Val Keller
Contributing since July, 2023
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25articles
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23Features
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2Lists
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
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.
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!
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 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.
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 (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.
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: 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.
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.
31 Days of Halloween: Spider-Man: Reign
Spider-Man: Reign was undeniably controversial, but it blended heroes and horror to make something wholly unique.
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.
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.
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.
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: 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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.