Really fun comic. I always read by itself at any time. Really Really wish they do more for not even after this book ; maybe guring the 5 year skip like rise of vampires, apocalypse conquering Europe; etc. Some open ended stuff aswel but hay it's a fun book. Highly recommend
I remember when the first issue of this came out. And my non-comic reading sister was shouting "OhHhHhHhH mY GoD tHeY kIlLeD sCaRlEt WiTcH fOr GoOd, DiDn'T yOu HeAr!?!?!". And I laughed enough to hurt my sides because death means nothing to Marvel unless it's another universe
Leave it to Tom Taylor to write a story about a dark timeline for the heroes you love. If there's a way to get typecast as a writer, it's certainly happening to him.
The Doc Ock thinks might be a reference to the Superman/Spiderman crossover where Doc Ock realizes Lex Luthor is trying to destroy the Earth and isn’t cool with that.
There's was a perfect opportunity at the end of the story for someone to ask Spiderman after he finishes telling the story "How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"
How did a enemy named the Unmaker not come face to face with The Maker? That could have been one of the twists, Reid wasn't being controlled by Purple Man, he was actually evil Reid and legitimately playing along.
Because the maker is from the ultimate universe. He came into the 616 marvel universe and this story isn't set in the 616 continuity. If you introduce the maker into this story then that makes readers go "were there TWO ultimate universes?? Did secret wars happen in this reality as well???" It would be like dropping magog from kingdom come right in the middle of the first volume of DCeased.
This story started off so well, like it was so nice to see Spider-Man not get a bad outcome in one of these elseworld type stories, it's too bad it ended so quick
My main issue with Dark Ages is that it relies heavily on narration where it just felt like the story was being told to me instead of allowing me to experience it. It should have been longer with possibly a 10 or 12 issue series. It’s the same problem as DCeased: War of the Undead Gods by Tom Taylor right now compared to his other DCeased comics as far as relying so much on narration.
Back Issues is the best "explain a comic book" series on UA-cam, I always look forward to the next episode the second I'm done watching the current one.
This is one of those books that I was so excited for when it was announced and then it got delayed and when it finally came out I picked up every issue and it was okay. Basically it seemed like a great idea that was rushed to a conclusion and not given space to breathe.
Oooh Nice!! Tom's writing is either a big hit or major miss. I can't wait for his Nightwing run to get the omnibus treatment though. All-New Wolverine was surprisingly quite a lot of fun. Not sure if I'll ever read this particular story or a few others.
I love how Cyclops' eyebeams are these one-shot-sure-kill super death lasers when they're just punchbeams Cyclops blows Magneto's head off with them in Ultimatum, too.
I remember reading this as it was coming out and it was getting more and more boring and kinda pointless with each issue and i was perplexed bc Tom Taylor is great. And then he announced he's permanently going to DC and i went "aaahhhhh that explains it" Ben was on FIRE this episode
I got to say I’m a little disappointed this isn’t a medieval “dark ages” type marvel book. We could’ve got King Arthur Captain America, Scarlet Witch would have been Merlin, we could have the Avengers of the Round Table, that would be a pretty fun book. Maybe someday, I bet Tom Taylor would be into that.
It's interesting that Taylor LOVES Green Arrow and always has him survive the Apocalypse, Evil Superman, Vampires and Zombies however Hawkeye Fuckin die!
I like the story but definitely the ending felt rush & more Apocalypse with his many powers would be nice also Ben was spitting with V is number 5 and F is the 6th letter but sadly Franklin was born first
Great episode! Ben is on fire the whole time. LOL Also, I don't know why, but I really like the Spider-Man suit for this book. It's a shame that we will never get to read the actual finished and complete version of the story because I was hooked for the first three issues and then it it just became a race to wrap it up as quickly as possible.
On the Ghost Raiders: what if it's sort of on the Davvy Jones angle: It's not that the whole crew sold their souls to Mephisto individually. It's that the Captain sold THEIR soul, and by proxy as the Captain is responsible for all souls on their ship basically sold them out too. And that was part of the allure for Mephisto: it was 20 soul bundle.
