Marvel Previews Picks: September 2021
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Dark Ages #1 (of 6)
With “DCeased,” Tom Taylor delivered a smash hit for DC that, as of this writing, entails two core miniseries, a thoroughly entertaining side-story, and a digital-first series that has since been collected in print. Given how the writer has had a long history with Marvel before this, “Dark Ages” sounds like one of his editors called him up and asked, “Hey, do you have any ideas like ‘DCeased’ that you can do for us?”
“Dark Ages” looks to be the answer to that, even if the solicitations are being very cagey about what its basic concept is. What I’ve heard is that it’s going to be a miniseries about what happens when power, electricity specifically, disappears from the Marvel Universe. That’s where the title comes from and, appropriately, Tony Stark is going to be the point-of-view character for the miniseries. This does seem a little more high-concept than what the writer delivered in “DCeased,” but Taylor has shown that he’s good at working through the logic in any given situation so I’m sure he’s got some clever ideas about what happens to a superhero universe when the lights go out. “Venom” veteran Iban Coello provides the art, which means that this miniseries should have a good look to go along with its writing.
Inferno #1 (of 4): Jonathan Hickman may not be writing “X-Men” anymore, but he’s still running the mutant show at Marvel. Case in point: This latest event series which heralds the next stage of his line-wide storyline. While it may be borrowing its name from a classic 80’s X-Men story, the flames won’t be coming from the demonic realm of Limbo this time around. No, they appear to be quite literal as Mystique has finally realized that Xavier and Magneto have been jerking her around all this time and they’re not going to revive her wife, Destiny. So she’s going to burn Krakoa to the ground.
A bit of commentary: If anyone’s to blame for this, it’s Xavier and Magneto for thinking that they could control Mystique. The shape-shifting mutant has shown time and again that she’ll only act in her best interests and woe be to anyone who gets in her way. Xavier and Magneto should’ve realized this and dumped her in the same pit that they put Sabretooth (who is almost certainly making his return during this story) in during “House of X.” That said, I am a little concerned that this storyline may be just about the destruction of Krakoa and the rescue of all the mutants on it without providing a clear direction for the next phase of the story. I’m sure it’ll still be plenty entertaining as Hickman has shown many times now that he knows how to write big events well and artist (for this issue) Valerio Schiti has shown that he knows how to draw them.
Amazing Spider-Man #74, Sinister War, Amazing Spider-Man by Nick Spencer vol. 15: What Cost Victory?: That’s a lot of Spencer-written “Spider-Man” comics right there. It’s also the last we’ll see of the writer on the Web-Head for now as #74 is his last issue and it’s collected in vol. 15. While the writer’s run started out quite well, it soon became clear that he was much better at writing funny action-driven “Spider-Man” comics than dramatic action-driven ones. “Hunted” was the warning sign and “Last Remains” was the actual proof and also enough of a downer to get me to stop buying the collections. I’m still reading the series on Marvel Unlimited because it’s effectively “free” with my subscription, but nothing I’ve read yet has convinced me that I need to start buying the collected editions again. I can’t say that the solicitations offer a good reason for me to start as they promise that “Sinister War” will turn Spidey’s life upside-down again — after “King’s Ransom” and “The Chameleon Conspiracy” already did it twice over. Yup, Spider-Man’s life has done a complete 540 after all these storylines. I’m as excited about it as you are.
Death of Doctor Strange #1 (of 5): So, are we talking about the death of his spirit, or the death of his physical body? Because if it’s the latter, I imagine that it’d be akin to someone like me locking the keys in my car and then having the car roll off a cliff into the ocean. Only for the Doctor, the car is his body and I’m his soul. This sounded a whole lot better in my head. As for this miniseries, it would not surprise me in the least to learn that the death in this title should have air quotes around it. As the Master of the Mystic Arts, Strange should have many more ways to escape death than your average hero or villain in the Marvel Universe. Writer Jed Mackay and artist Lee Garbett are the creators behind what is either an obvious misdirection or a way to shuffle Stephen out of his traditional role and replace him with someone who can actually sustain an ongoing monthly series.
