose side are they on? And what if our unlikely crew stumbles upon…a convention of super villains? Brace yourself for truly legendary adventures in babysitting!
111 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 28, 2019
12 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
About the author
Clint McElroy
32 books853 followersClint McElroy is the father of Justin, Travis, and Griffin McElroy. He does the Adventure Zone podcast with them and has also appeared on several Maximum Fun donors-only bonus episodes.
Clint is the Ultimate Dad.
Clint is the Ultimate Dad.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
March 29, 2022
A accidentally selected group - Miles Morales, Hawkeye (Kate), Deathlocket, Thori (Thor's dog!), Wonderman and Balder, are brought together to get Thor's baby sister to a safe heaven. Wait, what... baby sister?
Things seem to have been happening in Thor's world! Anyways the book at times quite funny, sometimes fell into complete slapstick, which didn't work for me. The ending is pretty genius though. One of those slightly annoying big event series, where you realise that the book brings nothing to the main event! 6 out of 12.
2019 read
Things seem to have been happening in Thor's world! Anyways the book at times quite funny, sometimes fell into complete slapstick, which didn't work for me. The ending is pretty genius though. One of those slightly annoying big event series, where you realise that the book brings nothing to the main event! 6 out of 12.
2019 read
October 18, 2022
Doesn't play much into the actual War of the Realms but it sure is a lot of fun. Turns out Thor has a baby sister and Sindr wants her. Enter in a bunch of c-level heroes to go on the run with her across America. Kate Bishop, Thori, Death Locket, Miles Morales, Balder, and Wonder Man head out on a cross country trip to keep her safe while frost giants attack all of America. It's all good, irreverent fun all while being chased by Ares (who is not fun).
March 7, 2020
This has been the absolute highlight of War of the Realms for me so far. Balder is tasked with protecting his baby sister during the war and ropes in Spider-Man (Miles), Hawkeye (Kate), Wonder Man, Death Locket, Thori and Dr. Druid (junior) as part of his holy babysitters club. It’s kooky, totally off-the-wall, laugh out loud funny and just immense fun! (Remember when comics were fun?)
There are also a host of guest stars they bump into along the way (fans of Marvels Wild West characters will be particularly happy). The artwork’s really nice, too. All-in-all, this book was an absolute delight. I want more!
There are also a host of guest stars they bump into along the way (fans of Marvels Wild West characters will be particularly happy). The artwork’s really nice, too. All-in-all, this book was an absolute delight. I want more!
August 31, 2019
I know next to nothing about the McElroys, other than they do something called Adventure Zone, and they're my favourite podcaster's favourite podcasters. So there's that. I can also add 'write good comics' to that list as well though.
For a Marvel debut, WotR: JiM is an ambitious task - not only do they take a ragtag group of characters who have little to no history together, but they also have a huge amount of continuity to wade through. Even the very premise is complicated, as I'm pretty sure most people won't know that Thor has a baby sister to deal with, and that's without getting into Wonder Man's pacifism, Death Locket's time with the Avengers Undercover, and the heavy baggage that the villain of the peace brings with him as well.
And yet, they tackle it easily. It's a little heavy on the exposition here and there, but that's to be expected given the above, and the throughline of the book gets a little lost at times because the characters keep getting sidelined, but some of the crazy set pieces are so much fun that it's easy to forget all that, especially with Skrulls, a supervillain convention, and time travelling Ghost Rider phantoms turning up all at once.
The artist for these five issues is Andre Araujo, whose style I do enjoy but always feel like it doesn't suit superhero comics so much as something else - maybe more sci-fi? His Avengers AI stuff was superb, and he definitely gives me Jon-Davis Hunt vibes, so maybe DC could tap him for Wild Storm stuff? I dunno, his characters just always feel a little stunted, and a little out of place. He does an admirable job here, but I dunno, something's off.
Journey Into Mystery is an apt title for this - an untested team of (comic) writers and a group of characters mired in so much continuity that they could easily drown, and yet this still turned out to be one of the best WotR tie-ins, almost effortlessly, despite some of my artistic misgivings.
For a Marvel debut, WotR: JiM is an ambitious task - not only do they take a ragtag group of characters who have little to no history together, but they also have a huge amount of continuity to wade through. Even the very premise is complicated, as I'm pretty sure most people won't know that Thor has a baby sister to deal with, and that's without getting into Wonder Man's pacifism, Death Locket's time with the Avengers Undercover, and the heavy baggage that the villain of the peace brings with him as well.