This comic would make a great case study to teach writers about pacing and how disproportioned acts can really ruin the reading experience. It's 2 issues for Act 1, Issue 3-5 (and some of 6) is Act 2, and the second half of issue 6 is Act 3.
Soooo Storm could... Make lighting... The whole time... Also, a missed opportunity that they never showed even just a panel of Sheena and Ka-Zar just chilling out without any realization about what was happening on the rest of the planet.
I could actually see an event called the "Fantastic Corps" where its a reunion of all members of the FF like she hulk and such but also all the cross over characters from back i the day when that is how they used to test out if a character would work. Good work guys.
You know what the ending reminds me of? The ending of Wolverine:The End, where it just ends with Wolverine clutching his dead brother with the police swarming them and then it just has a smaller version of the same image at the end, like it was some poignant sad moment.
Hey boys. Speaking of Honey Badger I'd love it if you covered the All New Wolverine run. It's funny and great in my opinion. In any case loving what you guys do and been a fan for a long while !
YOU KNOW WHATS A BIG DEAL FOR WAAAAY MORE THAN 10 SECONDS?... Sal is a UA-cam style icon. His signature novelty shirt / button up / jean look as now a new inspiration for me. Bless up Sal!
Question about this universe: Shouldn’t Tony’s arc reactor have stopped working to keep the shrapnel away from his heart and then wouldn’t that have killed him? Or does he not have that anymore?
@@LuisLopez-fq5sz yes but more importantly marvel re launched what if with ONE DAMN BOOK from my knowledge at least; its a pretty awesome dark spider man story
*Apocalypse:* “How many peoples have dreamed of my end? You are no closer than the Babylonians with their swords and fire sticks! Heh heh ha ha ha-“ *Blade:* “I don’t usually take requests, but…” *Apocalypse:* “Foolish human. You dare look upon the face of your betters and spit upon it? I shall deal with the likes of you-“ *Blade:* plunges stick through Apocalypse’s chest *Apocalypse:* “Oh no! Oh no! Wait! Wait, stop stop stop-!”
This reminds me of that time Blade tried to stake Hulk when he fought the Avengers because he thought that he was a vampire just because he was immortal, and now my personal headcanon is that Blade just thinks every single immortal being in the Marvel Universe is a vampire and that they're all just trying to gaslight humanity that they're not.
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 Captain America: It truly is amazing how I managed to live for over 60 years and still remain youthful. Thor: Long life is something I too enjoy. Wolverine: Is that Blade running toward us with a stick?
@@chrisdaily2077 The Eternals and the Avengers have a diplomatic meeting and Tony just looks nervously at Blade as he slowly pulls a bushel of garlic out from under his trenchcoat
Why is it okay for Spider-Man to be a major player in every story but not Logan? He could have been a vital character given his experience and personality.
Maybe I'm stupid but where's Thor? He either could've helped with the initial threat or helped close the portal. There has to be someone on Asgard with enough magic powers to close that portal. Hell Wiccan probably could've done it!
Yeah this seems really interesting as a setting and it's a shame it got such a rushed ending. As well as some weird contrivances. Like I kinda enjoy the premise of the portal at the center of the earth causing the electricity to shut down and turn everything steampunk or whatever, but I feel like they need more of a reason as to why the portal can't be closed. Also Faraday Cages are super easy to build I imagine there would be tons of small labs set up with EMP shielding for various scientific development to happen. It could make for an interesting dynamic where you can build these small zones where electricity can exist again, but you can't exactly cover an entire town or city in it, so at best you can just set up a lab to make things that don't use electricity a little easier, which I imagine people like iron man could use to great effect.
Hey Sal and Crew! I totally understand the rushed ending, but Damn I was enjoying the beginning of this. Glad we got a cool premise of a story either way.
I honestly wish marvel would just update their universe to be like how it was before the emp hit dark ages Then we could get a 52-esque series explaining all the changes and how by following different characters/groups
I think it's really the only way to do a "retcon" Like maybe some entity that represents all the changes in the marvel multiverse is going around and making things even more unrecognizable I know we all have event fatigue but all I've ever wanted is another CoIE type event for both publishers
I always thought pietro and Wanda were adopted by magneto because they were the descendants of the whizzer and lady liberty as a way to repay them for fighting for him and his people and that was how he could repay them.
