Marvel once again poses the question, "What If...?" Witness the shocking alternatives to Marvel's biggest events! What If Gwen Stacy Survived The House of M? What if the Skrull invasion was a success? What if the heroes lost World War Hulk? What if Daredevil died and was resurrected by the Hand? What if Phoenix returned from the dead instead of Colossus? Collects What If? House of M, What If? Secret Invasion, What If? World War Hulk, What If? Dardevil Vs. Elektra, and What If? Astonishing X-Men.
Kevin Grevioux is an American actor, screenwriter, and comic book writer. He is best known for his role as Raze in the Underworld film series, which he co-created.
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Kevin Grevioux was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in various other states including Alaska, Oklahoma, Boston and New Jersey. He graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in Microbiology, afterwards attending graduate school and this time working towards a Masters in Genetic Engineering. While studying, he congruently took screenwriting and cinematography classes as well, and by the time his first semester of grad school had finished, Kevin had chosen film as his preferred career and moved to Los Angeles, where he began to work as a writer in earnest. To this end he has written several scripts in various genres and has written and directed two short sci-fi films Indigo and Thanatos.
Kevin met 'Underworld' director Len Wiseman while working on the sci-fi hit Stargate: la puerta del tiempo (1994), when Len was a prop assistant and Kevin an extra. The two formed a friendship and later collaborated on a host of other ideas and concepts leading to the completion of two scripts, one of which was Underworld (2003). The idea for the concept was Kevin's; in addition, he wrote the original screenplay and treatment for the film in 2000.
Kevin has also studied acting and has had several small roles in television, film and commercials. Most recently in Planet of the Apes (2001), Charlie's Angels (2000), Marvel Comics' The Hulk and in Underworld (2003), playing the formidable Lycan character Raze. He also serves as an Associate Producer on the film and is currently working on several other screenplays as well as his first novel, a science fiction thriller.
What if the skulls succeeded in their secret invasion?
The first story is about Skulls who won the world and took over the world.
Only a few superhumans are fighting back.
The humans are converting themselves into Skulls hybrid. And the peace is to give up their own identities.
This is more like the invention of the dictator who has a dominant culture. This happened when colonization in world history. The culture brought its own law and religion and forced in upon the invaded land. Killing off or transforming the host culture.
The ending is strange.
Not sure why the Skulls want to take over the world. If someone is willing to turn themselves into the skulls.
I looked at the world and realized that it reflects the world we are in right now. The extreme left who support terrorists are as stupid as the extreme right who support Trump.
What if the Heroes Lost World War Hulk?
Hulk was really angry when he was exiled from Earth and finally fell in love. They killed his wife.
Thor is as strong as Hulk and give him a good fight.
I re-learned the 5Ds today on conflict resolution.
Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct.
It works in situations when you trust that the persons involved are not fanatics, or unreasonable.
What if Gwen Stacy Survived the House of M?
Peter is already married to Mary Jane.
Gwen is first love and she died much earlier.
If she didn't die, Peter's marriage would be in trouble because part of him still loved her.
This created more of a relationship problem rather than a world changing problem.
The witch gone crazy and created different version of the reality. Interesting story. Peter is the guy who love deeply and would not let go.
What if Daredevil Died Saving Elektra?
If Matt died, Elektra would go nut trying to take revenge.
But what would she find? Is revenge good for someone who is grieving?
This goes more into the relationship between Matt and Elektra.
Overall comment
I am not really a big fan of Marvel. I find it good and interesting sometimes. Too dark and difficult some of the time. It seems the world is asking too much for superheroes. Who are persons, even if some of them are not born on Earth. They are like the rest of humans who love, lost, make mistakes, get angry, and grief. Getting more dimensions into the story besides saving the world is a good way to reflect who they are as persons.
I have always been a fan of the What If? series. These stories give the writers freedom to explore avenues that can't normally be followed. For example, stories that would lead to the death of a main character.
This collection looks at stories that result from the Skrull Secret Invasion, Work War Hulk, if Daredevil had been killed, and a couple of stories from the X-Men. So how much you enjoy the story will partially depend on how much you enjoy the source material.
The artwork ranged from gorgeous, very detailed paintings to sketchwork.
