The grass is growing, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing… must be time for July!
Yes, spring has sprung, taking us to a time when a young man’s fancy turns to convention season. SDCC is a monolith that cannot be denied and, it might be just me, but a LOT of content is brought high to the fore during the month of July from the Big Two. Storylines end, new books are hot off the presses and a lot of new directions are ready for discussion at panels next to guys dressed up as Aquaman.
So let’s go forward and take ourselves ahead to July. What kind of world will we be living in? What kind of new discoveries will be made? Will we have actually gotten that hotel room in time?
Let’s get this one out of the way first, like a quick band-aid pull:
In the future: We’ll be poor.
The Secret Invasion checklist handed out by Marvel stops at July, perhaps not to scare us off. It lists 15 books related to Secret Invasion, but I would go so far as to say that the July solicitations appear to have 18 books with Skrulls all over them! Okay, okay, so Skrulls vs. Power Pack #1 shouldn’t count, But the Skrulls! One-Shot, giving readers a bit of Skrull 101 with an in-depth look at this invading alien race, and Secret Invasion: Front-Line #1 (of 5) with it’s beautiful Juan Doe cover should! Being fair, it’s only 17 books this month that will bring us news of who’s a Skrull and who is not a Skrull so… that’s a good thing? The Invasion’s going to take us everywhere from X-Factor (not participating in the big X-Men storyline?) to Black Panther (who will once again prove Wakanda’s superiority over all comers, even alien ones). It’s a wide spread of books, which on one hand, is kind of cool because that means this is really far reaching invasion and the Skrulls are going to pose a serious threat to our heroes, large and small. But on the other hand, these tie-ins are going to nearly double every month from back here in April. Kind of makes you wonder what August is going to look like. What book will you trust?!
Also in the future: Books will rise from the dead!
Hey look! Squadron Supreme! Looks like Howard Chaykin is picking up where J. Michael Straczynski left off and taking up an ‘vol. 2′ and a #1! And a new artist by way of Marco Turini! While still not back under the Max imprint as it started, I think we’re going to get the same semi-adult, real world grit that we came to love about JMS’s take on a fan favorite. Nice to see it (and Ultimate Nick Fury) back.
Also returning is Astonishing X-Men, which didn’t so much as leave as sort of promise to see you next week over and over and over again. Instead of starting with a #1 though, Warren Ellis is coming along with #25 rather than what I assumed would be “Astonishing X-Men: Second Stage #1″. Guess they couldn’t fit that on to the front cover. This book has been a full year in coming so I’m personally on the edge of my seat to get my hands on it. If I can wait for that last issue by Joss Whedon, I can wait for this.
In the future: Spider-Man will be carried in on the shoulders of many men!
Now, we all know that the recent adventures of our favorite wall-crawler have been handed between the brain trust of Slott, Guggenheim, Gale and Wells, but in July, that Spider-Man panel at SDCC is going to be packed because there are two issues coming out jam-packed with authors. Amazing Spider-Man #564 is going to be a single story told through multiple perspectives from Gale, Guggenheim and Slott and Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day Extra!! (that’s two exclamation points) not only has Guggenheim and Wells, but Joe Kelly, the man who made us smile with his incredible run on Deadpool. This last one is promising to be “three stories that flesh out his family, friends and foes, stories that will affect Spidey deeply over the coming months”.
My guess is that will all these authors on all these stories in two solid books, I’m getting the distinct feeling we’re going to get a consistent feel to our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. You’d think too many chefs would spoil the broth but so far the Spider-Trust hasn’t let us down yet. Unless they let you down from before they took over the book.
Anyway…
In the future: heroes will return!
Tim Sale, everyone! The incredible ‘color’ book series is starting back up again with the original creative team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale, this time bringing us Captain America: White #0. #0 is an odd place to start and so is starting us off with a ‘taste of what’s to come’, making me wonder if this is just a 48-page preview of the main mini-series, but with promises of a full new story (ready for another Bucky origin?), there’s a lot to look forward to in a preview. I wonder what “Plus, the whole story seen in black-and-white” is supposed to mean?
Despite last month’s drought, the Hulk is returning red and ready in Hulk #5 where he fights Thor!
Yay Thor! While Thor, in his own title is… um, standing in a field.
And about to leave his ‘shining city’! Hoorah! Looks like the Thunder God will be rejoining the rest of the Marvel Universe after all this time. Make your Skrully bets now.
