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Marvel Comics and Fantastic Four: Reckoning War Alpha #1 Spoilers and Review follows.

Watcher’s Secret History Comes Back To Bite Everything and Everyone?!

The book has a few variant covers below on top of the main cover above.

The promise of the issue can be discerned from its solicitation.

FANTASTIC FOUR: RECKONING WAR ALPHA #1
DAN SLOTT (W) • CARLOS PACHECO (A/C)
Variant Cover by BRYAN HITCH • Variant Cover by STEFANO CASELLI

FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE MAKING — AND IT ALL KICKS OFF HERE!

In a time before the Kree, Skrull or Shi’ar Empires. Before the emergence of Galactus. Before the birth of Asgard.

There was the First War. The greatest war to ever rage across the Multiverse.

Today, it is re-ignited. This is the Day of Reckoning.

And all that stands between all of reality and revenge from the dawn of time are the heroes of Earth, the Fantastic Four and the mind of Mister Fantastic.

Starring the FF, She-Hulk, Jack of Hearts, the Unseen, the Silver Surfer and everyone in the whole damn Marvel Universe.

40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

The OG Nick Fury, now the Unseen herald of the rogue Watcher Uatu, comes with news of a secret entity arming the most violent alien regimes of the 616 universe.

That leads to the summoning of all the Watchers home as the weapons appear to be from the First War and belong the precursor to the Watchers.

The Watchers may even need to ignore their non-interference edict for this reason to stop the Reckoning War before it begins, but they’re too late as one such weapon disintegrates Earth’s moon!

That leaves NYC, among other cities across the globe, under siege by the moon’s debris.

The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, but not Eternals or Inhumans, work to protect NYC as the Brotherhood of violent aliens attack; this time its the Badoon.

She-Hulk, in the midst of this battle and dodging debris…

…time masters Justice Peace and Justice Love are observing, but only She-Hulk sees them.

They leave as quickly as they arrived as readers see that elsewhere the cosmic entity known as Eternity is dying from poison and the Silver Surfer is racing to find a cure.

The Fantastic Four head to space to see if this can all be averted or better understood there and they find out the OG Nick Fury isn’t dead, but alive.

He tells them it is the Reckoning behind all this not the Badoon causing…

…Mister Fantastic to access the Watcher’s Cylopedia Universum and…

…through that we get three pages that show us the pre-history of the Watchers and…

…the First War and why they moved to a non-interventionist role, but…

…the Reckoning (aka the Prosicilians who were aliens were selected by the proto Watchers aka The Luminous to receive advanced tech, but it all went to hell) are out for revenge and…

…the Watcher’s cosmic tome has left Mister Fantastic with a power upgrade.

The book ends with the Wrath of the Reckoning ready to emerge from the wasteland of the planet Prosilicus ravaged by the First War.

The Pulse:

A dramatic and action-packed beginning to Marvel’s next event-within-a-series. Solid art and decent plot. I felt the story was generally accessible for folks that do not regularly read the FF. I am intrigued. 7.5 out of 10.

The recent snowstorm heightened the demand for resources.

Carly Pacheco, executive director of FREED, knows that firsthand.

According to Pacheco, the storm’s intensity and unexpected duration put so much demand on resources it nearly exhausted capacity.

FREED operates its Disability, Disaster Access and Resources program year-round. The organization plans for disabled people to persevere during a personal emergency, and incorporates their personal plan to deal with each disaster as it emerges.

“We also supply backup batteries,” said Pacheco. “And these resources were developed originally in cooperation with PG&E in order to deal with (Public Safety Power Shut-off) events.”

FREED is one of 28 such agencies statewide that contracts with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. That foundation, in turn, contracts with PG&E, which supports associates through donations throughout the year.

Some residents who had a plan in place before the snowstorm remain without power. FREED is now getting referrals from PG&E to set up storm victims in accommodations with adequate heating.

“So we’re probably a day behind as requests come in, yet we’re providing hotel rooms, propane or gas for generators to keep medical devices running,” Pacheco said. “And we’re responding by answering phones from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a staff of 15 and kept this pace since December 27.”

