Marvel Penguin Picks: January 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Strikeforce: Morituri Omnibus HC
The Earth is under attack from a race of brutal aliens called the Horde, and humanity is losing. Fortunately our scientists have come up with the Morituri Process which confers superpowers on individuals who are compatible with it. The catch? If it works, not only do people get superpowers, but their lifespan is shortened to just a year. That’s the premise for this cult hit comic published by Marvel in the late 80’s from writer Peter B. Gillis. It’s a comic that I’ve heard referred to over the years as a Real Hidden Gem or The Best Comic You’ve Never Read. “Strikeforce: Morituri” has also been good enough to warrant talk of it being adapted into a TV series or film, but nothing has come of that yet. This omnibus edition is also decently priced for this kind of thing at $125 for 1080 pages of comics, collecting the entire 31-issue run of the original comic and its five-issue James D. Hudnall-written follow-up “Electric Undertow.”
Deadpool/Wolverine #1: The massive success of last year’s “Wolverine & Asshole” film all but assured that we’d be getting this team-up title at this point. It’s got a standard-issue plot that involves the return of a “fan-favorite” villain with a world-ending plot on their agenda. Naturally, only the Ol’ Canucklehead and the Merc With a Mouth can stop them. While I’m sure this will appeal to people wanting to see how these characters can stand to work together, I’d imagine the real draw for others will be in seeing writer Benjamin Percy, who wrote A LOT of Wolverine and a fair amount of Deadpool during the Krakoan Era in his runs on “Wolverine” and “X-Force,” return to these characters. Along with the very talented Joshua Cassara, who teamed with Percy on the entertaining enough “Wolverine Does ‘Quantum Leap’” riff “X Lives of Wolverine.”
However, if you’re wanting something a little different with your Logan, Marvel has you covered…
Ultimate Wolverine #1: It’s kind of funny and a little tragic that by the time we finally got an “Ultimate Wolverine” miniseries during the imprint’s first run, it was about the character’s son Jimmy Hudson. That was because the original Jeph Loeb-written miniseries was scrapped after its artist, Michael Turner, passed away. This time around it looks like Marvel is not going to leave any money on the table and we’re getting this series at the start of the new imprint’s second year. While it’s being written by Chris Condon, who has also given us “That Texas Blood” (where I noped out of after the first volume) and “The Enfield Gang Massacre” (which was perfectly decent), this version of Wolverine is different in ways that are both old and new: In this universe he’s the Council’s Winter Soldier. So yeah, I’m interested in seeing how this plays out. “Moon Knight’s” Alessandro Capuccio illustrates.
Doctor Doom & Rocket Raccoon #1: Writer J. Michael Straczynski is sticking around Marvel after his recent run on “Captain America” for a series of one-shot team-up stories featuring characters who have never met before. Judging by who he’s picked for this first one, it looks like they’ll be worth reading simply to see what kind of stories will emerge from these meetings. I mean, Rocket Racoon and Doom? What could possibly bring these two together and just how is the good Doctor going to respond to Rocket’s naturally abrasive nature? We’re not told here, but we are given a really good hook as it involves Doom doing the one thing he never wants to do: Ask for a favor. I’m interested, and you can bet that I’ll check this out once it hits Marvel Unlimited.
Ultimates #8: Introducing the Ultimate Guardians of the Galaxy. ‘Nuff said.
Star Wars: A New Legacy: It’s been ten years since Marvel got the “Star Wars” license back from Dark Horse and started publishing their own comics in the revamped franchise. Never one to let an anniversary such as this go uncommercialized, we’re getting this one-shot featuring stories from the writers who have produced some of the best stories in this new line. While it’s not specified who is writing what, I feel safe in guessing that Charles Soule will be showing us what happens to a bevy of familiar characters during a grand event thrown by Emperor Palpatine. Kieron Gillen will show us the outcome of a perilous game between Triple-Zero, BT and Krssantan. Then Jason Aaron will fill us in on what happened to Scar Squadron. I expect all of these stories to be good, and solidly illustrated by their artists; but, if you’re expecting this to harken back to the days when Marvel would put their A-list artists on a “Star Wars” title, then keep hoping.
X-Men by Jed MacKay vol. 1: Homecoming: The “From the Ashes” era of “X-Men” has been underway for several months now and it appears to be going all right. While the entire line is walking back from the experimentation that marked the Krakoan Era, the back-to-basics approach they’ve taken hasn’t signaled a creative decline. At least, that’s what I’ve heard. That’s enough to get me to want to see what MacKay has been doing over here and if it’s more interesting than what I’ve read from him in the past. If nothing else, he’s being backed up on art from Ryan Stegman and Netho Diaz, so this latest incarnation of “X-Men” will have the kind of quality superhero art you’d expect it to have.
NYX vol. 1: What Comes Next Will Be Marvelous: I’m a little bit more skeptical about this series. Writers Jackson Lanzing and Colin Kelly have written a lot of stuff that’s perfectly fine, like their current run of “Star Trek” comics based in the “Next Generation” era, along with some stuff that just comes off as bland, or forgettable, like their “Clayface” story for the “One Bad Day” line of one-shots. Doing a series where young mutants interact with normal people in New York while also doing superhero stuff is an interesting idea, albeit one that I’m just not entirely confident that the writers can bring the necessary depth to. Then again, I may just pick this up to see if that uncertainty is justified or not.