That is how the "egg guy" works on Krakoa, lol. They have a bunch of back up eggs saved, but have a few power mimicers to take someones place if needed
Buy Dark Ages right here! amzn.to/3INVmRc
Really fun comic. I always read by itself at any time. Really Really wish they do more for not even after this book ; maybe guring the 5 year skip like rise of vampires, apocalypse conquering Europe; etc. Some open ended stuff aswel but hay it's a fun book. Highly recommend
You can tell Taylor pumped this out as quickly as possible before his DC exclusive contract went into full effect
Yup
I agree the entire script feels like it was a first draft of a story that he either had little time to complete, or little investment to see do well.
Don't forget to ask Disney for a check when the Fantastic Corps eventually makes it onto the big screen!
“Fantastic Corps” and “Ghost Raiders”, both comics coming soon to a distributor near you, and both inexplicably written by Al Ewing
I remember when the first issue of this came out. And my non-comic reading sister was shouting "OhHhHhHhH mY GoD tHeY kIlLeD sCaRlEt WiTcH fOr GoOd, DiDn'T yOu HeAr!?!?!". And I laughed enough to hurt my sides because death means nothing to Marvel unless it's another universe
Leave it to Tom Taylor to write a story about a dark timeline for the heroes you love. If there's a way to get typecast as a writer, it's certainly happening to him.
Have you read nightwing or Jon Kent Superman???
@@henryblack1925 True, but have you read Dark Knights of Steel.
I wouldn't use the word "Typecast" but he does like those stories
Typecast in that he's a master at telling elseworld stories.
@@mickeyveach3612 true
The Doc Ock thinks might be a reference to the Superman/Spiderman crossover where Doc Ock realizes Lex Luthor is trying to destroy the Earth and isn’t cool with that.
There's was a perfect opportunity at the end of the story for someone to ask Spiderman after he finishes telling the story "How did you know about the parts you weren't there for?"
Deadpool should have done that, and it's panned out to Pete doing a story time for a bunch of kids, but also deadpool is there.
@@MisterKetch Deadpool's just braiding a little girl's hair while asking that
*Spider-man immediately becomes Man-Spider* And now here's my 2nd form
Then Spiderman blasts them away with his ki
Tony: Get me a cork
Apocalypse: It's a magic portal
Tony: Get me a magic cork.
How did a enemy named the Unmaker not come face to face with The Maker? That could have been one of the twists, Reid wasn't being controlled by Purple Man, he was actually evil Reid and legitimately playing along.
Reid Rechards is my favorite alternate Mr. Fantastic
Because the maker is from the ultimate universe. He came into the 616 marvel universe and this story isn't set in the 616 continuity. If you introduce the maker into this story then that makes readers go "were there TWO ultimate universes?? Did secret wars happen in this reality as well???"
It would be like dropping magog from kingdom come right in the middle of the first volume of DCeased.
@@galactic85 Dude, Miles and Gwen are right there
DC has Last Ride and Marvel has Dark Ages, two Elseworld stories that had talented writers that people don’t remember.
The last what?
@@amanzeihedioha The Last Ride as the OP said which was written by Zdarsky and was covered on the channel.
Ben's "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" line there at the end was a real good zinger.
I still find funny that T'challa and Storm's daughter is literally named princess
This story started off so well, like it was so nice to see Spider-Man not get a bad outcome in one of these elseworld type stories, it's too bad it ended so quick
My main issue with Dark Ages is that it relies heavily on narration where it just felt like the story was being told to me instead of allowing me to experience it. It should have been longer with possibly a 10 or 12 issue series. It’s the same problem as DCeased: War of the Undead Gods by Tom Taylor right now compared to his other DCeased comics as far as relying so much on narration.
Apocalypse has many powers.
Is one of those power being able to imprint some part of him onto somebody else?
@@creed8712 Perhaps an Apocalyptic Healing Coma
Apocalypse's power set is just that one Ron Swanson meme where his permit just says "I can do what I want"
The main one being the power of Dance
@Creed actually yes lol
I felt the primal rage in that Wong rant
Back Issues is the best "explain a comic book" series on UA-cam, I always look forward to the next episode the second I'm done watching the current one.
