Marvel Penguin Picks: June 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
G.O.D.S.
What happens when The Powers That Be meet The Natural Order Of Things? They get a much-hyped lead-in across multiple titles from an A-List creative team whose series only lasts eight issues before it gets canned. “G.O.D.S.” represented writer Jonathan Hickman’s efforts to redefine the magical corner of the Marvel Universe and introduce some all-new characters to it. After all the success the writer has had with “Fantastic Four,” “Avengers/New Avengers,” and “X-Men” Marvel let him take a crack at doing something like this and even let the immensely talented Valerio Schiti illustrate it. That “G.O.D.S.” only lasted eight issues implies that it was either a gigantic mess, or a daring take on the Marvel Universe that its audience had no interest in. My guess is the latter, but I’ve been in the tank for Hickman’s work for a while now. Enough not to blink at the fact that this one-volume collection will cost $35 for 256 pages.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject of pricing for trade paperbacks…
Immortal Thor vol. 2: All Trials Are One: You may recall that I was kind of upset that the first volume of Al Ewing’s run on “Immortal Thor” would be priced at $30 for collecting the first five issues and part of an annual – 144 pages all told. This second volume is collecting the next five issues plus the “Roxxon Presents: Thor” special, which will also consist of 144 pages total. How much will vol. 2 set you back? Just $20.
Marvel hasn’t commented on this pricing discrepancy publicly. However, it has been picked up on by Bleeding Cool and Ewing has mentioned it in his newsletter. Understandably, the writer is upset that a lot of the conversation about the first volume is revolving around its price, but he maintains that this was something that was out of his hands and I believe him. Rich Johnston has posited that this may have been a mistake on Marvel’s part compared to how they were pricing other titles with comparative page counts.
That doesn’t change the fact that Marvel didn’t change the price point on “Immortal Thor” vol. 1 between its solicitation and release. I can’t really give them the benefit of the doubt here because the company has shown that prices for its comics are only going to go up over the years. Never down. Even if the price point on vol. 2 of “Immortal Thor” is some kind of make-good attempt with whoever paid for vol. 1, Marvel now knows just how many people are willing to pay $30 for a 144-page collection (of “Thor” comics).
That’s why I can’t quite bring myself to buy vol. 1, even though it’s retailing for 40% off on one of the sites I buy my comics from online. I do still want to read it – it’s by Al Ewing after all – but it’s looking like I’ll be doing that on Marvel Unlimited where the cost of the issues in question is 43% of the annual price of an annual subscription ($70) to the service.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the solicitations…
Wolverine: Blood Hunt #’s 1&2 (of 4): One thing about these crossover events is that Marvel will also use them as a means of testing out new talent to the company. Which is why we’re seeing longtime “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” writer doing a “Wolverine” miniseries with artist Juan Jose Ryp. Waltz did good work on what I read from that series and “Wolverine vs. Vampires” drawn by Ryp sounds like an idea that’s hard to screw up. Even if I don’t buy this, I can see myself checking out digitally at some point.
Fantastic Four #21: Meanwhile, in titles that are acknowledging “Blood Hunt” in the pages of their ongoing series, we have Reed Richards dealing with the vampire onslaught while trying to keep his family safe. While there’s always the feeling that crossovers can derail an ongoing series’ momentum, “Fantastic Four” under writer Ryan North has been doing solid one-and-done stories from the start, so this will probably fit right in under its current direction. Also, let’s be honest, North would’ve done a vampire-related story here at some point and this crossover is just giving him the excuse to do it now. Which should result in some good fun here.
X-Men #35/Legacy #700: The actual, final, no-takebacks end to the Krakoa Era with Gerry Duggan, Kieron Gillen, and Al Ewing on hand to see it off. Chris Claremont is also contributing a story to this anniversary issue, because why not. Also on hand are incoming writers Gail Simone and JedMackay to give you a taste of the new conservative era of “X-Men” to come. I kid, but it’s hard not to feel that the end of this era is a step back for the franchise as a whole. Maybe I’m wrong (and I’d like to be), but I can’t say that the announcements for any of the new ongoing titles have set my imagination on fire yet.
Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime: I can’t say I ever had “Jason Aaron Writes a One-Shot Featuring Uncle Scrooge” on my comics bingo card, but here we are. The story is that Scrooge’s Lucky Dime has been stolen and he needs to get it back. Except that he won’t be teaming up with his extended family to do so – he’ll be doing it with other versions of himself from the multiverse. Given his work on “Avengers” I have no doubt that we’ll be seeing some interesting versions of the World’s Richest Duck here, all in a family-friendly way of course. This one-shot is also reprinting the first story featuring Scrooge, “Christmas on Bear Mountain,” by his creator Carl Barks. So if you’re interested in reading this, it’ll be 64 pages for $8. I’ll admit to being a little curious about it, but not so much that I don’t think I can wait until this hits Marvel Unlimited to do so.
Ultimates #1: Wherein Tony “Iron Lad” Stark, Captain America, Doom, Thor and Sif seek out other characters who were once destined for superpowered greatness and attempt to set them on that path again. All in the name of overthrowing the Maker and his Council that rules the world. It sounds like a solid setup for a reinvention of the “Ultimates”… except that this is coming from Deniz Camp, who wrote the turgid, depressing, and overlong “20th Century Men” which was my pick for the worst comic of last year. I hear that he did better with the “Children of the Vault” miniseries, so I’ll have to check that out to see if there’s any hope for this series. Which at least has a decent artist in Juan Frigeri illustrating it.
Eternals by Kieron Gillen: Collects issues #1-12 of the ongoing series, plus the “Thanos Rises,” “Celestia,” and “The Heretic” one-shots. All of this is quite good and features great art from Esad Ribic, Guiu Vilanova, Dustin Weaver, Kei Zama, and the late Ryan Bodenheim. I’d have no problem recommending this to existing fans of the characters or the writer… if this was the complete story. It’s not, because once you get to the end you’ll see that the story ends in a quasi-cliffhanger that leads into the “Judgment Day” event. So if you want to get the complete story, you’ll have to pick up the related volumes for that as well.
Savage Avengers by Gerry Duggan vol. 1: Huh. Now this was something that I wasn’t expecting to be reprinted… ever. Marvel doesn’t have the rights to publish “Conan” comics these days, yet it looks like they’ve retained the rights to publish comics from the Marvel Universe that he starred in. Which is good for this series as it was a fun romp that followed Conan through the current era as he rubs shoulders with the likes of Wolverine, the Punisher, Elektra, Doctors Strange and Doom, and more. Yeah, this may say “Savage Avengers” but it’s really “Conan in the Marvel Universe” and pretty fun on that level too. Collects issues #1-12, Annual #1, and the #0 issue reprinting the Kulan Gath storyline from “Uncanny X-Men” #’s 190-191.