Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Penciler: Sergio Davila
Inker: Aure Jimenez
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Release Date: 16th July 2025

Forming part of its New York City-based publisher’s special event to celebrate fifty years since Marvel Comics first released its original collection of key early stories featuring some of their most iconic super-villains, Phillip Kennedy Johnston’s script for Bring On The Bad Guys: Abomination certainly depicts Emil Blonsky’s grotesque alter-ego in a highly entertaining light. In fact, rather than try to turn Stan Lee’s co-creation into some kind of anti-hero who ultimately risks all to save a group of hapless archaeology students, this particular publication instead doubles down on the gamma mutate’s more murderous inclinations.

Furthermore, Johnson does an excellent job in underscoring the scaly-skinned former spy’s often ignored mental savvy by imbuing him with plenty of brains as well as brawn. This scheming intelligence genuinely pulls the entire narrative together from beginning to end – especially once it’s been revealed just how many favours the Yugoslavian-born monster has ‘cashed in’ so as to specially “get that [ancient] well dug up”, and have the highly out-of-place analyst Mokinyo specifically put in charge of his probationary mission to explore its deadly depths.

Of course, the big draw for this twenty-page book’s audience is Blonsky’s pulse-pounding battle against “the mighty Grootslang” in a waterlogged underground cavern, and frankly the Eisner-nominated writer definitely does not disappoint. Freed from his Wakandan prison cell, this incarnation of the Abomination is as much of a cold-blooded a killer as he ever was, and absolutely annihilates his opponent without any mercy whatsoever. In addition, the two-toed terror doesn’t even momentarily pause in his tracks to rescue the surviving excavators either, and simply leaves them to die of starvation beneath the surface along with the bones of the supernatural being he’s just pulverised; “If you wanted lives saved and kids tucked in, you could’ve brought back your exiled king.”

Also helping enormously to make this comic such a sense-shattering success are penciler Sergio Davila, inker Aure Jimenez and colorist Arif Prianto. Together this creative team genuinely bring the entire story to vivid, animated life – whether it be the excited irritation of the poor professor who first encounters the well a little way “outside our permit zone”, or the sincere, cold-blooded clarity of Emil’s thinking when it comes to simply killing someone with his bare hands just because it’s part of his job.

The writer of this piece was: Simon Moore
Simon Tweets from @Blaxkleric ‏
You can read more of his reviews at The Brown Bag