Marvel Penguin Picks: February 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Star Wars: Dark Droids & Star Wars: Darth Vader by Greg Pak vol. 8 – Dark Droids
Wherein a corrupting force known as the Scourge infects the droids across the known galaxy, causing them to rise up against their meatbag masters in revolt. It’s not a bad setup for a “Star Wars” event, but I’m left questioning whether or not it’ll have any significance to the franchise as a whole given that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE brought this up in “Return of the Jedi.” So we’ve got a storyline that’s already starting off on the back foot here.
Still, history has told me never to count Charles Soule, who’s writing the main series and the “Star Wars” tie-in issues, just as he did for “War of the Bounty Hunters.” I’m sure he’s considered the issue I raised in the paragraph above and is going to find some way to address it here. Furthermore, “Dark Droids” also looks like it’s going to be relevant to the storylines of “Star Wars” and “Darth Vader” with the subplot involving Lando’s buddy Lobot coming to a head here, while Vader has just found himself in control of a small droid army in his book. I’m interested in seeing how these storylines are going to play out, even if the larger plot of a galaxy-wide droid uprising gets swept under the rug at the end of this event.
Ultimate Black Panther #1: Thinking back on it, we didn’t get an Ultimate Black Panther the first time around, did we? Goes to show what two films in a massively successful cinematic universe will do for a character’s visibility. Bryan Hill writes and Stefano Caselli illustrates these new adventures of the title character, following up on his debut in “Ultimate Invasion.” As to what that entails, that would be Moon Knight shoring up his control of the African continent by focusing on the biggest obstacle in his way: Wakanda. While I don’t doubt he represents a threat to the country, history shows he’s going to be in for a bad time when he makes his move.
What If…?: Venom #1 (of 5): Writer Jeremy Holt and artist Jesus Hervas bring us a look at what would’ve happened if Venom had bonded to someone other than Eddie Brock. Someone like a Sorcerer Supreme. Or a God of Lies. Or someone who is the Best at What He Does. Also Moon Knight, and Iron fist are due for the same treatment in the course of this miniseries judging by the kaleidoscopic cover. What’s not clear is whether or not Holt and Hervas are doing the whole miniseries or just this first issue. An anthology approach is usually how these “What If…?” series have gone in recent years, but if that’s not the case then Marvel must have a lot of faith in Holt and Hervas to let them handle all of these reimaginings.
Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #1 (of 5): Back in July 1990, “Uncanny X-Men #268” chronicled the first time Wolverine, Captain America, and Black Widow met across two eras nearly fifty years apart. Considered a classic of the Chris Claremont/Jim Lee run, it’s getting a miniseries follow-up written by Claremont with art from Edgar Salazar. The solicitation text lets us know that it’s picking up “within the window” of #268, and Black Widow’s outfit on the cover indicates that it’s going to be following up on the present-day sequence from the issue. Chances are you probably already know whether this will be one for you or not.
Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender Omnibus HC: Offered again for anyone who is currently a member of the “If You Haven’t Read it By Now…” society for this excellent series. No, really. The more time goes by the more this starts to feel like the best thing Remender has delivered as a writer. Even when put up against his creator-owned work.
Ultimate Invasion: Huh, this is… odd. The Treasury Edition of this story was featured in the last round of solicitations. Now we’re getting a regular-sized collection for $10 less at $25. That’s more up my alley, but the weird thing is that the Treasury Edition appears to have disappeared from Amazon’s regular listings. Is Marvel backtracking on the idea of selling this story in an oversized format for its first run? Even if Bryan Hitch’s art won’t look as spectacular in a regular-sized format, that’s a disappointment I’m willing to live with for a lower cover price.
Predator vs. Wolverine: Collects the four-issue miniseries, with 128 pages costing you $25. “Ultimate Invasion” is 176 pages for comparison. This is something that I would’ve been all over had it been published in the wake of “Batman vs. Predator” back in the 90’s. Today, I think Benjamin Percy is a good enough writer, but he’s not the kind of guy to get me excited about paying $5 more than this collection should cost. Neither is the fact that it has six credited artists, “AND MORE” solicited here as well. Even if they’re all drawing era-specific segments, that feels like too much for what’s meant to be one continuous story.. I’m still curious about how this will read, which is why I’ll be checking it out when it hits Marvel Unlimited.
Immortal X-Men vol. 4: The last proper volume of the series before writer Kieron Gillen finishes up its story in “Rise of the Powers of X” and the “X-Men: Forever” miniseries. All of the drama that was set up at the latest Hellfire Gala gets to play out here, with Professor X holding a lone vigil over Krakoa and Exodus getting his big Moses moment. Meanwhile, Sebastian Shaw tries to find a way to profit off of all of this and Jean Grey deals with being dead again. Apocalypse is on the cover of this volume, which is funny because he’s meant to be playing a significant role in the events of “X-Men: Red” at the time. I’m sure Gillen and artist Lucas Werneck have some good answers for us there, just like they have for this series as a whole so far.