And yet, they tackle it easily. It's a little heavy on the exposition here and there, but that's to be expected given the above, and the throughline of the book gets a little lost at times because the characters keep getting sidelined, but some of the crazy set pieces are so much fun that it's easy to forget all that, especially with Skrulls, a supervillain convention, and time travelling Ghost Rider phantoms turning up all at once.
The artist for these five issues is Andre Araujo, whose style I do enjoy but always feel like it doesn't suit superhero comics so much as something else - maybe more sci-fi? His Avengers AI stuff was superb, and he definitely gives me Jon-Davis Hunt vibes, so maybe DC could tap him for Wild Storm stuff? I dunno, his characters just always feel a little stunted, and a little out of place. He does an admirable job here, but I dunno, something's off.
Journey Into Mystery is an apt title for this - an untested team of (comic) writers and a group of characters mired in so much continuity that they could easily drown, and yet this still turned out to be one of the best WotR tie-ins, almost effortlessly, despite some of my artistic misgivings.
September 1, 2019
Just didn't work for me.
March 17, 2021
Fun read! Great artwork! An ok tie-in in terms if it's a must or not to read for the main event, it's not. You don't need to read it, but it's a fun little story that ties-in nicely with it.
October 18, 2020
This was just silly fun, and I’m ending my War of the Realms read here. The final battle can’t be nearly as enjoyable, and we know they’re going to win, so... yeah.
These guys pack a lot of jokes, jests and call-backs into this run, and I liked it. It’s not often you get an oblique reference to Smokey and the Bandit in a superhero comic about a war between gods and demons.
These guys pack a lot of jokes, jests and call-backs into this run, and I liked it. It’s not often you get an oblique reference to Smokey and the Bandit in a superhero comic about a war between gods and demons.
May 20, 2020
That was a good read, it had a very Young Avengers / West Coast Avengers vibe. Slightly clueless heroes running around trying to protect a child from agents of evil. So good stuff!
December 26, 2020
A fun War of the Realms tie-in side quest. Perhaps not as clever as it wanted to be a times. But I enjoyed the story and art.
September 30, 2021
Awfully unreadable. A true mess...
November 30, 2020
This comic was the epitome of a 3.5 stars book. Give me a more nuanced rating system Goodreads. Our spiritual hunger must be sated.
April 11, 2020
This is the sort of mini-series that could only come about due to a big crossover event — but unlike most of them, it's quite good.
Here, we get a totally rag-tag group of heroes (Balder, Thori, Kate Hawkeye, Miles Spider-Man, Wonder-Man, Deathlocket, Sebastian Druid) who go on a big sidequest to protect Thor's new sister.
The plot itself is very obviously just an excuse to get a totally weird group of heroes together, but it works, and offers a strong enough tie-in to War of the Realms to feel important. Still, the heart of the story is clearly in the characters itself.
And the McElroys did a great job of putting together a great cast (and/or one that they could write well). Oh, I don't care about pacifist-version Simon Williams, either before this comic or after it, but everyone else is great. They're well-characterized and their interactions are often hilarious and occasionally touching. In fact, humor is overall one of the strengths of this comic (though I could have done with fewer diaper jokes).
The other advantage of this comic is continuity. A few of our core cast members give us great connections back to Secret Warriors, and the McElroys don't stint in mentioning that. But the rest of the characters touch upon lots of relatively recent Marvel comics, and it's even great to see someone like Deathlocket (from Avengers Arena) back. Meanwhile, the plot gives us touchbacks to recent Thor storylines, Secret Invasions, and even the Wild West.
Overall this is a strong, fun, enjoyable comic whose only failing is just that it's a weird appendix of War of the Realms and so will soon be forgotten.
Here, we get a totally rag-tag group of heroes (Balder, Thori, Kate Hawkeye, Miles Spider-Man, Wonder-Man, Deathlocket, Sebastian Druid) who go on a big sidequest to protect Thor's new sister.
The plot itself is very obviously just an excuse to get a totally weird group of heroes together, but it works, and offers a strong enough tie-in to War of the Realms to feel important. Still, the heart of the story is clearly in the characters itself.
And the McElroys did a great job of putting together a great cast (and/or one that they could write well). Oh, I don't care about pacifist-version Simon Williams, either before this comic or after it, but everyone else is great. They're well-characterized and their interactions are often hilarious and occasionally touching. In fact, humor is overall one of the strengths of this comic (though I could have done with fewer diaper jokes).
