Marvel Previews Picks: May 2021
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters — Alpha #1
You know, it has been a while since we’ve had a “Star Wars” crossover around here — and not a stealth one like the time Charles Soule and Kieron Gillen told the story of Mon Cala’s enslavement and liberation in the pages of “Darth Vader — Dark Lord of the Sith” and “Star Wars.” No, this is a proper multi-title effort that’s roping in “Star Wars,” “Darth Vader,” “Doctor Aphra,” and “Bounty Hunters” with a very simple setup established in this issue. Boba Fett is on his way to finally deliver Han Solo in carbonite to Jabba the Hutt, and everyone in these series has their own reasons for wanting the frozen rogue. This is basically “Boba Fett vs. EVERYONE” and I’ve got to admit that seeing him take on everyone in these titles sounds like a good time to me. Particularly with Soule kicking things off with his “Death of/Return of Wolverine” partner Steve McNiven illustrating this issue. This will be McNiven’s first time doing interiors on a “Star Wars” comic and I’m expecting nothing less than for him to blow the doors off.
Heroes Reborn #1-4 (of 7): No, Marvel is not handing off control of its most famous non-mutant characters to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld to do what they want. “Heroes Reborn” was the title given to that mid-90’s initiative which is still… remembered to this day. This time around, Marvel is giving the keys to Jason Aaron and Ed McGuinness to give us a story about what the Marvel Universe would be like if the Avengers were never formed. Why didn’t it happen? Here are a few reasons: Tony Stark never built the Iron Man armor, Thor is a hard-drinking atheist who hates hammers, and Cap is still frozen somewhere under the sea. So who do we have to take the Avengers’ place? None other than the Squadron Supreme of America. All of this sounds like a nice enough “What if?” story. The thing is I’d probably be more enthusiastic about it if Aaron had been hitting it out of the park with his “Avengers” run so far. Maybe I’ll feel differently after reading through “The Age of Khonshu,” but don’t hold your breath.
X-Corp #1: If the thought of Simon Spurrier writing a book about Nightcrawler establishing a mutant religion sounded too weird to you (and if it did, *tsk-tsk*) then perhaps a series about Monet St. Croix and Warren Worthington running the business side of Krakoa will be more up your alley. The thought of a superhero series set in the world of high finance brings back memories of “Wildcats 3.0,” so it’s possible that this could work. So I’m hoping that writer Tini Howard and artist Alberto Foche can give us something that shows its two leads to really be the smartest people in the room, while the superhero fisticuffs are kept to a minimum.
Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (of 6): Marvel’s First Family gets the “Life Story” treatment, showing us what they’d be like if they had aged in real time after their debut in the 60’s. Chip Zdarsky initiated the concept with “Spider-Man,” and showed us that his goal with each issue was to cram as many stories from the era it was in as he possibly could. I was disappointed. Fortunately, Mr. Zdarsky isn’t writing this new series. That’s being done by Mark Russell, who has carved a niche for himself over at DC in using licensed Hannah-Barbara characters to talk about modern social issues. Surprisingly well, from what I’ve heard. He’s teaming with Sean Izaakse and I have to admit that I like the concept behind “Life Story” enough that I’d like to see if Russell can succeed where Zdarsky failed.
Thanos Quest: Marvel Tales: This appears to be an $8 single-issue reprint of the original two prestige-format volumes of the story that showed how Thanos got his hands on the Infinity Gems prior to “The Infinity Gauntlet.” It’s a very random form for a reprint to take, but it’s worth seeking out if you’ve never read this story before. Writer Jim Starlin and artist Ron Lim tell one of the best Thanos stories by focusing on the Mad Titan’s most deadly weapon: His mind.
Daredevil by Charles Soule Omnibus HC: One of the neat things about Marvel Unlimited is that it allows me to come back and check up on series that I stopped reading for one reason or another. In the case of Soule’s “Daredevil” run, that would be because I was reading it digitally and lost track of it because if I’m not following something on my bookshelf, the “out of sight, out of mind” school of thought kicks in. That said, I did read through most of what’s collected here (the 2016 Annual and the “Daredevil/Punisher: Seventh Circle” miniseries excepted because the app sorts things by the numbered, main issues) and found it to be thoroughly alright. Not bad, not exceptional, but entertaining enough for me to read through the whole thing. Does that make this $125 omnibus for 1,216 pages of comics worth picking up? Probably not. I mean, I don’t feel like re-reading it right now and I did it on a subscription plan.
Jessica Jones: Alias Omnibus HC: This, on the other hand, is definitely worthy of a place on anyone’s shelf. Easily one of the best things Bendis did while he was at Marvel, the comics in this omnibus tell a solid, self-contained story of a broken-down P.I. finding her self-worth again in the underbelly of the Marvel Universe. There’s a reason the character went on to flourish in the Marvel Universe proper and got her own series on Netflix and you can find it in this omnibus.
Thor by Donny Cates vol. 2: Prey: So, you’ve just killed one of the biggest figures in Marvel’s cosmos, defeated a threat from a prior incarnation of this universe, and seen how you’re going to die. If you’re Thor, King of Asgard, what do you do for an encore? How about getting in touch with your old human identity and seeing how he’s doing these days. If you think that sounds like an idea that’s going to go horribly wrong because I’m bringing it up here, then you’d be right. Nic Klein returns to illustrate the arc in question and is joined by Aaron Kuder for the two issues preceding it in a larger-than-expected eight-issue collection.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters vol. 2 — Target Valance: Some brief thoughts on vol. 1 of this series: Marvel’s ongoing effort to make cyborg bounty hunter Beilert Valance a thing still isn’t paying off for me. Paolo Villanelli delivers some great art for this series, at least. This series was good enough for me to take the time to read it on Marvel Unlimited and unless the issues in this collection are a marked improvement over the first, it’s going to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Loki: Agent of Asgard — Complete Collection: In case you were wondering, Al Ewing was writing great comics at Marvel before he blew up with “Immortal Hulk.” The Prince of Lies thought he had cheated his way to redemption and the love of his family. Except a version of himself has dropped in from the future to remind him that Loki will always be Loki in the end. Even when Ragnarok approaches and the end of all existence is at hand. Expect to see the title character outsmart some bad folk, some good folk, himself and maybe even learn a thing or two in the process.