Midnight Suns

Midnight Suns (2022-2023) #1-5

by Ethan Sacks, Luigi Zagaria (Artist), Alberto Foche (Artist)

A dark prophesy and apocalyptic new villains with horrifying powers the likes of which Earth has never faced before ordains a team of MIDNIGHT SUNS to rise and tear @#$% up: Magik, Wolverine, Blade, Spirit Rider & Nico Minoru. But what does this new threat have to do with the Sorcerer Supreme’s past? And why is Strange Academy student Zoe Laveau number one on the Suns’ list?

Collecting MIDNIGHT SUNS #1-5.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Horror, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Fantasy

109 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2023

About the author

Ethan Sacks is a writer and journalist from New York, who is currently writing the ongoing series Star Wars- Bounty Hunters for Marvel as well as other various Star Wars titles. He is also know for his Marvel works that take place in the iconic Old Man Logan wasteland, Old Man Hawkeye and Old Man Quill.

Reviews

[johnny ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

three stars for illyana, nico, and zoe... and maybe logan. the rest can kick rocks.

[Zana · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a 3.5 stars.

This was dumb as hell but it was a fun read.

Things I loved:

- Some of my fave magic users/supernatural characters in one story (Magik, Nico, Blade, Agatha, Clea, Voodoo)
- Tony Stark, Sorcerer Supreme 💯
- Magik yelling at the Strange Academy students lmao
- the sweet armor that Sorcerer Supreme Stark created for the Midnight Suns
- more ancient magic lore with the Vapors of Valtorr
- Dr. Voodoo as a teacher is hot, y'all 🔥

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember the original Midnight Suns! I wish I had kept them.. :( Anyway, this iteration was not bad and I really like the line-up, but it just didn't reach the lofty heights that the top-tier comics reach these days. Maybe this is old man grousing, but when Wolverine has to be written as confused by how the finale comes about so that Magik can (sort of) explain it for the reader.. well I feel like it could have been handled a little better. That said, I enjoyed it more upon the second readthrough. The interior art is fine; neat and clear. The cover art by David Nakayama is great as always. For fans of Strange Academy and the occult side of Marvel, this is probably more meaningful and essential reading.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A premissa dessa HQ emulando os Filhos da Meia-Noite, dos anos 1990 me atraiu, mas também o trailer do videogame com o mesmo nome me deixou bem curioso para ler essa HQ. O hype era verdadeiro. Acabei gostando bastante da trama que envolve a formação e quebra de um sabá de bruxas ao qual pertencia Agatha Harkness, explorando melhor o passado da bruxa. Isso já me conquistou bastante, mas a construção das personalidades dos personagens da equipe e a interação entre eles também é bem feita, levando em consideração os quadrinhos de super-heróis atuais. A história envolve personagens místicos de diversos segmentos do Universo Marvel e a interação deles é muito legal. Quem curtiu Academia do Estranho provavelmente vai gostar também de Midnight Suns. Os desenhos da edição também são de boa qualidade. Esse não é um gibi megadescosntruído ou megainovador, mas ele garante uma boa diversão descompromissada que é o que buscamos quando vamos comprar um quadrinho de super-herói. Essa demanda ele cumpre muito bem.

[Poison Ivy 🌵 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I collected the single issues and then read them all in one sitting. I really love the characters chosen for this story, a good magical line up is always fun, especially when it’s not just Doctor Strange and his usual squad. Staying true to the title, Blade and Wolverine are back, but new characters have also shown up too. I’m a huge fan of Spirit Rider, and I’m happy she was not a throw away character for Marvel to forget about as soon as Indigenous History month was over.

Nico Minoru is a character I’ve followed since reading the Runaways in high school. It was interesting to see her as part of the line up despite having recently given up the Staff of One, which is basically a conduit for her magical power. I think there is a deep storyline here involving Nico, and I’m excited to see where this all goes. However, if the next series does not touch on her importance and why Agatha Harkness wants to include Nico in her coven, then it will feel as if her character development was unfinished or stunted.