Also returning: Starhawk, ladies and gentlemen! I would be remiss (and be upsetting the assistant manager at our store) if I didn’t call attention to the rather stunning return of Starkhawk to the all new, all awesome Guardians of the Galaxy. Don’t believe me? From the solicit: “The mysteries continue to deepen and the craziness comes hot and heavy in the book that ComicPants.com raves “packs more awesome than the rest of Marvel and DC’s lineup combined.””
I rest my case.
In the future: we’ll uncover long lost art!
Marvel is publishing two long lost stories by the late, great Dave Cockrum in one book that’s its own little time capsule into the past. Where Professor Xavier can talk with his FBI buddy and the New Mutants can face the Mad Thinker, letting us take a look back at the art that a whole generation grew up with. It’s not only a wonderful way to see some fantastic art, but a nice book to see next to the big X-Men milestone that also hits this month.
In the future: Westchester County will be just another place on the map.
Looks like the ol’ Xavier Mansion won’t be rebuilt for the billionth time and the kids are moving out to get a place of their own as the X-Men hit San Fransisco! For the landmark 500th issue, Matt Fraction starts, Terry Dodson and Greg Land start and the X-Men are getting a new headquarters, promising new, new, new! No really! NEW!!! Can we even imagine what’s to come? Considering the creative team, my guess is on phenomenal action and stories and really hot chicks.
And last but not least: heroes will leave.
With hats over our hearts, Punisher #59 looks to be the last issue by the incomparable Garth Ennis. A man who set the tone for the Punisher for years is stepping down, but leaving in style with a final story that’s promising everything but a free backrub. By this time in July, we’ll already know who’s stepping into Ennis’s very violent shoes, but we’ll have a final story to say goodbye with.
So, anything you’re looking forward to? Anything shaping your future already? Go check out the full list of July Solicitations from Marvel and take a gander at what’s to come!
April 16th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Funny, I thought the “Spider-Trust” had let A LOT of people down lately… All the people who dropped ASM after the OMD debacle, for instance. And of those who have carried on with BND, the reaction/reviews seem to be mixed at best.
Other than seeing where Astonishing X-Men (I’ve enjoyed Whedon’s run immensely, but I’ve been reading it in trades, so I have to wait awhile yet to see the end) goes, nothing else here really interests me.
For now, it’s sticking with the Marvel titles I’ve been getting: Cap, Iron Man: DoS, Mighty/New Avengers, and Wolverine: First Class (which had an entertaining first issue!). Oh, and I’m getting Secret Invasion. But none of the x-overs except for the books I already buy (the aforementioned Avengers books).
April 16th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
“not participating in the big X-Men storyline?”
Its not a crossover.
There was a loose theme, thats all.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Amazing Spider-Man Brand New Day has been awesome. The best Spider-Man stories in years. As much as I disliked the deal with Mephisto, everything that came after made it so worth it. Spider-Man should be the best book Marvel publishes and now along with Nova, Thunderbolts, and Omega it is.
April 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
“Funny, I thought the “Spider-Trust” had let A LOT of people down lately… All the people who dropped ASM after the OMD debacle, for instance. And of those who have carried on with BND, the reaction/reviews seem to be mixed at best.”
1) i haven’t read either OMD or BND (tradewaiter)
2) if you (or these other ‘people’) stopped after OMD, then the spidey brain trust (the new writers) didn’t affect your reading one bit.
3) While the initial reception ON THE INTERNET was luke-warm, people seem to be steadily loving the series more and more, with everyone I’ve read giving rave reviews to the latest wells/bachalo issues.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Perhaps that’s all true, Alex and Eric… But a lot of people are still turned off not only by what OMD did, but the baggage that BND carries with it. Sure, it cleans the slate of some things. But other things, such as Harry suddenly being alive, are just new complications.
I know it’s all supposedly going to be explained at some point, but I’m not interested in finding out unless the whole Mephisto thing gets undone at some point. So maybe the current Spider-Trust doesn’t affect me. But it’s gotta be affecting some people. The sales have been dropping, from what I’ve seen, of each subsequent issue. Whether that’s due to people not enjoying BND or having to commit to three issues of ASM a month — or both — is hard to say.
I certainly don’t begrudge people currently enjoying ASM. I’m just not interested in it anymore.
I really don’t think the changes are worth it, but then I also disagree about what Marvel’s best books are. If you don’t have Captain America or the truly underrated Iron Man: DoS on your list you’re missing out.