Marvel Previews Picks: January 2021
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Miles Morales vol. 4: Ultimatum
Under writer Saladin Ahmed’s watch, Miles has foiled a plot to hypnotize kids into being criminals, been experimented on by an unknown collector, fought the Ultimate Green Goblin, and survived team-ups with the Rhino and his own Uncle Aaron. In this volume, however, he’ll face his greatest challenge: Going up against the evil version of himself from “Spider-Men II” and trying to get a good story out of it. I mean this for both Miles and Ahmed. The “Miles Morales” from the original Marvel Universe never worked for me because he came off like a completely different character — there was nothing to tie him to the Miles we knew besides the name. I get that Bendis was trying to do a reverse “Ultimate” character introduction, but it didn’t work because he didn’t have anything interesting to say about how the two Mileses related to each other.
Ahmed has managed to do something Bendis never did during his tenure with Miles: Show us how he’s different from the Peter Parker Spider-Man that we’ve always known. Miles is the Spider-Man with the working family unit and that should provide an interesting angle to work once they figure out Ultimatum’s real identity. I’m cautiously optimistic about how this will all work out, but optimistic nonetheless.
King in Black: Thunderbolts #1 (of 3) & Black Knight: As the “King in Black” event rolls on, so do the tie-ins. “Thunderbolts” sees Wilson Fisk, still Mayor of NYC, rounding up Taskmaster, Rhino, Star, Mr. Fear, and Batroc the Leaper to save the city or die trying. “Black Knight” has the title character teaming up with Aero and Sword Master over Shanghai to fight back the symbiote invasion as he struggles with the bloodlust imparted by the Ebony Blade. I’m mentioning these two tie-ins together because they’ve got creative teams that imply they’ll be worth a look. Matthew Rosenberg writes and Juan Ferreyra illustrates “Thunderbolts” while Simon Spurrier and Jesus Saiz do the (respective) same for “Black Knight.” This would normally be where I’d say that I hope Marvel collects these in one volume for my easy reading pleasure. However, after (shameless plug incoming) signing up for Marvel Unlimited, I don’t have to worry about that. I’ll just wait until sometime in April when I can read these for free.
Non-Stop Spider-Man #1: Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo’s “Spider-Man” title finally gets rescheduled. The coronavirus knocked it off the schedule in the first place, so it was only a matter of time until it came back. Hopefully Kelly and Bachalo used the delay to bank enough issues so that this series will be able to run without any delays or fill-ins. Even though this series doesn’t have an “(of #)” next to that #1, Marvel has said in the past that ancillary “Spider-Man” titles are generally set to run for a year. (R.I.P. “Superior Spider-Man.”) I’d wish Kelly and Bachalo luck in making sure that limitation is more of a disappointment than a check against diminishing resources, but I think they’ll be fine.
Maestro: War & Pax #1 (of 5): It turns out that A LOT of people were interested in seeing writer Peter David return to the character of the Maestro. He’s the future version of the Hulk who turned evil and took over the Marvel Universe from David’s “Future Imperfect” miniseries with George Perez. As a result of that miniseries’ popularity, we’re getting a sequel. Which, seems kind of excessive if the first mini was meant to show the character’s rise to power. After that’s been done, what else is there to tell about the character? His fight against “immortals” on Earth, as the solicitation text hints. Javier Pina joins the writer as artist for this miniseries, while the previous miniseries Maestro: Symphony in a Gamma Key gets a timely collected edition in these solicitations as well.
Children of the Atom #1: The implications of this cover are a little disturbing, to say the least. What it tells me is that Jean Grey, Cyclops, Gambit, Archangel, and Nightcrawler all have teen sidekicks. Who have also copped their looks to a disturbing degree. When did this happen? How did this happen? Why is it happening? The solicitation text implies that you’re supposed to be asking these questions and also provides no discernable answers. This series is debuting in the wake of the “X of Swords” event, so there might be some explanation for it there. That said, Vita Ayala and Bernard Chang are writing and illustrating this series, and best of luck to them in trying to make something worthwhile out of this odd premise.
Immortal Hulk: Flatline #1: This is written and illustrated by Declan Shalvey and it should be interesting to see how he adapts his measured style to the title character’s violent ways as he tracks a new gamma-powered character in New Mexico. It’s the third “Immortal Hulk” one-shot after the previous ones written by Tom Taylor and Jeff Lemire. Seeing as how “Immortal Hulk” is Al Ewing’s baby and no one is going to write that character for an extended period until he’s done with it, these one shots look like Marvel’s way of letting other creators take a crack at the character in the meantime. Also, after this latest oversized one-shot, Marvel should have enough for a collection of them soon. Unless they’ve got more of these planned.
Star Wars: The High Republic #1: “The High Republic” is the new “Star Wars” initiative to tell stories from that universe that took place centuries before “Episode I.” Back when the Republic was still in its glory days. That doesn’t mean the Sith still aren’t plotting behind the scenes. It just means that, for once, we’re seeing a setting in “Star Wars” that doesn’t start off with the bad guys having the upper hand. The funny thing about this comic is that while Charles Soule is one of the creative people behind “The High Republic,” he’s not writing it. I think he’s doing a novel set during the era. Cavan Scott and Ario Anindito are the writer and artist behind this new ongoing series. I’m not familiar with either of them, but I’ll probably pick up the first volume of this series eventually. That’s how invested in “Star Wars” I am.
Untold Tales of Spider-Man Omnibus HC: Back in the 90’s, when the “Spider-Man” titles were in the throes of the infamous “Clone Saga,” Wizard magazine continually hailed this title as the One Spider-Man Title Done Right. Writer Kurt Busiek and artist Pat Oliffe were telling “Spider-Man” stories set in the character’s past, but without all of the plot baggage that was currently weighing him down. However, that “set in the past” approach never really clicked with fans and the series only ran for 25 issues, plus a few one-offs. I was going to say something wistful about always being interested in reading this title, but I don’t really have the time to do it these days. Except now I don’t have to worry about that because (shameless plug incoming redux) I signed up for Marvel Unlimited and can read all of these issues (digitally) whenever I want.
I should probably quit doing those shameless plugs while I’m only slightly behind…
Captain America by Ta-Nehisi Coates vol. 4: All Die Young: Vol. 3 didn’t leave a good impression with its confused take on vigilante vs. police action and unimpressive art from Jason Masters. This volume promises to be a step in the right direction as the writer has Cap gearing up for another showdown with the Red Skull. While Coates’ channelling of the more annoying parts of Ed Brubaker’s run didn’t thrill me in the first volume, I’ll take them over what we got in the previous volume. Still, if this volume doesn’t stick the landing then it may be time for me to cross it off my reading list.
Doctor Doom vol. 2: Bedford Falls: Doom finally got his mojo (and armor) back at the end of the previous volume. Just in the nick of time, as this volume has the character: Go on a covert hunt for a powerful device, seek to secure his rule over Latveria against the Symkarian army, take care of the slowly expanding black hole on the Moon, and visit the parallel universe where he’s a benevolent ruler. This volume does not appear to lack for incident. It’s just a question of whether writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Salvador Larroca will be able to address it all in a fashion that feels more satisfying than rushed.