One complaint I have is that Wolverine was sort of dumbed down. In quite a few panels he basically says “I just wanna stab stuff.” Which, that is true to his character, but hearing him say it multiple times throughout a limited series felt redundant.

Still, really fun series and I’m exited to see where the creative team goes next!

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Midnight Suns: Rise of the Midnight Suns" is a mediocre and barely coherent origin story for a new Marvel super team with mystical origins. The team itself feels like a bizarre mash up of Teen Titans and "Justice League Dark" with a heavy Marvel veneer.

There are a few inspired casting choices in this book, In particular, Nico Minoru, previously on the Runaway's team, makes a splash and manages to come across as even more Goth than in previous appearances. Similarly, Agatha Harkness's portrayal is spot on and manages to capture a perfect balance between motherly headmistress and brooding evil. Other characters are flat or down right unispired. Wolverine and Blade make an appearance but really do nothing to punch up the action or plot. The seeming main protagonist, Zoe Laveau, falls flat and has the distinction of being the character with the most interesting back story and the least to do.

As for the villains and the plot in this book, which are predictable and unispired, the least written the better. In any case, there really is not a lot to recommend this book. Perhaps the next volume, if there is one, will be an amazing surprise, but I will let someone else be the first reviewer.

[Alex Sarll]

The dialogue is feebly functional except when it reads like a bad translation; Wolverine in particular seems incapable of saying anything that doesn't relate to stabbing or his hatred of magic, the latter feeling particularly like someone has pulled his string when deployed during a fight with a robot. The characters are moved around according to the demands of the plot without any of them showing a spark of life. The art lacks character and indeed struggles to distinguish characters if their looks change. The villain is called Korrosion, for fuck's sake. And yes, I know it's a game tie-in but a) nowhere in this trade is the existence of the game referenced in any way and b) so was Al Ewing's Contest Of Champions, which slaps. In short, a perfect example of why people don't respect superhero comics. And yet, it does have one scene with a Ghost Rider riding a flaming, skull-faced giant bat, which is why superhero comics are still better than litfic.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was pretty good the whole way through, and I was enjoying the story at first, but it kinda fell off towards the later issues. Like it got overly complicated and kinda made no sense 😭 oh well was still a decently fun read tho.

[Mar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐️

The hyperfixation is hyperfixating, esa es la única razón por la que estoy leyendo esto jajaja.

Luego de haberme dado una vuelta por la página de marvel encontré el arco más reciente de Agatha y pues aquí ando jajaja.

Midnight suns… no sé si el team-up continúe en algún otro volumen pero fueron interesantes jajajaj, tener a Nico, Magik y a Wolverine en un mismo equipo fue demasiado gracioso. Hace tiempo no pensaba en Nico!!! la había extrañado demasiado 🥺.

En general, la historia fue interesante y me dio risa cómo salió Doctor Doom todo all mighty y luego Clea being: not now honey.

BUENOO vamos a la parte de Agatha, de verdad necesito que la mujer deje de sufrir en ALGÚN UNIVERSO POR DIOS! Ik que ella también se busca los problemas jajaja, pero bueno… igual me da demasiada cólera que siempre de alguna u otra manera me la dejan sola!… anyways, ahora ya está joven y me muero por leer contest of chaos!

[Norbert Balogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kezdem megszokni, hogyha megtetszik egy szuperhősös formáció, vagy valami miatt aktualitása lesz az életemben, akkor előkapom a referencia-anyagot a témában, és általában a legbasic-ebb amerikai tömegtermék kerekedik ki belőle.

Így van ez a Midnight Suns-szal is: a videojáték előtt szerettem volna kicsit barátkozni a csapattal, problémakörükkel, és egynek teljesen szórakoztató cucc volt, de egy hét múlva valószínűleg semmire se fogok belőle emlékezni.

