In this review of Marvel Gold ‘76 #1, Thanos contracts Bullseye to take down a cosmic entity. He faces Nova, Star-Lord, and Jack of Hearts in a fun and surprisingly emotional battle.
MARVEL GOLD ‘76 #1
Written by: Stephanie Phillips
Art: Madibek Musabekov
Main Cover: Leinil Francis Yu
Variant Covers: Alex Maleev, Kendrick Lim, Hicham Habchi, John Romita Jr.
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: September 9, 2026
This review contains spoilers
To start off Marvel Gold ‘76 #1, Nova, Jack of Hearts, and Star-Lord get into a standoff. Each thinks the other has been sent to kill a human being named Elias Peterson. All of them believe the other has been contracted by Thanos for the task, but realize none of them are. The revelation of who Thanos actually hired to kill Elias comes when Bullseye shoots Jack of Hearts through the head.
As Jack regenerates, a flashback shows that Thanos wants to cause a universal reset by killing Elias. Elias, as it turns out, is a being with immense cosmic power, placed into a human body and implanted with false memories. Bullseye initially doesn’t accept Thanos’ offer because it would mean he’s helping destroy his own universe. However, he gives in because the chaos excites him.
Bullseye fights the three heroes off, having strong geographic knowledge of the city, allowing him to outmaneuver them. Soon after, he shoots Elias, who starts dispersing uncontrolled cosmic energy. Jack absorbs all of it but is upset by Elias’ death at the end, stating he just wanted to go home.
Thanos and Bullseye talk about the event afterwards, where Bullseye expresses happiness despite failing the contract. He got what he wanted: thrill and enjoyment.
Analysis
For starters, I adore the art by Madibek Musabekov and coloring by Luis Guerrero. Stephanie Phillips’ writing shines with art like this, because her tone matches these gritty, gray-scale, blue-ish settings. It’s also part of what’s made her current Daredevil run good.
The combat is awesome. Whether it’s Nova, Star-Lord, or Bullseye, they get plenty of time to showcase their agility and swing around in exciting maneuvers. Power-scaling be damned, seeing Bullseye take on these three powerful characters through preparation, precision, and an insatiable hunger for chaos is very fun. And comics are supposed to be fun.
As for the story, it’s a well-written quick character study on Bullseye. The first non-negotiable when writing Bullseye is that he has to sport a sadistic look to suit his sadistic measures. And it was well-done by Musabekov here.
Whether he’s in Daredevil, or Chris Claremont’s ongoing Gambit: Wanted, the man just covets disorder and violence. Thanos’ initial concerns are that Bullseye will refuse the job because nobody would be around to remark on his skills if he succeeds. However, he’s proven wrong when Bullseye fails and doesn’t care, because he planned on Jack absorbing the energy and saving his universe. All he wanted was the rush off the turmoil.
Similarly, Jack of Hearts’ character writing is just as good as Bullseye’s. He relates to Elias’ burden of power. Elias just wants to go home and live a normal life, and Jack can relate to that due to his yearning but lack of a normal life.
His bodily expressions carry the emotion as well. The body language sinks in what he’s feeling, as he falls to his knees and bows his head when empathizing with Elias. The art and dialogue work well in tandem here.
Final Thoughts
A great character study with a quick payoff for fans of Bullseye and Jack of Hearts. The action is good and the serious writing does not unbalance the fun of the issue.
