Here we are again, another month ending, another season changing, new comics on the horizon. I don’t know about you, but I gotta get to new comic day at the shop, so let’s just dive in to what’s headed for us in the mighty Marvel manner!
Best Ultimate Conclusion – a lot of Ultimate books are promising that their title is “it” or that they’re delivering “the final round”, delivering the final word on major plotlines left and right while promising the next big thing is just around the corner, I have to admit only one has got me curious.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #116 Now, they did the Green Goblin in Ultimate Spider-Man before and they did a smash up job with it; they even did a Hobgoblin story and seemed to put the Osborns to bed after the “Hobgoblin” storyline. After the Clone Saga and all the catastrophe that caused, I think bringing the Green Goblin back is a fantastic idea. The plan is so simple, but founded on the hard questions and choices that we’ve come to find Spider-Man in, that infamous one decision that can change everything. From the solicit: Norman Osborn has come to the realization that Peter Parker is his legacy — the living reminder of his unparalleled genius. All he wants Peter to do is to reveal to the world that it was he, Norman, who created Spider-Man. If young Parker will do this, all will be forgiven. If not, everyone that Peter loves will be destroyed! The first Spider-Man movie hit a little on that twisted sense of family between Spider-Man and his arch-nemesis and seeing such a basic and true Spider-Man dilemma of the prowess of massive villain mixed with human morality, well… I’m a happy camper.
Best Red Haired Herring – For years (no really, YEARS) the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane has been on shaky ground editorially. Joe Quesada feels it stifles storylines and hints at plans in the works to make Spider-Man a swinging bachelor once more. And yet…
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #545 Okay, last story in the “One More Day” saga, the final nail in the coffin for this Back in Black mixed up crazy Spider-Man we’ve all come to love and or hate. Whatever comes after this, however it comes, it’s all going to be different and every press report seems to promise a return to fun for the friendly neighborhood Wall Crawler. But first! From the solicit: At his darkest hours — and he’s had plenty — Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who’d remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he’s about to lose that person. And I don’t think that person is who it’s hyped up to be. From the sound of it, it sounds like Aunt May. Let’s face it, the poor woman’s seen a lot these past few years and she was no spring chicken when she first showed up. With her fatal wounds, her nephew’s life going in a full tilt spiral, I think this is going to be the last time we’ll have Aunt May in the main Marvel books.
Best Cosmic Catastrophe – War is not Civil… nor is it Hulk, I guess…
ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST #1 (of 6) Boy, have I been waiting for this. After the phenomenal work done in the last series and the rather exciting and totally unique mini-series that have been hitting the shelves, I really just wanted to make sure people marked their calendars for this. That’s all. From the solicit: What are the Phalanx really after? What new players will change the game? And what last-page reveal will leave your jaw hanging?
Best Sigh of Relief – Internet irritation has been rolling in like waves upon the shore in regards to how characters like Tony Stark and Reed Richards have become… well, we’ll say ‘jerks’ in the light of Civil War. A lot of people (myself included) have been waiting for the last shoe to drop, that one reveal where the idea of making a clone of a fellow comrade and godlike being is a great idea. Where setting up a strong autocratic control over friends and family is the right thing to do. And?
FANTASTIC FOUR #552 From the solicit: Dr. Doom has come from the future with a message: Reed Richards must be stopped now, before his ultimate Civil War plans come to fruition. What was Mr. Fantastic really doing during Civil War? This is a big sigh of relief on many levels. One way of looking at this is that all the internet irritation was right, that the acts of Reed Richards to shun his family for the idea of a mathematical utopia will the more dastardly some have expected. There actually might be some sinister motive for all of this! Another way to see this is that Doom’s returning “from the future” to plant suspicion in the minds of a family that’s already smarting from some painful choices. Even if Reed’s motives are really pure, that doesn’t mean everyone else is convinced, even in the books. And if this is the case, this means we’ll actually have a villain taking advantage of some of the fallout from Civil War! Real villains! Fighting real heroes! HOORAH! In either case, I’m pretty confident that McDuffie has a great handle on some Doom level conflict as he wraps up his run on the book.