A Midnight Suns csapat kellemesen furcsa hatást keltett, szokatlanabb kombó volt őket ilyen felosztásban látni. A történet abszolút csúcspontja Agatha Harkness volt, akivel kevesebb képregényben találkoztam ilyen kiemeltebb szerepben.

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not exactly a tie in to the Midnight Suns game, but definitely trying to capitalize on it. This seems to be set in normal Marvel continuity, starting at Strange Academy and expanding to include Blade and Wolverine. Wolverine's presence doesn't really make sense even in the context of the story: he's literally only there because he shows up in a vision of the future at the beginning of the book. Obviously he's here because he's the most marketable character in this book, but the in-universe explanation could have been less weak. The story is fine, and I think its main purpose is really to bring Agatha Harkness more in line with her MCU appearance, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. There was one moment where I rolled my eyes so hard they almost stuck. Ok, I can buy that the team needs new, stylish uniforms because corrosive vapors in a magical dimension. As far as excuses for stylish new uniforms go, it's not the dumbest I've heard. But I do wonder why Nico's cleavage and Illyana's midriff needed no such protection.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

About the only good thing about this comic was meaningful integration with Strange Academy. But other than that we get a bunch of characters who are either one note (Nico) or no note (almost everyone else), pointless fighting, pathetically transparent Wolverine crossover, and an arbitrary change to a character to make them match Marvel TV. It's entirely a waste of the premise and a waste of a number of great characters (not that they even bothered to explain who they are for non-readers, like the new Ghost Rider is ... who?? I still have no idea.).

[Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even a tie-in to a 'current' video game could save this idea...

Marvel has a magic problem. They have a hard time writing about magic users. Strange does...ok. Strange Academy is novel enough and focused in such a way that it garnishes some buzz and watercooler talk. Oh, and 'WandaVision' was popular on the TV front, but 'The Scarlet Witch' has historically been a big pile of messiness (what else do you call it?)

This wants you to think that it's tied to the OG 'Midnight Sons'. The series that included Blade and Danny Ketch aka Ghost Rider. It isn't.

It wants you to think that it's associated with the recent 'Midnight Suns' videogame that shares several of the teammates on the roster. It also isn't.

I'm going to make a bold proclamation about this series. It was made to coattail the videogame and REBOOT AGATHA HARKNESS. The one character that keeps coming back in times of magic..but she's always looking like your grandmother. This series figured out a way to liken her to the darker version seen in the 'WandaVision' series. Interesting attempt. MAYBE an ok library check out or borrow. It's not amazing, by any means.

Bonus: Trianglehead? Er....no.
Bonus Bonus: SpiritWalker could use a miniseries or two. Freshen up that Ghost Rider canon

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, I TRIED to like this, because I am a sucker for tributes to actually great stories from Marvel's past (such as the Midnight Sons, with an "o"), but the art is unbalanced, with environments and monsters mostly looking good, while the characters look like the result of a bored artist.

Not to mention, the story is tropey as hell, and the tropes do not work too well with each other. First off, I hate superhero academies apart from the original Xavier School (and maybe Generation X), and I especially hate supernatural academies in superhero universes. They are bad copies of a once good idea and generally make zero sense and have zero feel for what they are supposed to be.

As for the rest, why is Wolverine involved in supernatural stuff? Just because. Why is Tony Stark a magical armorer/sorcerer supreme? Because it was a half-baked idea that seemed cool and the characters need new equipment (not for any actual reason, just to look stylish in black and red). Why is everyone double-and-triple-crossing? Because "Agatha all along."

