Marvel Previews Picks: May 2012
The “Avengers vs. X-Men” steamroller continues through this month. There has also been some talk about how tie-ins to these events have been producing diminishing returns since the “Civil War” era. So even though not every book is featuring a tie-in to the event, the fact that every “Avengers” and “X-Men” related book is still makes it feel like there’s a lot of ancilliary content for this as well. Of course it’ll be months before I find out if any of it is worth a damn…
New Avengers #26: “The secret history of the Phoenix is revealed in the book of the dead Iron Fists.” One of the things that I liked most about Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction’s run on “The Immortal Iron Fist” was the revelation that Danny Rand was the latest in a long line of Iron Fists throughout history. It makes a surprising amount of sense when you think about it, especially since it allowed them to tap into any number of Asian fantasy settings for lots of martial-arts-movie mayhem. Helping matters is the fact that all of the stories about the previous Iron Fists have been very entertaining. As for this latest revelation… Much as I like Bendis, this retcon seems like it was sprung out of nowhere and will not likely have any lasting impact. I know I’m criticizing a story that has yet to come out, but Marvel hype like this tends to bring out my cynical side.
Fantastic Four #605.1: The title is “The Four,” while the solicitation text reads, “Everything starts just like you remember… It ends like something completely different.” You’ve also got that cover that has eeeeevil-looking versions of the team. If Jonathan Hickman is creating an evil version of the team, I can only hope he’s doing it in a way that will give us that “Fantastic Four/Planetary” crossover that we never knew we wanted
Fury MAX #’s 1&2: Garth Ennis returns to his mature-readers version of Fury with artist Goran Parlov. Though I’ve enjoyed Ennis’ take on the character, I don’t think the comic shop audience was exactly clamoring for another series featuring him. That said, with sales dropping across the board and Ennis not only being a creator with a dedicated audience but the only one whose work has sustained a mature-readers take on a character, I guess they figure it might be worth a shot. Plus, the man said at Comic-Con that a young “Lieutenant Castle” will also feature into the story as well. Unless the word of mouth is truly awful, I’ll be picking this up in hardcover. (Thus proving Marvel’s suspicions about the man’s dedicated audience right!)
New X-Men Omnibus HC: Yes, it’s a lap-crushing edition that’s more expensive than if you had bought the entire series in paperback or three-volume hardcover/softcover edtions. It’s also the ONLY “X-Men” story you would need to read if you picked it up. If you like what you see here, there’s LOTS more out there but none as necessary or as inventive as Grant Morrison’s take on the team.
X-Factor: They Keep Killing Madrox HC: I’m not buying this edition, I just wanted to say that I love that title. Will I make the same comment six months from now when the paperback comes out? Place your bets now!
Herc: Prodigal God: Why did Hercules’ latest series get the axe after ten issues? Because “The Incredible Hercules” was his defining moment and to try for an encore just as the curtain had closed was a huge mistake.
Moon Knight by Bendis & Maleev vol. 1: I realize that it’s a bit irrational to think that the seven issues here represent seven issues of “Scarlet” that could’ve been done in the same time. Hopefully this collection will be good enough that it drives all such thoughts from my head as I’m reading it.
Spider-Man: Big Time Ultimate Collection: At first I thought that this was a mega-collection of the initial “Brand New Day”-era stories, until I realized that it’s a mega-collection of the (mostly) Dan Slott-written tales that followed it. I’ve heard good things about them, and the price/page ratio actually makes it more appealing than picking up the individual trades. At least… it does on the surface. I may need to do some math to make sure about that bit…
Uncanny X-Force vol. 3: The Dark Angel Saga — Book 1: Even if it’s half as good as its hype, it should still be a good read. If it isn’t, then the ensuing review will be quite bitter indeed.
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man: Death of Spider-Man Fallout: I’ve seen the hardcover edition solicited as “Ultimate Fallout” which I find highly amusing given the time I’ve invested over the years into “Fallout 1-3” and “New Vegas.” Instead of chronicling Peter Parker’s adventures in a 50’s retro-future postapocalyptic landscape, this volume does exactly what its title indicates and shows us what happens after the title character’s death. The reactions of the supporting cast, an introduction to Miles Morales, and setup for the relaunches of “Ultimates” and “Ultimate X-Men” are among the events you’ll find here.