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Tarot #4

Mar 2020
Alan Davis, Paul Renaud

Story Name:

(No title given)


Synopsis

Tarot #4 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

Reality has broken down and the Avengers and the Defenders find their identities bizarrely scrambled, making them Doc Surf, Major Gamma, The Hulkoid, Scarlet Strange, Sturm Meister, Reaper, Eiserne Jungfrau, Imperius Hex, Gadget, and Captain Cosmos. They are fighting for their lives against the Unbelievables, a band of cartoon-based superheroes introduced last issue. Major Gamma (an amalgam of Captain America and Hulk) warns against killing their foes—but then he is overwhelmed by the enemy and transforms into Hulk, at the same time appearing in the World War 2 cemetery and fighting living statues, as seen in the opening of issue #1, witnessed by the other Invaders, and returning to normal back in the present. Stone letters fall from the sky spelling out, “I’m bored! Too much talking, I want more fighting!”

Then they are confronted by Black Panther leading a team to prevent the scrambled heroes from invading Wakanda. Major Gamma insists they are innocent but Panther merely points him back to show him the scrambled heroes are coming from a Nazi-controlled USA. Major Gamma is able for a second to pierce the veil but then the team is attacked by the Unbelievables with a number of familiar allies. Doc Surf (a hippie version of Doctor Strange) learns that it’s all in the mixed-up Tarot deck which in in the hands of couple of children. Then the Nameless One appears to fight them but Doc also sees that he is the distraction; instead, Doc dispatches Gadget (Winter Soldier and Thor?) to get the cards from the kids. So, Gadget visits the other reality and trades the kids his tablet with hologram capabilities for the deck of “old cards.” Once the cards are pulled through to this reality, everything goes back to normal, the Avengers (Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Scarlet Witch, Vision) and the Defenders (Doctor Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Valkyrie, Silver Surfer) are themselves again at Avengers Mansion; Diablo was pulled through with them but he is nowhere to be seen….

Epilogue: In WW2 France, the Invaders (Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch) come upon a camp of American soldiers. The GIs report that there has been no action, save the capture of a Nazi deserter named Okkulte who sounds crazy, muttering about magic. The heroes join the soldiers for some relaxation: “A day without fighting is cause for celebration.”


 

Review / Commentaries


Tarot #4 Review by (March 25, 2020)

Review: And, after a few more crazy scenes, all reality gets snapped back to normal and the good guys live happily ever after. Decent ending to a decent miniseries seems a bit rushed, leaving a few questions such as why were Spider-Man and Daredevil in the series as they aren’t even mentioned in this issue? Why doesn’t anyone care about the Infernal Ichor of Ish’izog any more? Why does the conclusion, that the cards are in the hands of a couple of kids, seem to come from nowhere even with the introduction of cartoon characters in issue #3 as foreshadowing? On the whole, okay and a lot of fun, if you don’t want anything deep.

Comments: The Nameless One was introduced in SUB-MARINER #22 and turned up as an occasional Defenders foe. On Black Panther’s team are Sabra, Crimson Dynamo, and most of Alpha Flight. The Unbelievables’ larger team includes Wolverine, Spider-Ham, Phoenix, the Squadron Supreme, Kree Warriors, the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, Storm, Nova, Banshee, Skrulls, and a few I don’t recognize.



> Tarot comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
KOTOBUKIYA BLACK PANTHER MOVIE BLACK PANTHER ARTFX STATUE
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Preview Pages




Paul Renaud
Paul Renaud
Stephane Paitreau
Paul Renaud (Cover Penciler)
Paul Renaud (Cover Inker)
Paul Renaud (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Panther
Black Panther

(T'Challa)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange

(Stephen Strange)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Human Torch
Human Torch

(Jim Hammond)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer

(Norrin Radd)
Sub-Mariner
Sub-Mariner

(Namor McKenzie)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)