Marvel Previews Picks: January 2015
Sooooooo… Marvel sure announced a whole lot of movies this week, didn’t they?
Unlike the recently revealed slate of DC Comics films, I’m actually more optimistic about what we’re getting from Marvel. After all, they’ve done a remarkably good job of keeping the quality consistent across all of their films so far as well as making their risks pay off in the end. So when Marvel tells me that we’re going to be getting films about the Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and the Inhumans — in addition to announced and expected sequels for “Captain America,” “Thor,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Avengers” — then I’m willing to say “Bring ‘em on!”
Well… maybe not for “Inhumans.” After all, rumor has it that Marvel’s film division sees these characters as an answer to the fact that they don’t have the rights to X-Men and are going to position it as their alternative to it. Not only are the Inhumans not the X-Men, but Marvel’s attempt to get people interested in them with the recent “Inhumanity” non-event and current “Inhuman” series haven’t really gone anywhere. At this point, I’m more interested in seeing how the company plans to make “Inhuman” successful in spite of lukewarm reviews so far and massive consumer indifference.
Uncanny Avengers #1: Yup, it’s getting relaunched in the wake of the “Axis” event. The overall quality of the first three volumes has done a lot to overcome my skepticism about it after Marvel’s attempt to game the market with all of the variant covers it had for the first issue. This time out, there are only five covers as opposed to 21. Instead, Marvel seem to be saving all of the variant cover insanity for their other big launch of the month…
Star Wars #1: Well, I guess 15 covers is sufficiently restrained compared to the madness of the original “Uncanny Avengers” launch. It’s clear that Marvel wants this title not just to succeed, but to become a blockbuster worthy of the franchise. Regardless of their quality, Dark Horse’s “Star Wars” comics lost a lot of commercial steam over the years, though Brian Wood’s title did give them more success than they’ve had in the years of exploring other lesser-known corners of the franchise. I still think it’s telling that while Wood balanced the exploits of Luke, Leia, Han, and the rest of the rebellion against Darth Vader and the rest of the Empire, the two new ongoing series will be splitting that approach between the Rebellion and Vader. For this reason alone, I’m betting that Marvel will not be reprinting Wood’s title as theirs tread much the same ground as the ones they’re offering.
What about the issue itself? It’s a 48-page/$4.99 kickoff with Jason Aaron writing and John Cassaday illustrating. To be frank, I’d buy pretty much anything from that team. As it so happens, they’re doing a “Star Wars” comic so I’ll be buying it at some point.
Ant-Man #1: In case you haven’t heard, there’s going to be an “Ant-Man” movie coming out in July after “Avengers: Age of Ultron” has taken the world by storm. (And it will. I mean, did you see that trailer? So good…) I’m assuming that the reason we’re getting the series in January is two-fold. While I’m sure Marvel expects the ongoing series to get a bump in sales for the movie, getting it out now means that they’ll have enough issues in print to deliver a collected edition for July. The only wildcard here is writer Nick Spencer. I’ve liked his writing in “Morning Glories” and “The Superior Foes of Spider-Man,” but they suggest that he’s the kind of guy who does his best work when he’s left to do his own thing. Whether or not he’ll get the chance to do that on a title that has a movie coming out this year is yet to be seen, but I’m finding it hard to be optimistic here.
Speaking of “Superior Foes,” vol. 3 is also solicited here. It collects the final six issues which are all from original creators Spencer and artist Steve Lieber. This volume, on the other hand, I can’t wait to read.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1: Why “Unbeatable?” Because that’s her real super-power: She wins every fight she’s in. Dr. Doom, Thanos, Wolverine, Deadpool… She’s taken them all down. Now she’s in her own ongoing title from Ryan North and Erica Henderson as she starts college. Here’s hoping that it’s as fun as the character herself.
Wolverines #1-4: You know, I find it hard to accept that Wolverine is actually gone when we’re getting a weekly series about his supporting cast that’s only one letter removed from his name. The crux of this series, being written on alternating weeks by Charles Soule and Ray Fawkes, even has Mystique, Sabretooth, Daken (enjoying the perks of being resurrected as one of the Apocalypse Twins’ horsemen I imagine), X-23, and Lady Deathstrike fighting over his remains. I’ll probably have a better idea about whether or not this qualifies as essential reading after I take in Soule’s “Death of Wolverine” mini-series. However, this title does have one thing going for it: The first three issues feature art from Nick Bradshaw. So they’re going to look amazing, if nothing else.
Hawkeye by Matt Fraction & David Aja Omnibus: One of the things I like about the solicitations from DC and Dark Horse is that they’ll tell you when they’re advance-soliciting something. In this case, Amazon has this omnibus shipping in April (probably sooner if you do your shopping in comic shops). Assuming that the final two issues will be out in time to make this release window possible, of course.
Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey: Fun Fact — the hardcover edition of this volume is only 41 cents more expensive than the forthcoming paperback edition. So what’s keeping me from ordering the hardcover right now? The stack of comics I still have to read from Comic-Con along with my need to re-read all eleven volumes of “The Flowers of Evil” for the next podcast. It’s a matter of, “Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.”
Civil War Prelude: New Warriors: For those of you who remember, the events of “Civil War” were kicked off when the New Warriors wound up getting a bunch of schoolkids killed while fighting Nitro during their reality show. This status quo was previously set up by writer Zeb Wells and artist Skottie Young in a miniseries a few months prior. Anyone who has read “Civil War” and goes into this expecting something along the same stylistic and tonal lines is going to be in for a very rude shock as Wells and Young’s execution is dramatically different compared to Mark Mllar and Steve McNiven’s. (Just look at the cover.) For the better, I might add. This “New Warriors” series was a fun, irreverent look at a bunch of second-string superheroes trying to make ends meet that mined their failures and successes for laughs in equal measure. It’s worth reading so long as you don’t go into it expecting something that actually sets up “Civil War.”
Spider-Man: Big Time the Complete Collection vol. 3: So they’re getting these out at a rate of slightly more than once a year. I can live with that, particularly since there’s only one more volume to go before these collections of Dan Slott’s solo run on the character are caught up with “Superior Spider-Man.” On that note, this volume collects a key part of the build-up to that storyline with “Ends of the Earth” as a dying Dr. Octopus offers a way to save the world that also winds up making Spider-Man public enemy number one.