Midnight Suns

by Ethan Sachs (Writer), Luigi Zagaria (Illustrator), Alberto Foche (Illustrator)

Rise of the Midnight Suns! A dark prophecy and apocalyptic new villains with horrifying powers the likes of which Earth has never faced before, ordains a specialist team to form...and tear @#$% up! Standing in the way of the coming storm are Magik, Wolverine, Blade, Spirit Rider and Nico Minoru! But what does the terrible threat they face have to do with the Sorcerer Supreme's past? And why is Strange Academy student Zoe Laveau number one on their list? Now, the Suns must undertake the darkest and most horrifying journey imaginable to secure aid from one of the most ancient and dangerous beings in all of existence. But what terrible secret is the sorceress Agatha Harkness hiding? It's time for the dark side of the Marvel Universe to shine! Featuring Clea, Wong, Doctor Doom and more! Collecting MIDNIGHT SUNS #1-5.

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

112 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

Reviews

[Nate Deprey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pulling from the genuinely fun series Strange Academy and some of what's going on with the X-Men this series had a lot of promise but failed to deliver. All action, no character development could work for a while in an established series but Sachs never takes the time to even explain much of why this particular group is pulled together or what history they might have outside this collection.

[Keef Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's all around just cool. The team is badass and it's fun to see them go through the story together. I thought the story was good but I was confused because I thought the bad guy is where everyone gets their magic. So where does the magic go if he's dead? It was also weird that the other big bad gets stabbed in the throat but survives. It's something I was willing to look past for a fun story.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who remembers "Rise of the Midnight Sons" from the 90's era of Marvel Comics, I always love when the darker storied characters work together to get a chance to shine. (I still think Marvel needs something like DC's Black Label) This story felt a bit more on par with normal than usual, but still very good.
Highlights:
- Zoe Laveau of Strange Academy is given a very strong vision that she will be at the head of a world altering apocalyptic event. Her vision is shared by all magic users on world.
- Being that she is a student of Strange Academy, she is in a great place to be defended and protected. Especially by Agatha Harkness....
- ... who shows us a flashback of a time her coven tried to summon Valtorr, a dark God. In order to get what they needed from him, they were forced to sacrifice one of their own, a witch known as Corina.
- With Valtorr trying to come back again, he gave Zoe the vision.
- Enter the Midnight Sons: Magik, Wolverine, Blade, Spirit Rider, and Nico Minoru!
- They begin to battle one of Valtorr's minions, Korrosion, who eventually reveals themselves to be Corina herself, harboring a grudge all these years.
- With the help of some allies, they win they day, though Corina survives to get revenge later.

Overall a pretty good read. Again, just need some super DARK stuff from Marvel. Take something from an old Marvel MAX comic and put it in normal stuff.
Recommend.

[Merlin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to be a tie-in to the computer game, like the novel »Infernal Rising«. Combined with the fact that I'm pretty new to comics and therefore unaware of the (visual) conventions, the result sometimes confused me. Nevertheless, the beginning raised my interest and invested me to see how this team turns out.

In the end, it was too much of a complicated end to a simple story for my taste with the time travel paradox and timeline branching stuff going on.

Also, it felt disappointing for me as actually nothing is resolved. The antagonist is still alive and a potential second one is even ready to take action.

The way to get here (in the other issues) was mostly a grand detour and a lot of flashbacks. It's not that these were not interesting, but the actual plot is quite thin.

Nevertheless, I still like the team and would like to see more of them. (I just hope that Nico in the end overcame her whining about sending her staff to space.)

I would give it 3.5 stars if it were possible here.

[Alan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I confess to having hopes for this title. Its not a bad mix of Marvel characters, and I like the native american Spirit of Vengeance and Magik.

SPOILERS














Look, I know why they made the changes to Agatha Harkness here. Lets make her younger and more friendly to everyone who saw Wandavision. But for me....

I'm not a fan of the changes. The villain turn seems directly tied into the television series, and I don't see that as necessary. Not every MCU change has crossed over into the comics.