The other advantage of this comic is continuity. A few of our core cast members give us great connections back to Secret Warriors, and the McElroys don't stint in mentioning that. But the rest of the characters touch upon lots of relatively recent Marvel comics, and it's even great to see someone like Deathlocket (from Avengers Arena) back. Meanwhile, the plot gives us touchbacks to recent Thor storylines, Secret Invasions, and even the Wild West.
Overall this is a strong, fun, enjoyable comic whose only failing is just that it's a weird appendix of War of the Realms and so will soon be forgotten.
February 24, 2020
I tried really hard to finish this book, but it was a real mess. It was written as though four men were sitting in the same room shouting jokes over each other and writing everything down...and knowing the McElroys, that's probably exactly what happened.
October 2, 2019
Una historia autoconclusiva dentro de el arco de "War of the Realms".
Me hice con este comic básicamente porque está guinizado por los McElroy de los cuales soy muy fan. Y en ese aspecto el comic no decepciona, el humor es magnífico. Definitivamente puedes ver su mano en el guión, incluso oír sus voces en algunas ocasiones. Creo que los personajes hacen un buen equipo en tema de guión y se complementan muy bien.
Como historia dentro de un arco más grande está muy bien. Funciona bien tanto si la lees sin contexto como dentro de "War of the Realms". Tiene algunos momentos en los que flaquea, ya que parece que la idea es demasiado simple para que de tanto de sí, pero en general funciona muy bien.
El dibujo me ha gustado, pero tampoco es algo que destacaría como negativo o positivo. Sencillamente está bien, dentro de loq ue esperaría. El color me ha gustado mucho, eso sí. Creo que en ese aspecto sí que destaca.
Me hice con este comic básicamente porque está guinizado por los McElroy de los cuales soy muy fan. Y en ese aspecto el comic no decepciona, el humor es magnífico. Definitivamente puedes ver su mano en el guión, incluso oír sus voces en algunas ocasiones. Creo que los personajes hacen un buen equipo en tema de guión y se complementan muy bien.
Como historia dentro de un arco más grande está muy bien. Funciona bien tanto si la lees sin contexto como dentro de "War of the Realms". Tiene algunos momentos en los que flaquea, ya que parece que la idea es demasiado simple para que de tanto de sí, pero en general funciona muy bien.
El dibujo me ha gustado, pero tampoco es algo que destacaría como negativo o positivo. Sencillamente está bien, dentro de loq ue esperaría. El color me ha gustado mucho, eso sí. Creo que en ese aspecto sí que destaca.
June 17, 2022
Road trip time. Ugh. Just another stupid story spinoff from the Marvel crossover event War of the Realms. What was the point of this idiocy? And how (and when) did both Ares and Baldur become d-list losers? The art was nice, so bumped it up with an extra star. Yea-haw!
January 27, 2020
For some reason I find it quite hard to follow dialogue in comics these days, maybe I’m out of practice of reading them, but the McElroys wrote this story with such fluency that I never found myself wondering what anyone was talking about. A++ storytelling, but how could we expect anything different?
Also Miles and Thori? Fave buds.
Also Miles and Thori? Fave buds.
Read
March 6, 2021J'aime beaucoup Miles et Kate mais les autres sont soit inconnu au bataillon soit je m'en fiche un peu d'eux. Sinon c'était très fun et mignon
January 7, 2020
This book is interesting and fun, but the team seemed off. It’s like some of the characters were on the team to just have a couple of lines or be a deus ex machina. However, it was still fun and I liked the Wild West Ghosts. The Skrull bit was amusing. The end really finished things off nicely. The Champions of Europe (including Captain Britain) make a brief cameo (though they are unconscious), this sets up the perceived villain of the story.
August 19, 2020
I read this comic book as a stand-alone thing, purely as it was written by the McElroys. I had not come with any prior understanding of the overarching storyline it is set in, the current iteration of the Marvel comic universe, or who half the characters were. I have a passing knowledge of the overall Marvel IP, and who the top level heroes and heroines are, and can pick up a plot line reasonably quickly (although that’s more of a testament to the writer(s) than any particular skill of mine).
All of that said, I enjoyed this come book! I feel like the McElroys captured the tongue-in-cheek humour that Marvel likes to have in their works, spidey being an especial treat, although I also loved their work with Hawkeye and the rest of the gang as well.