This volume of “What if…?” collects alternate versions of Marvel events from 2005-2008. Here are some spoiler-filled reactions to each of the issues:
What if the Skrulls succeeded in their Secret Invasion?: This was my favorite issue of the volume because it is an ending that I originally wanted. I would have been happy if the Dark Reign that we got was actually the Skrulls reigning over Earth for a while. I didn’t like exactly how this issue played it out, but I would have liked something similar. The most shocking part of the issue for me was when Thor broke Sentry’s neck. Even though this is an alternate universe, and the death doesn’t count, this is how Marvel is portraying Thor as acting in a high-intensity situation. Thor is capable of killing a friend.
What if the Secret Invasion remained a secret?: This Secret Invasion story was less interesting because, in this universe, a Skrull prophet intervenes with his prophecies, and stops events from unfolding the way that we originally saw them. There was no real climax here, other than the fact that there are Skrull sleeper agents that don’t even know they are Skrull. Not that cool. Especially for an alternate universe story.
What if the heroes lost World War Hulk?: This story had less to do with World War Hulk, and more to do with (once again) the Skrulls. There was no explanation as to why Stark’s satellite ray reacted differently in this world. Hulk didn’t actually win World War Hulk, he just happened to survive an unfortunate event sparked by Stark. The best part of this issue was when Hulk became Galactus’ new herald. Hulk, the World Breaker, the herald of Galactus, would make for a great alternate universe series.
What if Thor entered World War Hulk?: The Hulk dialogue in this book is very wrong. This is a stupid story in which the Thor vs. Hulk battle is stopped by a kid needing help. This is not a good writer on this one. By the time I finished it, I was convinced that it was supposed to be a joke.
What if Gwen Stacy survived the House of M?: I would have loved it if Gwen had survived the House of M. This would have been a great way to bring her back. I am convinced that she is Peter Parker’s true love.
What if Spider-Man intervened for the Scarlet Witch?: This issue actually had a better version of Gwen and Peter’s young son coming over from the House of M universe. I didn’t like how Peter went crazy again because that was one of my least favorite things from all of House of M in general. I did like the son of Peter Parker (Richie) inheriting his powers. This could lead to a new series much like the Spider-Girl series, but I doubt it will at this point.
What if Ord resurrected Jean Grey instead of Colossus?: The X-Men’s reactions to Jean Grey coming back from the dead were so lame. It was as if she had been away on an unexpected vacation, not that she had just been resurrected. I know this is a parallel universe story, but Cyclops would never choose Emma over Jean. The original version of the story was much, much better.
What if Danger became a bride of Ultron?: Nonsensical.
What if Daredevil died saving Electra?: I have never read a lot of Daredevil, so this story instantly bored me. I flipped through the pages, but don’t have much to say about it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This trade collects What If? issues Secret Invasion, World War Hulk, Spiderman: House of M, Astonishing X-Men, and Daredevil Vs. Elektra.
The What If? series takes key events and moments in the Marvel Universe and ponders the effects if things had unfolded differently. The questions asked here are pretty interesting:
What if the Skrulls succeeded in their Secret Invasion? What if the Secret Invasion remained a Secret? What if the heroes lost World War Hulk? What if Thor entered World War Hulk? What if Gwen Stacey survived the House of M? What if Spiderman intervened for the Scarlet Witch? What if Ord resurrected Jean Grey instead of Colossus? What if Danger became the bride of Ultron? What if Daredevil died saving Elektra?
So each issue except the Daredevil one has two hypothetical stories relating to the central theme. While this adds depth in the sense that more ideas can be explored, it leads to the usual weak point What If? stories that there is too little time to really develop anything. The authors do a decent job realizing their conclusions with the space they're given but it often reads like a bullet point list of the fallout rather than a cohesive story. The X-Men stories in particular both would've benefitted greatly from a larger page count.
That being said, given the constraints these stories are good, and for the most part the underlying plot twists are intriguing. I personally liked the World War Hulk and X-Men stories the best and the House of M the least (although I didn't enjoy the original House of M stories, so I'm likely a bit biased).
With so many different stories (and creative teams) the art is of course a mixed bag, but is good overall and really shines at some points (like the first House of M and X-men stories).
Overall a solid, imaginative take on some big Marvel turning points that fall somewhat short of their potential due to the format.
What If? stories are always a mixed bag and that's exactly what this collection is. Sadly however, there are more subpar stories than very good ones. Too few decisions made here that weren't thought-provoking and instead seemed like taking the easy way out. The art was also a grab bag. Overall, nothing great here.
An OK set of What If stories, mostly based around various then-recent Marvel plotlines. None are terrible, but none are really great either. (The humor backup strips also don't do much for me.) Also, for weird points, the two House of M Spider-Man stories basically contradict each other... (B-)