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Val Keller-

Val Keller

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About Val Keller

Val Keller is a nerd among nerds. Cursed with a comic-based obsession since the tender age of 0, Val has a passion for both the stories on the page and the stories of how they made it there. Owning a decade of experience in feature journalism, Keller has previously written for various NHL outlets, and since 2020, has independently created YouTube video essays delving into the peculiar histories of troubled comics, movies, and video games as TheMonit0rLizard.
 

Latest Articles

A split image of different tragic versions of Silver Surfer from Marvel Ruins, Thanos Wins, and Exiles 1
The Silver Surfer's Most Tragic Variants, Ranked

It's never smooth sailing for the Silver Surfer, in this life or any other. Across the multiverse, Norrin Radd has met with several unfortunate fates.

Knives and Vash fight in Trigun Stampede. 1
Trigun Stampede: 5 Best Parts About The Adaptation (& 5 Things It Could Have Done Better)

Trigun Stampede was one of 2023's most exciting anime, but it's full of both strong and weak changes to its popular sci-fi western predecessor!

Spider-Man from Spider-Man Unlimited and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. 1
How Spider-Man's Best Movie Created His Most Controversial Show

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man is a staple of the character and superhero cinema, but its production inversely ensured one show would be doomed to obscurity.

A split image of the Spider from Exiles and battling Spider-Men from the Spider-Verse 1
A Forgotten Spider-Man Variant Was a Terrifying Mass Murderer

One of Spider-Man's most memorable, yet least remembered variants is a symbiote-bonded killer who traveled the multiverse with Deadpool and Hyperion.

A split image of the New Ultimate Universe from Marvel comics and the old one 1
Marvel's New Ultimate Universe is in Danger of Repeating Its Predecessor's Biggest Mistake

The new Ultimate Universe is already packed with exciting characters and ambitious plotlines. But is it too much for the still-emerging Marvel line?

Marvel's Illuminati 1
Marvel's Illuminati (And Its Newest Members), Explained

The newest incarnation of Marvel's secret superhero team has appeared in Thanos #1 - but historically speaking, they may do more harm than good.

Marvel's new Punisher with Frank Castle in a blue background. 1
Punisher: Marvel Once Transformed Frank Castle Into an Undead Mercenary

The Punisher has recently undergone massive changes, but none are as drastic as when he was transformed into an undead mercenary.

Venom in Marvel Comics on a background made of multiple Symbiotes and their hosts 1
Venom: It’s Time to Simplify Marvel's Symbiotes

Venom's comic franchise has become too complicated in recent years, littered with underdeveloped characters and overdeveloped ideas.

Spider-Man vs Zombies 1
Marvel Zombies Gives Spider-Man a Horrific Last Stand

Marvel Zombies: Black, White & Blood #1's "Hope" has finally given Spider-Man a sorely missed moment in his expansive zombie canon.

Spider-Man holding Mary Jane's grave as seen in Spider-Man Reign. 1
31 Days of Halloween: Spider-Man: Reign

Spider-Man: Reign was undeniably controversial, but it blended heroes and horror to make something wholly unique.

The zombified heroes from Marvel Zombies 1
31 Days of Halloween: Marvel Zombies #1

2006's Marvel Zombies by The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman was an unforgettable nightmare of a series that was almost never even written.

Stan Lee and the NHL Guardians 1
The NHL’s Guardian Project is Stan Lee’s Strangest Legacy

Stan Lee led numerous controversial projects in the early 2000s, but none were as strange as his collaboration with the National Hockey League.

Azrael and Jason Todd wearing red hoods in DC Comics 1
Batman: Red Hood is Everything Azrael Should Have Been

Red Hood is one of Batman's most interesting allies, but his success has inadvertently minimized a Bat-Family member who used to play the same role.

Kang Ultimate Invasion 1
Is Ultimate Iron Man Destined to Become Kang the Conqueror?

Ultimate Invasion ended with the birth of the new Ultimate Universe's first superhero - but could he also be fated to become a villain?

X-Men Holocaust 1
X-Men: Did Alpha Flight Just Casually Debut a Baby Holocaust?

The new Alpha Flight series may have subtly debuted a drastic reinvention of an underrated X-Men villain from Age of Apocalypse.

Worf and Alexander Rozhenko from Star Trek 1
Star Trek: Defiant Reinforces Worf’s Greatest Sacrifice

Worf is a pioneering Klingon of his era, earning honor across the galaxy. But Star Trek: Defiant highlights the one area he's always come up short.

Mortal Kombat Comics 1
Whatever Happened To Mortal Kombat Comics?

Mortal Kombat 1 is the series' boldest story yet, feeling very much like a comic book - but what happened to the franchise's forays into the medium?

Magneto 2023 Cover with Scarlet Witch/The Brotherhood and the New Mutants in Marvel Comics 1
Can Magneto's Most Important Trait Keep Aging With Him?

Magneto's limited series reshapes his past but keeps his history with the real-world Holocaust intact, reaffirming its importance as time marches on.

Silver Surfer flies alongside Captain Marvel's son, Legacy, in cover art by Ron Lim. 1
The Silver Surfer Is A Wimp, And That’s Okay

Silver Surfer Rebirth: Legacy understands everything that makes Marvel's cosmic hero work, including how he rarely ends up winning any fights.

Alchemex Labs bonds the Carnage symbiote with a chimpanzee in Cult of Carnage: Misery 1
Cult of Carnage: Misery Gives a Classic Spider-Man Character a Shocking Breakthrough

A twisted symbiotic therapy session with a classic Spider-Man side character is just the latest shocking moment in Cult of Carnage: Misery.

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