My key take aways from this:
> I definitely would be interested in what came before, and where the War Of The Realms goes following this instalment.
> The McElroys can write a good comic book, even outside of their work on The Adventure Zone adaptation.
> I hope this proves their worth to Marvel and they get to take on a larger work, in a more ‘prime’ universe setting.
> If you’re here just as a McElroy fan, and have absolutely zero knowledge of anything Marvel or Norse mythology, you may be a little lost initially, but settle in, it’s a fun ride anyway!
All of that said, I enjoyed this come book! I feel like the McElroys captured the tongue-in-cheek humour that Marvel likes to have in their works, spidey being an especial treat, although I also loved their work with Hawkeye and the rest of the gang as well.
My key take aways from this:
> I definitely would be interested in what came before, and where the War Of The Realms goes following this instalment.
> The McElroys can write a good comic book, even outside of their work on The Adventure Zone adaptation.
> I hope this proves their worth to Marvel and they get to take on a larger work, in a more ‘prime’ universe setting.
> If you’re here just as a McElroy fan, and have absolutely zero knowledge of anything Marvel or Norse mythology, you may be a little lost initially, but settle in, it’s a fun ride anyway!
Read
November 13, 2019Definitely one of the two best Journey Into Mystery runs to spin out of an Asgard-centric Marvel crossover this decade, though there is quite a drop-off after the top one. Not that this is bad, except possibly for the motivation of main antagonist (though he's more antagonish) Ares, which doesn't stand up to a moment's scrutiny. Other than that, it's a determinedly fun and low-rent story in which a grab-bag of heroes are dispatched across America to keep Thor's baby sister* out of enemy hands, and end up touring America's backroads, getting entangled in various weirdness, and never coming up with a better team name than 'the babysitters'. The art helps maintain the lighthearted tone, seldom leaning into the main event's apocalyptic side and often providing reaction faces which would be right at home in Giant Days – although I'm not entirely convinced by the slightly too sanely proportioned depiction of lovably murderous hellhound pup Thori. In summary: unnecessary, irrelevant, and pretty entertaining.
*A character I had entirely forgotten existed, despite reading the comics in which she originated, and one who despite everything said here has sod-all relevance to the wider War of the Realms plot.
*A character I had entirely forgotten existed, despite reading the comics in which she originated, and one who despite everything said here has sod-all relevance to the wider War of the Realms plot.
September 20, 2019
3.5 / 5
Pros
- The humor is on point, as I would expect from the McElroy family. I especially enjoyed Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) and Spiderman (Miles Morales).
- I enjoyed the art style throughout, as well a number of smaller details (like how a number of characters have different fonts for their speech bubbles, the mixing of mythologies like Greek and Norse, etc). I know a number of these have been included in comic for decades, but I still noticed and appreciated their inclusion.
Cons
- I feel I would have gotten more out of this work if I was more entrenched in the Marvel comic universe generally, and the "War of the Realms," story line specifically.
- This story / plot thread does end, but it is very much a, "side story." In order to see how the broader story wraps up, I'm sure I'd have to read many more, "War of the Realms," comics.
Conclusion
It was a fun romp, and worth the price of admission ($8 on Kindle). It wasn't earth shattering, but the, "ride," (i.e. the characters, characterization, and odd situations) was fun enough that I saw it through until the end.
Pros
- The humor is on point, as I would expect from the McElroy family. I especially enjoyed Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) and Spiderman (Miles Morales).
- I enjoyed the art style throughout, as well a number of smaller details (like how a number of characters have different fonts for their speech bubbles, the mixing of mythologies like Greek and Norse, etc). I know a number of these have been included in comic for decades, but I still noticed and appreciated their inclusion.
Cons
- I feel I would have gotten more out of this work if I was more entrenched in the Marvel comic universe generally, and the "War of the Realms," story line specifically.
- This story / plot thread does end, but it is very much a, "side story." In order to see how the broader story wraps up, I'm sure I'd have to read many more, "War of the Realms," comics.
Conclusion
It was a fun romp, and worth the price of admission ($8 on Kindle). It wasn't earth shattering, but the, "ride," (i.e. the characters, characterization, and odd situations) was fun enough that I saw it through until the end.