Best Better Late than Never – from the major storylines of long ago! And whole year (or more)!
CAPTAIN MARVEL #1 (of 5) Right around the last issues of Civil War, Captain Marvel was strangely brought back in Civil War: the Return to show up in some panels in the bigger fights between heroes and maybe play warden for the Negative Zone prison after Civil War: Runaways/Young Avengers. Well, after nearly nine months, Mar-Vell’s finally getting some serious screen time and might possibly be fit into current happenings (oh man, don’t let him be a Skrull). Written by Brian Reed, who’s had his ups and downs on Ms. Marvel and drawn by the heroic Lee Weeks, I’m pulling for this series as it has a lot riding on its shoulders.
+++HONORARY MENTION : HOUSE OF M: AVENGERS #1 (of 5) Because YOU hadn’t really considered it for a few years now! Really, why are we getting this book? Don’t get me wrong, I rather like Christos Gage and I certainly think the House of M idea really didn’t get the fleshing out it deserved, but… now? Really? Well, if you wanted a book with Hawkeye, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Tigra, Mockingbird, I guess you can get it any way you can, right? It promises surprises and shocks and that anything can happen and I can cover all three just by getting this mini-series.Best Proof of the World Moving On – Civil War surprised the heck out of me by continuing the story even after the major plotline was finished. This wasn’t just an Atlantis Attacks! or House of M, everything wasn’t wrapped up neatly and all the toys were put back in place, no! We got long lasting effect, decisions that rocked the entire Marvel U! Would World War Hulk follow in its footsteps?
WORLD WAR HULK: AFTERSMASH That’s a No, folks. Already tantalized by a new ‘Skrull’ green, looks like every other book but this one and the Incredible Hulk have anything to say after the World War and alien invasion. I really doubt ‘Aftersmash’ is really going to be on any cover banners at this rate. From the solicit: Heroes and monsters rise and fall as the events of “World War Hulk” reverberate through the blasted ruins of New York City with goliath impact in a massive story featuring the Warbound, the Renegades, Heroes for Hire, Iron Man, Tom Foster, and Damage Control. And yes, smashing will be involved. Goliath, Massive, Reverberation… pretty much contained to this book so far. Then again, World War Hulk seems to be pretty contained to New York. Your mileage may vary.Best Collision Course to Wackiness – Marvel puts out month after month the best all ages fare in comics. And yes, I am extremely biased! The Marvel Adventures line has been a breath of fresh and fun air in the wake of heavier storylines and this month is no exception, but this is the best for November.
MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #33 Especially considering the vibes I’ve been getting from One More Day, a fun romp with Aunt May is just what the doctor ordered. And especially when playing on the old romantic tension between her and Otto Octavius, as she rents out a room to the secret super-villain leading to nothing but kooky hijinks between Doc Oc and Spidey. The premise caught my eye and especially when written by Mr. Fred Van Lente or Action Philosophers fame? A good story is headed our way.Best Cheap Poke at Cover Art – Now, with less tentacle!
MS. MARVEL #21
It’s kind of sad that the first thing I saw when looking at the preview for this cover was “Wow, they really dressed up that new edition of Dianetics.” Sadly, no Xenu here, just Greg Horn using a bizarre combination of colors and awkwardly hoisting Ms. Marvel into the air. I shouldn’t surprised considering some of the covers for She-Hulk that he’s done, but the volcano in the background was just the cherry on the cheesecake.
+++HONORARY MENTION : SUB-MARINER #6 (of 6) BIG. BEEFY. ARM.Best Idea from the House Yet – Sometimes, inspiration arrives in the form of Handbooks… or Almanacs.