Apocalypse: "my apocalypse senses are tingling!"
This is one of those books that I was so excited for when it was announced and then it got delayed and when it finally came out I picked up every issue and it was okay. Basically it seemed like a great idea that was rushed to a conclusion and not given space to breathe.
The problem with this book is so short, if has 10 or 12 issues but my favorite thing is the art Iban Coello does amazing job in this book.
DC: Taylor we will give u more money
Taylor : k peace marvel
3 pages rushed ending
I have not started this video.
But i LOVED this miniseries so let's see what Sal and the lads think.
I'll update when i'm done
uh oh
Um. Ahem. Update?
Well I didn't realize Tom was leaving for DC at that time so i'm a little bummed out that the book got rushed out for that sad times here
"So, what's your superpower?"
"They are many and varied."
😂
Oooh Nice!! Tom's writing is either a big hit or major miss. I can't wait for his Nightwing run to get the omnibus treatment though. All-New Wolverine was surprisingly quite a lot of fun. Not sure if I'll ever read this particular story or a few others.
Galactus: [eats the Sun, burps fire]: "THAT'S A SPICY MEAT-A-BALL!"
You can tell when reading it when Tom Taylor got the exclusive contract from DC
I love how Cyclops' eyebeams are these one-shot-sure-kill super death lasers when they're just punchbeams
Cyclops blows Magneto's head off with them in Ultimatum, too.
Same thing for Iron-Man, lol
Man, Ben really ate his Wheaties this morning.
It is a damn Crime that the Thing wasn't made into Blackbeard the Pirate in this story.
I remember reading this as it was coming out and it was getting more and more boring and kinda pointless with each issue and i was perplexed bc Tom Taylor is great. And then he announced he's permanently going to DC and i went "aaahhhhh that explains it"
Ben was on FIRE this episode
Ngl Fantastic Corps sounds like a great pitch
I know I’m a big Doom nerd but I feel like he could 100% solve the portal problem with little to no effort
Ben’s AC/DC comment😂 everyone just stopped 😮
The Dark Ages poster is giving PS2 game ad vibes
It’s me, I’m the plucky young writer! Thanks, Ben I’ll send you royalties
Sal and pals: and so, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you... The Fantastic Core!
Marvel exec: ...Security!
No, you don't take my lunch!
- Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor is GREAT at character interactions and characterization. Story is where he stumbles quite a bit.
"GET ME A CORK."
"Isn't it a magic problem?"
"GET ME A MAGIC CORK."
I got to say I’m a little disappointed this isn’t a medieval “dark ages” type marvel book. We could’ve got King Arthur Captain America, Scarlet Witch would have been Merlin, we could have the Avengers of the Round Table, that would be a pretty fun book. Maybe someday, I bet Tom Taylor would be into that.
I think Dr Strange would make a better Merlin. She could be Morgan le Fay.
That's technically the plot of Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
It wouldn't sell.
@@brianadkins3880I was thinking that there was an avengers story like that.
One of those times in which watching the BI video is actually more satisfying than reading the book.
"old lady honey badger" gotta be the greatest name I've ever heard 😂
It's interesting that Taylor LOVES Green Arrow and always has him survive the Apocalypse, Evil Superman, Vampires and Zombies however Hawkeye Fuckin die!
*Steamed Hams* : But It's An Episode Of Back Issues.
Daredevil in the tower took me to Robinhood men in tights. “I’m guessing? I’m guessing no one’s coming.”
I like the story but definitely the ending felt rush & more Apocalypse with his many powers would be nice also Ben was spitting with V is number 5 and F is the 6th letter but sadly Franklin was born first
Great episode! Ben is on fire the whole time. LOL
Also, I don't know why, but I really like the Spider-Man suit for this book. It's a shame that we will never get to read the actual finished and complete version of the story because I was hooked for the first three issues and then it it just became a race to wrap it up as quickly as possible.
36:38 "Your mind works in mysterious ways, Ben" Best line. I hope you guys do Dracula vs Apocalypse someday.
