Marvel Penguin Picks: January 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Immortal Thor vol. 1: All Weather Turns to Storm
It’s nothing new for Marvel to put the adjective of a successful series in front of another title that was otherwise unrelated to it. Witness “Immortal X-Men” following in the wake of “Immortal Hulk.” It’s much less common for them to append that adjective to another series that’s coming from the writer who popularized it. Witness “Immortal Thor” coming from Al Ewing, who wrote “Immortal Hulk.”
You could call it the comic book equivalent of putting a “Kick Me” sign on your back – if that weren’t already reserved for people writing “Swamp Thing” who are not Alan Moore (tip of the hat to Paul O’Brien). However, Ewing has shown that he’s one of Marvel’s best writers and if he wants to set those high expectations for himself, I’m willing to see whether or not he meets them. Which can be done for the low, low price of…
THIRTY DOLLARS?!?! For the first five issues and part of the 2023 “Annual?” Okay, maybe there’s some extra-sized issue stuff going on here. I mean, Marvel likes to do that whenever an anniversary hits. Which would mean that we’re getting…
144 PAGES FOR THIRTY DOLLARS?!?!?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND MARVEL COMICS?!?!?! If I’m going to be gouged like this then the page count should at least be over 200. For comparison’s sake, vol. 4 of “X-Men” in these solicitations will set you back $20 for 160 pages.
Much as I like Ewing and am looking forward to seeing his take on the God of Thunder, this is a bridge too far. If you do see a review of vol. 1 on this blog, it will mean one of two things. That the price of the actual volume has been decreased to something more reasonable, or that I’ve just read these issues on Marvel Unlimited.
*takes a deep breath*
Ultimate Spider-Man #1: I’ll follow Jonathan Hickman anywhere he goes after all the quality work he’s done on “Fantastic Four,” “Avengers,” “X-Men,” “East of West” and his other creator-owned titles over the years. I’ll follow him here too, even if I’m a little apprehensive about whether or not seeing him write Spider-Man is going to work. It’s not that this is going to be about an older Peter Parker being Spider-Man – that actually sounds interesting. It’s that Hickman has made his reputation writing big-brained sci-fi epics that feel incredibly planned out around epic situations. These things do not sound like they mix well with the kind of stories I tend to appreciate most with the Ol’ Wall-Crawler. I’d like to be proven wrong, though. At least he’s got an A-list artistic collaborator in Marco Checchetto, who showed that he can handle (something resembling) a monthly schedule with his work on “Daredevil.”
Avengers: Twilight #’s 1&2 (of 6): It’s another one of those stories where the future has become a dystopia and a lone hero is going to have to re-form the team in the title to save it. Chip Zdarsky is writing this, which I’m sure a lot of people will be happy with. I’m more interested in seeing Daniel Acuna’s art as he’s always delivered quality work whenever I’ve seen it.
Fall of the House of X #1 (of 5) & Rise of the Powers of X #1 (of 5): The long walk back to the “X-Men’s” old status quo which started at the latest “Hellfire Gala” and continued through “Fall of X” reaches its climax here. Unlike the two titles which ushered in the Krakoan Age, one writer is not illustrating both titles. Gerry Duggan handles “Fall” which takes place in the present day and will likely see most of (but not all) the toys from this era put back in their box. Kieron Gillen is doing “Rise” which I’m assuming is going to deliver the happy ending for all the stuff Hickman set up back in the day. Even if it does start off ten years later with Orchis in control of Earth. “Immortal X-Men’s” Lucas Werneck illustrate’s fall while “Powers of X” artist R.B. Silva returns to handle “Rise.”
Resurrection of Magneto #1 (of 4): On one hand I should be happy that Al Ewing is getting a final miniseries to draw a line under all of his “X-Men” work. On the other, that title. One of thing things I liked most about the Krakoan Age was the introduction of mutant resurrection and got rid of the “So and so is dead now” storyline that produced so much cheap drama over the years since we all knew that “So and so” would be back in due course. This time it’s Magneto, who Ewing killed off in “X-Men: Red” and jumped through a lot of narrative hopes in order to convince us that it would stick this time. Welp. So much for that. Maybe Ewing and artist Luciano Vecchio will make me eat my words, but there’s no denying that this storyline is starting off on the back foot.
Star Wars: Thrawn – Alliances #1: “Star Wars: Thrawn” was one of the most pleasant surprises I’ve had since Marvel started publishing “Star Wars” comics again. An adaptation of the novel by Timothy Zahn, writer Jody Houser and artist Luke Ross delivered a dense, immersive, and unexpectedly fun take on a character that I respected more than I actually liked. Years later, Houser is back to adapt Zahn’s follow-up novel, and she’s not alone – the man himself is joining her. It’s not Zahn’s first time writing “Star Wars” comics as he co-wrote the fun “Mara Jade” miniseries with Michael Stackpole back in the day. This should be fun and even if Ross isn’t coming back to illustrate this, Andrea DiVito and Pat Oliffe will fit the bill nicely.
Punisher MAX by Garth Ennis Omnibus vol. 1: Collecting the “Born” miniseries plus issues 1-30 of the ongoing for $100. Absolutely worth owning if you’ve never read any of this before.
Star Wars Legends: The New Republic Omnibus vol. 2: This is just the fan in me, but seeing a formative story like “Dark Empire” and its follow-ups packaged alongside a lot of other comics just feels a little disrespectful. Still $150 for over 1,300 pages of comics is a good deal these days, and you’re also getting John Wagner and Cam Kennedy’s great “Boba Fett” comics here as well.
Ultimate Invasion – Treasury Edition: *sigh* Here’s where I try to make myself not look like a hypocrite after that rant about the price of “Immortal Thor” vol. 1 above. This is an oversized paperback collection of the four-issue, 176-page miniseries from Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch. It’s set to retail for $35. While I don’t think that’s a good price-to-page value, there are a couple things working in its favor. The oversized format is the obvious thing here, but it’s made even better by Hitch’s involvement. If there’s an artist who can make use of that extra space to deliver even more epic visuals, it’s him and I’ve got a copy of “JLA: Heaven’s Ladder” to prove it. Then there’s Hickman’s involvement, and as I mentioned above he’s rarely let me down. Much as I like Ewing, Hickman has delivered more and better stuff over the years. Then there’s the fact that I was REALLY INTO the “Ultimate Universe” back in the day, so nostalgia is playing a part here as well. Thor? I like him just fine. Even if I haven’t completely explained away my hypocrisy, maybe you’ll understand why you’ll read a review of this on the blog before vol. 1 of “Immortal Thor.”