FREED’s staff is also affected by the storm, some without power or heat. Despite this, none have missed a shift during the crisis.

Since the snow’s start, FREED has placed 84 people in hotels, including those in Nevada, Placer and El Dorado counties. It’s issued 206 food vouchers — mostly for those placed in hotels, because it can be more expensive — and provided 116 fuel vouchers for generators.

“Funds come from PG&E, but so far, no one has said we are cutting you off,” Pacheco said. “… I think this program is literally saving lives. I don’t want to think what the impact would have looked like without this program.”

Megan McFarland, PG&E communications and marketing representative, said the utility partnered with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers to support it.

“For our medical baseline customers, PG&E has completed wellness checks for 244 in the county,” she said. “PG&E has also assisted in the distribution of 39 pallets of firewood to residents without power. And we partnered with 211 (state social services) to connect locals with services that include shelter, portable backup power, home delivered meals, transportation and bill assistance.”

She also said that as of Monday, PG&E sent 175 customers to FREED and the Disability Resources Agency for Independent Living for assistance.

“Through PG&E’s partnership with local food banks, we are supporting with food replacement to families experiencing food loss due to the winter storm outages,” McFarland added.

William Roller is a staff writer with The Union. He can be reached at [email protected]

The Education Ministry announced Sunday that public schools in Latacunga would be open on Monday despite increasing activity at the Cotopaxi volcano. Latacunga is located 16 kilometers from the volcano and has experienced frequent episodes of moderate ashfall in recent weeks.

“We are in continuous contact with the geologists at the Geophysical Institute and have been assured that there is no immediate danger of a large eruption,” the Ministry said in a statement Sunday. “If conditions change, we will make changes to the school schedule as necessary.”

In its Sunday bulletin, the Geophysical Institute reported that activity at Cotopaxi did not pose an immediate threat to areas close to the volcano but advised that residents wear face masks to protect against ash. It also said that the heightened levels of sulfur in the air do not pose a health threat.

Despite increased activity, schools will remain open in Latacunga, 16 kilometers from the Cotopaxi volcano.

“The Cotopaxi volcano continues to emit clouds of gas and ash as it has for the past few weeks and there has been a slight increase in general activity within the last 48 hours,” the Institute said. “We have recorded an increased number of earthquakes at the volcano, 186 since Friday, but this does indicate an eruption in imminent.”

The statement added: “We remain far below the level of activity of the 2015 eruptive period and will alert the public if this changes.”

In a radio interview Friday, former Geophysical Institute geologist Jorge Pacheco warned that Cotopaxi poses a “unique threat” to Latacunga. “To be very honest, the city is in grave danger if an eruption occurs,” he said. “The city was built on lava flows from eruptions over the past 400 years and sits in a valley where future flows will happen. This is well-known to the government but it unfortunately has allowed development in high risk areas.”

Cases of flu and Covid-19 are on the rise
Ecuador’s Ministry of Public Health said Sunday it is concerned by the rapid increase in respiratory infections and reports that hospitals are experiencing a surge of admissions, particularly in Guayas and Pichincha Provinces. “Cases of seasonal influenza are increasing in several areas of the country as are cases of the Covid-19 virus,” the Ministry said.

“Influenza is responsible for the majority of hospital admissions during the past week,” the Ministry added in a statement. “Despite more positive Covid-19 tests, we are not experiencing an increase of hospitalizations from Sars-CoV-2. All the data suggests decreasing severity for the virus.”

The Ministry advises persons with compromised health conditions to wear masks.

Increasing ridership and advertising revenue reduce tram subsidy
Director of Cuenca’s Tranvia, Jorge Moscoso, reported Friday that the subsidy needed for operation of the system continues to decline. “The subsidy required in 2023 will be 50% of the level when operations began in September 2020,” he said. “Increased ridership and revenue from advertising posted on rolling stock will continue to reduce the subsidy.”

In 2020 and 2021, the city’s contribution to the tram was about $7 million, Moscoso said. “That figure will drop to less than $4 million in 2023 and when the system is integrated with buses it may require no additional financial support.”