After hearing about Counter Earth during the ‘Evolutionary War’ episode, rather nice to have a proper Spider-Man Unlimited reference come up
On the Ghost Raiders: what if it's sort of on the Davvy Jones angle: It's not that the whole crew sold their souls to Mephisto individually. It's that the Captain sold THEIR soul, and by proxy as the Captain is responsible for all souls on their ship basically sold them out too. And that was part of the allure for Mephisto: it was 20 soul bundle.
This comic would make a great case study to teach writers about pacing and how disproportioned acts can really ruin the reading experience. It's 2 issues for Act 1, Issue 3-5 (and some of 6) is Act 2, and the second half of issue 6 is Act 3.
Just call the Corps!The Fantastic Corps
The multiple man interlude really makes me want to see you guys do the 2000s Madrox/X-factor books
War Machine and VenomCarnage were on the 6th issue cover, but War Machine was never in the book and VenomCarnage was already dead.
Soooo Storm could... Make lighting... The whole time...
Also, a missed opportunity that they never showed even just a panel of Sheena and Ka-Zar just chilling out without any realization about what was happening on the rest of the planet.
I could actually see an event called the "Fantastic Corps" where its a reunion of all members of the FF like she hulk and such but also all the cross over characters from back i the day when that is how they used to test out if a character would work. Good work guys.
You know what the ending reminds me of? The ending of Wolverine:The End, where it just ends with Wolverine clutching his dead brother with the police swarming them and then it just has a smaller version of the same image at the end, like it was some poignant sad moment.
Hey boys. Speaking of Honey Badger I'd love it if you covered the All New Wolverine run. It's funny and great in my opinion. In any case loving what you guys do and been a fan for a long while !
YOU KNOW WHATS A BIG DEAL FOR WAAAAY MORE THAN 10 SECONDS?... Sal is a UA-cam style icon. His signature novelty shirt / button up / jean look as now a new inspiration for me. Bless up Sal!
36:37
That's the moment when Ben realizes that he's got the greatest joke right on the tip of his tongue.
All the workers in his brain went, "yep... We got one."
Blade killing Apocalypse has to be the coolest moment in this book for me.
If Tony Stark's Iron Man armor was rendered inert by the EMP, wouldn't his Arc Reactor-powered pacemaker also fail?
Wow I COMPLETELY forgot about this --just like Sal said!
Question about this universe: Shouldn’t Tony’s arc reactor have stopped working to keep the shrapnel away from his heart and then wouldn’t that have killed him? Or does he not have that anymore?
I'm not the biggest Iron Man fan, but I think they solved that issue years ago. He still has the thing in his chest but the shrapnel is all gone
He doesn't have that currently
Iirc Extremis arc years ago fixed it
He only has the arc for iron man stuff but he doesn't need it to not die
I love how long you guys dicuss Ghost Rider logic, I wasn't expecting it but I'm on board for it!
Probably shoulda been a “what if”
Most of toms stories fell like that
@@LuisLopez-fq5sz yes but more importantly marvel re launched what if with ONE DAMN BOOK from my knowledge at least; its a pretty awesome dark spider man story
@@HMAN_121 Chip Zdarsky designed that new logo and then nothing comes of it! It’s insane.
@@DanV900 factual statement
*Apocalypse:* “How many peoples have dreamed of my end? You are no closer than the Babylonians with their swords and fire sticks! Heh heh ha ha ha-“
*Blade:* “I don’t usually take requests, but…”
*Apocalypse:* “Foolish human. You dare look upon the face of your betters and spit upon it? I shall deal with the likes of you-“
*Blade:* plunges stick through Apocalypse’s chest
*Apocalypse:* “Oh no! Oh no! Wait! Wait, stop stop stop-!”
Apocalypse: "I who am eternal can never be defeated."
*gets stabbed once*
Apocalypse: "Owie owie owie owie owie!"
This reminds me of that time Blade tried to stake Hulk when he fought the Avengers because he thought that he was a vampire just because he was immortal, and now my personal headcanon is that Blade just thinks every single immortal being in the Marvel Universe is a vampire and that they're all just trying to gaslight humanity that they're not.
@@halfmettlealchemist8076 Captain America: It truly is amazing how I managed to live for over 60 years and still remain youthful.
Thor: Long life is something I too enjoy.
Wolverine: Is that Blade running toward us with a stick?
@@chrisdaily2077 The Eternals and the Avengers have a diplomatic meeting and Tony just looks nervously at Blade as he slowly pulls a bushel of garlic out from under his trenchcoat
Man I was pumped about this. Crazy how much of an impact delays can have
I loved this event.. thank you for covering it
FOR UR FANTASTIC CORE BOOK A MULTAVERSAL MOLE MAN COULD BE THE BAD GUY
YESS
👏👏
Great job Ben. Nailing it out there!
Why is it okay for Spider-Man to be a major player in every story but not Logan? He could have been a vital character given his experience and personality.
This just makes me wanna see you cover his Deceased sequels now once War of Undead Gods wrap up
Sooo in a world without Electricity, where'd characters like Storm, Electro, Berzerker, Zzax, Thor?
Jolt from Thunderbolts etc.
Can't wait for the Fantastic Core back issues episode in 2034
I really want a story where a bus of grannies going to the casino become the Ghost Bus Ruders
I believe this is in Cave Carson has a Cybernetic Eye (would recommend) 14:23
Instant “like” for Fantastic Core
Maybe I'm stupid but where's Thor? He either could've helped with the initial threat or helped close the portal. There has to be someone on Asgard with enough magic powers to close that portal. Hell Wiccan probably could've done it!
The answer is there would be no book if there were any Asgardians in the book
Man, Ben is really on point in this one.
I have to say, I simply loved this story. I hope Taylor comes back to this world, or just Marvel in general.
I love the kids in this their both adorable and their costumes are great
A giant drill? A drill that can.... pierce the heavens?!?!? TENGAN TOPPA MARVEL LAGAAN
This was an awesome episode! Everyone was firing on all cylinders, great job!
Man, Ben was cooking this episode!
Yeah this seems really interesting as a setting and it's a shame it got such a rushed ending. As well as some weird contrivances. Like I kinda enjoy the premise of the portal at the center of the earth causing the electricity to shut down and turn everything steampunk or whatever, but I feel like they need more of a reason as to why the portal can't be closed. Also Faraday Cages are super easy to build I imagine there would be tons of small labs set up with EMP shielding for various scientific development to happen. It could make for an interesting dynamic where you can build these small zones where electricity can exist again, but you can't exactly cover an entire town or city in it, so at best you can just set up a lab to make things that don't use electricity a little easier, which I imagine people like iron man could use to great effect.
Fantastic Core needs to happen!
Hey Sal and Crew! I totally understand the rushed ending, but Damn I was enjoying the beginning of this. Glad we got a cool premise of a story either way.
This story was a shame on how it ended, but it makes for a great episode!!
I honestly wish marvel would just update their universe to be like how it was before the emp hit dark ages
Then we could get a 52-esque series explaining all the changes and how by following different characters/groups
I think it's really the only way to do a "retcon"
Like maybe some entity that represents all the changes in the marvel multiverse is going around and making things even more unrecognizable
I know we all have event fatigue but all I've ever wanted is another CoIE type event for both publishers
I love the character of Chad who wants to be a ghost rider
I really enjoyed this book even though the ending definitely felt rushed. It's a bummer that we'll probably never get a sequel.
I liked the credits at the end. Nice touch.
Very poetic, Dark Ages was foreshadowing for a real-life Dark age!
I had to listen to this like three times and I feel like it’s was cool but it could have been longer and better
Been waiting for y’all to talk about this one
I always thought pietro and Wanda were adopted by magneto because they were the descendants of the whizzer and lady liberty as a way to repay them for fighting for him and his people and that was how he could repay them.
Ahh yes, Marvel's Gurenn Lagann, "My drill is the drill that creates the Multiverse!"
That is how the "egg guy" works on Krakoa, lol. They have a bunch of back up eggs saved, but have a few power mimicers to take someones place if needed
I think Predator Vs Ghost Raiders on a pirate ship would be amazingggg Sal
Keeping that Sam Jackson-Deep Blue Sea-sneak attack death scene train a-goin (1:03:21 there it is, Ben!)