Through the lens of Depression-era New York, the likes of Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Wolverine have a harsher, tougher light cast on their essential characters. Snyder (American Vampire) rips a page from Indiana Jones' notebook and turns Tony Stark into a hard-charging adventurer who must come to terms with a troubled psyche as he races the Nazis for possession of an ancient "metal of the gods." From exploring the deep sea to invading military strongholds, Garcia delivers gritty action to match the drama and darker hues to capture the tone. With appearances by the Noir versions of other Marvel regulars (Sub-Mariner Noir, for instance), this is a fine treat for fans, and although newcomers will enjoy it, too, they should be warned that this isn't Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. The one major drawback, as with so many mainstream collections lately, is its brevity, at only four collected issues.

    Knife’s hands! With billions of lives at stake, Star-Lord must steal it back — with the help of both the Guardians and the X-Men! But as a schism forms between the heroes, Knife’s Slaughter Squad closes in! Beast and Kitty must decipher the Vortex Book as Ronan, Nova and the Brood get involved, and Spartax falls! The Vortex grants near-infinite power to Knife’s forces; to counter them, the heroes will have to submit to its power themselves! Will the X-Men and Guardians lose their humanity forever?Collecting: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex: Alpha, Omega; Guardians of the Galaxy 24-25; Legendary Star-Lord 9-11; All-New X-Men 38-39; Guardians Team-Up 3; Nova 28; Cyclops 12; & Captain Marvel 14