It's not terrible by modern standards (the bar is low), but nothing worth remembering.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

La acción empieza en la Academia Strange donde Agatha Harkness, Nico Minoru y Magic están presentando a Blade para una clase de vampiros Mary Beth Zoric. La alumna Zoe Laveau es llamada por una entidad muy extraña. Un sueño aparece visible a todos en el cual Zoe es combatida por un equipo: los "Midnight Suns". Como aparecen Spirit Rider y Wolverine, ellos también son llamados a formar parte del escuadrón mágico.
Mientras, Agatha se lleva a Zoe a un lugar seguro y recuerda cuando en 1428 pasó algo similar. El Aquelarre invocó a Valtorr quien supuestamente las ayudaría a combatir a las personas que deseaban la muerto de todos los seres mágicos. Pasan muchas cosas interesantes como cuando aparece Clea (quien esta vez resulta algo villana) y manda a la Dimensión oscura al equipo donde adquieren sus nuevos trajes que los protejan de los vapores de Valtorr (es el traje del juego Midnight Suns que sirve como una buena justificación).
El final me gustó sobre todo por la reveladión del verdadero villano y el cambio de Agatha. Yo sí espero que este cómic o el equipo sea adaptado para algún especial de Halloween en el MCU. Ojalá

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 3.5, but we're rounding down today.

Wolverine, Nico Minoru, Zoe Laveau, Spirit Rider, and Magik get wrapped up in a prophecy that spans multiple dimensions and focuses on Agatha Harkness in bizarre little tale.

Midnight Suns is an odd book. The line-up is weird, the premise is weird, and it's only vaguely connected to the video game that it was clearly created with in mind. There's no reason to throw these characters together, since most of them haven't been Midnight Suns before, and aren't even in the video game. Also a little weird is the artwork, from Luigi Zagaria, which can't seem to decide if it's trying to be cartoonish or serious along the way.

Honestly, the main reason I'd recommend reading this is because of all the stuff it sets up. With Agatha Harkness playing a more prominent role in the Scarlet Witch's solo series and the upcoming Contest Of Chaos, it's a decent primer that shows you why the magical side of Marvel is the way it is currently.

[Allysa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an odd one for me. The storyline feels very messy: an apocalyptic event is coming and people see a vision of it stemming from Strange Academy. This brings together many of the magic wielders in the Marvel universe, including Magik, Nico, Blade, and oddly Wolverine. But for some reason certain people don’t want the event stopped? And they end up in the Dark Dimension and another other realm. It all just felt smashed together and I didn’t really enjoy it at all.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd choice to make. It comes out around the time the video game came out (and let me tell you that game sucks.) but it's not the same setup or even the same characters as the game. A bunch of random magic characters (and Wolverine to sell more copies!) get together to stop the end of the world. The whole thing is really just a way to make Agatha Harkness not be an old grandma now that she has a Disney+ show. The whole thing just feels slapped together at the last moment.

[Derrick O'Rourke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read

This was an enjoyable enough read. The new costume designs are fun and so is the appearance of Doom. The team itself isn't that exciting outside of blade, illiyana and wolverine. They even question why he's in it. Well he's in it for a cool scene.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

A perfectly fun little jaunt in the mystical arm of the Marvel Universe, building out a new version of the Midnight Sons (or rather Suns). It’s nothing revolutionary or overtly amazing, but just a pretty entertaining little run. Good fun!

[Andrew Fischer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wanted to get into Midnight Suns bc I really enjoyed the game and this one’s lineup is most similar to that (intentionally I think). Wasn’t a huge fan? It just felt kinda messy and very quippy- definitely still open to more Midnight Suns but probably not this run

[Taylor Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I always enjoy the occult type stories and this cast of characters are among some of my favorites. The only problem with occult type stories is they always get way too convoluted by the end. Still, a fun albeit a bit forgettable ride.

[Jimmy Osterhout · Rating 2 out of 5]

This felt like a vehicle to debut new character designs and costumes. Story was substandard with a conclusion that was so confusing the characters in the story just gloss over it and are forced to slog to the finish line.

[Alena Xuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool idea, good twist, but wish it was longer!!

[Trike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho-hum, world’s ending again.

[vk chompooming · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this lame, watered-down version.

[Lisandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,2 estrelas

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75.

Oh Wolverine hates magic!

[Gary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Great Marvel Readthrough, pt 331

[Matthew Smith]

I read this after playing the game. Confusing. Meh.