Eternals: Thanos Rises #1: Esad Ribic is a great artist, but he’s never really been one to deliver a book-a-month for longer than six months at a time. Which is why we’re getting this one-shot between arcs of the “Eternals” series that he’s doing with writer Kieron Gillen. Gillen is writing this issue and he’s said in his newsletter that this is pretty much the same thing that he did with the one-shots that popped up between arcs on “The Wicked + The Divine.” Even if this one-shot isn’t specifically relevant to the story that was started in the first six issues of the ongoing series, it’s still written by the main writer, features art from the incredibly talented Dustin Weaver, and will likely involve Thanos being up to no good. Why would you not want to read about something that had all of these things together? While we’re on the subject of inter-series one-shots…
Way of X vol. 1/Way of X: The Onslaught Revelation #1: When I saw that “Way of X” was getting an extra-sized one-shot in these solicitations, my first thought was that the series was getting cancelled and Marvel was giving writer Simon Spurrier and artist Bob Quinn the space they needed to wrap up the story they were telling. Except that this issue wasn’t included in the vol. 1 that was also being solicited here, which meant that the series was likely going to continue. Then it was announced that the first volume would be collecting this issue and now I’m back to thinking that this series will be wrapping up with this issue. Marvel hasn’t said what the case is, but it would seem that Spurrier’s take on Nighcrawler’s quest to establish a mutant religion might have been too weird for the general X-readership. Mind you, “too weird” from Simon Spurrier is usually a selling point for me.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30: Do you know who had their first appearance ten years ago this September? Miles Morales, that’s who! The onetime Ultimate Spider-Man proved to be an enduring character who survived the death of his own universe and not only went on to prosper in the Marvel Universe, but receive Oscar glory in a genuinely fantastic animated film. Speaking of which, its producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are just two of the creators who will be contributing stories to this issue along with regular writer Saladin Ahmed, and “Soul” co-director Kemp Powers. The solicitation tells us that there will be more writers to this issue, along with solicited artists Carmen Carnero and Miles’ co-creator Sara Pichelli. Say, do you think that Miles’ other co-creator will be back to contribute a story? I mean, he’s no longer exclusive with DC these days…
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters — Boushh #1: So… who remembers the disguise that Leia wore to infiltrate Jabba’s Palace in “Return of the Jedi?” Did any of you know that was the getup of a bounty hunter named Boushh? I did and even I’m having a hard time bringing myself to care about this story that purports to tell us who he was before Leia got her hands on his clothes. Writer Alyssa Wong looks to be tying this into her “Doctor Aphra” run with the appearance of Domina Tagge, and artist David Baldeon can always be counted on to do good work. This is still some very musty continuity that the creators are digging into and they’ll need to bring their A-game if this issue is to be anything other than completist fodder.
Beta Ray Bill: Argent Star: The last time we saw Thor’s Korbinite brother-in-arms, he was recuperating in Asgard after the God of Thunder shattered his hammer, Stormbreaker. While finding a way to reforge the hammer is at the forefront of his mind, other paths are being opened to Bill. They involve Odin, the influence of Knull, and the All-Father of Nothing (who might also be Odin, but the solicitations aren’t clear on that). If all this wasn’t enough to get you interested, know then that this series comes from creator Daniel Warren Johnson who can draw the hell out of anything and is likely to make this a hell of adventure. So long as he focuses on the action and leaves the moralizing at the door.
Immortal Hulk: Great Power: Al Ewing’s “Immortal Hulk” has felt like a singular vision that wouldn’t read as right in the hands of other writers. That doesn’t mean other writers aren’t willing to try as this volume collects the one-shots related to the series from Tom Taylor, Declan Shalvey, Alex Paknadel, David Vaughan, and… Jeff Lemire. The solicitation text promises us stories about what happens when Spider-Man gets the Immortal Hulk’s power, when the Hulk goes looking for a young girl missing on a Kansas farm, when the Hulk has to confront the source of his anger in New Mexico, and who opened the Green Door 10,000 years ago. No points for guessing which one of these stories Lemire wrote. Ewing is also on hand with a story, but the real attraction here will be seeing what these writers do with his concept. Well, at least the writers I’m actually expecting something from.
X-Men Legends vol. 1: The Missing Links: There have been A LOT of writers who have had long, successful runs on various X-titles over the years. “X-Men Legends” is Marvel’s way of tapping into the affection people have for those runs by inviting those writers to revisit them. Which is why this first volume has Fabian Nicieza (and artist Brett Booth) showing us what he originally had planned for Adam-X, Louise Simonson (and her husband Walt) pitting the original X-Factor team against Apocalypse, and Peter David (and Todd Nauck) having his X-Factor team defuse a hostage situation at the Latverian Embassy. Longtime readers will know that I’m very partial to David’s X-Factor run and his storyline is the real draw for me here. Still, there’s no reason to expect that Nicieza and Simonson’s contributions will disappoint so long as you know what to expect from them.