Moreover, she was a better character, arguably even a little scarier as a old woman. Hell, she seems harmless when you find out the Fantastic Four are hiring her as a nanny. But, mess with Franklin, and you're going to get a hurt.

So yeah, in the long run it seems this was a reset for Agatha that I think does not work, instead of rebooting and old Marvel title.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. I do like the Midnight Suns, and the crossover with the Strange Academy is a nice touch and makes sense.

A vision of an upcoming apocalypse with roots in the past. It is to be unleashed. Zo finds to be blamed for it. How do the people in the relate to the apocalypse? Are they the cause or the saviours? Different people have different ideas.

A good amount of action, the story get a bit twisted along the way. I am not quite sure where the alternative timeline started that was the main downside to the book. Every chapter/issue of the book finishes with thumbnail variant cover of thst issue. The book ends with character sketches and hopefully more of the Midnight Suns to come.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this even though the only reason we probably got it was because of the game that came out. I mean hell… 4 of the characters on this team are on the team in the game and the comic has A Ghost Rider as does the game (actually the game has two of them). But I’ll always love supernatural and magical Marvel and Midnight Suns does it so well. It’s nice to bring attention to the Strange Academy comics by having this centered around one of the students at the school and I’m just really curious where and when the loose ends will come back around. Full of some fun action and great team costumes this is a really good story that could also be used for a new reader pretty well. 8/10.

[Shivesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this with my son for our nightly bedtime comic. Only reason I got this is because he is crazy about the PS5 game, and I confess I've been playing a little bit as well. It's a great game if you like tactical RPG's. I was disappointed at this comic storyline had absolutely nothing to do with the game, and lacked some of the major characters as well. The narrative was very jumbled, and the art was inconsistent. Wolverine as usual was engaging, but he felt very out of place in this book, and seemed that editor just kind of shoved him in because well, he's Wolverine. Disappointing. The issues went into the archive comic bin, probably never to be seen again!

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zoe Labeau from Strange Academy has a vision where her zombie self destroys the world. However the vision is shared with all magic users. Enter Wolverine, Magik, Blade, Nico from Runaways, and the Spirit Rider to the rescue, I guess. It's a random team with nothing to do with the 90's comic or the recent video game. It's fine. Nothing special though. Seems just like an excuse to give Agatha Harkness a makeover before her Disney+ show. The art is OK. Very few backgrounds though.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just simple, stupid fun somewhat like a summer action flick. Author Ethan Sacks does a good job of telling a concise story that lets different team members shine and other than the last chapter, it all goes together well. The finale gets a little wonky but for the most part it holds up. Zoe, Nico, and Agatha Harkness are showcased but others get some good panel time. The art is just okay. Overall, a decent book that could have really hit the mark if it was fine-tuned.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally read in print as individual comics; ratings below:
#1= 3 stars
Wished it was a little longer. As someone who is not familiar with some of the characters (Zoe and Nico), it would have been nice to have had a little more background of them.

#2= 4 stars
The fight between Doom and the team was great.

#3= 4 stars
#4= 4 stars
#5= 4 stars

Overall rating of 4 stars.

[Matthew Gilliland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book appears to be a reboot and does not seem to be connected to previous Midnight Suns stories or the game.

I still have more questions than answers about the characters, but the ending was very satisfying.

Furthermore, it ends on a cliff hanger, that I can't find a follow up to.

Overall it is OK.

[Eden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this.

The story was a fun read and I liked seeing all the characters interact.

I'm someone who likes the redesign of Agatha, but I hope they don't try to make her too much like the MCU counterpart.

[David Edmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. This is absolutely middle of the road for me; does nothing other than provide a comic on the shelves that is in-name-only tied to the recent video game release and resets Agatha Harkness as a young woman so she aligns with her WandaVision version.

[Brad Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good adventure. I hope they make some more runs with this team

[ella]

"Like Midnight Suns... you have come to shine a light in the darkness."

🖤💛