June 21, 2019
By circumstance of being a spin-off series in a wide Marvel event, the characters and happenings of the McElroy Brother's debut at Marvel are mostly slight, but the series remains fun and well handled. Balder, brother of Thor, Lady Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, Wonderman, Miles Morales, Thori the God Dog, and Sebastian Druid are all teamed up to protect Laussa, daughter of Odin. On the way, they end up pursued by Ares and at many threatening pit stops, like a trailer park of Skrulls. It never gets too deep or dramatic, but the final issue helps wrap everything together in a satisfying way that retroactively improves some of the earlier stuff and I'd love to see this team (both the superheroes and the writers/artist) work together again.
July 14, 2021
This tie-in mini-series for the War of the Realms was lighter in tone than most, and I guess that can make for a good palate cleanse. The title gathered an interesting mix of heroes of diverse backgrounds, all to get them to save the supposed daughter of Freya. This leads to a cross-country journey of various revelations, all with Aries on their trail because of a deal he has made with the bad guys.
It's not a fun enough romp to really make me enjoy things and it also wasn't too serious in tone to be like a gritty part of the war. It truly was a grand day-out style babysitting adventure for a baby who may have more abilities than most human heroes. Still a good book for the most part and still one of the better tie-in titles for War of the Realms.
It's not a fun enough romp to really make me enjoy things and it also wasn't too serious in tone to be like a gritty part of the war. It truly was a grand day-out style babysitting adventure for a baby who may have more abilities than most human heroes. Still a good book for the most part and still one of the better tie-in titles for War of the Realms.
April 24, 2023
This is probably the most enjoyable tie-in to this event that I have read so far. It is a tangential story, with Balder charged with keeping Freya and Odin's daughter from harm in the war. It involves a random, fated assemblage of heroes (primarily lesser known and newer ones this time) travelling the back roads to some less commonly seen Marvel locations. I love when a story combines a variety of elements, and we get to see something unique from all of these things being in one multiverse, so this was very much to my taste. While the story does present itself as having consequences for the main storyline, you don't really miss out on anything by skipping this one, but it is a more enjoyable read than most.
November 19, 2019
I felt like there was a lot of great movement and humor, and I felt like it all worked together to make a nice whole! The ragtag feel of the team was great and gave everyone spaces to shine and to grow! I haven't picked up a superhero comic in a minute, so maybe this wasn't the best one to dip my toes back in with because it does run on a lot of superhero knowledge and logic, which can be hard to get back into the mindset of, but ultimately not the worst quality for a comic to have. A fun read to be sure!
September 6, 2023
This was way better than it had any right to be. A hodgepodge of characters thrown together amidst a much bigger event written by two writers not known for comics. Doesn't sound like a winning recipe but this was so much fun. Whether it was the always fun Thori, the interaction between Kate and Miles, the inclusion of some Secret Warriors, or just the whole thing. It was entertaining and steeped in fun Marvel history and did a really solid job tying into the overall event. The art was okay but unremarkable. Overall, a hidden gem that should get more attention.
August 12, 2019
*read as single issues*
This was fun, there are some great characters (although some also felt quite flat) and I really liked the dialogue. But the story just felt kind of random and sometimes just didn’t make sense. There’s also nothing in the story that’s really important for the War of the Realms. But I would still recommend it for people who really like (some of) the characters or just want something lighthearted and fun to read.
This was fun, there are some great characters (although some also felt quite flat) and I really liked the dialogue. But the story just felt kind of random and sometimes just didn’t make sense. There’s also nothing in the story that’s really important for the War of the Realms. But I would still recommend it for people who really like (some of) the characters or just want something lighthearted and fun to read.
May 31, 2020
It’s been a while since I’ve dipped my toe back into any Marvel comics. There always feels like so much going on both as lead-ins and potential outgoing plot lines, but the McElroys did a great job of grounding this series in relatable and fun characters for a road trip of mildly epic proportions. The writing is definitely engaging and the visuals are solid. It’s enough that I’m not considering reading some of the rest of this series, just to see how it all pans out.
March 24, 2021
I feel like there is a new subgenre in modern comics, which is the "corollary companion mini-series to the Big Event mini-series, which pokes a bit of fun at the Big Event's self-seriousness and leans hard into the goofy/wacky hijinks". Which is a mouthful I know is unlikely to catch on as a widely-used label. But the phenomenon exists, and this collection definitely falls into that category. It's also a very entertaining example thereof. Breezy, silly, fun and satisfying.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews