The Dark and Depressing World of Marvel Ruins | An Analysis

over two months ago I released a video

analyzing what I consider to be one of

the darkest Batman comics of all time

that video did pretty well and the

amount of amazing and encouraging

comments I got under that video still

Blow Me Away Today now while I love

getting these incredible messages from

you guys where I like even more is when

you guys suggest comics and stories for

you to check out some of the most common

suggestions I got were Batman Knight

cries The Dark Knight Returns and Batman

The Cult you can expect a lot more

Batman comics will be covered in the

future but a comic that kept coming up

in the comments was Marvel ruins please

check out the comic Marvel ruins it's in

the same realm of this did this story

Inspire Marvel ruins does this remind

anyone of Marvel ruins a video about one

of my two favorite weird slash atypical

comics DC Arkham Asylum and Marvel ruins

thanks now I am admittedly a DC Fanboy I

haven't nearly read as many Marvel

Comics as I've read DC I've been drawn

at DC's darker tone and grounded stories

more than I have been Marvel I have

nothing against Marvel it just could

never hold my attention like DC can now

movies are a much different story but

comic-wise I've always gone with DC so

not only did I never read Marvel Comics

I never even heard of it after so many

people kept bringing it up I had to

check it out myself was ruins as dark

and disturbing as everyone says it was I

decided to check the comic out for

myself and yeah that got dark

really dark like really really dark Not

only was Ruins Dark and disturbing it

was also a fascinating look into tragedy

in The Human Condition so today we will

be talking about Marvel ruins what is

Marvel ruins well to understand that we

first need to understand Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law is an old adjet States

anything that can go wrong will go wrong

this is actually a shortened version of

the original saying the full adage

actually says anything that can go wrong

will go wrong and at the worst possible

time what if instead of turning into

Spider-Man the radioactive spider that

bit Peter gave him a horrible

flesh-eating disease What If instead of

the angry muscular Behemoth the gamma

rays instead turned Bruce Banner into a

tumor riddled bloody mesh of Flesh in

ruins everything that can go wrong will

absolutely go wrong and worse and it

will usually happen in the bloodiest way

possibly Marvel ruins is published in

two separate issues men on fire and wind

in flight from August 1995 to September

1995. in 2009 these two issues were

collected into a single volume ruins was

conceived by Warren Ellis as a parody of

the Marvel series Alice originally

called ruins a black comedy a black

comedy is a story that deals with tragic

or disturbing subject matter in a

humorous way this is kind of funny in

itself because ruins is not humorous in

the least bit nor does it present itself

as being a comedy Now to be fair the

word comedy is actually changing

meanings Through The Years A comedy used

to mean a story that started out sad but

ended happy

this also does not apply so I'm not sure

how Ellis Paul ruins a comedy ruins is a

very dark and gritty story it's almost

hard to believe it was even approved by

Marvel unlike DC Marvel is usually more

cautious it tells its dark stories now

that's not to say there haven't been any

darker Marvel Comics there certainly

have been uh Comics like Marvel zombies

The Punisher of the end Old Man Logan

and dark ages are just a few examples I

would make the argument however that

ruins may very well be the darkest comic

Marvel has ever published the question

is how and why did ruins get published

in the first place well as I said

earlier ruins was a parody of Marvels

Marvels was a four issue in the

mid-series written and illustrated by

Alex Ross or Kirk Busick it ran from

January to April of 1994. Marvel's

follows Daily Bugle photographer Phil

Sheldon as he documents the origins of

the Marvel Universe Marvels was a huge

critical success sweeping the 1994

Eisner Awards winning the awards for

best limited series best painter for

Alex Ross and best publication design it

was also nominated for the best cover

artist and best single issue Marvel was

a huge hit with the fans as well it's

considered to be one of the most

memorable comics of all time at the time

Marvel's a lot different than other

Comics that were out it looked at some

of Marvel's most iconic heroes in a more

grounded in human light Marvel's also

had a fair share of Darker moments as

well nothing compared to ruins but it

had its moments ruins was written by

Warren Ellis Warren Ellis is an English

comic writer novelist and screenwriter

Alice is well known for his social

cultural commentary on transhumanism

which he often influenced to his work

Ellis got a start in 1986 for the

British magazine called the adventurer

some of Elsa's most notable Works

include the authority hellblazer red the

Thunderbolts and Moon Knight Ellis has

written for a number of TV shows

including Justice League Unlimited and

the Castlevania animated series he was

also one of the original writers for the

2008 Survivor horror game Dead Space one

of my personal favorites Ellis is a

decorated veteran of the comic Community

he's a seven-time Eagle Award winner he

all also won the Wizard magazine's best

One-Shot comic for planetary and the

sidewise for alternate history for his

work on the ministry of space now

unfortunately you can't really talk

about Warren Ellis without mentioning

the fact that he's a creep and a scumbag

with a long list of victims I'm not

going to mention any specifics if you

want to know the things he's done you

can look him up yourself I'm only

mentioning them and passing because I

don't want some big debate down the

comments I just don't really care for it

but I did feel like it needs to be

addressed the art of ruins was done by

husband and wife team Therese and Cliff

Nielsen Teresa Cliff Nielsen were both

graduates of the Art Center College of

design in Pasadena California and

together they illustrate Marvel ruins

ruins was arguably both Therese and

Cliff's most famous work the two have

actually since divorced Therese has four

children and lives in Tampa City

California with her wife Cliff still

lives in La so if gliss other Works

include the giver The Chronicles of

Narnia Star Wars and Star Trek and The

Dark Tower series some of Teresa notable

work and close the covers of the Xena

comics and some covers for the Dark

Horse Star Wars comics the artwork of

Marvel ruins is incredible it's actually

quite similar to Arkham Asylum a serious

house on Sirius Earth the art is surreal

and otherworldly it feels like you're

stuck in a dream or a nightmare some of

the visuals in the story will stick with

you for a very very long time it is

haunting ruins is one of the most unique

stories I've ever read admittedly Marvel

ruins doesn't add anything to the Marvel

Mythos there isn't really a concrete

story to ruins it's more just Snippets

of all these Heroes Twisted Fates some

people feel that ruins is too over the

top and edgy for its own sake I

personally don't agree but I can

understand that Viewpoint ruins was

published only a year after the Marvels

so many readers connected to the

Marvel's Comics for its semi-realistic

take on the Marvel's most iconic Heroes

ruins relies on the reader's connections

to these characters to shock you ruins

does partially rely on pure shock value

but it does it well and it's very

memorable seeing your favorite

characters suffer sick and twisted Fates

is going to get some reaction out of you

ruins knows this and pushes you to the

very limit if you like what you've seen

so far and want to learn more then I

would like to ask you to stick around

but first I would like to give a special

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the way let's get back to the video

Therese Nielsen did the artwork for the

cover of issue number one both covers

were done in the style of the original

Marvel's Comics creating the impression

that ruins is meant to be a twisted

companion piece the cover shows Phil

interviewing a bunch of Heroes as they

lied down in the ground ironically we

rarely see the heroes and merwins

actually wearing their costumes the

first panel shows the cover of a

newspaper called the weekly World

inquiry the top headline reads porn star

enchantress as she killed producer with

magic below that is a picture of

Galactus dead corpse floating through

space the tagline reads telescope photos

of Mars discovers corpse of Supreme

Being in orbit the assumptions that

Galactus starved to death even Gods

aren't safe in this universe the more

you read this comic it becomes evident

that something is seriously wrong here

ruins is a deaf World it seems like the

universe itself is actually hostile to

its inhabitants the cost of living in

this universe is that you must suffer a

terrible fate the premise of ruins is

that the accidents that created the

heroes of the Marvel Universe instead

result in horrible mutations and painful

deaths for every kiss a bullet in the

face for every action a reaction for

every event there exists in potential a

mirror event and exactly opposite

possibility if the world you know is of

Marvel's where heroic women walk

invisibly through horror and Men Of Fire

Ride the upper reaches of the air then

only a misstep or stopped heartbeat away

is a world of ruins saying ruins is the

complete opposite of Marvels wouldn't be

exactly accurate Marvel's had dark

moments too in the fourth issue the day

she died we see Spider-Man failed to

save Gwen Stacy from the Green Goblin in

fact it's one of the more iconic moment

from Marvels it's probably more accurate

to say that ruins is a perverted version

of the Marvel's Universe in the Marvel

Multiverse the Earth of ruins is listed

as

earth9591 California in the summer the

first page shows our story's protagonist

Philip Sheldon looking up to see The

Avengers quinjet blow up African hit by

a patriot missile on the very first page

we see some of Marvel's most beloved

Heroes Going Up in Flames the tone of

ruins is set very quickly Phil Sheldon

was also the main character in the

Marvel's Comics Philip Sheldon was a

former employee at The Daily Bugle in

Ruins Phil Sheldon is missing an eye he

was also missing on iron Marvels Phil

lost his eye in the first issue of

Marvel's a time of Marvels he gets

caught in the crossfire in a fight

between the Human Torch and Neymar it's

never revealed how he lost his eye in

Ruins so we can just assume he lost him

the same way for some reason Phil can't

help theorize that things are not the

way they're supposed to be the world

should be filled with Marvels but

something's gone wrong Phil decides he's

going to write a book investigate all

the would-be superheroes in this

universe in this universe Tony Stark

never made it to Vietnam he was in

California trying to meditate and was

struck by piece of shrapnel from a

grenade from the National Guard we're

trying to call a riot he was able to

save himself with his vast wealth and

extensive knowledge of technology in the

papers he was known as The Man in the

Iron Mask he joins forces with other

Heroes like Hank Pym and Doctor Strange

in this universe instead of the

superhero group we know as The Avengers

they are a revolutionary cell plotting

to overturn the American government as a

result the quinjet shot down by missiles

killing all the Avengers we see U.S

soldiers holding Captain America's

shield and Thor's hammer Phil says that

he can feel his Universe was on the cusp

of the age of Marvels but something went

wrong Phil says that if he can interview

the people who have been quote unquote

touched by the Paranormal he will

discover the clues of who they could

have or should have been we see Phil

holding a newspaper talking about Matt

Murdock instead of becoming Daredevil

Matt died from his injuries a depressing

but realistic Take On The Man Without

fears Origins while at a bar Phil runs

into Wolverine or Canuck as he's

mockingly referred to here by the

bartender his adamantium skeleton has

turned his blood toxic his skin is

starting to Decay right off his body if

you're a fan of body horror then you're

going to love this comic ruin shows the

human body pushed to its absolute limits

and Beyond some of the scenes are

reminiscent of a junji Edo story Phil

asked the bartender for some orange

juice so he can take his pills at this

point we do not know what the pills are

for we see a couple of photographs and

learn of some unfortunate Fates within

the universe Bobby seale Huey P Newton

and tachala Des wakandis of the Black

Panther Party at San Francisco city jail

Robert seal and Huey P Newton were both

founding members of the Black Panther

Party or Robert seal was an engineer

activist and author both Bobby and Huey

were heavily inspired by the teachings

of Malcolm X seal was famously against

the Vietnam War he's one of the eight

people charged by the U.S federal

government with conspiracy charges

related to anti-vietnam war protests in

Chicago Illinois during the 1968

Democratic National Convention these

individuals were known as the Chicago

eight Seal's trial was very publicized

during the trial period he was charged

with 16 charges of contempt of court the

judge sentenced steel to three months in

prison on each account for a total of

four years Huey P Newton was

revolutionary and political activist and

along with Bobby seale he was one of the

founding members of the Black Panther

Party under Newton's leadership the

Black Panther Party founded over 60

Community Support programs for

disaffected black youths including

sickle cell anemia tests and food banks

Huey P Newton was shot and killed on

August 22nd 1989 by a man named Tyrone

Robinson his motives for killing Newton

are contested as Robinson originally

said he killed Newton for self-defense

however it is speculated he may have

killed Newton as a way to advance in the

Marxist prison gang the black gorilla

family t'challa was arrested with seal

and Newton after becoming a member of

the Black Panther Party this could be a

nod to when Marvel changed the

character's name to the black leopard to

try and avoid association with the Black

Panther Party we see Hawkeye being

executed by California Military advisor

Iron Man holding someone's head like

he's about to rip it off and we see

Wanda who was a former member of The

Avengers turning herself into the

federal government it's implied that she

makes a deal to feds and betrays the

Avengers possibly leading to their

deaths next we see Phil in Nevada

outside of a Cree reservation the

reservation is the middle of a nuclear

test zone it's both punishment and

reminder to this once proud warrior

species none of the children know why

they're here it's worse for the few

children born alive here the cree don't

teach the children their failures I

think metaphor for the cree camps is

pretty clear these images are pretty

close parallels to the concentration

camps of World War II and the internment

camps of Japanese citizens in the U.S if

you have sensitivity to seeing those

kinds of images it might be better to

skip ahead a little bit because ruins

does not hold back Phil is here to

interview the spokesman for the cree he

needs radiation suit just to enter the

camp we get a full look at one of the

cree Marvel the first Captain Marvel it

looks like half of this skin on his face

is melting right to the Bone we see

strings of long gangly hair hanging over

the good side of his face if you can

even call it that I stare shamelessly

getting my first close look up at an

alien an alien riddles with shame and

cancer half blinded by a mutant cataract

like me he only has burning questions

and one good eye what happened how did

we come to this the two sit down and

Phil tells Marvel his plans to write a

book he mentions that he doesn't have a

lot of time yet at this point we don't

know what he means by this here we

learned the craze failed invasion of

Earth it was three years ago was all

going so well behold my ship shrieked

their choirs as a kid into Terran local

space the hyperport Locking behind us

we'd swept around your moon in a process

of nailing down preliminary orbit when

we saw it a silvered humanoid quite dead

slowly twisting above the Earth it was a

thing of space a sealed biology without

need for atmosphere but it had breathed

once perhaps it had gone mad wanted to

know again what was like to breathe air

but it was sealed our conclusion was

that deranged and caught its own chest

opened to expose its lungs to the

atmosphere and died of shock too late we

noticed the creature was giving off

energy some horribly potent cosmic power

beyond our experience and it gated our

cloaking arrays the silver humanoid

Marvel is talking about is of course the

Silver Surfer the Silver Surfer was once

human before becoming galactus's slave

as humans we often take our most basic

senses for granted the loss of sensation

drove the Silver Surfer mad causing him

to rip his own lungs open in a vein

attempt just to feel its life to breathe

again since lost sadness is a common to

open stories where a character Grieves

the loss of one or more of their senses

one of my favorite examples of his Trope

is balder from God of War Boulder lost

the ability to feel anything after his

mother Freya put a curse on him to keep

him Immortal the energy from the Silver

Surfers corpse causes the cree's nuclear

weapons to detonate causing the few

survivors to jump into Escape pods and

fold Earth your mercy be placed here the

sight of your early nuclear experiments

your species had a sense of humor we

were denied our surviving medicines if

he removed your helmet Mr Sheldon you

could smell my bones rotting one child

of eight is born alive the soldiers

refused to carry out our dead we have to

burn them in piles we all have cancer at

one point Marvel felt that Humanity had

great potential but after witnessing the

cruelty to his people by the hands of

humans his opinion has changed I can't

really say I blame him we see a news

article titled exclusive sighting of

reclusive president written by Ben

yurich in photos by Gwen Stacy is

actually riddled with tiny little Easter

eggs if you keep your eyes open for them

these pictures comprise the first

seeings of the president of the United

States since the unprecedented

relocation of the White House lawn on

the day when he should have been meeting

to discuss the possible statehood of the

newly formed District of New York the

enlarged shots reveals the unusual

secret servicemen pushing the

president's wheelchair the wings visible

upon the man plainly cannot be real a

scratch on the film or a blurred

development but the White House Press

office remains silent on the matter in

other developments president X has

authorized a new wave of air strikes in

the genocian police action increasingly

referred to as the genocian war in the

ruins Universe Professor Xavier is the

president of the United States we see

the X-Men Angel pushing his wheelchair

in the newspaper photos this isn't the

same Professor X we often know this

Professor X is cruel to his fellow

mutants a common theme in Ruins is for

characters that are often betrayed as

being kind and friendly or bitter and

angry here Professor X is known by many

to be a sort of Martin Luther King

character in the comics so to see him

being betrayed so differently is quite

shocked next we see Phil in Washington

DC Phils in DC to meet with this

universe's Nick Fury Colonel Fury good

of you to find the time to meet me use

my name in public again I'll put a

bullet in her head after being quite a

stir then spot in the two most security

sensitive areas in the country and you

write to me I tell you if we didn't know

you were dying we have locked you up in

California and how did you know not much

gets past the agency still don't know

why you're wasting your Twilight days on

this cross country thing how about this

rain huh now we know what Phil meant

when he said he doesn't have much time

to write his book he's dying I love the

panel with Phil and Nick Fury standing

together if the text bubbles weren't

there you probably couldn't tell them

apart the lettering in this book was

done by Jonathan Babcock they're both

wearing the same thing and have an eye

patch over their left eyes Phil tells

him he's writing about his findings and

he catches one of the gut for it Nick

Fury punched Phil because he felt he was

trying to implement him as one of the

Avengers remember the Avengers are being

hunted down and executed here Phil tells

him he's not trying to accuse him of

anything he's writing about the quote

unquote different ones and fury knew

Captain America Fury tells him that he

hasn't seen Captain America in a long

time you ever get the feeling that's all

gone wrong Sheldon like maybe all this

weird sick stuff that happens should

really be something wonderful like Phil

Sheldon Nick Fury somehow knows things

aren't the way they're supposed to be

this world should be filled with Heroes

and gods protecting the Earth and all

her citizens instead everything has gone

wrong instead of the clear-minded

colonel Nick Fury in the comics the

world ruins his turn Fury into a Ramblin

lunatic Fury sticks a gun and fills face

and we learned that Phil intense called

his book Marvels ironic isn't it Fury

virus's gun he shoots a rabbit dog

behind Phil Fury means that as wicked as

the world is he has accepted it he

doesn't have to put an effort to save a

world that's already gone to hell even

if he doesn't understand the purpose

Fury tells Phil that he won't stop him

from writing his book Fury decides to

give Phil an exclusive for his book he

drops a bombshell and tells Phil that

Captain America introduced him to

cannibalism during the war it's hard to

imagine America's favorite mascot would

commit such an inhuman act this is where

youngjin gray comes up to the two men

offering herself a twenty dollars excuse

me my name's Gene I'll do it better than

anyone for twenty dollars nice clothes

not cheap how old are you Jean old as

you need out of everyone the X-Men tend

to get it the worst fan favorite X-Men

Gene is a teenage prostitute in this

universe Fury takes out his pistol and

shoots Jean Gray in broad daylight pain

this country is mutilating and it really

reached New York yet you gotta be a

mutant survive what's coming X knows I

tell you are you a mutant Colonel Fury

sure moral Fury tells Philly is going to

take a nap with his pistol under his

chin and kills himself right in front of

Phil I guess after telling Phil how

[ __ ] up the world is Fury saw no point

of living anymore but odd considering

the fact that just seconds earlier he

told Phil that him and his colleague of

the agency are eager to read his book

next we see Phil in Chicago he knocks on

the door of a boarding house a woman

with a sickly looking baby opens the

door the baby has a fistula on his chest

a fistula is an abnormal connection

between two body parts such as an organ

or a blood vessel or any other structure

fistulas are usually a result of an

injury or surgery infection or

inflammation can also cause official to

form a few places officially conform is

in the stomach and the surface of the

skin the navel and the gut and the neck

and the throat the woman says for twenty

dollars Phil can hear the fish to say

our Lord is dead don't forget my baby's

name she screamed as I edged past and

upstairs he'll be the Messiah one day

Damon hellstrom don't forget Damon

hellstrom Damon hellstrom was a

character first appeared in the early

70s in Ghost Rider number one he was

created by Roy Thompson after seeing the

success of the Ghost Rider comics

Stanley proposed a comic starring Satan

himself Roy felt that readers might have

some reservations about reading about

the Devil Himself so they made a comic

about the son of Satan this is Damon

Damon has been a member of a few groups

in the Marvel Universe such as the

Defenders and the midnight Sons Phil

knocks on an apartment door looking for

someone named Mr Jones at first Rick

Jones pretends to be someone else but

once he learns it's Phil Sheldon he lets

him in a woman named Marlo Chandler is

lying half naked on Rick's floor both

are more Fanatics Rick Jones has been a

long-standing character in the Marvel

Universe he's often depicted as the best

friend sidekick of a Hulk Rick Jones was

born in Scarsdale Arizona he lost his

parents at a young age and grew up in an

orphanage later he accepted a dare drive

out to a bomb testing ground in New

Mexico as luck would have it the gamma

bomb designed by Dr Robert Bruce Banner

was being tested Banner pushed Rick into

a protective trench saving his life but

absorbing the gamma rays that

transformed Banner into the Hulk Rick

thus became the sole Confidant of a

Hulk's true identity Marlo Chandler

first made her comment debut in The

Incredible Hulk Volume 2 in 1988 she's

the wife of Rick Jones and sometimes the

human host of Lady Death Rick Jones

invited Phil over so he can tell him his

story something happened to Rick in

Arizona he says that the CIA is after

him he wants to tell the story before

he's killed before telling the story

Rick drinks more morphine all his teeth

are rotting and his skin looks like it's

sagging Rick starts telling Phil what

happened in Arizona we see a young Rick

Jones playing his guitar outside of a

nuclear testing site he sees a manic

doctor on a motorcycle desperately

driving towards him this doctor and his

white coat and everything was like

ripping towards me this guy was waving

and screaming and shouting all I could

hear was test and trench at first Rick

thought the doctor was going to tell him

to leave the private property that's

when he started seeing the water tower

spark the doctor pushes Rick out of the

way and the water tower goes up the

doctor is Bruce Banner the explosion

should have killed the doctor but it

didn't kill him not really it hurt to

look at him his skin went black and dry

and cracked and light Shone out of him

like all his meat was on fire then he

started to swell and then the tumors

broke him open instead of turning to the

Hulk Bruce Banner turns to a giant tumor

riddled Abomination huge plus-filled

spores grow all over his body his bone

starts to True through his skin his

organs start to shoot after his mouth

and see his eyeball fall out from his

skull half the skin from his face is

completely off his body expands to

painful lengths and it's riddled with

cancerous cells and growths he just

turned to this mass of cancer and he's

still alive man I could see it they kept

him in a vault under Lake now codename

Hulk man you asked the CIA it's possible

that Rick also contracted cancer after

the incident he might be using the

morphine to help deal with cancer pains

Marlo calls Rick a liar and starts

beating her Phil doesn't know if Rick's

story is true but he knows that

something is very wrong in this universe

things aren't the way they're supposed

to be something went wrong in this world

and Phil needs to find out what it was

while walking out of Rick's apartment

Phil Falls over the dead body of Frank

Castle The Punisher Phil is dying his

time is running out he needs to find the

truth before it's too late I don't want

to die death is so close so loaded in my

veins and tissues that can almost taste

it the heaviest snow I've ever known

death is everywhere it's falling on us

all let me find an answer before I go

let me show them how all this happened

please don't let me die in this place

this is the end of issue one ruins holds

no punches and it shows some very

disturbing and dark imagery in only the

first few pages this is a dark cold and

Angry World world that seems to feed all

the pain and suffering with inhabitants

the question is what caused all this to

happen was this world always destined

for damnation or did something happen is

that this world into such Darkness this

is what Phil wants to learn and he

doesn't have much time he's dying

finding the truth may very well be the

last thing he will do will he succeed

well there's only one way to find out so

let's get into the next and final issue

of Marvel ruins the cover of issue 2

shows Magneto losing control over his

powers and having metal objects flying

to him I really love this cover and this

has a bit more relation to the story

than the last one you'll see what I mean

in a minute the second issue begins we

see Phil on an airplane with a woman

named Raven darkholm Mystique we said

Mystique looks very tense it looks like

she's in pain and trying to jump out of

her seat she digs her nails her own hand

this is when her face starts to melt

into disgust and glob with flesh and

blood she screams out in agony this

version of Mystique has did that she

needs to be medicated for she forgets to

take her medicine and loses control of

her powers she believes she's absorbing

everyone's identity around her this

becomes too much for her to handle she

suffers a brain hemorrhage Men in Black

come and take her away we see in the

seat next to Phil it's splattered with

blood Phil's clearly reeling what he

just saw he has seen so much tragedy in

such a short amount of time it's amazing

he's still able to keep it together

though given the fact that he's dying he

really doesn't have much of a choice

Phil lands and we see that there's a

protest against President X happening

president X is being pushed in a chair

by one of the secret servicemen one of

the secret servicemen pushes away an

elderly looking man I see another man's

jacket is a strange looking device the

secret serviceman thinks it's a bomb and

moves president X to safety this man is

Magneto and that isn't a bomb it's a

device to nullify his powers this is

clearly a different Magneto than the one

we see on the cover this Magneto is a

hippie who like Mystique can't control

his powers that seems to be a common

theme of the X-Men in the world of ruins

Phil stands and photographs the man

instead of running Magneto's Powers

overtake him and all hell breaks loose

every metal object around Magneto starts

flying down we see one agent lose his

gun and the metal implants in his leg

Phil loses a metal filling in his teeth

the planes on the terminals start to

unravel the secret service agent that

shoved Magneto has all the iron his

blood sucked out of him this reminds me

of that one scene in X2 if you've seen

it we see giant metal objects and shards

of glass flying through the air we see

blood and Mayhem it feels like a conduit

in this comic everything bad is

happening around him it's almost like

this universe is showing him all this on

purpose somehow Phil survives and we see

him in Texas he's in a secret mutant

prison run by Wilson fists it's this job

to make sure that none of the mutants

can use their powers he does this by

mutilating them so they can't use their

abilities like Scott Summers Cyclops

Fisk Burns Scott's eyes right out of her

sockets so he couldn't use his powers he

mistreats all of the inmates beating

cursing and mutilating all of them Kitty

pride gets stuck on the wall of her cell

and rips out her intestines while trying

to escape Nightcrawler has gone sane and

has seen biting on his own tail this

explains that President X often visits

the prison all president next comes down

to visit sometimes sometimes she sits

here in a chair and stares at him kind

of sad other times lordy the things he

says is to leave them all Sovereign

throwing up one time remember he dropped

his pants and screamed you all came from

this it's unclear if president X is

literally all the X-Men's father or if

it's just a metaphor but one thing that

is clear is that this isn't the Charles

Xavier we're used to seeing the entire

X-Men prison is under his order next we

see what Fisk has done to Quicksilver

they cut off his legs and arms leaving

him a bloody sack sitting in the corner

oh no that's for Quickie's own good Mr

Sheldon don't go feeling sorry for him

more than Fisk why are you keeping these

paranormals here because that's what

I've been told to do because that's the

way it is the president you see he knows

he keeps it this way that's the way he

wants it all locked up quietly you heard

about this place in rumors I know rumors

don't hurt anything Mr Sheldon now let's

go and collect your camera and see you

on your way the president said I should

extend you every courtesy after all he

didn't want you to bring no proof out

but he said he won a granted Iron Man

his last request it seems like everyone

knows that Phil is dying next we see

Phil writing in his journal by Pond this

is the first time we've seen Phil take a

break since the start of the comment he

sits by himself for a while and then a

little girl comes along this reminds me

of the scene in Frankenstein the people

these paranormal ruins of man they were

dropped on a world like a stone their

shockwaves have touched all edges of my

world Mister you looked all alone so I

got you flowers because they're alive

and can be company thank you my mother

talks to her flowers all the time we're

having a picnic would you like to have

sandwiches with me my mommy this is a

really important scene it's good to have

these more somber moments to break up

the violence it can be very taxing to

read non-stop sorrow and sadness it's

important to have these slow and somber

scenes to give the reader a chance to

breathe it also slows down the pace and

gives you a chance to reflect on the

very disturbing things you've seen Dr

Donald Blake a cult leader who believes

he can Channel The Entity Thor through

his body after becoming addicted to fly

agric mushrooms this is a bit odd

because we know Thor exists as an

Avenger in this universe we saw a

soldier holding up his hammer as a

Memento so it's a bit of a continuity

error Ember Frost owns the Church of the

Next Generation where she legally adopts

the children of her followers and has

them undergo surgery to unlock their

quote unquote psychic abilities this is

the point when the artists for the comic

switches Hands Chris Moeller took over

from Nielsen's and Illustrated the last

17 pages of the second issue Chris

Mueller has long-standing career

illustrating for Dark Horse Comics he's

also attributed some art to both Magic

the Gathering and dungeon the dragons I

have to say I really do like his art

style it's colorful and stylized though

it's so different from the art style of

the rest of the comic that is a bit

jarring it's odd Marvel didn't even try

and hire an artist to replicate the

Nielsen's work to at least try to make

the artwork similar I've tried looking

up why the artists switched so late in

development but I couldn't really find

any solid answers next we see Phil

investigating rumors of paranormal

traveling circus makeshift circus ring

laid out on desert floor

ugly people do their shtick for thin

audience of uglier people attractive

woman does something illegal with a

python for 10 15 minutes the woman is

Zelda Dubois who engages in illegal

activity with her pet Snape Zelda Dubois

also known as Princess python is a snake

charmer who uses her giant pet python to

help her commit crimes Zelda first

appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man

number 22 in March 1965. she also

travels with a circus in the comics and

is an occasional love interest of Johnny

Blaze speaking of Ghost Rider hush comes

over the place as the main attraction

slowly rides into the Rain Saint John or

Blaze they call him lots of scarring on

his face dead eyes like a flagellant a

blaze they call him Saint John getting

old ever saw it coming never put

together the name the cars the deadness

the thin evil smell of gasoline and the

lighter St John never survived if it

wasn't clear yet this is Johnny Blaze

the Ghost Rider instead of a

supernatural agent for the demon

Mephisto he's a depressed stunt man who

sets his own head on fire the stunt goes

wrong and he rides off into the desert

with a flesh burning off his face right

down to his skull and he screams the

whole time but for hours after this [ __ ]

he rode around desert screaming

technically dead facial fat flying off

his torched head like hot rain but still

riding

screaming next we see Phil and hotel

room reminiscing about the recent events

at the start of the story Sheldon had a

full head of hair now he's balding

rapidly this could simply be due to the

switching of artists or it could be a

sign of his failing Health Phil's time

is running out he thought if he went

looking for these paranormal people he

would find a singular event that started

it all all the pain all the suffering

but now he's not too sure but there is

one thing he does know he needs to write

the truth he feels like he needs to show

the world what this universe could have

been Phil goes to get some sleep he

dreams of the Avengers like how we know

them it's almost as if Phil is looking

to the other world of Marvels it's like

Phil's connected to his alternative self

I wonder if this is why he feels so

strong that things aren't the way

they're supposed to be and I dream of

men on fire in the upper reaches of the

air and women in Flight dancing in

stilettos on clouds and the Good Men

come and drag president tricky from his

retirement Palace and kick him to death

and they show president X Washington in

every place else and make him cry until

he promises and fix it all and good

things happen every day and walking the

street becomes like going to church for

their High Fashion Angels in the sky and

we clap and cheer and good things happen

every day we see some old War photos

Oklahoma militiamen taken into custody

by police following reports of

threatening behavior brief interview

unashamed fascist Monroe Wright Hitler

was a great man with sad failings with

cannibal leanings particularly in Creed

left Bucky Barnes Center dispute out

sexual obscenities until sedated Phil's

next stopped the Rocky Mountains he's

meeting with Ben Grimm human Ben Grimm

just like in the comics Ben is a pilot

while in school Ben met Reed Richards

Sue storm and Johnny Storm read Richard

asked bendy to Pilot of The Craft so he

can study Cosmic reactivity when Ben is

reluctant read Richard's grows impatient

and plans on stealing the ship for his

studies Ben tells him he's not going to

do it and that you have a falling out

Ben wanted to install lateral Motors on

the ship but that would have delayed it

rid Richards finds Victor Von Doom to

fly the plane with doom piloting the

craft the crew flew right into a flash

storm they were all hit with fatal

levels of cosmic radiation Reed Richards

becomes an elongated skeleton Johnny

Storm burned from the inside out Sue

storm becomes invisible she becomes

completely light reflectors including

her eyes which make her blind all of

Doom's organs were on the outside of his

body you know what the worst of it is

despite having no laterals despite the

flash storm I can't help think it would

have different if I'd flown her I can't

help it you can see the regret in Ben's

eyes it's hinted that this may have been

the event that caused everything to go

wrong this is contradicted by the fact

that Captain America introduced

cannibalism to Nick Fury is this the

start of the butterfly effect or has

this world been screwed from the get-go

the answer isn't clear I think what is

clear however is that there's no going

back the world's damned Phil knows this

and he's not trying to save it he knows

that's not possible but if you can just

find an answer then maybe it wouldn't

all be for nothing next we see Phil in

New York City Marvel's a green man a

body that stretched before Rigamortis

set in silver Spaceman Invisible Woman

Marvel's that's what I'll call the book

I have all those notes and all the

interviews I can write the book and

please God I can write it quickly

however it appears Phil's time might be

up he sees he has painful looking gashes

in his hand he says hot and dizzy on the

train back Phil ran out of pills he

starts cursing Peter Parker this is the

first time we hear Peter's name in the

story Parker Peter Parker so hot I hate

New York I stopped for a minute Parker I

always hated him a Weasley kid had to be

Parker didn't it lousy photographer

worked freelance for the bugle paying

his college tuition and keeping that

poisonous and of his science major

know-it-all weasel kid messes up a

college experiment got bitten by a

spider he irritated got infected rattled

with a raging mutant virus confectious

visited the bugle offices before his

rash showed contagious little weasel

Peter infected Phil with his disease we

see a close-up of a wedge-shaped rash on

Peter's hand this is what Phil has been

dying from instead of spider powers the

radioactive spider that bit Peter gave

him a mutating flesh eating virus

Peter's entire body is infected with

horrible disease he's bleeding from his

skin and can't wear clothes he lost all

of his hair he looks more like a corpse

than a human his eyes are black and

white he's left with only a few puffs of

mangley hair the cracks in his skin

resemble a spider web I believe this is

the most haunting image of the story and

a story with no shortage or disturbing

images that's saying a lot it's a shame

we couldn't see how the nielsens would

have Illustrated the scene Phil's ready

to publish everything before his

medicine runs out and the virus

overtakes and the web starts to spread

to fill his hands and face he falls back

as his briefcase bursts open all this

noticing pictures come flying out Phil

pleads with God just let him live a

little bit longer so he can publish his

work these prayers are unanswered people

don't even stop to look death is so

common in this world that has become

acceptable for dead bodies we left alone

in the open Street to rot as he lies on

the street dying all of his notes

scattered in the wind lost forever this

is where the story ends Marvel ruins is

only anything I've ever read before as I

said earlier ruins doesn't add much some

Marvel Mythos but it doesn't really need

to ruins is an experience we don't

always need a complex story to enjoy

what we read the disturbing the dark

imagery in this comic will stay with you

for a very long time and ruins has

stayed with fans for a long time it's

still considered by many to be one of if

not the most disturbing Marvel comic of

all time its Legacy will and will

continue to stand a test of time and

funny enough as I was recording this

video I started seeing a bunch of tick

tocks about Marvel ruins show up which

was

kind of fortunate for me I would say

um so clearly fans still gravitate

towards it it's just such a unique comic

it's clear to see why I had a lot of fun

analyzing ruins I think it's pretty

clear to see I love Dark Comics and

according to my analytics you guys love

when I talk about Dark Comics as well so

I would love to get more suggestions

down in the comments below what other

Dark Comics would you guys like me to

check out I really want to know uh

before I get out of here I just want to

say thank you guys for watching this

video uh I say this into every video now

but I am still just so blown away with

all the love and support I can't thank

you guys enough if you want to find me

elsewhere I'm over on Twitter so I'd

appreciate if you guys could follow me

there if you really loved what you've

seen and you want to support me I'm now

over on patreon it is absolutely not

mandatory but it would certainly help me

out uh starting with the video that

comes out after this I'm gonna start

releasing my videos on patreon a week

before I upload them to YouTube so if

you want to get my videos a week early

and want to help support me then check

down below and check out my patreon you

can fall you can also find me over on

Twitch I stream myself playing Batman

Arkham Asylum a while ago and it was a

lot of fun I'm gonna be streaming every

week now starting on Friday the 23rd of

this month I will be streaming every

Friday Sunday and Wednesday I'll be

playing the rest of the Arkham Series so

city is next so if that's something you

want to see then come check it out I'm

going to try emphasis on try to stream

on both twitch and YouTube but I can't

make any promises lastly I would like to

thank atlasvpn one more time for

sponsoring this video uh it's it's a lot

of help

all right that's all I gotta say uh see