Longshot is all about looking gorgeous and taking risks, making him the perfect embodiment of the comics miniseries. And you couldn’t find him a better writer than Christopher Hastings, the man behind Dr McNinja, because when you’re dealing with otherworldly luck in a universe like Marvel’s, you want someone who thinks that dealing with ninjas, dinosaurs, and ghosts is a standard day job.
The four-part series Longshot Saves The Marvel Universe uses the heroe’s unlikelihood to tour of every alternate threat the Marvel universe can provide. A cross-dimensional teddy bear is the prize in a race between a rewritten SHIELD, the embodiment of Chaos, and the entertaining arrogance of Doc Ock’s Superior Spider-Man. Rips in reality pave the way for the most unlikely threats in comics history, and given their tendency to try to blow up the universe every other week, that’s saying something.
A senile Magneto, werewolf Captain America, giant Doombots and the most hilarious incarnation of Iron Man ever assembled all converge on one hero with no choice but to keep pushing his luck, even if it pushes right through the fabric of the universe and whips reality out from under us like a failed trick with a tablecloth. The script treats continuity as a menu, not manacles, picking the choicest treats to enjoy instead of laboring under the burden of previous obligations. The sheer sense of unlikely fun is a perfect match for the title character, and a refreshing reminder of what comics can be when they don’t take themselves so seriously.