MARVEL ATLAS #1 (of 2) This is going to be cool for detail geeks like myself because I can’t be the only one wondering where exactly Madripoor is and how Latveria would fit into the EU. That’s the nice thing about using the ‘real world’ as a basis for your comic book universe. No knock to the Distinguished Competitors, mind you, but fans may constantly debate where exactly Metropolis is in relation to Gotham or Opal City or Coast City and on and on, we all know where New York is and can instantly picture where Spider-Man swings or can use Google to look up the nearest mall to Westchester County. With this, charting a flight to Genosha should be a snap! Not to mention the same man who brought us the Punisher Armory and the Iron Manual will be headed the project to rewrite the world in the mighty Marvel manner.Best Sign of the Times – When a single switch states a bigger change in direction for a book than all the hyperbole in the world.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #7 New artist! Probably for just this arc, but we’ll be getting the man, myth and legend Mark Bagley handling the art chores for his old pal, Bendis. This means the books is going to hit a regular schedule the way a clock chimes on the hour because if there is one thing I know about Bagley is that he is a machine on getting artwork ready for the public. Just as the Mighty Avengers and the New Avengers are aligning like prophetic stars to signal the start of this all new, all Skrull fear fest, we’re getting a quicker artist, a more regular book and, get this, “a Venom virus!!” And poor Wonder Man is losing his red safari gear! Change is in the winds, my friends.
(small note: should you go to the full solicitation page, don’t click on the sample pages unless you’re ready for a spoiler or two, fair warning.)Best Messiah Hunters – Every X-Books this month all seem centered around the big plot, getting a mysterious mutant baby under their protection. There’s head on fighting, the Mauraders are still around, mysteries afoot and… this book.
NEW X-MEN #44 While the plot leaves the mansion, the New X-Men kids don’t take ’stay at home’ all too well and decide to head into the fray for a sneak attack on the mysterious organization the big guns are fighting. Now this does sound like what the other books are doing, but due to the cast and the writing, I think this one pulls out ahead. After all, sans magic baby, these guys are the last generation of mutants on the planet and fit in rather importantly to the survival of the race. Not to mention the fact that Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle have made their characters rather disposable in previous story arcs and as mutants are an endangered species, some of them may just have to lay down their lives to protect the future. That, my friends, is the X-Men.Best Harbinger of Dormammu – Sure, last week I talked about Doctor Strange not really getting his fair shake at the House of Ideas of late, but what about the Dread Dormammu?
CABLE & DEADPOOL #47 Not exactly the first place I’d look for a Doctor Strange guest-staring appearance, but you know? I got Nicieza’s back on this. From the solicit: Will BOB, Agent of Hydra, sprout flame on his head and become the new Dread Dormammu? He can do that?! I thought the ‘Dread Dormammu’ was a entity, not a title, but hey. A little body swapping, this whole thing could get cleared up right quick. Also, Cable’s still dead (according to the solicitation for this issue), so this could easily become the BOB & DEADPOOL book. +++HONORARY MENTION : MARVEL ADVENTURES HULK #5 See as above, only with a monkey. From the solicit: Can even the combined strength of the Hulk and Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme stand against the awesome might of… Dormammu-Monkey! No joke.Best Retraction By Me – Hey, I’ll admit when I’m wrong.
THE ZOMBIE: SIMON GARTH #1 (of 4) I know last month I got fed up and gave a Wanda-like whisper of ‘No More Zombies’ and declared myself fed up with the overused property? Well, they broke out Eric Powell on me. And a little something new as the hero of the book is a Zombie himself; we pick up with Mr. Garth after his infection and subsequent escape from government experimentation and are bound for some horrific gore and horror from Kyle Hotz and Eric Powell. I’m wary, but this looks to be something unique.Best Behind the Scenes – A peek into the Bullpen for just dollars on the penny!
CIVIL WAR SCRIPT BOOK TPB This might be personal preference shining through, but making a Civil War Script book is a fantastic idea. Not only are script books a good way of seeing how comics are put together, the skeleton behind the artistic meat of the story, but Civil War had some serious scenes cut out of it. During interviews at Newsarama, we found out that there were some almost key bits of dialogue or story that had to be cut for length and it’s going to be interesting to see the intentions before the final product.The full list of November Solicitations for Marvel is this way. Make Mine Dormammu!
August 22nd, 2007 at 2:42 pm
ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST!
I totally agree. My love of old cosmic Marvel (Infinity Gauntlet, etc) piqued my interest so I picked up Annihilation and loved it! Hopefully Abnett and Lanning can continue the great work of Kieth Giffen (and hopefully rocket raccoon survives the starlord mini and makes it to the main series).