Every so often, Marvel takes a foray into the more magical and infernal side of its library, trotting out Blade, Spirit Rider, Nico Minoru and the like to take on some demonic enemy wreaking havoc in the underworld. Ever since the Inferno crossover from the 1980s, this corner of the shared universe has always been one I’m willing to explore. While this new Midnight Suns miniseries doesn’t make any major impact on the larger Marvel tapestry, it does give some fan favorite characters a reason to collaborate in a suitable escapade.
Written by Ethan Sacks with art from Luigi Zagaria and Alberto Foche, these five issues connect to the Strange Academy series that has Magik and Dr. Strange as teachers. The magic school is basically a Xavier’s Institute for magic users within the Marvel Universe, and so this run starts with Blade teaching a class about vampire hunting. It’s a fun, cool concept that I wish was explored further, but the school is invaded by magical monsters, requiring Wolverine and Spirit Rider to be transported to the school to get the team together before the first issue ends. Strange Academy‘s Zoe Laveau is the reason why the school is being invaded, with Doctor Doom also making an appearance to capture the student. The team must travel through time and realms to uncover the force behind the attack, eventually leading to a reformation of a fan-favorite villain from a popular MCU television program.
Sacks has a good grasp of what this series is, giving it sufficient action and a brisk pace without overcomplicating it with too much lore and jargon. The second issue of the run is the most plot-heavy, but even then, it’s mixed effectively with battle scenes with Doctor Doom. Even when the villain Valtorr is revealed, Sacks throws in a few twists to keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next. It’s superfluous to the main plot, but even moments where the team gets matching costumes is entertaining and gratifying. The final page of the series sets up some big changes for the Strange Academy and will likely be felt in future issues of that series.
The art is well done by Luigi Zagaria and Alberto Foche, although it lacks any real gravitas or distinct style. The paneling is done competently, with characters expressing emotion and action without written exposition. My major fault with the art style is that it misses a real opportunity to craft some creepy visuals, and it ends up looking like standard comic fare. What a pity.
Unfortunately, none of the variant covers get more than the quarter page reproduction. With a trade like this, that collects an entire run of a series, it would be great to get all the art that was produced with the monthly publication of the title.
Fans of Strange Academy and the darker corners of the Marvel Universe might enjoy this simple diabolic adventure, even if it isn’t earth-shattering in its implications. Sacks gives his popular cast of characters plenty to engage with as a team and opens the possibilities of future adventures by the Midnight Suns, but hopefully those future runs will dig into the creepy aspects of the Marvel Universe more effectively.
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